Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 10 (BtVS Season 3)

Onto season 3 now! Season 3 is one of my favourite seasons; its the last of the high school years (generally considered the best Buffy years) and the first one I watched properly. However that said, I enjoyed season's 1 and 2 so much more this time round so it will probably be a close race!

3.01 Anne

At first I wasn't really looking forward to this episode but I don't really know why since this was a really good episode. The stuff with Buffy was pretty tough to watch- full of despair and loneliness. The theme of the homelessness is well covered in this episode and the supernatural aspect of the episode worked well alongside it. The Lily/Anne story was touching- even more so considering how she turns out in just two years time on Angel; you could say she was one of the few happy endings in the Buffy-verse. One thing I would've liked to have found out more about was what the kids were working towards- there didn't seem to be much rhyme nor reason to it, some explanation would've helped.
Back in Sunnydale, most of the exploits from the Scoobies are lighthearted. Its fun watching the teens fight vampires in their own way. Contrast this to the season 6 premiere and its a different ballgame. I liked Willow's hopefulness at getting Buffy back, Xander/Cordy's reunion and even though getting Oz back at school was a little contrived, I'll ignore it as I love Oz and am happy to have him around! The most heartfelt scene from Sunnydale was easily between Giles and Joyce; it's hard not too feel either of their pain. Joyce's anger at Giles is understandable, as its very hard realising that someone you love had a whole life you didn't know about. I felt bad for Giles though, his stiff upper lift didn't really allow him to say anything but its fairly obvious from his wild goose chases that he's very much anguished. (8.5/10)

3.02 Dead Man's Party

I wasn't a fan of this episode the first time round, but I enjoyed it a lot more this time. I still wasn't a fan of the zombies but otherwise this was an enjoyable episode. I think the others had believable reactions to Buffy leaving and not calling, but I would have liked to see her explain about killing Angel as that adds a lot more strength to her argument. The argument at the party was a good way of venting their feelings, reminds me of the argument in season 7 that kicks Buffy out of the house. I'm glad that Xander stood up to Buffy, he's often the one without any supernatural powers to employ but he's usually the most realistic and upfront one, saying stuff that others won't. Also I loved Giles threatening Snyder at the end- that along with hot-wiring his car shows his bad ass side that we rarely get to see. (8/10)

3.03 Faith, Hope and Trick

Love this episode's title, simple but effective. As for the episode itself, it was decent enough, a good and thorough introduction to Faith, though I wasn't entirely convinced by the dead Watcher storyline, which came off a little superficial. Otherwise this episode was good at showing Faith as the fun loving girl. I think one of the reasons why fans like Faith so much is what was shown here- her complete love of slaying and her calling. Unlike Buffy being a vampire Slayer is something she wants to do. Now admittedly if Buffy was like this all the time, there would be no drama and no show, but it's a refreshing view on slaying.
Also in the episode there was the introduction of Mr Trick, who proved to be way more interesting than the Kakistos vampire Faith faced her; and the introduction of Scott Hope, who, if I'm honest is a little too stalkerish in his pursuit of Buffy- especially with giving the friendship ring, I mean her barely knows her!!
I mentioned in the review for the previous episode that I would have liked to see Buffy explain about killing Angel and I had obviously completely forgotten that she does so in this episode, her confession cleverly extracted by Giles. I thought this was a really good idea on Giles part and worked well in the episode. One thing though- if Giles is good enough to be the Watcher to the then only active Slayer, why isn't he good enough to be asked on this retreat. This is something that had always confused me about the Watcher's Council. They send slightly inept Watchers (Wes) and ones who they don't seem to value that much (Giles) to be the Watcher's of the Slayers when the main role of the Watcher's Council is too watch over the Slayer- apart from that they don't have a huge amount of purpose apart of research. But you'd think they'd send their best people to mentor the Slayers wouldn't you??
I digress, but I should probably comment of the final moments of the episode where Angel is resurrected- the scene prior was very poignant and would've actually been a nice ending to Angel's character, but in the grander scheme of things its good they brought him back. (8/10)

3.04 Beauty and The Beasts

Really not my favourite episode. It wasn't bad or anything, but something about this episode just didn't click.
I liked the Hellmouth take on domestic violence, it was a sad tale but with that story, Angel returning and Oz being possible killer, there was just too much going on and al though the story-lines all came together, it felt a little bit forced and like nothing really meshed. There were some good scenes- Buffy with the guidance counsellor the first time round, and Willow fainting at the morgue, but there were some bad ones as well such as the massive leap from - people are dying to its Debbie's boyfriend who's doing the killing and Angel coming to save Buffy which was way too cheesy, though even I have to admit Buffy crying whilst Angel hugged her, was very emotional. I also didn't like that Buffy didn't tell Giles about Angel coming back, it's similar to what happens in season 4 when she doesn't tell him about the Initiative and even in spite of Giles' history with Angel he deserves to know. (6/10)