"DOPPELGANGLAND." BtVS Episode.
| AIRDATE | NO | TITLE | WRITER | DIRECTOR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 02/23/99 | 3016 | Doppelgängland | Joss Whedon | Joss Whedon |
On Buffyworld.com: Trailer, Summary, Transcript
Assigned to Elizabeth Rambo.
On BuffyGuide.com: Doppelgängland
The Plot * Act Divisions/Breaks * Character Development * The Funny * The Naughty * Story Arcs * Technical Details
Anya, formerly a vengeance demon named Anyanka, is trying to get her powers back from D'Hoffryn. After his refusal to help her, she decides to approach Willow Rosenberg for assistance with a spell. Willow, having gone through various events that left her feeling boring, predictable and like everyone's lapdog, jumps at the opportunity to do something a little different and dangerous. The spell is altered and, instead of bringing Anya's power center back from the world of "The Wish" (ep. 3:9), it brings Willow's vampire self.
The remainder of the episode is the exploration of the confused Vamp Willow, the battle between the Scooby Gang and Vamp Willow's new gang, and the plans to send Vamp Willow back to her own world.
Teaser
Anya pleads with D'Hoffryn but to no avail. She leaves saying "If you won't help me, then by the pestilent gods, I will find someone who will!"
Willow practices her magic with a spinning pencil. Buffy does sit-ups and stretches as they discuss Faith's sanity, the Watcher's Council testing, and whether or not everyone has the capacity to do wrong.
Part One
Willow is informed by Principal Snyder that she will be tutoring an athlete by the name Percy West.
Willow complains about Snyder's assumptions on her time just before happily starting on a project at Giles' behest. Faith and Wesley return from Faith's physical testing. Buffy leaves for her own evaluation and Faith discovers that Willow is trying to break into the Mayor's personal files.
Faith has informed Mayor Wilkins of Willow's work and he has presented her with a new apartment. He also mentions ordering a vampire hit on Willow.
Willow's interaction with Oz and then Percy leaves her feeling boring. Buffy calls her "Old Reliable" which makes her feel worse. She threatens to change her look or cut class before storming off.
Willow jumps at the option to help Anya with a spell. During the spell she sees images of the other world (herself and Xander as vampires, Buffy being attacked by the Master, etc.) and the sand is poured over her fingers before it hits the plate.
We quickly see Vamp Willow alone in the factory looking confused.
Part Two
Vamp Willow walks through Sunnydale, confused by the differences between her world and this place.
She goes to the Bronze, is briefly harassed by Percy but then tries to strangle him. The fight is interrupted by Xander (who thinks Percy is attacking Willow). Vamp Willow then comes on to Xander before realizing he's a human. Buffy joins them and think this new look is a result of the "reliable" thing until they see her vampire face.
Vamp Willow is attacked by the vampires Mayor Wilkins sent, but convinces them to help her take over and "make it the way it was. Starting with the Bronze."
Willow finds Buffy, Xander and Giles in the Library and they discover that she's alive.
At the Bronze, Oz and Devon are hooking up instruments for the Dingoes Ate My Baby performance that night. Vamp Willow and her gang enter, threaten everyone and Vamp Willow makes an example of Sandy (who will return as a vampire in "Family" (ep. 5:6) and "Shadow" (ep. 5:8). Angel leaves to go and get Buffy. Oz approaches her asking who did this, and Anya interrupts to explain that she's not the Willow of this world.
Angel finds the gang at the library to tell them that Willow's dead and the vampires are at the Bronze. He's obviously as confused as the rest of them to find that it's not the same Willow. The gang heads to the Bronze to "stop the feeding frenzy" and Willow is captured by her vampire self.
Part Three
Willow fights with the vampire, eventually shooting her with the tranquilizer gun. The rest of the gang comes back to put Vamp Willow in the cage and Buffy gets the idea to have the Willows switch places.
Willow, in the Vamp Willow outfit, goes into the Bronze in an attempt to fool the vampires and set things up to save the people there. Anya realizes it's the real Willow and blows her cover.
Meanwhile, Cordelia has found Vampire Willow in the cage and, thinking it's Willow, chats about "the ethics of boyfriend stealing" before finally letting her out and then getting attacked.
Part Four
Wesley comes to Cordelia's rescue and Vamp Willow heads back to the Bronze.
Anya wants Willow killed. The Scooby gang enter when Willow screams and the battle ensues. Buffy almost kills Vamp Willow but stops because Willow asks her to.
Anya and Giles work together to send Vamp Willow back to her world where she is immediately staked by Oz in the battle at the factory.
In the closing scene, Willow is (according to Buffy) in danger of overdosing on virtue until Percy comes by to give her the reports and bibliography he wrote. He also hands her an apple before leaving, and Buffy and Willow make plans to go out that evening.
(act divisions noted according to transcript at www.buffyworld.com)
This episode is completely Willow-centric, developing her character, revealing her feelings about the world and herself, and foreshadowing events for the next four seasons.
Buffy: "I know Faith's not gonna be on the cover of Sanity Fair..."
Willow: "You think I'm boring."
Oz: "I'd call that a radical interpretation of the text."
Anya: "I swear, I am just trying to find my necklace."
Willow: "Well, did you try looking inside the sofa in Hell?"
Xander: "Uh Will, this is verging on naughty touching here. Don't wanna fall back on bad habits. Hands! Hands in new places!"
Buffy: "It was exactly you, Will, every detail. Except for your not being a dominatrix. As far as we know.
Willow: "Oh, right. Me and Oz play 'Mistress of Pain' every night."
Giles furrows his brow. Buffy and Xander's eyes glaze over.
Xander: "Did anyone else just go to a scary visual place?"
Buffy: "Oh yeah."
Vamp Willow: "I kinda like the idea of the two of us. We could be quite a team, if you came around to my way of thinking.
Willow: "Would that mean we have to snuggle?"
Vamp Willow licks Willow's neck.
Willow (in Vamp Willow's clothes): "It's a little binding. I guess vampires really don't have to breathe." (notices her cleavage) "Gosh, look at those."
Xander and Giles look, then uncomfortably try not to look.
Willow hugs Vamp Willow just before they send her back. Vamp Willow smiles naughtily and moves her hands down causing Willow to jump.
Willow: "Hands! Hands!"
Anya's demonic self, including her relationship with D'Hoffryn and references to her appearance in Sunnydale in "The Wish" (ep. 3:9)
We see Anya begging D'Hoffryn for reinstatement as a vengeance demon, and referring to "The Wish" when talking about how she lost her powers. She also mentions at the end of the episode that she still plans to get her powers back (though we don't see this until episode 6:16 "Hells Bells" after Xander leaves her at the altar.)
Willow's magical power and difficulty with emotional control
This is demonstrated in the teaser as Willow spins the pencil magically and then shoots it into a tree after getting upset while talking about Faith. It's a direct precursor to the emotional responses Willow will have in Season Six after Tara leaves her and again after Tara dies.
Buffy's conflict/competition with Faith
Buffy wants to do better than Faith in their council testing, and we will continue to see this competition until it is verified that Faith has gone bad and is working for the mayor. At that point, it's straight conflict.
Faith working for the Mayor
We first see Faith approach the Mayor at the end of "Consequences" (ep. 3:15). In "Dopplegangland, we are able to see just how closely she's working with him as he presents her with a new apartment and makes plans to have Willow killed.
Willow's 'gayness' and 'evilness'
Willow will 'come out' in Season Four when she starts dating Tara McClay. She will become evil in Season Six after Tara's death. Both these events are foreshadowed in her "Dopplegangland" statement: "That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil...and skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay." Her evil side (as a vampire and as a dark witch in season 6) is also foreshadowed in her own statement to Buffy "Some people just don't have that in them."
Willow and Xander's brief indiscretion
Xander and Willow briefly cheat on Cordelia and Oz (respectively) from "Homecoming" (ep. 3:5) to "Lover's Walk" (ep. 3:8) when they are caught by Cordelia. Vamp Willow's seductive caressing of Xander in the Bronze causes Xander to refer to this by saying "Uh... Will, this is verging on naughty touching here. Don't wanna fall back on bad habits. Hands! Hands in new places!"
Lighting - The teaser and act one are brightly lit, much of them outdoors (with the exception of Anya's meeting with D'Hoffryn). The final scene with Buffy and Willow is also outdoors and brightly lit. However, all of acts two and three and most of act four are dimly lit and heavily shadowed.
Editing - The battle at the factory from "The Wish" had to be reshot in two different ways; once when Vamp Willow disappeared before Oz could reach her, and once when she reappeared there and was staked while saying "oh, f..." There was also some tricky editing work with Allyson Hannigan and her body double, Jennifer Nicole.
Make-up - The make up on Vamp Willow was relatively subtle, but very distinct. Her skin is paler than usual, with very slight veins showing on the chest and shoulder area. Her green eyeshadow and dark lipstick gives her a different look than normal Willow. Also, the transition between her normal face and her vamp face was edited much quicker than most vampires on the show.
--Cynthia Ryan