Season 3, Episode 14 | Aired: 9 February 1999 | Written by: Douglas Petrie | Directed by: Michael Lange
Buffy and Faith push past their usual patrol limits — more reckless, more aggressive, more fun, according to Faith. The energy escalates until Faith kills a man. Allan Finch is the Mayor’s Deputy, and Faith kills him in the dark thinking he’s a vampire. The episode ends on that realisation, and everything that comes after flows from it.
What Happens
A new Watcher — Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof), deeply annoying, deeply incompetent — arrives to replace Giles. The Scoobies ignore him. Meanwhile, Faith pulls Buffy into her approach to Slaying: break-ins, adrenaline, the thrill of it. Buffy finds it seductive. Then they kill a man who turns out to be human, and the seductiveness ends immediately. For Buffy. Faith’s response is different.
Key Moments
The killing itself — fast, ambiguous, the show not letting you process it before the episode ends. And the closing shot: Buffy’s face as the truth arrives. Faith’s face showing something much harder to name.
Monster / Villain
Balthazar (Christian Clemenson) — a large, immobile demon who wants his amulet back. He’s dispatched by the end. The real threat is the decision Faith and Buffy made together in the dark.
Notable Quote
“Want. Take. Have.” — Faith’s philosophy, stated simply. It will not serve her.
Where It Fits
Bad Girls is the pivot of the Faith arc. Everything before it is prologue; everything after is consequence. The killing of Allan Finch is the moment that makes Faith’s season three story inevitable, and it’s staged so quickly that you almost miss how large it is.