And the Mayor is not posing as a father figure. He is a father figure. The scariest thing about him is that he is genuine.

You were correct in your assumption when researching the airdate for Earshot. It was pushed back/delayed due to the Columbine massacre (as the episode would have originally aired when the shootings happened).

When the mayor says "Miniature Golf" at Faith and smiles, she wasn't supposed to laugh but he just kept smiling at her until the actress cracked.

Buffy finding out about Joyce and Giles will always never not be _hilarious_ Also love that Xander's joke about the lunch lady was correct.

My favorite part of Enemies is absolutely Angel’s performance-because it feels off, but not enough to spoil the surprise twist! It’s a fun episode to rewatch to see the subtle set up of Buffy and Angel’s plan, like how Faith knows where the light switch is at the apartment, when from Buffy’s perspective Faith shouldn’t know, and you see Buffy noticing that, justifying Buffy’s suspicions of Faith. As for Earshot, you are completely right about the episode air date having to be pushed back due to unfortunate timing. It’s frustrating to see the episode’s commentary which was scarily accurate back then, and to see it’s only more accurate today still.

When Angel talks about having done "the whole bad-girl thing" he means Darla.

Your anguish at the rebirth of Angelus was... exquisite. :) But you noticed something was a little off with him - David Boreanaz did an excellent job of portraying Angel pretending to be Angelus, and the reveal - "second best" - one of the best moments in the show! Your reaction to that was pure gold!

Back when Faith was first introduced, while she's fighting a vampire she says "My dead mother hits harder than that" Also Giles sets up knowing the soul stealing demon, "No good virgin sacrifices anymore" to "I introduced him to his wife"

"Why are we doing this to ourselves, we're torturing ourselves with this relationship." You weren't listening to Spike earlier in the season :P "You'll never be friends. You'll be in love til it kills you both. You'll fight and you'll shag and you'll hate each other til it makes you quiver but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains children. It's blood. Blood screaming inside you to work its will." Everyone can see the relationship is bad, most of all Buffy and Angel. But even knowing that, they still can't help it. Whedon talked about it as his view on love itself being a choice we make to invite pain into our lives and how it's still worth it even knowing the end will always be pain. It was the main thesis of his speech written for Angel in "Passion" in season 2. Their relationship is the realization that all love, even the best in the best of situations, will end in pain. Every pet you get will give you love and you will get it in return, but they will all die and you will feel pain. Every relationship you enter will end in either breakup or death...that's the curse of being mortal. Every child you choose to have you will either grieve or are passing the pain of grief onto in the world. And yet even knowing all this as humans who are cursed with the knowledge of our own mortality, we still choose to expose our hearts and be vulnerable and love. Knowing that we are creating pain in the world, we understand that love is worth it. The feeling of love is worth the tradeoff for the pain to come. That's Buffy and Angel right now, they can't see the future, all they can see is each other at this point in the season.

Cordelia is just so transparent I love it🤣💀

That is absolutely just milk and nothing but.

In 'Enemies', there's a nice little "cinematic" moment - right after Faith kisses Buffy on the forehead and then runs off, Willow comes running in to frame and takes her place, replacing Faith's vacated position next to Buffy. Willow had been feeling left out and feeling like Faith was taking over her position as Buffy's best friend and that little sequence depicted the moment Willow is re-established as the best friend.

I just wanted to point out that Wesley is fresh out of the Watcher's Academy, so he's early to mid 20s, and he's not a teacher or employed at the school, so Cordelia isn't his student and he isn't in any type of position of authority over her.

When Buffy and Faith went to the Demon's apartment together, Buffy noticed when Faith reached around the doorway for the light switch without looking revealing that she was familiar with the apartment. I guess that's the moment Buffy knew Faith was lying about where she was the previous night.

The fact you were so mad/worried about the trope me laugh out loud....giiiirl...this this buffy 💜

Cass, episode 3x17 | "Enemies" aired on March 16, 1999. Episode 3x18 | "Earshot" was originally scheduled to be broadcast on April 27 but was postponed until September 21, 1999, it airing two weeks before the start of SE4, because of the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Episode 3x19 | "Choices" aired on May 4, 1999. There was originally suppose to be a month break between episodes 3x17 & 3x18 but because of real life events the episode wasn't aired and a new episode aired the following week.

24:17 now that I’m older, I’ve eased up on the anti-Angel/Buffy haters because I get that SOME of them genuinely just want both Angel and Buffy to be happy forever in a healthy relationship. I get that. But what I want you to always remember going forward is that no matter what, Angel was Buffy’s first love. And she was his. They will ALWAYS be that. I disagree on the word toxic for them because he does not force himself on her, he does not disrespect her, he does not harm her. He wants to love her unconditionally. Again, with age I can agree that this relationship is tragic and doomed(which makes it interesting for the story) BUT no matter what they will always love each other and there’s nothing toxic or wrong with that.

Your comments about Faith's mom @18:40 are an often-overlooked part of her heel turn in the last episodes. Way back in 4x03, almost the first time we see her fight, Faith taunts a vamp by saying "my dead mother hits harder than that!" This implies 1) her mother was abusive, 2) Faith is an orphan, and 3) raised in a living situation where having a dead abusive parent is common enough to be a joke. I think it's easy for her to believe that she's meant to be bad, and the crumbs of ersatz affection she gets from the Mayor are worth whatever qualms she feels.

A part you didn't include in Enemies was Faith reaching around to turn on the lights without looking. Buffy noticed that which indicated that Faith had been there before. Thus the planning between Angel, Buffy, and Giles to draw Faith out. And Angel was wrong. Faith wasn't "second best." Buffy's performance was pretty damn good too. That monolog Faith had? Everything she said was wrong. Amazing set of delusions she'd built up.

Earshot was supposed to air 5 days after the Columbine shooting. Was delayed until September because at the time no one really wanted to see a gun. The hands of high school student on TV. Sarah, Michelle Geller actually pushed for the episode to air on time because she thought the topics handled in it, but actually be helpful to troubled kids

"why do i like it?" because it's amazing.

Xander: Ohh, Jello! He’s better than that! No, he isn’t. Thank goodness he isn’t!

With "Enemies" and Angel playing soulless, I always wondered, was hitting Xander part of the act or did Angel really want to deck him for real.

Both earshot and graduation part 2 were postponed until late in the summer which sucked for those of us who watched when they originally aired….fortunately I found a way around by ordering a vhs bootleg copy on eBay from Canada since the episodes were aired there on schedule and there was no way I was going to wait 😝

I've been waiting!!!! Season 3 honestly has one of the best runs - I feel like from 3x12 to 3x22 it is consistently GOOD! I love your reactions so much; I'm saving my watch til later when I have time to really enjoy it!

I love earshot so many hilarious moments. The twist at the end of enemies is epic too.

I hadn't realized until now that right after "Dopplegangland" where we saw Alyson Hannigan playing Willow pretending to be Vampire Willow and playing Vampire Willow pretending to be Willow, etc. in "Enemies" we get to see David Boreanaz playing Angel pretending to be Angelus. And, as you noticed, Angel pretending to be Angelus is different than just plain old Angelus..and yet it's all David Boreanaz.

Underestimating the writers never ends well...

I think Earshot was one of the best episodes of S3. Even though the tone is very comedic in terms of Buffy being able to read minds, it deals with potential mass murder, and teenage suicide. The writers did an incredible job to match these two themes throughout. The embarrassment of Xander's thoughts, as with other teenage boys obsessed with sex, and Joyce's attempt to try and stop Buffy finding out that Giles had sex with Joyce are embarrassing and so funny at same time. Earshot is always a fan favourite, keeping up the quality of S3 episodes. Jonathan's attempt to commit suicide is of course stopped by Buffy, as she understands his angst and emotional pain. It was if course not shown on TV at time as well it coincided with the Columbine massacre. It was a brilliant piece of writing.

Eliza's pretty and I particularly like the wardrobe choices for her in Enemies. Fun Fact, when Faith kisses Buffy on the forehead it was originally written as a kiss on the lips but the network shut it down.

2nd best. love that line. David is such a good actor when it comes to good Angel, bad Angel

Imagine...when Cordelia says, "Yeah, because THAT never happens in American High Schools" (referring to school shootings) and then Oz says, "It's bordering on trendy at this point." that was written BEFORE the Columbine shooting and all the school shootings that have since followed. Sigh...

Enemies was a super episode where the arc of the show kept building towards Graduation Day. Again we see Faith kill the Demon in cold blood, as Angel had said previous once she had the taste for killing she would not stop. The twist with Angel pretending to have turned again to Angelus was superb. Faith realising at last what she is up against is brilliant. The build up to the finale in S3 is incredible. All is gradually being revealed with the Mayor and Faith against The Scooby Gang. The second half of S3 is really when BTVS became a stellar show! you gotta watch the last two together if you can, two stunning episodes for The Finale.

Love these episodes. David Boreanaz did a great job in acting a little bit 'off' so we could see that this Angelus thing wasn't really happening. And then...'You had sex with Giles!!?? Twice!!!"

As an old millenial who watched Buffy when it first aired, I will share the back story on "Earshot": It was filmed before any school shootings. It was to be aired shortly after Columbine, but due to Columbine and its aftermath, its airing was postponed for several months and dialogue were added in to acknowledged current events.

Spending time with someone who makes you happy isn't a waste of time just because it doesn't end in marriage. The five stages of grief aren't real. Different people are different. Angel didn't say demons' minds can't be read, he said it was like the reflections, which other demons have.

I think I read somewhere that the kiss on the forehead was supposed to be on the lips, but they didn't think they could get away with it. Regardless there's also a whole romantic subtext between Buffy and Failth so maybe Faith is also jealous of Angel.

12:00 Cause he's the best version of Angel in Buffy. He's so much more fun to watch than moping Angel.

Giles: Demon Matchmaker is the spin-off I did not know I wanted, and Cass, you will remember Jonathan!

the phrase ur looking for is "Cordilia is brutally honest"

not me laughing so hard when you said "why did I ever question this show?" xD

They had to reschedule Earshot's airing because it initially would have come out days after the Columbine Massacre. I'm glad they changed it, because my school was near Columbine and I knew people who died in the shooting. The WB had to do a whole statement to address why our TV Guides would be wrong about Buffy, and the reason they were skipping the episode for months. Hulu lists the episodes as they were meant to be watched, not how they were aired this season.

It was Buffy who tried to break it off with Angel and then she realized she was only in denial so they are at least spending time together. At least Angel knows what the limits are after going through it already and I think that kind of makes him miserable enough to not have another "true happiness" moment.

hey look at that, it's almost like the writers of the show know what they're doing, who'd've thunk it?

Ya know ya gotta remember they are teenagers in high-school still figuring out how to be assertive, and to easily understand and make smart life decisions. Come season 4, you'll really start to see the gang begin to grow into themselves more.

I think the Normies summed up Cordy/Wesley best "She's 18, its not illegal ... its just gross"

Eizha Dushku is an amazing actor.

Buffy and angel's plan in enemies to expose faith is top tier twist, too bad Giles made friends with people in high places. Anytime Angelus comes back is a treat even pretend

Wow, fun reactions. You really bought the whole evil Angel thing hook, line and sinker; and your reaction to the "I'll kill you all" reveal was pretty funny too.

Remember what you were saying about how the rest of the students might react to seeing Buffy doing her heroics.

Xander being the hero just by being him.

Re. Earshot - it was just BtVS being ahead of the curveball as per usual.

The actor playing Wesley was born in 1966, so when people say he is 30 or above they are incorrect, Wesley is supposed to be fresh out of the Academy... which is similar to Uni in Europe or College in America He would be between the ages of 22-25 depending on how long he had to shadow as a Watcher in training

I laughed so hard at your reaction to the 'evil' Angel performance... Enemies is a great episode to watch people react to.

I wonder if that was the same Lunch Lady who was among the crowd of women chasing Xander in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"?

Yes, Cass. "Earshot" was delayed because of the Columbine shooting.

It's always so strange to look back at "Earshot" just because of the timing. A lot was going on during the 90s and school shootings were happening, but they weren't nearly as common. Fastforward to today and it seems so common that people don't even react as much anymore.

Earshot was preempted because of Columbine. It was originally intended to be aired as 3x18, but it wasn't aired until the week before 4x01. Or at least that was when they aired it in my area, I've had experiences of these reordered episodes of shows being reordered in different ways in different areas, but yea this was pushed back because of Columbine as you suspected.

The "can't read demons' minds" was a bit of a stretch. Angel said it was like the mirror - "the thoughts are there, but they create no reflection in you." That appears to be a vampire-specific thing. I'm pretty sure most demons actually do show up in mirrors. Also, you are assuming the Mayor is a demon - but the only thing we know is he made a joke about selling his soul, that it was too late for that. But everything he does could be explained through the use of magic. He doesn't seem to be a witch - perhaps more like a warlock or sorcerer. He used a ritual to gain invincibility.

Not just Buffy angel and Giles the whole gang were in on it that's why they were all there together

Faith and the Mayor don't want to kill Angel, they want to unleash Angelus.

With "Enemies," my favorite part was your reaction when you realized Angel was only faking. You were partially right when you proposed that he was faking it to get on the inside. For the record, by the way, externalizing your internal dialogue is a big reason why we watch! Regarding "Earshot..." Apparently this episode was pushed back from it's originally planned airdate following the 1999 Columbine shooting. They felt the scene in which Buffy hears someone thinking 'I'll kill you... I'll kill you all" was a bit too close to reality, and may cause additional trauma. Obviously there were other parts that played a factor, such as Xander saying "Who hasn't just idly thought about taking out the whole place with a semi automatic?" In real life, the shooters at Columbine had written journals in which they fantasized about (and planned) the shooting long before it had happened. So out of respect, the airdate was moved. They aired the rest of the episodes in order, though which is why you saw the discrepancy. I am really enjoying your take on this show and especially your dialogues and comments at the end!

> Or am I spiraling? That was a rhetorical question, don't answer. Okay. Not answering. Just being quiet in a very pointed way, making implications about what I think. 😅

oh i’m so excited for the end of this season! this whole run is just so good. I really like earshot, it’s sometimes nice to see Buffy sidelined and the others jumping in to help instead. I sometimes wish we got to see more of them patrolling without her this season. Was glad you picked up on “Angelus” acting weird bc i don’t think i did on my first watch!

You are not yet a Buffy aficionado if you fall for the classic tropes and think the writers aren't equally annoyed with them. Joss Whedon and his writing team were masters of getting you to look over there, while crafting something you'd never consider over in the other corner.

Earshot was def banned after Columbine but it was played during syndication. This was before school shootings were as ubiquitous in the news.

Yup. You're right about Earshot getting pushed back because of Columbine. It was supposed to air the week after, but the Network decided to hold off because of the subject matter.

Obviously, Eatshot was filed and done long before Columbine but it was slotted to air not long after Columbine happened. The network and show producers agreed that it was in poor taste to air it at the time. SO, yes, they went from Enemies to Choises in the air date chronology. Storywise though, Earshot is supposed to be between Enemies and Choices.

I never liked that we're supposed to believe Jonathan was putting together a sniper rifle to kill himself? How you gonna hold that, guy?

Only Buffy, Angel and Giles knew the plan Wesley would blabber the plan if the slightest bit of pain was inflicted and the others needed to believe it so Faith would believe it.

Watching you get SO close but SO FAR in your Enemies predictions made for a great reaction. I can't imagine why you have trust issues with this show 😂

I was curious and did a quick search...Jonathan had previously appeared in Inca Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy, What's My Line - Part 2, Bad Eggs, Passion, Go Fish, Dead Man's Party, Homecoming, and The Wish. Phew!

You have an entertaining take on Buffy and it’s enjoyable. I get a kick out of your attempts to predict what is going to happen and how the characters will develop. You try so hard and your reasoning is sound for most every show…. Except for BTVS. It is futile to guess and best to sit back and enjoy. You still have an incredible journey before you. You have just entered the outer layers of the Buffyverse with so much before you. There is no way you can see the road ahead. Important plot lines and arcs are going on before you and like a great mystery will not come out for several seasons and then you will go. Wow, it’s been there since season 2,3,and 4. It is one of the reasons this show is captivating. So sit back and enjoy the ride that is really just underway… it’s a great ride….just buckle up.

gotta love how you illuminated at the reveal it was all acting

Cass going full Michael Scott "GOD NO" over that miscommunication trope was so funny though. Yeah, that trope is also a pet peeve of mine. Even "better" if it's that mistaken for gay trope that every 90's sitcom probably did at least once.

Rest assured you are watching them in the correct order.

Hmm...I had never caught the bit about Angel calling Buffy "my girl" and The Mayor calling Faith "my girl". Knowing how tightly this show is written, I'd say the parallel was intentional.

I think the mayor genuinely loves Faith insomuch as he can love. It is a paternal love but a very controlling one. Faith, who has been sidelined and abused all her life and is undeerstandably full of anger, responds to being the centre of attention for his affection. I think also, because she has been out of control for so long, she seems to like 'parental' control. She seemed to be this way toward gwendoline Post also. Trgically, she just wants to be loved.

I laughed at the comical big colorful box of rat poison so we couldn't miss it. Ther pose of the lunch lady was also funny.

Buffy's speech to Jonathan about how no one cares about his pain because they're too busy dealing with their own is a message all teenagers should hear.

They did delay the release because of Columbine. 'too soon' as they say.

As mentioned below, Wesley is a lot younger than he looks and he's also not Cordelia's teacher. Not sure he's a teacher at all. Which begs the question: how is he allowed on the school's grounds?

Да Баффи и Джонатан сцена взята из Секретных Матирьялов вроде 2 Сезон 3 Серия там малдер остановил Мужика тоже в таком же с даний на верху ему приказывали убивать там был 1994 Год тут был 1999 Год.

Your reactions to Buffy/Angel in enemies was too funny, I always feel the same on a rewatch. 😂

"Ow." One if my favorite last lines. (Earshot.) Now you know why Giles and Joyce have been weird about each other. O didn't know they had time to have sex in public twice. The episode was filmed before Columbine (April 20th), but was supposed air days after on May 4th. It got pushed back. But it aired in Canada on time. The Canadiabs and Americabs who knew how to get the Canadian feed were upset that it got pushed off because the anti-school shooting message. That message is why ut was able to air at all, just before the S4 premiere. As fir Enemies, by this point, I hated the Buffy/Angel relationship and her reason for wanting a break and then trying to read his mind, made me really glad FOX had long before announced the big spoiler.

Faith's mom was worse than just an alcoholic. She physically abused Faith. I am not entirely sure how truthful the puppy story is, but it wasn't that Faith wanted something to love, so much as she wanted something to love her back. We know that Faith's mom abused her because she said, "My dead mom hits harder than that!" Hits who exactly? Hits Faith. How else would Faith know how it feels to be hit by her mom unless her mom hit her.

It's just milk.

As you considered to be the case, this episode IS episode 18, and it was SUPPOSED to be aired in May '99, but it was delayed because the Columbine shooting happened right before it was supposed to air.

When Willow and Buffy freaked out for a second that Buffy might grow a demon d... 😂

Earshot, the single ep I'd show someone to demonstrate the series' greatness

In Enemies that is a man, not a Demon that was supposed to take Angel's soul. He is credited as Shrouded *Man*. implying he is a human. Probably a necromancer.

The episode "Earshot" was actually postponed several months so as not to air during the immediate aftermath of Columbine.

I was so excited to see you watch the twist at the end of Enemies. The lives of slayers are tragic, Kendra was clearly trained to be a slayer and nothing more, she doesn't know how to interact with boys, she has no friends. Faith here we see she had a neglectful mother and we know her mother figure, her watcher, was killed. She has trauma and guilt. Sex is weapon and manipulation for her. I'm pretty sure she knew Xander was a virgin (I gather this because she said I'll steer you mind the curves when he said he didn't know what he was doing) and I think she relished at the idea of taking that from him. Their second encounter she sexually assaults him. She craves what Buffy has, stability. Its commented some point in the first or second season about how its strange Buffy has such a support group because most slayers don't. They are trained to be warriors, cold and calculated and Buffy breaks all those rules. Buffy is a "good girl", Buffy thinks about consequences, even though Buffy's life is complicated and hard Faith still envies that. It makes me sad that it goes down this way. When they work as a team they are unstoppable. It really speaks on the cold soulessness of the watchers council. These young girls are expendable to them. Giles broke the rules because he got attached and cares for her like a daughter.

Enemies was the first real episode that showed not all demons are created. Equal a factor that shows up later in the series.

The mayor guy Harry Groener is one of the most big beautiful guys ever. He was right in the middle of his prime in this show.

You are correct: "Earshot" release was postponed because of Columbine.

Earshot was originally supposed to air right after the columbine shooting happened so they delayed the airing until September.

Funny you mentioned Columbine because this episode was actually meant to come out right after the incident but they delayed it because of the incident (and now I hear you went on to muse about just this).

Ah Pre-Columbine times--such innocent days. I do love how shallow Cordelia's internal dialog is. The physics of Jonathan's plan don't make sense though--why would such a short guy put together a sniper rifle to kill himself?

One thing I wonder is: If you can read people's minds, how will you know which thoughts are yours? Also, how would you know whose mind you were reading? Would you actually hear their thoughts in their voices?