The Wish (Buffy episode)
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"The Wish" is an episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer that shows us a different version of Sunnydale.
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Plot Outline
Episode 9 of season 3, "The Wish", starts with the fallout of Xander and Willow's kiss in the previous episode, "Lovers' Walk": Oz has called a time out on Willow, and Xander can't get in a word with Cordelia, who is taunted mercilessly by her girl friends (led by Harmony) — with the exception of a new girl, Anya. When Buffy saves Cordelia's life at the cost of her dignity when she lands in the trash in front of all her friends, Cordelia figures that all her troubles started with one person: Buffy. The next day, Anya gives Cordelia a lucky amulet while Cordelia tells her a wish: That Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale. Anya switches to demon form and says, "Done."
Cordelia finds herself in a Sunnydale with curfews, trash blowing in the street, The Bronze a vampire hang out, no bright clothes, and students that are not allowed to drive. Things get worse: Not only are Willow and Xander a couple in this life, they are vampires. Cordelia is saved from them by the "white hats", a group of human vampire fighters led by Giles and including Oz and occasional recurring character Larry. Cordelia lives long enough to tell Giles that it was her fault, that everything was better before, and that he has to get Buffy to Sunnydale before Xander and Willow kill her. Giles tries to get a rather more war-worn Buffy to come to Sunnydale from Cleveland, and then recognizes the amulet as belonging to "Anyanka", Anya's demon name.
In this reality, the The Master from season 1 still reigns, and is implementing a new plan: The plant, the beginning of the industrial revolution in the vampire world. For killing Cordelia, vampire Willow is allowed to "play with the puppy" — torture Angel who is chained to the wall in a cell.
When Giles goes home, he is rescued by Buffy from vampires who are herding the remaining humans into a truck to be taken to the plant. Buffy is not excited at being in Sunnydale or convinced that Giles has a pint, but does offer to go kill the Master while she is there, leaving Giles at home to work on some way of reversing Anya's spell. On the way to the plant, Buffy picks up Angel.
While the Master starts up the plant in front of a cage of trapped humans — Oz now among them — Giles summons Anya and she reveals the truth. Buffy and Angel start attacking the vampire, and in the fight, most everybody we know dies: Xander (killed by Buffy), Angel (by Xander), Willow (by Oz), and finally Buffy (by The Master). Giles realizes that he has to destroy Anya's amulet, and tears it from her neck to destroy it, even though he can't know what the other world is like: It has to be better, he tells Anya, who finds herself back in the original Sunnydale, suddenly powerless.
Importance
For obvious reasons, there is little actual character development in this episode, but we do get to see a different side of the Scoobies, especially Buffy: Without her support crew, she is fatalistic and cynical and her tendency to work things out for herself without help has been magnified until she "doesn't play well with others", as she tells Giles.
The single most important element is Anya's entry into the show. In the following seasons, she will not only slowly become a full fighting member of the gang, but also a valuable source of plot lines and comic relief.
Writing and Acting
The characters' lovesick behavior at the beginning is predictable, but has to be portrayed nonetheless to start Willow and Oz on their way to making up again. Giles, Oz and even vampire Xander show little change from their usual roles and mannerisms; and, while Gellar is believable as her disillusioned self, the best acting comes from Hannigan who gives us a vampire Willow radically different form her human self: sensual, cruel, selfish, and vicious. It is no accident that reviews describe "The Wish" as the episode with vampire Willow, not the episode with vampire Xander or an alternate Buffy or where Anya first appears.
The exact function of Anya's amulet is not made clear. Cordelia gets one from Anya, and that ends up with Giles in the alternate reality. However, when Giles summons Anya, she is wearing another amulet, which Giles destroys, and with it her power. The most likely explanation is that Anya gives every woman a copy of her amulet that loses its power after the wish is granted. When Anya reverts to her demon self in the last two seasons, however, there is no more talk of amulets, and Anya draws her powers directly from the head vengeance demon. This exposes the amulet in "The Wish" as what it is: a somewhat confusing plot device.
Quotes and Trivia
- "The world is what it is. We fight, we die." — Buffy in the alternative reality
- "Xander — he's an utter loser" — Anya passing rather early judgment
Giles talks to Buffy's watcher in Cleveland. In the last scene of the last episode, he tests the triumphant Scoobies' mood by pointing out that there is another Hellmouth in that city.
Vampire Willow returns in episode 16 in "Doppelgängland" and adds a twist not present in "The Wish": a sexual interest in women, hinting at Willow's later lesbian tendencies.
Jonathan has another one of his occasional appearances in the series as the man Harmony suggests to get Cordelia back in the dating game.
Cast
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris (human and vampire)
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
- Emma Caulfield as Anya (human and demon)
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg (human and vampire)
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall
- Seth Green as Daniel 'Oz' Osborne
- Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
- Larry Bagby as Larry Blaisdell
Other Languages
German title : "Was wäre, wenn..." ("What if...")
External links
- BBC episode guide to "The Wish" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/wish/index.shtml)
- BuffyGuide.com episode guide to "The Wish" (http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/wish.shtml)
- Philosophical Analyses of "The Wish" (http://www.atpobtvs.com/32.html#309)