Lie to Me - Part 3

Men occasionally stumble upon the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened – Sir Winston Churchill

Previously on Lie To Me, we learn both Angel and Ford are hiding things from Buffy.

Something feels off about Ford so Angel goes to see Willow. She opens the door to her bedroom balcony but he can’t come in until she invites him. It’s a vampire thing. But what is once done cannot be undone - without some serious magical mojo. The decision hardly seems momentous here, but it will exacerbate a plot crisis in an upcoming episode when Drusilla’s premonitions bear fruit. Another foreshadowing slight of hand.

Angel asks Willow to look Ford up on the internet. Is he jealous? Angel never used to be, but yeah, with Buffy, he is. Willow pokes around and discovers something weird. Ford’s school transcripts haven’t been transmitted as he claims. Willow’s mother comes to the door and prevents further surfing. Willow shoos Angel out, promising to meet the next evening. He asks her not to tell Buffy. Lie to Buffy? Willow’s not good at lying. It’s like asking a cat to care. Never happen. He advises her not to bring it up then. It’s probably nothing, anyway. Sure. You know how bad things hardly ever happen in Sunnydale.

The next day, Ford and Buffy reminisce about prom night at Hemery when Buffy was forced to burn down the gym to destroy a nest of vampires. The worst moment of her life is seen differently through Ford’s eyes. She saved a lot of people. One minute you're a kid, living in your safe kid world, and then - truth hits you in the face. Vampires. I'll never forget that night.

Knowing what we do now, it’s clear this has meaning beyond what Buffy comprehends. It’s also significant beyond what the audience understands, but we don’t realize that until the end. We know he’s a fraud - but he’s not ready to reveal himself. He wonders why everyone in school acted like the fire in the gym never happened. Buffy replies, People ignore truths they don’t like. She will soon discover how true this is.

On the way to class, they pass Willow, who is edgy, bordering on manic, afraid her covert ops will be discovered. When she races off, Ford comments she’s a nice girl. There aren't two of those in the world, Buffy assures him. Another interesting presage, as there will, indeed, be two Willows loose in a couple of future episodes. You have to see it to believe it.

That evening, Buffy and Ford take a walk around campus and come upon a pair of vampires skulking near the admin building. Ford takes out his own stake and follows the female vamp while Buffy trails the bigger male. They separate. Ford catches his vampire but promises to free her if she tells him what he wants to know. By the time Buffy dispatches her vamp and rejoins him, he maintains he’s dusted the girl vamp.

Near the club, Xander, Willow and Angel are searching for Diego. Willow tracks some of Ford’s e-mails from Diego to this address, so Angel uses Ford’s name to gain access. Once inside, they cop to the vampire theme and are approached by Chantarelle. She explains vampires are the Lonely Ones, misunderstood as monsters who just want to suffer the mantle of immortality in peace. Angel’s seen this kind of thing before, kids making up bedtime stories about friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark. Lying to avoid truth. A theme resounds.

After sending Ford home, Buffy beeps Giles and Miss Calendar so they can discuss the sighting of vampires on school grounds. Then she spies an old photo of a woman in one of Giles’ books. Giles explains it’s Drusilla, the on-again, off-again girlfriend of Spike. Buffy informs them Dru is in town and was last seen in the company of Angel. Suddenly, the girl vampire Ford supposedly staked lunges out of nowhere, swipes one of the texts, and bolts away. Ford didn’t dust the vamp. He lied to Buffy. What’s going on?

In a darkened warehouse, Drusilla gazes into a birdcage, crooning to a dead bird. Spike, her peroxide prince of darkness, saunters up behind her, unhappy to learn she met Angel while out questing for humans. Angel is the enemy now. Dru prattles on, cajoling the bird to sing. Spike pronounces the bird dead. She didn’t feed it and now it’s dead, just like the last one. She pulls a pout until Spike offers to get her another.

Ford emerges from the shadows of the warehouse, his face aglow with Disneyland fervor. He didn’t go home like a good soldier. In fact, he’s been a very bad boy. He hands Spike the text he had pinched from Giles. Ford knows all about Spike and wants to be a vampire like him. Yawn. Spike is unimpressed and doesn’t feature Ford living forever. When Ford promises to deliver the slayer, Spike changes his tune.

Angel seeks Buffy out at home to tell her Ford isn’t what he appears. Who is, these days? Willow ran a check on Ford. Wait – he and Willow went behind her back? And Xander knew? And no one saw fit to fill her in? Betrayal. Point blank, she hits Angel with Drusilla. He confesses he lied, but he was trying to protect her. Sometimes the truth is worse than a lie. He’s lived long enough to know.

Drusilla was one of the most unconscionable crimes Angel committed as Angelus. Dru became an obsession. She was pure and pious and he turned her into something corrupt and profane. He drove her insane - murdered her family, tortured her for days. She escaped to a convent but he made her into a vampire before she could take her vows. Dru’s earlier assertion about Angel resonates with new menace. Of course he remembers Dru’s mother. He executed her. Who could forget that?

Somber, sincere Angel sired the demented, dangerous Drusilla. Certainly not the kind of thing you want to hear about the man you love. Buffy knows the truth now. She wishes she didn’t, but she asked for it. She can’t hide from it now. Well, she could, but that’s not how Buffy operates. She has to face the fact Ford is lying, too. No friend of the slayer would apply to a secret society that reveres vampires. Disaster in duplicate. Or triplicate, if you count her friends’ we-did-it-for-your-own-good conspiracy. Buffy is smarting.

The next day, Ford flags Buffy down and asks if they can go out hunting vampires again. He’s got a surprise for her. Oh, she bets he does. They make plans to meet later. She watches him go with a heavy heart.

Ford and the True Believers congregate at the club, discussing the coming event when they will be “blessed.” Diego hopes Ford’s friends don’t show up - they’re not true believers. Ford freezes. What friends? The two guys and girl who showed up last night, Diego supplies. They weren’t friends. Chantarelle worries this will interfere with the blessing, but Ford says it won’t be a problem.

Buffy materializes behind Ford and begs to differ. She wants to know what Ford’s up to. To be become a vampire, of course. Funny thing - vampires are picky about who they turn. Then Buffy realizes Ford offered her up as a trade for the “blessing.” At Ford’s signal, Diego locks them in with a special rig that can only be opened from the outside. No doorknob. No way out. They’re trapped. Vampires will enter and no one will leave. Not with a pulse, anyway.

We’ll wrap up tomorrow with the conclusion, review the writing elements spotlighted, and do another GMCD check.

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