R E V I E W S
"Bad Girls"
(Season 3, Episode 14)
Written by: Eric Teall
The idea of a doppelganger is not a new one. They've been doing it in comic books for years. The Incredible Hulk TV show dedicated a two-parter to it ("The First") that still gives me nightmares to this day (I was three when I saw the episodes. So sue me). Wonder Woman had Brunhilde, KITT had KARR, Superman had General Zod, Robocop had… Well, you get the picture. In "Bad Girls", we're shown two pairs of "twins": Buffy and Faith; Giles and Wesley.
One interesting thing that Joss did with Buffy was to show the doppelganger of both sides, creating a "Goldilocks and the Three Slayers" situation (Kendra's too uptight, Faith's too crazy, and Buffy's juuuust right!). Kendra, in Season Two, is everything Giles ever wanted Buffy to be: obedient, studious, and courteous. Using Kendra, Joss effectively demonstrates what most of us already knew: going by the book doesn't always make you right. After all, Drusilla kills Kendra rather easily; Angel can't even kill his disarmed former lover.
In order to truly utilize the "evil twin" idea, though, the twin in question must be, well, evil. Or, in Faith's case, morally confused. The doppelganger represents the main characters worst fears and personal flaws and serves to emphasize the main character's best qualities. In effect, Faith and Buffy are symbolically two halves of the same whole, and the second half of Season Three resolves these conflicts within Buffy.
"Bad Girls" is the turning point in Buffy and Faith's relationship. Faith has already given into "the dark side" of slaying, and she tempts Buffy. I'm not sure I totally buy Buffy's succumbing in the sporting goods store, but it's a reasonable situation. There is just enough reason for them to do what they do that I can see how someone as immature as Buffy is (in Season Three) could make the wrong choice. The best part of all the Buffy/Faith interaction-besides the hilarious opening conversation about Xander-is how much Buffy sounds like Giles. As so many of us find out, when we're put to the test, our parental influences are stronger than we might like. Despite any nitpicks I might have with the specific elements of script or acting, "Bad Girls" demonstrates this little fact of life in a fair and effective way.
The Giles/Wesley dichotomy continues to explore the constant Buffy theme that truth is revealed through experience. Wesley is to Giles what Kendra was to Buffy, but this new relationship is more illuminating. Giles is often played for laughs, especially early on with all of the "Oh, you're so British!" jokes. Wesley here demonstrates two main things: Giles is much tougher than the average viewer may think, and his strength comes from his love for Buffy. The toughness stuff here is played for laughs at Wesley's expense, but his character is so extreme at this point that I find him more annoying than funny. Still, it serves to show that folks who are eager to put others down often don't know what they're talking about (hence the whole truth and experience thing).
Giles' love for Buffy reveals yet another consistent theme of Buffy: appearances can be deceiving. The inspiration for the entire show is that the typical victim of all horror movies, the blonde valley girl, can actually be the hero. The characters and the audience are often tempted to make a similar mistake about Giles. They assume that he is cold and detached in part because he is British and in part because he is the authority figure of the group. Only when the opposite viewpoint is expressed (that Giles cares too much for Buffy) does the audience suddenly want to rush to his defense. Anthony Stewart Head has much better material to work with here than Alexis Denisof, and he takes advantage of it. His subtle anger and embarrassment are right on, revealing Giles' frustration with the indignity of being replaced by this idiot. Having Wesley read Giles' early journal entries is a master stroke, adding both to the audience's sympathy and Giles' frustrating situation: in effect, he used to be Wesley, and it is Buffy who has taught him to become a better man.
In the end, though, this episode fails to deliver the goods. Sure, we've got fighting. We've got jokes. We've got character development. But, as so often happens with two-parters (and this and "Consequences" are basically a two-parter), the second part is more satisfying than the first because it requires less exposition. "Bad Girls" needs to do too much in too little time to deliver a truly solid overall effect. It's like the first hill of a roller coaster: it's cool because of what's going to happen, not what is happening now.
4/6 Stakes
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