Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Who Are You"

Airdate: February 29, 2000

When Buffy's in her body, Faith becomes a kinder, gentler Slayer.

I should begin by saying that I'm very much against body-switching scenarios. The idea of people switching bodies is so overdone and... well, Star Trek-y, that just thinking about such an idea ordinarily prompts a disgusted expression from me, and a resounding "Bleh!" as if I've just eaten a bucketful of tadpoles. Not that I've ever eaten tadpoles. It's just a metaphor.

But regardless of my tadpole-eating habits and my intense dislike of body-switching, I have to admit that "Who Are You" could be one of the best Buffy episodes this season, and quite possibly one of the best ever. In the characterization department it's top-notch. The acting is superb. And then there's that scene in the Bronze...

But I'm getting ahead of myself, so I'll start at the beginning. "Who Are You" picks up where "This Year's Girl" left off: the police have arrived to cart "Faith" off to prison, leaving "Buffy" and Joyce standing together, watching her go.

It should be noted, though, that the Mayor's present to Faith was a nifty body-switching device, and "Faith" is now actually Buffy in Faith's body. For the sake of attempted clarity, she will hereafter be referred to as Buffy-Faith. "Buffy", who immediately begins living the high life by taking a bath and dressing up in some sexy duds, is actually Faith in Buffy's body, hereafter referred to as Faith-Buffy. Confused yet?

Poor Riley is only further confuzzled by all the body-switching antics.

Faith-Buffy spends some time in front of the mirror, practicing her Buffy routine ("Because it's wrong!") so she'll have some hope of fooling the Buffster's buds. Unfortunately this scene, which was probably hilarious to most people, fell a bit flat with me, because it did nothing more than remind me of a very similar scene in The X-Files own body-switch episode, "Small Potatoes", in which a loser who happens to be a shapeshifter (played by Darin Morgan) assumes Mulder's form and takes over his life. The pseudo-Mulder spends quite a bit of time in front of the mirror up to the same sort of shenanigans ("F... B... I!").

But mirror gag aside, the true brilliance and centerpiece in this episode is the performances by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Eliza Dushku, as they successfully emulate each other. Gellar's Faith-Buffy is spot-on, right down to the shiny pants and heaping gobs of sexual references. Dushku's Buffy-Faith is perfect in her hurt, confusion, and general angsty-ness. And, caught in each other's lives, both characters -- but especially Faith -- grow, mature, and become what they've been denied.

Faith-Buffy has a little trouble adjusting to Buffy's life... after all, it is very wholesome. But she certainly has a good time of it, and even her friends don't notice that something's wrong with her (though they probably should). When she meets Willow and Tara in The Bronze, she's the first to just come out and say what we're all thinking about the duo, but Tara's a perceptive little witch and cues in to the fact that something's not right with Buffy.

So where does the not-rightness lead us? Lots of sexual suggestion, and the kind of scenes that make your knees go weak. Willow and Tara perform a spell to figure out what's wrong with Buffy, and it just happens to involve a lot of heavy breathing and acting that's meant to be positively orgasmic. Whatever. More importantly, Faith-Buffy runs into Spike in The Bronze, and there follows an exchange that I was afraid was going to melt my television set. One piece in particular begs to be quoted:

"I could have anything... anyone. Even you, Spike. I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of; I could squeeze you until you popped like warm champagne and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more. And you know why I don't? Because it's wrong." -- Faith-Buffy

Poor Spike suffers a bit of... frustration.

Good god, I think they're trying to kill me. And now that there's definitely a "confrontation" in Spike and Buffy's future, one can only hope that it's the kind of confrontation that leads to lots of wonderfully rough sex. Meanwhile, back on the ranch, the Ominous Council Guys who showed up in "This Year's Girl" intercept the police car that holds Buffy-Faith, and they transport her back to their hideout. Though she tells them what's happened, they don't really believe her and don't really care, preparing to ship her back to England for their Ominous Council Guy purposes. But, this being Buffy at heart, she manages to escape their evil Council Guy clutches, and makes her way to Giles', where she manages to convince him that she is who she says she is (mostly by bringing up Giles' "Band Candy" tryst with Joyce). Willow and Tara soon arrive, already knowing what's going down because of their orgasmic spell experience, and they've got just the solution: some kind of magical doohickey which does the same thing as the gift that the Mayor gave to Faith. So once again the Wicca kids come through and we've got our magical solution. The only problem is finding Buffy's body so they can get her back in it.

As it turns out, somebody else is in Buffy's body (oooh, that was bad, I'm a bad person), as Faith-Buffy has decided to have a little fun with Riley. She encourages him to release those animal instincts, but instead she ends up with some tender love-makin'... after all, he does think that she's Buffy. When he tells her he loves her, Faith-Buffy wigs out and flees the scene (after a short appearance by Forrest, who's just becoming more unlikeable with every passing week).

In other news, Adam has been setting himself up like some sort of prophet, and the vampires he makes a congregation of are more than ready to wreak a little havoc. He's still not very convincing as a villain... but it could be the comedic effect. How can you take a bad guy seriously when he's got a floppy drive built into his chest?

Faith-Buffy has used Joyce's credit card to purchase a plane ticket out of Sunnydale, but when she goes to pick up her tickets and catch her flight, she sees a breaking news story on one of the televisions in the airport; a group of vampires have taken hostages in a church. In a showing of her true -- if buried -- colors, Faith-Buffy heads to the church and kicks a little vampire ass. Confused Riley mills about outside (he was late for church 'cause the nooky made him tired) when Buffy-Faith arrives, and he becomes even more confused. Poor guy. Both Faith-Buffy and Buffy-Faith kick some vampire ass, then they turn on each other.

Could this mean a new start for Faith? We hope so.

This scene is perhaps the strongest in the episode: Faith, trapped inside Buffy's body, pounds on her own body. The display is one of pure self-loathing, and it's plain that Faith isn't beating on her own body because Buffy's in it, but rather because she truly seems to hate herself and what she's become; after time spent in Buffy's body, all of the love and true affection visited upon the other Slayer is too much for Faith, and she's truly a changed person. Buffy-Faith uses the magical device that Willow and Tara devised, setting both girls back in their own bodies; Faith takes off, and Buffy, stunned by Faith's display of hatred, does not follow. In the episode's closing scenes, Faith is huddled in a corner (in the back of a truck or in a train car... I can't decide), but I get the feeling that this is not the last we've seen of the other Slayer. (I also get that feeling because I know she's supposed to appear on Angel soon, but just allow me my dramatic moment, okay?)

Unfortunately for Buffy, Faith has caused a few major messes in her life. Most notable among them is her tumble with Riley; the boy's confused, Buffy's angry, feeling that he slept with another woman, and their relationship is on rocky ground. Well, come on Buff, the poor guy's only human. Err... maybe. I'm actually not sure of that yet...

Wonderful role-reversals and powerful acting -- particularly by Dushku -- make the episode a virtual powerhouse with some of the strongest use of characterization that the series has ever seen, and served to remind me of why I loved Faith in the first place. In fact, this episode was so inspiring that it's making me channel George Michael.

"I gotta have Faith, Faith, Faith, I gotta have Faith, Faith, Faith... uh! Baby!"

-- Lisa Kincaid

Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs Tuesdays on the WB.

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