Where the Wild Things Are (Buffy episode)
Encyclopedia
"Where the Wild Things Are" is the 18th episode of season 4 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
At a fraternity party, Buffy and Riley are compelled to have sex by a mystical influence. The party is held in a house which was formerly a home for wayward children, that is haunted by the angry ghosts of children who were physically and emotionally abused by the Christian fundamentalist who managed the home.
and Riley
fight a vampire and a demon in the cemetery, finally disposing of both of them. While they intend to go tell Giles
about the odd pairing of demon and vampire, they opt for sex at Riley's dorm at Lowell House. Riley gets up in the middle of the night, acting as if he hears something from the restroom. All he finds is a dripping faucet in the tub. Xander
's driving an ice cream truck for his new job, and Anya
rides along with him to complain about their diminishing relationship. Trying to convince her that there is nothing wrong with him or their relationship, Xander suggests they have sex right there in the truck. He doesn't realize that there is a group of kids waiting outside for their ice cream.
The gang talks about patrol the night before, and they realize that Adam is bringing the races of demons together. Buffy and Riley escape for some alone time, which is no secret to the rest of the gang. The two continue their sex romp through the night. While the rest of the house is freezing cold, Buffy and Riley continue to keep occupied, and warm. An initiative agent is badly burned when a fire in a fireplace bursts forth into the room. The next night, Spike jumps out at Anya in the streets, trying to scare her into giving him her money. At the party, Buffy and Riley are making eyes at each other from across the room while their friends attempt to talk to them. Spike and Anya bond over a couple beers at the Bronze, complaining about what it's like to be without their harmful demon powers.
A guy is talking to a girl, when he places his hand on a wall and suddenly gets very excited. Xander flirts with a girl named Julie. Riley and Buffy escape upstairs to resume their own private party. Willow and Tara talk about horses, but Willow had a bad experience with them and she's very afraid of them. Willow touches Tara's knee, but Tara backs away, inexplicably disgusted with the gesture. Anya and Spike then arrive at the frat party and the two verbally gang up on Xander.
A group is playing spin the bottle and Xander joins in. On Xander's turn, the bottle lands on Julie, and he kisses her on the cheek. She suddenly jumps him and starts kissing him aggressively. After she runs away, Xander follows and finds her in the closet cutting off her hair. Willow goes to the restroom looking for Tara and instead finds a body drowning in the bathtub. When she reaches for it, it disappears and reappears behind her. All this time, Buffy and Riley have barely come up for air, not even stopping when they hear Willow scream or the gang calling for them outside the door.
The house begins to shake violently, and vines begin to cover the walls. Forrest and Graham run downstairs for instructions from their commanding officers. A ghost runs straight through Anya and Spike is strapped to a chair. Spike breaks free of his bonds and everyone escapes outside. The gang goes to Giles for help and find him singing and playing the guitar at the Espresso Bar. He's surprisingly very good, which Willow, Tara, and Anya all find slightly appealing.
Research leads them to information about the Lowell building, which used to be the old Lowell Home for Children. They find the woman, Genevieve Holt, who ran the children's home and she confesses that she rewarded the children when they were good and punished them when they were dirty. She'd cut off the hair of the girls who would preen their hair in the mirror in order to "remove the temptation" of vanity and "baptized" them by holding them under water in a bathtub. After leaving Ms. Holt's place, they conclude that a group of poltergeists is now releasing their pent up sexual energy thanks to the repetitive acts of sex by Buffy and Riley. When Buffy and Riley are drained of all their strength, they will die.
Willow, Tara, and Giles perform a spell to stop the spirits. Xander and Anya hack their way through the vines and try to reach Buffy and Riley. Anya is knocked across the house while Xander is dragged into the bathroom and held underwater. Anya makes her way upstairs to save Xander and they fight against the vines and finally open Riley's dorm. The next day, the gang talks about Giles's "mid-life crisis" and the consequences of Buffy and Riley's endless sex. Unconvincingly, Buffy and Riley say how horrible the experience was.
At a fraternity party, Buffy and Riley are compelled to have sex by a mystical influence. The party is held in a house which was formerly a home for wayward children, that is haunted by the angry ghosts of children who were physically and emotionally abused by the Christian fundamentalist who managed the home.
Plot synopsis
BuffyBuffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
and Riley
Riley Finn
Riley Finn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Portrayed by Marc Blucas, Riley was introduced in the 1999 season four premiere episode, "The Freshman", and Blucas was part of the series credited cast for the second part of season four...
fight a vampire and a demon in the cemetery, finally disposing of both of them. While they intend to go tell Giles
Rupert Giles
Rupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure...
about the odd pairing of demon and vampire, they opt for sex at Riley's dorm at Lowell House. Riley gets up in the middle of the night, acting as if he hears something from the restroom. All he finds is a dripping faucet in the tub. Xander
Xander Harris
Alexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as in numerous items in the series Expanded Universe, such as comic books, tie-in novels and video games...
's driving an ice cream truck for his new job, and Anya
Anya Jenkins
Anya is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also appears in the comic book series based on the television show. Portrayed by Emma Caulfield, the character appears as a guest star in the third and fourth seasons of the show before...
rides along with him to complain about their diminishing relationship. Trying to convince her that there is nothing wrong with him or their relationship, Xander suggests they have sex right there in the truck. He doesn't realize that there is a group of kids waiting outside for their ice cream.
The gang talks about patrol the night before, and they realize that Adam is bringing the races of demons together. Buffy and Riley escape for some alone time, which is no secret to the rest of the gang. The two continue their sex romp through the night. While the rest of the house is freezing cold, Buffy and Riley continue to keep occupied, and warm. An initiative agent is badly burned when a fire in a fireplace bursts forth into the room. The next night, Spike jumps out at Anya in the streets, trying to scare her into giving him her money. At the party, Buffy and Riley are making eyes at each other from across the room while their friends attempt to talk to them. Spike and Anya bond over a couple beers at the Bronze, complaining about what it's like to be without their harmful demon powers.
A guy is talking to a girl, when he places his hand on a wall and suddenly gets very excited. Xander flirts with a girl named Julie. Riley and Buffy escape upstairs to resume their own private party. Willow and Tara talk about horses, but Willow had a bad experience with them and she's very afraid of them. Willow touches Tara's knee, but Tara backs away, inexplicably disgusted with the gesture. Anya and Spike then arrive at the frat party and the two verbally gang up on Xander.
A group is playing spin the bottle and Xander joins in. On Xander's turn, the bottle lands on Julie, and he kisses her on the cheek. She suddenly jumps him and starts kissing him aggressively. After she runs away, Xander follows and finds her in the closet cutting off her hair. Willow goes to the restroom looking for Tara and instead finds a body drowning in the bathtub. When she reaches for it, it disappears and reappears behind her. All this time, Buffy and Riley have barely come up for air, not even stopping when they hear Willow scream or the gang calling for them outside the door.
The house begins to shake violently, and vines begin to cover the walls. Forrest and Graham run downstairs for instructions from their commanding officers. A ghost runs straight through Anya and Spike is strapped to a chair. Spike breaks free of his bonds and everyone escapes outside. The gang goes to Giles for help and find him singing and playing the guitar at the Espresso Bar. He's surprisingly very good, which Willow, Tara, and Anya all find slightly appealing.
Research leads them to information about the Lowell building, which used to be the old Lowell Home for Children. They find the woman, Genevieve Holt, who ran the children's home and she confesses that she rewarded the children when they were good and punished them when they were dirty. She'd cut off the hair of the girls who would preen their hair in the mirror in order to "remove the temptation" of vanity and "baptized" them by holding them under water in a bathtub. After leaving Ms. Holt's place, they conclude that a group of poltergeists is now releasing their pent up sexual energy thanks to the repetitive acts of sex by Buffy and Riley. When Buffy and Riley are drained of all their strength, they will die.
Willow, Tara, and Giles perform a spell to stop the spirits. Xander and Anya hack their way through the vines and try to reach Buffy and Riley. Anya is knocked across the house while Xander is dragged into the bathroom and held underwater. Anya makes her way upstairs to save Xander and they fight against the vines and finally open Riley's dorm. The next day, the gang talks about Giles's "mid-life crisis" and the consequences of Buffy and Riley's endless sex. Unconvincingly, Buffy and Riley say how horrible the experience was.
Production
- This episode marks the first time in the series that Anthony Stewart Head displays his singing talents. Giles will sing on screen again in three more episodes: in his apartment in "The Yoko Factor", during his dream sequence in "Restless", and the musical episode "Once More, with Feeling".
- Anthony Stewart Head actually only sings Behind Blue EyesBehind Blue Eyes"Behind Blue Eyes" is the title of a song by English rock band The Who. It was released in November 1971 as the second single from their fifth album Who's Next and was written by Pete Townshend originally for his Lifehouse project...
, and music supervisor John King plays guitar (later in the episode "The Yoko Factor", Head will both sing and play Free BirdFree Bird"Free Bird" is a song by the American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd...
). - Roy, the boy who first touched the enchanted wall, played by Bryan Cuprill, was also one of the students who turned into a caveman in the episode "Beer Bad".
- When Anya and Xander are alone in the house fighting through the vines to get to Buffy and Riley, a pair of arms from off camera entangle Anya with the vines.
Cultural references
- Felicity - In response to the girl pulling off all of her hair in the closet, Xander comments that "people are going all Felicity with their hair," a reference to the show's starKeri RussellKeri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
cutting off her hair. - Where the Wild Things AreWhere The Wild Things AreWhere the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1973 , a 1980 opera, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film...
is the title of an award-winning children's book. A mischievous young boy, sent to bed without supper, goes into a land of mythical monsters, becomes homesick and returns to find his supper on the table, still warm. - The song Giles sings is Behind Blue EyesBehind Blue Eyes"Behind Blue Eyes" is the title of a song by English rock band The Who. It was released in November 1971 as the second single from their fifth album Who's Next and was written by Pete Townshend originally for his Lifehouse project...
.
Arc significance
- Anya and Spike first bond in this episode. This becomes important in Season 6's episode "Entropy" where they find physical comfort in each other after being rejected by their lovers.
External links
- "Where the Wild Things Are" at BuffyGuide.com