Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"This Year's Girl"

Airdate: February 22, 2000

Faith (Eliza Dushku) wakes up, ready to kick a little ass.

I know I've been a little dissatisfied with Buffy lately. But after "This Year's Girl", I'm ready to fall to my knees and repent for all I'm worth.

I'm not going to say that it's the best Buffy ever or that it was some sort of religious experience, because Marsters didn't lose his shirt, so obviously it could've been better. But I can easily say that this was one of the best Buffys in a great long while, and that's due largely to the return of some enemies we thought we might never see again.

There was never any doubt in my mind that Harry Groener, as the Mayor, was one of the best characters in Buffy history. He's even right up there with Spike in the best villains category, in his own not-Spike way. Seeing him again in "This Year's Girl", even though he appeared only on video and in dream sequences, just solidified the point and made me wish he weren't so very much... dead.

Of course, the dear departed Mayor wasn't the only old face to return in this episode, and the real star of the episode is Eliza Dushku as Faith. Her story begins with dreams... lots of 'em. When you're in a coma, there's little else to do. Faith's dreams are strange and cryptic, but beautifully filmed and rife with symbolism, and when Faith finally emerges victorious in her mind -- which wakes her from her coma -- she's already ready to get back out the in the world, kick some ass and take some names. She beats someone up, steals their clothes, and escapes the hospital with revenge on her mind, but the duty nurse has already made a call, and the Watcher's Council is on the way to round up their recalitrant slayer.

Poor Xander (Nicholas Brendon) hardly gets any screen time, so we thought we'd give him some space on your monitor, instead.

Back at Slayer Central, Xander's been attempting to repair the faulty Initiative rifle, and the crew's trying to decide how to deal with Adam. Buffy gets a call from the hospital (why the hospital would call Buffy, we don't really know) that Faith has woken up and is missing, and that adds another complication to their plans, not to mention that unknown to our heroes, Faith is lurking outside Giles' apartment, watching them and listening in.

On campus the next day, Buffy admits to Willow that she skimmed over all Angel-related details when filling Riley in about the Faith situation (hah, that Angel thing's gonna blow up in her face one day), and the girls wonder where the other Slayer might be. But as it turns out, Faith's standing right in front of them. A wicked fight ensues (with absolutely awesome work from stunt doubles Sophia Crawford and Karen Sheperd), but Faith flees the scene when police arrive to arrest her.

Later that night, a demon approaches Faith, saying that he's got something for her from the Mayor. She kills him, taking the package, which turns out to be a videotape from the Mayor and a little gadget of unknown design. Later that night, she pays Joyce a visit, but Buffy busts in and there's another fight, which ends with Faith using the device. In a small flash of light, Faith and Buffy trade bodies, and we're left in agonizing suspense for an entire week until part two, "Who Are You", airs.

I have few complaints and much praise where "This Year's Girl" is concerned. One of those complaints has to be the sparse use of Spike, as always; we see him in one short scene and then he's gone again. Giles and Xander continue their non-presence, as sadly enough their screen time isn't much longer than Spike's. On the up side: Faith's return is just the shot in the arm the current storylines were needing, and though the Faith-goes-bad arc of last season was severely boring to me, Dushku is an excellent actress who is allowed to make full use of her talents here, and the wonderful imagery of Faith's dreams is lush and captivating.

Now if you'll excuse me, I owe a bit of penance. I figure a couple of Hail Joss' should do it.

-- Lisa Kincaid

Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs Tuesdays on the WB.

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