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|alt2=Eliza Dushku smiling at a convention in a maroon top
|footer=[[Sarah Michelle Gellar]] (left) and [[Eliza Dushku]] (both pictured in 2004) played each other's characters in the episode.}}
"Who Are You?" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of ''Buffy'', and the seventy-second episode of the series overall.<ref name=pateman/> It was written and directed by series creator [[Joss Whedon]]. The script went through several revisions before it was finalized on February 2, 2000.{{sfn|Holder|Mariotte|Hart|2000|pp=235{{ndash}}237}} Following "This Year's Girl", "Who Are You?" is the second half of a two-part story arc featuring the return of the rogue Slayer Faith.<ref name=avclub/> The [[body swap]] premise meant that Gellar played Faith and Dushku played Buffy for much of the episode,<ref name=marysue/> with Dushku being credited onscreen as "Buffy".{{sfn|Topping|2004|page=200}} To prepare for the swapped roles, producer [[Doug Petrie]] said the script gave both actresses a lot of direction, but Gellar and Dushku also studied each other's mannerisms and brought their own interpretations to the screen.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/interviews/doug/who.shtml|title=Doug Petrie: Buffy producer's inside guide {{ndash}} Who Are You?|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=February 1, 2024|archive-date=February 1, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201060601/https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/interviews/doug/who.shtml}}</ref> The actresses did not get to watch each other's performances when they were filming, and Dushku said both she and Gellar had to place a lot of trust in Whedon, the show and the writing.<ref name=riess>{{cite book|title=[[What Would Buffy Do?: The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide]]|chapter=Keeping the Faith: An Interview with Eliza Dushku|date=2004|first=Jana|last=Riess|author-link=Jana Riess|publisher=[[Jossey-Bass]]|page=163|isbn=0-7879-6922-2}}</ref>
For this episode, Whedon wanted to explore what would happen if an embittered person like Faith was given the opportunity to ruin her nemesis Buffy's life but instead found her own self-concept shattered through the experience of being Buffy. Whedon explained that the phrase "Because it's wrong" was specifically written to convey the character's psychological transformation.<ref name=overview>{{cite video|author1=[[Joss Whedon|Whedon, Joss]] (writer and director)|author2=[[Marti Noxon|Noxon, Marti]] (producer) |date=2003|title=Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season; "Season 4 Overview" Featurette|medium=DVD|publisher=[[20th Century Fox]]}}</ref> Faith initially uses this mantra to mock Buffy's morals, first when practicing being Buffy in front of a mirror and then again when taunting [[Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|Spike]], but by the end she is saying it with complete sincerity as she confronts the vampires in the church.<ref name=stevenson/><ref name=kaveney>{{cite book|author-link=Roz Kaveney|author-last=Kaveney|author-first=Roz|year=2004|edition=2nd|title=[[Reading the Vampire Slayer|Reading the Vampire Slayer: The New, Updated, Unofficial Guide to Buffy and Angel]]|publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]]|isbn=1-86064-984-X|page=25|chapter=She saved the world. A lot: An introduction to the themes and structures of ''Buffy'' and ''Angel''}}</ref> For producer [[Marti Noxon]], the episode was also about the importance of love, and exploring what could have been had Faith been raised in a loving environment like Buffy.<ref name=overview/>
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