Graduation Day, Part One (Buffy episode)
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"Graduation Day, Part One" is the 21st episode of season 3 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Plot synopsis
Summary
The Mayor prepares for his Ascension, as does the gang, with the help of Anya. In an effort to distract Buffy from the Ascension, Faith poisons Angel. When it turns out that the only cure is the blood of a Slayer, Buffy decides to sacrifice Faith. They fight, Buffy stabs her, and Faith jumps off the balcony rather than save Angel. She lands on a moving truck, and Buffy can only watch as she rides away, possibly dead.
Expanded overview
As Graduation Day approaches, Sunnydale High enjoys a mellow love fest as former enemies exchange pleasantries. Buffy has not caught the spirit, however, and others have their own concerns, too. Cordelia is worried about the color of the gown while Xander fears for his life. He then learns that the Mayor will be the commencement speaker. Faith kills Professor Worth for the Mayor.
Anya tries to entice Xander into another date, but is stunned when she finds out about the upcoming Ascension. Xander brings her to the library, where she tells of an Ascension she witnessed 800 years before. A sorcerer had decimated an entire village within hours; only a few people escaped. The destructiveness of an Ascended demon stems from its lack of any human characteristic. The Mayor seems to be heading towards a different breed from the sorcerer's, however, and Anya is unable to help further.
At that moment, the Mayor enters the library. He tells Buffy he will eat her, and Giles plunges a fencing foil into his chest. Wilkins shrugs it off, promising "one heck of a speech."
Anya tries to convince Xander to skip town with her, but he has friends on the line. Buffy convinces her mom to leave, while Oz releases Willow's tensions by making love to her.
Searching Professor Worth's apartment, Buffy runs into Angel. It is their first encounter after the Prom. They begin arguing in the street when Faith shoots Angel in the back with an arrow, deliberately missing the heart. Angel tries to get up, but collapses into Buffy's arms.
Wesley tells Giles that the professor found a large carcass buried in a lava bed. Professor Worth thought it was an unknown dinosaur, but the Mayor evidently thought it safer to silence him anyway. Wilkins is impervious to harm only until the Ascension.
Buffy brings Angel to the library, where Giles helps remove the arrow. It was clearly poisoned and Wesley offers to ask the Watchers Council for help. Buffy thanks him, and Willow's afterglow is cut short by Buffy's call for help. Wesley returns to tell Buffy that the Council refused to help a vampire. He explains that the laws are older than civilization, and Buffy must follow the Council's orders and ignore the distraction. Buffy quits the Council.
The Mayor prepares for the Ascention by eating the giant spiders in the Box of Gavrok as Faith takes a break from her murders.
Oz tells the gang that vampires can only survive the poison by draining the blood of a Slayer. Xander has doubts about its consequences for Buffy as she leaves with Faith's dagger, intent on killing Faith before feeding her to Angel. Willow finds Faith's apartment, paid for by taxpayers, and Buffy arrives after Faith had a workout. She eventually manages to stab Faith with the dagger, but Faith falls onto a passing truck, unconscious but away from Buffy.
Writing and acting
- James Lurie played the teacher Mr. Miller in "I Only Have Eyes For You" and "Anne" as well as playing hangman with his class (”They always go for the 'E'”).
- In another father-daughter moment, Faith mentions her childhood as a tough kid. The Mayor calls her a "firecracker" and she reveals that her mother used to call her that, too. In "Touched", the First Evil would appear to Faith as the Mayor and call her the same.
Production details
Music
- Christophe Beck - "Faith's End"
- Christophe Beck - "Poison Arrow"
- Spectator Pump - "Sunday mail"
Quotes and trivia
- The teacher, Mr. Miller at Sunnydale High who plays hangman with his class in this episode also appears in "I Only Have Eyes For You", and "Anne".
- Buffy's comment that Angel is her “last office romance” is later contradicted.
- When this episode originally aired, the first ever trailer for Angel was shown. It lasted only four seconds, Boreanaz turned towards the camera, and the words Angel. This Fall appeared.
- Xander quotes the famous phrase from Jaws_(film): "We're going to need a bigger boat", as he sees in a book how big is the demon which the Mayor is tranforming into during the Ascension.
Continuity
Arc significance
- Buffy quits the Watcher's Council, which she will not rejoin until she needs information on Glory in season five. She explains the decision as her graduation, but one may view it in the same vein as her protection of Dawn from Glory, which she will view differently two years later.
- Willow loses her virginity to Oz. The core four have all lost theirs now.
- Anya helps the Scoobies for the first time, giving them information about a demon Ascension. She also decides to explore a relationship with Xander, which will continue to the end of the series.
- Angel proves that he does not always have the best entrance.
- Buffy vows Angel would be her "last office romance," but she would go on to establish relationships with Riley and Spike.
Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) | Buffyverse chronology: January 1999 - Spring 1999 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Uninvited Guests (Buffy comic)>Uninvited Guests |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy comic: The Final Cut (Buffy comic)>The Final Cut |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Bad Blood (Buffy comic)>Bad Blood |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.11 Gingerbread (Buffy episode)>Gingerbread |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy comic: Food Chain (Buffy comic)#Bad Dog>Bad Dog (by Doug Petrie) |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Crash Test Demons (Buffy comic)>Crash Test Demons |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Pale Reflections (Buffy comic)>Pale Reflections |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.12 Helpless (Buffy episode)>Helpless |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.13 The Zeppo (Buffy episode)>The Zeppo |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.14 Bad Girls (Buffy episode)>Bad Girls |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.15 Consequences (Buffy episode)>Consequences |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.16 Doppelgängland (Buffy episode)>Doppelgängland |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy book: Doomsday Deck (Buffy novel)>Doomsday Deck |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy book: Immortal (Buffy novel)>Immortal |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B3.17 Enemies (Buffy episode)>Enemies |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Prime Evil (Buffy novel)>Prime Evil |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Revenant (Buffy novel)>Revenant |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.18 Earshot (Buffy episode)>Earshot |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.19 Choices (Buffy episode)>Choices |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Power of Persuasion (Buffy novel)>Power of Persuasion |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.20 The Prom (Buffy episode)>The Prom |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Resurrecting Ravana (Buffy novel)>Resurrecting Ravana |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy books: The Gatekeeper (Buffy novel)>The Gatekeeper [Trilogy] |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Return to Chaos (Buffy novel)>Return to Chaos |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Visitors (Buffy novel)>Visitors |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Unnatural Selection (Buffy novel)>Unnatural Selection |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Obsidian Fate (Buffy novel)>Obsidian Fate |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Deep Water (Buffy novel)>Deep Water |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: Here Be Monsters (Buffy novel)>Here Be Monsters |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy book: The Book of Fours (Buffy novel)>The Book of Fours |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.21 Graduation Day, Part One (Buffy episode)>Graduation Day, Part One |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | B3.22 Graduation Day, Part Two (Buffy episode)>Graduation Day, Part Two |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Sunnydale High Yearbook (Buffyverse)>Sunnydale High Yearbook |
| Sunnydale, spring, 1999 | Buffy comic: Food Chain (Buffy comic)#Double Cross>Double Cross |
External links
Reviews
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