Graduation Day: Part 2
- Episode aired Jul 13, 1999
- TV-PG
- 1h
On Ascension Day, Buffy and her friends prepare for the ultimate battle as they face off against the mayor and a horde of vampires.On Ascension Day, Buffy and her friends prepare for the ultimate battle as they face off against the mayor and a horde of vampires.On Ascension Day, Buffy and her friends prepare for the ultimate battle as they face off against the mayor and a horde of vampires.
- Rupert Giles
- (as Anthony Stewart Head)
- Larry Blaisdell
- (as Larry Bagby III)
- Dr. Powell
- (as Paulo Andres)
- Dr. Gold
- (as Tom Bellin)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring the time of its airing, this caused a great deal of controversy in the media. The Columbine High School massacre, only four weeks before the airing of Graduation Day: Part 1 (1999), was widely blamed on violence in entertainment. The WB had already pulled the plug earlier with Earshot (1999) (which itself was not aired until September), and feared that several scenes in this show would provoke high school students to do the same thing, especially those depicting the entire graduating class handling weapons against the mayor. On May 25, 1999, only two hours before this was due to air, The WB suddenly decided to replace it with a re-run from earlier in the season. This sudden move received huge attention in the media and thousands of letters were sent to the network demanding that the season finale be shown. Sarah Michelle Gellar publicly spoke out against the decision, although Seth Green agreed that it would seem "callous and inappropriate" after the Columbine shootings. The WB did not air this until July 13, 1999, almost two months after it was originally scheduled. Since nearly all US schools end their term in May or June, it was then felt safe. It attracted 6.5 million viewers, atypically high for The WB during summer, and comparable to what the show of the season had received.
- GoofsAs Angel's group charges into the fight, stage lighting is clearly reflected on the ground.
- Quotes
Buffy Summers: I haven't processed everything yet. My brain isn't really functioning on the higher levels... It's pretty much, "fire bad, tree pretty."
Rupert Giles: Understandable. Well, when it's working again, congratulate it on a, a good campaign. You did very well.
Buffy Summers: Thank you. I will.
Rupert Giles: I, uh, I ferreted this out of the wreckage. Now, it may not interest you, but, uh...
[reaches into his jacket and pulls out a high school diploma]
Rupert Giles: I'd say you earned it.
[takes a deep breath and looks around at the remains of the school]
Rupert Giles: There's a certain, um... dramatic irony attached to all this... a synchronicity that borders on-on predestination, one might say.
Buffy Summers: Fire bad, tree pretty.
Rupert Giles: Oh, yes. Sorry. I'll... I'll go and tend to Wesley. See if he's still, um, whimpering.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Gift (2001)
This episode is a showcase for Joss Whedon's radical directing skills. Whedon is the type of writer who was born to write. When his pen meets paper sparks fly into the air because it's that revolutionary. With the toned-down writing this time, Graduation Day allows the Buffy fan to really be captured by Whedon's vision for the adieu to childhood. There isn't much here to write about. Anything he would've thrown us would come off as unappealing to the adrenaline ready Buffy fans waiting to be shaken off our seat by the finale, but all things considered, the writing is good. It has a few laugh-out-loud moments as well as great dialogue.
The scope of this episode, the meaning, and the emotion for Graduation Day, however has never been fully realized by myself until this point and time. I've seen it numerous times before, but never really understood what Whedon really intended to with it. He goes back to Trademark 1. We get to experience graduation. As the characters depart from high school, the audience members who have traveled through high school and successfully graduated will understand every nuance here. I watched this on the night of my graduation, it's the perfect time to revisit it. The feeling of extreme love and warmth to everyone around you, wanting to be united with everyone around you, and realizing you are finally in the position to step away from what has taught you right from wrong all your life (such as Buffy does in the first-rate scene where she quits the Watcher's Counsel). All the characters get a moment to show their maturity and the person they've grown into from high school. We can feel our high school memories haunting back into our mind as Buffy gets to live her experience.
One of my biggest objections with this episode has been the Buffy/Angel subplot that links part 1 and part 2. That is all that used to be to me, a chain linking the two halves together, but this section is undeniable and their relationship comes to a close with poetry. Buffy and Angel were clearly meant to not be together. This season gets to explore the devastating news that destiny has not intended for two people in love to stay together. Once High School is over, there are many things that have to be abandoned. Often high school romances are one of them.
Season 3′s biggest fault in my eyes is feeling to convoluted and too manipulated into it's own little universe instead of stemming off in the real world, which the others do. Although, most of this took place in the earlier episodes in the season, the backwash is still felt here. That being said, Season 3′s arc, which is captured in Graduation Day, is prodigious. It questions our morality, explores our psyches, tests our emotions. Wait, our? I meant the character's morality, psyches, and emotions but if the shoe fits
Graduation Day gets to depict a war film as well as being a compelling drama developing its strong characters. The metaphor of the students teaming up together to defeat the Mayor is one of the strongest metaphors of the season. Great acting from Eliza Dushku, Harry Groener, and the always dependable Sarah Michelle Gellar, as well as the entire ensemble. This episode also stirs up a wonderful dramatic score. The visual effects of the Mayor's transformation, though, are something to be desired. Decent for the '90s, but come on Joss Whedon! The iconic moment of the episode is the showdown between Buffy and Faith. The two slayers, evolved from friends to enemies finally get to face off in Graduation Day and trust me the fight was worth the wait.
Epic and worthy as a finale, the episode itself doesn't shimmer like the past finales do, but it's still one of the top episodes of the series. The development of the characters is something all shows strive for, few ever succeed in finding, but what Buffy has copyrighted. The best scene is Buffy's coma-dream sequence. It's a beautiful scene that does what this show does that makes it the best: puts two characters in a room that speak to the audience and move their soul. The final fight is a tad underwhelming, that of Buffy and the Mayor, but it still creates a successful conclusion to the season. Directing his way to victory, Joss Whedon takes a stride with this finale!
NOTE: watch Part One and Part Two, back to back, you'll leave more fulfilled.
Rating: 9.5/10
Grade: A
- RyanCShowers
- Jun 9, 2013