Lie to Me - Part 2

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. - Sir Walter Scott

Previously on Lie to Me, we discussed the subterfuge of foreshadowing and how all roads paved in duplicity lead to conflict. Deception is the theme of the Buffy episode, “Lie to Me”, and foreshadowing is the device on display.

The episode opens at night in a playground where a young boy sits, alone and uneasy. Drusilla, the wispy and weakened vampire, drifts onto the scene. She ogles the boy like a starving cat might eye the last canary on earth. He tells her he’s waiting for his mother. In true Dru mode, she natters on as if he hadn’t spoken, rhapsodizing about a nursery rhyme her mother used to sing - in a voice as sweet as cherries. She wonders, What will your mummy sing when they find your body?

Eow. The boy admits he’s not supposed to talk to people. Oh, I’m not a person. If you knew nothing about Dru before, you know all you need to now. Vile, incorporated, and its faithful sidekick, mad as a hatter.

Angel, the vampire with a soul, confronts Drusilla and chases the boy off. Dru asks if Angel remembers how her mother used to sing her to sleep. He does. We sense an “unfortunately” buried in there. It’s confirmed when Dru murmurs, Yes…you do… Something here we don’t know yet. Something obscene. And portentous. Angel warns Dru that she and Spike must get out of Sunnydale. If you don't leave… it'll go badly. For all of us. Brother, you have no idea.

Dru grieves for Angelus, Angel’s diabolic alter ego, who once rampaged across the old country, slaughtering human and demon alike. There was a vampire. Now he is the guardian of good - in fact, he reeks of slayer. Dru can’t stomach it. Poor thing. She has no idea what’s in store.

Angel demands their micro-reign of anarchy end, to which Dru leans in and whispers, Oh, no, my pet. It’s just the beginning. Since Drusilla has the power to see the future, this is especially unsettling. Her visions manifest in random bursts - cryptic drips and dreadful drabs - but when they occur, roll out the blood red carpet. Evil draws nigh.

Every snippet of dialogue is foreshadowing at its best: words masquerading as something else – a veiled threat, a horrible warning. An appalling promise. The hair on the back of your neck stands straight. You can’t help but recoil in fascination.

Compounding things is the presence of the slayer. Buffy spies them from a rooftop not far off. From her angle, it looks as if Angel is kissing some mystery woman in vintage clothing. Her goal to deepen their romantic relationship hits a snag.

At school the next day, Buffy wanders the halls, disheartened. She bumps into Giles, her watcher, and Miss Calendar, the tech teacher. Giles perceives Buffy’s gloom and recommends she take the night off from patrolling, perhaps make plans with Angel. Buffy fears Angel might already have other plans.

During history class, Buffy passes notes to Willow about the peculiar woman she saw Angel with the previous night. While they go back and forth, we are treated to classic Cordelia. Cordy shares her unique prospective on the French revolution: I just don't see why everyone is always ragging on Marie Antoinette. I can so relate to her. She worked really hard to look that good. People don't appreciate that effort.

She adds, the peasants were all depressed. To which Xander interjects, I think you mean “oppressed”. She shrugs it off. Whatever. They were cranky…And Marie Antoinette cared about them. She was gonna let them have cake! Wisdom for the ages. The bell rings, saving us from further insights of the rich and pampered.

Never an Angel fan, Xander is cheered to hear he may have a female side piece. Buffy doesn’t react well so he suggests a night out at The Bronze. Before Buffy can decide, an old friend of Buffy’s pops up. Ford is finishing out high school in Sunnydale b/c his dad got transferred. What luck! Buffy happily invites him to The Bronze and he gladly accepts. Xander mopes, shoved into the backseat of discarded male companions.

At The Bronze, Ford entertains them with blasts from the past until Buffy strides in. She cautions Ford away from a trip down memory lane. Ford teases, You can't touch me, Summers. I know all your darkest secrets.

Oh, yeah? Xander can’t resist. Care to make a small wager on that? An inside joke for the Scooby gang becomes a furtive bit of foreshadowing. Buffy goes for a soda at the bar and runs into Angel, glass in hand. She had no idea he drank non-sanguinary beverages. There’s a lot you don’t know about me. Boy, you can say that again.

She asks Angel what he did the night before. Stayed in. Read. No mention of our lady of ancestral clothing who was violating his air space. The lie sinks in. After suffering through the Halloween night from hell (see The GMC & D of Trick or Treat) and making progress, their relationship takes a giant step backwards.

Buffy returns to the gang, Angel in tow. Introductions are made. Buffy suddenly has an urge to go for a walk with Ford and makes tracks as far away from Angel as possible. Outside The Bronze, a scuffle in the alley alerts Buffy to vampires. She has to get rid of Ford. She distracts him by sending him back in to get her purse.

Buffy dusts the vampires only to find Ford standing behind her, unsurprised. Ford knows she’s the vampire slayer. She doesn’t have to lie to him. I know all your darkest secrets. It would appear he does, after all.

Later, she fills Willow in over the phone. Ford figured out her identity the night before she got booted out of Hemery High, their old high school. How does Buffy feel about that? Glad she doesn’t have to hide her identity from Ford. Happy to have another person she can talk to about it.

Does she? Down a darkened street, Ford walks into a club. It’s done in haunted haute couture, complete with goth wannabes dressed in vampire vogue. One guy, Diego, approaches Ford in ruffled shirt and Dracula cape. He asks Ford if things have been set in motion. Two more days, Ford promises, and they will have what every teen wants. To die young and stay pretty. Uh, oh. That’s never good.

Ford accepts a goblet of liquid and a pill, downing both while watching a vampire video. He mouths along with the words, Fools! There is no way in this life to stop me… which brings to mind his earlier statement, You can't touch me, Summers. Ford isn’t here to revive an old friendship. He’s here to ravage it.

The plot thickens. Before we go, a quick GMCD review for Buffy. Her goal is the ongoing quest to strengthen her relationship with Angel. Motivation – well, what red-blooded all-American slayer wouldn’t? Conflict – she sees him getting up close and personal with a strange woman with antiquated fashion sense. But she’s not ready to close the door on things until – disaster – Angel lies to her about it. What’s a girl to do?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Dialogue in italics from “Lie to Me” by Joss Whedon