Buffy the Vampire Slayer || 3x22 || Full Reaction

This is how IMDB has Season Three's episodes ranked. 1 3x22 Graduation Day (Part Two) 9.3 2 3x16 Dopplegangland 9.3 3 3x09 The Wish 9.2 4 3x21 Graduation Day (Part One) 9.1 5 3x20 The Prom 8.9 6 3x18 Earshot 8.9 7 3x13 The Zeppo 8.8 8 3x08 Lover's Walk 8.8 9 3x17 Enemies 8.8 10 3x06 Band Candy 8.8 11 3x12 Helpless 8.5 12 3x14 Bad Girls 8.5 13 3x10 Amends 8.5 14 3x15 Consequences 8.4 15 3x19 Choices 8.4 16 3x07 Revelations 8.3 17 3x03 Faith, Hope & Trick 8.3 18 3x05 Homecoming 8.2 19 3x01 Anne 8.1 20 3x04 Beauty And The Beasts 7.7 21 3x02 Dead Man's Party 7.6 22 3x11 Gingerbread 6.9

Eric Bushee

Do you realize that this is a spoiler?

Nebraska

"Why do I feel bad for the Mayor?"

Nebraska

"things that makes sense later on" That's a spoiler, my guy.

Jamie Morgan

Buffy is different from previous slayers in so many ways. Here she experiences her second time being drained by a vamp and yet lives. How many slayers survived even one bite. As for the new slayer comment, I wouldn't get your hopes up. Faith's brain may be too damaged for her to wake up from her coma, as per the doctor, but she ain't dead. For as how bad her state of health was when getting to the hospital, I don't think the doctor mentioned even a temporary death and then revival. Faith suer looked odd in that hospital bed though. The actress has such a liveliness to her that she almost looks like a different person in those scenes. Awesome reaction. This season finale was sure an epic one and it was a joy to see you get shocked by the myriad twists and turns.

Jordan Haddow

I love how Joss throws in slight foreshadowing like the cat and the little miss muffet line. Not spoilers but things that make sense later on.

Greg Davis (YT-nobody you need to know)

Every time I'm sad for the mayor in this beginning scene and can't help it lol

Gwenhwyfar Aine

"why am I sad for the villain?!?!" *Joss Whedon has entered the chat*

Cara Mackenzie

This is def one of my fave season finales and I'm so amused that you're over the Buffy/Angel drama. lol

Sandy S.

Fire bad, tree pretty is one of my fave quotes...I often use it when my brain is completely fried and I made a mask with this on it because it seems totally appropriate for the apocalypse and my mental state during COVID and working in family med. All the staff try to read it but no one gets it but me. No Buffy fans at work. lol

Sandy S.

Oh oh...someone probably already told you but Alyson and Alexis are married in real life...Willow and Wesley. And I just recently learned this from a fandom group but Anthony Steward Head is a leftie and has something going on with his right hand. I never even knew...he hides it so well. But yay for being well-compensated!

Sandy S.

Ugh so sorry you didn't get to attend your graduation. :o( Boo, COVID!

Sandy S.

Little Miss Muffet counting down from 730!

Beth Ann Bretter

The foreshadowing in the coma sequence with faith is crazy. I would recommend coming back to watch it after you've finished the series. I would also read an analysis of everything in there, there's a lot of little stuff that slips by you.

T D

Hey Alley,    Great reactions as always.  A couple of notes on "Graduation".  In Canon it's not explicit if Larry dies or is just injured.  Some students did die/were eaten and the general consensus among fans is that he died but as I said that's not conclusive one way or another so your head Canon works just fine.    Angel didn't just take "a sip" he almost drained her hence the need for hospital.  In the shared dream, again the understanding is that Faith shared her life force with Buffy which jump started her fast regeneration. Remember that Slayers are mystically linked so a shared dream/vision in a time of crisis is not actually that weird. Also yes that was Faith that flashed instead of the cat for a split second.    I just have to comment that Wesley and Cordelia's kiss was the most awkward kiss in the history of awkward kisses.    Also to clarify, at no point did anyone say Faith is dead.  The doctor just said that he didn't see her waking up and after their shared dream...thing there were any hospital machines going off so she's not dead at this point just in a permanent? coma.  

palisade

You'll find out who the ''cat in the dream'' represents a quarter of the way into Season 5.

Ryan

Loves Bitca yes I get that there needed to be stakes but I think he's the only openly gay male character in the entire series so I would have preferred for him to live.

Arobin

That's what I said, but people insist that she not watch the intro. It's so dumb. Watching the opening credits that the show runners know you're gonna watch is not a spoiler.

Kirby

is it just me or do I see a trend of big bads giving inspirational or truthful speeches? Btw fantastic finale. Keep up the good Work :)

Isac christensen

Mine was between 100 and 200. I think it was either 126 or 162, but I don't remember which. I always thought of this as medium sized, or slightly largish. Clearly not if Alley's school had a grad class of 700. On the other hand, I'm in Canada. I don't know if we have many schools that large.

UTU49

Really nice interpretation, Holi.

UTU49

Ashtara, are you watching Domi e? She watched the last 3 Seasons of Angel first... and then went back to start at the beginning. It's weird and interesting to see her perspective, which would be similar to your experience.

UTU49

Joss talked about these things in a commentary for the episode or in a featurette. My memory matches those of Frankee and Loves Bitca, but I'll put some of it in my own words. In my memory of Joss' words, he said that he asked Alexis (Wesley) what he wanted to do in the finale fight, and Alexis said he wanted to be knocked down immediately and fail to accomplish anything. As for the school explosion, apparently it was so loud that the people who lived near the school were angry about it for years.

UTU49

An interesting way Joss could have gone with this story was for Buffy to give Angel half of her blood and half of Faith's, and both Slayer's still ended up on the brink of death. (I usually try to avoid giving Joss all the credit for decisions on this series, but since this was a season finale, and he wrote and directed it himself, I spoke about it as if it was his sole decision.)

UTU49

I'll have a wing and a drumstick.

UTU49

[mad stampede to find some applicable fan fiction]

UTU49

Alley, if you wear a really funny blindfold during the Angel credits, we will all love you even more than we already do. On second thought, maybe you shouldn't do that. :/

UTU49

Milamber, even though you insulted me, you made me laugh. Thinking something is stupid isn't a barometer for measuring how fun a person is at parties, lol. I bet you think some things are stupid, too.

Kirby

Stop spoiling, there was no clear confirmation on any of these people dying.

Steveo

So I guess every person that watched Buffy and Angel live spoiled themselves by watching the opening intro? That doesn't make any sense. I guess the producers don't know how to run the show, clearly people who watch the show years and years later know better though. So many of you are overreacting its insane.

Steveo

Just a reminder, to become a vamp they gotta drink your blood and then they gotta feed you their blood....it’s a whole sucking thing.

Omar karimzada

100% not a spoiler. People are just overreacting

Calvin Allen

I'm enjoying this rewatch through your eyes so much. Thank you again, Alley. You the realest. 😀

John Kress

Ah, the old "this isn't a spoiler, but [SPOILER]" method. Just ... don't.

John Kress

Well she's not watching when it originally aired. Skipping it 1 time out of 20 eps doesn't ruin the experience. Heck it might be an even better experience you don't know.

Jess Mac

Aaaannd now both of the Principles we've seen have been eaten.

Christine Jury

Such an amazing two parter!

Salv Mancuso

Could one of the band members of "Slayer" have donated blood to Angel?

Kenny Teeology

It's interesting to think about.. we know that the slayers have some sort of connection to mysticism via dreams, often getting messages and prophetic insights throw them.. so in a sense it might be an extension of their power, and *two* slayers being in a coma at the same time is unprecedented.

Ashtara Levin

I actually like it too, everything about them has always been grand and epic, both for the metaphor of first love and for what Buffy means for Angel, after all his years alone.

Ashtara Levin

Probably part of why this ending was so satisfying is because so many of us wished we could have blown up OUR high school when we graduated... Joss might not always care what we want from the show, but he sure as hell knows what we NEED hahah =P

Ashtara Levin

It's interesting you mentioned Jurassic Park since Snyder gets the "lawyer hiding in the bathroom" treatment.

Chas Summers

To be fair, the fact that he did not scream like a little girl does show that his capability has grown significantly since he was introduced.

David Neal

Ooooh!! Nice catch! I didn't see that, thank you!

Ashtara Levin

I agree completely - for me personally, I don't know how it happened exactly but I watched Angel while it aired, not knowing anything about Buffy (and getting extremely confused when they crossed episodes.. ) so when I finally discovered Buffy and watched the show I already knew they'd manage to give him his soul back and that he is somehow going to come back from that hell dimension.. It spoiled a lot of the suspense for me and I was really happy that Alley initially thought his spin off show would be a prequale to Buffy

Ashtara Levin

It legit annoyed me when you said that was a small class. I don't know why it frustrated me but it did. LOL. I graduated in a class of 7 people. The sophmore class was only 3 people. So honestly, that is a normal sized class, not small. lol

ADDButterfly

Don't listen to steven. Do not watch the intro. Even though he's already trying to spoil it. He should delete his comment. Hopefully the mods keep Alley from seeing it. Sucks that people still want to spoil shit.

Loves Bitca

Exactly. While it's 'pretty hard if not impossible' for a reactor not to know, even if the followers don't tell them, IF they do manage to not know, then us followers shouldn't be the ones to tell them. And honestly MOST reactors AVOID EVERYTHING they can to avoid spoilers. They won't look up who an actor they recognize is, so that it won't spoil them of how long they are in the show or if they return, etc. So IF they don't know about Angel before they start watching Buffy, they are likely not to find out unless we tell them.

Loves Bitca

While I like Larry (after he came out and stopped being a tool) I feel like someone had to die like that. This was war. And war has casualities that die unceremoniously. And it needed to be someone we know, but don't want to lose any main characters like that. So it needed to be Larry, or Jonathon, or Percy. While Harmony could still have some impact, I think enough people hate her enough that they wouldn't care.

Loves Bitca

Even if he didn’t drain Buffy he certainly almost did. Buffy almost died, she went into hypovolemic shock and she is the Slayer.

Vicky N

This isn't a spoiler, everyone knew the cast. Its nothing major and is obvious after watching the Buffy premiere. It's a better reveal in the intro then in the episode, you can watch the opening Alley.

Steveo

I hate that they killed Larry, and so unceremoniously too, they just threw him away

Arobin

I agree don’t watch the credits, but listen to the theme song.

Allan Cornett

Yes. I would definitely close my eyes for the opening credits of the 1st episode of Angel. I know I wished I had back in the day.

Michael Roach

You can and should watch the credits for the 10th episode

Rey

Exactly! And I love your name!

Paul Komoroski

The 10th is safe 😊

CeNedra

Love this 2 part finale. I always have to watch prom and both graduation episodes together. They are awesome. That prom scene where buffy gets her award gave her the confidence to get the entire class in on the plan to kill the mayor-demon, and I love it! Buffy got her moment but also - plot progression! Yes! One of my fav season finales for epicness and coolness and just feeling like things are good... I loved your reactions to the season! With the Faith and Buffy mind/ dream sequence thing, I always saw it as the two slayers meeting on even ground, no earthly baggage between them, just slayer-sisters without judgement... Faith doing the right thing and telling buffy what she needs to know to be able to defeat the mayor and essentially telling Buffy to ‘take what she needs’... i thought that line was like, take my strength, I’m mot waking up anytime soon and you’ve got a battle to win... you need this more than me right now. And as she touches Buffy, gives Buffy her strength and power, Buffy wakes up and knows Faith has helped her, giving her that kiss of gratitude and apology before leaving...

Holi117

Don’t watch the Angel opening credits for the first or tenth episodes. There are spoilers

Jean Olenick

Fun Fact (maybe?): Pretty sure that the actor who played principle Snyder said that he wanted to go out by getting eaten by a monster and so they made it so.

Nikolai5

I think you can take the dream sequence thing at face value if you want as other than increased strength and healing slayers have the power to have prophetic dreams, and they are connected in some way with how one dies the next is chosen so its totally possible they can communicate in that way. Or you can look into its meanings, but either way the outcome is the same so don't worry too much about coming to the "correct" conclusion with these kinds of things.

Nikolai5

Yeah, absolutely, I get that it's hard, but it's still frustrating to see people go "OMG you have to react to Angel too!" a few episodes into Season 1. Plus, I feel like most reactors go out of their way to deliberately avoid spoilers, so if they haven't heard of ATS before, it's definitely feasible that they might not be exposed to its existence. I know for sure Alley hadn't heard of it before it was revealed to her through comments!

Paddy H-K

I think it's pretty hard, if not even almost impossible for any reactor not to know that, even if their followers don't tell them at all. I mean you would have to stay away from literally anything Buffy related online. It's actually the same thing with the number of seasons in general. Many endings don't have the same weight if you know there is another season...but that's just the way it is when you watch a show that aired 20 Years ago.

Felix Dürhammer

Why not kid? I meant the first episode Opening Credits. Then after that she can rewatch it.

Bastion33

I know many reactors already have heard of it before going into Buffy. It is kind of hard to have not heard of it even without commenters saying so. But I agree that if by some odd chance they haven't heard, they should not be told. Preferrably until they let his departure here sink in, affect them a little bit, but before starting the next season. I think even his death before coming back takes away a bit knowing he gets his own show. Yes some question if maybe it is about pre-Buffy times, but still, they know that there's still a pretty good chance......

Loves Bitca

Apparently, we've neglected to let you know that sometimes you need to wait through the end credits for the "Grr Aargh" zombie. Sometimes there's just a little something extra.

Loves Bitca

Great reaction, my favourite season of the show by quite a margin. Slightly sour note - does anyone else feel frustrated that whenever a new reactor starts Buffy, people fall all over themselves to reveal that Angel gets his own show eventually? It really bugs me, and I feel like it's a massive spoiler. I reckon without the community of people telling her so, Alley wouldn't have actually known there was a spin-off coming, which would have added a lot more dramatic weight to him leaving the show. Nobody's gonna see this, but I really hope that people save that piece of information with other reactors in the future, how great would it have been to reveal Angel gets his own show after this episode?

Paddy H-K

I think the earlier scene of Giles stabbing the Mayor against reason, when he threatened Buffy, was to lead into Buffy Taunting the Mayor with the knife she stabbed Faith with to get him to chase her into the trap. It shows how the father figures lose their rational thinking when it comes to threats to their "daughters".

Loves Bitca

My takeaways from this episode: this is one of the best season finales for all of the reasons you mentioned, it could easily have been the series finale and it would've been perfect and satisfying, Synder is one of the best Buffy characters ever, The Mayor is one of the best Buffy characters AND villains ever, The Mayor and Faith really did love each other and it's oddly sweet, Faith just wanted to feel loved and accepted by someone, and Angel's departure was super dramatic but you gotta love the fade into the smoke symbolism and it's a gorgeous shot. *chef's kiss*

Rae

You seem fun at parties.

Milamber

Skipping the opening credits seems dumb. I didn't skip the opening when it originally aired. I can understand not wanting to be spoiled but that's just plain stupid.

Kirby

I love season 4! So excited to watch reactions.

Kirby

SPN was awesome for 5 seasons, until the show runner left. Because of spoilers I can't say anything regarding my opinions on Buffy or Angel. *sigh*

Jeffrey

One of my favorite things about Season 3 is that the Mayor seems to genuinely care about Faith.

UTU49

I recall Alley's Supernatural rant a couple month's back where she stated how much the writing had waned after the first seasons. And that Buffy seemed much better written - which is true :) One reason among many why Buffy is such a hallmark show. Fortunately the writing remains top notch all the way through to the very end. And Angel too is top notch. I'm glad Alley doesn't know what to expect from Angel, she'll be pleasantly surprised.

King Author

Agreed, skip the opening credits for Angel 1x01.

King Author

Few overall notes A) Harry Groener. Not enough to clap, gonna need you to stand up. People may disagree over whether any former or subsequent "Big Bad" is as good a villain as the Mayor, but IMO nobody did the acting job Groener did. Just incredibly drawn human monster, and it shined in this episode in his manic panic over Faith. B) "Buffy" has at least three (IMO) season finales that could have doubled as series finales with this being one. Nothing important to that note, other than that for a show that's original premise was "the horrors of high school are actual monsters", it did about as perfect a job as it could in wrapping up the high school era of that show. 3) you're meant to be confused by that dream :) 4) More Wilkins love - his speech, and the way Groener delivers that one remark "some of those who should be here... aren't", still so clearly speaking of Faith but it also applying to what they said in the Prom about how many SHS students don't even get to graduation. 5) I think one of my favorite images in this series, relating to that original premise, is the senior class taking up their arms. If high school is monsters and adolescence is hell, than reaching adulthood is a war we all have to fight, and it's made literal here.

Dan H

i thought he was like “half cured” or “cured temporarily” bc he didnt fully drain buffy of all her blood. i was still thinking he had to drink alll the blood, so thats why i mentioned it

Alley Box

Whenever someone's happy, you get paranoid? Sounds like you have trust issues *flashback montage of Angelus, Jenny..... Anyway, can't wait for your 4 hour-long season 3 breakdown

Britt

I didn't catch that before, but yeah, Now I am sure you are right. Cool.

Loves Bitca

There were no spoilers there. It only discussed stuff that happened in this exact episode.

Loves Bitca

Charisma Carpenter had asked Joss Whedon if after all this time, could Cordy finally stake a vamp. Apparently shooting the school fight scenes was a nightmare for Joss and Charisma had been one of the few people to be nice to Joss that day and so he said yes, absolutely.

BigGreenBear

Yeah they offered Wesley the chance to either turn out to fight gloriously and bravely or to fall at the start. He chose the fall and not even end up being part of the fight from the beginning option.

Loves Bitca

"Why am I sad for the Mayor?" Because the actor SELLS that. He delivers those lines. The Mayor, though evil, is as much a father figure to Faith as Giles is to Buffy.

Loves Bitca

*the supernatural producers have left the chat*

Alley Box

I'm not reading all the comments but in case no one has said yet: That was the first time Cordy staked a vampire. I think the actress had asked to. Also, the actor playing Wes requested that he kinda fall or whatever at very beginning of his part of the fight as it was in line with his character. I think they were originally gonna have him fight. I also read that the explosion or whatever made car alarms go off or was really loud and whatnot and the people from that city or something didn't want the show to come back to film there because of this finale lol. Also I love that Jonathan 'protected' Cordy when the explosion happened. Ok that's all

Josie Ball

Good good you've watched it. I thought this was one of the most epic season finales ever for any show. I love it 100%. And now to stop procrastinating and get back to what I'm supposed to be doing

Josie Ball

Loved your reaction Alley. Just a helpful hint for future spoilers on Angel's show. Try not to watch the first episodes "Intro" because it gives spoilers. Can't wait to watch your reaction for BS4 and AS1.

Bastion33

She did scare one to run away though lol

Dusty

Well if she was dead they'd probably be taking her to a morgue, not setting her up in a hospital and having a doctor say it's 'unlikely" she'd regain consciousness

Dusty

Not a snake. Dinosaur.

Dusty

?

darby72

Seriously guys Spoilers! Not everyone has seen the show, especially Alley!

John

Here is Wisecrack's take on what makes a good finale, and Buffy nailed it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbRvMz_0aMs

Jeffrey

Unrelated: Does anyone else get super aggravated when they try to pause using the space bar and it never works ?

Dusty

Love this episode, great reaction, can’t believe season 3 is over already! In regards to Angel drinking Faith’s blood; by the time they see her in the hospital Angel has been cured by Buffy, there would be no need for him to drink from Faith except to kill her which is a bit ooc for him.

Taylor Oliva

Ahhh what a wonderful Thanksgiving surprise! Happy Thanksgiving all!

Mary Kate

I think she has a general overall ambivalence about them, which has lead her to gloss over them a bit in her reactions.

Ryan

Okay, everyone, I get that you don't want to spoil Alley on the Larry spin off show that premiered after the end of season 4, but I think it's really cruel of you to keep lying to her that he is dead.

darby72

Did we see Faith die? Or is she just in a coma?

Bryce Carlson

Yeah they delayed it cuz of Columbine and the topic of school violence was still way too volatile. Airing this episode a month after would have been suicide for the show.

Allan

That and it was only Faith giving Buffy some extra..energy?..that led her to wake as early as she did.

Henry McFadyen

Could you please delete this? That scene is SUPPOSED to leave the viewer with a "WTF?" feeling that they assume will never be resolved. It's also supposed to be subtle enough that she will likely forget about it... until she doesn't. That's part of the journey :)

Janel Davis

I know some others have addressed this, but I really have to take exception to the idea that Angel only had to take a sip of Buffy's blood. I realize you were being a little sarcastic saying it that way, but let's not forget, she did end up in the hospital, and who knows if someone who did not have Slayer strength and healing properties would have even survived losing that much blood. The fact is, we've seen vampires drinking for much less time and it lead to people dying. My take on it always was that the assumption was that in order to counter the poison he would need more than a small amount of blood, so there was a high risk that a person would die, but they couldn't know that for sure. But Buffy was taking a huge risk, gambling that he could drink enough to cure him and either she or he would be able to stop him before he took too much.

darby72

Happy Thanksgiving, girl! Loved this reaction. Like a couple of others that commented here, I feel like the scenario between Buffy and Faith is that it was one of the prophetic dreams that slayers have, only it was a shared one. In it, Faith doesn't feel like she's going to be able to recover from her coma (the cat turns into her comatose body for a second), so she gives her remaining slayer strength to Buffy in order to help her wake up. Also, loved you as Cordelia in the Buffy table read! Charisma would be proud lol

Shaun Stacy

It makes sense that so many people are telling you this. You definitely want to get through the episode BEFORE seeing the opening credits.

Brandon Scott

Thanks to both Todd Schmuck and Allan for this! I was really confused when Alley mentioned the episode being delayed, and was wondering if my memory was really that bad that I didn't remember something so significant! Now I know it was because I have the good fortune to be Canadian. Also, have to say reading about OAC's and having grad in Sept really brought back some memories!

darby72

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this to you yet but just incase they haven't this is about the point in the show where the fandom starts spoiling like crazy. They don't necessarily mean to or think they're spoiling, they will drop "hints" that they think are really clever and sneaky but they really aren't and it's ruined the experience a bit for a lot of reactors so beware of that.

homoerotic 80s volleyball scene personified

You should probably delete this because while it isn't a direct spoiler you are telling her when it'll make sense.

homoerotic 80s volleyball scene personified

"Miles to go. Little Miss Muffet, counting down from seven three oh." I just want to point out that the fandom had that riddle almost completely decoded within a day of airing. When it's non-spoilery I'll post my complete analysis.

Tim St. Croix

Bryce Carlson

Thanks for this Thanksgiving treat! And it was a pleasure that no one interrupted me while I watched for a change! (except when I went outside for a minute to feed my squirrel friends) I really thought for a minute Alley was going to realize that hey, what about Buffy's blood? and Angel was going to feed on Buffy a couple of minutes into the ep(much before the scene happened) In the Faith/Buffy dream, I had to freeze frame that part where you see the cat on the bed then it quick flashes to someone lying on the bed. Just wanted to make sure that was Faith. I remember the first time I saw the Mayor's transformation scene I was like, really, he turned into a giant snake? I thought it was corny but upon multiple rewatches I have embraced it mostly because of the great school fight scene. Still love seeing that crane shot over the students and who doesn't love: "NOW!" Loved Alley's freak out when finding out Faith was in her room close by. I vote for "Dick" for Alley's quote of the day...or "Now!" Or "Well gosh"... oh man, there's too many to chose. Alley- Did you see little Mutant Enemy guy with the graduation cap at the end? Bring on season 4! My all time fave ep lives there.

Val

Having watched the episode and looking at the historical context, can you now appreciate why the network did NOT want to air it at the originally scheduled time?

Bryce Carlson

So, my understanding of that faith and buffy scene in the dream sequence is that faith was giving Buffy her power so she could wake up. Faith says “take what you need” and that’s when buffy wakes up. Anyone else perceive it that way?

Samiah

I don't think Angel was being dramatic at the end. He stopped and stood there to allow Buffy to agree to not saying goodbye. He thought that would be best, but he gave her the chance to come over to him. She chose not to and to let him go, so she agreed to leave it that way.

Miricat

Buffy is rough on high schools. She burned down the gym of her previous high school, and now she blew up pretty much all of Sunnydale High.

Mark Zima

The shared dream between Buffy and Faith is basically because they are both Slayers and as such have dreams of other Slayers or about future events - e.g. Buffy dreamed about the Master several times during season 1 (right at the beginning of the very first episode in fact) and also dreamed of Angel "dying" which foreshadowed him turning into Angelus.

BeckettBaladas

Fun Fact: the explosion at the end of this episode was done at night in the town where school filming occurred. The explosion was so large that it set off car alarms for the entire neighborhood and resulted in them being banned from ever filming there again.

Hunter McKinney

In my head canon, the mayor's speech is half speech and half spell. If you listen to it it sounds that way. It's what triggers his ascension.

Daniel Stimson

This. *Rubs chin* Has she ever actually said how she feels about Oz and Willow? I can;t seem to remember. Maybe she should tell us again, just to be sure. :D

Raven Dark

Also as other pointed out, Buffy integrates her shadow self (Faith) in these two episodes, and in the dream Faith even says "Just take what you need" (implied : "From me") when Buffy asks what she's supposed to do with all the boxes in Faiths' appartment

madfem

Notice how Angel said "She's clean" when the doctor asked if they had been doing drugs... He's not clean cuz he drank human blood, it's a metaphor for being a vampire = being an alcoholic

madfem

Happy Thanksgiving, all! This is a great surprise on this hallowed Turkey Day!

Jonathan Schneider

Oh I thought that was hysterical that Wesley went down after taking a couple of steps.

Val

You should still listen to the theme though, as it is quite good! Just close your eyes for it.

Henry McFadyen

ah shoot, I will be sure to make it more clear next time ;)

Alley Box

imma pretend I didn't read that and live in a world where Larry is still alive 😌 lmaooo and im so ready for a change since this season wrapped up the high school story so well, so so excited to see where it takes us now!

Alley Box

IT WAS ALL ONE SHOT?? OH MY GOD.. as if I couldn't love that scene more..

Alley Box

that call back to that line is soooo cool!! I love it

Alley Box

u right u right

Alley Box

of course! recently rewatched IKWYDLS and I still love it sm. I was almost named Jennifer bc of Jennifer Love Hewitt and the ghost whisperer was my parents favorite show when my mom was pregnant with me lol. and I adore the scream movies so loved seeing SMG in it

Alley Box

Alley, you really need to stop being so wishy-washy about Willow and Oz. Please tell us how you truly feel about them!

Thom Purdy

I felt so bad for you wondering if Oz and/or Willow were going to die! But of course The Show of Subverting Expectations just puts you through a ton of stress only for everything to be fine haha. I love how well these last two episodes work - it's not just the finale of season 3, it's the finale of the high school era, and it does both beautifully. ".....Dick."

Jamie Morgan

Probably because they know they won't have to pay them for long. LMAO

Raven Dark

I wish he'd got in a couple of good punches before being knocked on his ass, though. Just to show his capability has grown since he was first introduced. Oh well.

Jamie Morgan

WELL, GOSH! That oner in the hospital is what I live for. This finale is in a class of its own. Bring on Season 4.

Blain H Granado

Unfortunately Larry did die there rip king 😥 ...along with harmony Love the school all coming together especially after acknowledging everything supernatural & buffy at the prom!! Loved your reaction to it all it was 100% m e especially the way you freak out over willow and oz 😁 Excited to take on season 4 with you! I personally didnt love it but that's because I hate change so hopefully going in with a more open mind and watching it a second time round with you will make it a better experience!

Georgina Cussans

So I mentioned that Faith has been Buffy's Shadow Self this season and I feel like the shared dream was Buffy integrating her shadow self. This website has some info on that psychological process: https://thelovettcenter.com/shadow-integration-101/#:~:text=Shadow%20integration%20is%20a%20process,referred%20to%20as%20the%20unconscious. One thing I found interesting is that it says Shadow Self Integration can 'transmute grief into a deep connection with oneself and others'. Buffy is grieving over the loss of Angel but after having 'absorbed' Faith, she is able to connect with the entire school to fight the mayor.

HuntingSwan

I think it's about realizing that sacrificing yourself is morally different from sacrificing someone else. On the whole, it was paying off the line from the First about how he was going to drink her in the end, that it was destiny. And yeah, it was a sex metaphor.

FernWithy

Sunnydale High Principal...the job where you definitely will get eaten by something at some point. :) But from what I hear salary and benefits package are very generous to compensate for that. :)

Felix Dürhammer

Buffy "fighting" the Mayor includes her ideas and plan-making abilities.....all of which she wouldn't have been able to off had she died or slipped into a coma from blood loss, or something. Which she was aware was the probable outcome. Hugely wreckless decision to me

SpikesEcho

And as expected... loved it.

Donald Mellen

....still doesn't mean they pulled it off lol, just grosses me out. It *could* be sexy, and it's clear they tried to make it sexy, but.....no thanks. Buffy/Angel in general don't pull off chemistry or sexy for me, so that's certainly partly a me thing

SpikesEcho

The only known vampire to be cured did it through draining a slayer. It was the only account of it they could find. It was not an "official antidote recipe" that said a slayer must be drained. And Angel did almost kill her. And, if you think about the episode, Buffy defeated the demon by coming up with a plan, and goading him into chasing after her. Buffy was important because the mayor was angry with her because of Faith, but she never directly "fought" the mayor. It was (by narrow definition) an example of "twas 'blamo' that killed the beast".

Donald Mellen

awww you should have kept the graduation robe Also laughing at your "small class" comment. My graduating class was 18 people.

Vincent Valentin

OMG! that is absolutely genius!

Ashtara Levin

About Faith and Buffy ... I think both their shared dream (as I choose to think of it) and Buffy kissing Faith on the forehead is meant to signal that on both a literal and figurative level that Buffy at least has closure with the whole Faith business, and in a good way. She no longer hates Faith, but realizes that she’s still a fellow Slayer. And I think to the extent possible we might conclude that on some level Faith feels the same way. In a sense she MAY have assisted Buffy through their shared dream ... giving her the clue about the Mayor’s vulnerability. I like to think that the dream Buffy and dream Faith are the two of them as their true, core selves ... allies in the deepest way. Everything else is just surface crap and temporary conflict. They are sisters underneath. Another favorite line reading: Giles: “Tea is soothing, I wish to be tense.”

Andrew Pulrang

I saw a behind the scenes video about the Special Affects recently.. after hearing all they had to orchestrate for the real-life model of the snake from Reptile Boy (which included animatronics, prosthetics AND make up) I understand why they opted to move towards CGI

Ashtara Levin

With regards to Snyder, they had originally planned to have a rotating cast of principals after Flutie was eaten (each one being killed off in gruesome ways), but Snyder was so *perfect* that they just decided to keep him. His end in the finale was a nod to the original intention, I believe.

Daniel

Hard agree. Like you said, a big theme this season is authority/institutional power and how you react to it, i.e. rebellion or submission (which is ultimately also culpability and was also exemplified in Faith's character, in a different way). The Mayor was all about control, specifically of what he repeatedly called children. "Children are the heart of a community. They need to be looked after, controlled." Spoken immediately after saying he "could just eat them up." And it's interesting that when the Mayor achieved his version of absolute power, Snyder, who is also all about authority and controlling young people and implicitly enabled the Mayor by enforcing his ideals as the principal, was devoured by him without a second thought. He was all about authority but he himself gave up his own agency to be the king of that little hill for the last 2 years. It's rebellion that ultimately established "order" in a more just and effective fashion, which Snyder was incapable of being a part of.

KT

Okay this makes me actually like Snyder's death scene more when I thought it was just some random thing he says and the gets eaten, but I didn't notice it brought him full circle to Season 1.

Koh_Kae

Yep. It's not reeeeeally a spoiler, but I'd still like alley find it out when seeing that person again.

Patrick Armbruster

Buffy was turned on. I don’t see it as gross . Buffy has always been willing to sacrifice herself for her friends. Passion of the Nerd covers this. He says that when Buffy crushed the vase that yes that is an orgasm. Maybe metaphorically . The vampire myth is based on sex. It could be argued that Buffy felt ecstasy because she was saving Angel instead of having to stab him with a sword.

Allan Cornett

Yay! An upload that is not in the middle of the night for me :D And this ending is sooooo satisfying! I mean I guess some Bangel fans were sad it ended but honestly I'm so done with them lmao. No wonder Angel falls for underage teenage girls when he acts so goddam immature and dramatic all the time. And I almost started crying when the students was fighting back - it is just so wsgirjnjdxkhbnskgvfbhn!!!! Almost everything came to a close in these episodes. And also that the mayor actually probably loves Faith in his own way, which makes him so much more interesting as a villain. And I mean this is one of the reasons Buffy is so much better than spn tho lmao, because they actually understand their audience. There is a reason this show is so infamous with such a strong fanbase. It almost always delivers, especially in important episodes like the season finales. I mean the first time it really flexed it muscles was the finale to the very first season. And although it doesn't always give you exactly what you want (everything always being sunshine and rainbows gets boring) it is always good. Looking forward to seeing season 4, 5, 6 and 7 with you! Also thinking I should finally watch all of Angel... but it really isn't the same for me, he also isn't really my fave character but I'm starting to like his funny (mostly unintentionally) side more and more.

CrookedCat

Also Snyder in the Puppet show: "My predecessor, Mr. Flutie, may have gone in for all that touchy-feely relating nonsense, but he was eaten." going off your quote: to me Snyder's is a tragic story about someone who thought order ran the world and if he brought FIRM order to HS in Sunnydale he was doing good work. He was told by those in power above him about some of the supernatural dangers, and probably told to keep a close eye on Buffy since she was caught up in the demonic activity, maybe even being a demon herself. He unquestioningly believed them, and it lead to him being used for evil purposes and eventually eaten. Not unquestioningly trusting traditions of authority has been at the heart of this season. Rebellion as an authentic/appropriate response to oppressive and coercive societal structures was something outside of Snyder’s understanding.

Shashank

Really? I wonder which character because I was careful not to post spoilers or anything past this episode. Edit: Nvm, I thiiiink I know who you're talking about.

Koh_Kae

The idea that someone is supposed to get turned on by that scene is kinda gross considering Buffy is getting drained of blood and slowly dying :-O

Koh_Kae

Please edit this to remove things about a certain person. I wish alley to find out when watching on...

Patrick Armbruster

That was also Cordy’s only vamp she ever dusted.

Cheyne Johnson

Joss had plans to have Wesley do something brave in the battle but Alexis thought it would be funny if he was knocked out of the fight right at the beginning.

Cheyne Johnson

Sunnydale High School principals are now 2 for 2 for being eaten.

Steve Quast

Good thing that Christmas ball wasn't glass :-D

zerofk

"Angel you dramatic piece of shit." Wait a minute. Who told you the official tagline for the spinoff show? Yeah, this finale is exponentially better than the one for Supernatural. Much, much better.

Steve Quast

Was going to comment the same thing. I remember the earshot episode being delayed, but we got the season 3 finale in May of 1999(I remember it was the Monday night of the Victoria Day long weekend. Star Wars episode 1 had just had it’s huge release about 4 or 5 days earlier, so it was a big week for Canadian geeks). I think they said they delayed it to avoid it coming out the same time as schools were graduating, so that might be part of the reason(a lot of high schools including mine would have all the graduation ceremonies and dances in September to give students who needed one last credit to make it up it summer school and still graduate. It wasn’t an issue since we still had our O.A.C./grade 13 Year for anyone going to college or university, but that year wasn’t needed for your high school diploma). Brings back memories.

Todd “Canuck” Schmuck

My favorite season finale of ANY tv show. It built up over 3 seasons and was a satisfying conclusion. At the time, the network waited til close to the end to let him know if the show will get another season, so it was written that way just in case the show wouldn't be back. Which was fine, all we know is the gang is gonna go off to college and prolly fight evil along the side too. Part 1 premiered back in May, and we had to wait until July for Part 2. Yes, the episode was controversial with violence, students dying, the school blowing up. During filming, the school blowing up was supposed to be a little longer and more elaborate, but the network wanted it shorter and that's what we got. The explosion caused car alarms to go off and many of the locals angry, so they were not allowed to film in that area anymore. Faith is actually in a coma, and she can be seen breathing, so I'm not sure if that would set up another Slayer. I've always wondered what it meant when Buffy kissed her. I guess she felt bad that after everything Faith went through, this was how she ended up. It was inevitable that Snyder was going to die, but I wish they had found a better way to kill him off, even if it did involve a principal getting eaten. Oh, and the class was small because of the students getting killed for 3 seasons. Kinda makes me wonder how small the other senior classes were. So bittersweet the students decided to help Buffy fight after The Prom episode. Now I wonder, what happened to the parents at graduation? Did they all get blown up?? :_O I'm just so relieved that Buffy/Angel is over. It was way too dramatic. Larry and Harmony were surprisingly likeable by the end, and it was sad to see them go. I love how all the minor characters came back for the last episode. Overall, the high school years are over and I'm sad about it because they were some fun seasons, but time to grow up and be an adult now. Excited to start Season 4 with you and it's gonna be interesting you watching it while actually being in college :-).

Koh_Kae

You can watch it right after the episode ends though

Ana

My personal favorite season of Buffy ends with one of the greatest season finales one could find. Who could demand more?

Koz

"Little Miss Muffet counting down from 730"

Nikho_Ronin

oh and while I'm not big fan of S3 I absolutely love the fact that Buffy starts this season completely alone, isolated from everyone she loves and ends it surrounded by friends and allies. It's a beautiful message for someone starting their adulthood.

DB

Alley it was one, long continuous shot in the hospital! So gorgeous and beautifully acted! 💓 Joss loves those kind of shots

SpikesEcho

I mean: I know, it's not really, really a spoiler, but I think letting the show reveal it to her will be better.

Patrick Armbruster

Alley stop triggering me, I don't want to remember the atrocity that was SPN finale actually happened lol As for this episode there's a lot to unpack. Everybody already mentioned that biting=sex with those shots of Buffy grabbing the poor vase or whatever it was in the way cinema loves to allude to orgasm. The feeding off Buffy was already foreshadowed in Amends when Angel is told that he will drink her. Buffy and Faiths dream sequence is not to be taken literally. It's either one of Slayers prophetic dreams or a shared coma but you're meant to be as confused as Buffy is. Finally Snyder makes that statistic of 2/2 Sunnydale High principles getting eaten and I feel like it's perfect haha

DB

You mentioned, you liked Slasher Horror movies (Halloween). Have you ever watched the slasher horror movies that Sarah Michelle Geller acted in (I know what you did last summer or Scream 2)?

Justafox305

That scene is so gross lol, I don't think they pulled it off...not for me anyway 😆

SpikesEcho

I had to pause on Alley's "What? Why am I sad for the Mayor?!" Because it's Joss Whedon, honey....

Ashtara Levin

It's a fantastic finale to the season :) The Mayor is an excellent character & how he genuinely cares for Faith, to the point of being on the verge of throwing away a century or so of preparation adds a great extra layer to him. The whole thing of needing to completely drain a slayer is probably one of those things where in-universe no-one quite knows how it works, a combination of slayer blood being mystically potent & vampiric instincts, especially when wounded & needing the extra regeneration, would basically make it nigh-impossible for a vampire to *not* completely finish them off, with Angel's having a soul being one of the only reasons he's able to pull away in time. Dream scenes are always weird but they usually make sense eventually, at least to some relative measure of sense. Wesley & Cordelia... hilarious but also really kind of sweet, and end fight vs. vampires, hey Cordelia got one as smoothly as Buffy's ever managed :) Could also be an allusion to the fact that the 2 actresses also both initially auditioned for each other's roles. "When I get happy I get paranoid." Yep, you're 100% one of us now.

Stewart Denew

Be Chaotic Alley and watch it anyway

Calvin Allen

Could you please edit your post and remove any faintly spoilery content?

Patrick Armbruster

Sitting down to watch now. Happy Thanksgiving Alley! This year I'm grateful for finding Alley Box reactions!

Donald Mellen

It's for sure unfair, but I expect it of her nonetheless, seeing as the alternative for all she knows is that everyone one else will die without her able to fight the Mayor. It's the weakest part of this two part finale, the whole Angel being poisoned and draining a slayer is the only way to save him, except, wait, no, he didn't need to drain a slayer. That plot has got some big holes in it lol, I guess to thro in some last Bangel drama before he hits the road. The episode is so superb with the exception of all that tho, it's definitely a favorite 💓

SpikesEcho

Snyder in the Puppet Show: "From now on you're going to see a very different Sunnydale High. A tight ship. Clean, orderly, and quiet." Snyder's last lines: "This is not orderly. This is not disciplined. You're on my campus, buddy, and when I say I want quiet, I mean—"

KT

Take your time

Dollface

Alley since Faith starting to work for the mayor: "Yeah, let's watch him drop her like a brick when push comes to shove." Everyone else: "Oh, you just wait..."

Sudden Real

Allan Cornett

On the one hand yeah, but she was also a young girl in love. She'd killed him once. It's unfair to expect her to let him die again. And I am saying this as someone who is strongly anti Bangel.

Roger Lackman

Loved your reaction as always! I always get sad about the mayor's reaction to Faith's demise. I am not a Faith fan until she lends Buffy her blood and they sort of make up in the dream scenario. I'm glad you recognize how overly dramatic Angel is and how he acts like a child with Buffy. I love them together, but also hate them together at the same time. It's good he is moving on.

Kitty

Yeah, the Mayor really cares for Faith. Part of what makes him such a fun villain is he can still express humanity, plus a good dose of good old-fashioned quirkiness. "Hopefully there's not a time jump or anything." *Four months later.....* LMAO

Steve Quast

Slayer blood is what finally set the Master free in season one. It must be good stuff!

Steve Quast

the metaphor/symbolism in the Angel drinking Buffy scene is sex lmaoo

Ana

What I took away from the scene with Buffy and Faith was both Slayers lost a significant amount of strength and fell into a shared coma. With both being weak, there's only enough power between them for one of them to wake up. Faith gave Buffy the little power she had left allowing Buffy to wake up. RIP Snyder. After Principal Flutie, the original plan was to have a revolting door of principals who were going to keep dying. But Armin Shimerman came in at the end of the first season and they liked him so much they kept him around. Good decision imo. From the Buffy wiki: "According to Marti Noxon in the DVD commentaries, the explosion scene was filmed at 5 a.m. in Torrance, California, where the outdoor scenes had been filmed for the previous three years. The explosion was so huge it woke up many of the residents, broke windows and set off car alarms." Oooppss! 😂

Rafael Lemus

Alright, who's up for some roast snake? *straps on bib* Best Thanksgiving ever!

Steve Quast

Angel feeding on Buffy is the most sexual scene in Buffy so far. Buffys blood freed the Master so we have known about the power of her blood.

Allan Cornett

About Angel being healed just by taking _some_ of Buffy's blood: I guess in medieval literature and other older tales, they simply never even thought about the possibility of a vampire _not_ taking all of a slayer's blood. Angel's situation with him having his soul is rather an exception not foreseen by the author of the text they read on a slayer's blood being helpful.

Patrick Armbruster

Alley wrote on her patreon post of the edited version of Helpless: "oh gosh, so sorry bout the..." I have been told I'm tooooo easily amused.

Shashank

Happy Thanksgiving! The end of next week review will be something to look forward to! This is a very satisfying finale, overall. I love the moment with the big reveal of the class fighting back. It's a great launching point for the whole new worlds of Season 4 Buffy and Season 1 Angel, too. I love how every season of these shows has its own feel and flavor. It's why you can have endless discussions with people over their favorite seasons and everyone has a different opinion...and nobody is wrong!

Erica Schaefer

Love this season finale! Tho I always hate Buffy's decision to have Angel drink from her, it's just above and beyond wreckless. She was lucky af it all worked out and she didn't wind up dead and/or too weak/impaired to save the world

SpikesEcho

The CGI Mayor snake looks pretty dated by today’s standards, but back then, for a television production it was ahead of it’s time, some ground breaking stuff.

Keenan White

I've been hoping this would come in soon. Thanks to my slow ass internet i'll let it download now while i go to the shop for snacks.

Kris Donovan

As much as I love this season finale, Becoming Part 2 will always be a little better in my opinion just because of the sacrifice Buffy had to make.

aeronitz

Hero, lifesaver, holiday unruiner!

Superfan Giovanni

If I was Oz I would have pretended to be Buffy with Angel 👀

Jessie

It's not just the blood of a slayer being premium, it's that the poison is mystical, which means cures can be anything very much out of the norm.

TheyCallMeJeff

I’m so behind but will catch up! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Sandy S.

yes!! everyone keeps telling me that, i will for sure remember not to haha

Alley Box

I know there is so much to say about this episode but let me be the first to say I am so soft for the Buffy and Faith forehead kisses. This episode really is the perfect end to the high school arc of the Scoobies lives. It was also great seeing all the students we met over the past 3 seasons join the fight. A beautiful finale for my favourite season.

Valkyrie

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you! Also, please do not watch the opening credits for Angel 1x1

Brittney

Happy Thanksgiving!! And this is awesome - can’t wait to watch. Also, this was shown in Canada in its original slotted air date as well so we got to see what happened before the US did. I think they were done shooting the season already so they couldn’t go back and rewrite it.

Allan

Thankyou! Happy Thanksgiving from the UK. Take as much time as you need.

Collinson

Happy turkey day Alley. Thanks for making mine better.

Allan Cornett