Choices

Previouslys. Faith introduces herself. Faith kills Twitchy. Faith doesn't care. Faith is unstable. Faith saves Buffy from Mr. Trick. Faith joins forces with the Mayor. Faith gets the Books of Ascension. Faith tells Buffy that the ascension can't be stopped. Faith tells Buffy to "stick around." So is Faith going to be in this episode or what?

That would be yes. Faith sits in the Mayor's desk chair with her eyes closed. He tells her she can open them, and there's a box tied up with a ribbon in front of her. She asks what the occasion is, and he tells her it's to thank her in advance for "running a small errand at the airport." Faith gets a little sassy. The Mayor: "This isn't a free ride, young lady. You know, I'm beginning to think that somebody's getting a little spoiled. Maybe I should take this back." Faith meekly apologizes. They're really selling the father-daughter dynamic here. The Mayor accepts her apology, and offers her a cookie. Hee. He explains that the errand in question involves something crucial to his ascension. He brightly says that without it, "well, what would Tollhouse cookies be without the chocolate chips?" Faith hilariously regards her cookie as if she's actually pondering the answer to that question. I don't think he meant it as a Zen koan, dear. He continues, "A pretty darn big disappointment, I can tell you!" He tells her to open her present. She complies, and practically glows upon seeing the knife we know so well. She might not have been so happy about it if she'd known that it would end up in her gut. He tells her not to put anyone's eye out with it, "until I tell you to." Faith: "Any particular eyes in mind?"

Cut to Buffy and Angel, fighting two vamps. They dust them, Buffy executing a very cool jumping side kick in the process. She starts to mope that she and Angel are in a rut. "You never take me anyplace new." Angel tries to tell her that the fire demon nest they took out was a nice change of pace. Heh. Buffy wonders if this is how they'll spend their nights when "I'm fifty and you're the same age you are now." Nice try, honey. Hear that sound? That's the clock ticking off the number of minutes until David Boreanaz looks too old to play Angel. It's not a large number. They hear a vamp growl, and Angel suggests that they focus on just getting her to fifty. Credits.

The Mummy. Wow, the commercials didn't do that movie any favors.

Buffy's studying. No, really. Joyce walks in and asks when Buffy was going to tell her. Buffy thinks she's talking about a pair of earrings that Buffy apparently borrowed, but Joyce says that she's referring to the fact that Buffy was accepted to Northwestern. That's a mega-shout-out to Demian. Joyce gushes, but Buffy doesn't look so enthusiastic. Joyce says it's not cheap, but they can swing it if Buffy's dad pitches in. That'll happen. She tells Buffy how proud she is. Buffy: "You said that before." Joyce: "And will again soon." Aw, Joyce. Buffy considers bursting her mom's bubble by telling her she can't leave Sunnydale, but decides to let her have her happy moment, simply saying that she wants to consider her options. Joyce picks up the phone to call a relative to brag. As she dials, she calls after Buffy. Buffy: "I know. You're proud of me." Joyce: "Don't forget to put my earrings back in my dresser before you go out." Hee. I miss Joyce so much.

School, outside. Snyder harasses some kid, thinking he's got drugs in his lunch bag, but it turns out it's just his lunch. Snyder: "Sit up straight." Hee. I suppose this was done to establish that Snyder's cracking down on drugs at the school, given his later behavior. That was totally unnecessary, in my opinion, but still funny. At another table, Willow, Oz, and Buffy sit, while Xander sits against a nearby tree. Willow says that it sounds like Joyce is in a state of denial. Buffy: "More like a continent." She says she can't go away, especially with Faith having turned evil, and that it's UC Sunnydale for her, but congratulates Willow on getting into Oxford. "That's where they make Gileses!" Why does she think I moved to England? Willow's excited, but isn't sure about going to school in a foreign country. Xander, holding a copy of On The Road by Jack Kerouac, pipes up, "'Everything in life is foreign territory.' Kerouac. He's my teacher. The open road, my school." Buffy snarks, "Making the open dumpster your cafeteria?" Xander: "Go ahead, mock me." Oz: "I think she just did." Ha! What can I add to that? Oh, I know: Shut up, Xander. The cuteness continues; Xander: "We bohemian antisocial types have always been persecuted." Oz: "Well sure, you're always so weird." I miss Oz so much. Willow thinks a road trip is a good idea for Xander, and he says it will help him find himself. Cordy, who's just walked onscreen: "And help us to lose you. Everyone's a winner." Xander uses Willow's college acceptances to try to needle Cordelia. Cordy: "Oxford. Whoopee! Four years in Teabag Central. Sounds thrilling. And MIT is a Clearasil ad with housing, and Yale is a dumping ground for those who didn't get into Harvard." Willow: "I got into Harvard." Heh. Harvard sucks. Xander and Cordy snark a bit more. Buffy throws in a relatively innocent comment. Cordy: "I'm sorry, Buffy, this conversation is reserved for those who actually have a future." Unnecessary roughness penalty right there, especially with the whole death subtext. Cordy can be a real bitca, can't she? Buffy looks like the comment hit way too close to home.