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Buffy 4x16 (Extended) - Who Are You? (Patreon)

Published:
2021-11-12 18:01:02
Edited:
2024-07-11 00:44:35
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

I am Domi...

Anyways this episode was freaking insane, I LOVE YOU FAITH, I LOVE YOU TARA/WILLOW, I LOVE YOU BUFFANDRA. Such an incredible episode I love it so much!!!!!!

Files

Buffy The Vampire Slayer 4x16 - Absolute Freaking Insanity Just Complete Madness (AKA Who Are You) .mp4

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Comments

Steve Quast

A begging for Faith to come back campaign is always valid. "Faith has been away for two minutes! Bring her back!" "You just got two episodes with her." "And I want more. Bring her back!"

Steve Quast

Technically a Slayer is a killer. Not an immoral killer like you say, but slaying and killing are synonyms.

Ron Fehr

I badly wanted to tell you that it was Tara who first figured out the body switch. Your reaction upon figuring that out just before she told Willow was priceless. These are the reactions that I love to see. Also, I don't think that I ever saw you smile so much in one episode.

Steve Quast

I agree that Adam's character regressed in this episode. Before he was trying to figure out who and what he is and now he just wants to kill things. How did he come to this conclusion that this is his purpose? Who knows? It is interesting that for the big bads we've seen so far: The Master, the undead triumvirate (Spike, Dru, Angelus), even the Mayor, and now Adam, they tend to use vampires as their main servants and canon fodder.

Steve Quast

Regarding the Watchers' Council, remember when Wesley first appeared in Angel riding on a motorcycle? Maybe the council really is trying a new look. lol

Raven Dark

I love this episode. The episode was written and directed by Joss Whedon. I feel like the reason Tara knew was that Tara is unusually empathetic as a character, which is how she sensed that something was wrong with Buffy's energy, and thus, that it wasn't really her. I think she sensed it magically. I love the scene with Willow and Tara doing the cadra spell, and especially your reaction to the huge two-by-four of gay subtext. I also thought it was brilliant that when Tara is finally introduced to Buffy, it isn't her, and that Faith is the first one to see that Willow and Tara are becoming something romantic. Poor Tara. Here's why I think Faith reacted the way she did to Riley saying I love you. Faith is not accustomed to love or genuine affection, and what little we've gotten from her past, I get the feeling that any appearance of love she has received is from people who manipulated or used her. We saw a bit of that in the episode with Angel in season three when she said this of men to Angel: "First, it's I won't try anything, and then it's let me stay the night." For her, the words I love you are therefore triggery. I also always wondered if her reaction is also because someone raped her. Her reaction, pulling away from him, shaking, is very PTSD and classic sexual assault reactions. It's so sad, not only because it means that in addition to everything else, Faith stole the first I love you from Buffy, but also because I hate thinking that Faith might be the way she is, at least in part because she was assaulted. I don't think the council guys were watchers or official council members. Giles said they take care of other specialized things like smuggling and murder. They feel like hired guns, and a little more morally grey. I liked the way they looked, because it gave them the feel of being bad boys who are willing to do things official watchers are not, or things they are not allowed to do according to Council law. Great reaction, Domi.

HuntingSwan

Faith's horror at Riley tenderly saying 'I love you' to Buffy is because she never experienced love or affection from anyone, only abuse. But as we know, abuse happens behind closed doors and a fake facade is presented to the outside world. Faith believed that Buffy's life contained all the same twisted and damaging elements as her own and that she would see them when she was 1 on 1 with Riley. She tries to get him to show that by saying 'do you wanna hurt me?'. Instead it was pure and true intimacy. That's why she says 'nothing...nothing' when Riley asks 'What's wrong?' - as in there's none of the toxic stuff she assumed would be there. Nothing is wrong, Buffy has real love in her life. Faith never thought this could ever be a possibility and it freaks her out.

Steve Quinn

Been looking forward to you getting to these two episodes for ages. From your very entertaining commentary I think you may have missed one aspect of Faith's reaction to the body swap (no spoilers, it's all IMO in this episode). I think Faith went into it with the feeling of paying Buffy back and stealing her life. You can see how snarky she is about Buffy's "goody goody" image and in her sarcastic practising of saying "because it's wrong". Several things happen to shake her badly: the girl outside the Bronze who is so grateful to her is clearly something she is not used to; her liaison with Riley and his telling her (or rather Buffy) that he loves her also throws her badly. I think she realises how much Buffy has an d how much she (Faith) lacks in her life. And Forrest calling her a killer reminds her what she was - Buffy has never killed a human, Faith has. So in the church she tries very hard to live up to a very un-Faith like selflessness...and uses the phrase "because it's wrong" completely for real, no mockery. Of course when confronted with Buffy it all comes to a head...and her final cries of "You're disgusting....murdering bitch...." as in a way she beats herself, show just how much she actually hates herself and how broken she is. Just my take.

Dan

Both actresses did such a great job of portraying each others' characters in this one. I think you really do see Eliza Dushku as Buffy when she's talking to Giles. Seems like Domi might have some Freudian Tuffy shipping going on... A heads up for the next Buffy episode 4x17 Superstar: you *should* pay attention to the opening credits sequence.

Steve Quast

Over all, amazing, stellar episode. This and the last one are two of the best of the season. The way Sarah and Eliza portrayed each other was outstanding. They both did a wonderful job of mimicking the other character's speech and mannerisms. Yes, this was definitely SMG's time to shine. Eliza didn't get as much screen time, but the way she acted as Buffy in the scene with Giles is spot on. Just...wonderful. Loved getting to see all of the interactions this episode. Tara interacting with Buffy, Tara interacting with Faith, Faith interacting with Spike (hot damn, lol). Faith interacting with Riley....well....yeah, definitely uncomfortable, but again, well-portrayed. And of course the moments with Tara and Willow are precious. Even Adam added a little something. Yes, his character was made less interesting and more basic, but his influence is what caused Faith and Buffy to be drawn to the same place at the end. Otherwise we'd have to spend the rest of the season watching Buffy track down Faith and flying off to who knows where? (Could have been interesting though, haha). Anyway, I love this episode and I loved your reaction to it. No spoilers about the next episode, but there's no way you're going to predict what happens, so just wait and see lol.

Dan

> but there's no way you're going to predict what happens Don't tell her that. It's always fun to see people's horribly wrong predictions :)

Justafox305

I remember this guy said the exact scene at 29:25 started his sexual awakening and now whenever i see that clip, i remember that. Also loved giles trying to cause a distraction so buffy can go in lol Also there was a movie released last halloween called "freaky" with Vince Vaughn that had this similar plot about someone who switched bodies with a killer.

Jon Dub

Probably because they are in abundance on the hell mouth and most are probably easily manipulated and controlled by Big bads

Jon Dub

I hadn't really considered that, but you may be right. It is implied that Faith was neglected as a child by a drunken mother, but it would make sense if she was sexually abused at one point, maybe by one of her moms boyfriends. It would explain her cynicism towards men, her distrust of affection and love and also her need to always feel superior and stronger than men. In her first episode when a vampire hits her and she pins him down and pounds him screaming "YOU CANT TOUCH ME, NOBODY CAN TOUCH ME!!", seems like extreme PTSD.

Steve Quast

Haha, yes true. Domi, don't listen to me. Predict away. We all want to see it.

Raven Dark

Oh, yeah, I forgot to say that, haha. The opening credit montage for that one is...special.

zerofk

Sarah Michelle Gellar is great in this, as always. But I really think Eliza Dushku takes the cake. When she's running from the watcher guys the way she says "Ooh, drive!" is 100% Buffy. I love how the "outsiders" are the ones who see through the scoobies better than their friends do. Faith is the one who immediately realises Willow is into girls, and Tara is the one who immediately realises Buffy is not Buffy. This episode is literally Faith walking a mile in Buffy's shoes and learning what it's like to be loved, learning that helping people is rewarding in its own right, learning that it's good to be good. It is heartbreaking when you think about it: Faith just needed to feel accepted, welcomed. That is what she found with the mayor. It may not be why she went to him but it is why she stayed. I am you know. What? Yours.

Pumpkin 3.14

i hope you watch the end of this episode again. I think you missed something.

Molly Willis

I always headcanon that Faith has had some abusive sexual relationships with men in my head. Personally, I believe she fell into a bad crowd due to her mother's neglect and was manipulated into sexual relationships that were abusive, but was told were normal, with adults and I don't think she's fully processed that experience by the time she appears on BtVS. I think it was too dark a topic for BtVS to fully delve into in S3-4 but as you say, a lot of her language around men and sex implies that she's had bad experiences. There's a very specific shot of her screaming/crying through the crack in the door as Kakistos is trying to get into her motel room in 'Faith, Hope and Trick' that, to me at least, feels as though it was trying to imply something.

Molly Willis

This is probably my favourite reaction to this episode yet of all the reactors I've watched. This two-parter is my favourite two-parter in BtVS and I **knew** you'd love it.

x_Rhi_x

I like that faith tries so hard to distance them though. Like the thought of being a killer is so awful to her. Slayer seems OK to her..its a job role. Its her duty. Killer has the more raw, negative connotations to her so as long as she's still "just" a slayer, she's ok. She's still not evil

Meredith

So the only thing that bothers me in this episode is that Faith kind of raped Riley and it gets pretty glossed over in the show.!

Darrell Palmer

Faith may have intended to rape Riley, but I think it backfired on her in a big way. Riley took charge of the sex and made it personal and intimate and she was not ready for that. She was looking for a fun romp and was badly shaken by where it went.

Meredith

I definitely see what your saying- I just feel like if the roles were reversed it would be a much bigger conversation.

Saga (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-06 19:00 Lovelovelove the reaction as usual! As I have already mentioned before it is so much fun watching a fellow queer person react to this. I don't know what your thoughts was on this but I just wanted to share some of mine. I've always seen the spell scene between Tara and Willow as kind of a sex scene, or at least the symbolism of something very intimate. I mean the sweet talk they have beforehand, its nothing like they've ever done before, how Willow assures Tara that she trust her (she is ready). How Willow closes the curtains, how they jump between the spell and Faith and Riley having sex. How they are all sweat and of course the moaning of Willow at the end (and the fade to white/light). And also right before the circle of light appears the camera moves in a way that makes their lips kind of meet, and then the light appears. Just so much beauty in one scene. (and some really sneeky work from them during times of more ignorance.) Just wanted to share, because I just find it so beautiful and full of love on a whole new level. Again thank you for yet another fun reaction. Looking forward to more.
2021-11-13 00:15

Henrik Holst

The only problem that I have with the Giles scene is that Eliza keeps on doing the "move the eyes from the extreme left to the extreme right" that she so often does as Faith.

Henrik Holst

The guys where not the Watchers Council, they worked for the Watchers Council. Naturally the council needs a black ops to do all the dirty work that they themselves cannot do (as the stuffy old librarians as they all are). IMHO they looked perfectly for the part that they played in the organization.

madfem

I love this take. And what's great about this scene, is that there are in fact multiple ways to interpret it. That's great writing.

madfem

*sigh* ... 💫women💫 ...

FernWithy

Well, it's still rape, since he hadn't consented to sex with someone who wasn't Buffy.

Domi E

Aw thank you!! I’m not gonna lie my face actually hurt after recording this episode and the previous one, I couldn’t smart smiling cause it was so damn great!! Haha

Domi E

Aw thank you so much Molly, I’m honored!! 🥺

Domi E

Okay actually that does make a lot more sense than it did in my head! Haha

Domi E

Omg YES!!! Totally. I have to say I hadn’t immediately noticed how much it actually is a sex scene but the second someone mentioned it for the first time it all made so much sense 🤯I’m truly mind blown!!! What a freaking scene!!!

Ron Fehr

I think Adam misunderstood Professor Walsh's intention for him. It's my belief that she had wanted to use him for military purposes. Basically a new kind of soldier.

UTU49

"Killer" is a fully general term. "Slayer" suggests that you are killing a specific, dangerous thing for a particular reason.

UTU49

I think of Buffy as an exterminator. Instead of ridding your house of ants or termites, she rids your neighborhood of beasties.

Steve Quast

"'Slayer' suggests that you are killing a specific, dangerous thing for a particular reason." In the Buffyverse, yes.

UTU49

"I am you know." "What." "Yours." Domi, I was so proud of you when you managed to stay conscious during that scene. Seriously though, I knew you were gonna love it so much that you would lose your mind. I've been looking forward to you getting here since you first talked about Tara.

Steve Quast

I think it would have been interesting if they had done more exploration on exactly why Maggie made Adam. It would have been great if her charater could have been left alive, but since the actress had to leave the show, they were rather rushed in having to propel Adam into becoming the big bad.

Domi E

I need you to know this made me laugh so hard 😂

Darrell Palmer

No, she did not rape Riley. He’s fine with what happened and he stayed in control of the situation. It was absolutely consensual.

Antonio

Can't believe I never previously noticed how the spinning camera during the spell scene made it look like Tara and Willow were kissing - just about the best they could do back in those days. The beauty of rewatches, I guess. Great reaction as always!

Loves Bitca

They've always drawn a difference between being a Slayer and being a killer. That when Faith first accidentally killed the mayor's aide she crossed that line. Slaying demons vs. taking a human life. And I feel that when Faith in Buffy's body told Forest that she was not a killer, was that Faith knew that she herself, Faith was a killer, but that she almost felt like becoming Buffy, she was able to not be Faith anymore. She could simply wash all her sins away because she isn't physically that person. So being called a killer, she said she wasn't a killer. Because she's Buffy now. Faith was the killer. I'm clean now. And that also fits in with when the vampire said she was the Slayer and she said "The one and only" because she still sees Buffy as the one and only real Slayer, and now she's Buffy.

Loves Bitca

You were aware of Tillow before Tara even appeared. For most people the "I am you know..... Yours" was when they realized 'Okay it is really a thing'.

Loves Bitca

It wasn't consensual to have sex with Faith though. He consented to sex with Buffy, and that wasn't Buffy. It's just like how it's now pointed out that in Revenge of the Nerds that would be considered rape as the girl thought the guy was her boyfriend she was having sex with, but it was someone else in the costume. If someone thinks they are having sex with one person, and it's not who they thought actually having sex with them, it would be rape.

Loves Bitca

Well they are part of the watcher's Council. Though not watchers. It's the black ops division of the Watcher's Council. They aren't freelancers or a third party that the council hires.

Loves Bitca

You didn't mention it, so not sure if you realized when Faith in Buffy's body was punching Buffy in Faith's body in the face, she was saying she disgusts her, she's nothing, murderous bitch. She was talking about Faith, aka herself. She was attacking herself. Buffy didn't stop her from running off, because Buffy was shocked with the realization that Faith hates herself more than Buffy or anyone else does.

Loves Bitca

Now, see I think that the moving the eyes back and forth is a very Buffy thing. I especially think of the scene in earshot where she says "Oh no, way better than that" and her eyes move back and forth during the sentence rather than her looking at Giles whom she's talking to. I do think maybe Eliza over exaggerated it just a bit though.

Ron Fehr

"You can't do that, it's wrong." As you realized, this quote was used several times during the episode. At the the beginning, Faith was saying it in a mocking way, the way she imagined Buffy would say it. By the end, she was sincere when she said it. And I think that her impressions of what Buffy was like had changed. She may have better understood the role of a Slayer. Maybe she was starting to wonder why she had been given this opportunity (being a Slayer).

Vicky N

And she also used Buffy’s body to do so.

JenM

My take is Faith raped both Riley and Buffy. Riley, because he thought it was Buffy so it wasn’t consensual, and Buffy because it was her body that Faith took control of and therefore Buffy couldn’t give her consent to use her body.

That’s Not Acting

I have no issue with anything you said about Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s performance is this episode. She was amazing, but I actually feel like this was more of a chance for Eliza Dushku to show a little bit of range and demonstrate that she is actually a skilled actor. To this point we got a lot from her that was nuanced, yes, even complex in a lot of ways, but also fairly consistently leaning in one particular direction. This was something else and I think she did an amazing job. As did you, do an amazing job. Love the reaction. Can’t wait for the next one.

Ron Fehr

By now, I would assume that you've watched the next episode already, and I don't think you could have ever guessed what it was about.

Vicky N

She also says it to Spike, mockingly and provocatively.

Thom Purdy

Yeah, it starts with Willow and Tara inside a glowing "O". This was definitely a sex scene, and the most erotic scene of the season.

Thom Purdy

With the shiniest lips in history!

Meredith

100% agree on that front. I freaked out when someone broke into my car- even though they didn’t steal anything. I felt violated and creeped that someone had touched my stuff. So I can’t imagine how violated Buffy must’ve felt!

KT

I thiiiink you might be the only reactor I've seen that has observed how Faith's gaydar is a sign of her own queerness. Of course it's all subtextual but to me this is like, the canon way to read the scene. And the fact that she relates Willow and Tara to her "being inside" of Buffy's skin is just... gah! Also, one of the people Faith was dancing sexily with when they first cut to the Bronze was a woman?? It's all evidence that you can ignore if you don't want to think about how queer Faith is but to gay people this is all very obvious gay shenanigans.

KT

I don't like that Faith's, lets just say, complicated feelings for Buffy are wrapped up in her choice to violate Buffy's body like she does, that's not sexy. But it's still a manifestation of that "do I want to be her or do I want to be with her" internal conflict a lot of sapphics especially experience at some point in their lives, usually when they're trying to figure out their identity. That's not all that's going on with Faith, not even close, but I believe it's a part of the equation. Faith's problematic preoccupation with fucking the men Buffy has fucked is also an element in that super complicated paradigm, imo.

Jordan Haddow

To start, I have to say this was probably one of your best reactions ever. They are all great, but this one was just that much better. Not only did we still have Faith along with the whole body switch thing, but so many crazy things happened. I mean, just your eye gesturing alone, like the little bob back and forth between the camera an your screen after Buffy(Faith) stabbed Willow repeatedly in her imagination was priceless. I haven't read other comments yet, so I may duplicate other's info, but oh well. This is finally an episode I had wanted after so long. Not only a look into Faiths mind and motives, but some positive progression of her character. We can see over many different scenes her being able to see through new eyes how life could be and how it changes her. She took Buffy's body to escape, but never realized how different things would be when she could live life without external judgment. Nobody shrank back in fear from her, nobody was jealous of her, even the scoobies didn't shy away from her or prejudge her. For the most part, I think she saw the good things. Joyce being a loving and hugging mom. Willow so worried for and protective of her. The lady in the bathroom so thankful for her saving her life. Although, I think she also had some shocks. We all know her past implied as being pretty rough. We know her mom was abusive and that she moved a lot and really had no friends. The scene of her reaction to Riley telling Buffy he loved her though could be taken a number of ways. The common way is that Faith realized just how bad of a thing she had done and I think that was a big part of it. There is another and really worse way fo looking at it though. I've always kind of felt some of her erratic nature and the way she treated men was because of abuse she may have endured as a child. In that scene, there are a couple quick edits where the camera chops to a slightly different angle. I think this kind of signifies a breakdown in her personal defenses or denial of what happened and she's forced to face some parts of her past. Just look at how she interacts with Riley after and listen to her voice. It's smaller and more timid. Kind of younger sounding, more vulnerable. An experience like that could be a major factor in her taking stock of herself and the world around her, a cause in a change in perspective. Which leads us to the end scene. In her final fight with Buffy, it almost seems like she isn'f fighting Buffy as much as herself. All she can see is herself and the things she's done and she disgusted by it and tries to beat herself out of existence. I don't think Buffy, when she got her body back, so much let Faith go as much as just sat there, too stunned by what happened to act. She witnessed Faith's hatred of herself to the point that she tried killing herself. At least, that's kind of how I viewed things. I know they don't stipulate any of that . Still, it's what I see. Also, yes, this is the episode where even the clueless really start to see that Willow and Tara more than friends. This network really restricted how intimate gay couples could be at the time, so I think fans have come to the conclusion that the magic spells could be interpreted as them being intimate. This one seems fairly obvious in that perspective, considering how orgasmic Willow was looking towards the end. This perspective also means that we can go back all the way to when they tried floating the rose and plucking it's petals in the Giles turns into a demon episode to see how long they've been intimate. I just have to say, personally, I think the scene where Tara turns her head and tells Willow that she's hers is probably one fo the best scenes in Buffy. It gets you right in the feels every time, no matter how many times you see it. They really couldn't have done a better job in casting Tara than Amber. She plays the perfect counterpart to Willow and is amazing at provoking an emotional response. Plus, finally, after years of Willow teasing us with little spells, her and Tara really come through with such an amazing and powerful bit of magic work. Both figuring out exactly what is going on and conjuring their own enchanted object to swap them back. Finally.

Veronika

Yaaay! We're here...you have no idea how much I needed your reaction to this episode! Your insight is impeccable and your excitement over Faith and Tillow makes me so happy! Ever since season 3, when you noticed the subtext for Fuffy and the little hints of Faith being queer, (I think) this episode straight up confirms it. And I just never realized until you've pointed it out, that Faith being the one who knew that Tara&Willow are more than just friends is also a sign of her queerness. We got so much just from this two-parter. The development of Faith's character and Tillow were top-notch. We also got hints that the Scoobies are not very close this season. The fact that Tara (who has never met Buffy before) was the one who figured out that Buffy was not herself. And also Faith (in Buffy's body) was the one who knew there was something going on between Tara&Willow...Overall an excellent reaction to an excellent episode! >3

James

Yes, I think there have been a lot of suggestions throughout Faith's appearances in the show that she has suffered sexual abuse – e.g. the fact that she has completely separated sex from emotion, the fact that she always wants to be in control of sexual encounters (see her sex scenes with Xander), and also the fact that she always sexualises her relationships with men. She even does this with the Mayor - when the Mayor gets her a nice apartment in season 3 she calls him her 'sugar daddy' - what's interesting is that the Mayor does not like this comment - he makes it clear that his interest in Faith is not sexual, he values her for what she achieves, her fighting prowess etc. I think this is one of the reasons why Faith became so attached to the Mayor – maybe he was the first male figure in her life who valued her in a way that wasn't sexual - so in his weird, twisted way, he boosted her self-esteem.

UTU49

Oh, good. Did you barf? Cuz just once in my life, I would like to make someone laugh so hard that they barf. It's very healthy to have goals.

Joseph Johnson

These two episodes will always be bundled in to my top 10 favorite episodes. Both women did an amazing job of copying each other in every way. In most shows where something like this happened they can usually pull it off except for one way, the fighting style. Sarah and Eliza emulated each other's style of fighting perfectly. Sarah has always been a very controlled and confident fighter while Eliza is wild and unpredictable. Seeing Sarah going wild like that while Eliza was calm and collected in the fight I think elevated these episodes for me. The saddest portion of this episode for me is when we see Faith's reaction to Riley saying I love you. They way the shoot that with Sarah acting terrified of Riley was perfect and fits the established backstory for Faith perfectly. If you read that and watch these scenes again, it is completely heartbreaking. Even more so with how traumatic her life was before she was even activated as a Slayer. I believe it was mentioned in the extended canon beyond the show the Faith even admits to the fact she didn't go to Sunny Dale to be the Slayer or for protection. She wanted to meet Buffy because she had feelings for her but didn't think anyone could love her so she wanted to go to be close to her. Then her Watcher was murdered and she had to deal with the guilt even though it wasn't her fault and ended up going because she needed help even if she didn't know how to ask for it. Believe me the chronicles of Faith's childhood will make her entire arch at least a dozen times more heart breaking and he struggle for redemption that much more impressive. I am with you on Tillow, seeing those two come together is magical. Tara is the true heart of team Buffy and always will be. I remember TV back then, no other show came close to show a gay relationship could be as healthy and wholesome as a straight relationship. The irony is that Tillow was probably the healthiest relationship on the entire show. From what I remember back then gay characters were either comedy relief or molesters and monsters. there was no in between before Allison and Amber showed it was possible.