Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "Earshot" Review (3x18)

Brief Synopsis: “After an encounter with a demon with no mouth, Buffy is infected with the demon's blood and she gains the ability to hear people's thoughts. At first, her newfound ability is useful for cheating on schoolwork and eavesdropping on the thoughts of those around her, but when the voices continue to flood her mind, she realises that she cannot control the power. Amid the chaos, Buffy hears a killer planning a mass murder at the school. Now she must keep herself from going mad long enough to prevent a catastrophe.”

"Enemies" (3x17) quick link here                                                                                                                                                 "Choices" (3x19) quick link here


Four quick notes before we get started...

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?



•    This episode marks the 20th ‘good’ to ‘superb’ episode of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” in a row! That’s a feat that very few television shows are able to accomplish. I can’t think of another television show that had such a strong run as “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” does from “Becoming Part One” all the way through to “Living Conditions” (which still isn’t a bad episode itself). Very impressive! “Earshot” focuses on Buffy gaining the ability to hear the thoughts of other human beings. This episode was Jane Espenson’s third time writing an episode of Buffy. The first two are “Band Candy” and “Gingerbread”. I think it’s safe to say that Jane and the Buffyverse were a good fit. That’s one hell of a résumé. Like “Band Candy”, Jane uses a supernatural plot device in order to explore a real life issue. In this instance, telepathy is used to explore the struggles that teenagers go through during their high school years. Jane does a great job of accurately depicting the thoughts that most teenagers have during this period of their lives. It’s all about sex, confusion, feeling misunderstood and alone.

Something I love about this episode is that as Buffy’s mind-reading powers increase, she is able to read the deeper thoughts that people are having. The episode starts out with Buffy being able to read thoughts about school classes and sex, but as her powers increase, they turn to murder, suicide, depression, and other such emotions. It works wonderfully. Originally this episode looked like it was going to be a comedic episode, but as it progresses it gets much darker in tone.

•    Before getting into the meat of the episode, I just wish to express how shitty the timing of this episode was. For those of you unaware, “Earshot” originally aired after “Graduation Day Part Two”, due to the Columbine High School massacre. As a psychology and criminology student (I’m currently a 2nd year university student through the Open University), I’ve done extensive research on the Columbine massacre. It was a horrific tragedy and the WB absolutely made the right call in postponing the episode. However, I think you need to have seen this episode to truly appreciate the ‘Class Protector’ award and speech by Jonathan to Buffy in “The Prom”.

Xander: “I’m still having trouble with the fact that one of us is just gonna gun everyone down for no reason.”
Cordelia: “Yeah because that never happens in American high schools.”
Oz: “It’s bordering on trendy at this point.”

I can see why the decision was made to postpone this episode after the Columbine shooting.

After all this talk about murder, let me draw your attention back to "Earshot" with a picture of an ear shot...

•    This episode has a lot going for it. It’s funny, it’s insightful, it’s interesting, it has a coherent plot, and it has a terrific conclusion. As mentioned above, Buffy is infected by a mouthless demon and soon discovers that she can hear people’s thoughts, which is way cooler than Buffy developing a physical aspect of the demon (“was it a boy demon?”). The first ten minutes after this revelation are played for humour, which they should be.

Buffy: “When I walked in a few minutes ago, you thought, ‘Look at her shoes. If a fashion magazine told her to she’d wear cats strapped to her feet’.”

Someone hide Miss. Kittyfantastico.

Almost immediately after receiving these powers, Buffy goes to visit Angel, who is, of course, casually walking around in a tanktop. Any excuse to have Angel topless or near topless, eh? Buffy is feeling insecure about Angel’s thoughts and feelings after he kissed Faith during the last episode, “Enemies”. Even though Angel was just doing what was asked of him, I can understand Buffy’s insecurities. Faith is promiscuous and has a lot of experience in relation to men. It’s only natural that Buffy would be worried about Angel comparing the two or being somewhat attracted to Faith. However, due to his vampire status (“undead American”), Buffy can’t read Angel’s thoughts, so we’re left with a really cute scene where Buffy and Angel have to actually talk about their feelings instead of being all angsty and avoidy (there’s some Joss speak for you!). I like to think that this scene is a prelude to “Hush”, in the next season. All that talking is just getting in the way. They’ve been talking past each other instead of listening to each other. I’d like to think that after three years of dating (on and off), Buffy would have more faith in her relationship...pun-believable! Angel is able to put Buffy’s mind at rest...

Angel: “There’s no comparison. In 241 years I’ve loved exactly one person.”

How disgustingly cute. It is nice to see that Angel and Buffy are back on track after leaving things awkward at the end of “Enemies”. Sadly, this will not last long. Not even three episodes. Why can nobody be happy in the Buffyverse, Whedon?!

After Angel improves Buffy’s mood, she starts having some fun with her newfound powers. It’s interesting to me that Buffy uses these powers to aid the ‘normal’ side of Buffy, rather than the ‘Slayer’ side of Buffy. Giles’ mind instantly goes to fighting tactics, whereas Buffy uses her powers to excel in classes. I love listening to the inner-thoughts of the other Scoobies because it gives a great insight into their mental states and their sense of self-worth. They instantly think about the things that they want Buffy to hear the least; their deepest insecurities and fears.

Giles is just sassy. His inner-thoughts are the equivalent of eye-rolling at everyone else. He’s a mature English gentleman surrounded by hormone-filled teenagers...and Wesley, who is basically a hormone-filled teenager at this point. I can understand Giles’ eye-rolling thoughts. Xander thinks about nothing but sex and naked women. It’s a fairly common thought pattern for a teenage male. Xander has always had insecurities about his masculinity, so it makes sense that he thinks about sex a lot. I think that he’s terrified of women and sexual activity deep down. He tries to act cool, but it’s just that: an act. If Faith wasn’t so forward in “The Zeppo”, would Xander have slept with her? Highly doubtful. He’s living vicariously through his thoughts because he’s too insecure to act on them in real life at this point. I think most teenage males can relate to that. I know that I sure as hell could when I was a teenager watching this episode. Also, his mathematical skills are terrible.

Wesley tries to be cool, calm, and collected, but then does nothing but swoon and mentally undress Cordelia. He’s similar to Xander in that respect. Instead of being confident and asking Cordelia out, he’s living vicariously through his thoughts due to his insecurities. Willow is also having insecure thoughts. Since regaining her relationship with Oz in “Amends”, she’s scared of losing it again. She’s upset that Buffy can read Oz’s thoughts, yet Willow rarely seems to know what Oz is feeling or thinking. Willow is scared that Buffy will soon know Oz better than she does.

Without a doubt, my favourite two thoughts are Oz’s and Cordelia’s. Cordelia literally says whatever pops into her head. We’ve all been suspecting that for years, but now it’s officially been confirmed. Cordelia has no filter. She’s missing that switch that connects a person’s brain to their mouth. I love that about her. While the rest of the Scoobies are battling insecurities, Cordelia is speaking her mind. She’s not afraid to ask questions like all the other Scoobies. Finally, we have Oz. Quiet, laconic Oz. Oz is so quiet because his thoughts are so deep that they keep him distracted. It’s a great character trait for Oz that he’s so intelligent inside his own head. He’s pondering the ramifications of Buffy’s new power in relation to himself and his essence. It’s so perfect, I almost wept. To paraphrase “Mean Girls” (don’t judge me!), that’s why his hair is so big: it’s full of secrets!

Buffy’s new power isn’t quite so exciting and fun anymore. While she’s excelling in her classes, her friends are now avoiding her because they don’t want her knowing their secrets. Buffy is connected to everyone in the school, yet she’s the loneliest she’s ever felt. This works perfectly for Buffy’s speech to Jonathan in the clocktower at the end of the episode, when she tells him that everyone is busy dealing with their own pain. Buffy, drowning in thoughts, hears someone say “This time tomorrow, I’ll kill you all.”, and the episode turns into a disturbing ‘whodunnit’ mystery.

Why anyone would ever get into a position where they wanted to kill everyone is beyond me, but it does seem to be increasingly common, especially in American high schools. As I’ve mentioned before, I was bullied terribly for years at school. It never led me to wanting to kill everyone; it led me to wanting to kill myself because I felt worthless and like there was something wrong with me...much like Jonathan in this episode. Jonathan is one of many suspects for who is going to kill everyone. It makes sense. In “Go Fish”, Jonathan was bullied and was being ‘jokingly’ drowned by the swim team. In this episode, Buffy overhears Jonathan thinking that she doesn’t even notice he exists. He has no friends. He’s one step away from pulling a Marcie Ross in “Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight”. Jonathan being suspected leads to another hilarious interrogation scene between Willow and Jonathan. For the second time in 12 months, Willow is interrogating Jonathan (the first being “Go Fish”), and for the second time Jonathan is innocent. Jonathan is not guilty of planning to kill the other students; he just wants to kill himself.

Cordelia is chosen to interrogate Mr. Beach. She does this in spectacular Cordelia fashion...“Hi, Mr. Beach, I was just wondering, were you planning on killing a bunch of people tomorrow? Oh, it’s for the yearbook.” Tactful. Xander interrogates Larry (also for the second time), who still thinks that Xander is gay after their amusing conversation in season two’s “Phases”. This was all used as foreshadowing in case Joss decided to turn Xander gay in season four. He eventually chose to turn Willow lesbian instead.

The final suspect of note is Freddy Iverson. Freddy was an obvious red herring, so I never suspected him of being the killer, but his character did lead to a ridiculously funny Oz moment, so I’m perfectly okay with his introduction to the episode. Oz’s casual, accepting response to Freddy’s review of Dingoes Ate My Baby is a thing of beauty. I wonder if Oz’s inner-thoughts also reflected this or whether he was raging inside.

Without a doubt, the funniest moment of the episode is this exchange between Buffy and Joyce, after Buffy is bedridden with an overpopulated brain...

Buffy: “You had sex with Giles?! You had SEX with GILES?!”
Joyce: “It was the candy! We were teenagers!…”
Buffy: “On the hood of a police car?! TWICE?!”

I can’t...could you imagine finding out that your mother banged your father-figure in public, on top of a police car...twice! Sweet mother, burn my retinas. I love that Buffy knows now! It’s fitting that the shagathon happened in another Jane Espenson episode, “Band Candy”.

Then we arrive at one of the best scenes in the history of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. One of the best speeches during the show’s seven-year run, and one of the most heart-warming scenes. The clocktower scene between Buffy and Jonathan. It’s beautiful and it’s so true to real life. The older I’ve gotten and the more I’ve experienced the world, the more I’ve realised that people are all going through their own pain. Especially in your teenage years! All those hormones and all that angst! Everything is life or death when you’re a teenager. Danny Strong has never been better than he is during this scene. What I love about Buffy’s speech to Jonathan is how honest she is with him. She tells him that he’s being self-involved, but she does it in a way that doesn’t make it appear like Jonathan is being silly or over-the-top by feeling that way. She doesn’t dismiss his feelings. I think the advice that Buffy gives Jonathan here has a profound effect on him. She tells him that everyone feels the way that he is feeling. Everyone feels despair and a wave of frustration and hopelessness. I think this shapes the rest of his character arc. From wanting to feel important and desired in “Superstar” (another Jane Espenson episode), to joining the Trio and trying to impress Buffy, everything he does seems to be trying to make himself feel like he’s worth something.

If it was anyone other than Jonathan, the scene wouldn’t work. Jonathan has been around for nearly two years now and every time we see him he’s being laughed at or picked on. He’s tired of feeling worthless and wants it all to end. Suicide plots are always close to the chest for me, so I can really empathise with Jonathan here. As you all know (as I talked about it during the “Amends” review), I tried to kill myself in July 2011, after everything had fallen apart around me. That sense of hopelessness and wanting the pain to end once and for all is something that I can greatly understand. I think a lot of people can. As Buffy says down the line, “the hardest thing in this world is to live in it”.

Then comes the reveal that Jonathan was going to kill himself, not the rest of the school. What. The. Fuck. Who is trying to kill everyone then?! Why was Jonathan trying to shoot himself with a rifle?! Everyone knows his arms aren't long enough to fire the gun while holding it to his head!

The lunch lady being the killer is my biggest criticism of “Earshot”. Why? Because it’s played as comedic. The scene where Xander discovers her pouring the poison into the food and Buffy’s eventual disarming of the lunch lady are both funny scenes. They shouldn’t be funny! As soon as this episode focused on someone trying to murder the entire school, the jokes should have stopped. Especially after Buffy’s beautiful speech to Jonathan in the clocktower. Attempting mass murder isn’t funny. The joke to close the episode is fine, as the threat had been eliminated by that point, but I don’t appreciate the attempted murderer being played as comedic at all.

Buffy: “Sure, we can work out after school. Ya know, if you’re not too busy having sex with my mother!...”
*Giles walks into a tree.*

Best. Ending. Ever.


Some other thoughts on “Earshot”...

•    The entire Watcher’s Council can summon no more knowledge on the ascension than Giles can by himself. The look on Giles’ face is so smug that it always leaves me smiling. Giles has the same amount of knowledge as everyone at the Watcher’s Council combined.
•    Willow: “The school paper is edging on depressing lately, have you guys noticed that?”
      Oz: “I don’t know, I always go straight to the obits.”

The Sunnydale high school newspaper has an obituaries section…why don’t more people move away from Sunnydale?

•    Oz (in regards to the cheerleaders): “Their spelling’s improved.”
...always a plus.
•    I can’t decide if I love or hate Xander’s Italian-looking white, red, and green shirt. It’s certainly memorable. He should have worn that in season four when he worked as a pizza delivery man.
•    Angel: “I’m a funny guy.”
No, Angel. No you’re not. Not until you move to Los Angeles.


Quote Of The Episode

Jonathan: “You all think I’m an idiot. A short idiot.”

Buffy: “I don’t. I don’t think about you much at all. Nobody here really does. It bugs you, doesn’t it? You have all this pain, and all these feelings and nobody’s really paying attention.”

Jonathan: “You think I just want attention?”

Buffy: “No, I think you’re up in the clocktower with a high-powered rifle because you want to blend in. Believe it or not, Jonathan, I understand about the pain.”

Jonathan: “Oh, right. ‘Cause the burden of being beautiful and athletic, that’s a crippler.”

Buffy: “You know what, I was wrong. You are an idiot. My life happens to on occasion, suck beyond the telling of it. Sometimes more than I can handle. It’s not just mine. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they’re too busy with their own. The beautiful ones, the popular ones, the guys that pick on you…everyone. If you could hear what they were feeling…the loneliness, the confusion…it looks quiet down there. It’s not, it’s deafening.”


Absolutely beautifully written and acted.


FINAL SCORE: 9/10

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

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