Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3, Episode 2 Review: Dead Man's Party

Dead Man’s Party
Original Airdate: October 6, 1998
Writer: Marti Noxon
Director: James Whitmore, Jr.

With Buffy realizing slaying can’t be avoided and that she needs to go home in the last episode, this episode seeks to reintegrate her with her friends, while addressing several unresolved personal issues between them. Meanwhile, a random zombie invasion begins thanks to an artifact Joyce collected from her work at the gallery, which must pay really well to afford all the reconstruction the Summers’ household takes throughout the series run. Put them together and you get possibly the worst episode of the season.

As said in the last review, the beginnings of the Mutant Enemy seasons tend to be lacking the bang of its conclusions. “Anne” was a mediocre beginning, but this one is just plain bad. Unlike many of the other subpar episodes from this period, this one is tied into the overall story and can’t be dismissed as a self-contained episode. One could wonder if this episode could’ve been ignored and had the action go straight to “Faith, Hope and Trick”, but it wouldn’t have been right not to tackle the reunion between Buffy and her friends.

The overall plot of this episode is inherently flawed. Why would Buffy’s friends think it was even close to a good idea to have a welcome home party for her? It’s not like Buffy spent a semester studying abroad or something. She bolted from Sunnydale when her life collapsed. Anything more elaborate than a quiet get together with only Buffy’s closest friends is inappropriate.

This contrivance ultimately leads to the confrontation between Buffy and her friends and mother. While it could’ve been played to make everyone else’s side reasonable, but instead, they act like total jerks. Instead of being upset that Buffy didn’t turn to them for help following the end of season two, they make it seem like what she did to them was a worse than all the bad stuff that happened to her, which is the wrong way to read it. By choosing the latter, the story gets too melodramatic. Who thought it was a good idea for the central characters to express themselves that loudly in front of a crowded room of strangers? It’s like something you’d see on a daytime TV talk show. At least Oz shows some discretion.

Then came the zombies. Generally episodes focused on stock horror characters (Frankenstein’s monster, mummy, sea monsters) tend to be lackluster. While I like a good zombie story, the zombie analogy fitting into the episode’s story is at best forced. Even past efforts to bring in the greatest hits of horror had some tangible connection to what was going on in the episode. They barge in on the confrontation towards the end of the episode, making those theatrics more or less irrelevant. Perhaps it would’ve been better to have the mask serve as a metaphor for the façade Buffy’s putting on to keep people from knowing what she’s really feeling.

While this has little to do with the overall story, one part got too far under my skin to ignore. Just what is a dead cat doing on top of that shelf with the nice plates in Buffy’s basement? It may be a minor nitpick, but in a better episode it would be easier to ignore. If Buffy’s house was really old, dirty or decrepit like some of the demon hideouts, it would make sense, but this doesn’t whatsoever.

The one redeeming element of the episode involved Giles provoking Snyder to reenroll Buffy at Sunnydale High. “Becoming, Part 2” hinted at ulterior methods behind getting Buffy out of school going to the Mayor. However, Snyder is quite the pushover, and we know Giles has a dark side that wouldn’t hesitate to make good on his threat.

Overall, this episode is a mess and the worst episode in some time. The elements don’t gel at all. The major conflict among Buffy and her friends gets way overblown, making the resolution far too convenient. Also, the zombie subplot serves only as a distraction as it doesn’t fit into the emotional story of the episode. However, like the previous episode, it’s easily forgivable considering where this season will go.

Overall Score: 3/10