Who Are You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

16th episode of the 4th season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"Who Are You?"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no.| Season 4
Episode 16
Directed by| Joss Whedon
Written by| Joss Whedon
Production code| 4ABB16[1]
Original air date| February 29, 2000 (2000-02-29)
Guest appearances

* Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
* Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
* Leonard Roberts as Forrest Gates
* George Hertzberg as Adam
* Chet Grissom as Detective
* Alastair Duncan as Collins
* Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
* Eliza Dushku as Buffy Summers/Faith

Episode chronology
| ← Previous
"This Year's Girl"  | Next →
"Superstar"

|

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 4)
List of episodes

"Who Are You?" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the American supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on The WB on February 29, 2000.

In the series, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a Slayer, a teenage girl endowed with superhuman powers to fight evil forces. "Who Are You?" is the second half of a two-part story arc featuring the return of the rogue Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), and is a turning point in the character's redemptive arc. The previous episode saw Faith use a magical device to swap bodies with Buffy, and Whedon wanted to use this premise to give Faith a moral epiphany. In Buffy's body, Faith experiences love and acceptance from others, and realizes how unhappy her own life is. Initially dismissive of Buffy's morality, Faith also comes to appreciate the Slayer's duty to protect the weak. The body swap premise meant that Gellar played Faith and Dushku played Buffy for much of the episode.

The episode was watched by 4.9 million viewers. Critics praised Whedon's exploration of Faith's psyche and were impressed by Gellar and Dushku's abilities to take on the mannerisms of each other's character. "Who Are You?" featured highly on some retrospective rankings of Buffy episodes, such as those by The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson (ranked fourth) and the Rolling Stone's Jack Francis (ranked thirteenth).[2][3]

## Background[edit]

In the series, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a Slayer, a teenage girl endowed with superhuman powers to fight vampires, demons and other evil forces. After moving with her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), to the fictional town of Sunnydale, she befriends Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), who help her in the fight against evil. They are guided by Buffy's Watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head). The group collectively refer to themselves as the Scooby Gang.[4]

In season three of Buffy, Faith (Eliza Dushku) is introduced as a new Slayer with a rough upbringing. Faith originally joins the Scooby Gang but her relationship with them is increasingly fractured, and she eventually betrays Buffy to team up with the evil Mayor (Harry Groener). Buffy and Faith fight in the season three finale, which ends with Faith falling into a coma.[5] In season four, Buffy and her friends discover a covert military organization called "The Initiative", who capture and perform experiments on vampires and demons. One of their experiments is a human-cyber-demonoid hybrid known as Adam (George Hertzberg), who turns on them and escapes.[6] Buffy also begins dating Initiative commando Riley Finn (Marc Blucas).[7] In the preceding "This Year's Girl", Faith awakens from her coma to find that the Mayor has left her a magical device which she uses to swap bodies with Buffy, unbeknownst to everyone else.[5]

## Plot[edit]

Following their fight, an unconscious Buffy (in Faith's body) is taken into police custody. Faith (in Buffy's body) settles into Buffy's home, giving Buffy's body a makeover, and then using Joyce's credit card to book a plane ticket out of Sunnydale.

As Buffy is being transported by the police, a Watchers' Council squad attacks and abducts her. Later, at a Scooby Gang meeting, Faith is pleased to learn that the Council will send the captured Buffy to England. Faith goes to the Bronze to party. She runs into Willow, who decides to introduce Tara to "Buffy", only for Faith to make fun of Tara. To keep up the pretense of being Buffy, Faith saves a woman from a vampire attack and is taken aback by the woman's gratitude. Afterwards, Faith heads to Riley's dorm and tries to initiate kinky sex with him. Riley insists on being gentle with her and they have sex. He tells her he loves her, which sends Faith into a panic.

Back in her dorm, Tara realizes something is wrong with "Buffy"'s aura, and she and Willow perform a ritual to find the real Buffy. Meanwhile, Buffy escapes from the Council's captivity and heads to Giles' house, where Willow and Tara give her a magical device they conjured that can switch the Slayers' bodies back.

Inspired by Adam to face their fears, a group of vampires attack a church and hold its congregation hostage. Faith is about to board her flight at the airport when she sees a news report about the hostages. She goes to the church where she is able to kill most of the vampires and save the hostages. Faith is overpowered by the last vampire when Buffy, who has also seen the news report, shows up and saves her. With the vampires gone, Buffy and Faith fight. Using Willow and Tara's device, Buffy is able to restore herself and Faith to their rightful bodies. Faith escapes and leaves town.

## Production and writing[edit]

Sarah Michelle Gellar (left) and Eliza Dushku (both pictured in 2004) played each other's character in the episode.

The episode was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon. The script went through several revisions before it was finalized on February 2, 2000.[8] Following "This Year's Girl", "Who Are You?" is the second half of a two-part story arc featuring the return of the rogue Slayer Faith.[9] The body swap premise meant that Gellar played Faith and Dushku played Buffy for much of the episode,[10] with Dushku being credited onscreen as "Buffy".[11] To prepare for the swapped roles, producer Doug Petrie said the script gave both actresses a lot of direction, but that Gellar and Dushku also studied each other's mannerisms and brought their own interpretations to the screen.[12]

For this episode, Whedon wanted to explore what would happen if an embittered person like Faith was given the opportunity to ruin her nemesis Buffy's life, but instead found her own self-concept shattered through the experience of being Buffy. Whedon explained that the phrase: "Because it's wrong", which Faith repeats three times in the episode, was specifically written to convey this psychological transformation.[9] Whereas Faith initially uses the mantra to mock Buffy's virtue, by the end of the episode she is saying it with complete sincerity as she confronts the vampires in the church.[13][14] For producer Marti Noxon, the episode was also about the importance of love, and exploring what could have been had Faith been raised in a loving environment like Buffy.[9]

The episode also continues the writers' theme of using witchcraft as a metaphor for sex, and Willow and Tara practising witchcraft together as a metaphor for a romantic relationship. The scene in which Willow and Tara cast a spell together was intentionally written and shot to represent the first time Willow and Tara have sex with each other.[9]

"Who Are You?" originally aired on The WB on February 29, 2000.[15]

## Analysis[edit]

"Who Are You?" is a turning point in Faith's arc that sees the character taking the initial steps towards redemption.[10][13] While Faith has long envied Buffy's more privileged life, she has always held Buffy's moral obligations in contempt.[13] Even at the start of the episode, Faith still clings to the belief that she is better off being evil. While pretending to be Buffy, Faith experiences the affection, acceptance and admiration others have for Buffy, which Buffy herself earned through years of altruism. Faith is increasingly unsettled and reaches a breaking point when she experiences Riley's genuine love for Buffy.[16] She is thus forced to confront the ugly truth: being morally good has led Buffy to a happier life, while being evil has left Faith miserable.[16] Her self-hatred culminates with the scene in which Faith, in Buffy's body, relentlessly hits her own face, yelling, "You're nothing! You're disgusting!".[13][16]

Dean Kowalski posits that this episode supports Plato's argument in the Republic that the morally corrupt can never achieve true happiness, as reflected by Faith's inner turmoil even as she gets to live the more desirable life in Buffy's body.[17] In his book Televised Morality, Gregory Stevenson writes that the longer Faith pretends to be Buffy, the more she identifies with her and her moral responsibilities, resulting in Faith's decision to save the hostages in the church at the expense of her own escape.[13] According to Karl Schudt, Faith has come to the realization that it is the moral duty of the strong, such as Slayers, to protect the weak, and ignoring this duty is what made her an outcast to society.[18]

Michael J. Richardson and J. Douglas Rabb argue that the body-swap premise, whether intended or not, allowed Whedon to explore Jean-Paul Sartre's notion of "the Look of the Other",[19] whereby an individual's self-identity is predicated on how others perceive them.[20] By inhabiting Buffy's body, Faith gains an external perspective of herself such that when faced with her own body at the end, "Faith is finally seeing herself as Buffy sees her and is even harder on herself than Buffy has ever been."[19] Caroline Ruddell analyzed the scene in which Faith inspects Buffy's body in front of a mirror through the concept of the Lacanian mirror stage, specifically how it can lead to self-alienation. Namely, Faith sees Buffy's reflection in the mirror as an ideal image of completeness, which she aspires to, whereas her own life feels disjointed and messy. According to Ruddell, the body swap causes a dissonance between Faith's mind and Buffy's body, which is emphasized in the mirror scene through the use of jump cuts, and later alluded to by Tara's description of "Buffy"'s aura as "fragmented".[21]

### Faith–Riley scene[edit]

Greg Forster highlights the Faith–Riley sex scene as the moment where Faith's cynical world view is shattered: having probably never experienced tenderness from a lover, Faith cannot deny Riley's genuine love for Buffy.[16] In the scene, Faith refers to herself as "a bad girl" who should be "hurt".[22] Elyce Rae Helford calls this a pivotal moment in changing the audience's perception of Faith, as her dialogue moves from "Buffy-hating" to "self-hating".[22] Farah Mendlesohn argues that the show uses the visual contrast of Buffy's small build against her much larger lovers to create a physical sense of "childlikeness" in the character.[23] When Faith seduces Riley, the writers, says Mendlesohn, are using Faith's "aggressive mockery of Buffy's childlikeness" to frame Faith as a misguided child so as to evoke the audience's sympathy for her.[23]

Buffy and Riley's love theme, used by the show's composer Christopher Beck to underscore the couple's romantic moments, was missing in this scene, emphasizing that this is not the real Buffy.[24]

## Reception[edit]

The original broadcast was watched by 4.9 million viewers, making it the 86th most-watched prime time network television program for the week of February 28 to March 5, 2000.[25]

Critics praised Whedon's character development of Faith. The Mary Sue's Lauren Coates said the episode was a "beautifully and brutally written" look into Faith's insecurities and fears,[10] while the Rolling Stone's Jack Francis concluded: "It's a beautiful and devastating arc for one of the show's most complex characters."[3] In his review for The A.V. Club, Noel Murray emphasized Whedon's ability to turn the comedic scene in which Faith mocks Buffy in front of a mirror, into a touching character moment by the episode's end.[26] Beyond the comedic hijinks typical of body-swapping plots, GamesRadar+'s Ian Sandwell thought the episode also delivered in-depth character building.[27] Paste's Mark Rabinowitz wrote that when watched together with "This Year's Girl", the two-parter is the "gold standard" for body-swapping storylines.[28]

Gellar and Dushku's performances as each other's character were also well-received.[2][27][28][29] Coates said the episode was really elevated by their "series-best" acting, citing Dushku's "remarkable" embodiment of Buffy's physical and verbal mannerisms, while Gellar, the "unquestionabl[e]" standout, showcased her comedic and dramatic range.[10] Francis, too, thought it was among the best acting of the series, noting Gellar's ability to adapt her physicality to match Faith's sexual nature, as well as Dushku's ability to take on Buffy's idiosyncrasies.[3] Vox's Caroline Framke praised Gellar's ability to embody Dushku's body language without crossing the line into mimicry.[30] For Den of Geek's Michael Mammano, both actresses' portrayals were commendable for the most part, but there were jarring out-of-character moments that detracted from the scenes.[31]

Besides the acting, Screen Rant's Julia Tilford took note of the standout dialogue and important character interactions.[32] The New York Daily News' David Bianculli and The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson's only quibble was wishing the storyline had gone on for more episodes.[2][29] Some commentators found the Faith–Riley sex scene problematic in retrospect, citing Buffy and Riley's lack of informed consent.[33][34][35] Screen Rant's Suzana Mihurko was irked that the show never acknowledges the sexual assault,[35] while Coates thought it was still a powerful scene despite the assault making it difficult to sympathize with Faith.[10] BBC Cult TV's Kim took the episode as confirmation that Willow and Tara were in a same-sex relationship, and liked how the show handled their romance in such a nonchalant manner, neither baiting controversy nor being too "PC".[36]

Critics have included "Who Are You?" in their retrospective lists of the best Buffy episodes, including The Guardian's Nicholson (4th),[2] TVLine (12th),[37] Rolling Stone's Francis (13th),[3] Den of Geek's Mammano (17th),[31] Vox's Framke (18th),[30] Screen Rant's Tilford (top 20),[32] TV Guide's Kaitlin Thomas (21st)[38] and GamesRadar+'s Sandwell (25th).[27]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Pateman, Matthew (2015). "Appendix: Episode Listing". The Aesthetics of Culture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. McFarland & Company. p. 216\. ISBN 978-1-4766-0612-5.
2. ^ a b c d Nicholson, Rebecca (June 1, 2020). "Demons, death and dynamite dialogue: the 20 best episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
3. ^ a b c d Francis, Jack (May 20, 2023). "'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': Every Episode Ranked From Worst to Best". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
4. ^ Holder, Mariotte & Hart 2000, p. 2.
5. ^ a b Holder, Mariotte & Hart 2000, pp. 86–88.
6. ^ Holder, Mariotte & Hart 2000, pp. 26–27, 33, 36.
7. ^ Holder, Mariotte & Hart 2000, p. 49.
8. ^ Holder, Mariotte & Hart 2000, pp. 235–237.
9. ^ a b c d Whedon, Joss (writer and director); Noxon, Marti (producer) (2003). Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season; "Season 4 Overview" Featurette (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
10. ^ a b c d e Coates, Lauren (March 1, 2023). "On This Day in TV History: An Iconic 'Buffy the Vampire' Body Swap We Never Recovered From". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
11. ^ Topping 2004, p. 200.
12. ^ "Doug Petrie: Buffy producer's inside guide – Who Are You?". BBC. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
13. ^ a b c d e Stevenson, Gregory (2004). "A Tale of Two Slayers: Identity, Sacrifice, and Salvation". Televised Morality: The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hamilton Books. p. 120–122. ISBN 0-7618-2833-8 - via Internet Archive.
14. ^ Kaveney, Roz (2004). "She saved the world. A lot: An introduction to the themes and structures of Buffy and Angel". Reading the Vampire Slayer: The New, Updated, Unofficial Guide to Buffy and Angel (2nd ed.). I.B. Tauris. p. 25\. ISBN 1-86064-984-X.
15. ^ Topping 2004, pp. 12, 259.
16. ^ a b c d Forster, Greg (2003). "Faith And Plato: You're Nothing! Disgusting, Murderous Bitch!". In South, James B. (ed.). Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Open Court. pp. 15–17. ISBN 0-8126-9531-3 - via Internet Archive.
17. ^ Kowalski, Dean A. (2017). "On Being Horrible (and an Angel)". Joss Whedon as Philosopher. Lexington Books. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-0-7391-9666-3.
18. ^ Schudt, Karl (2003). "Also Sprach Faith: The Problem of the Happy Rogue Vampire Slayer". In South, James B. (ed.). Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Open Court. pp. 31–32. ISBN 0-8126-9531-3 - via Internet Archive.
19. ^ a b Richardson & Rabb 2007, pp. 43–45.
20. ^ Richardson & Rabb 2007, p. 40.
21. ^ Ruddell, Caroline (2013). "The Monster Within". The Besieged Ego: Doppelgangers and Split Identity Onscreen. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-0-7486-9203-3.
22. ^ a b Helford, Elyce Rae (2002). "'My Emotions Give Me Power'". In Wilcox, Rhonda V.; Lavery, David (eds.). Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 32\. ISBN 0-7425-1681-4 - via Internet Archive.
23. ^ a b Mendlesohn, Farah (2002). "Surpassing the Love of Vampires". In Wilcox, Rhonda V.; Lavery, David (eds.). Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-7425-1681-4 - via Internet Archive.
24. ^ Wiley, Christopher (2010). "Theorizing Television Music as Serial Art: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Narratology". In Leonard, Kendra Preston (ed.). Buffy, Ballads, and Bad Guys Who Sing: Music in the Worlds of Joss Whedon. Scarecrow Press. pp. 50, 53. ISBN 978-0-8108-6945-5.
25. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership". Los Angeles Times. March 8, 2000. p. F11. Archived from the original on January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024 - via Newspapers.com.
26. ^ Murray, Noel (August 21, 2009). "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: "The I In Team," etc. / Angel: s1/e13-15". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
27. ^ a b c Sandwell, Ian (March 10, 2018). "The 25 best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
28. ^ a b Rabinowitz, Mark (May 19, 2023). "The Best Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episodes: Every Episode Ranked". Paste. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
29. ^ a b Bianculli, David (February 29, 2000). "TV Tonight". New York Daily News. p. 78\. Archived from the original on January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024 - via Newspapers.com.
30. ^ a b Grady, Constance; St. James, Emily; Framke, Caroline; Pai, Tanya; Bogen, Julie (March 10, 2017). "Every episode of Buffy, ranked, in honor of its 20th anniversary". Vox. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
31. ^ a b Mammano, Michael (September 2, 2019). "The 25 Best Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
32. ^ a b Tilford, Julia (October 29, 2015). "20 Best Episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 5, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
33. ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (March 10, 2017). "Why There's Never Been a Female Rivalry Like Faith and Buffy's". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
34. ^ Frankland, Heather (July 22, 2020). "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 5 Times We Felt Bad for Riley (And 5 Times We Hated Him)". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
35. ^ a b Mihurko, Suzana (April 19, 2023). "9 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Buffy The Vampire Slayer". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
36. ^ James; Steve; Kim. "Who Are You?: Review". BBC Cult TV. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
37. ^ Team TVLine (May 20, 2023). "Buffy's 20 Best Episodes, Ranked!". TVLine. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
38. ^ Thomas, Kaitlin (March 7, 2017). "The 25 Best Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episodes Ever, Ranked". TV Guide. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2024.

## Bibliography[edit]

* Holder, Nancy; Mariotte, Jeff; Hart, Maryelizabeth (2000). Buffy: The Watcher's Guide, Vol. 2. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0671042608 - via Internet Archive.
* Richardson, J. Michael; Rabb, J. Douglas (2007). "Buffy, Faith and Bad Faith: Choosing to Be the Chosen One". The Existential Joss Whedon: Evil and Human Freedom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Serenity. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2781-9 - via Internet Archive.
* Topping, Keith (2004). The Complete Slayer: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Every Episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0931-8 - via Internet Archive.

## External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Who Are You?.

* "Who Are You?" at IMDb

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes

Season 1|

* Unaired pilot
* "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
* "The Harvest"
* "Witch"
* "Teacher's Pet"
* "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
* "The Pack"
* "Angel"
* "I, Robot... You, Jane"
* "The Puppet Show"
* "Nightmares"
* "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"
* "Prophecy Girl"

Season 2|

* "When She Was Bad"
* "Some Assembly Required"
* "Inca Mummy Girl"
* "Lie to Me"
* "The Dark Age"
* "What's My Line, Parts One and Two"
* "Bad Eggs"
* "Surprise"
* "Innocence"
* "Phases"
* "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
* "Passion"
* "Killed by Death"
* "I Only Have Eyes for You"
* "Go Fish"
* "Becoming, Parts One and Two"

Season 3|

* "Anne"
* "Dead Man's Party"
* "Faith, Hope & Trick"
* "Beauty and the Beasts"
* "Homecoming"
* "Band Candy"
* "Revelations"
* "Lovers Walk"
* "The Wish"
* "Amends"
* "Gingerbread"
* "Helpless"
* "The Zeppo"
* "Bad Girls"
* "Consequences"
* "Doppelgangland"
* "Earshot"
* "Choices"
* "Graduation Day, Parts One and Two"

Season 4|

* "Living Conditions"
* "Beer Bad"
* "Pangs"
* "Something Blue"
* "Hush"
* "The I in Team"
* "Goodbye Iowa"
* "This Year's Girl"
* "Who Are You"
* "Superstar"
* "The Yoko Factor"
* "Restless"

Season 5|

* "Buffy vs. Dracula"
* "Real Me"
* "The Replacement"
* "Out of My Mind"
* "Checkpoint"
* "The Body"
* "Tough Love"
* "Spiral"
* "The Weight of the World"
* "The Gift"

Season 6|

* "Bargaining, Parts One and Two"
* "After Life"
* "Life Serial"
* "All the Way"
* "Once More, with Feeling"
* "Tabula Rasa"
* "Smashed"
* "Wrecked"
* "As You Were"
* "Hell's Bells"
* "Normal Again"
* "Entropy"
* "Seeing Red"
* "Villains"
* "Two to Go"
* "Grave"

Season 7|

* "Lessons"
* "Beneath You"
* "Same Time, Same Place"
* "Help"
* "Selfless"
* "Him"
* "Conversations with Dead People"
* "Sleeper"
* "Never Leave Me"
* "Bring On the Night"
* "Showtime"
* "Potential"
* "The Killer in Me"
* "First Date"
* "Get It Done"
* "Storyteller"
* "Lies My Parents Told Me"
* "Dirty Girls"
* "Empty Places"
* "Touched"
* "Chosen"

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