User Reviews

Pretty much any time Ethan Rayne comes to town, things get fun. In this episode, Ethan returns with another scheme to disrupt life in Sunnydale and the results are pretty hilarious. "Band Candy" is a great episode. It explores ideas of growing up and taking responsibility, but still manages to be one of the funniest episodes of the season. It also adds another layer to the often complicated Joyce and Giles relationship, which will be referenced again in season three's "Earshot" and season five's "Forever." All in all, you shouldn't skip this episode.

The episode revolves around the Mayor's newest plan. Unlike other politicians, The Mayor keeps his campaign promises and he's cut some pretty unsavory deals to get where he is today. In an effort to fulfill his obligations, he has to keep the residents of Sunnydale distracted for awhile. Enter Ethan Rayne and his candy plan. Sunnydale High's marching band needs new uniforms and all the students are expected to sell chocolate bars in order to help finance them. But this isn't ordinary candy. It has a little bit of magic mixed into the recipe that makes everyone who eats it act like a teenager. In no time, the adults of Sunnydale are drag racing, partying at The Bronze and generally blowing off their responsibilities to have a good time.

At first Buffy and the Scoobies are happy with the changes. Joyce lets Buffy drive the car, teachers begin skipping school and everyone seems to be a pretty good mood. Things begin to deteriorate fairly quickly, though. Giles as a teenager is kind of... Spike-like. Rolling his eyes, smoking cigarettes and starting fights with everyone he meets. Joyce is totally enamored of him and the two of them are all over each other... Much to Buffy's dismay. In fact, all the adults are beginning to get annoying. Cordy, Oz, Willow and Xander work to undo the candy's spell, while Buffy, Giles, Joyce and Principal Snyder confront Ethan and try to stop the Mayor's plan.

This is a really funny episode. Giles and Joyce are just hilarious together. Their speech patterns, their clothes, and their personalities are all different as teenagers and they play off each other so well. Giles urging Buffy to punch Ethan is great. "You're my Slayer and I say punch his capped teeth down his throat." And Snyder is so, SO fun as he hangs out with the Scoobies and hits on "Foxy Ladies" at The Bronze. Willow and Xander's secret "affair" continues and for some reason I really like that their shoes match as they play footsie under the table. It's just a cute little touch.

"Band Candy" is all responsibility and the theme comes up over and over throughout the episode. Giles lecturing Buffy about the SATs, Joyce refusing to let Buffy drive, The Mayor insisting that he has to keep his word to the big snake demon in the sewer, the children acting MORE responsible as the adults get LESS so, etc... "Band Candy" utilizes the monster-of-the-week format to give us a metaphor for growing up and taking responsibility for our lives. Buffy's becoming an adult. Even when it's not always such a positive experience, like having to pay for the damage to her mother's "Geek Machine," she has to start taking charge of her destiny.

On the downside, I wish Angel had been in this episode more. Granted he gets his own "17 Again" episode over on "Angel." (Season four's "Spin the Bottle.") But, still, I would have liked to see him reacting to the teenagers invasion in "Band Candy."

My favorite part of the episode: Principal Snyder tagging along with Buffy and the others. "Summers! You drive like a spaz!"

Band Candy

The Good; The more Joyce in an episode the better it is. She and Ripper and all the adults are just hilarious. Also lovely to see Ethan Rayne (I always figured that if Giles was to die he would reform and become Buffy's new Watcher). Love to have seen Buffy's dream but that would be probably beyond the SFX department. Altogether fabulous.

The Bad; Lurconis looks a bit lame but certainly better than the preying mantis. It rather spoils the surprise of Ethan Rayne being the villain when Robin Sach's name is in the opening titles

Best line; Buffy (as Joyce produces the cuffs) "Never tell me!"

Shot; Giles threatened with a gun and uses it on Ethan but no shots fired

Tied up; Ethan and possibly Joyce or Giles in handcuffs

Knocked out; for once Giles stays conscious but knocks out a policeman

Kinky dinky; see Tied Up. Personally I always thought that Joyce and Giles had had sex on the hood of the police car but maybe that's just me?

Calling Captain Subtext; "Wanna swap?" What a shame we never got to see an Oz/Cordy relationship (not even in any fanfic I've ever read) I mean Cordy has dated plenty of guys in bands before? Also when Xander says he wants to marry Miss Barton (always had a thing for older women) Cordy replies "Get in line!"

Guantanamo Bay; Buffy beats up Ethan for information

Questions and observations; Joyce and Giles drink that awful Khalua stuff (or however you spell it) Could Joyce be the slutty pumpkin? (a prize to whoever can recognise THAT reference!). Whoa Summers you drive like a spaz! Nice to see that Buffy isn't necessarily good at everything, always annoyed me about Xena that she was brilliant at everything even if she was a demi-god (except cooking and music but Joxer and Gabby could each do both for her). Ethan obviously has a few reservations about what he's doing to judge by his expression when Trick kills the worker. Joyce like's 70s singer Juice Newton who's big hit was interestingly "Angel of the morning". Whenever I see a green 4x4 nowadays I always think 'the Geek machine' or 'The Joyce mobile'. You do feel pity for teenage Snyder, he apparently did Tae Kwan Do which is SMG's martial art. What happens to Ethan? They tie him up but then what? You can kill vamps with a pencil? Their skin must be a lot softer than human.

Buffy refers to the 'Real World House' another modern reference she wouldn't know if she was really a mad girl in an asylum. According to the Sunnydale High Yearbook the Band Candy raised $600,000 for the band. Lovely to see Joyce and Giles take centre stage for once

What does Dawn do as Joyce revisits her youth? Xander and Willow, awwww. Buffy drives without insurance or a licence. But she spends her life walking around with offensive weapons so breaking the law should come naturally to her. No Faith this week, she's not even mentioned. Love the Mayor/Trick scene at the end, once again Harry Groener is subtly threatening (not what he says, how he says it) whilst Todd Freeman gives a great performance, trying to be cool and offhand but obviously scared witless. Love the reference to Death of a Salesman.

Need you ask? 10/10

(May be a little spoiler-y) I am a HUGE Buffy fan...I'm currently re-watching all of the seasons, and just finished watching this specific episode of Season 3...this was by far the funniest episode. Giles reverting to his badass Ripper persona (eyeliner!)...Buffy's mom was a LOT less annoying than usual in this episode and actually pretty funny (especially the handcuff part...) this is probably the ONLY episode that I actually liked Principal Snyder because he's not a douchetard in it (a little early on in the episode but mostly very un-asshatish). The whole baby stealing and subsequent plot was disturbing to the extreme... Overall, LOVED it. So funny.

I laugh out loud, at this one! Joyce & Giles, together is hilarious. All the grown ups, at the Bronze cracked me up, too. I remember being surprised when I'd see my teachers, outside of school. Anthony Head's acting was superb, the physicality really made him look younger. I just LOVE this one!

Band Candy is interesting as Ethan Rayne creates a potion to make the adults act like teenagers. Meanwhile the mayor plans for the ascension by using the distraction to gather sacrifices for a God. Its a fun episode as the adults resort to their teenage personalities revealing who they use to be before they matured. Joyce was a wild child who listened to records, snuck out to shop and hung out with bad boys like her daughter. Giles on the other hand becomes ripper who smokes, steals and even beats up a cop. Yet Buffy shows herself to be mature among the madness trying to talk sense into them and investigating what cause the radical change. The mayor's plans are actually kind of revealed here as he takes babies to a giant snake to feast on similar to graduation day with Buffy to the rescue.

It was great to remember that our parents were once kids to with lives and faced pressures instead of an alien creature to avoid and don t understand us.

I love this episode so much. It's definitely one of my all time favorite episodes, and probably in the Top 3 for Season 3.

In this episode, Buffy and her classmates have to sell some band candy to raise money for the band. I don't see why they have to. They're not in the band. Why can't the band members sell it. Oh, I know. Because Principle Snyder is a douche how assigns tasks to people who shouldn't be doing, nor deserve, to do those tasks. Stop it Snyder! You're mean! Anyway, they have to sell the band candy. And it turns out that everyone who eats it, sort of reverts back into a teenager. You should see Giles and Joyce. Giles is a kind of thug, and Joyce is just a cliché. This was the plan of the Mayor. He needs to sacrifice babies to a demon, so that the demon will be on his side, or something. So making people into teenagers who don't care, is a good opportunity to steal babies from the hospital.

Overall, I give this episode a 10 out of 10.

Sunnydale is in chaos thanks to cursed chocolate that makes the adults behave like reckless, irresponsible 16 year olds. This is a very funny episode of Buffy, and that's largely thanks to Giles and Joyce! Honestly, they should act like sixteen year olds more often...from running around town causing havoc to lying around smoking, listening to records, the pair hit it off like crazy and are really the driving force of the episode. Of course, the implication that they slept together is as cringey for the audience as it is for Buffy, but that just makes it even funnier! It's nice that Joyce gets a piece of the action again, too (in more ways than one ;) )

Principal Snyder is also very funny, tagging along with the Scoobies in an effort to feel included - it's great to see a side of him that doesn't make me want to punch him in the face, even if he is a little on the annoying side.

Giles' old "pal" Ethan returns, which is always a good thing in my book, and my favourite part of the episode is probably when Giles is telling Buffy to punch his former friend, and then jumping up shouting "yes!" when Buffy socks Ethan in the jaw. Mr Trick is also blossoming into a fantastic villain, with the Mayor proving to be a totally different but equally exciting power at work.

Angel's appearance is brief (too brief for my liking ) but what he does say sure packs an emotional impact for poor Buffy...but is he just trying to keep her at a safe distance?

Meanwhile the Oz-Willow-Xander-Cordelia problem is developing slowly but surely, with some wonderfully timed awkwardness...what ARE we going to do with them?!

My only criticism of the episode would be the reveal of the big villainous creature...without giving too much away about it all, let's just say that the CGI isn't up to scratch at all, even in comparison to previous episodes. It could be that it's not aged very well, but regardless the creature feels a bit tacked-on, and not like much of a real threat. The episode also suffers a little because Faith isn't in it, but then I suppose there's only so much they can fit into forty minutes!

Over all this is a good episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - not a colossal game-changer but it certainly does well to set up exactly what Mr Trick and the Mayor may have planned for Buffy and Sunnydale in the not-too-distant-future...

When Snyder recruits the gang to sell band candy, they are unaware that the candy makes all adults act like they're in their adolescence. Snyder, Joyce, Giles and many others fall victim to this. Who is behind this? The Mayor, Mr. Trick and Ethan Rayne.

Why It's So Good - Very funny episode by Buffy debutant Jane Espenson, her intent on digging into the lesser known characters (Joyce, Snyder) is good, giving them much more depth as characters. The return of the wickedly humorous Ethan Rayne is very effective and Giles as a young hooligan is brilliant, congrats on Anthony Stewart Head's acting. Another gem is Buffy finding Giles and Joyce kissing.

Watch Out For - Tae-kwon-doe at the Y.

Quote - "And then I was being chased by an improperly filled-in answer bubble screaming, 'none of the above!'" - Buffy's dream.

As I was watching this episode, I found myself simultaneously bored and delighted. It was a rather odd sensation.

I found it lack-lustre in that the plot is a bit overdone. Oh, the teenage main character is complaining that she's not being treated enough like an adult? Let's make all the adults act like teenagers so the actual teenagers have to take on adult responsibilities and realize the difficulties of things. Also, nothing really happens in this episode that feels eventful. More is revealed about The Mayor's entanglements and Ethan returns, but otherwise nothing you'd die without. Angel appears briefly, but his story isn't progressed (though he is shirtless for his entire appearance, which I suppose is good for some people). The big moment of stopping the monster of the week is somewhat ho-hum.

However, there are so many brilliant moments, it's absolutely worth watching. Young Giles, being "cool" and his casual British accent = wonderful. Him and Joyce, while a bit disturbing, is also wonderfully done. Willow and Xander's game of footsie is absolutely adorable. I think my favourite is when Joyce asks, "So why do they call you Ripper?" And Giles responds perfectly, "Wouldn't you like to know." But really, there are several one-off lines that are fantastic.

In conclusion, it's worth watching, but it's not the high point of the season or anything.

Band Candy is about cursed candy being distributed throughout Sunnydale, turning adults into teenagers.

A rather unimportant filler episode, mildly fun with some quality moments. Xander and Willow in the study hall, rambling while exhibiting footsie foreplay the highlight. Giles as his younger rebellion self among the others. Potential's missed, while instead going for silliness with Snyder and bringing back the worthless Ethan Rayne.

I love this episode! For Joyce! For Giles and the return of Ethan!

Buuuuut I wish they had just killed the Willow and Xander romance here. It just feels forced for conflict.

Anyways, nothing will change it's course now.

The rest of the episode is AMAZING! Giles and Joyce! Be still my heart. And Snyder in the Bronze! So much fun.

Poor Willow, always trying to be the best friend and good conscious as normal but she falls done betraying Oz here and again it's heartbreaking seeing where it's going.

Anyways, highlights, Joyce and Giles listening to vinyl, perfect, which unfortunately is brought back in season 5 The Body :(