Lie To Me
5V07
At the cemetery, Buffy spies Angel talking to a strange girl -- who we recognize as Drusilla, the evil Spike's spaced-out paramour. The next day at school, Buffy runs into an old friend, Billy Fordham. "Ford" has transferred to Sunnydale from their old school (from which Buffy was suspended). Later at the Bronze, Ford admits that he knows she's the slayer. We see him enter a building which is crawling with ghoulish people and find out he is plotting something with them.
Angel, who's gotten a bad vibe from Ford, enlists Willow's help in investigating the kid on the Internet. Meanwhile, Buffy and Ford encounter some vampires on school grounds, and as she runs off to slay one, Ford tells a girl vampire he'll spare her if she'll give him information. When Buffy returns, he pretends that he killed the girl. Even though Willow doesn't find any incriminating evidence against Ford, Angel's still sure he's bad news, and he, Willow and Xander go to Ford's hangout. It seems all these creepy kids are not really undead, but just vampire wannabes. Concerned that the vampires have come to Sunnydale High, Buffy beeps Giles, who's out on a date with Miss Calendar. They all meet at the library, and Buffy spots a picture of Drusilla in Giles' book. Suddenly, a girl vampire runs in, grabs the book and flees -- the vampire Ford said he killed. Back at Spike's lair, Ford enters and offers His Evilness a deal -- if he'll turn Ford into a vampire, Ford will give him Buffy.
Angel finally warns Buffy about Ford. When she confronts him about Dru, he reluctantly reveals that he was responsible for her death -- he had been obsessed with her, and he tortured and killed her. Buffy finally trusts Angel, and agrees to go out with Ford to set him up. When she goes to his hangout he and his friends lock her in. She tries to explain to them that becoming a vampire doesn't mean living eternally, but Ford takes her aside and confides that he has only 6 months to live, and this is the best alternative to death he can find.
At sunset, Spike, Dru and company bust in and start ravaging the group. Buffy grabs Dru and tells Spike she'll kill his girl unless everyone is released. The wannabes are released and Buffy escapes, but leaves Ford inside to the death he prayed for.
As Buffy and Giles chat at the cemetery, Ford pops out of his grave and she slays him as if swatting a fly and goes back to her conversation.
More Information
Another episode with sinister overtones from series creator Joss Whedon, who seems incapable of writing a bad story. This episode demonstrates two of his greatest strengths as a writer: the ability to create interesting and memorable characters very economically (here, for example, there's the foppish Diego - formerly Marvin! - and the fawning Chantarelle, whose wish to join "the lonely ones" is totally believable); and his seemingly effortless skill at creating snappy dialogue.
There are countless examples of this throughout the episode, and barely a line is wasted. Whedon makes it seem like other writers finish their scripts before adding in the wisecracks and teen-talk. His dialogue rarely seems contrived or out of place, and brings real personality to his characters.
There's a terrific piece of dialogue at the end of the episode which smartly captures the tone of this episode. Giles is consoling Buffy after she was forced to stake Billy: "It's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats. We always defeat them and save the day. No-one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after." Buffy's response is swift and tinged with bitterness: "Liar!"
Trivia
Make-up supervisor Todd McIntosh appears as the vampire who Giles, Willow and Xander meet on their way to the Sunset Club.
The film that Billy Fordham mimes along to is the 1973 TV movie version of 'Dracula', directed by the creator of long-running vampire-themed soap opera 'Dark Shadows', Dan Curtis. The Count was played by Jack Palance.
Giles reveals that Drusilla was killed by an angry mob in Prague, and was thought to be dead. Angel admits that of all the evil things he's done since becoming a vampire, Drusilla was "the worst": "I made her insane; killed everyone she loved, visited every mental torture on her I could devise."
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