Graduation Day, Part One

"Graduation Day, Part One" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the fifty-fifth episode altogether. It was written and directed by Joss Whedon. It originally broadcast on May 18, 1999.

While the Mayor prepares for his Ascension, Buffy battles Faith to save Angel's life, needing her Slayer blood as an antidote.

Synopsis
As Graduation Day approaches, Sunnydale High School enjoys a mellow lovefest as former enemies exchange pleasantries. Buffy has not caught the spirit, however, and others have their own concerns, too. Cordelia is worried about the color of the gown while Xander fears for his life. He then learns that the Mayor will be the Commencement speaker, meaning that the Mayor is not only going to ascend on Graduation Day, but at the ceremony itself. Faith kills Professor Worth for the Mayor.

Anya tries to entice Xander into another date, but is stunned when she finds out about the upcoming Ascension. Xander brings her to the library, where she tells of an Ascension she witnessed 800 years before in the Koskov Valley above the Urals. A sorcerer became the embodiment of the demon Lohesh a four-winged soul killer, and decimated an entire village within hours; only a few people escaped. Anya explains that an Ascension means that a human being becomes pure demon. She tells them that all the demons that walk the earth are tainted, or human hybrids like vampires, but that a pure demon is different. She doesn't think this sounds like Lohesh, though, because the rituals are all different. Just as she says this, the Mayor bursts into the library. He taunts the gang and threatens to "eat" Buffy. Giles plunges a fencing sabre into his chest, but Wilkins shrugs it off and departs, promising "one heck of a speech."

Anya, who has seen what an Ascension is like, plans to skip town, though Xander tries to get her to stay and help. She proposes to him that he could leave with her, and tries to persuade him to come, but he's committed to staying to help his friends, and declines. Buffy is also anxious, and tries to convince her mom to leave town, saying she won't be able to concentrate on stopping the Mayor if she has to worry about her mom. She doesn't want to leave, but Buffy finally convinces her. Willow, who is researching in the hopes of finding a spell to stop the Ascension, is nervous, too. To help her relax some, Oz plants a passionate kiss on her. Soon they are making love. As they lie together afterwards, they both agree that everything feels different now.

Searching Professor Worth's apartment, Buffy runs into Angel. They gather a box of documents, and prepare to take it to Giles. Outside the professor's apartment, Buffy and Angel talk about their relationship and end up arguing. Faith shoots Angel in the back with an arrow, deliberately missing the heart. Angel tries to get up, but collapses into Buffy's arms.

Wesley tells Giles that the professor found a large demon carcass buried in a lava bed. Professor Worth believed that the carcass might be some heretofore-undiscovered dinosaur. Giles thinks that perhaps it could also be a demon, which would explain why the Mayor would want to keep this kind of information secret -- if the carcass was a demon, then it means that the demon could be killed, which would mean that the Mayor is only impervious to harm until the Ascension. Once he's in demon form, he could be killed. Buffy brings Angel to the library, where Giles helps remove the arrow. It was clearly poisoned and Wesley offers to ask the Watchers Council for help. Buffy thanks him, and Willow's afterglow is cut short by Buffy's call for help. Wesley returns to tell Buffy that the Council refused to help a vampire. He explains that the laws are older than civilization, and Buffy must follow the Council's orders and ignore the distraction. Buffy quits the Council.

The Mayor prepares for the Ascension by performing the Ritual of Gavrok, which requires eating the giant spiders in the Box of Gavrok. Willow, meanwhile, has figured out what the poison is -- its Latin name translates to "killer of the dead." Oz tells the gang that vampires can only survive the poison by draining the blood of a Slayer. Xander has doubts about its consequences for Buffy as she leaves with Faith's dagger, intent on killing Faith before feeding her to Angel.

Willow and Oz locate Faith's apartment. Buffy arrives at Faith's apartment, and the battle soon begins. The furious fight leads them crashing through the window of Faith's apartment and out onto a rooftop. When they land, Buffy slaps a handcuff onto Faith's wrist; the other cuff is already attached to her own wrist. The fight continues between the two handcuffed Slayers until Faith breaks the cuffs apart. Buffy staggers back, and pulls out Faith's dagger. They tangle some more, and the fight moves toward the edge of the roof.

As they peer over the ledge, Buffy stabs Faith. Faith, stumbling, steps on to the ledge, leans back and says goodbye, falling back into a passing truck. Buffy rushes to the ledge, but she's too late. The truck, with Faith, and the blood Buffy needs to save Angel, is driving away.

Starring

 * Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
 * Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
 * Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
 * Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
 * David Boreanaz as Angel
 * Seth Green as Oz
 * Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Starring

 * Larry Bagby as Larry Blaisdell ( as Larry Bagby, III )
 * Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
 * Harry Groener as Mayor Richard Wilkins
 * Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
 * Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall
 * Ethan Erickson as Percy West
 * Emma Caulfield as Anya
 * Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane
 * Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder
 * Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson

Co Starring

 * James Lurie as Mr. Miller
 * Hal Robinson as Lester
 * Adrian Neil as Vamp-Lackey #1
 * John Rosenfeld as Vamp-Lackey #2
 * Paulo Andrés as Dr. Powell
 * Susan Chuang as Nurse
 * Tom Bellin as Dr. Gold
 * Samuel Bliss Cooper as Vamp-Lackey #3

Trivia

 * During the original airing of this episode, the very first trailer for Angel was shown. It lasted only four seconds with David Boreanaz turning towards the camera and the words "Angel. This Fall" appearing.


 * On seeing an illustration of the Mayor's eventual demon form, Xander quotes the famous line from Jaws: "We're going to need a bigger boat".


 * Faith's line "Look at you, trying on big sister's clothes" is a reference to the Elvis Costello song "Big Sister's Clothes" on the album Trust.

Quotes
Willow - "[about Harmony) I'm going to miss her."  Buffy - "Don't you hate her?"  Willow - "Yes, with a fiery vengeance. She picked on me for ten years. Vacuous tramp... It's like a sickness, Buffy. I'm missing everything. I miss P.E.!!

Xander - "Guess who our commencement speaker is?" Willow - "Sigfreid?" Xander - "No." Willow - "Roy?" Xander - "No." Willow - "One of the tigers?" Xander - "Come out of the fantasy, Will."

Anya - "Men like sports. I'm sure of it." Xander - "Yes. Men like sports. Men watch the action movie, they eat of the beef, and they enjoy to look at the bosoms. A thousand years of avenging our wrongs, and that's all you've learned?"

Wesley - "I'm sorry, uh, Lohesh was a four-winged soul killer, am I right? I was given to understand that they're not that fierce. Of all the demons we've faced..." Anya - "You've never seen a demon." Buffy - "Uh, excuse me, killing them professionally four years running." Anya - "All the demons that walk the Earth, are tainted, are human hybrids, like vampires. The Ascension means that a human becomes pure demon. They're different." Giles - "Different?" Buffy - "How?" Anya - "Well, for one thing, they're bigger."

Willow - "This is so frustrating." Oz - "Nothing useful?" Willow - "No, it's great. If we wanna make ferns invisible or communicate with shrimp, I've got the goods right here." Oz - "Our lives are different than other people's."

Willow - "I think we could be dead in two days and you're being ironic, detachment guy." Oz - "Would it help you if I panic?" Willow - "Yes! It'd be swell. Panic is a thing people can share in times of crisis. And everything's really scary now, you know? And I don't know what's going to happen. A-a-and there's all sorts of things that you're supposed to get to do after high school, and I was really looking forward to doing them, and now we're probably just going to die, and I'd like to feel that maybe you would --" [Oz kisses her.] Willow - "What are you doing?" Oz - "Panicking."

Anya - "When I think that something could happen to you, it feels bad inside, like I might vomit." Xander - "Welcome to the world of romance." Anya - "It's horrible. No wonder I used to get so much work." Xander - "Well, I'm sorry I give you barfy feelings." Anya - "Come with me." Xander - "I can't." Anya - "Why not?" Xander - "I got friends on the line." Anya - "So?" Xander - "That humanity thing's still a work in progress, isn't it?"

Giles - "Faith has you at a disadvantage, Buffy." Buffy - "'Cause I'm not crazy, or 'cause I don't kill people?" Giles - "Both, actually."

Continuity

 * Buffy vows Angel would be her "last office romance," but she would go on to establish relationships with Riley and Spike.


 * This is the first time since "Ted" that Buffy has intentionally attempted to harm another human, and the first instance where it could be considered consciously premeditated. Despite Faith's obviously evil actions, Buffy's reaction after mortally wounding Faith is reminiscent of the reaction she had when she thought she'd killed Ted.


 * When Anya returns to the school to ask Xander to run away with her she tells him that her car is just outside and they can take turns driving, however in season five during the episode "Triangle" it is revealed that Anya is unclear about driving. She still demonstrates her ability to drive in the episode and it may be perceived that she is still new to the concept in this episode.