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Episode 4.01: The Freshman | Episode 4.03: The Harsh Light of Day
Characters:
| Buffy | Xander | Willow |
| Giles | Oz |
Overall (5/10)
Buffy:
This episode continues the "adjustment to college" theme that was started in the previous episode. This time, it focuses on the "roommate from hell" cliche by taking it quite literally.
It also shows us another example of Buffy seeing demons where no one else does. She has a knack. The others have got to stop doubting her.
The primary thing that concerns me in this episode is the use of a soul. Kathy, Buffy's roomie, had been stealing Buffy's soul slowly throughout the episode. This throws in more confusion as to the nature of a soul in this series.
Buffy without a soul is hypersensitive, catty, and eventually homicidal (only towards her roommate, though).
I had issues with this considering Angel sans soul is...well...evil. Buffy isn't in this episode. I thought this might be explained by the fact that Angel, without a soul, has a demon in him due to him being a vampire. The demon is naturally inclined to do evil deeds. A human without a soul may not be.
However, we find out in S7's Get it Done that Buffy does have a demon of some sort in her (as do all Slayers). It's never explained the nature of this demon or its influence on Buffy, though. Perhaps it's the demon that is behind Buffy's homicidal urges towards Kathy at the end.
Regardless, the use of the soul in this episode just confuses an already vague issue, and I wish they had left it out. Considering that this is a light-hearted episode, having Buffy lose her soul (which had previously been established as a Really Bad Thing) is treated with a far too cavalier attitude.
But let's move on. Buffy makes first contact with Parker, the sleaze. Notice when he mentions that he'll watch her back in the cafeteria line. He is very obviously watching her...er...back. Already, we have some hints of what's to come from him.
Notice also his flirting with Kathy in Buffy's dorm. It seems innocent now, but in hindsight, it's obvious that he was just working his sleazy mojo on her.
They do manage to make him charming enough to where we can see Buffy liking him, though. Angel left her not too long ago with the insistence that she find a normal guy to be with. Enter Normal Guy. Unfortunately, we'll see in the next episode that Buffy rushes into things a bit too quickly.
This episode is also interesting to compare to S5's Real Me where Buffy also suddenly has to deal with a "sister". In this case, it's in the form of a roommate. In S5, it's Dawn, her brand spanking new teenage sister. In Real Me, we'll also see Buffy being easily irritated and hypersensitive to Dawn (And she's at a loss to understand why).
Oh, and a quick comment. We all know that SMG is a wonderful dramatic actress, and it's easy to forget her comedic talents. This episode showcases them wonderfully.
Xander:
Xander is one of two characters this season that will be adrift without any purpose. Xander, the guy who's not in college, eats lunch with his college friends (Though that's primarily to sneak food from their plates).
Willow is just adorable in this episode. She does the supportive best friend thing and offers us a contrast. Her own roommate is even less desirable than Kathy, but she never utters a word of complaint.
At the end, Buffy and Willow room together (Why couldn't they have done this in the first place?).
Giles runs? Like Xander, Giles is at a loose end in this season. He has, however, decided to stay on as Buffy's mentor after his attempt at the "hands-off" approach in the previous episode.
Oz is in full Scooby-mode and gets some good lines in. The most noteworthy scene, though, is the quick walk by Veruca. This is set up for Wild at Heart, and we can see that, already, Oz feels some connection to her.
Buffy has an evil roommate. Nobody believes her, though.
Kathy. Though Buffy becomes the bad guy as her soul gets sucked from her.
Not an arc episode. We briefly see the Initiative guys again, but we don't know who they are.
This episode doesn't get much fan-love. It's a decent episode, though. It's another adjustment episode, and it does have some hilarious moments. Nothing stellar, though.
Special performance award goes to Sarah Michelle Gellar. Milk. Scene.
5 out of 10. The soul confusion bumped it down a point, but the humor bumped it back up.
The final scene with Buffy and Willow. It's a good reminder that living with anybody, even your best friend, isn't always easy.
Episode 4.01: The Freshman | Episode 4.03: The Harsh Light of Day
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