Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Homecoming

"As Willow goes, so goes my nation."

So, we're back to these American high school traditions again, and this foreigner's continuing clumsy attempts to understand what's going on. I can work out that it's a posh ball, and a girl gets voted "queen", but I still have no real idea of what Homecoming is. To my American readers it's probably a traditional rite of passage. To me it's a lyric from the Monkees' "Daydream Believer".

Still, this is a great comedy episode, and also a Cordy episode, which goes some way to redressing the way the character's been neglected in recent episodes. She's still as shallow as ever, but that's the way we love her. And she's the one who scares off Lyle Gorch with that brilliant bluffing speech.

Of course, putting Buffy and Cordelia into conflict has repercussions on the rest of the Scoobies, who are forced to pick sides and feel the inevitable guilt. Most of the guilt, though, has to do with the kiss between Willow and Xander. Worse, it's not just an isolated kiss; there are obvious feelings of attraction that they have for each other which are only deepened by their very close friendship. And this happens at a time when they're both happily attached. This cannot end well. But both actors are superb in these scenes.

There's a direct contrast with Faith, of course, to whom this sort of guilt is alien. Not only does she discuss using and discarding a couple of "studs" with Buffy, but she brazenly goes and takes Scott away from his partner, no doubt to be used once and destroy. A lifestyle based on short-term pleasures, in fiction, is usually shorthand for a lack of investment in any sort of future.

Buffy, meanwhile, is dumped by Scott on the rather undeniable grounds that the life seems to have gone out of her. It's left to Giles to remind Buffy to actually have fun, and even to make a non-ironic joke at one point. Wow.

The conclusion of the episode is funny, but it's still a rejection of Buffy, who isn't even in the yearbook now. We're reminded that this is the final year of High School, and Buffy is finally working hard, investing in her future in stark contrast to both Faith and her slightly younger self. How will it end for her?

Plot arc-wise, there's a nice bit of sleight of hand here. We already have an established tradition of a rather cool baddie being introduced early in a season but turning out to be a red herring, so when Trick gets arrested we assume that's it for him. But it isn't. And we finally get to meet this mysterious mayor, a kind of Howard Hughes with a direct hotline to the socially conservative id and no apparent problem about associating with vampires. He only gets a few lines but he's a memorable and quirky character already. A lot of that is down to Harry Groener's performance.

Oh, and Lyle Gorch doesn't die either. I genuinely don't remember but I take it we'll be seeing him again.

It's a fun little episode, heavy on character development but with a lightness of touch befitting a comedy episode. Don't worry- after yesterday's barrage of political subtext I'll go light on it here…!