Amends

"Amends" is episode 10 of season 3 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

It's Christmas in Sunnydale and Angel is haunted with dreams of the people he murdered over the years as Angelus, but when Buffy starts getting dragged into his dreams, they realize something is not right. Visions of his past victims, including Jenny Calendar, appear to him and try to get him to kill Buffy, saying that he will be released from the pain if he does so. Angel cannot bring himself to do this, so instead he opts to kill himself by standing on a hill and waiting for the sun to come up.

Buffy and Giles figure out The First Evil has been driving Angel insane. Buffy finds the Bringers and pummels them. After the First appears to her, informing her that she can't possibly fight it and that Angel is about to be dust, she runs to his mansion to stop him.

Oz explains to Willow after she said she was ready to have sex with him, Oz didn't want to, he wanted it to be special, when they were both ready.

Buffy finds Angel atop the hill behind the mansion, awaiting sunrise. They have a tense and heartbreaking conversation in which Buffy punches him and he throws her to the ground. He wants her to leave him alone because he thinks the world is better off without him. With tears in both of their eyes, looking at each other, the heatwave from which Sunnydale has been suffering abruptly ends and the first flakes of snow start to fall. With the weather report saying the sun shouldn't be expected to be seen at all today, Buffy and Angel take a romantic walk through the town.

Acting

Starring

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
• Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
• Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
• Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
• David Boreanaz as Angel/Angelus/Liam
• Seth Green as Oz
• Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest starring

• Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
• Saverio Guerra as Willy the Snitch
• Shane Barach as Daniel
• Edward Edwards as Travis
• Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy as Margaret
• Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane
• Robia LaMorte as The First/Jenny Calendar

Co-starring

• Mark Kriski as Weatherman
• Tom Michael Bailey Smith as Tree Seller Guy

Production details

Music

• Barry White - "Cant Get Enough of Your Love, Babe"
• Christophe Beck - "Dreaming Of"
• Christophe Beck - "Dublin"
• Christophe Beck - "Magic Snow Music"
• The Crystals - "He's a Rebel"

Commentary

• There has been a lot of discussion about the "miraculous" Christmas snowfall that prevents the Sun from rising and killing Angel. The official answer was made by the shows creator himself Joss Whedon who confirmed that the snow may have been the work of The Powers That Be, the supernatural forces that guided Angel's destiny in his spin-off series. This is told by Joss Whedon himself: "The snow [in Amends] was good... was it God? Well, I'm an atheist, but it's hard to ignore the idea of a "Christmas miracle" here... The fact is, the Christian mythos has a powerful fascination to me, and it bleeds into my storytelling. Redemption, hope, purpose, Santa, these all are important to me, whether I believe in an afterlife or some universal structure or not. I certainly don't mind a strictly Christian interpretation being placed on this ep by those who believe that -- I just hope it's not limited to that" (Joss Whedon, Dec 15 22:17 1998).

• Joss Whedon has cited many times Buffy and Angel's fight on the hilltop as one of the best things he has ever written, especially the line, "It's not the demon in me that needs killing, Buffy. It's the man."

• "The guys with weird flesh over their eyes" in this episode, Whedon explains, represented "some sort of creepy, kind of Jacob's Ladder-y thing," adding that "a deformed human is scarier than a big reptile with fangs" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Monster Book).

• The Mutant Enemy monster in the end credits wears a Santa hat and chimes are heard when he says "Grrr Arrgh."

Translations

• Italian title: "Espiazioni" ("Amends")
• German title: "Heimsuchungen" ("Visitations")
• French title: "Le soleil de Noël" ("The Christmas Sun")
• Japanese title: "償い" ("Tsugunai" - "Amends")
• Spanish title: "Enmienda" ("Amend")

Cultural references

• The Sun: Buffy mentions this British tabloid newspaper, which Joss Whedon learned of in his time in England.
• Evil Dead: The First Evil shouts "Dead by Sunrise" before it disappears, similar to the demonic taunts of "dead by dawn" which feature throughout the Evil Dead film series.

Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Amends

Continuity

• Oz refusing to sleep with Willow in this episode recalls his declining her offer to make out in "Innocence". Oz demonstrates again that he does not like doing things that he may want to do for the wrong reason. In this episode, Oz understands that Willow offers to sleep with him to show him that she is invested in their newly reestablished relationship, whereas in "Innocence", he believes she asks him to kiss her (largely) to make Xander jealous.

• Joyce continues to be awkward around even the mention of Giles, thus reminding the viewer of their psychologically youthful indiscretions in "Band Candy".

• Oz asks Willow has she ever had the dream "where you're in a play, and you're right in the middle of it and you kinda don't know your lines or the plot?" Willow has had this dream, or rather nightmare, as seen the episode "Nightmares", which then became a reality for her in the episode "The Puppet Show". Willow would have this nightmare again during the episode "Restless".

• While it is later made clear in Season Seven that The First cannot touch anything, The First as Jenny Calendar touches Angel and, while the touch is brief, his hair visibly moves.

• When Cordelia mentions Xander's family's "drunken Christmas fights", this is the first real hint in the series of Xander's unhappy home life, which is something that will be expanded on later in the series and become very significant in Season Six. Furthermore, Xander is explaining his "Christmas Tradition" to Willow, and it is Cordelia who remarks about his family's "drunken Christmas fights." Whedon himself claimed this to be an error in writing, as Willow and Xander have been best friends since childhood, and she already knows all about the Harris family.

Arc significance

• The First Evil and the as-yet unnamed Bringers do not appear again until "Lessons", when it returns as the Big Bad of Season Seven.

• Buffy and Angel renew their relationship.

• The First's prediction "Sooner or later, you will drink her" ends up being accurate, since Angel drinks Buffy's blood in "Graduation Day, Part Two".

• The first appearance of the First Evil.

• The final appearance of Jenny Calendar.

• Oz forgives Willow for her affair with Xander and they continue their relationship.

• The first appearance of Buffy's pixie bangs.

Christmas Buffy promo

Immediately after the first airing of "Lovers Walk" was the first airing of a commercial that featured Gellar and Boreanaz as their characters, Buffy and Angel.

Promo synopsis

Buffy is standing outside at a phone booth. Strangely, it appears to be snowing in Sunnydale. Buffy says "This season with 1-800-COLLECT, you don't have to be alone for the holidays." She then begins dialing the phone. Buffy hears footsteps behind her. She turns and grabs a stake-shaped icicle, and makes a staking motion before Angel grabs her hand. Angel: "Sorry I'm late." Buffy replies, "You should have called." The two smile, look into the snowing sky, then walk off together.

Promo offer

The promo was offering fans the chance to enter a sweepstakes every time they made a call using the 1-800-COLLECT communications system. The prize was a walk-on part on Buffy. Jessica Johnson of Maryland won a three-day trip for two to participate in the episode "The Prom", which aired later in the third season.

Promo continuity

The commercial would take place shortly after "Amends", since snow in Sunnydale is highly unusual. It is clearly not part of the Buffyverse canon since both the narrator and Buffy actively break the fourth wall.

External links

• "Amends" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Amends" at TV.com
• Peripheral Visions Review
• Swing the Sickle Review
• The Weekly Standard - Best Episode
• Christmas Buffy promo