Guest Starring: 
     
 Anthony Stewart Head: 
 (Giles) 
   
 Nathan Fillion: 
 (Caleb) 
   
 Eliza Dushku: 
 (Faith) 
   
 DB Woodside: 
 (Robin Wood) 
   
 Tom Lenk: 
 (Andrew) 
   
 Iyari Limon: 
 (Kennedy) 
   
 Indigo: 
 (Rona) 
   
 Clara Bryant: 
 (Molly) 
   
 Sarah Hagan: 
 (Amanda) 
   
 Kristy Wu: 
 (Chao-Ahn) 
   
 
 
  18. Dirty Girls.  
   
  Faith returns to Sunnydale, she immediately starts to influence Buffy’s relationship with the potential slayers.  
   
  Great quotes:  
   
 
Faith's back, yay!
  • Faith: “He’s like Angel?” Spike: “I’m nothing like Angel... Angel’s as dull as a table lamp, and we have different colouring.”
  • Xander: “She [Buffy] cares more about your lives than you’ll ever know. You’ve got to trust her, she’s earned it.” Faith: “Damn, even I didn’t know you were that cool.”
  • Andrew: “For years and years, or to be more accurate – months, Faith fought on the side of good...”
 
  Fantastic moments:  
   
 
  • Faith is back. A moment for celebration is ever there was one. Her introduction into the potential slayers is somewhat akin to a match in a tinderbox, she begins to question Buffy’s ‘Jack Bauer’ approach to fighting the fight and wins plenty of allies amongst the girls.
  • Once again Andrew totally steals a scene in which he is telling the potential slayers about Faith’s history. He confuses Faith’s murder of a vulcanologist (see season 3) with an imagined fight against a Vulcan from ‘Star Trek’.
  • The big finale – a pitched battle against Caleb and the Bringers – has some great SFX and martial arts stuff. Plus Xander takes one in the eye! The battle leaves us in a total nadir, with Buffy in a state of utter disillusionment. Setting the scene for a big ‘come back special’ methinks.
  • Molly gets killed, hooray!
 
  Duff Bits:  
   
 
  • Molly’s accent strikes again. At least this is the last time we’ll have to put up with that abomination.
 
  Dean's comments:  
   
 
Caleb relieves Xander of an eye, eek!
When I first saw ‘Dirty Girls’, I did a little dance when I saw Faith appear on screen. Not being a viewer of ‘Angel’, I had no idea that Eliza Dushku had been participating in a recent storyline and was therefore pleasantly surprised to see the sultry dark side of slayerness back on my television. The episode DVD commentary confirms that the episode’s main theme is the male perception of women. From Caleb’s biblical comparisons to Xander’s wet dreams and Andrew’s visions of Faith battling with a Vulcan, the male characters all have differing and somewhat contrasting expectations regarding women. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s raise a glass of celebration to the introduction of Nathan Fillion as a bad guy that Buffy can finally beat the crap out of. In a show with as many metaphors – some subtle others not – of female empowerment, what better villain can there be than the condescending misogynist that is Caleb. Buffy doesn’t get the chance to beat him up yet though, he’s far stronger than all the Scoobies and the potential slayers put together. There are plenty of good signs for the coming finale now, not least the chemistry between James masters and Eliza Dushku. Faith’s story regarding herself and a male friend of hers who enjoys school uniforms and bullwhips is the kind of thing that should have virtually guaranteed a spin-off series. Ah well, just have to see what the slash fic writers make of it...
 
   
 7/10 
 
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