I love Buffy’s counselor's definition of friends: “they like you, they agree with you, they tell you what you want to hear” - like dude, that’s very sweet but I don’t think that applies to Xander, Giles, Willow, or Cordelia 😂
Exhibit B - Your honor they love each other! 3.04 (fuffy)
This is a pro-fuffy BTVS rewatch. (Happy Pride Month!) Exhibit B is S03E04, aka 3x04, aka 3.04 Beauty and the Beasts. Long post.
Time has passed, not sure how much since last episode. Buffy and Scott are now officially dating, but not long enough that he has given her flowers. So very early? They do kiss at school a few times. Anyway, on a patrol chat we see Buffy and Faith chatting about Scott Hope. This scene ALONE has more chemistry between them than any scene between Buffy and Scott, or even Buffy and not-yet-introduced Riley. Yes I said it. (fuffygifs has the full gifset) Check out Faith’s face while she waits for Buffy to respond. She’s anxious. Then Buffy replies “how low?” which earns her a hearty laugh from Faith. And look at Buffy looking at Faith in that last gif!
2. Buffy got MORE interested in Scott after Faith was flirting with him in the last episode. Note that now that Buffy has shown clear interest in Scott and also is dating him - Faith is NOT going after him. She is saying Scott is cute to Buffy, but in a “good for you” way, not a “I’m going after him” way. I think this is the default of how Faith would act, if things didn’t take such an awful turn.
3. In school we see Buffy and Scott. Kudos to Sarah (SMG) for making it convincing that Buffy is interested in Scott, that’s some heavy lifting. They kiss but it definitely feels very G rated.
4. Buffy goes to see the school counselor. She resists in their first meeting but you can tell she appreciates what he says to her. Buffy already has so much trauma and it’s tragic she doesn’t get more time with the counselor. She talks about Angel, saying “I loved him.” (OK, this is a Faith-light episode so I will include a little more about therapy, later in this post.)
5. While on wolf!Oz watch Faith is dancing along to her CD player. Buffy touches Faith but Faith isn’t aware of her, so Faith accidentally punches Buffy because she is startled. Interesting that Buffy touches her, like it was clear Faith was zoned out. They’re cool though, and Buffy is tagging in for wolf!Oz watch. Here’s a gif of Buffy’s reaction to Faith leaving. I think she thought Faith would talk to her more, but Faith leaves her waiting. (haydenpanettieres has the build up to this moment)
6. Later Scott turns to Buffy, puts his hand on her knee, and tells her she looks amazing at lunch. She practically runs away. You can almost hear the cartoon “feet slipping on the floor” noise.
7. Checking on Angel, Buffy talks to Angel but he is not responding. She reaches out and touches him. He lashes out but she avoids getting hit. Parallel to Faith? New love interest makes contact but it doesn’t really upset Buffy. Old love doesn’t make contact but Buffy is much more upset at his reaction. Someone smarter than me please figure this out.
8. Therapy talk time! Buffy goes to the second therapy session with the counselor. What she says is heartbreaking: “there's nobody else that I can talk to… I need help. I just, I need to talk to someone. I'm so scared. It's this guy. [Angel] He’s come back.” You know what would make you swear off therapy like forever? Finding your therapist flayed. Like she was vulnerable and asked for help and was honest and, oh NVM your therapist wasn’t listening bc he’s dead. Ugh. (summers-pratt covers this on gorgeous gifset by andremichaux) AND this is also Fuffy-related. This whole post is great but I have to quote some of it: “Buffy doesn’t know how to verbally express affection due to trauma. And Faith is starved for affection due to trauma. The result is an emotional powder keg of tragic miscommunication.” (comradesummers) AND also a reminder that Buffy routinely doesn’t get the space to emotionally process what happens to her. Like it wasn’t just later in S5, it was already starting in S1. (Proof from 1x10 by dreadfulcalendarwoman.)
9. In the library Faith and Buffy and the scoobs are figuring out the MOTW. Faith has the hilarious line “they were screwing?” about students who were, in fact, not screwing. Later Buffy and Faith work as a team, Buffy directing Faith “you get the wolf” and throws her the tranq gun. Then Willow and Faith work together, with Willow pulling on wolf!Oz’s tail, and Faith tranquilizing him. (haydenpannetieres)
10. Buffy tries to comfort Scott. He says “you never really know what’s going on inside somebody” which can apply to several people. Hmmmm. Scott does seem particularly insightful.
Summary: They love each other rating: 1 out of 5. Buffy seems to have let go of her “I’m being Single White Female-d here” vibe from ep 3.03. (Reference to a movie BTW.) This mostly seems like an early friendship love at this point. I think Faith is definitely interested in Buffy as more than friends but unsure if Buffy is interested in her and just trying to be a good friend, for now. Buffy is convincing herself that she no longer loves Angel (possible) and that she can love Scott (yawn).
Will Faith shoot her shot? Stay tuned for the next episode.
Exhibit B has been submitted, the prosecution rests for the day.
Absolute crime that my favorite Faith outfit is on screen for exactly one minute in 3x04… her sheer snakeskin patterned shirt with a crop top over it, the sweet heart neckline, skinny jeans and combat boots… love this date for them
