Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 13

3.13 The Zeppo

Whilst this isn't the best Xander centric episode, it was definitely a lot more enjoyable than I remembered. I think the best thing about this episode is they were they interweave the humorous Xander story with the more dramatic impending apocalypse. Few shows would be able to pull off a dramatic storyline alongside a funnyone so skillfully. The change of music really helps with this, a jaunty little tune for Xander's scenes and the usual more dramatic music for the rest of the gangs. Often in this episode with the more dramatic moments sliced in between Xander's scenes, it felt a little like the show was making fun of itself and the dramatic-ness of their apocalypse episodes; for instance with the overly dramatic Buffy and Angel scene cut short by Xander. It was also interesting to see the other side of the apocalypse- what everybody else is doing whilst Buffy is saving the world.
What I like in this episode is Xander's growth- by the end of the episode he's content now to stand back and accept his role as the non-supernatural one in the group all the whilst having a power of his own. Its this role that that he references in that speech to Dawn in season 7's 'Potential' (I think) and its good to see him realise this fact.
Xander's storyline itself however isn't that exciting but in the context of the episode it really works. (7/10)

3.14 Bad Girls

This episode definitely marks the turn in the season and the start of the race towards the finale. Mostly Faith and Buffy centric, this episode is the first solid indication that Faith is a little unhinged mentally and not just a wild child. The actual action of her killing the Mayor's aide isn't so bad as it was quickly done in the heat of the moment, but its more her reaction to the killing which is startling and a little worrying. However that is something that's further addressed in the next episode. In this episode we see very clearly that Faith is a very different Slayer to Buffy, which wilder and less disciplined. She mostly gives a refreshing contrast to the sometimes maudlin Buffy. I did find the speed at which Buffy took on Faith's spontaneous method of slaying a little quick, it's understandable that maybe Wesley's arrival would trigger this somewhat, but there was not that much build up to it happening. Speaking of Wesley's arrival I love his and Giles' interactions, they're very similar, but Giles is obviously a lot more hardened than Wesley. It's hard to hate the new Watcher after watching Angel however, Wes turns into such a different character, that he comes across as just bumbling rather than an arrogant fool on re-watch.
I love the slaying scenes, the stealing, the police escape, and the club scene in this episode. They're all a lot of fun and show a more hedonistic, primal side of Buffy that we don't see that often. There isn't much of the Scoobies, just brief scenes. The Mayor gets a lot more screen time as he gears up for the Ascension. I think this is the first proper mention of the Ascension, and I love the idea of him becoming invincible as it allows the antagonism between him and Buffy to build up a lot more for the final showdown. (9/10)

3.15 Consequences

A brilliant conclusion episode to the events of Bad Girls. Very aptly called Consequences, it looks closely at the perhaps darker side of being a Slayer. As Giles points out, accidents happen in their of work. Just as soldiers and police, who do similar work to the slayers make mistakes, the girls do to and I like that the show addresses this issue.
Faith's descent into being a bad girl really kicks off here and its this side of her character which makes her so loved by fans. Indeed even some of her reasoning to Buffy made sense, that is before she talked to Giles. Its not to say I disagreed totally with Buffy's reasoning (I think that would make me slightly deranged like Faith!). I did find it interesting that Buffy and Faith corroborated on their stories for the police, given that Buffy was feeling so guilty. I guess Buffy didn't want the whole thing to go to the police and for good reason.
Other interesting bits in the episode include Angel's talk with Faith which I loved; they show here why they have such a great dynamic, Mr Trick getting dusted which always surprises me not matter how much I watch the episodes. I guess its just weird seeing the Mayor losing his two closest allys, in successive episode and Willows 'festering' speech. I don't know why but I love that scene, there's just something so funny about Alyson Hannigan's comic timing. (9/10)

3.16 Dopplegangland

I really love this episode and there are many reasons why its considered to be a classic Buffy episode; the sheer fun factor of having two Willows, good Willow, masquerading as the bad one, Giles, Buffy and Xander realising Willow isn't a vamp, Percy (Willow's tutee) obeying her after his encounter with vamp Willow, Wes' girlish screams, the list is just endless! Alyson Hannigan is just great taking the lead in this episode, especially considering she gets double screen time. I really like Buffy as the sidekick/friend character, we got to see the friendship more from Willow's side of things and seeing Buffy be a friend to Willow and supporting her for a change makes Buffy a more likable character. Anya isn't as fun a character as we get in later seasons, and her character changes quite a lot late on, but good here anyway.
The episode is one of the fun and light-hearted episodes of the season and is placed as a nice change of pace right in the middle of the Faith arc. Speaking of, I liked the Faith/Mayor scene- not very much from them, but the break in the overall story arc means we get some nice daddy/daughter development between them.
Really not anything I can criticise in the episode, truly a great and enjoyable episode (10/10)