User Reviews

Season three is the first full season of BTVS that I ever saw. I never watched the show when it was new. I only found it in re-runs and quickly became addicted. After seeing a few episodes, I was hooked and I decided to go find more of them on DVD. Unfortunately, I'm cheap. Instead of just buying all seven seasons and watching them in order, I headed down to the library and rented whatever random discs they had on the shelves. (The second disc of season 4, the first and fourth discs of season 6, etc... Not my brightest move.) For some reason, though, all the season three DVDs were in the library that day, so I just brought them all home. Luckily, season three is a great season to start with. It has an dramatic story arc, interesting new characters and just about every episode is a winner. The writing and creative energy are never better. Season three is one of the show's best seasons. (Only seasons two and five can give it any competition, in my opinion.) It's BTVS at it's height.

That said, season three's first episode is a little weird. "Anne" finds Buffy in LA, where's she's fled after leaving Sunnydale in "Becoming Part Two." She's working as a waitress, trying to forget about her old life and still mourning Angel. It's hard to run from being the Chosen One, though, and Buffy soon finds herself mixed up with a girl named Lily. Well, NOW she's named Lily. Back in season two's "Lie to Me" she was the vampire groupie Chanterelle. After that run-in with Spike in the bomb shelter, she's over the whole "lonely ones" fixation and is leading a new life as a homeless teen runaway with her boyfriend Ricky. LA's not on a Hellmouth, but it still has some supernatural problems. (As five seasons of "Angel" will soon attest.) In no time, Ricky's missing and Lily and Buffy have to go searching for him.

Back in SunnyD, The Scoobies are vampire hunting on their own. (They'll do the exact same thing in season six, only with a bit more success.) Willow and Xander have reached the point where they'll fight evil, with or without Buffy. It's interesting that they never try to walk away from their new responsibilities, even though they weren't drafted by the Powers That Be like Buffy and Angel. Xander and Willow are volunteers, they WANT to help. Oz and Cordy are there, too, of course. And the four of them patrol around town with walkie-talkies and wooden crosses. Giles, meanwhile, is looking for Buffy. He's tearing apart the countryside, chasing down leads and trying to find her.

Little do they know that Buffy has been sucked into another dimension. She and Lily are trapped in a terrifying alternate reality, where time goes faster than normal and people age one hundred years in a single Earth day. Kept as slaves in cages, they are stripped of their identities and forced to work in some kind of mine/factory deal. In order to escape, Buffy has to be Buffy again. Reclaim her name and identity and fight to live.

The episode has some good points. I love Oz's explanation for still being a Sunnydale High student, even though he was suppose to attend summer school and graduate. "Remember when I didn't go?" And Xander and Cordy's awkward reunion is really funny. "How's my hair?" Also, Angel looks pretty darn good standing on the beach on Buffy's dream. (Yes, I am that shallow.) Mostly, I like Giles in this episode, though. He's so desperate to track Buffy down. His relationship with Buffy is such a large part of the season. His love for Buffy-the-person over Buffy-the-Slayer, will lead to the introduction of Wesley and provide a counter balance for the relationship between Faith and the Mayor that will develop. This episode foreshadows that, with his fatherly concern for Buffy's well-being coming before his desire for the Slayer's return to evil-fighting.

"Anne" has some interesting things to say about identity and being true to yourself. Names are very important. The evil hell-dimension guys try to steal the names of their victims and make them "no one." Buffy changes her name, the Scoobies are using "cool sounding" code-names to track vampires and Lily doesn't have a real name at all. Everybody is trying to be someone they're not. But, in the end, they really can't escape who they are. Buffy is the Slayer, not a waitress. The Scoobies are often in over their heads without any super-powered help on patrol, no matter how they pretend to getting into the "rhythm" of slaying. And Lily has to shed her dependency and exotic personas to finally become a real person, even if she borrows Buffy's name to do it. The episode saying that it's easy to get lost, especially in a big city like LA. People will use you and try to make you less than you're capable of being. You have to stand up for yourself and remember who you really are. On a side note Chanterelle/Lily/Anne does pretty well for herself, becoming an advocate for homeless teens. She appears over on Angel several times, including the final episode, seasons five's "Not Fade Away."

On the downside, it's hard to come off "Becoming Part Two" and into "Anne." You want Angel's storyline to continue immediately and you have to wait several episodes for his resurrection. Also, does Buffy leave some of those captives behind in the hell-dimension? It seems like she and a dozen or so escape and leave the rest of the slaves behind. Kinna harsh.

My favorite part of the episode: Larry's inspirational speech about Sunnydale's chances at athletic glory. "If we can focus, keep discipline and not have so many mysterious deaths... Sunnydale is gonna rule!"

While the gang take care of the slaying in Sunnydale, Buffy is out trying to live a life by herself, but when Lily from Sunnydale recognised her, Buffy is forced to go back into slaying to help find Lily's missing boyfriend Ricky. Joyce blames Giles for Buffy running away.

Why It's So Good - Buffy's struggles with life away from the scoobies shows the benefits of healthy friendships, as Buffy begins to find that she can not run away from her issues, especially when someone genuinely needs her help. 'Anne' somehow does not manage to reach the usual Whedon magic but Willow as a substitute slayer is very amusing, also worth noting is the Giles and Joyce confrontation.

Watch Out For - Gandhi.

Quote - "Well, we try not to get killed. That's part of our whole mission statement. 'Don't get killed.'" - Willow (about killing vampires)

"Anne", the opening episode of Season 3, is unique in more than a few ways. Among the many episodes that brush against political and religious themes, this one, both through its direction and imagery, goes much further than the norm. A strong streak of Socialism runs throughout this episode, with the primary villain posing as a quasi-religious service to 'help' homeless teens, and then enslaving them to labor in an alternate hell-dimension.

The hell dimension itself is an industrial/factory like operation, complete with sparks and hard labor, and the children have been made into hopeless drones, robbed of identity, almost mindless after years of labor. The stone figures of angels hang above them on the walls, another symbol of religion, seemingly indifferent to the plight of the suffering. When Buffy fights back, one scene in particular shows her atop a stand, waiting for her next opponent, an image of strength and defiance wielding a hammer and a vaguely sickle-like weapon.

Among her closing comments as she leads a handful of the newest arrivals out of the hell dimension, one stands out as noteworthy. Her comment before slaying the wounded and now helpless leader of the enslaving demons..."Wanna see my impression of Ghandi?". Given the earlier themes of the show, it's safe to guess that this is something of a backhanded retort to the concept of nonviolent protest (which, admittedly, is admirable, but generally futile) and its inability to quickly alleviate suffering and victimization.

All in all, an episode of TV that more than subtly suggests a level of thought that is rarely seen in film or anything else these days. Due credit goes to Joss Whedon for masterminding this little jewel. Enjoy!

This is a really good Season Premiere. Not my favorite Season Premiere, that would be either Season 4, Season 6 or Season 7. But all very good.

After telling her mother Joyce, that she was the Slayer, Buffy ran away from home, and moved to the big city of Los Angeles. At home, all of her friends, including Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz, are taking over the Slayer's duties in Sunnydale. Dusting every vampire they, and while they're not better than the Slayer, they do a pretty damn good job, for civilians. In Los Angeles, Buffy is working at a diner, and calling herself Anne. She runs into a girl, who was in Sunnydale, believed that vampires were her true calling, and who almost got killed. This girls boyfriend goes missing and he turns up, a day later, but he's aged at least seventy-five years, overnight. Buffy discovers that a demon pretending to be a man who helps runaways, actually kidnaps these people, takes them to another dimension, puts them to work, and tosses them back, when they're too old. Buffy eventually kills him. Good.

Overall, I give this episode an 8 out of 10.

The Good; Lovely to see Chantelle/Lily/Anne again. Great to see the slave rebellion. Love the long tracking shot around Sunnydale high, lovely cameo from Larry. Nice to see that Buffy can make it on her own but did anyone really doubt that she could? The gang's vamp hunting is hilarious. Terrific scenes between Giles and Joyce. The final scene when Buffy and Joyce hug is just too lovely.

The Bad; Truly horrible what happens to the human slaves. Ricky's suicide is just awful

Whedon Clichés;

Character death; None although Buffy still dreams of killing Angel

Knocked out; Buffy by Ken

Kinky dinky; Buffy as a slave but not of the sexual variety. Anne Summers is the name of a lingerie/sex toy chain in the UK. Xander rather crudely wants to know if Buffy met 'any nice pimps on her travels' (Pretty Woman/Belle du Jour)?

Reccurring actor in another role; Carlos Jacott as Ken who'll later turn up as someone different in Angel, Firefly and TSSC

Best line; Giles; "You musn't blame yourself"

Joyce; "I don't, I blame YOU. You've been this huge influence on her all these years"

Questions and observations; As Xander wonders surely a girl as attractive as Buffy could get a better job than waitress in LA? As about the only funny part in 'The Last Action Hero' pointed out;

Kid; (pointing to a gorgeous girl working behind the counter of the video store) "She is way too beautiful to work here"

Schwarzeneger; (flirting with the girl)"You're right"

Kid; "No you don't get it, there are no unattractive women here, all the women are beautiful, we have to be in a movie"

Schwarzeneger; "No kid, this is LA"

Weren't Hooters/Spearmint Rhino/Playboy/Penthouse/Madam Alex/Hedi Fleiss hiring or couldn't she find herself a sugardaddy? (ok I'm entirely non-serious but it is SUCH a Hollywood cliché, like casting a blatant supermodel as a scientist by just giving her glasses and a lab coat) Or is Buffy just trying to lie low? Cordy refers to Xanders exes who are almost all demons, Preying Mantis, Mummy Girl, Dru in BBB. Xander nails his third vamp with some help from Cordy. Joyce is a sad figure in her summer alone without Buffy but at least in everyone's revised memories she has Dawn to keep her company (to judge from the comics and Dawn's chopstick story she always knew Buffy's secret). I'm always intrigued by the times the Scoobies got by without Buffy, I would love to see more on it in the comics.

One thing that does occur to me is that the weapon used by Buffy during the slave revolt (the wonderfully named hung-munga) actually resembles a hammer and sickle at some angles. I'm sure it's just coincidence but if this were the 50s I'm sure Joss would be hauled before the un-American activities board.

8/10 I think although that may be a little generous

Anne is about Buffy getting lost, but her calling finding her.

It's a decent episode, though not really on par with the series thus far, more sombre recovery. The plot of the demons using the homeless as slaves isn't good. It's strengths lie in the gang taking over slayer patrol in Buffy's absence, Giles following leads to find her and the hilarity of Xander and Cordy. Sarah's so beautiful on the beach, though grieving, it's impossible to buy her being alone and depressed, no matter how wonderful of an actress she is, it's simply a matter of choice.

Buffy has ran away to L.A. to start her life over under her middle name Anne taking a low key job as a waitress and living in a dumpy apartment. Her mother worried, her friends picking up the slack on her slaying duties and Giles searching the country for her. What makes it so depressing is how sad Buffy feels being away from her loved ones, having to live in poverty dreaming of the man she loved and killed to save the world. It would seems like heck to live in such horrid conditions with no one to turn to or trust and living everyday in a numb state. Joyce being the concerned mother not able to function worrying about her daughter, not wanting to leave the house in case she returns and regrets the fight they had. Giles showing concern for a girl who he saw accomplish amazing themes, fought side by side together and loved her like the daughter he never had searching every street corner for his little girl he practically raised.

Also the ep serves to showcase the horrid conditions the homeless go through with no place to stay or food to eat most being kids leaving horrible homes. It can be hard to watch the harsh realities locked away from sight or most don't want to pay attention to. Ken, demon, even uses it to his advantage to give them hope only to squash it with trapping them in a slave labor camp. Even in the darkest of places Buffy keeps her wits about her fighting her way out of purgatory as a champion and feeling empowered by her gifts leaving a lasting impression on those she helps. She gives hope, never give up the fight and never be scared to stand up for what you believe in.