Halloween (Buffy episode)

“Halloween”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 6
Written by	Carl Ellsworth
Directed by	Bruce Seth Green
Production no.	5V06
Original airdate	October 27 1997
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List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes

"Halloween" is episode 6 of season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot

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Halloween

Buffy and Angel finally agree to a date, but Buffy is delayed at Pop's Pumpkin Patch by a vampire. Another vampire films from hiding. While Angel waits at The Bronze, Cordelia shows up. When Buffy finally arrives, she is turned away by Cordelia's sharp tongue. Cordelia continues to hit on Angel, unaware of his history.

Buffy and Xander become their counterpoint: a helpless woman and a mature leader.

The next day, Principal Snyder forces Buffy and her friends into chaperoning small children while they trick-or-treat. Buffy would rather take a break during the only slow night for vampires. Later, Larry the school bully threatens Xander while asking him about Buffy, who smashes Larry into a soda machine. Xander is angered by the damage that does to his reputation. The gang has to dress up for Halloween. They head to Ethan's Costume Shoppe, where Willow gets a ghost costume and Xander buys a toy gun to go with his army fatigues from home. Buffy and Xander make up, but then she spies the most beautiful 18th-century pink dress -- one that matches what she has spied from Giles's Watcher files on Angel. Ethan Rayne appears and makes her an offer she cannot refuse. Spike is reviewing Buffy's fight. Drusilla comes to tell him that someone will make Buffy weak on Halloween night. Meanwhile, Ethan is chanting to a statue of Janus in the back room of his shop. On Halloween night, Buffy manages to convince Willow to wear a black mini-skirt and a long-sleeved crop shirt. Willow is very shy and tries to hide it with her ghost costume. The doorbell rings and Willow takes the opportunity to cover her skimpy outfit. Later that night, Ethan's spell takes effect and everyone wearing a costume from his store turns into the respective persona. Willow becomes a real ghost, Xander a soldier and Buffy an 18th-century Southern belle. Willow convinces Xander to stop shooting at people. They find a disoriented Buffy, who is frightened and confused by the modern world. Willow rushes them to Buffy's house, where her mother is conveniently not home. Outside, Cordelia screams and Xander rushes out to save her. They find that Cordelia has not changed into what she is wearing -- a cat -- because she bought her costume from another store. Willow goes to Giles for help. While Cordelia searches the house, Angel shows up and takes Buffy into the kitchen. As Angel tries to kill a vampire that has sneaked into the house, he reveals his vampire face. Buffy is horrified and runs from the house. At the library, Willow tells Giles about Ethan's costumes. They head to the shop, where Giles reveals that he knows Ethan. He orders Willow to leave and physically persuades Ethan to tell him how to reverse the spell. Spike is looking for Buffy, who enters an alley and meets Larry, now a pirate. Xander arrives to beat up Larry while Willow shows up to warn them of Spike. The gang tries to barricade themselves inside a warehouse, but Spike's gang breaks in. Just as Spike is about to kill Buffy, Ethan reveals the secret to ending the spell and Giles throws the statue to the floor, smashing it to pieces, breaking the spell. Buffy recovers to defeat Spike and he flees. Buffy admits to Angel that she was trying to impress him. He tells her that he hated those people back then. The women were dull. He wanted someone exciting. They kiss. The next day, Giles returns to the store to find a note. Ethan has promised to return soon.

Continuity

Arc significance

• This is the episode where Xander is turned into a soldier and acquires a store of military knowledge, a theme that reappears several times in the series, most notably in "Innocence" and "Graduation Day, Part Two".
• This episode marks the first appearance of Ethan Rayne in the series, who will show up as a minor antagonist at several points in the future.
• This episode is shows the first interaction between Willow and Oz (they bump into each other but he doesn't recognise her).
• Willow dies for the first time in this episode.

Production

Translated versions of this episode are entitled:

• French title: "Halloween"
• Italian title: "Halloween"
• German title: "Die Nacht der Verwandlung" ("The night of metamorphosis")
• Japanese title: "ハロウィーン" ("Harowīn" - "Halloween")

Reception

“Halloween” pulled in an audience of 3.7 million households on its original airing.^[1]

Timeline

• Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

* Because the 1992 motion picture Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not considered to be canon, its date in the chronology reflects its release date. Because The Origin graphic novel adjusts the events of the movie to fit in-line with the series, its place in the chronology reflects those events having occurred approximately one year prior to Welcome to the Hellmouth.

References