Enemies

"Enemies" is the 17th episode of season 3 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

Summary

Faith plots to seduce Angel and remove his soul.

Expanded overview

Buffy and Angel went to see a movie, Le Banquet D'Amelia (not a real film) which was very steamy and both are worked up. To prove that he isn't going to lose control, Angel kisses her, but their sweet moment is cut short when Faith shows up for patrol. While out hunting for the bad guys, the two slayers run into a demon (named Skyler in the script, though his name is not spoken) who offers them a set of books about ascension in exchange for five grand. When Faith informs the Mayor of the event, he asks her to kill the demon and take the books.

At the library, the Scooby Gang discusses "ascension" but they know very little about it until Willow suggests checking in a book which Giles was trying to hide from her due to its magical content. Cordelia arrives and makes a date with Wesley. Faith finds the demon, who's desperate to get out of Sunnydale before the Mayor's ascension, and kills him. She goes to Angel, upset over what she's become and seeks comfort from him. Angel refuses to give her what she wants, but Faith manages to sneak a kiss on the cheek which Buffy happens to walk in and see. She was trying to take away his soul with happiness but since Angel's mind is focused on Buffy, the Mayor decides that he'll have to take it in the 'most painful way imaginable.'

According to Whedon, fans had been eager to see Angelus again.^[1]

Buffy reports in to Giles and Wesley, but having just seen Faith with Angel, is a little upset and reluctant to do anything with Faith. After Xander gets the address for the demon from Willy, Buffy goes to find him, and Faith arrives just in time to tag along. When the two reach the demon's apartment, they find him dead and Buffy is worried by Faith's strange behavior about it. The Mayor talks to a cloaked man, a sorcerer of some sort, about taking Angel's soul away from him. Buffy tells Willow about how she saw Faith and Angel together, and Willow encourages, or rather pressures Buffy to talk to Angel about it.

Faith finds Angel first at the mansion and apologizes for her behavior the night before, and then she pours blood onto his shirt. The cloaked man steps out of the shadows, chants a spell, lights flash, Angel yells, and then Angelus is back. He pulls Faith to him and they kiss before Angelus starts beating her up. The two fight and Faith ends up on top, holding a stake to his heart. A truce is made as Angelus agrees to meet the Mayor and the two kiss.

The Scooby gang meets again, and makes plans for the night. Willow reveals that she was unable to find anything in the Mayor's computer files since the files were emptied before she could get through to them. Unable to find both Faith and Angel, Buffy leaves to find out what's going on with the Mayor while Wesley takes a very eager Cordelia and the rest of the group, minus Xander, to the Hall of Records to find information on the Mayor.

Faith takes Angelus to meet with the Mayor, and Angelus tries to kill him, but discovers that the Mayor can't be killed. He tells the Mayor of his plans to torture and kill Buffy. Angelus and Faith walk the streets of Sunnydale on the way to Buffy's house, and encounter Xander who Angelus punches and knocks to the ground. After flirting mildly with Joyce, Angelus and Faith find Buffy in her room and lure her away to the mansion hinting slightly at their changed behavior making Buffy worried as she follows them. Once there, Angelus and Faith reveal that they're fighting for the other side now, and Angelus knocks Buffy out cold.

Angelus chains Buffy to a wall, where she wakes up finding he and Faith planning to torture her. Faith goes on about her painful childhood with a mother who drank too much, and her life as the Slayer living in Buffy's shadow. She reveals what she knows about the Mayor's master plan, which will culminate in the ascension on Graduation Day. Finally, Faith says with a smile, boasting of her ability to deceive the Scoobies: "What can I say? I'm the world's best actor." Angelus responds: "Second best." Faith then realizes that she was the one who was duped -- Angel was only pretending to be Angelus again, when in reality he still retained his soul, and Buffy slips out of her chains. The two of them had been pretending so that they could find out as much about the ascension as possible. The rest of the Scooby gang arrive as Buffy and Faith fight and end up with knives at each other's throats. Telling Buffy that she can't kill her without becoming her, Faith breaks away and runs off.

At the library, Giles thanks and bids good-bye to the cloaked man, revealing that the fake spell was in payment for a debt the man owed Giles for introducing him to his wife. Wesley is very upset that Giles did all this behind his back, and plans to tell the council about it. Now that everyone is fully aware of Faith's switch to Team Evil, they have to prepare to fight her as well. Faith is upset over the whole ordeal, but the Mayor tells her not to worry because after the ascension, they'd all be dead.

Buffy goes to Angel, and both are having a hard time dealing with what they had to do. Angel feels horrible that he had to do and say the things he did, and how far he let it go. Buffy needs some time, but as she leaves, he asks, "You still my girl?" and she responds, "Always."

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
• Seth Green as Oz
• Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest starring

• Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
• Harry Groener as Mayor Richard Wilkins
• Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
• Michael Manasseri as Horned Demon Skyler
• Gary Bullock as Sorcerer
• Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane

Production details

Quotes and trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Buffy the Vampire Slayer#Enemies

• Faith's line about "Kibbles 'n Bits" refers to the American brand of dog food.
• Buffy's line about Godot looking punctual next to Faith refers to Waiting for Godot.

Continuity

Arc significance

• Faith's turn to the dark side becomes public knowledge by the end of this episode.

• Wilkins shows again his strange father-daughter relationship with Faith when he asks Angel to bring her back before 11 o'clock. Faith reveals the deep resentment she has kept behind her happy-go-lucky face.

• After meeting the nameless demon, Buffy allows him to depart unharmed rather than slaying him, noting that he seems harmless. This marks the widening of one of the Buffyverse's overall themes, that demons are capable of being benign whereas soulless vampires are not, a concept introduced in "Becoming, Part One" and explored more fully in the Angel spin-off.

• A sorcerer very similar to the cloaked man in appearance and power appears in the Angel episodes "Awakening" (where he does in fact remove Angel's soul, as the cloaked man in "Enemies" only pretends to do) and "Calvary".

Translations

• Italian title: "Tutti contro tutti" ("All against all")
• German title: "Gefährliche Spiele" ("Dangerous Games")
• French title: "Trahison" ("Betrayal")
• Japanese title: "敵" ("Teki" - "Enemy")
• Spanish title: "Enemigas" ("Enemies")

References

External links

• "Enemies" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Enemies" at TV.com

Reviews

• Peripheral Visions Review
• Swing the Sickle Review