Doppelgangland, Enemies, and Earshot all showed different versions of the theme of "having a double" and "people not being as they appear." At this point in the series, these ideas fall right into place with Buffy's continuing struggle to discover her self amongst the various roles she plays. Now, she is also faced with the confusion of deciding who her friends are and the truth about the people she associates with on a regular basis.
In Doppelgangland Buffy and the gang discover that Willow has a 'vampire self' in an alternate version of reality. In this episode, the viewers get a second chance to really examine vampire Willow and compare her to the Willow we have grown to know throughout the first 3 seasons. One of the most interesting parts of this video is when the living Willow puts on Vampire Willow's outfit. Putting on the clothes did not change who Willow was. It was very hard for her to play a different role even when she dressed the part.
Faith, however, revealed that she didn't need a new outfit to play two different roles. Faith has done a great job of fooling Buffy, Giles, and the Gang by pretending to still be on their side while she is in cahoots with the Mayor. While Buffy and the audience could trust Willow to remain true to her self no matter what, Faith seems to have gone astray. At this point we can make an interesting comparison between Faith and Buffy. Both are slayers. It is apparent that slayers (or at least American slayers because it seems Kendra can be excluded) struggle a great deal with discovering themselves. While Buffy is coming to grips with her purpose and duty, Faith seems to be confused and made some bad decisions in trying to find her self. Now that her charade has been discovered, Faith will have many more decisions to make that will ultimately decide her fate.
In Earshot, Buffy acquires the power to hear other people’s thoughts. What she discovers is a whirlwind of teenagers' insecurities, inappropriate thoughts, and intimate ideas. She sees that the people who surround her in school and even at home have secrets that they build walls to hide. She finds that her perceptions of others are not entirely correct, but are based upon what those people would have us believe rather than the complete truth. The one exception in this case is Cordelia. Cordelia, with her confidence, doesn't feel the need to hinder her thoughts or her opinions. In effect, she speaks her mind. This can be seen in direct contrast with Willow who could be considered an insecure character. When speaking with Buffy about her new gift, she verbally expresses her excitement, but her thoughts express concern. Buffy, of course, can hear her thought and does not hesitate to correct her.
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Dr. Rose says:
ReplyDeleteOf course, another way to think about Cordelia is that she’s pretty shallow. The thoughts Buffy hears and the things that Cordy expresses are all pretty narcissistic.
And you don’t mention it, but Angel also wears a mask in these episodes: he pretends to be Angelus again, this time to help Buffy. It’s beginning to seem like everyone has a secret: Giles has a past that includes Ethan Rayne, Xander has had a tryst with Faith, Oz is a werewolf…..