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Who Are You?

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"Who Are You?" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the seventy-second episode in the series. Written and directed by Joss Whedon, it was originally broadcast on February 29, 2000, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

THE CONCLUSION OF A TWO-PART EPISODE WHEN FAITH RETURNS — Buffy battles to escape the clutches of the Watcher's Council special operations team who plan to send her to England, while Faith continues to wreak havoc in the lives of Buffy's family and friends. Meanwhile, it's Willow and Tara who figure out Buffy's whereabouts, but not before Faith has done some serious damage to Buffy's relationship with Riley.[1]

Summary[]

Faith (in Buffy's body) stands by Joyce while Buffy (in Faith's body) is carried away in an ambulance. They discuss Faith, and Joyce notes how horribly unhappy Faith must be. After their conversation, Joyce hugs Faith, who is uncomfortable with this sudden affection. Afterward, Faith goes upstairs to take a bath. She tries to get used to her new body, and practices phrases she thinks Buffy would say. Faith then crimps her hair, puts on sultry makeup, and gets dressed up in black leather. Soon after, she buys a plane ticket with Joyce's credit card, then goes out to meet the Scooby Gang. Meanwhile, Willow and Tara talk about Faith, and Tara confesses that she belongs to Willow.

An armored truck runs into the police car carrying Buffy and leather-clad operatives of the Watchers Council jump out. They capture Buffy and put her in the back of their truck. Faith attends a meeting at Giles's apartment with Xander, Willow, and Anya, who makes Faith uneasy, as she has no idea who Anya is. Faith happily tells the gang Faith is on her way to prison, but Giles tells them this is unlikely as the Watcher's Council has sent a team to apprehend the rogue slayer and take her back to England, meaning they are unlikely to see her again. Faith is ecstatic at the news, and she celebrates by dancing concurrently with several men and women at the Bronze until she runs into Spike.

Once she realizes who Spike is, Faith speaks to him seductively and teases him ruthlessly, telling him all the things she could do to his body; when it is obvious that Spike is confused, yet attracted to her, she concludes by telling him that she won't do anything she could do to Spike "because it's wrong." Frustrated and furious, Spike promises that as soon as he gets his chip out, they will have a confrontation. Faith, however, merely smirks at Spike's threat and walks away from him, and he storms out of the Bronze soon after.

Elsewhere, a vampire pack, led by Boone, return to their nest to find Adam waiting for them. Adam talks to them, discussing things that vampires fear and concluding that vampires are a paradox; because they are immortal, they fear death even more than mortals do.

Meanwhile, Buffy awakes to find herself chained in the back of a truck with the Council team. She tries to convince them that her body has been switched with the other Slayer, but they are unfazed: she is merely a package for them to deliver. At the Bronze, Willow introduces Tara to Faith. When Willow goes to get drinks, Faith makes no effort to maintain Buffy's persona and says several rude, harsh things to Tara. Willow returns and points out a vampire with a girl, which Faith reluctantly leaves to slay. When the girl thanks Faith for saving her, Faith is stunned by the girl's gratitude.

One of the Council members, Smith, enters the truck where Buffy is being held, and she attacks him, threatening to kill him unless she is let go. However, the other members, Collins and Weatherby, tell her that they all settled their affairs before leaving for the mission and are prepared to die if it means accomplishing it. They then tell her to do what she wants and, unable to go through with her threat, Buffy is forced to let Smith go. At the Bronze, Tara recognizes the fragmented energy coming from Buffy, and knows that "Buffy" is not the real Buffy. She informs Willow, and then Willow and Tara prepare to perform a ritual to locate Buffy's real energy.

Faith visits Riley and seduces him in the guise of Buffy. At first, Faith is overly sexy and provocative; however, she is surprised to find that Riley is not interested in games, and that he wants to make love rather than just have sex. After they sleep together, Riley tells Faith that he loves her, which confuses and disturbs her own identity yet again. In the morning, she attempts to leave quickly from a sleeping Riley and catch her flight, but ends up having a confrontation with Forrest, who is concerned about Buffy's influence over his friend. Meanwhile, Adam's eloquence with words has completely won over Boone and his gang and they pledge their loyalty to him. He tells them they will announce his presence, and decides to send them to what they fear the most.

When the Council team realizes that they will not be able to get the dangerous Slayer to England, they decide to kill her instead. Buffy, however, is prepared; she uses Collins' gun to break her chains and the lock on the door, and then moves to the driver's seat and leaves with the armored truck.

Meanwhile, Faith, now at the Sunnydale Airport, prepares to leave town by obtaining a boarding pass for a plane. Buffy arrives at Giles' place and struggles to convince him of the truth about the body swap. She reminds him about his stint as a Fyarl demon and about his sexual relationship with her mother, which sufficiently convinces him of her true identity. Willow and Tara arrive (with Tara being introduced to Buffy properly as well as Giles), having created a Katra that will switch Buffy and Faith back the next time they make contact. After turning on the TV, they learn that Boone and his group of vampires are holding hostages at a church. At the airport, Faith sees this on TV, and, despite the fact she was about to leave, decides to go and face the vampires instead.

Riley, who has controlled the situation with the police, meets Faith at the entrance and wants to help. She reminds him of his injury and asks him to stay outside. Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Tara also arrive, and Giles acts hysterical in order to distract the police so Buffy can slip inside.

Faith challenges the vampires inside, and she quickly dusts the other vamps before taking on Boone. As he starts talking about how Adam has shown him the way forward, Buffy stakes him from behind. The two Slayers fight and Faith gets Buffy on the floor and starts to furiously punch her (own actual) face while calling her "nothing," "disgusting," and a "murderous bitch." Buffy grabs Faith's hand with the Katra, and the two switch back to their own bodies. Faith runs away, leaving Buffy stunned.

The next day, Buffy and Riley talk. Buffy realizes that Riley had sex with her while Faith was in her body, a revelation that deeply troubles them both. Meanwhile, Faith leaves town in a cargo car of a train.

Continuity[]

  • This episode follows immediately after the previous episode, "This Year's Girl."
  • Joyce's credit card expires in May 2001, the month of Buffy's impending death in "The Gift."
  • Faith (in Buffy's body) comments on Xander's sexual performance, about which she gained firsthand experience in "The Zeppo."
  • Though it is only hinted at in previous episodes (holding hands during the spell in "Hush" and Willow's secretiveness in "The I in Team"), Faith's commentary about Willow and Tara marks the first time it is stated they are involved.
  • Faith (in Buffy's body) becomes the first person to recognize Willow and Tara's romantic relationship, making her the first character to do so without being told. Spike will also figure it out himself in "The Yoko Factor." Willow will tell Buffy about Tara in "New Moon Rising" then Xander and Giles in "The Yoko Factor."
  • Faith ends up escaping to Los Angeles in the Angel episode "Five by Five," where Buffy will confront her in "Sanctuary."
  • Spike and Faith do not meet again until three years later ("Dirty Girls"), when Faith will remind him of their encounter in this episode, and Spike will note their conversation is "not the kind of thing a man forgets."
  • When Faith flirts and teases with Spike in Buffy's body, Spike reveals some of the repressed lust he harbors for Buffy, foreshadowing his feelings for her he'll eventually realize in "Out of My Mind."
  • After Faith (in Buffy's body) finishes teasing Spike, he says to her "I get this chip out, you and me are gonna have a confrontation." Indeed, after his chip is removed by the Initiative, Spike and Faith actually do end up confronting each other twice, in "Dirty Girls" and "Touched."
  • Faith (in Buffy's body) states that "Faith's" arrest was "poetic justice." This references Faith and Buffy's confrontation in "Graduation Day, Part One," in which Buffy states that draining Faith's blood as a cure for Angel would be "poetic justice," as Faith was the one who poisoned him.
  • When Willow and Tara are discussing what could have possessed Buffy, Willow mentions hyena possession, as Xander was victim of a Primal ritual in "The Pack."
  • Buffy reminds Giles of his transformation into a Fyarl demon in "A New Man," that he hasn't had a job since they blew up the school ("Graduation Day, Part Two"), and the occasion he had sex with Joyce, which Buffy found out about in "Earshot."
  • Buffy (in Faith's body) stakes the vampire Boone from behind when it is attacking Faith (in Buffy's body), revealing her standing there when it dusts. This scene echoes Faith staking Trick in "Consequences."
  • Faith will apologize and finally come to terms with Riley eight years later, in Lost and Found, Part Five.

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Death count[]

  • One vampire, beheaded by Adam.
  • Two vampires, staked by Faith (in Buffy's body).
  • One vampire, burned in sunlight by Riley.
  • Boone, staked by Buffy (in Faith's body).

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • The credits read "Eliza Dushku as Buffy" instead of "as Faith," reflecting the fact she is playing Buffy in Faith's body for the majority of the episode.
  • This episode marks the halfway point of the series.
  • The church Boone and other vampires invade is the real Church of the Angels, in Pasadena.
  • The use of the term "katra" to refer to an exchange of consciousness could be a reference to Vulcan mythology on Star Trek, more specifically Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, in which the "katra" is an individual's living spirit. The katra can be transferred to another body via a mind meld.

Broadcast[]

  • "Who Are You?" had an audience of 3.5 million households upon its original airing.[2]

Deleted scenes[]

  • This line of Adam was cut:[3]
    Adam: "(You are here to be my first. To let them know I'm coming.) I am the end of all life, of all magic. I'm the war between man and demon, the war that no one can win. You're a part of that now. You have to show me you're ready."
  • The following line of dialogue was removed in the home video release, but a brief shot remains of Faith mouthing the words:[3]
    Faith: "(You're nothing! Disgusting, murderous bitch! You're nothing!) I hate you!"

Goofs[]

  • In the scene where Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Giles try to enter the church, when Willow says, "But we can't, we've gotta, you don't understand…" her mouth isn't moving. This is due to the episode being composed for the 4:3 aspect ratio that was common for TV episodes at the time, and Willow face was not on-screen in the original pre-widescreen airings.
  • After Adam beheads a vampire, it's visible that he still has his head when his body falls to the ground.

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Armenian: "Դու ո՞վ ես" (Who Are You?)
  • Czech: "Kdo jsi?" (Who Are You?)
  • Finnish: "Kuka sinä olet?" (Who Are You?)
  • French: "Une revenante, partie 2" (A Stranger, Part 2)
  • German: "Im Körper des Feindes" (In the Enemy's Body)
  • Hungarian: "Ki vagy te?" (Who Are You?)
  • Italian: "Chi Sei?" (Who Are You?)
  • Japanese: "お前は誰だ？" (Who Are You?)
  • Polish: "Kim jesteś?" (Who Are You?)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "Quem É Você?" (Who Are You?)
  • Romanian: "Cine ești" (Who Are You?)
  • Russian: "Кто ты?" (Who Are You?)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "¿Quién Eres Tú?" (Who Are You?)
  • Spanish (Spain): "¿Quién Eres Tú?" (Who Are You?)

Adaptations[]

Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

[]

Quotes[]

Faith: "Why, yes, I would be Buffy. May I help you? Buffy. You can't do that. It's wrong. You can't do that because it's naughty. Because it's wrong. Because it's wrong. You can't do that. It's wrong. I'll kick your ass. I'm gonna kill you."
Spike: "You know why I really hate you, Summers?"
Faith: "'Cause I'm a stuck-up tight-ass with no sense of fun?"
Spike: "Well... yeah, that covers a lot of it."
Faith: "'Cause I could do anything I want, and instead I choose to pout and whine and feel the burden of Slayerness? I mean, I could be rich. I could be famous. I could have anything. Anyone. Even you, Spike. I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you until you popped like warm champagne and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more. And you know why I don't? Because it's wrong."
Willow: "I'm sorry you're feeling blechy. But we'll get together with Buffy another time, sometime soon. I really think you'll like her..."
Tara: "She's not your friend."
Willow: "I may have overestimated the 'you liking her' factor. But I wish you'd give her a chance; she's very important to me."
Tara: "No, I mean... I don't think she's... her... A person's energy has a flow, a unity. Buffy's was fragmented; it grated, like something forced in where it doesn't belong. Plus she was kinda mean."
Buffy: "Giles, you turned into a demon, and I knew it was you. I mean, can't you just look in my eyes and be all intuitive?"
Giles: "How did I turn into a demon?"
Buffy: "Oh, 'cause, uh, Ethan Rayne. And you have a girlfriend named Olivia... and you haven't had a job since we blew up the school... which is valid lifestyle-wise. I mean, it's not like you're a slacker type, but— Oh, oh! When I had psychic power I heard my mom think that you were like a stevedore during sex. W— Do you want me to continue?"
Giles: "Actually, I beg you to stop."
Buffy: "What's a stevedore?"
Faith: "You're not gonna kill these people."
Boone: "Why not?"
Faith: "Because it's wrong."

References[]

  1. ↑ "The Mortuary." Buffy.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2001.
  2. ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's Fourth Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Who Are You Script." BuffyWorld. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019.
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