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"Faith, Hope & Trick" is the third episode of the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the thirty-seventh episode in the series. Written by David Greenwalt and directed by James A. Contner, it was originally broadcast on October 13, 1998, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

NEW KIDS IN TOWN — Just as Buffy tries to return to her normal life of going to school, hanging out with friends and saving the world, she is faced with the arrival of an ancient, cloven-hoofed villain and his blood-sucking sidekick, Mr. Trick. Another new Sunnydale arrival, Faith, helps Buffy in her battle against the unspeakable demons and ingratiates herself into every aspect of Buffy's life.[1]

Summary[]

Willow is babbling to Oz about how they are seniors and are now allowed to go off school campus for lunch. Still, it takes Xander, Cordelia, and Oz to get her to walk to the grassy area where Buffy has set up a picnic basket (since she is still expelled and forbidden from entering the grounds). They proceed to chat about Martha Stewart, Scott Hope, and the meeting that Buffy will attend with Principal Snyder later on.

That night, we are introduced to Kakistos and his right-hand man, Mr. Trick, as they drive up to the Happy Burger drive-through. Trick remarks on Sunnydale finding it quaint. He also makes note of the town's remarkable whiteness quipping "I mean, admittedly, it's not a haven for the brothers, you know, strictly the Caucasian persuasion here in the Dale." Trick grows hungry as Kakistos describes, in gory detail, his plans for the slayer. Trick then pulls the drive-through attendant through the window, into the car, and begins to feed on him.

Meanwhile, Buffy has yet another dream involving Angel, this time at the Bronze. As they dance in front of their friends, Buffy's Claddagh ring falls off her finger. When Angel picks it up the dream becomes a flashback of Buffy killing him. He clenches the ring in his fingers until blood runs between his fingers, and blood also starts to stain his white shirt, exactly where Buffy had to impale him. He tells her to go to hell, and his appearance changes to that of a zombie. Buffy wakes up, and Joyce is asking her if she's ready to face the Principal.

Principal Snyder informs Buffy (through gritted teeth) that she's readmitted into Sunnydale High School. Although not happy about it he's been overruled by the school board as, since Buffy is no longer suspected of murder, she is entitled to public education. He lays out some conditions, but it seems they're not actually requirements for readmission, simply Snyder's cruelty toward an unwanted pupil. He tells her she has to take make-up tests, see the school psychologist and get a glowing letter of recommendation from a member of the faculty (other than Giles). But Buffy and Joyce both know that Snyder has been overruled, and while is happy enough to point out his position probably feels meaningless now, Joyce takes a more childish approach to express her delight.

Buffy and Willow go to the library, where Giles has asked them to meet him for help on research. He wants to perform a binding spell on Acathla to make sure that the demon cannot be resurrected again, and asks for as many details as possible about how she defeated him. Buffy answers his questions, but leaves out the fact Angel's soul had been returned before she sent him to hell. Buffy rushes out in order to take her English make-up exam. Willow tries to persuade Giles that she could help with the magic spell.

At the Bronze, Willow and Oz are kissing when Buffy comes up with drinks. She reveals that she passed her English make-up, and is glad to be back in her own life. Just then, Buffy is approached by Scott. When asked to dance, however, she babbles through a few excuses and a thank you. Scott interrupts, and tells her where he will be if she changes her mind and wants to dance later.

Cordelia and Xander approach, calling the gang's attention to two of the people on the dance floor, one of which is dressed and acting like he is from a much earlier decade and dancing with a young woman. Buffy speculates that he might be a vampire, and follows them out, though she is distracted for a few moments by Scott. The gang follows her out as well, and right when they are ready to turn back they hear signs of a struggle and head towards them. However, when they get there, they find that the girl is more than capable of taking care of herself, making everyone come to the conclusion she is a slayer. When Buffy arrives, the girl introduces herself as Faith, before staking the vampire and walking away.

Back inside the Bronze, Faith is telling lewd stories about slaying to the gang and how, since her Watcher was called to England, she wanted to take this opportunity to compare notes with Buffy. She apparently thinks that Giles has gone to England, as well. Cordelia figures out that Faith must have been called to duty as a Slayer when Kendra died. Faith wants to hear a story from Buffy, but is quickly distracted when Xander asks for the "alligator story." When Buffy is asked what her toughest kill was, she flashes back to killing Angel, but says that they are all difficult. Oz asks about her stance on werewolves. Faith doesn't have a problem with them.

Giles confirms that a Watchers' retreat is going on in England, but that he wasn't invited. Upon meeting Giles, Faith says that she should have requested a transfer. Buffy invites her to dinner, and then asks Willow for help studying. She is ignored, though, and sits in the library. She leaves later, when Giles begins asking her more questions about the details of Acathla's demise.

Willow and Xander are showing Faith all the places in the school where supernatural things had occurred, when Faith turns to get water. Finished, she accidentally bumps into Scott and the two start talking. Buffy shows up just in time to see the two of them apparently flirting. Willow starts talking about how Faith and Scott might hit it off, and agrees with Faith that Buffy needs to "find the fun." Buffy then drags Faith away.

Elsewhere, Trick is filling Kakistos in on what they can do in Sunnydale, before informing the vampire that there is already a slayer there, a fact which indicates that they are not after Buffy after all, but Faith instead. Kakistos also draws attention to the scar over his right eye, saying that "she will pay for what she did to me." Trick agrees, before going to answer the door and dragging the pizza delivery man in for all the vampires to feed on.

Mrs. Summers and Faith are talking at the dinner table, discussing slaying. Mrs. Summers appears to think that Faith might be a better Slayer than Buffy, then leaves to get another drink for Faith. Buffy follows Joyce to talk, revealing that she doesn't want Faith to steal her life, like she seems to be doing. Mrs. Summers says that Faith could share in the slaying though, and that they could even ask Faith to take over. Buffy accidentally tells her mom that new Slayers are only called to duty when the old one dies, which makes her mother freak out, because Buffy never revealed to her that she had been temporarily killed while fighting the Master. They finish talking though, and both feel better.

While Buffy and Faith patrol, Faith starts talking about Angel. The two verbally spar before vampires interrupt. Faith starts beating one into a pulp as two drag Buffy down, mentioning Kakistos as they do so. Paradoxically, Faith appears to enjoy beating the vampires more than slaying them, even to the point of ignoring Buffy's plea for help. When Buffy yells at Faith, the latter merely says that she was doing her job and walks away.

Buffy tries talking to Giles, but he tells Buffy that it's clear she and Faith have different personalities but agrees to get in touch with Faith's Watcher. Giles begins mulling over what might be going on at the retreat before asking Buffy details to trace the slain vampire's lineage. Upon hearing Buffy try saying "Kakistos," he rushes off to the library to grab a book. He finds that Kakistos is one of the most brutal vampires around, and is so old his hands and feet have become cloven. With the fact that both the vampire Kakistos and Faith appeared around the same time, Giles and Buffy begin wondering if the two are connected. They formulate their plans together, then go their separate ways.

On her way out, Buffy runs in to Scott, who again tries to ask her out on a date. Buffy accepts, but then runs away when Scott hands her a Claddagh ring, exactly like the one Angel had given her. Giles comes up, and tells Buffy that Faith's Watcher is dead. Buffy goes to see Faith, and begins talking about Kakistos, surprising Faith with the fact that the vampire is in town. Faith starts packing, but Buffy brings up her Watcher's death, which stops Faith in her tracks and she reveals that it was Kakistos who brutally killed her. They are interrupted by a knock on the door, and Kakistos is outside with the dead motel operator.

Faith and Buffy run, eventually ending up in the exact warehouse where Kakistos has been staying. Faith begins to fall apart, having witnessed the murder of her Watcher, right before bringing attention to the fact that they were herded there. Buffy yells at Faith, repeating the number one rule of slaying: "Don't die!" Buffy fights the rest of the vamps while Kakistos starts beating Faith. Buffy intervenes, and Trick takes the time to leave with one of the other vamps. Buffy stakes Kakistos, but he's so old that a regular stake isn't enough to kill him. Faith recovers and picks up a thick wooden post that she had broken earlier, using it to impale and thus dust Kakistos.

Back in the library, Giles tells Buffy that the Watchers Council has agreed to allow Faith to remain in Sunnydale and he will act as her Watcher until a new one is sent. Buffy finally reveals to the others that Willow's restoration spell had cured Angel just before she was forced to kill him. She tells them all the details, and Willow and Giles proceed to stare at her. Giles says that it will help with the binding spell, and Willow empathizes with Buffy and apologizes. When Buffy leaves, Willow once again approaches Giles about the spell, only to be told that the spell doesn't exist, and he was merely trying to get Buffy to talk about what had happened.

Buffy finally talks to Scott, and they make plans to go out later on. Buffy goes to the mansion, finally being able to say goodbye. She leaves her Claddagh ring in the spot where she killed Angel and goes out. The ring starts to quiver on the floor, however, and a bright white light appears. Out of the light drops a naked figure — Angel, shivering, back from Hell.

Continuity[]

  • Buffy recognizes "Disco Dave" as a vampire due to his dated dance moves and clothing. In "Welcome to the Hellmouth," Buffy was able to pick the vampire Thomas out of a crowd based solely on his out-of-fashion clothes.
  • Faith is revealed to be the new slayer, activated after Kendra's death in "Becoming, Part One."
  • Faith first meets the Scoobies and borrows Buffy's stake to slay a vampire, a similar dynamic that will happen again in their reunion in "Dirty Girls."
  • Faith mentions that "slaying just always makes you hungry and horny." Many of Buffy's sexual encounters in the series take place immediately after slaying or violence of some kind: "Surprise" with Angel, "The Harsh Light of Day" with Parker Abrams, "The I in Team" with Riley Finn, "Where the Wild Things Are" with Riley again, "Smashed" with Spike, "Gone" with Spike again, "Dead Things" with Spike, and Twilight, Part Three with Angel. In season 6, Dawn observes that Buffy always heads straight to the refrigerator after patrol, implying that the hungry part might also be true.
  • Xander openly shows an attraction to Faith, whom he'll lose his virginity to in "The Zeppo."
  • In the non-canon novel Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row, Kakistos is revealed to have the habit of making his victims wrestle alligators while in Missouri, implied as the inspiration for Faith's tale in this episode.
  • The non-canon novel Go Ask Malice includes the complete tale of Faith rescuing church folks outside her house from vampires.
  • When Buffy complains about Faith, Joyce replies "It's probably better that you were an only child." This will become a somewhat ironic statement following the introduction of Dawn ("Buffy vs. Dracula").
  • Buffy feels as if Faith is taking her life, a theme explored further in the season 4 episodes "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You?" in which Faith literally switches lives (and bodies) with Buffy, and in the season 7 episodes "Empty Places" and "Touched," when Faith takes over her position as leader of the Scoobies.
  • Buffy begins a relationship with Scott. However, this relationship ends two episodes later, in "Homecoming," where Scott says that Buffy isn't that exciting anymore. Scott isn't mentioned again until "Conversations with Dead People," when former high school classmate Holden Webster points out that Scott told some people that Buffy was gay and that Scott himself came out the previous year.
  • Xander and Willow reference several events that took place in the previous season: they were attacked by snakes in "I Only Have Eyes for You," Angel tried to kill Willow in "Innocence," and when Spike attacked them on Parent-Teacher night in "School Hard."
  • Buffy briefly mentions the Three who appeared in the episode "Angel."
  • There is also a reference to the rocket launcher used to kill the Judge in "Innocence."
  • When Faith professes her attraction to Giles and Buffy remarks, "Raise you hand if ew." Willow notably does not raise her hand; she will confess to having had a crush on Giles in "Where the Wild Things Are."
  • Faith describes Buffy as "wound too tight," and would again describe her as "Little Miss Tightly Wound" in "Dirty Girls." Buffy admits years later that she was "according to popular report, tightly wound," in Freefall, Part One.
  • Buffy mispronounces Kakistos's name, a tendency she also displayed in "Nightmares," "Bad Eggs," "Becoming, Part One," and so on.
  • Buffy and Giles discuss their belief in the nonexistence of leprechauns, as shared by Syd Frzylcka in "Double or Nothing" and Jacob Crane in "Unleashed." Leprechauns eventually appear in Day Off (or Harmony in My Head) and United, Part Two.
  • Buffy tells Faith the "first rule of slaying" is "don't die," which resonates with Buffy's number one "key rule" while patrolling with Satsu: "you are always in danger" (A Beautiful Sunset).
  • When Faith and Buffy are attacked by Kakistos in Faith's hotel room, the vamps come in without being invited. It's well established that vampires do not need invitations into hotel rooms, as seen in "Innocence" and "The Zeppo."
  • Buffy finally faces up to her ordeal from "Becoming, Part Two," and it becomes general knowledge among the Scoobies that Angel was re-ensouled prior to being killed.
  • Willow continues to dabble in magic after her attempt to restore Angel's soul, even more encouraged when she finds out that she had in fact succeeded in the Ritual of Restoration ("Becoming, Part Two").

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Events[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Rituals and spells[]

Death count[]

  • Happy Burger employee, bitten by Trick.
  • Disco Dave, staked by Faith.
  • Pizza delivery guy, drained by Trick.
  • Four vampires, staked by Buffy.
  • Motel manager, killed by Kakistos.
  • Kakistos, staked by Faith with a wooden column.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • According to the published shooting script, the title of this episode is "Faith, Hope & Trick," rather than "Faith, Hope and Trick" or "Faith, Hope, and Trick."[2]
  • The title refers to the three new characters it introduces: Faith Lehane, Scott Hope, and Trick. It's also a play on Corinthians 13:13: "And now abide faith, hope, and love; these three; but the greatest of these is love." In this passage, the three theological virtues are listed as either "faith, hope, and charity" or "faith, hope, and love."
  • This episode features the band Darling Violetta performing at the Bronze. The band would later write and perform the theme song to the Angel series.
  • Zach Hudson, who portrays the Happy Burger employee, returns to the series as the Monster in the episode "Superstar."

Broadcast[]

  • "Faith, Hope & Trick" had an audience of 3.9 million households upon its original airing.[3]

Deleted scenes[]

  • This exchange was cut due to length:[4]
    Trick: "I believe this dance is mine."
    Buffy: "The music stopped."
    Trick: "But the beat goes on. Gimme whatcha got."

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Armenian: "Հավատ, հույս և խաբկանք" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • Czech: "Faith, Hope a Trick" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • Finnish: "Usko, toivo ja kepponen" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • French: "La Nouvelle Petite Sœur" (The New Little Sister)
  • German: "Neue Freunde, neue Feinde" (New Friends, New Foes)
  • Hungarian: "Bizalom, remény és csel" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • Italian: "L'Incantesimo" (The Spell)
  • Japanese: "信念、希望、そして策略" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • Polish: "Wiara, nadzieja i trick" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "Faith Chega a Sunnydale" (Faith Arrives in Sunnydale)
  • Romanian: "Credință, speranță și truc" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • Russian: "Вера, надежда и обман" (Faith, Hope and Trick)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "Fe, Esperanza y Olvido"
  • Spanish (Spain): "Fe, Esperanzas y Engaños" (Faith, Hopes and Tricks)
  • Swedish: "Tro, Hopp och Trick" (Faith, Hope and Trick)

Adaptations[]

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

Behind the scenes[]

[]

Quotes[]

Buffy: "Giles, there are two things that I don't believe in: coincidence and leprechauns."
Giles: 'Well, Buffy, it's entirely possible that they both arrived here by chance simultaneously."
Buffy: "Okay, but I was right about the leprechauns, right?"
Giles: "As far as I know, yes."
Buffy: "Oh, the one that nearly bit me mentioned something about 'kissing toast.' He 'lived for kissing toast.'"
Giles: "You mean, Kakistos?"
Buffy: "Maybe it was 'taquitos.' Maybe he 'lived for taquitos.' What?"
Giles: "Kakistos."
Oz: "I'm wondering about your position on werewolves."
Willow: "Oz is a werewolf."
Buffy: "It's a long story."
Oz: "I got bit."
Buffy: "Apparently not that long."
Willow: "And over here, we have the cafeteria, where we were mauled by snakes."
Xander: "And this is the spot where, uh, Angel tried to kill Willow."
Willow: "Oh, and over there in the lounge is where Spike and his gang nearly massacred us all on Parent-Teacher night. Oh, and-and up those stairs, I was sucked into a muddy grave."
Xander: "And they say young people don't learn anything in high school nowadays, but, um, I've learned to be afraid."
Buffy: "Angel was cured."
Giles: "I'm sorry?"
Buffy: "When I killed him, Angel was cured. Your spell worked at the last minute, Will. I was about to take him out, and, um... something went through him... and he was Angel again. He didn't remember anything that he'd done. He just held me. Um, but it was... it was too late, and I had to. So I told him that I loved him... and I kissed him... and I killed him. I don't know if that helps with your spell or not, Giles."
Giles: "Uh, yes, I believe it will."
Willow: "I'm sorry."
Buffy: "It's okay. I've been holding onto that for so long. Felt good to get it out... I'll see you guys later."
Willow: "Giles, I know you don't like me playing with mystical forces, but I can really help with this binding spell."
Giles: "There is no spell."

References[]

  1. "The Mortuary." Buffy.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2001.
  2. David Greenwalt et al., The Script Book: Season Three, Volume 1. Simon & Schuster, July 2003.
  3. "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's Third Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008.
  4. Nancy Holder, Jeff Mariotte, and Maryelizabeth Hart, The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2. Pocket Books, October 2000.
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