Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "Choices" Review (3x19)

Brief Synopsis: “Buffy receives an acceptance to Northwestern University, but what should be a happy surprise turns sour when she realises that she may not be able to go away to school and still fulfil her duties as the Slayer. Buffy also manages to intercept the Box of Gavrok, a container of mystical spiders that are vital to the Mayor’s ascension. When Willow is captured, the gang must decide whether they can give up their best chance at preventing the ascension to save Willow’s life.”

"Earshot" (3x18) quick link here                                                                                                                                              "The Prom" (3x20) quick link here


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1)    I will be reviewing the episodes in bullet point form. This is because it makes the reviews simple to read and helps break up the text.
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With that being said, let’s get started, shall we? 



•    “Choices”, in essence, is all about life after Sunnydale High. If the Scoobies survive the ascension, what’s next for them? Are they going to go to college? Can Buffy leave Sunnydale and return for just the holidays to stop the forces of darkness? With Buffy being human and Angel being a vampire, do they have a future together? All of these questions are addressed in this episode. In addition to this, the Scoobies break into The Mayor’s office to steal the Box of Gavrok and Willow is captured by Faith. Drama, drama, drama. While I really like “Choices” and think it does a terrific job of setting up life after Sunnydale High in a convincing fashion, I also feel like it falls slightly short of the episodes that surround it. It’s still a very good episode, but it’s stuck between “Doppelgangland”, “Enemies”, and “Earshot” on one side, with “The Prom”, “Graduation Day Part One”, and “Graduation Day Part Two” on the other. That’s a terrific run of episodes! One that, it could be argued, is never replicated. “Choices” is one of those episodes that you appreciate a lot more if you’ve seen the first three seasons of the show. If this was the first episode (or season) of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” that you saw, you can’t fully appreciate Buffy getting into some decent colleges. You can’t fully appreciate Willow standing up to Faith. You can’t fully appreciate Giles’ reaction to Buffy getting into college. You can’t fully appreciate The Mayor’s speech to Angel and Buffy. This episode takes all of those slow-building plots and relationships and brings them to the boil.

This episode has three main stories that run throughout it, so I’m going to look at each of them separately.


Angel & Buffy

I’m a ‘Bangel’ fan. I appreciate Buffy and Riley as a couple, I appreciate Buffy and Spike as a couple, hell, I even appreciate Buffy and Parker’s fling because Buffy learned a lot from it, but in my heart I’m a ‘Bangel’ guy. Actually, I’m of the opinion that Buffy should be single until she’s figured out who she is and what she wants, but out of the relationships she has, I prefer Angel and Buffy. However, they were never going to last. Buffy’s a teenage girl trying to figure out who she is and Angel is a 245-year-old vampire that will never die. They can never have sex, they can never go out in the daylight, and they can never be a normal couple. Could they work down the line? Perhaps, if Angel were to Shanshu. Can they work in Buffy season three? No. Deep down, Buffy and Angel are both aware of this, but they’re fighting against it. They’re hiding from the reality of the situation because they’re in love. It’s understandable.

At the beginning of this episode, Buffy is complaining that Angel and herself are stuck in a rut. She asks if this is what the future holds for them – nothing but fighting and violence. While this scene is played as a couple trying to improve their relationship, what it’s actually doing is subtly putting the final nail into their relationship. It’s a prelude to what The Mayor will tell them later in the episode.

For me, the scene that makes this episode great is the exchange of Willow for the Box of Gavrok in Sunnydale High’s cafeteria. Talk about a tense scene. What I love about The Mayor is that he’s evil, but genuinely cares about things. He uses Faith to further his own goals, but he treats her like a daughter. He wants to eat the residents of Sunnydale, but also worries about exposed pipes in the sewers. He wants to kill the Slayer, but he also gives Buffy and Angel genuine relationship advice. Does he do this because he wants to tear them apart and keep them distracted during his ascension? Of course, but I don’t think that’s the only reason why he does it. I think he genuinely wants to give them both advice on what a relationship is like where one person is immortal and the other person isn’t. He’s lived it with his former wife! He has first-hand experience on what they’ve got to look forward to.

The Mayor gives Angel a reality check. All of these fears that Angel has been having but running away from, The Mayor brings to the forefront. He calls Angel selfish. He asks Angel what kind of life he can offer Buffy. He tells Angel that Buffy deserves better from life than he can offer her. Ouch. As harsh as The Mayor is with Angel, everything he says is true! You can tell just by looking at the faces of Angel, Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles that they know it’s true. As much as they want it, there’s no happy ending on the horizon for Buffy and Angel as a couple. It’s absolutely heart-wrenching to watch, but it’s a conversation that needed to happen. It’s been a long time coming.

Interestingly, The Mayor also asks Angel if being with Buffy is what he came back from Hell for. Is that his greater purpose? I think that this comment is what finally prompted Angel to leave Sunnydale and head to Los Angeles to search for his greater purpose and redemption, so The Mayor inadvertently did something great with his speech in this episode.

Even after all of this, the episode concludes with Buffy and Angel telling each other that The Mayor was wrong. They’re living in denial that they can still make it work, even though they both know that it’s doomed. That final scene also makes me pouty because it’s one of the last scenes where Buffy and Angel are a couple.


The Future

The Scoobies receive their acceptance letters for college at the beginning of “Choices”. This leads to a lot of thoughts and discussions about what the future holds for Buffy, Xander, Willow, Cordelia, and Oz.

Cordelia mentions how getting out of Sunnydale after graduating would be a good thing. Of course, Cordelia goes on to do this at the end of the season. It’s a very brief statement, but it does foreshadow Cordelia’s leaving Sunnydale after graduation. Those people that didn’t watch “Angel” when it started must have been really confused, because what happened to Cordelia after leaving school isn’t mentioned on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” until episode eight, “Pangs”. Another wonderful piece of character development happens for Cordelia in this episode. Perhaps the single most important event that helps shape the rest of her life...her parents get busted for tax fraud and she becomes poor. Cordy is forced to get a job at April Fools (where her manager is played by the amazing Bonita Friedericy, known for her role as General Diane Beckman in “Chuck”). Cordelia Chase has a job in retail! Didn’t see that coming! The character that says to Buffy in this episode, “This conversation is reserved for those who actually have a future”, now has a job where she has to be nice to human beings. It’s the best thing that could have happened to Cordelia! The bubble that she has been living in her whole life has been burst. After moving to Los Angeles, she experiences real poverty and eventually discovers these wonderful things called “empathy” and “kindness”.

Xander doesn’t get into any colleges as far as we’re aware, but it doesn’t seem like something he’s overly interested in anyway. He’s had enough of education by this point and wants to try something new. I love that one of the Scoobies isn’t academically gifted and has a hard time after leaving high school. It’s realistic. Xander mentions his desire to drive to every state in the U.S.A. This is something he attempts after graduating, but fails miserably due to the engine falling out of his car...literally.

Surprisingly, Buffy gets into some decent colleges, including Northwestern. I adore how proud of Buffy that Joyce and Giles are in this episode! Giles’ face when Buffy tells him just kills me with happiness. He’s so proud of her. It does raise a conflict of interest for Giles. On the one hand, he wants Buffy to go away and get the best possible education that she can, but on the other hand, he knows that Buffy’s responsibility is to be in Sunnydale defending the residents from the Hellmouth and mystical activity. Buffy herself wants to leave Sunnydale and come back to fight evil during the holidays. Who can blame her for that?! Buffy arrived in Sunnydale as a retired Vampire Slayer that wanted nothing more than to live a normal life. It’s this exact reason that prompts Buffy to take the fight to The Mayor instead of waiting for him to strike first. Buffy wants to stop The Mayor and Faith so that Sunnydale is a safer place and she can leave for college. By the time “Choices” ends, Buffy has realised that Sunnydale is always going to be in danger. If she left for college and only came home in the holidays, a lot of people would die. She can’t live with that scenario. She’s stuck in Sunnydale for the rest of her life. If Faith hadn’t gone over to the dark side of the Force, perhaps it would be feasible, but as it stands, Buffy is the Hellmouth’s only guardian.

In a move that surprised nobody, Willow got into every college she applied for, including Oxford University. I live about an hour from Oxford University. It is one of the most beautiful places to visit in England. Not just for the university itself, but the entirety of Oxford is gorgeous. After being captured by Faith, Willow realises that she doesn’t want to go anywhere else...

Willow: “Here I am, I can do anything I want. I can go to any college in the country. Four or five in Europe if I want.”
Buffy: “Please tell me you’re going somewhere with this.”
Willow: “Nope, I’m not going anywhere. *she hands Buffy her U.C. Sunnydale acceptance letter, and Buffy dives on her ecstatically*”.

I cannot contain my flailing at this moment. What I love about it is that Willow isn’t staying for Buffy. I’m sure that Buffy plays a part, but Willow wants to stay in Sunnydale because she feels like fighting evil is more important. She’s not staying out of loyalty or an obligation, she’s staying because she wants to. It’s such a big moment for Willow and Buffy’s friendship. Willow also says she’s staying so she can become a “badass Wicca”...perhaps she would be better off going away after all. The “badass Wicca” side of Willow ends up almost destroying the entire world in three years time.


The Box of Gavrok & The Exchange

The other two sections of this episode are long-term, over-arcing plots that set up the future for the Scoobies. This section of the episode is the main focus of “Choices” itself. It deals with The Mayor’s looming ascension and explores the ever-evolving relationship between The Mayor and Faith.

The Mayor: “Ya know, I’m beginning to think that somebody’s getting a little spoiled.”

If anyone needed justification that The Mayor is a father-figure to Faith, this scene proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. He’s talking to her just like she’s his teenage daughter who’s not being appreciative of all that he’s doing for her. I can’t stress enough how much I love these two together. It’s like a dysfunctional version of Buffy and Giles’ relationship. Also, Faith’s knife is gorgeous! It’s probably my favourite weapon in “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. I really want to own a replica of it! If anyone knows of one, let me know in the comments section! I must own one! It’s so beautiful.

The Mayor sends Faith on an errand to collect the Box of Gavrok. It’s a box of spiders that contains some form of mystical energy that will enable The Mayor to become a pure demon. It goes to show just how far down the rabbit hole into darkness Faith has gone when she cuts the dead man’s hand off to get to the Box of Gavrok. Until “Bad Girls”, her descent was quite a slow burn. After killing Allan Finch, Faith has fallen very far, very quickly. She’s willing to do anything to impress The Mayor.

I feel sorry for Wesley in this episode. Nobody listens to him at all! The Scoobies come up with a plan to infiltrate City Hall without Wesley being able to have any input. They just ignore him. Is the Scoobies’ plan a bad one? Not at all, but Wesley is Buffy’s official Watcher and I feel like they should be respecting his input...or, you know, listening to him at all. Wesley’s fears about the plan were justified. The plan, while successful, results in the kidnap of Willow by Faith and The Mayor.

I get so much joy out of watching Wesley and Giles sitting in the car drinking tea. It’s so very English of them. Could you imagine the conversation they were having while the rest of the Scoobies were stealing the Box of Gavrok? I bet they talked about tea, complained about the weather in California being too sunny, and their experiences of being in the Watcher’s Council. You just know Wesley was boasting about being Head Boy at school.

Willow’s kidnapping leads to a very interesting and intense scene between Wesley and the rest of the Scoobies. Wesley argued that Willow’s life is not worth the lives of all the citizens of Sunnydale that will die if The Mayor achieves ascension. One life weighed against thousands of lives just isn’t justifiable to Wesley. Think about what happens as a result of the trade...Harmony’s siring, Larry’s death, Snyder’s death, a host of nameless Sunnydale High students. All of that would have been avoided if Buffy listened to Wesley here. Wesley is taking the stance of ‘for the greater good’. This is something he repeats on “Angel”, when he decides to steal Connor to save Connor from Angel himself. On the other hand, Buffy will do anything to save her best friend. If I were Buffy, I’d want to do the exact same thing! I can see both sides of the argument entirely. There’s no right or wrong answer here in my eyes. All this arguing leads to one of my very favourite Oz moments ever. Oz, without saying a word, throws a vase into the wall of the library. It’s very exciting to see so much emotion emanating from the usually-stoic Oz.

Another fantastic moment in this episode is The Mayor losing his temper at the Box of Gavrok being stolen. It’s the first time we’ve seen The Mayor angry or lose his temper. It establishes the point that The Mayor is genuinely fucking scary! For all his jokes and quirkiness, The Mayor can be terrifying and ruthless when he wants to be. Now the ascension feels real. It feels threatening. You start worrying about what’s coming in “Graduation Day”. Will the Scoobies make it out alive?

Willow uses the floating pencil technique that we saw her use in “Doppelgangland” to escape from her captives. In typical Willow fashion, she gets caught up in learning and reading instead of escaping from The Mayor and Faith. It’s so in-character for Willow to do this! Think about what this means for the rest of the season though. If Willow had chosen to just escape here instead of staying to read, the Scoobies would have had Willow and the Box of Gavrok. No ascension, no deaths, no need for the pages that Willow steals. Willow stays to learn more about the ascension that wouldn’t have happened at all if she’d just chosen to escape! The frustration! Perhaps The Mayor would have found a way to ascend without the Box of Gavrok, but we’ll never know now. It does lead to an amazing scene between Willow and Faith, however...

I, just like Faith, was expecting Willow to try and talk Faith into re-joining the Scoobies. Instead, Willow tells Faith that she made the biggest mistake of her life by not choosing Buffy. She calls Faith out for all of the stupid decisions she’s made. She doesn’t let Faith use her rough childhood as an excuse for her actions. After arriving in Sunnydale, Faith had the opportunity to have a surrogate family in the Scoobies, but she chose to abandon them and join up with The Mayor. I was so proud of Willow during that scene! The Willow of season one and two would have been way too scared to say these things. She’s grown so much since “Doppelgangland”.

Then we arrive at the exchange scene. I’ve already talked about the most important parts of the exchange, but here are a few closing thoughts...

•    The Mayor is genuinely giddy and excited by the exchange. Isn’t he the best ‘Big Bad’ ever?
•    Have I mentioned I’m not the biggest fan of spiders? While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m scared of them, I still don’t appreciate massive spiders that try to eat people!
•    Faith left her knife behind. I wonder if that will be significant later...
•    Buffy: “Snyder, you alive in there?”
      Snyder: “You. All of you. Why couldn’t you be dealing drugs like normal people?”

Finally, we have the ending scene of the episode. Wesley gets all shirty and tells the Scoobies that they’re right back where they started. This isn’t true, as Willow stole some pages from the Books of Ascension. The look on Giles’ face as Willow shows him these pages makes me die. Giles looks like he just won a decade’s worth of free tea!


Quote Of The Episode

The Mayor: “You’re immortal, she’s not. It’s not easy. I married my Edna-May in ‘03, and I was with her right until the end. Not a pretty picture. Wrinkled and senile, and cursing me for my youth. Wasn’t our happiest time...and let’s not forget the fact that any moment of true happiness will turn you evil. I mean, c’mon, what kind of life can you offer her? I don’t see a lot of Sunday picnics in the offing. I see skulking in the shadows, hiding from the sun...she’s a blossoming young girl and you want to keep her from the life she should have until it’s passed her by, and by God I think that’s a little selfish. Is that what you came back from Hell for? Is that your greater purpose? Make the trade.”


FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10

What are your thoughts on "Choices"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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