Doppelgangland - Buffy Episode Review

MikeJer's Buffy Reviews

DOPPELGANGLAND (3x16)

A review by Mikelangelo "MikeJer" Marinaro,
January 8, 2006

Writer:	Joss Whedon
Director:	Joss Whedon

Review
Minor Pros/Cons
Foreshadowing
Quotes

Score
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WARNING: This is a retrospective review and may contain SPOILERS. Read at your own discretion.

Here represents another Whedon-written success. This episode is everything we've come to expect from BtVS. Willow's self-confidence is the focus and it manages to be hilarious, witty, fun, exciting, and fascinating. There's significant character development and foreshadowing going on and the entertaining Vampire Willow is the reason why it all gets forced out. Plot threads from the season are also seamlessly woven into the story along with development for a reappearing Anya now stuck in a younger body and forced to live as a human again. This is simply wonderful television.

Early on Buffy is talking about how if things had turned out differently for her she might be just like Faith is now. Willow responds, "some people just don't have that in them." This is ultimately a correct statement. Some people just don't have an evil bone in them and Buffy, for all her issues, is fundamentally a person who will not do evil.

Ever since the S2 episode "Halloween" (2x06) Willow has been slowly gaining and retaining confidence boosts. The problem is that these boosts have been confined within her circle of friends. To the outside world, as iconified by Percy here, she is still weak and accomodating. Her natural growth of confidence just isn't fast enough. All of this explodes to the surface when Buffy calls her "old reliable." She acts out by breaking her routine and turning to black magic. Willow herself fully realizes her perceived problem through Vampire Willow's influence on everyone around her.

Willow says about herself, "She bothered me. She's so weak and accommodating. She's always letting people walk all over her, and then she gets cranky with her friends for no reason. I just couldn't let her live." And with that statement she actually has killed off her innocent persona. Percy's newfound respect for her is a confirmation to her that having power makes you important in the eyes of other people. Although her change won't be instant, she takes action to rid herself of this persona as early as "Choices" (3x19) when she volunteers for a dangerous mission, proactively uses her magic in the field, and then stands up to Faith at knife-point.

By the time Tara comes into the picture ("Hush" [4x10]) Willow's built a new personality for herself where she is confident in the outside world. The problem is that most of this confidence stems from the power she gets when using black magic. In "Wrecked" (6x10) she says, "if you could be ... you know, plain old Willow or super Willow, who would you be? ... I mean, Buffy, who was I? Just, some girl. Tara didn't even know that girl." That just highlights how much of a turning point this episode actually is for her.

If someone had for some reason been reading this review up to this point without seeing the episode, they'd probably be under the impression that this was a serious episode. All of the huge issues that are going on with Willow are expertly wrapped up in a genuinely fun package. Nothing exemplifies this fact more than the scene in the library where Willow walks in when Buffy, Xander, and Giles all thought she was a vampire. Xander runs up to her and sticks a cross in her face, hilariously shakes it a bunch, and then sticks it in her face again. Buffy and Xander then run up to hug her as she asks Giles what the heck is going on. Then Giles runs up and hugs her! After getting a hilariously worried face she poses a question to the group, "Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, did ya?" There are really too many hilarious scenes to even count in this one including Anya's chat with D'Hoffryn, her failure to get beer, Wesley's boyish fright, and the outfit exchange with Vampire Willow.

When seeing this episode for the first time I had a genuine good time but didn't think the episode held any lasting importance to the series. Upon review I realize that this has a ton of lasting importance involving Willow's character. All of this wonderful development and foreshadowing is cleverly camoflauged by Whedon as a hilarious throw-away episode. Whedon is a genius (I'm curious how many times I'll end up saying this by series end). Enough said.

	Pros:
+	D'Hoffryn is amusing from his very first appearance.
+	Snyder mentioning "last year's debacle with the swim team."
+	Faith playing the spy. Also, I find the father/daughter relationship between her and the Mayor weird, touching, amusing, and most of all, fascinating.
+	Willow saying the words, "magic is dangerous, Anya, i-it's, it's not to be toyed with." When you know what's to come, that line is hilarious coming from her.
+	Vampire Willow beating up Percy. Very fun.
+	Buffy and Xander's initial reaction to Vampire Willow.
+	Both Willows' interacting with each other. Serious fun.
+	Willow not only putting on the leather outfit but bothering to put the fuzzy outfit she had onto Vampire Willow.
+	Buffy's highly entertaining plan to have Willow 'send' vamps outside one by one for them to kill.
+	Willow noticing her breasts when in Vampire Willow's outfit. "Gosh, look at those."
+	Cordelia chatting with Vampire Willow about the "ethics of boyfriend stealing."
+	Wesley being terrified but Cordelia warming up to him anyway. "Yes...uhh...yes."
+	Vampire Willow dying the moment she gets sent back to her reality.

	Cons:
-	Vampire Willow is trying to strangle Willow. With vampire strength there's no way Willow would have lasted that long.

In the beginning of the episode Willow mentions how the magic she's using to float the pencil is all about emotional control. When the topic of Faith comes up she loses control and the magic becomes erratic and violent. This happens again and again in upcoming seasons and to much more severe degrees.
Willow says, referring to Vampire Willow, "I'm so evil and... skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay." Angel then starts to correct Buffy when she says that a vampire's personality is nothing like the person they originally were. In the course of the series we never see Willow become outright 'skanky,' but she does become evil (S6) and she does become gay (S4).

WILLOW:	(excited) Hey, you wanna go to the Espresso Pump and get sugared up on mochas?
BUFFY:	I'm gonna pass. Hit the pool and do some laps.
WILLOW:	(bewildered) How come the sudden calisthenics? Aren't you sort of naturally buff, Buff? (giggles) Buff buff!

MAYOR:	No Slayer of mine is gonna live in a fleabag hotel. That place has a very unsavory reputation. There are immoral liaisons going on there.
FAITH:	Yeah, plus all the screwing.

WILLOW:	'Old Reliable'? Yeah, great. There's a sexy nickname.
BUFFY:	Well, I-I didn't mean it as...
WILLOW:	No, it's fine. I'm 'Old Reliable'.
XANDER:	She just means, you know, the geyser. You're like a geyser of fun that goes off at regular intervals.
WILLOW:	(disgustedly) That's Old Faithful.
XANDER:	Isn't that the dog that, that the guy had to shoot...
WILLOW:	(incensed) That's Old Yeller!

ANYA:	Yeah. Um, listen, I have this little project I'm working on, and I heard you were the person to ask if...
WILLOW:	(interrupts, ironically) Yeah, that's me. Reliable-Dog-Geyser Person.

WILLOW:	It's really nice that you guys missed me. Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, did ya?
XANDER:	Will, we saw you at the Bronze. A vampire.
WILLOW:	I'm not a vampire.
BUFFY:	You are. I-I mean, you, you were. Giles, planning on jumping in with an explanation any time soon?
GILES:	Well, uh... something... something, um, very strange is happening.
XANDER:	Can you believe the Watcher's Council let this guy go?

ANYA:	What a day. (to the bartender) Gimme a beer.
BARTENDER:	I.D.
:	(she gives him an incredulous look)
BARTENDER:	I.D.
ANYA:	I'm eleven hundred and twenty years old! Just gimme a friggin' beer!
BARTENDER:	I.D.
ANYA:	(sighs, defeated) Gimme a Coke.

ANGEL:	(very upset) Buffy, I... I just... Something's happened that... (blurts it out) Willow's dead. (distractedly) Hey, Willow. (very confused) Wait a second.
XANDER:	We're right there with you, buddy.

WILLOW:	A human? Oh, yeah? Could a human do this?
:	(she screams at the top of her lungs)
ANYA:	Sure. Yeah. Humans do that. Yeah. (shrugs)

BUFFY:	You wanna go out tonight?
WILLOW:	Strangely, I feel like staying at home... (sadly) and doing my homework... and flossing... and dying a virgin.

95/100

A
■ ■ ■ ■ ■

A sharply written episode consisting of zero major mistakes. Usually develops characters in a meaningful manner and is a joy to watch on repeat viewings. Near perfect, but not quite there.

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1.	buffyholicJul 26, 2007 (Thu)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	This is a really great episode. It had everything working for me: comedy, action and great development for Willow. Anya is just wonderful, she was really a great addition to the show. All in all, a success.

2.	JadenJun 18, 2008 (Wed)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	wait so an A episode can beat a P episode in your favourites?

3.	MikeJerJun 18, 2008 (Wed)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	Yes Jaden, because my Top 25 is more of a personal favorites list (with a little objectivity thrown in) while my reviews are mostly me trying to be objective with a little bit of favoritism thrown in (with some exceptions). But look for a some score tweaking to many of my reviews after I'm done with S7.

4.	TonyJun 19, 2008 (Thu)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	Yeah, I loved this episode as well. The beer I.D. thing is hilarious.

5.	BtVSobsessedSep 29, 2008 (Mon)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	I got interested in Buffy through iTunes and continued with DVDs. Never saw an episode during the series run and regret it. Now I'm totally hooked and love re-watching episodes. It is a really wonderful show with great depth and complex characterizations, as your reviews clearly show. This is one of my favorite episodes. It's so much fun to re-watch. Alison Hannigan's performance is very impressive. There is such a different tone when she's playing Vamp Willow vs. Willow. There are just two distinct characterizations and it's always clear which one we are seeing, though it seems plausible that the other characters can't tell them apart when they don't know there are two of them. However, one thing that's always bothered me is Faith and Wesley coming cheerfully into the Library joking around after some training. The last time we saw them interact Faith was violently escaping from being transported back to England by Wesley to be tried for killing the Deputy Mayor. I know Faith appeared to turn back to the good side by staking Mr. Trick at the end of Consequences, but this playful camaraderie between Faith and Wesley just doesn't fit. Why doesn't Faith still have to go to England to see the Watcher's Council? Why is Wesley treating her with such ease? Did she really absolve herself of all of her misdeeds (killing Allan Finch, accusing Buffy of the murder, etc.) simply by killing Mr. Trick? Is anyone else bothered by this or am I nitpicking? Or did I miss something? Thanks for the great reviews.

6.	bigmoneygripOct 22, 2008 (Wed)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	Favorite parts: The look that Giles and Xander exchanged not only after Willow said "Gosh, look at those" and when Willow jokingly talked about dominatrix, leather and Oz. That was precious. The main guy vamp in the Bronze was amusing. Xander bolting to rescue Willow when he thought she was getting beat up. The quick smile and wave Willow give Oz when she's pretending to be a vamp. When Willow says "bored, now" bad things happen (Angel's torture, Percy getting beat up, Warren losing his skin).

7.	SamNov 27, 2008 (Thu)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	This is a great episode--really great. I think it's Whedon's best in S3. It's witty and sexy [Vamp Willow licking Willow=yummy]. She ends up learning a lot about herself as a result, and I think it's about time we got a good Willow-centric ep. Go Joss!

8.	Nathan.TaurusApr 18, 2009 (Sat)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	I agree with your comments and myself enjoy the episode, although I rate 'The Wish' higher because you have to suspend belief longer in this episode than the other. The people at the Bronze forget about the expendable vampires who attack them, but it seems more difficult to forget that Willow killed someone as a vamp. I know we find out that the residents know strange things happen in Sunnydale in 'The Prom' but it still hurts the episode for me a little.

9.	willtylerApr 21, 2009 (Tue)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	This is one of my favorite episodes. I think that its great when the vamp willow and the norm willow are hugging and the vamp willow smiles and the norm willow jumps back and says "HANDS" classic The other clever instance is when norm willow grabs the tranquilizer gun (her trademark weapon) and shoots vamp willow and all she says is: "bitch."

10.	gilbertSep 20, 2009 (Sun)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	The thing I loved most about this episode is that it REALLY gave Alyson Hannigan a chance to show off -- playing, essentially, four different characters. Normal Willow, Vamp Willow, Normal Willow pretending to be Vamp Willow (in the Bronze), and Vamp Willow pretending to be normal Willow (to trick Cordelia). She had to play not just these two very opposite types, but also extrapolate to what each of those people would act like if they were trying to pass themselves off as the other, and she pulled it off brilliantly.

11.	Scoobasteve83Sep 20, 2009 (Sun)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	Now I don't know if this can really be considered as forshadowy (GOD, I obviously watched this series too often... ;-)). Vampire Willow has one particular line she uses in both "The Wish" as well as in this episode which is "Bored now!" (SPOILER ALERT) which is exactly what Dark Willow says at the end of Season 6 just before she skins Warren. (SPOILER END) Maybe you should put that one in the foreshadowing section as well, MikeJer.

12.	ChristianSep 23, 2009 (Wed)View This Person's Comments \| Link
	I didnt care much for this ep whn I first saw it, but now I really like it. I think its hillarious and has great moments. I like the "Bored now" observation. Willow rocks!! In any of her forms =)

13.	ShannonFeb 10, 2010 (Wed) @ 4:48pmView This Person's Comments \| Link
	This is definitely one of my favorite episodes of the whole series. I agree that Willow's little wave and smile to Oz when she first comes into the Bronze in vampire costume is priceless- she is so adorable (and tough!) in this episode. So based on the fact that Anya is doing a spell to try to get her necklace back, it makes sense that she must be aware of the alterna-Sunnydale - I wonder why she never mentions it to anyone.

14.	fray-adjacentMay 26, 2010 (Wed) @ 10:08amView This Person's Comments \| Link
	The first time I watched the series, I was delighted to see Willow grow in confidence and in her skill as a witch. I didn't recognize the foreshadowing of Willow using her power to manipulate people and emotions, or to rely on her magical talents and the power they gave her as her source of confidence. Now, as I re-watch, it's very interesting to see how these develop. I think that Willow does undergo quite a bit of "natural" (non-magical) development and confidence-building. We see this really start, as MikeJer has pointed out, in "Halloween" (2x08), but it continues in "The Dark Age" (2x10), when Willow figures out how to solve the demon possession (get it to possess Angel), and in numerous other small moments throughout the next few seasons. Willow's relationship with Oz, who is probably the most emotionally mature of the Scoobies (besides perhaps Giles) at this point, is important too. This is one of the reasons why, even after Tara leaves Willow and she quits magic, Willow still has a self to fall back on, a self that is stronger and more confident than the person we saw in "Welcome to the Hellmouth," even though Willow herself doesn't seem to believe it in "Wrecked." That is the Willow that Tara loves and comes back to in "Entropy," though this Willow is still too fragile to withstand the shock and horror of Tara's death one episode later. But I think there is even more to it than that. Willow has inherent magical talent, a talent that she cultivates into a considerable skill through long, hard work and a desire to do good in the world. In this sense Willow is not so different from Buffy. Yes, Willow sometimes gives in to the temptation to manipulate relationships and people through her power; this is her main failing, and a damn scary one. (Buffy, by comparison, doesn't face this temptation because she doesn't have the power to do those things anyway.) A major part of Willow's growth and increased confidence is through magic, but I don't believe this is always bad. Willow discovers that she has a skill that can contribute enormously to the important work that the Scoobies do, and she loves doing it. That Willow gives into the temptation to use this power unethically shows the ways in which she still is not confident in herself. But that doesn't mean that magic, or the confidence (and even joy) that Willow derives from practicing it, is inherently bad. We see this in Willow in Season 7. Although Willow is afraid of her power, she knows it is an inherent part of her, and she develops the strong solid core self that she needs to use that power for the good instead of for selfish reasons. (Sorry this comment isn't really about "Doppelgangland," which I agree is a marvelous episode, a fantastic mix of great humor and important character development, though the latter's not apparent on first viewing. This just seemed like as good a place as any to put in my views on Willow's development.)

15.	nathan.taurusAug 22, 2010 (Sun) @ 7:04pmView This Person's Comments \| Link
	The Good: Willow and Percy. "You want us to breed?" Double standards Willow saying that magic shouldn't be toyed with. Xander saving Percy, but thinking he is saving Willow. Buffy's reaction to seeing vamp Willow thinking it's Willow. "Oh my God, you're Willow." Vamp Willow breaking the attackers fingers. I cringed. The great library scene when Xander/Buffy/Giles realise Willow is not dead. Willow shocked by her own cleavage. Wesley and Cordelia. Wesley screams. "Men in combat, grrr." The Bad: Willow's pink flower sweater. Maybe in season one, but not now. Willow somehow knowing the words to the spell. Anya had to explain who they were praying to. Why are people still sitting at there tables when the vamps are there? Willow survives Vamp Willow choking her. Too many extras not acting anything. How could they ever explain Willow killing someone. There should have been half a dozen extras.

16.	SusanAug 26, 2010 (Thu) @ 7:52amView This Person's Comments \| Link
	I laughed out loud many times during this episode which I would have been tempted to give a "P" if I were the one doing the rating. I loved the look on her face when Snyder was talking about the perfect marriage between her and Percy at the beginning of the episode and she said : "You want us to breed????????" Also, Willow uses the exact same line "...and I think I'm kind of gay" in the season 6 episode "Tabula Rasa" just before the spell is broken.

17.	yippers6Sep 26, 2010 (Sun) @ 1:15pmView This Person's Comments \| Link
	willow got her hand stuck in a girl's hair and i think it was tara

18.	TunaJan 4, 2011 (Tue) @ 9:06amView This Person's Comments \| Link
	Great things: "She was truly the best of us." "Way better than me." "Yes, much, much better than you." "So, in your universe, I'm like this badass vampire, huh?" exasperated look "Oh yeah, I'm bad."

19.	deadlegoApr 26, 2011 (Tue) @ 6:44amView This Person's Comments \| Link
	@Mikejer Could you please explain to me why this episode isn't a 'P' considering you don't mention a single thing that you find problematic in it. From reading your review I would presume that you would score it 'P'. I love this episode and would give it a 'p'.

20.	MikeJerApr 26, 2011 (Tue) @ 11:35amView This Person's Comments \| Link
	@deadlego: Good point. There is an inconsistency there. In general, the earlier the review, the more inconsistent it is. Precisely because of this I am currently in the process of polishing up all my reviews from the start. This will include revisions to some reviews and a re-evaluation of the scores, which is why I have recently redone all of my Season 1 episode reviews. Expect everything to be a lot more consistent after this process is completed across the entire series. My updated comprehensive Season 1 Review is about to be released, which is where I'm currently at. As for "Doppelgangland," I will definitely re-evaluate both the episode and the score when I get to it on the 'polish pass.'

21.	deadlegoApr 27, 2011 (Wed) @ 1:51pmView This Person's Comments \| Link
	Great! Thanks for taking the time to explain, I love your updated season 1 reviews. It is so refreshing for a site to have retrospective reviews which cover how the episodes relate to each other without having to leave things out for fear of spoilers. So much more insight can be taken away from an episode when one is free to make comparison to any other episode in the series, or point out foreshadowing even if it is in relation to an episode from several seasons later.

22.	MikeJerApr 27, 2011 (Wed) @ 3:41pmView This Person's Comments \| Link
	I couldn't agree more. This is partially why I decided make the site in the first place. While I saw plenty of reviews on the internet from people who were watching the episodes for the first time, I couldn't find very many that were doing retrospective reviews. Of all the reviews I had read, retrospective or not, I found the vast majority of them to be very wanting. Either they were way too analytical to the point of not even knowing if the reviewer liked an episode, or they were way too superficial to the point where there was no substantive analysis. Plus, at the time at least, I couldn't find anyone who looked at seasons as a whole (outside of entirely casual review sites like IGN). Hence my season reviews were born. I craved a reviewer that offered all of these things, as I felt strongly that a show like Buffy truly deserved this kind of attention. Since I couldn't find it elsewhere I had to try to do it myself. :)

23.	Gemma Jan 23, 2012 (Mon) @ 11:08amView This Person's Comments \| Link
	This is one of those episodes up there with the Zeppo and Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered, Earshot and Band Candy for laughs with character development being an underlying prominent theme. Loved the scene with Buffy, Giles and Xander expressing grief over Willow being 'dead'! And then the hugs! Angel's reaction to! priceless. Another moment that i enjoyed was Cordelia's and Vamp Willow's encounter, the listening to the boyfriend stealing and then the presence of Wesley! Great! Oh and the Apple scene! Percy giving his teacher an Apple! HA! I value this season highly, looking retrospectively i'm of the opinion that this season is probably the strongest for stand alone comedy value moments and episodes all be them screened in the middle of one of the cohesive and poignant big bad's of Buffyverse! The Mayor and Faith. Truly great viewing. its a shame we didn't get to see the results of the Buffy vs Faith Slayer test and from this point on i will miss Vamp Willow. I remember her fondly! Oh and i wonder what with Angel sort of being aware that Willow is sort of going to be gay...what his thoughts were towards Oz?

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