BtVS: Beauty & the Beasts & Homecoming

Beauty & the Beasts, an Oz centered episode, is the buffyverse's answer to Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. thematically it deals with possessive, abusive boyfriends.

since becoming a werewolf Oz has been locking himself in the cage in the school library overnight (presumably to save time getting to class the next morning). after reading a report about a student getting mauled in the newspaper Giles, and the scoobies are worried he might have gotten out. Xander, who was supposed to be watching him, fell asleep and can't confirm he was there all night.
postit: logically, it doesn't make sense that a werewolf, once liberated from captivity, would voluntarily return to his cage, but Oz was there in the morning when Xander woke up.

then next night Buffy runs into a more or less feral Angel while on patrol. frightened that Angel is the culprit for the student's murder, she chains him up at the mansion on Crawford St.
telling Giles she had a dream where Angel came back, she tries to find out more about what Angel would be like after returning from a hell dimension.

Meanwhile..
in compliance with Snyder's conditions for returning to school, Buffy visits the school psychologist. on her second visit she finds him mauled. with him being killed during the daylight hours, Oz and Angel are both cleared of the murders.

as it turns out the murderer is Pete Clarner (John Patrick White) an old friend of Scott Hope's. having read "How to put up girls through modern chemistry" our boy turns into a veiny poster boy for anger management. when he sees Oz in the quad with Debby (his girlfriend, played by Danielle Weeks) he picks the wrong guy at the wrong time of day to mess with. in the middle of fighting Oz transforms into a werewolf. choosing retreat as the better part of valor, Pete takes off.

in the end Angel, having pulled his chains loose from the wall at the mansion, finds him attacking Buffy and breaks Pete's neck with them.

Giles report:
Giles gets shot with an tranquilizer dart meant for Pete. though technically not a knock out, he does fall to the floor unconscious. in his own words it's a "bloody priceless" Giles moment.

in Homecoming Buffy and Cordy go head to head in a rivalry over homecoming queen. Mr. Trick returns with a plan to eliminate both Slayers in a competition he calls Slayerfest.

the show opens with Buffy telling Angel what's been going on in her life since he's been in hell, including that she has a new boyfriend. naturally, the next scene has Scott telling Buffy he wants to break up. now dateless for homecoming Buffy is feeling a bit down in the dumps. when she finds out that she won't even have a picture in the yearbook because Cordy forgot to tell her, she awakens the prom queen within and starts campaigning for the crown.

enter Mayor Richard Wilkens III...
finally we're introduced to the mayor of Sunnydale. now, from the few times he's been mentioned we're expecting one really scary dude. and he is, but not in the way one might expect. played by Harry Groener, Mayor Wilkens is an easy going, fun loving, family man, who's actually not a bad guy. he's a bit of a germophobe, but other than that and the fact that he's sold his soul to a demon for political gain, he's not so bad.
of course that's sometimes the nature of evil, which the Mayor truly is.

in the end the Mayor hires Mr. Trick to handle his shadier deals.

remember that potential romance i mentioned...
between Willow and Xander? the one that almost happened last season but didn't? well, guess what.. just when both characters have settled into solid relationships with Oz and Cordy (respectively), they discover they're attracted to each other. talk about bad timing.
Giles Report:
Lyle Gorch and his new wife knock Giles out and wait for Buffy and Cordy at the library.

Jonathan Watch: Buffy bribes Jonathan, the all purpose student, with a cupcake to get his vote for homecoming queen, only to discover that Cordy paid him $6.00.