Band Candy

Not to be confused with The Candy Band or Candy (band).

"Band Candy"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 6
Directed by	Michael Lange
Written by	Jane Espenson
Production code	3ABB06
Original air date	November 10, 1998 (1998-11-10)
Guest appearances
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers K. Todd Freeman as Mr. Trick Robin Sachs as Ethan Rayne Harry Groener as Mayor Richard Wilkins Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder Jason Hall as Devon MacLeish Peg Stewart as Ms. Barton

"Band Candy" is the sixth episode of season three of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by Jane Espenson, directed by Michael Lange, and first broadcast on The WB on November 10, 1998.

Plot

Principal Snyder hands out boxes of candy to all the students, which they must sell to pay for new marching band uniforms. Buffy sells half of her chocolate bars to her mom, and the other half to Giles. She then visits Angel, who is practicing tai chi. When she arrives home, Buffy finds her mother and Giles eating the band candy.

The next day, Giles fails to show up for study hall, where Xander and Willow are playing footsie. Worried, Buffy goes to Giles' home and finds her mom on the couch. Joyce offhandedly gives her the car keys to drive home, to Buffy's astonishment. Giles, now acting like he did as a teen, invites Joyce out for some fun.

Buffy and Willow find The Bronze packed with adults who are acting like teenagers, including Principal Snyder. They return to Giles' place to find out what is going on.

At the warehouse, the vampire Mr. Trick checks up on Ethan Rayne and the production of the chocolate bars. Trick suddenly accuses one of the workers of eating the candy, and kills him as an example to the others.

Buffy eventually puts two and two together and realizes that the candy is making everyone act like immature teenagers. She sends Willow and Oz to the library and drives to the warehouse. Upon arrival, Buffy finds her mother and Giles kissing in the middle of the street. Inside the warehouse, Buffy catches Ethan; her threat of violence persuades him to reveal that Trick needs to dull Sunnydale adults in order to collect a tribute for a demon named Lurconis. Meanwhile, four vampires enter the hospital to remove four newborn babies. Willow phones Buffy from the library and tells her that Lurconis eats babies. Giles remembers that the demon may be found in the sewers.

Down in the sewers, the Mayor and Mr. Trick wait impatiently while the four vampires chant in a ceremony to summon Lurconis. Buffy, Giles and Joyce crash the party, and the Mayor quickly flees unnoticed. Buffy fights the vampires while Giles and Joyce take the babies to safety. The huge snake-like demon appears and swallows one of the vampires whole. Giles attacks Trick, but is thrown into the path of Lurconis. Buffy pulls down a gas pipe, igniting a fire that kills the demon.

Back at his office, the Mayor asks why Trick fled, allowing Buffy to kill Lurconis. Trick replies that he thought he did the Mayor a favor by having the Slayer kill the demon, leaving one less demon to whom the Mayor would owe tribute. The Mayor warns Trick against doing him any more such favors.

The next day, the adults have returned to their senses. Buffy and Giles meet Joyce, and Buffy exclaims that they are lucky she stopped them before they did more than they did. Joyce and Giles look very embarrassed, but Buffy fails to notice.

Themes

The site InsectReflection.com discusses the characters, their inner selves, and their behaviors. Of Joyce, essayist Emily (last name not given) says:

There are few demographics more underrepresented in Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Adult Female Characters. ... This is one of the few episodes, even within this season, that allows us to understand Joyce as a person, and it does this by showing us who she is outside of the role of Mother. ... She is somewhat impulsive – readily handing over her car keys to an unqualified Buffy. She is rebellious, though in a safe, teenage way that extends in its extremes to a little weed and petty theft. She is easily impressed, and eager to impress others. She tries to show off to 'Ripper' – proudly bragging of her ability to order pay-per-view, and exclaiming how "cool" and "brave" his teenage antics are."

Of Giles:

The backstory already provided for Giles in "Halloween" and "The Dark Age" establishes Giles' motivations for his ambivalent autocracy towards Buffy. ... Ripper emerges here in all his punkish glory, showing himself to be as much a real part of Giles as this Joyce is the "real" Joyce. Ripper is Giles' own Shadow Self, not incorporated into his consciousness but hidden, beneath the tweed, taking only a little magical prod to emerge and take over his entire personality. This episode is the most we ever see of Ripper, and as rip-roaringly entertaining as it is to see Anthony Stewart Head in this mode (his goading of Buffy to punch Ethan and yelp of cheer when she does so remains a real highlight), it is to the show's benefit that 'Ripper' is seen only sparingly, as it increases the impact when Giles does invoke his darker side.

And of Buffy:

Buffy is not as ready as she thinks she is. ... It's a common lesson for teenage coming-of-age stories... She is more mature than any of the candy-drunk adults in this episode – demonstrated when she has to snap Ripper, Joyce and Snyder into useful action, and takes responsible charge of the situation. ... This is not because of any special ability of Buffy – it's simply a natural effect of the structure of this genre. This is a teen drama, and it is interested in the teen perspective... one that sees teenagers as intelligent and responsible, and adults as obstinate and out of touch.

She concludes, "It is this commitment to the teenage perspective that allows Buffy, and the other female characters of her age, to escape the fate of Joyce. ... This is the space where misogyny meets the honest needs of the genre."

Reception

Noel Murray of The A.V. Club writes that the episode "shows an alternate version of Sunnydale that's grounded in the town's own dark reality. Or as Oz says, 'Sobering mirror to look into, huh?'"

Reviewer Brett White enthuses, "Zombies, monsters, snazzy vampires, our heroine had seen it and slayed it week in and week out without breaking a sweat or a nail. And then came "Band Candy." ... In the episode, written by Buffy's comedy maven Jane Espenson, all the adults in Sunnydale got mentally and emotionally de-aged back to their hormonal teenage selves. ... "Band Candy" isn't a totally essential episode of Buffy, but it's still a fan favorite. Truthfully, all of Espenson's episodes are comedy classics, packed with some of the best one-liners in the entire series."

External links

• "Band Candy" at IMDb