Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "Consequences" Review (3x15)

Brief Synopsis: "When Faith refuses to face up to the consequences of her actions, Buffy tries to get help from Giles and Angel. When Xander goes to confront Faith alone, however, he may be biting off more than he can chew.”

"Bad Girls" (3x14) quick link here                                                                                                                         "Doppelgangland" (3x16) quick link here


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With that being said, let’s get started, shall we? 



•    “Consequences” is about just that: consequences. The consequences of Faith accidentally killing a human in the last episode and the consequences of Buffy living in Faith’s world for a while and trying to be a carefree Slayer with the mentality of “Want. Take. Have.” While those two themes are at the forefront of the episode, it also deals with the consequences of Xander sleeping with Faith in “The Zeppo”.

One of the things that makes Joss Whedon’s work stand out is that he refuses to take the easy way out with his characters. When I realised that this episode was Faith-centric, I assumed it was going to be a story of redemption. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for Faith to spiral a little in this episode, feel remorse, get comforted by the Scoobies, and have everything resolved by its conclusion. That’s the avenue that most shows would take. Instead, what Joss gives us is a story of redemption that takes almost two years to resolve! First, we watch Faith downward spiral further and further into darkness. Her redemption doesn’t start for a very long time (the end of Angel season one’s “Five By Five” is the beginning of that redemption). This way works so much better! I am blown away by how amazingly consistent the writing has been in season three. It’s the strongest season of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” or “Angel”, in my opinion. I’ve done hundreds of hours of research on the subject and it appears that my opinion is the general consensus amongst the fandom. Season three is widely considered the best season overall. I tend to find that the people who dislike season three (apparently there are some) are usually people who dislike Faith, which makes a great deal of sense as her story arc takes up a lot of time in this season. I think that Faith’s story arc is one of the best from the Buffyverse overall. It’s so complex and realistic! In the last episode, “Bad Girls”, Faith killed a human! She should downward spiral. It should change her life forever. It’s already been established by this point what Faith’s past was like and what type of person she is. It is completely realistic for her character to close off emotionally and jump into the deep end of darkness. She already views herself as more important than other people because she’s the Slayer. She already thinks that this entitles her to preferential treatment (her “we are better!” speech to Buffy is the perfect example of this). However, underneath all of that God complex is a person that is insecure and thinks that she isn’t worth anything. Her mother was an abusive alcoholic and her Watcher was murdered in front of her. If that wasn’t enough to make Faith jaded and hate the world, then the combined power of Gwendolyn Post’s betrayal in “Revelations” and having the responsibility of the world on her shoulders as the Slayer sure is!

What we have here is a very flawed character. I mean that in a good way. Faith is one of the main characters of the Buffyverse, yet she has done some truly horrific things – with a soul! Those are the types of characters that I love the most! Like Faith, like Angel, like Spike, like Wesley...the ones that are flawed and make mistakes constantly. They’re so relatable to me! As you should know after my review of “Amends”, my life has had a lot of road blocks. I’ve lost a lot of people, I’ve tried to kill myself, I’ve self-harmed a lot, and I carry those scars on a daily basis. I sometimes feel like television and film in general forget about us. Characters that have been through a lot of dark shit are often treated as villains. That’s another reason why I feel so drawn to the characters that I mentioned above. The Buffyverse makes a point of emphasising that these characters aren’t bad people because they’ve made bad choices. Life’s not about being perfect, it’s about how you respond to the mistakes you’ve made. Are you capable of learning from them and becoming a better person? Faith isn’t ready for that in this episode. She’s in denial and she lashes out at everyone around her.

I find it ironic that this episode opens to Buffy having a dream that she is drowning, because in reality it’s Faith who’s drowning under the weight of her actions. I mentioned in “Bad Girls” that Faith is incapable of showing weakness or taking responsibility for her actions. She’s genuinely upset over accidentally murdering Allan Finch, but she will never show Buffy that. It’s tearing her apart inside. Just go back and watch the scene where Faith goes back to Allan’s body to dump it. The heartache is written all over her face. She has a moment where she almost opens up and lets Buffy in when she says “he came out of nowhere”, but this is quickly followed up by her patented defensiveness.

Buffy is falling apart. She can’t handle what is going on and she has no idea what to do or where to turn. Eventually, she turns to her best friend, Willow. I cannot express enough how much I love that Buffy told Willow first. Willow was feeling pushed aside in the last episode. She felt like she’d been replaced by Faith. Buffy going to Willow first helps reaffirm that Willow is Buffy’s best friend. Plus, Willow’s advice is spot on!...“tell Giles”. Giles is the only member of the Scoobies who knows what to do in this situation. He has extensive knowledge of Slayers, the Watcher’s Council, past events, and what the procedure is in a situation like this. A Slayer is a warrior that fights every day of her life. A Slayer killing a human accidentally is bound to have happened before. Giles is able to put Buffy’s mind at ease just a little bit. It’s wonderful to see that Buffy has learned her lesson from “Revelations”, and that she goes straight to Willow and Giles with this problem instead of keeping it to herself. This act is also a great message to send out to the younger members of the audience as well...if you have a problem, tell an adult.

Faith, realising that Buffy will tell Giles at some point, decides to beat her to it. She goes to Giles first and confides in him that Buffy was the one who killed Allan Finch. The double-crossing, backstabbing vixen! It’s a small comfort that she does look like she feels genuinely guilty over it during the scene where Giles is telling Buffy off about it. Speaking of that scene, Giles is far too convincing a liar! When I first saw this episode, I completely believed that Giles bought Faith’s version of events! I was just in the process of freaking out and wondering where this episode was going, when Giles tells Buffy that he believes her. Phew! Giles and Buffy come to the conclusion that they will not inform the Watcher’s Council what happened and that they will deal with the ramifications themselves.

Enter Wesley, eavesdropping on the conversation. The bad man goes straight to the Council with this information. Knowing where these two characters end up, watching this episode back is fascinating to me. Eventually they become friends. Wesley is the man that convinces Faith to break out of jail to help Angel.

I understand Xander’s motives for wanting to help Faith in this episode. He wants to feel like losing his virginity to Faith meant something to her too. It wasn’t entirely meaningless for Xander and he wants to know that those feelings are reciprocated. After Buffy tells Xander that Faith sees the guys that she’s slept with as a big joke, Xander is desperate to prove her wrong. It’s an interesting follow-up to Xander’s story in “The Zeppo”. Not just for the Xander-Faith sex, but for Xander’s sense of self-worth and identity as well. Of course, Buffy was correct and Xander finds himself in some genuine danger at the hands of Faith (literally)...

Faith has stated time and time again that she’s better than regular people because she’s the Slayer. She likes to feel powerful. She likes to know that she can hold people’s lives in her hands. There’s no doubt in my mind that if Angel hadn’t interrupted, Faith would have killed Xander (in one of the most disturbing scenes thus far). She’s already too far down the path of darkness. She’s running off of pure grief and emotion. Throw in the superiority complex and you have a recipe for disaster.

The only person that is capable of getting through to Faith at this point is Angel.

Angel: “Going down this path will ruin you. You can’t imagine the price for true evil.”

Prophetic words there from Angel. Going down this path does ruin Faith. It’s not until Angel saves her in Los Angeles that Faith starts to find some peace. Having Angel talk to Faith was a wonderful stroke of brilliance from the writing team. Angel understands what Faith is going through. He’s been there. As both a soulless vampire and a vampire with a soul. If there’s anyone that understands the path of redemption, it’s Angel. Faith feels powerful. She feels like she’s better than everyone around her. Who knows those feelings better than the most notorious vampire in history? I love the relationship between Faith and Angel that develops over the years. They’re still helping each other in the comic books all these years later! Angel almost gets through to Faith here, until Wesley comes along and ruins it. It’s beautiful continuity that it’s Angel who saves Faith a couple of years later after Faith has just tortured Wesley.

After Faith escapes the Watcher Council’s clutches, she decides to try to escape Sunnydale. Faith is nothing if not a creature of habit. When Faith first arrives in Sunnydale, she was running from Kakistos. After Gwendolyn Post turned out to be evil and caused a rift between Faith and the Scoobies, Faith disappeared from the Scoobies for a while and ran away emotionally. When the going gets tough, Faith gets going. Buffy is aware of Faith’s habits and finds her at the docks. Here, Faith raises a rather interesting point, when she tells Buffy that she tempts Buffy to cross the line. It’s completely true. As Buffy’s relationship with Faith blossomed in the last episode, so did Buffy’s desire to become reckless and wild. She vandalised a store, committed robbery, was arrested, and crashed a police car within a few days of being close friends with Faith! Buffy has a reckless streak within her too and Faith brings it to the forefront.

With all of that being said, why did Faith save Buffy from Mr. Trick? There is clearly some spark of decency deep down inside of her. This is another one of those moments that makes Faith’s breakdown and redemption at the end of “Angel” season one so much more realistic! Also, awwwww! Mr. Trick died! I wish he could have survived until “Graduation Day”. He was so entertaining! I know that he had to die in order for the amazing relationship between Faith and The Mayor to blossom, but it’s still disappointing. K. Todd Freeman told me at ‘Hallowhedon’ that he knew for a while that “Consequences” was going to be his last episode because he had other work commitments after that date.

This episode concludes with Faith officially joining ‘the dark side’. It’s completely in character for Faith to continue her quest for power, with Faith having a superiority complex. So after killing Mr. Trick, Faith realises that she has better opportunities with The Mayor than anyone else. What better way to start her life away from the Scoobies than with the most powerful man in Sunnydale?

•    There is one other major point from this episode that I wish to dissect a little bit...the Scoobies discovering that Xander slept with Faith. Willow realises before everyone else that Xander slept with Faith. The look of dawning realisation on her face is heartbreaking to watch. If I ever have to watch Willow cry again like she did in that bathroom stall, I’m going to jab Joss Whedon in the belly, hard, with a stick. I’ve said it repeatedly by this point, but Alyson has the most convincing upset face that I’ve ever seen. It just tears your heart out to see Willow so upset. Willow’s reaction to the news is interesting. Is it the reaction of someone that is upset that her best friend slept with someone who she hates? Is it because Willow already feels like Faith has taken Buffy away from her and now she’s worried that Faith has taken Xander as well? Is it because she still has romantic feelings for Xander? I think that it’s a complex combination of all three. Just because Willow has re-committed to her relationship with Oz, it doesn’t mean that her feelings for Xander have magically (see what I did there?) dispersed. Hearing that Xander (her best friend and someone that she’s been attracted to since she was five years old) slept with Faith brings up a lot of old feelings for Willow.

Some other thoughts from “Consequences”...

•    Wesley’s reaction when he first sees Cordelia is absolutely hilarious! He’s just a big nerd in lust. Watching this back is hilarious because they end up becoming the very best of friends in a matter of years...with zero attraction on either side at all.
•    Wesley: “Does everybody know about you?”
     Buffy: “She’s a friend.”
     Cordelia: “Let’s not exaggerate.”

Very true. Even though Cordelia has been an honourary member of the Scoobies for a while now, it doesn’t make Buffy and Cordelia friends. They’ve never been close at all. It’s why I’m not surprised that Cordelia leaves the Scoobies after graduating from Sunnydale High.

•    It’s the re-re-return of Detective Stein! Continuity for the win!
•    The shredder usually makes The Mayor happy...I know he’s evil and everything, but I really want him to be my uncle or step-father. He’d be the coolest person to have a conversation with. I bet he gives great Christmas gifts.
•    This episode is in dire need of some humour. I swear, with the exception of Wesley’s hilarious swooning over Cordelia, this episode has been nothing but drama. Even “The Gift” has a lot of funny moments!
•    To quote Angelus, “Things are about to get very interesting...”
•    Overall, this episode worked very well. It was a perfect dissection of Faith’s character and it helps set up the rest of the season. However, I didn’t find myself liking it quite as much as “Bad Girls”. Perhaps it was the lack of humour, perhaps it was missing that one big dramatic moment, but I feel like something was missing from this otherwise brilliant episode. I don’t know what that something is, but “Consequences” just lacks something when compared to the upper-echelon of episodes. Either way, this is still fantastic stuff!


Quote Of The Episode

Angel: “You and me, Faith, we’re a lot alike. Time was I thought humans existed just to hurt each other. Then I came here and I found out that there are other types of people. People who genuinely want to do right. They make mistakes, they fall down, but they keep caring, keep trying. If you can trust us Faith, this can all change. You don’t have to disappear into the darkness.”


He was so close to getting through to her! Stupid Wesley!

FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10

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

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