Graduation Day: Part 2 (13 Jul. 1999)

On Ascension Day, Buffy and her friends prepare for the ultimate battle as they face off against the mayor and a hoard of vampires.

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator), Joss Whedon

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter	...	Cordelia Chase
David Boreanaz	...	Angel
Seth Green	...	Oz
Anthony Head	...	Rupert Giles (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Harry Groener	...	Mayor Richard Wilkins
Alexis Denisof	...	Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Danny Strong	...	Jonathan Levinson
Larry Bagby	...	Larry Blaisdell (as Larry Bagby III)
Mercedes McNab	...	Harmony Kendall
Ethan Erickson	...	Percy West
Eliza Dushku	...	Faith
Armin Shimerman	...	Principal Snyder

Storyline

Now mortally wounded Faith has thrown herself on a truck so Buffy can't bring her blood to Angel, she proves her love for him by insisting he drinks his medicine, slayer blood, from her neck, even if she has to beat him till his vampire instinct takes over long enough. He does pull away before she's drained and carries her, unconscious, to hospital for a human blood transfusion. The mayor brought Faith in at the same ward; already healed Angel stops his attempt to smother Buffy, who soon feels 'ready for war' herself. Both camps make attack plans. Wesley has returned to help fight the ascension against the council's will, asks Cordelia to follow him to England in case they prevail, sealed with kissing but the chemistry doesn't kick in; Willow and Seth are accomplished, matched kissers, Angel confirms his intention to leave after a victory stands. The next morning is the graduation ceremony, with the mayor's guest speech about graduating as ascension, till a solar eclipse starts his ...

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Plot Keywords:

library | returning character killed off | heroine | hero gone bad | female protagonist

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 July 1999 (USA)

Filming Locations:

1800 Stewart St., Santa Monica, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the Season 3 DVD, Joss Whedon reveals that since Charisma Carpenter was leaving Buffy the Vampire Slayer to transfer to the spin-off Angel, she asked if Cordelia could kill a vampire during the final battle. She got her wish.

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Goofs

In "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) {Graduation Day: Part 1 (#3.21)} , Angel is shot by Faith with a poisonous arrow. The arrow should be around the nipple-area. However, the wound that is visible when he's lying in bed, is much higher, near his shoulder.

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Quotes

Giles: There's a certain, um, dramatic irony attached to all this. A synchronicity that borders on-on predestination, one might say.
Buffy: Fire bad. Tree pretty.
Giles: Yes, sorry. I'll go an tend to Wesley, see if he's still, um, whimpering.

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Connections

References Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Amends (1998)

User Reviews

Season 3 Review

*This is a review of season 3 as a whole. The rating above is for the season finale as opposed to the season as a whole.

If season 2 saw this series building on its first season's few strengths and evolving into a smart, effective, and genuinely intelligent piece of genre programming, then season 3 is Buffy on overdrive, as nearly every episode delights the viewer in its unpretentious and expert handling of the characters, their relationships, and the plot.

Honestly, the story lines on this series are, superficially speaking, fantasy soap-opera story lines. The romances on the series, the good-turns-bad twists etc. are pretty standard material, but the way the writers write out the story is completely unpretentious, smart, witty, and different. The acting is top-notch and really brings the writing to life. I mean, The Mayor could've turned out horribly, and though not exactly menacing (little is on this series), The Mayor is a wonderfully rich, funny, creepy, and well-drawn villain who serves as the base for most of this season's ridiculously entertaining episodes.

In Season 3 Buffy finally got rid of the moronic monster of the week episodes which plagued its first two seasons. These formulaic episodes, in which some ugly monster was fought off by the core cast and eventually killed, really dragged down the quality of the otherwise fantastic second season. Luckily, in season 3, these 'independent' episodes take after series classics like "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" in the place of garbage like "Bad Eggs" and "Inca Mummy Girl", in that they are linked to the psychological or physical state of the characters, and in the case of "Band Candy", another fantastic episode, is loosely connected to the season story-arc. So while Season 3 has its fair share of episodes not exactly crucial to the story-arc, they are done in a far more evolved and intelligent form than the simple 'gang fights monster' format (the mediocre "Gingerbread" being the exception). These episodes take fascinating concepts and execute them with real style.

Buffy Season 3 sees natural development of the characters leading up to the only reasonable end points for them as we reach the end of the season. New characters, Faith and Wesley being the ones that survive beyond this season, are terrific and are more than convenient plot devices.

I thought the best episodes this season were:

"Band Candy"- clever and hilarious pretty much describe this one.

"Lovers Walk"- an ingeniously written episode which sees the return of a lovesick Spike. Character interaction at its finest. A potentially moronic and soapy scene where two characters suffer betrayal is executed brilliantly and works as fine drama.

"The Zeppo"- The series at the peak of its comedic prowess. Xander is an irresistible character.

"Doppelgangland"- I'm actually not too crazy about Joss Whedon in general. Even some of his episodes for Buffy (usually his most praised work) have struck me as seriously flawed bits of writing. Every so often though, he'll come through with one hell of a script. He did it in season 2 with Innocence and Becoming Part 2, and he's done it here.

"Graduation Day: Part 2"- The big season finale works precisely because it doesn't feel like one. Brilliant stuff.

Season 3 is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable seasons of genre television I have ever seen. It is exceptionally well-written stuff, there's just no denying that.

Season 3 Avg. Rating from all episodes: 8.23/10, a much more consistent season than its immediate predecessor and a truly outstanding bit of television in general.