Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Three (1998-1999) DVD

Yep, by the time this season aired, I was a full fledged addict. At this point, I was still a bit hesitant to embrace my addiction, instead hiding it, not wanting people to know that I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Season 2 left us with Buffy just having killed Angel, immediately after Willow (just starting to realize the extent of her wicca powers) returned his soul to him. Buffy has run away to L.A. to escape her life.

Which brings us to a very exciting Season 3. This is Angel and Cordelia’s last year on the show, as they both move to L.A. to pursue a spin-off. Oz becomes a cast regular, and I can’t tell you how great Seth Green is in that role. He plays a quiet, sarcastic, sensitive musician who is in love with Willow, and happens to be a Werewolf who has to be locked up every month. We also meet Faith this season, another Slayer. Only where Buffy is a sweet, moral Slayer, Faith throws such things right out the window. Finally, we meet Wesley, another Watcher, who also moves to Angel eventually and Anya, who becomes as close to a core Scooby as you can get without being a core Scooby.

So here it is…


Season Three Episode Guide:

3.1 ~ Anne Original Airdate: September 29, 1998. Written and Directed by: Joss Whedon.
Larry (student): If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale [football] is gonna rule!

After being expelled from Sunnydale High and having to kill newly resouled Angel to save the world, we find Buffy in L.A., working as a waitress named Anne (Buffy’s middle name). We meet a homeless teen who later takes the name Anne and shows up on Angel. Back in Sunnydale, the Scoobies try valiantly to fight demons in Buffy’s absence. 8.5 out of 10

3.2 ~ Dead Man's Party OA: October 6, 1998. W: Marti Noxon. D: James Whitmore, Jr.
Buffy: I got in a few hours ago, but I went to go see my mom first.
Giles: Yes, yes, of course. How did you find her?
Buffy: Well I pretty much remembered the address.

Buffy's return to Sunnydale kind of strained and stressed. Willow is resentful, her mom overcompensates and a demon brings the dead back to life as zombies who crash Buffy's welcome home party. 7 out of 10

3.3 ~ Faith, Hope And Trick OA: October 13, 1998. W: David Greenwalt. D: James A. Contner.
Oz (to Faith): Now you both kill vamps, and, who could blame you, but I'm wondering about your position on werewolves.
Willow: Oz is werewolf.
Buffy: It's a long story.
Oz: I got bit.
Buffy: Apparently not that long.

Hello Eliza Dushku! There’s a new Slayer in town (to take Kendra’s place) and she’s got attitude. Suave vamp, Mr. Trick, rolls into town with another vampire so ancient that he has hooves in place of hands. They have followed Faith to Sunnydale. 9 out of 10

3.4 ~ Beauty And The Beasts OA: October 20, 1998. W: Marti Noxon. D: James Whitmore, Jr.

Someone is killed by what looks like a wild dog attack, and everyone assumes that Oz broke free of his cage during the full moon. Buffy, however, begins to suspect that it is Angel after she discovers that he has returned from a hell dimension where he’d been tortured for hundreds of years (though only three months have passed in our dimension). 9 out of 10

3.5 ~ Homecoming OA: November 3, 1998. W&D: David Greenwalt.

Buffy and Cordelia compete for the Sunnydale Homecoming Queen title. Mr. Trick hires a bunch of assassins (vampires, demons, mercenaries) to trap and kill both Slayers. 9 out of 10

3.6 ~ Band Candy OA: November 10, 1998. W: Jane Espenson. D: Michael Lange.

Fund raiser candy bars (distributed by Giles’s good old friend from last Season, Ethan Rayne) turns the adults of Sunnydale into teenagers (during which time Giles and Joyce Summers do it on the hood of a car. We see Mayor Wilkins pay homage to a demon. There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark there. 8 out of 10

3.7 ~ Revelations OA: November 17, 1998. W: Douglas Petrie. D: James A. Contner.

Everyone finds out about Angel's return when Xander sees Buffy kissing him. Faith's new Watcher turns out to be a nut ball who wants to be a demon. 10 out of 10

3.8 ~ Lovers Walk OA: November 24, 1998. W: Dan Vebber. D: David Semel.
Spike: I gave her everything. Beautiful jewels, beautiful dresses with beautiful girls in them, but nothing made her happy.

Spike’s back in Sunnydale. He makes Willow to perform a love spell to make Druscilla love him again. Willow and Xander are caught kissing by their significant others, Oz and Cordelia. 10 out of 10

3.9 ~ The Wish OA: December 8, 1998. W: Marti Noxon. D: David Greenwalt.
Cordelia (to Xander and Willow): No! No! No way! I wish us into bizarro land and you guys are still together? I can’t win!

Emma Caulfield debuts on the show as a Vengeance Demon named Anyanka. Cordelia makes a wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, and POOF! We see an alternate Sunnydale reality in which the Master and his minions rule the town. 8 out of 10

3.10 ~ Amends OA: December 15, 1998. W&D: Joss Whedon.

On Christmas Eve, Angel is haunted by The First Evil as it shows itself to him in guise of his former victims telling him it brought him back to kill Buffy. Not thinking he can fight it, he waits outside for sunrise and death. Buffy finds him minutes before sunrise, and for the first time in Sunnydale, a snowstorm begins, blocking out the sun. 9 out of 10

3.11 ~ Gingerbread OA: January 12, 1999. W: Jane Espenson. D: James Whitmore, Jr.

Joyce leads a group of parents against the occult influences in Sunnydale, which takes the witch hunters to Willow, Giles and Amy. Giles figures out that they are being manipulated by two trouble-causing demons, portraying themselves as murdered children. 7 out of 10

3.12 ~ Helpless OA: January 19, 1999. W: David Fury. D: James A. Contner.

On her 18th birthday, the Watchers’ Council tests Buffy by taking away all her Slayer strength and pitting her against a psycho vamp. When Giles breaks the rules by helping her out, showing that he is too “emotionally attached”, he is fired as her Watcher. 9 out of 10

3.13 ~ The Zeppo OA: January 26, 1999. W: Dan Vebber. D: James Whitmore, Jr.

Xander is feeling unnecessary to the Scoobies and tries to prove how cool he really is. In a near apocalyptic fiasco, he loses his virginity to none other than Faith. 7 out of 10.

3.14 ~ Bad Girls OA: February 9, 1999. W: Douglas Petrie. D: Michael Lange.

Welcome to Sunnydale, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (who later becomes an awesome addition to the cast of Angel). Buffy gets a new stuffy, British Watcher, but Buffy refuses to take orders from the Council anymore, after what they did to her in Helpless. She and Faith go a little crazy, but it gets out of hand when Faith “slays” the deputy mayor, a human. 8 out of 10.

3.15 ~ Consequences OA: February 16, 1999. W: Marti Noxon. D: Michael Gershman.

The Scoobies try to do a kind of intercession as Faith is spinning wildly out of control. Giles and Buffy completely circumvent the new Watcher. After Faith saves Buffy from Mr. Trick, the gang thinks that she can be “saved”. Unfortunately, Faith is in the process of offering her Slaying skills to Mayor Wilkins. 10 out of 10.

3.16 ~ Doppelgangland OA: February 23, 1999. W&D: Joss Whedon.
Willow: It's horrible. That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil, and skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay.

A spell gone wrong brings back Alternate-Willow from The Wish. Real-Willow freaks out when Alternate-Willow shows signs of having lesbian tendencies. Guess Alternate life isn’t as far fetched as one would think sometimes, is it? 8 out of 10

3.17 ~ Enemies OA: March 16, 1999. W: Douglas Petrie. D: David Grossman.
Giles: Demons after money. Whatever happened to the still-beating heart of a virgin? No one has any standards anymore.

Mayor Wilkins and Faith conspire to steal Angel's soul. Angel and Buffy end up tricking Faith into telling them the Mayor’s big plan will take place at Graduation. 8 out of 10

3.18 ~ Earshot Scheduled OA: April 27, 1999. Actual OA: September 21, 1999. W: Jane Espenson. D: Regis B. Kimble.

After being infected by a demon’s blood, Buffy is able to hear people’s thoughts. At first it’s fun, but then she finds out about her mom and Giles (“Twice?!”), that Xander thinks about sex most of the time, and that someone at Sunnydale is planning a mass murder. 8 out of 10

3.19 ~ Choices OA: May 4, 1999. W: David Fury. D: James A. Contner.
Mayor Wilkins: I still don't understand why it couldn't work out with you and my Faith. Guess you kinda just have strange taste in women.
Angel: Yeah, well what can I say? I like ‘em sane.

Buffy is accepted to college, but doubts she’ll be able to attend, due to her calling. Buffy has to give up the one thing that will stop the Mayor’s ascension in order to save Willow. 7 out of 10.

3.20 ~ The Prom OA: May 11, 1999. W: Marti Noxon. D: David Solomon.
Oz: And once again the hellmouth puts the "special" in special occasion.

Angel breaks up with Buffy right before the Prom, telling her he’s leaving town after the Ascension. Someone sets some hell beasties on the students. Sunnydale students collectively recognize Buffy for her protection, and recognize the fact that their class has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class. 8.5 out of 10.

3.21 ~ Graduation Day (Part 1) OA: May 18, 1999. W&D: Joss Whedon.

Anya (who has witnessed another Ascension) reveals the Mayor’s plan to turn himself into pure demon, and block out the sun for vampires. Faith poisons Angel, the only antidote being for Angel to drink a Slayer’s blood. Buffy sets out to bring him Faith. 10 out of 10.

3.22 ~ Graduation Day (Part 2) Scheduled OA: May 25, 1999. Actual OA: July 13, 1999. W&D: Joss Whedon.

Buffy fights with Faith, in order to save Angel. She stabs Faith, but Faith escapes by jumping off a roof onto a passing truck, so Buffy has to offer her own blood. Mayor Wilkins’s commencement speech is cut short by the beginning of his Ascension, but Buffy - and all of her classmates - blows up the demon, along with the entire High School. Angel leaves afterwards, very Casablanca-like. 9.5 out of 10.

Total Season Rating Average: 8.5 out of 10


Cast and Characters:

In the opening credits…

Buffy Summers ~ played by Sarah Michelle Gellar

Xander Harris ~ played by Nicholas Brendon

Willow Rosenberg ~ played by Alyson Hannigan

Cordelia Chase ~ played by Charisma Carpenter

In his last season on BtVS: Angel ~ played by David Boreanaz

Added to the main cast (Yippee!): Oz ~ played by Seth Green

Rupert Giles ~ played by Anthony Stewart Head

Introducing to the show, though not yet in the main credits…

Anyanka/ Anya ~ played by Emma Caulfield



Miscellaneous Trivia:

~ Two episodes (3.18 Earshot and 3.22 Graduation Day (Part 2)) were delayed due to the tragedy at Columbine High School.

~ The "Grr Arg" Mutant Enemy guy at the end of the credits was altered for 3.10 Amends. The monster came out wearing a Santa cap while jingle bells can be heard in the background.

~ The "Grr Arg" guy was also altered for 3.22 Graduation Day (Part 2). The monster wears a graduation cap and salutes the audience.

~The student who trains the hell beasties in 3.20 The Prom is Tucker Wells, whom we later find out to be the brother of Andrew, a prominent character in Seasons 6 and 7.

~ It is sometime between episodes 3.7 Revelations and 3.8 Lovers Walk that the first Buffy X-Box game takes place.

~ At the end of 3.14 Bad Girls, Buffy was originally supposed to find Faith dead, having hung herself.

~ One of Joss Whedon’s only inconsistencies: when we first meet The First in 3.10 Amends, it touches Angel. When it comes back in Season 7, it is definitely incorporeal.


DVD Extras:

~ Commentary by writer David Fury on 'Helpless'

~ Commentary by writer Doug Petrie on 'Bad Girls'

~ Commentary by director Michael Gershman on 'Consequences'

~ Commentary by writer Jane Espenson on 'Earshot'

~ Five featurettes: Buffy Speak, Season 3 Overview, Wardrobe, Weapons, Special Effects

~ Special interviews with Joss Whedon

~ Interview with monster maker John Vulich

~ Scripts for 'Faith, Hope & Trick,' 'Band Candy,' 'Lover's Walk,' and 'The Wish'

~ Still gallery


Other Related Reviews:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1 DVD

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 2 DVD

Once More... With Feeling, Soundtrack


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age