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When She Was Bad

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"When She Was Bad" is the season premiere of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the thirteenth episode in the series. Written and directed by Joss Whedon, it was originally broadcast on September 15, 1997, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

BACK TO SCHOOL — When Buffy returns home to Sunnydale after spending the summer away, Xander and Willow become concerned with her disturbingly cold and distant behavior. Meanwhile, Cordelia and Sunnydale High teacher Ms. Calendar are kidnapped and Buffy is convinced that the fight to protect them and the world from the undead is hers alone. Still reluctant to risk getting close to Angel, Buffy turns him away before either one can express his or her true feelings.[1]

Summary[]

Xander and Willow are quizzing each other on film quotes on the outskirts of a cemetery. They comment on how quiet the summer has been in Sunnydale since they buried the Master, and Xander admits that he is actually looking forward to school starting up again. A tender moment ensues when Xander playfully puts ice cream on Willow's nose, but just as it seems the two are going to kiss, a vampire appears behind Willow. Xander attempts to fend off the attack when suddenly Buffy appears. She slays the vampire, then turns to her friends and asks, "Miss me?" After telling them about her summer in Los Angeles, Xander mentions how that was the first vampire they've seen since the Master was killed. Willow informs Buffy they buried the Master's bones on consecrated ground in the cemetery, and Buffy appears uneasy. When Willow asks about Giles, Buffy tells her she will see him at school.

At home, Joyce is questioning the amount of clothes Buffy brought back from her shopping spree in Los Angeles. Her father admits that Buffy seemed distant the whole summer, so he overcompensated by letting her shop.

At school, Principal Snyder expresses his disgust with students while talking to Giles, who spots Ms. Calendar and slips away while an oblivious Snyder rambles on. In the hall, Giles and Jenny run into the Scoobies, and Buffy appears indifferent to the reunion. After Willow announces Buffy killed a vampire the night before, Giles explains mystical energy still attracts evil forces to the town even though the Hellmouth is closed. He asks Buffy to resume her training after school but seems concerned at her eagerness to get started.

While Buffy trains in the library, she has a vision of the Master and begins frantically punching a dummy. Giles urges her to stop, and after kicking the dummy across the room, she declares she is prepared for whatever comes next.

At night in her bedroom, Buffy has a nightmare of being choked by the Master, who is disguised as Giles. Angel appears in her window to warn her the Anointed One has been gathering forces. When Buffy brushes him off, he admits that he missed her but leaves out the window before she can reply.

The next day, the Scoobies run into Cordelia, who is oblivious to keeping Buffy's Slayer identity a secret. Buffy insults Cordelia, which Xander and Willow find unusually mean, causing Cordelia to wonder what's gotten into her.

At the Bronze that evening, Xander and Willow wonder about Buffy's recent behavior. Willow unsucessfully tries to recreate the ice cream moment from the cemetery, but Xander only mentions that she has something on her nose. Meanwhile, the Anointed One and a vampire named Absalom are forcing other vampires to dig up the Master's bones with their bare hands through consecrated dirt.

When Buffy arrives at the Bronze, Angel asks her if she's angry with him. Buffy tells him to get over himself, as she has moved on "to the living." Buffy begins a slow, passionate dance with Xander, clearly bothering Angel and Wilow as they watch. Suddenly, Buffy leaves Xander mid-dance after asking him if he'd like her to thank him for resurrecting her. Outside, Cordelia confronts Buffy and tells her to get over whatever is bothering her. Buffy tells her to mind her own business and walks away, just as Cordelia is grabbed by two dark figures and dragged into a building. Cordelia is thrown into a basement, where she finds Jenny unconscious on the floor. Meanwhile in the cemetery, Buffy walks to the Master's grave and finds it empty.

The next day at school, Xander and Willow express their concerns about Buffy, and Giles suspects she hasn't processed her traumatic encounter with the Master on a conscious level. Buffy suddenly appears and tells them the Master's bones have gone missing. When Giles mentions revivification rituals, Buffy is upset he never mentioned them before. When Xander defends Willow after Buffy snaps at her, Snyder arrives and dismisses them to class. He tells Giles he would like to expel Buffy since he "smells" numerous bad things about her and finds it "weird" when Giles suggests he give Buffy a chance.

That night, the Scoobies learn that a revivification ritual needs the blood of the "closest" person to the deceased. Buffy assumes that would be her, since she and Master killed each other. Suddenly, a large rock wrapped with Cordelia's watch, crashes through the library window. It includes a message calling Buffy to the Bronze or they'll kill Cordelia. The others believe it is a trap, but Buffy insists on going alone, saying she can't look after them while slaying.

Outside the Bronze, Angel offers to help Buffy, but she tries to pick a fight with him instead. Inside they find only one vampire trying to pass for Cordelia. Buffy quickly realizes she was lured there as a distraction rather than a trap. Meanwhile, Giles realizes the true meaning of the translation: the ritual requires the blood of those physically nearest to the Master when he died — meaning Giles, Willow, Cordelia, and Ms. Calendar. Suddenly, several vampires emerge from the shadows of the library.

Buffy returns to find a bloodied Xander, who warns that if anything happens to Willow, he will kill her. Buffy returns to the Bronze and tortures the vampire they found into confessing where the ritual will take place. When Buffy arrives at an abandoned factory, she interrupts the ritual and kills the vampires. As the Anointed One flees, Angel and Xander rescue the others. Buffy stares at the Master's skeleton laid out on the table and smashes it to pieces with a sledgehammer while her friends watch in silence. As she breaks down in tears, Angel hugs her.

The next day, Buffy talks with Giles about her fear of facing her friends again after treating them so badly and putting them in danger. He tells her she can't hide from them forever and assures her this was not the worst mistake she'll ever make.

Buffy reluctantly enters class, where Willow and Xander have saved her a seat. Together, they joke and make plans for the night. Meanwhile at the factory, the Anointed One gazes at the scene of destruction and declares, "I hate that girl."

Continuity[]

  • This episode marks the start of the tradition in the show of all Buffy season premieres beginning with a scene in a cemetery ("Anne," "The Freshman," "Buffy vs. Dracula," "Bargaining, Part One," "Lessons"). 
  • The non-canon short story "Absalom Rising" identifies Shady Hill Cemetery as the location of the Master's bones. 
  • Principal Snyder calls girls "hormonal time bombs." In the episode "Blood Ties," Spike will describe Dawn the same way. 
  • Joyce says she hopes Buffy can make it through the school year without getting kicked out, as she had expressed in "Welcome to the Hellmouth." Although, as Principal Snyder "smells" expulsion about Buffy, this will turn out to be true in "Becoming, Part Two."
  • This is the second and final "real" appearance of Buffy's father Hank in the series. All subsequent appearances would be in the form of flashbacks, dreams, or hallucinations, until his solo return in Freaky Giles Day.
  • Joyce and Hank make references to the shoes of Los Angeles while unpacking Buffy's bags. The L.A. shoes were also the subject of conversations between Cordelia and Buffy in "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
  • This marks the first appearance of the high school lounge room, which will make more appearances in the second and third seasons.
  • Cordelia tells Buffy to "get over it" in response to Buffy's appalling behavior in this episode. Cordelia would again use this line to Angel, in the Angel episode "I Fall to Pieces."
  • This is the first attempt to raise a vampire from the dead during the series; the first time it actually happens is in the Angel episode "To Shanshu in L.A." when Wolfram & Hart bring back Darla.
  • Buffy challenges Angel to a fight and asks if he is interested in how it would be. They will actually fight after he loses his soul ("Innocence," "Becoming, Part One," and "Becoming, Part Two").
  • Buffy calls Angel an "undead American"; Angel actually originates from Ireland ("Becoming, Part One"). Lilah Morgan will use the same term in reference to a vampire in the Angel episode "Benediction."
  • Since the Master's death, the Order of Aurelius has left the sunken church and moved to the abandoned Bric & Broc factory, keeping it as their lair until the episode "Passion."
  • Xander suggests that he, Willow, and Buffy play miniature golf. Five years later, when making plans for the next day, Xander will declare, "Mini-golf is always the first thing that comes to mind." ("Chosen").
  • Willow says that there is no golf course there. Eventually, Ted will take them to play miniature golf on a drive in "Ted."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Rituals and spells[]

Death count[]

  • Unidentified vampire, staked by Buffy with a tree branch at the graveyard.
  • Walt, staked by Buffy at the factory.
  • Jane, staked by Buffy at the factory.
  • Ned, staked by Angel at the factory.
  • Bob, staked by Buffy at the factory.
  • Absalom, set on fire with a flaming torch by Buffy at the factory.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

Broadcast[]

  • "When She Was Bad" pulled in an audience of 2.9 million households. When the episode was aired as a repeat in November 1997, it exceptionally scored a higher 3.1 million household rating.[2]

Deleted scenes[]

  • The following exchange was cut because of length:[3]
    Hank: "Oh, I'm spoiling her. Did I forget to mention that?"
    Joyce: "What you forgot is that I'm gonna have to deal with another year of 'Daddy would let me buy that'."

Pop culture references[]

  • When Willow and Xander play a cinema quiz, they reference the films The Terminator (1984), Planet of the Apes (1968), Star Wars (1977), and Witness (1985).
  • Jenny mentions having attended the Burning Man festival over the summer, an annual event held since 1986.
  • Cordelia calls Buffy, Willow, and Xander "The Three Musketeers," in reference to the title trio of characters from the 1844 adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, with multiple adaptations over the years.
  • Xander suggests that a better insult would be being called "The Three Stooges," a trio of slapstick comedy.
  • Cordelia tells Buffy to get over her Joan Collins attitude, whose character Alexis Colby in the television show Dynasty was often regarded as vengeful and ruthless.

Goofs[]

  • Jenny mentions having attended the Burning Man festival in Black Rock over the summer. However, in 1997, Burning Man was held in Hualapai Desert, not Black Rock Desert.

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Armenian: "Երբ նա չար էր" (When She Was Evil)
  • Czech: "Když byla zlá" (When She Was Bad) / "Když zlobila" (When She Misbehaved)
  • Finnish: "Pahan Kosketus" (The Touch of Evil)
  • French: "La Métamorphose de Buffy" (The Metamorphosis of Buffy)
  • German: "Im Banne des Bösen" (Under the Spell of Evil)
  • Hungarian: "Megigézve" (Mesmerized)
  • Italian: "L'ombra del Maestro" (The Shadow of the Master)
  • Japanese: "バフィーはイヤなヤツ!?" (Buffy Is a Bad Guy!?)
  • Polish: "Kiedy ona była zła" (When She Was Back)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "A Volta" (The Comeback)
  • Romanian: "Când era rea" (When It Was Bad)
  • Russian: "Когда она была плохой" (When She Was Bad)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "Cuando Ella Fue Mala" (When She Was Bad)
  • Spanish (Spain): "Buffy Se Vuelve Mala" (Buffy Turns Bad)
  • Swedish: "När Hon Var Ond" (When She Was Evil)

Adaptations[]

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

Behind the scenes[]

[]

Quotes[]

Cordelia: "It was a nightmare, a total nightmare. I mean, they promised me they'd take me to St. Croix, and then they just decide to go to Tuscany. Art and buildings? I was totally beach-less for a month and a half. No one has suffered like I have. Of course I think that that kind of adversity builds character. Well, then I thought, I already have a lot of character. Is it possible to have too much character?"
Cordelia: "You're really campaigning for bitch of the year, aren't you?"
Buffy: "As defending champion, are you nervous?"
Cordelia: "I can hold my own."
Snyder: "There are some things I can just smell. It's like a sixth sense."
Giles: "No, actually, that would be one of the five."
Buffy: "'Come to the Bronze before it opens or we make her a meal.'"
Xander: "They're gonna cook her dinner? ...Oh, pretend I didn't just say that."
Giles: "Punishing yourself like this is pointless."
Buffy: "It's entirely pointy. I was a moron. I put my best friends in mortal danger on the second day of school."
Giles: "What are you gonna do? Crawl inside a cave for the rest of your life?"
Buffy: "Would it have cable?"
Giles: "Buffy, you acted wrongly, I admit that. But believe me, that was hardly the, the worst mistake you'll ever make. Uh, that wasn't quite as comforting as it was meant to be."
Buffy: "Well, points for effort."

References[]

  1. ↑ "The Mortuary." Buffy.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2001.
  2. ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's Second Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on April 13, 2008.
  3. ↑ Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder. The Watcher's Guide, Volume 1. Pocket Books, October 1998.
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