Lie to Me

Lie to Me
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Joss Whedon

Original Airdate:

Plot:Buffy happens upon a chance encounter between Dru and Angel on a school-yard playground, setting off feelings of jealousy from her when Angel denies the occurrence later. An old friend, Ford, arrives from L.A. and wants to renew his friendship with Buffy, but he has a deadly ulterior motive for re-establishing contact with the Slayer.

Review

Note: Over the years, a lot of people have e-mailed me, pointing out that my reviews for season two were incomplete. I've got a lot of e-mail asking me, "So, when are you going to take a look at Lie to Me?" to which my response was--"Soon." Well, today "soon" has arrived. Thanks the magnificent Buffy season two DVD set, I sat down to finally turn my critical eye to "Lie to Me." It has been difficult for me--simply because it was "Lie to Me" that really began my Buffy obsession, so I have some very special feelings of nostalgia and love for it. But I will do my best to put those aside and comment one of the classic and I feel underrated episodes of Buffy. I hope you enjoy it!

Warning: I will not cover up the truth in any way. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the second season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Lie to Me." If you've not yet seen this episode, I strongly suggest you turn back now. It's got some good stuff that is really better seen fresh. You have been warned...

In short: A good episode made great by a strong coda.

"Everybody lies, Summers."

That one line by Ford pretty much sums up everything that's going on in "Lie to Me."

Everyone is lying. By the end of the story, everyone has told a lie in some way, shape or form. It might be something as simple as not volunteering all the information (Xander's confirmations to Ford in the Bronze about Angel's age and his cold hands) or simply omitting information so as not to hurt Buffy or cause suspicision (Willow and Angel's quest to find background information on Ford). No matter how you slice it, lying, when discovered will cause tension and anguish in any relationship.

We have only to look at the Jenny/Giles date to see that. Buffy's reaction to Jenny's choice of a date--monster truck rally--is superbly done. But it's not as telling as the fact that Giles refused to tell Jenny he was unhappy there and didn't want to stay. It's one of those little white lies of omission you tell because you want to make the other person happy. It's a part of any relationship, really--the ability to compromise and not always get your own way.

It's a white lie--almost as white as the one Angel tells Buffy when she tries to get him to come clean about Druscilla early-on in the story. And there are white lies aplenty here--from Jenny keeping a secret about the monster truck rally to Dru not telling Spike she'd gone out looking for lunch to Willow's keeping the fact that Angel came to her room from Buffy and Xander. All of these are, for the most part, relatively harmless. It's just when the whole lying ball of yarn begins to unravel that the small lies become compounded because of the big ones being withheld from Buffy.

Buffy's discovery of who Dru is and what Angel did to her foreshadows what he will soon do to try and destroy the Slayer. Indeed, Angel pretty much outlines his entire plan to destroy Buffy in what he did to Dru--kill her friends and family, drive her insane and make her feel alone. Then when he's broken her down to her lowest point, he'll kill her. (Between this episode and When She Was Bad, Joss Whedon foreshadows pretty much all of the final story arc of season two. It's just in retrospect that we get to see it). Buffy's discovering that Angel has a lot of things in his past that she might not want to know about is interesting. Buffy is torn between two men--one who has a dark past and one who seems to not have a dark past in the form of Ford.

Indeed, it would have been easy to make Ford someone that's easy to hate. But instead of going this simple route--Ford is evil and wants to be a vampire, Joss Whedon instead chooses to paint him in shades of gray. And I've got to admit I like that a lot more than a one-note villain. A villain works best if he/she has a good motivation and thinks what they're doing is the right thing--in fact, the only choice available to them. (For a great example of this, see season two and three of Farscape with Scorpius who is, by far, the best recurring villain on TV today). And Ford is absolutely convinced what he's doing is right.

He's seen all the vampire movies and figures this is his way out. (The scene with Ford reciting dialogue to the film as it plays in the background is a really, really nice touch.) He can be immortal and won't leave behind a smelly, bald corpse, which seems to be his big fear. He wants to take the James Dean way out--live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse. (Which isn't it ironic that in the end when he is resurrected his vampire body is seemingly more ugly than the usual vampire faces we see on screen?). Ford thinks himself superior to those that he's got to follow him.

But I'd argue it's more a case of the one-eyed man leading the kingdom of the blind.

Yes, Ford doesn't outwardly show that he's a part of the cult and worships the vampires, but inside his fantasy life is just as elaborate. At his first meeting with Spike, Ford has scripted out how the encounter should go. Buffy later tells him that she won't play into his fantasy drama that he's worked out in his head--and feel sorry for him. On a lot of levels, Ford is the same type of "geek" that Chanterelle is...he just looks better based on how the outside world sees him.

The idea that Ford is dying and he sees this as his one chance at redemption and life is a great motivator. It elevates "Lie to Me" from simply a good Buffy story to a great one.

But the icing on the cake that takes it from good to classic is the coda.

The interesting thing is that in the entire episode the only regular cast member who isn't lying to Buffy is Giles. And, in the end, to get some comfort, Buffy has Giles lie to her--telling her a pretty story about how easy life is and that the good guys always win. It's a perfect black and white thing and since so much of the show is drawn in shades of gray, you can see why Buffy wants to hear the story told to her that way.

All in all, Lie to Me has so much going for it. And I haven't even got around to how immensely quotable the entire story is. So many good Buffy one-liners in the story--so many that you barely miss that Cordelia isn't around for much of the story beyond her defense of Marie Antoinette.

So, I guess that's about it for now except a few small things..

--Willow's "getting" what "I Touch Myself" is about is one of the funniest Buffy moments ever. It may only be topped by Willow's nervous attempts later to not engage in any conversation that might lead her to have to out and out lie to Buffy. (Anyone who doubts that Allyson Hannigan has been extremely overlooked for an Emmy needs only see those scenes).

--The whole Jenny/Giles date thing was superbly done. Giles' line about the funny cars was extremely well done.

So, overall, "Lie to Me" is one of the out and out classics of Buffy. And I think it's one of the more underrated stories as well. If you've not seen it lately, I'd say brush it off and give it another look. I think you're going to love what you see.

My rating: 10.0 (out of 10.0)

"Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after."
--Giles