Content deleted Content added
→Production and writing: added interview |
m Moving Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 4) episodes to Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 4 episodes per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{good article}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox television episode
| image = Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Who Are You.jpg
Line 22:
*[[Eliza Dushku]] as [[Buffy Summers]]/[[Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Faith]]
| episode_list = List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
| season_article = Buffy the Vampire Slayer
| prev = [[This Year's Girl (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|This Year's Girl]]
| next = [[Superstar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Superstar]]
}}
"'''Who Are You?'''" is the sixteenth episode of the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In the series, [[Buffy Summers]] ([[Sarah Michelle Gellar]]) is a [[Slayer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Slayer]], a teenage girl endowed with superhuman powers to fight evil forces. "Who Are You?" is the second half of a two-part story arc featuring the return of the rogue Slayer [[Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Faith]] ([[Eliza Dushku]]) and is a turning point in the character's redemptive arc. The [[This Year's Girl (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|previous episode]] saw Faith use a magical device to [[body swap|swap bodies]] with Buffy, and Whedon wanted to use this premise to explore Faith's psyche and give her a moral epiphany. In Buffy's body, Faith experiences love and acceptance from others and realizes how unhappy her own life is. Initially dismissive of Buffy's morality, Faith also comes to appreciate a Slayer's duty to protect others. Whedon used the phrase "Because it's wrong", said by Faith mockingly at first but with full conviction by the end, to convey her psychological transformation.<ref name=overview/> The body swap premise meant that Gellar played Faith and Dushku played Buffy for much of the episode.
Line 36:
''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' is an American [[Supernatural fiction|supernatural drama]] television series that ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003.<ref name=little>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/sarah-michelle-gellar-buffy-return-revival-wolf-pack-canceled/|title=Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy Return Has More Hope Now After The Updates Surrounding These 2 Shows|first=Sarah|last=Little|date=January 31, 2024|work=[[Screen Rant]]|access-date=February 17, 2024|archive-date=February 17, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217070637/https://screenrant.com/sarah-michelle-gellar-buffy-return-revival-wolf-pack-canceled/}}</ref> In the series, [[Buffy Summers]] ([[Sarah Michelle Gellar]]) is a [[Slayer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Slayer]], a teenage girl endowed with superhuman powers to fight vampires, demons and other evil forces. With her mother [[Joyce Summers|Joyce]] ([[Kristine Sutherland]]), she moves to the fictional town of [[Sunnydale]] where she befriends [[Willow Rosenberg]] ([[Alyson Hannigan]]) and [[Xander Harris]] ([[Nicholas Brendon]]), both of whom help her in the fight against evil. They are guided by Buffy's [[Watcher (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Watcher]], [[Rupert Giles]] ([[Anthony Stewart Head]]). The group collectively refer to themselves as the Scooby Gang.{{sfn|Holder|Mariotte|Hart|2000|p=2}}
In [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
==Plot==
Line 64:
While Faith has long envied Buffy's more privileged life, she has always held Buffy's moral obligations in contempt,<ref name=stevenson/> believing instead that she is better off being evil than a "joyless", "stuck-up tight ass" like Buffy.<ref name=forster/> Philosophy professor Karl Schudt says Faith's cynical [[Nietzschean]] view of morality is revealed in the scene where she, in Buffy's body, mocks Buffy in front of a mirror by pulling faces and repeating meaningless value statements like "Because it's wrong".<ref name=schudt/> While pretending to be Buffy over the course of the episode, Faith gets to experience the acceptance and admiration others have for Buffy, which Buffy herself earned through years of altruism. Academic researcher Greg Forster calls Faith's encounter with Riley the breaking point that shatters her cynical world view; having probably never experienced tenderness from a sexual partner, Faith cannot deny Riley's genuine love for Buffy. Thus, he says, Faith is forced to confront the ugly truth: being morally good has led Buffy to a happier life, while being evil has left her miserable.<ref name=forster/>
Philosophy professor Dean Kowalski and Forster both draw parallels to the [[thought experiment]] put forth in book two of [[Plato]]'s ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'', which asks if it is more desirable to live as a moral person who is mistaken for an immoral one (as with Buffy-as-Faith) or an immoral person who is mistaken for a moral one (Faith-as-Buffy).<ref name=forster/><ref name=kowalski/> Both separately conclude the episode supports Plato's position that the moral person is always happier than the immoral one, as reflected by Faith's inner turmoil even as she gets to live Buffy's life.<ref name=forster/><ref name=kowalski>{{cite book|title=Joss Whedon as Philosopher|chapter=On Being Horrible (and an Angel)|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|year=2017|first=Dean A.|last=Kowalski|isbn=978-0-7391-9666-3|pages=36{{ndash}}38}}</ref>
The first sign of Faith's redemption occurs when she decides to save the hostages at the expense of her own escape. In his book ''[[Televised Morality]]'', Gregory Stevenson says this is the moment that Faith acknowledges the emptiness of her life and accepts the moral responsibility of being a Slayer.<ref name=stevenson/> Schudt argues that Faith has come to realize a "basic moral truth" that it is the moral duty of the strong, such as Slayers, to protect the weak, and ignoring this duty is what made her an outcast to society.<ref name=schudt>{{cite book|title=[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale]]|editor-last1=South|editor-first1=James B.|publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company|Open Court]]|year=2003|isbn=0-8126-9531-3|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/buffyvampireslay00sout/page/30/mode/2up|via=[[Internet Archive]]|chapter-url-access=registration|pages=30{{ndash}}32|author-first=Karl|author-last=Schudt|chapter=Also Sprach Faith: The Problem of the Happy Rogue Vampire Slayer}}</ref> In the end, Faith's self-hatred is made clear when she, in Buffy's body, batters her own face, inhabited by Buffy, yelling, "You're nothing! You're disgusting!".<ref name=stevenson/><ref name=forster>{{cite book|title=[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale]]|editor-last1=South|editor-first1=James B.|publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company|Open Court]]|year=2003|isbn=0-8126-9531-3|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/buffyvampireslay00sout/page/14/mode/2up|via=[[Internet Archive]]|chapter-url-access=registration|pages=15{{ndash}}18|author-first=Greg|author-last=Forster|chapter=Faith And Plato: You're Nothing! Disgusting, Murderous Bitch!}}</ref><ref name=schudt/> For Forster, Faith's self-hatred serves as her "moral awakening" because "a key feature of morally good personalities [is] that they are ashamed and angry with themselves when they do wrong".<ref name=forster/>
===Identity===
Philosophy professor Amy Kind argues that the body swap supports [[Derek Parfit]]'s [[
Ruddell also analyzed the mirror scene from the perspective of the [[Lacanianism|Lacanian]] [[mirror stage]] and how it leads to self-alienation. Namely, Faith sees Buffy's reflection in the mirror as the ideal image that she aspires to be, and her inability to be Buffy causes her to lash out. The body swap thus creates a dissonance between Faith's mind and Buffy's body, which is emphasized in the mirror scene through the use of [[jump cut]]s and later alluded to by Tara's description of "Buffy{{"'}}s aura as "fragmented".<ref name=ruddell>{{cite book|first=Caroline|last=Ruddell |title=The Besieged Ego: Doppelgangers and Split Identity Onscreen|year=2013|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|isbn= 978-0-7486-9203-3 |chapter=The Monster Within|pages=71{{ndash}}74}}</ref> In her chapter on Faith in ''Sexual Rhetoric in the Works of Joss Whedon'', Pnina Moldovano rejects the idea that the body swap is a manifestation of Faith's desire to be Buffy. Rather, she argues, Faith's identity as Buffy is a performative mockery of Buffy and her stereotypical white, middle-class life. Faith-as-Buffy's actions can then be explained as her attempts to ridicule and liberate Buffy's "good" Slayer identity; from her mirror antics and leather outfit, to her overt sexuality with Spike and Riley.<ref name=mol>{{cite book|title=Sexual Rhetoric in the Works of Joss Whedon: New Essays|editor-first=Erin B.|editor-last=Waggoner|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|first=Pnina |last=Moldovano|year=2010|chapter=Virtually a Femme Fatale: The Case of ''Buffy''{{'s}} Faith|pages=208{{ndash}}210|isbn=978-0-7864-5691-8}}</ref>
In their book discussing [[existentialism]] in Whedon's works, Michael J. Richardson and J. Douglas Rabb contend that the body-swap scenario allowed Whedon to explore [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]'s notion of "[[
==Reception==
Line 80:
In Jack Francis's ranking of all 144 ''Buffy'' episodes for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', "Who Are You?" placed 13th with Francis calling it "a beautiful and devastating arc for one of the show's most complex characters".<ref name=rs>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-ranking-every-episode-worst-to-best-sarah-michelle-gellar-joss-whedon-1234735428/season-4-episode-16-who-are-you-1234735866/|title='Buffy the Vampire Slayer': Every Episode Ranked From Worst to Best|first=Jack|last=Francis|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=May 20, 2023|access-date=January 30, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130121658/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-ranking-every-episode-worst-to-best-sarah-michelle-gellar-joss-whedon-1234735428/season-4-episode-16-who-are-you-1234735866/}}</ref> ''[[The Mary Sue]]''{{'s}} Lauren Coates said this "beautifully and brutally written" look into Faith's insecurities and fears would not have been possible without the body swap premise.<ref name=marysue>{{cite web|url=https://www.themarysue.com/on-this-day-in-buffy-history-who-are-you/|title=On This Day in TV History: An Iconic 'Buffy the Vampire' Body Swap We Never Recovered From|first=Lauren|last=Coates|date=March 1, 2023|work=[[The Mary Sue]]|access-date=January 30, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130103649/https://www.themarysue.com/on-this-day-in-buffy-history-who-are-you/}}</ref> In his review for ''[[The A.V. Club]]'', Noel Murray emphasized Whedon's ability to turn the comedic scene in which Faith mocks Buffy in front of a mirror, into a touching character moment by the episode's end.<ref name=avclub>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-the-i-in-team-etc-angel-1798206850|title=Buffy The Vampire Slayer: "The I In Team," etc. / Angel: s1/e13-15|first=Noel|last=Murray|date=August 21, 2009|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|access-date=January 30, 2024|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240130064548/https://www.avclub.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-the-i-in-team-etc-angel-1798206850|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[GamesRadar+]]''{{'s}} Ian Sandwell and ''[[Den of Geek]]''{{'s}} Michael Mammano included "Who Are You?" in their lists of the 25 best ''Buffy'' episodes; both thought the episode went beyond the typical body-swapping hijinks to deliver some insightful character development for Faith.<ref name=dengeek/><ref name=radar>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/best-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-episodes/|title=The 25 best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes|work=[[GamesRadar+]]|first=Ian|last=Sandwell|date=March 10, 2018|access-date=February 3, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=February 3, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203084524/https://www.gamesradar.com/best-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-episodes/}}</ref> ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]''{{'s}} Mark Rabinowitz wrote that when watched together with "This Year's Girl", the two-parter is the "gold standard" for body-swapping storylines.<ref name=paste>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/every-episode-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-ranked|title=The Best Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episodes: Every Episode Ranked|work=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]|first= Mark|last=Rabinowitz|date=May 19, 2023|access-date=January 30, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130125004/https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/every-episode-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-ranked}}</ref>
Gellar and Dushku's performances as each other's characters have been repeatedly described as among the best acting of the series.<ref name=allrath>{{cite book|title=Narrative Strategies in Television Series|author-first=Gaby|author-last=Allrath|editor-first1=Gaby|editor-last1=Allrath|editor-first2=Marion|editor-last2=Gymnich|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|page=139|year=2005|isbn=978-1403996053|chapter=Life in Doppelgangland: Innovative Character Conception and Alternate Worlds in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel''}}</ref> Coates said it was their acting that truly elevated the episode, citing Dushku's "remarkable" embodiment of Buffy's physical and vocal inflections, as well as the comedic and dramatic range that made Gellar the "unquestionabl[e]" standout.<ref name=marysue/> Francis highlighted Gellar's ability to adapt her physical demeanor to match Faith's sexual nature, along with Dushku's ability to adopt Buffy's mannerisms.<ref name=rs/> ''Buffy'' scholar Nikki Stafford was impressed by the subtle characterizations the actors were able to evoke, citing Gellar's portrayal of Faith's repressed guilt and the way Dushku captures Buffy's earnest charm.<ref name=stafford>{{cite book|chapter=''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' Episode Guide: Season Four|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/bitemeunofficial0000staf/page/234/mode/2up|last=Stafford|first=Nikki|year=2007|title=Bite Me! The Chosen Edition: The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer|publisher=[[ECW Press]]|isbn=978-1-55022-807-6|via=[[Internet Archive]]|chapter-url-access=registration|page=235}}</ref> Writers at ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'' ranked "Who Are You?" as the 18th best ''Buffy'' episode, with [[Caroline Framke]] praising Gellar's ability to embody Dushku's body language without crossing the line into mimicry.<ref name=vox>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/10/14807808/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-every-episode-ranked-20th-anniversary|title=Every episode of Buffy, ranked, in honor of its 20th anniversary|first1=Constance|last1=Grady|author-link2=Emily St. James|first2=Emily|last2=St. James|author-link3=Caroline Framke|first3=Caroline|last3=Framke|first4=Tanya|last4=Pai|first5=Julie|last5=Bogen|work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|date=March 10, 2017|access-date=January 30, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130134826/https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/10/14807808/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-every-episode-ranked-20th-anniversary}}</ref> For Mammano, the acting was commendable for the most part, but there were some out-of-character moments that were very jarring.<ref name=dengeek>{{cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-25-best-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-episodes/|title=The 25 Best Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes|first=Michael|last=Mammano|date=September 2, 2019|work=[[Den of Geek]]|access-date=January 30, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130131755/https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-25-best-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-episodes/}}</ref>
Other publications also included "Who Are You?" in their retrospective lists of the best ''Buffy'' episodes, including ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'s}} Rebecca Nicholson (ranked 4th),<ref name=guardian/> ''[[TVLine]]'' (12th)<ref name=tvline>{{cite web|url=https://tvline.com/lists/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-best-episodes-ranked-photos/who-are-you/|title=Buffy's 20 Best Episodes, Ranked!|date=May 20, 2023|author=Team TVLine|work=[[TVLine]]|access-date=January 30, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130132826/https://tvline.com/lists/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-best-episodes-ranked-photos/who-are-you/}}</ref> and ''[[Screen Rant]]''{{'s}} Julia Tilford (top 20).<ref name=sr3>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/best-episodes-buffy-the-vampire-slayer/|title=20 Best Episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer|work=[[Screen Rant]]|first=Julia|last=Tilford|date=October 29, 2015|access-date=February 5, 2024|archive-date=February 5, 2024|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205050344/https://screenrant.com/best-episodes-buffy-the-vampire-slayer/}}</ref> Besides the acting, Tilford took note of the standout dialogue and important character interactions.<ref name=sr3/> Nicholson and [[David Bianculli]]'s only quibble was wishing the storyline had gone on for more episodes.<ref name=guardian>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/01/demons-death-and-dynamite-dialogue-the-20-best-episodes-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer|title=Demons, death and dynamite dialogue: the 20 best episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer|work=[[The Guardian]]|first=Rebecca|last=Nicholson|date=June 1, 2020|access-date=January 30, 2024|url-status=live|archive-date=January 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130120148/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/01/demons-death-and-dynamite-dialogue-the-20-best-episodes-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer}}</ref><ref name=nydn>{{cite web|last=Bianculli|first=David|author-link=David Bianculli|date=February 29, 2000|title=TV Tonight|work=[[New York Daily News]]|page=78|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/139927996/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=January 30, 2024|archive-date=January 31, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131012836/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/139927996/}}</ref> Some commentators found the Faith{{ndash}}Riley sex scene problematic in retrospect, citing Buffy and Riley's lack of informed consent.<ref name=vulture>{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/buffy-and-faith-theres-never-been-a-rivalry-like-theirs.html|title=Why There's Never Been a Female Rivalry Like Faith and Buffy's|work=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]|author-link=Angelica Jade Bastién|author-first=Angelica Jade|author-last=Bastién|date=March 10, 2017|access-date=February 4, 2024|archive-date=February 4, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204090205/https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/buffy-and-faith-theres-never-been-a-rivalry-like-theirs.html}}</ref><ref name=sr1>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/buffy-vampire-slayer-hated-pitied-riley/|title=Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 5 Times We Felt Bad for Riley (And 5 Times We Hated Him)|work=[[Screen Rant]]|first=Heather|last=Frankland|date=July 22, 2020|access-date=February 4, 2024|archive-date=February 4, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204085900/https://screenrant.com/buffy-vampire-slayer-hated-pitied-riley/}}</ref><ref name=sr2>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/harsh-realities-rewatching-buffy-the-vampire-slayer/|title=9 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Buffy The Vampire Slayer|first=Suzana|last=Mihurko|work=[[Screen Rant]]|date=April 19, 2023|access-date=February 4, 2024|archive-date=February 4, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204090939/https://screenrant.com/harsh-realities-rewatching-buffy-the-vampire-slayer/}}</ref> ''Screen Rant''{{'s}} Suzana Mihurko was irked that the show never acknowledges the sexual assault,<ref name=sr2/> while Coates thought it was still a powerful scene despite the assault making it difficult to sympathize with Faith.<ref name=marysue/> [[BBC Cult TV|BBC ''Cult TV'']]{{'s}} Kim took the episode as confirmation that Willow and Tara were in a same-sex relationship and liked how the show handled their romance in a nonchalant manner, neither baiting controversy nor being too "[[Politically correct|PC]]".<ref name=bbc>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/whoareyou/reviews.shtml|title=Who Are You?: Review|work=[[BBC Cult TV]]|author1=James|author2=Steve|author3=Kim|access-date=February 8, 2024|archive-date=February 8, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208120704/https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/whoareyou/reviews.shtml}}</ref>
Line 99:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Who Are You? (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)}}
[[Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer
[[Category:2000 American television episodes]]
[[Category:Buffyverse crossover episodes]]
| |||