Homecoming

"Homecoming" is episode 5 of season 3 of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

The young Scoobies decide to share a limo for their last Homecoming dance. Buffy and Scott decide to go together. She takes an early leave to bring food to Angel, who is still very weak. She tells him others will not understand he is better — and about Scott.

Scott breaks up with Buffy the next day because he finds her distracted all the time now. As she watches him walk away, we find two men monitoring her from a van. They are connected via modem to Mr. Trick and some Boss, who have video monitors all set up.

Deputy Mayor Allan Finch enters the Mayor's office. He reports two German brothers who are major criminals arriving in Sunnydale. The Mayor gently chides him for not cleaning his hands enough. Finch looks scared.

At school, the gang sends Cordelia to tell Buffy to take her yearbook photos. Buffy is training with Faith, who expresses again her views on guys. Cordelia is distracted at the library door by two guys whose votes she wants. She leaves without giving Buffy the message.

Buffy needs a recommendation from the class that changed her life, but is crushed when the teacher does not remember her. "At Hemery, I was Prom Princess, I was Fiesta Queen, I was on the cheerleading squad. And the yearbook was, like, a story of me."

The day after the last chance to get her picture taken, Buffy finds out and confronts Cordy, who couldn't care less. An enraged Buffy decides to run against Cordy. Meanwhile, Mr. Trick and a group of evildoers are discussing a competition they each have put money in: SlayerFest '98.

Xander and Willow, trying on their Homecoming clothes in her room, cannot help admiring each other's elegance. They kiss. The next day, Buffy is analyzing the competition with Oz, Xander and Willow in the library. They look very uncomfortable. It turns out that all three had actually already committed to helping Cordelia. Xander is helping her as a boyfriend, Willow is constructing Cordelia's database, and Oz is going along with Willow as always.

As the evildoers are honing their skills for their upcoming hunt, the competition at Sunnydale High is heating up as well. Ethics give way to bribery. Buffy persuades Willow to give her 15 minutes with Cordelia's database, by way of a guilt trip. Xander and Willow cannot help feeling guilty about what they feel; they are helping Cordelia out of guilt.

When the limo arrives at Buffy's house, she gets a note from her friends, who want her and Cordelia to make up on the expensive ride. They do not get far; the driver runs away after stopping in the woods. A tape addresses them as Buffy and Faith and informs them of SlayerFest '98. Despite Cordelia's desperate attempts at getting someone to realize that she is not Faith, she and Buffy are both targeted by a diverse group of Slayerfest competitors: Hans & Fredrick Gruenshtahler, "The Most Dangerous Game" hunter Frawley, Kulak, a demon of the Miquot Clan, and Lyle Gorch from "Bad Eggs" and his new wife Candy.

Xander and Willow are moping at the dance. Even Giles' humor fails to cheer them up. Faith is livelier; she embarrasses Scott in front of his date. Meanwhile, Buffy catches one of her pursuers and forces details out of him. Cordelia tells Buffy she loves Xander. Buffy tells her she spent a year's allowance on the dress in an attempt to achieve one ideal moment in high school. For a moment, the two understand each other.

Trick is dragged away from his den by two policemen. Cordelia finally does something good with her taunting skills: she scares Lyle away when Buffy and Giles are down. Buffy realizes the corsages they got in the limo were electronic tracking devices. She puts them on the German brothers, who annihilate each other with their high-tech equipment.

The policemen bring Trick to the office of Mayor Wilkins, who tells Trick that he needs to control rebellious youth elements during this most important year.

Buffy and Cordelia arrive at the Homecoming dance just in time to hear the announcement that the vote for Queen was tied — and they both lost.

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
• and Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest starring

• K. Todd Freeman as Mr. Trick
• Jeremy Ratchford as Lyle Gorch
• Fab Filippo as Scott Hope
• Ian Abercrombie as German Boss
• Harry Groener as Mayor Richard Wilkins
• Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane

Co-starring

• Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
• Jack Plotnick as Deputy Mayor Allan Finch
• Jason Hall as Devon MacLeish
• Joseph Daube as Hans Gruenstahler
• Jermyn Daube as Frederick Gruenstahler
• Lee Everett as Candy Gorch
• Tori McPetrie as Michelle Blake
• Chad Stahelski as Kulak

Production details

Music

• Fastball - "Fire escape"
• Four Star Mary - "She knows"
• Lisa Loeb - "How"
• Lori Carson - "Fell into loneliness"
• The Pine Hurst Kids - "Jodie Foster"

Quotes and trivia

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

• Buffy's favorite class in high school was "Contemporary American Heroes from Amelia Earhart to Maya Angelou".
• Buffy's list of Cordelia's strengths reads: "Popular With Boys, Makes Friends Easily, Has Money To Buy Votes, Expensive Clothes, Perfect Teeth."
• Buffy's list of Cordelia's weaknesses reads: "Manipulative, Two-Faced, Bad in Sports, Superficial, No Sense of Humor, Fake Smile, Brie, Xander."

Translations

• Italian title: "Il ballo di fine corso" ("The prom" (sic!))
• German title: "Die Qual der Wahl" (German idiom; "Spoilt for choice")
• French title: "Le bal de fin d'année" ("The Prom Dance")
• Japanese title: "学園祭" ("Gakuensai" - "School Festival")
• Spanish title: "El baile de bienvenida" ("The welcome dance")

Continuity

Arc significance

• Mayor Richard Wilkins III appears for the first time, and displays what will be his trademark: a disturbing attention to cleanliness. He is also not fond of Slayers.
• Xander and Willow begin to explore their mutual attraction.
• Buffy's wish for a perfect moment in high school will be granted in "The Prom".

See also

• List of Buffyverse stories (episodes, comics and novels) in chronological order.

• List of Buffyverse-related topics - Index of articles relating to Buffy and Angel.

External links

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

Reviews

• Peripheral Visions Review
• Swing the Sickle Review