Halloween (Buffy episode)
Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAL : Halloween (Buffy episode)
"Halloween" is episode 6 of season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Plot synopsis
Summary
Sunnydale teens are turned into their costume personas on Halloween night after patronizing a store run by the insidious Ethan Rayne, who has a dark history with Giles. Willow becomes a ghost, Xander a soldier and Buffy a helpless 17th-century noblewoman. Spike cannot be more pleased.Expanded overview
Buffy and Angel finally agree to a date, but Buffy is delayed at Pop's Pumpkin Patch by a vampire. Spike films it in the dark. While Angel waits at the Bronze, Cordelia shows up. When Buffy finally arrives, she is turned away by Cordelia's sharp tongue. Cordelia continues to hit on Angel, unaware of his history.The next day, Principal Snyder forces Buffy and her friends into chaperoning small children while they trick-or-treat. Buffy would rather take a break during the only slow night for vampires. Later, Larry the school bully threatens Xander while asking him about Buffy, who smashes Larry into a soda machine. Xander is angry by the damage that does to his reputation.
The gang has to dress up for Halloween. They head to Ethan's Costume Shoppe, where Willow gets a ghost costume and Xander buys a toy gun to go with his army fatigues from home. Buffy and Xander make up, but then she spies the most beautiful 18th-century pink dress -- one that matches what she has spied from Giles's Watcher files. Ethan Rayne appears and makes her an offer she cannot refuse.
Spike is reviewing Buffy's fight. Drusilla comes to tell him that someone will make Buffy weak on Halloween night. Meanwhile, Ethan is chanting to a statue in the back room of his shop.
On Halloween night, Buffy manages to convince Willow to wear a black mini-skirt and a long-sleeved crop shirt. Willow is very shy and tries to hide it with her ghost costume. The doorbell rings and Willow takes the opportunity to cover her skimpy outfit. Later that night, Ethan's spell takes effect and everyone wearing a costume from his store turns into the respective persona. Willow becomes a real ghost, Xander an Army private and Buffy an 18th-century English noblewoman.
Willow convinces Xander to stop shooting at people. They find a disoriented Buffy, who has not a clue. Willow rushes them to Buffy's house, where her mom is conveniently not home. Outside, Cordelia screams and Xander rushes out to save her. They find that Cordelia has not changed into what she is wearing -- a cat -- because she bought her costume from another store. Willow goes to Giles for help. While Cordelia searches the house, Angel shows up and takes Buffy into the kitchen. As Angel tries to kill a vampire that has sneaked into the house, he reveals his game face. Buffy is horrified and runs away from the house.
At the library, Willow tells Giles about Ethan's costumes. They head to the shop, where Giles reveals that he knows Ethan. He orders Willow to leave and physically persuades Ethan to reverse the spell.
Spike is looking for Buffy, who enters an alley and meets Larry, now a pirate. Xander arrives to beat up on Larry while Willow shows up to warn them of Spike. The gang tries to barricade themselves inside a warehouse, but Spike's gang breaks in. Just as Spike is about to kill Buffy, Giles breaks the spell by breaking the statue. Buffy recovers to whale on Spike. He flees.
Buffy admits to Angel that she was trying to impress him. He tells her that he hated those people back then. The women were dull. He wanted someone exciting. They make out. The next day, Giles returns to the store to find a note. Ethan has promised to return soon.
Writing and acting
- Carl Ellsworth is credited as writer of this episode though it underwent rewriting by Whedon. Ellsworth revealed to [Courier-Journal in 2005]:
- :“One day I was called into Joss Whedon’s office expecting to get notes on the script, but he said, “Carl, we are taking the script away, and we have nothing else for you.” They fired me. It still shakes me up to think about it. I had never been fired before. As I look back, there are so many reasons. It just wasn’t a fit. … When you are a staff writer, it’s an entry-level position, and you have to learn when to pitch ideas and when not to. At that time, I was a little too green, and I don’t think I was able to capture the voices of the characters in high school. It was a personal blow, and I had a classic depression — I couldn’t type a word. That lasted about six months. … I got back going with Animorphs, a Nickelodeon show."”
Production details
Music
- Epperley - "Shy"
- Treble Charger - "How she died"
Quotes and trivia
- The costume designer responsible for Buffy's dress [picked it] as her favorite piece of the series.
- The two faced statue Janus used by Ethan Rayne in this episode is later seen in "Tabula Rasa" behind Giles when he finds his airline ticket in his pocket. In ancient Roman mythology, Janus was the (literally) two-faced god of gates, of doors, and of beginnings and endings, and was worshipped at harvests, marriages, births, and other kinds of beginnings. (The month January is named after him, as it is the "door" into the new year.) It might be speculated the statue in "Tabula Rasa" symbolises Giles leaving Sunnydale and going to England.
- There is a black and white oval sticker labelled by the letters “WP”. The letters stand for the Sunnydale band, "Widespread Panic". It can be seen in number of places in this episode; on Oz’s locker door (near Cordelia when she’s dressed as a cat and talking to Oz), on a bulletin board (on Willow's right when she walks into the library as a ghost), on the bathroom wall (behind Buffy’s right shoulder when she and Willow are looking at the book). The same sticker appears in a number of episodes; "Inca Mummy Girl", "Bad Eggs", "Surprise", "Phases", "Bewitched", "Bothered and Bewildered", "Becoming (Part 2)", "Dead Man’s Party", "A New Man", "Wild at Heart", "The Yoko Factor", and "The Replacement".
- Willow's line, “Wild on me equals spaz” was cut when the episode was shown on the BBC; because in the UK, "spaz" is an extremely offensive term often used to desribe a handicapped or disabled person.
Continuity
Arc significance
- Xander's military experience occasionally becomes handy for the Scooby Gang. He later explains in "Innocence" that his memories of being a soldier, including “procedure, ordnance, access codes, everything”, have been retained.
- Willow takes a leadership role for the first time after discovering that Buffy and Xander have amnesia.
- Buffy and Angel agreed to go for a coffee in "Reptile Boy", in this episode they attempt to do so. In Season 5, "I Was Made to Love You", Buffy sees 'coffee' as an extremely important date-like event regarding Ben, and the drink is used as an analogy for feelings.
- This is the first hint of a dark past for the heretofore book-straight Giles.
- This episode features the first appearances of recurring characters Ethan Rayne and Larry.
Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
External links
| Buffyverse | ||
| Main | Canon | Index Chronology: Ancient | Modern | BS1 | BS2 | BS3 | BS4/AS1 | BS5/AS2 | BS6/AS3 | BS7/AS4 | AS5 | Future | Flashbacks | |
| Buffy | Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | Comics | Film | Pilot (unaired) | Promo: History.. | Novels | Promos: Pre-"Bargaining" | |
| Angel | Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | | |
| Spin-offs | Comics | Fan made productions | Fray | Novels | Spike movie | Undeveloped productions Buffy Animated | Card Game | RPGs | Tales of Slayer (prose) | Tales of Slayers | Tales of Vampires | Toys | Video Games Upcoming: Blackout | | | | | | Portal Through Time | Spike vs Dracula | | |
| Powers | Angel Investigations | Circle of the Black Thorn | Order of Aurelius | The First Evil | The Initiative | Monsters | Old Ones | The Powers That Be | Ra-Tet | Scooby Gang | Senior Partners | Watchers' Council | Wolfram & Hart | |
| People | Adam | Amy | Andrew | Angel | Anya | Buffy | Caleb | Connor | Cordelia | Dawn | Darla | Doyle | Dru | Eve | Faith | Fred | Giles | Glory | Gunn | Harmony | Holtz | Illyria | Jasmine | Jenny | Joyce | Jonathan | Kate | Kennedy | Lilah | Lindsey | Lorne | The Master | Mayor Wilkins | Oz | Professor Walsh | Riley | Spike | Tara | Warren | Wesley | Willow | Xander | |
| Places | L.A. | Sunnydale Bronze | Caritas | Hellmouth | Hyperion | Library | Magic Box | Pylea | Sunnydale High | |
| Music | Complete Tracklist | Use of Music in Buffy & Angel | Dingoes Ate My Baby | Film | | | Once More, With Feeling | |
| Key Terminology | "Demon" | "Slayer" | "Vampire" | "Watcher" | "Werewolf" | "Witch" "Child of Senior Partners" | Shanshu | Sunnydale Syndrome | Tro-Clon | |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.