Wild at Heart

"Wild at Heart" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the sixty-second episode altogether. It was written by Marti Noxon and directed by David Grossman. It originally broadcast on November 9, 1999.

Oz meets another werewolf (Veruca) and locks her in his cage to prevent her from attacking people. Willow comes to the cage the next morning to find them naked together. Veruca tries to kill Willow, Oz-wolf kills Veruca, and Buffy stops him from attacking Willow.

Synopsis




Buffy is chased by a vampire, which she fights and then stakes. Her well-thought puns are not appreciated. Spike watches from a distance and promises trouble, but he is struck by tazers and carried off by the masked and heavily armed people lurking in the Sunnydale shadows. At The Bronze, the gang talk about college and why they're still hanging at The Bronze, and then to their surprise, Giles joins them. Veruca's band, "Shy" starts to play and all the guys are mesmerized by her singing, which distresses Willow.

The next morning, Willow wakes up in Oz's bed and they talk about how they'll be apart for three nights while there's a full moon keeping Oz locked up, and a Wicca group is meeting on those three nights. At school, Buffy gets a great grade on a Psychology paper and Professor Walsh asks her to lead a discussion group on the topic. Willow actually feels academically envious of Buffy. Veruca invites Oz to sit with her at lunch, which he accepts since there is room for Willow and they start talking amps. Willow arrives, and is lost by their terminology, leading everyone to flee the incredibly awkward situation. Buffy tells Willow not to worry about Oz.

That night, Oz locks himself into a cage in a crypt, but he breaks free. As Professor Walsh is leaving the school that night, Oz jumps out at her. Another werewolf appears and while Professor Walsh runs and hides in the bushes, the two werewolves jump out and fight with each other. Oz wakes up the next morning to see that the other werewolf is Veruca. They sneak into the campus laundry room for clothes and Veruca appeals to the animal within him. Willow shows up at Oz's and instead of being welcomed with opened arms, Oz is closed off and so she leaves. Buffy informs Giles of the two werewolves being spotted on campus and later goes to Oz, but he says he doesn't remember anything about what happened when he got out. Desperate for a male perspective, Willow asks Xander about Oz and he tells her that the reason he's off with her is probably because he can sense her uneasiness, and suggests they talk and work it out.



Oz arranges for Veruca to meet him in the crypt that night. He wants her to lock herself in the cage with him so no one will get hurt, and finally gets her into the cage. The next morning, breakfast foods in hand, Willow arrives and is shocked to see Oz and Veruca curled up naked together. After Oz gets dressed and, in an uncharacteristic burst of anger, orders Veruca out, he tries to explain things to Willow, but she doesn't want to hear it. She asks him if he loved Veruca more than her in that animal way and finally leaves when he doesn't answer.



Walking home in a dazed state, Willow walks in front of an oncoming car, which Buffy can't save her from, but Riley happens to be there and does. Buffy takes Willow back to their dorm and then goes to take care of Veruca. Using Oz's heightened senses to lead the way, Buffy and Oz go looking for Veruca. They find her clothes and then come to the conclusion that she's gone after Willow. Buffy and Oz quickly rush back to the college, but Buffy runs into a commando. The two briefly scuffle, but Buffy grabs her gun and leaves.

Willow is in one of the campus labs, conjuring a spell that will prove to be devastating revenge against Oz and Veruca. She can't bring herself to complete the spell however, and Veruca then enters, locking the door with the intention of killing Willow when the sun goes down and getting her out of the way. Just in time, Oz breaks in and the two werewolves fight until Oz rips Veruca's throat out. Before he can attack Willow, Buffy arrives and tranquilizes him, and then comforts a traumatized and hysterical Willow.

The next day, Buffy tells Giles about the heavily armed man she saw while searching for Veruca who was dressed the same way as the men she saw on Halloween and how because of him, she couldn't stop Oz from killing Veruca and nearly killing Willow. Although they know that this is serious, both are far more concerned about Willow and Oz, and Buffy can't imagine how they're going to get through this.

Willow finds Oz in his room, packing. Unsure of what separates him from the wolf, he is leaving until he can figure it out. Oz tells Willow she is the only one he has ever loved her and then walks out leaving Willow heartbroken and in tears. Oz starts up his van but, just as devastated as Willow is over the abrupt and violent end of their relationship, considers returning. However he decides against it, and drives away in his van.

Continuity

 * Unlike the werewolf in the Angel Season Five episode "Unleashed", Veruca remains in her wolf state after Oz kills her. Then again, the werewolf shown in "Unleashed" belongs to a different subspecies.


 * Giles lives at number 4616.


 * Buffy is now interested in the commandos she keeps seeing. This is building the plot-line of the Initiative.


 * This episode features the first hint that Willow might misuse magic, something that became a major plot point of season 6. She performs a very hurtful spell of revenge against Oz and Veruca, but cancels it at the last moment.

Production

 * This episode marks the last time Seth Green appears in the opening credits. Joss Whedon had originally envisioned the love triangle between Oz, Veruca and Willow to continue for most of Season Four. However, Seth Green abruptly left the show to pursue a movie career, explaining that "the character was always better served in a recurring capacity and Joss and I both felt it was better to revert to that status." Nevertheless, Green would only return in two more episodes ("New Moon Rising" and "Restless", both in Season Four). Whedon says losing Green so suddenly was a "heartbreaker... and so Willow got her heart broken. I took what we were feeling and put it on-screen, so everybody would be on the same page."


 * While filming a scene where Oz and Veruca have supposedly just woken up from mating as werewolves, Seth Green talked about being naked except for a "man-thong". He stated that this was incredibly uncomfortable since Paige Moss, the actress playing "Veruca", had her boyfriend visiting the set.


 * During the portion of the episode where Oz is supposed to be turning into a werewolf, Joss Whedon wrote a special direction to Seth Green in the script. He told him to imagine he was "about to come onto acid".

Deleted Scenes

 * Willow and Buffy discuss Veruca:
 * Willow: "And I don't want to be the kind of girl who freaks every time my boyfriend notices somebody else (and now cut) - even if she is throwing herself at him like a twenty dollar ho."
 * Buffy: "Please. Ten dollar ho. Fifteen, max."


 * Maggie is telling Buffy and Riley about the 'dogs':
 * Maggie: "I know how it sounds. But crazy is my specialty. And I definitely saw what I saw."


 * Buffy discuss Maggie's 'dogs' with Giles:
 * Buffy: "Clearly we need to get you kicking some monster bootie, stat."


 * Xander reacts to Veruca:
 * Veruca: "Go ahead and cry - but you should have seen this coming. You can't tame a wild thing. He's not yours any more. He's in you, he'd be thinking about me. No. Not thinking. It's deeper than that. Why don't you just try to relax now? In a minute or two it'll all be over."
 * Xander: "Love. It's a logic blocker."

Music

 * Eight Stops Seven - "Good Enough"
 * T.H.C. - "Dip"
 * T.H.C. - "Need To Destroy"

Other

 * In 1985, Lindsay Crouse (the actress portraying Professor Maggie Walsh) played Seth Green's mother in the ABC After School Special I Want to Go Home. In this episode Oz (as werewolf) attacks and tries to kill Professor Walsh. Seth Green laughingly called it "the circle of life".


 * This is the 3rd and last Oz-centric episode.