The Doppleganger Within

We fans think that we know the characters in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel." The characters on "Buffy" all think that they know each other far too thoroughly for surprises. Sometimes we (and they) are proven wrong, and sometimes it seems that the team writing "BtVS" and "Angel" are too pleased with themselves for remembering the characters' convoluted history to keep track of who the characters actually are. In a perfect Jossverse irony, this is best illustrated by episodes about... who the characters actually are, such as "The Replacement" and "First Impressions."

There's a fine line between paying tribute to the classics and being too derivative, and Joss Whedon walks that line with conscious delight, daring his audience to keep track of all the pop-culture TV and movie references in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel." When he chooses to tell a story about how each of us has a hidden side that even we ourselves don't see, there's no doubt that his decision to call upon the icons of contemporary mythology is just as deliberate as a fan's decision to write fan fiction. Just as the Buffy/Faith body-switching scenario last season paid tribute to the final original Star Trek episode, "Turnabout Intruder," the "BtVS" episode "The Replacement" harks back to original Trek's "The Enemy Within."

When "BtVS" or "Angel" is not referring to other series, movies, or even the Harry Potter books, the dialogue tends to go to the self-referential instead, to the point where the characters too often seem to be making fun of themselves. The "Scooby gang" spent most of "The Replacement" making gentle fun of each other, with much the same affection that we fans have for them. It's a risky approach, but it mostly works, and the light tone of the episode made Riley's quiet revelation to Xander toward the end of the show all the more effective by contrast.

However, not every risk that Joss Whedon and his team take with the shows is totally successful. For years the audience has wanted to see the character of Cordelia Chase grow and change. Where the Jossverse is concerned, fans have learned along with Cordelia to be very careful about what we wish for. In the "Angel" episode "First Impressions," fans were handed a basket of all the goodies that many of us have been asking for, and yet, despite the shiny bows and ribbons, the gift fell oddly flat.

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