Andrew Wells

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Andrew Wells

Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells

First appearance Flooded (Buffy)
Last appearance The Girl in Question (Angel)
Created by Joss Whedon

Statistics
Name Andrew Wells
Status Alive
Species Human
Affiliation Disciple of Giles, Watcher's Council, ally of the Scooby Gang, former pawn of The First Evil, partner of Jonathan, member of the Trio and Sunnydale High student.
Notable powers

Skilled demon summoner, adept at employing pipes, flutes and other wind instruments for this.
Watcher training grants him moderate fighting techniques and knowledge in demonology and the dark arts.
Portrayed by Tom Lenk

Andrew Wells is a fictional character in the U.S. television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Tom Lenk. He was the younger brother of a character seen in an earlier episode, Tucker Wells, who summoned hellhounds to attack the Prom in season three ("The Prom"). He himself has skills in demon-raising and animal control, although these were inexplicably never used after Season 6; he credits his brother with giving him the courage to develop this talent. It is perhaps not coincidental that a demon-summoning family living atop a Hellmouth would be named "Wells," when "well" is, after all, just another word for a hole in the ground.

Andrew provides much of the comic relief in season 7 along with the advancement of major plot points.

At some point during Buffy's senior year, Andrew summoned Winged Monkey Demons to attack the school's production of Romeo and Juliet, apparently for no other reason than to amuse himself. Although the Scooby Gang no doubt investigated at the time, they did not discover that Andrew was responsible, and a few years later they had forgotten the incident, simply one of any number of minor bits of magical mayhem that plagued Sunnydale. Years after the fact, both Jonathan and Warren recalled the incident with amusement; since Warren, Buffy's contemporary, is known to have spent only his senior year at Sunnydale High (he attended the prom to which Tucker sent the hellhounds), his memory of the occasion proves that it occurred during his senior year, which was also Buffy's.

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Although presumably attending Sunnydale High along with Buffy (most likely a grade or two below her), Andrew was only introduced (long after the destruction of the High School) in Season 6, as a member of the Trio, Buffy's self-styled "arch nemesises" [sic]. Indeed, Andrew was arguably the most important member of the group, since many of their endeavors relied upon his ability to summon and control various demons.

Warren Mears, the leader of the gang, was almost entirely driven by greed and lust for power; whereas Jonathan Levinson apparently joined the gang for excitement, was repelled by Warren's ruthlessness and eventually helped save Buffy's life. Andrew occupied a sort of middle ground between these two, initially, as before, simply seeking power and amusement, but becoming more evil as the show progressed, for example, cheering "kill her!" as Warren fought Buffy, and actually killing Jonathan in Season 7. After this, Andrew became somewhat remorseful and repentant, culminating in the episode "Storyteller". In this episode, Buffy forces him to face up to the seriousness of his actions. Afterwards, Andrew joined Buffy as a comic sidekick in the fight against the First Evil. Thus, the character of Andrew is an example of the show's strong emphasis on redemption. In two episodes of Angel's 5th Season, Andrew returns, and the character appears to have matured slightly. He is now under the mentorship of Rupert Giles, who is training him as a Watcher, presumably alongside many others, as now hundreds of Slayers require guidance. Spike seems to have an amused, if exasperated, affection for him. It should be noted that Andrew has a tendency to exaggerate, or relate his own version of the 'truth'. It's possible that he exaggerated his own importance, as well as his Watcher tutelage under Giles.

A running joke in the show is that for a while nobody knew who Andrew was, and he was often referred to as "the other guy", "Tucker's brother", and so on. This is a reference to the fact that the character of Andrew was created at a last minute by the show's writers, as a replacement for the Tucker Wells character. Originally, the writers wanted Brad Kane to return to the show as his season three character Tucker Wells, who would be the leader of the "Trio" with Jonathan and Warren as his flunkies. But the two sides failed to come to an agreement regarding a contract, resulting in Lenk being cast as Tucker's younger brother.

Sexuality

Other points of interest in Andrew's character include his apparent closeted homosexuality. Andrew is portrayed as having a crush on his friend and leader Warren, to the extent that the First Evil takes on Warren's appearance to seduce Andrew into killing their teammate Jonathan as part of its scheme. When it becomes clear that the First is using him, Andrew begins a friendship with the vampire Spike. Even though Spike nearly kills Andrew while under the influence of the First Evil, the two form a close bond, with Andrew alternating between hero worship towards Spike and being overly affectionate with Spike, who is either oblivious to Andrew's possible homosexuality or, more likely, simply doesn't care enough about Andrew to notice.

Andrew also fantasizes about actor Scott Bakula (First Date).

Andrew's sexuality is further complicated in his final appearance ("The Girl in Question"). Now surprisingly mature, Andrew lectures both Spike and Angel about dating and women. As the scene ends, Andrew is shown leaving for the opera in James Bond-style attire with two attractive women, referring to them as his dates.

Many fans commented that Andrew's dates do not outright mean that the character has suddenly become heterosexual (which is the popular interpretation of said scene). Accompanying two women instead of one, Andrew can be seen as a mere escort for the two women; some fans also take the date as a symptom of overcompensation for Andrew's still-repressed homosexuality. They cite Andrew's overly affectionate interaction with Spike earlier in the episode as a sign that Andrew is still gay and that his dates are not a sign that he has converted fulltime to heterosexuality. He could also, of course, have always been bisexual.

Appearances

Andrew has appeared in:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Andrew appeared as a guest in 26 episodes; Season 6 (2001, 2002) - "Flooded"; "Life Serial"; "Smashed"; "Gone"; "Dead Things"; "Normal Again"; "Entropy"; "Seeing Red"; "Villains"; "Two to Go"; "Grave".; Season 7 (2002, 2003) - "Conversations with Dead People"; "Never Leave Me"; "Bring on the Night"; "Showtime"; "Potential"; "The Killer in Me"; "First Date"; "Get It Done"; "Storyteller"; "Lies My Parents Told Me"; "Dirty Girls"; "Empty Places"; "End of Days"; "Chosen"

Angel: Andrew appeared as a guest in two episodes; Season 5 (2003,2004) - "Damage"; "The Girl in Question"

Andrew Wells

Sexuality

Appearances

See also