The Wish (Buffy episode)
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"The Wish" is the ninth episode of season 3 on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Plot synopsis
Summary
Cordelia's pain over Xander's betrayal summons Anyanka, a demon who grants wishes to unsuspecting, scorned women. Blaming Buffy for everything that has gone wrong in her life, Cordelia wishes that the Slayer had never come to Sunnydale. In the alternate reality Anyanka then creates, the Master has risen and set up shop in the Bronze, Willow and Xander have been turned and Angel is their slave. Giles and a handful of students, including Oz and Larry, try to save the few that they can. Cordelia is able to tell Giles that her wish kept Buffy from Sunnydale before she is killed. He summons Buffy from Cleveland and she battles the Master, but without the help of her friends, Buffy is killed. Luckily, Giles is able to reverse the events by destroying Anyanka's powercenter.
Expanded overview
Following Xander and Willow's kiss in "Lovers' Walk", Oz has called a time-out on Willow and Xander cannot get in a word with Cordelia, who is taunted mercilessly by her girlfriends, led by Harmony, and rejected by other guys. After Buffy humiliates Cordelia in front of her friends while saving her from a vampire, Cordelia determines Buffy is to blame for her predicament. The next day, Anya -- a new girl who has been trying to befriend Cordelia -- gives Cordelia an amulet while goading Cordelia into making a wish: Buffy Summers has never come to Sunnydale. Anya immediately switches to demon form and grants it.
Cordelia finds herself in a town overrun by vampires, but Willow and Xander are still together -- as vampires. Cordy is saved by the "White Hats," a group of human vampire-fighters led by Giles and including Oz and Larry.
Cordelia tries to explain to Giles what happened and asks to have Buffy back before she is killed by Xander and Willow -- the Master does not want the Slayer to interfere with his devilish plan. Giles calls Buffy from Cleveland and discovers that the amulet is Anyanka's.
At the same time, The Master has created a human torture chamber in the Bronze. When pleased, he allows his underlings to toy with Angel, a captive in the abandoned factory in Sunnydale. He is planning to industrialize blood removal from humans through assembly lines.
On his way home, Giles encounters vampires who are herding humans for the plant. A war-worn Buffy rescues him. She is cynical about Giles's prospects of reversing Anya's spell, but does offer to kill the Master while she is in town. Buffy finds Angel in his jail cell and agrees to take the vampire along.
The Master starts up the plant with the first human victim before a cage of prisoners. Giles summons Anyanka, who confirms Cordelia's story. Buffy and Angel attack the vampires, but most main characters die in the fight: Xander is killed by Buffy, Angel by Xander, Willow by Oz and finally, Buffy's neck broken by the Master. Giles realizes that Anya's amulet contains her powers, is her "powercenter," and tears it from her neck. To distract Giles, the demon asks how he can be sure the real world is a better one, but reckoning that the other world must be better, Giles breaks the powercenter and reverses the spell. Anya is dismayed to find herself a powerless Sunnydale High student.
Writing and acting
- The obvious moral of this episode is to be careful what you wish for and we all need to depend on others at times.
- Alyson Hannigan makes the most radical change from her sweet Willow.
- The amulet Cordelia gets is different from the one Anyanka is wearing when Giles summons her. Perhaps Anya gives every woman a copy of her amulet that loses its power after the wish is granted. When Anya reverts to her demon self in the last two seasons, there is no mention of amulets.
Cast
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris (human and vampire)
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
- Emma Caulfield as Anya (human and demon)
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg (human and vampire)
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall
- Seth Green as Daniel 'Oz' Osborne
- Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
- Larry Bagby as Larry Blaisdell
Quotes and trivia
- Good characters in Western shows during the black-and-white TV era were often distinguished by their white hats.
- Giles talks to Buffy's Watcher in Cleveland. In the last scene of the series, he points out there is a Hellmouth in that city.
- Jonathan makes another appearance in the series as the boy Harmony suggests to Cordelia.
- Larry is a Scooby in the alternate universe, although it is unclear if he has come out as gay in this alternative universe.
Production details
Music
- Christophe Beck - "Bizzaro Sunnydale"
- Christophe Beck - "Blood machine"
- Christophe Beck - "Slayer's Elegy"
- Gingersol - "Never noticed"
- Music House - "Get out of my way"
- The Spies - "Tired of being alone"
Translations
- German title : "Was wäre, wenn..." ("What if...")
Continuity
Arc significance
- We see a different side of the Scoobies. Without support, Buffy is fatalistic and cynical - which along with the reference to Cleveland points to previously developed parallels with Faith Lehane. Her isolationist tendency is magnified and would lead her to a quick demise.
- Anya was intended to be a one-episode character, but would eventually become a cast member providing comic relief.
- Vampire Willow returned in "Doppelgängland" and added a sexual twist.
Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) | Buffyverse chronology: Fall 1998 - Christmas 1998 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.01 Anne (Buffy episode)>Anne |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.02 Dead Man's Party (Buffy episode)>Dead Man's Party |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.03 Faith, Hope, & Trick (Buffy episode)>Faith, Hope, & Trick |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.04 Beauty and the Beasts (Buffy episode)>Beauty and the Beasts |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.05 Homecoming (Buffy episode)>Homecoming |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.06 Band Candy (Buffy episode)>Band Candy |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy book: Sins of the Father (Buffy novel)>Sins of the Father |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy graphic novel: Play With Fire (Buffy comic)>Play With Fire |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.07 Revelations (Buffy episode)>Revelations |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy book: Child of the Hunt (Buffy novel)>Child of the Hunt |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy video game: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Xbox) |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.08 Lovers' Walk (Buffy episode)>Lovers' Walk |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy graphic novel: |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy graphic novel: Remaining Sunlight (Buffy comic)>Remaining Sunlight |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy book: Ghoul Trouble (Buffy novel)>Ghoul Trouble |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy book: Paleo (Buffy novel)>Paleo |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B3.09 The Wish (Buffy episode)>The Wish |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy book: The Evil That Men Do (Buffy novel)>The Evil That Men Do |
| Sunnydale, Christmas, 1998 | B3.10 Amends (Buffy episode)>Amends |
| Sunnydale, Christmas, 1998 | , (During Amends) |
| Sunnydale, Christmas, 1998 | Amends (Buffy episode)#Christmas Buffy promo>Christmas Buffy promo, (After Amends) |
External links
Episode guides
Reviews
Other
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