3.15 Consequences

[Clare]

3.15 Consequences - Episode #049
Whilst Buffy feels the weight of her conscience after the Deputy Mayor's murder, Faith acts like nothing happened.

Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.

[cyclica]

Another arc episode, this one is even more of a drag than the last one. It's hard to find real flaws in this episode, it was just boring at times. And the scoobies don't appear enough (in fact oz doesn't appear at all).

Though it did get exciting when buffy went to see giles to turn faith in, but faith got there first and giles pretended buffy was in big trouble.

Consequences get a 4 from me.

[jennf10]

I actually greatly enjoy this episode....and it is very important to the development of Faith's character in Season 3. This is when the differences between Faith and Buffy truly begin to emerge.....and we also start to see what a great addition Faith was to the show.

Very essential to watch this episode to understand then end of season 3.

My score: 7.5/10

[partcynic]

3x15 “Consequences”

Episode Rating = 4

One thing it’s interesting to go back and look at is the changing view of “Buffy”’s seasonal arcs, and how they’re often used a shorthand for the quality of the seasons themselves (like in the oh-so-common - and oh-so-annoying - “The Initiative sucked, so S4 was really bad” line of reasoning). In contrast to S4, S3 is one of the years where most people would agree that the arc is good (I’m one of them – I put it in second place after the one in S2), but when rewatching the season, I get the impression that its strongest moments are away from the arc, and its weakest ones usually focus on it. “Consequences” is one such edition, and while it serves its function as a connector that progresses the seasonal story, it has little other value, and gets progressively less interesting the more often you watch it.

What I Liked about “Consequences”:

- The opening dream was fine, though it served as a metaphor for the episode itself (passable, but clichéd – how many times have you seen the ‘being dragged down underwater’ concept used to represent someone’s guilt?) Still, it worked emotionally, and I could feel Buffy’s torment as she woke to her mother watching the news report about the deputy mayor’s body being discovered.

- Wesley’s response to Cordelia was a great humour moment (important in a story that has almost none), and good set-up for their interactions during the rest of the season.

- It was neat to have the police officer from “Ted” return to question Buffy (can’t recall if he featured in “Becoming”, though I don’t think that was the case). He must certainly be suspicious of her, considering the trouble she so frequently gets into.

- The Mayor’s reaction to his deputy’s death (and the subsequent news that he had died at the hands of a Slayer) was fine, and I smiled at his comments about the shredder.

- Faith’s attempt at setting Buffy up was by far the best dramatic moment (I’d go so far as to say that it was the only good one), and I loved that Giles had immediately seen through Faith’s subterfuge. It’s great evidence of his fatherly bond with Buffy, and I was very happy to hear him emphasise that a human being caught in the crossfire was hardly a novel occurrence.

- I was fond of the way that Willow was characterised. Carrying over from “Bad Girls”, there was a believable awkwardness and resentfulness in her initial conversation with Buffy, and the situation was dealt with quickly and effectively. I think it said a lot that Willow was the first person Buffy chose to come clean to (ahead of even Giles), and it was rewarding to see an (increasingly rare) friendship moment between the girls. I also loved her response to the news of Xander’s hookup with Faith – crying in the toilet was a typical teenage reaction, and I thought it was nice how Willow wasn’t so much upset from jealousy or betrayal, but rather that someone she really cared about (and had long carried a torch for) had given himself to someone who couldn’t care less about him.

- Xander’s attempt at dealing with Faith was thoughtful and considerate despite being very misguided, and earns him a couple of maturity points in the process.

- Though I have a number of issues with the content of his chats with her, Angel was believable as Faith’s ‘spiritual guide’, and I liked that he was capable of slowly getting through to her (after all, he’s the one person who might have some comprehension of what she’s going through). Plus, after all of the romantic angst, it was wonderful to see him do something besides look longingly at Buffy.

- The fight on the dock was a welcome shot of adrenaline to a plodding story, and Faith choosing to stay and help suggested that she wasn’t beyond saving (no matter what happened afterwards). It was a shame to lose Mr Trick, but I liked that he made good on his promise in “Band Candy”, and using his tie/scarf to try and strangle Buffy was pleasantly sadistic.

What I Disliked about “Consequences”:

- The big, overriding issue here (underpinning everything else) is that the characters sure can talk. A human being has been killed by a Slayer – let’s chat about it. Buffy is torn between what she feels is the morally right way of dealing with the situation and her tenuous friendship with Faith – let’s talk some more. Faith loses control, frames Buffy for the death and then makes an attempt on Xander’s life – how about some more yapping? But not in a manner that progresses the narrative, states anything meaningful or contains true relevance to reality; just empty chit-chat. It felt like 90% of this episode was filler built around one basic concept, and there was far too little plot to justify basing an entire 42 minutes to its exploration. This is admittedly a problem caused by the decision to split “Bad Girls” and “Consequences” into separate stories rather than developing them as a proper two-parter (a la “Surprise/Innocence”), but that doesn’t excuse these major problems.

- Seeing that this episode devoted itself to discussing the morality of being a Slayer, I was hoping for something more sophisticated than what we got. I understand that the show’s primary audience is teenagers (and the writers thus wanted to convey the message in a way they’d easily understand), but the ideas presented here were too simplistic and predicated on both Buffy and Faith acting in an overblown, slapstick manner. I think that even the densest person would realise murder is wrong, so it would have been nice for the episode to go beyond that obvious fact and explore the nuances of the situation. However, it mostly avoided doing so, and it was very irritating that so many characters acted as though Faith had callously and deliberately murdered the deputy mayor, instead of acknowledging that his death was a horrible accident.

- As a major arc piece and a crucial moment in the development of the two Slayers (especially Faith), it was important that this episode treat the two characters fairly. Unfortunately, it didn’t, and drew a ‘good/bad’ line between the two that didn’t reflect reality. Buffy is portrayed as incredibly naive and innocent (ooh, a person died, we must fall to our knees, weep and beg for forgiveness, else we’re sick in the head), and the writers apparently didn’t bother to consider that she may (or rather should) have thought about this situation before. It really isn’t implausible that a human could get caught up in Slayer/monster combat taking place in an urban area, and yet Buffy seems to think this is shocking. Hmm...

- While Buffy is simply dumb during this episode, poor Faith is the one that really gets it. She works as the voice of reason in the first half (is it bad when the supposedly reckless, immoral person makes the most sense?), but all of her intelligently made points are ignored in favour of the slamming the ‘killing is wrong’ theme home. That’s frustrating enough, but her inexplicable jump to psychotic murderer in the second half is ridiculous and doesn’t represent an organic, natural progression for her character (Angel’s explanatory talk about how killing fundamentally changes you and getting a “taste for it” is total nonsense). I liked her decision to team up with the Mayor at the end, but it could definitely have come about without either making radical alterations to her character or misrepresenting what really happened in the alleyway.

- I’ve said this multiple times before, but the Watcher’s Council needs to be portrayed as at least slightly competent. I can’t believe that Wesley would think only to bring a couple of human men with him to take on a violent Slayer and a powerful vampire with a hundred-plus years of fighting experience, and it’s even stupider that his plan succeeds (did Angel take his special wimp pills that morning?) Let’s not even mention his neglecting to sedate Faith (or at least restrain her legs) when attempting to transport her out of town – just how much of an unthinking moron is he?

Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?

I like it less, but I’m not dropping my grade. Unlike the episodes I give lower scores to, I can at least watch “Consequences” all the way through without cringing too badly, and I honestly think it could have been good if Buffy and Faith’s reactions were dialled down, and more of an episodic plot included to properly frame their conflict. Still, I can’t ignore the slow drabness that permeates this story, nor how its ‘deep’ philosophising actually consists of trite soundbites we’ve heard a million times before, delivered upon an inaccurate presentation of the deputy mayor’s murder. As such, I’m giving “Consequences” a low four out of ten, making it tolerable, but my second least favourite S3 ep after “Dead Man’s Party”.

[cyclica]

My feelings toward this episode haven't changed much since I last reviewed it. Again I found it boring at times, perhaps because it was just a follow-up to the last episode, wrapping up the mini story with nothing really to add on it's own. There were a few revelations, such as buffy discovering the mayor's a bad guy, faith is a bad girl, and xander revealing to the gang he slept with her. But these are things the audience already knew, and revelations are more exciting when the audience is learning something at the same time the charatcers are.

Though to be fair there were a surprising number of emotional moments in the episode, like buffy opening up to willow about faith's killing, giles momentarily tricking buffy into thinking he was angry at her after faith pins the murder on her, and willow's reaction after learning how her best friend xander slept with someone she hates (again). However, even though I usually appreciate any time the show can make me really feel for the characters, I didn't really want to spend 45 minutes watching people crying and being miserable.

There only humour in the episode comes from wesley, both when flirting with cordelia (which is amusing after seeing what their relationship is like on Angel), and giving his secret password to the watcher's council (it's 'monkey', of all things). The lack of humour may be attributed to the lack of scoobies- oz doesn't appear, cordy has one scene, and xander doesn't appear until halfway through.

This ep also has a few 'shocking' scenes- faith raping/strangling xander, faith being 'rescued' from angel's chains by wesley, who then chains her up as well, and faith's defecting at the end. None of these scenes have any impact for me anymore, probably because I've watched the episode so many times, but also because, in the first and last examples I mentioned, I don't get faith's motivations at all. I don't buy that she'd go from an accidental killing in the heat of the moment, to trying to murder a friend, even if they weren't especially close. And why would she team up with the mayor? She has no reason to trust him, especially since she just killed two of his lackeys. Speaking of, I must admit I was a little surprised by mr trick's death, so soon after finch's death and so early in the season. I also liked how the usually civilised (moreso than the average) vampire turns into a snarling beast during the fight.

Overall this isn't a bad episode, certainly there were no big flaws beyond faith's motivations, which were necessary to get the story moving. But still, it's an ep I'd only watch during a marathon, and even then I'd be sure to watch it sandwiched between two other eps in a row, because on it's own this episode is an emotional rollercoaster, one which is only heading down. I give it a low 4.

[partcynic]

I did type out some comments before, but they got lost in cyberspace. Let's see if I have better luck this time.

There were a few revelations, such as buffy discovering the mayor's a bad guy, faith is a bad girl, and xander revealing to the gang he slept with her. But these are things the audience already knew, and revelations are more exciting when the audience is learning something at the same time the charatcers are.

That's a really good point. It's not as fun to watch when the characters are learning things the audience already knows.

However, even though I usually appreciate any time the show can make me really feel for the characters, I didn't really want to spend 45 minutes watching people crying and being miserable.

Especially when it has no plot and lots of whining.

This ep also has a few 'shocking' scenes- faith raping/strangling xander, faith being 'rescued' from angel's chains by wesley, who then chains her up as well, and faith's defecting at the end. None of these scenes have any impact for me anymore, probably because I've watched the episode so many times, but also because, in the first and last examples I mentioned, I don't get faith's motivations at all. I don't buy that she'd go from an accidental killing in the heat of the moment, to trying to murder a friend, even if they weren't especially close.

I agree that Faith's motivations here are really sloppy. It's a big writing fumble, and problematic given that it occurs at such an important point in the arc.