Amazon.com
The third season of Joss Whedon's
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was marked by the arrival in Sunnydale of renegade slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), a moody loner who seemed to like her calling just a little bit
too much--she definitely got a certain pleasure out of staking vamps that went beyond mere job satisfaction. While Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was always wary of Faith, the two developed a deep friendship and appreciative rapport--that is, until the evil mayor of Sunnydale (Harry Groener) tapped into Faith's dark side and lured her into his plot to take over the world, first as a double agent spying on Buffy, then as out-and-out nemesis. And as the mayor's ascension approached--which happened to fall on Sunnydale High's graduation day--Buffy and Faith's battles got nastier and nastier, as Buffy attempted to wrestle with her dark side (literally and figuratively), save the world and her friends, and keep her lover Angel (David Boreanaz) out of Faith's evil clutches. The season's pièce de résistance is the two-parter "Graduation Day," wherein Faith tries to kill Angel with a poison arrow, and the students of Sunnydale High prepare to do battle with a mutated mayor and his army of demons. The first episode features one of
Buffy's best fight scenes ever, as Buffy battles Faith in order to provide Angel with the antidote--slayer's blood--that he needs in order not to die. The second episode (and season finale) is a clever nod to the anxieties that accompany anyone's high school graduation, as well as a resolution to the mayor's evil machinations.
--Mark Englehart
