Relationships: What a Girl Will Do OR A Reversal of Roles

We all know that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is all about having a female hero save the world while the male characters provide the sex appeal and comic relief, but so far that heroic role has been reserved for only one girl, Buffy. The other girls, Cordelia and Willow, in the show still fulfill the usual female roles sideliners who can help but still require a hero to come to their rescue. “Halloween” turns this whole act around. According to Buffy, “the whole point of Halloween... [is that] it’s come-as-you-aren’t night.” This is certainly the case for the Slayer gang as Willow and Xander take the lead with Buffy as the damsel in distress hoping “some men will protect us [women].”

This episode is “the very embodiment of be careful what you wish for” as Ethan summarizes in his explanation to Giles. At the beginning of the show, Buffy is desperate for a love life, specifically one with Angel, but as she states it, “Ambush tactics [and] beheadings [are] not exactly what dreams are made of.” As Cordelia starts to try her own moves on Angel, Buffy becomes driven, almost to the point of obsession, to find out exactly what kind of girl would please Angel. It is a personality quirk more characteristic of the stereotypical teenage girl than a confident savior of the world (but as she points out “I’m a teen. I act immature!” (from “What’s My Line Part I”)), yet the jealousy mounts as Buffy learns more about Angels past loves as a human and the carefree life she imagines those women had. In an impulsive effort to attract Angels attentions, she chooses the costume of a noble woman from Angel’s era as her Halloween outfit, wanting “to be a real girl for once.” She is left in the role of a courtly lady who “wasn’t bred to think” and refuses to do anything but lie there and cry when she is attacked because “it’s not [her] place to fight.”

With Buffy spelled into the role of the “simpering moron” from Angel’s past, it is left to Willow and Xander to pick up the slack on the slaying front. As the only one of the trio who retains her memories during the curse, Willow is forced to take charge as the leader of the group and wear the sexy clothes that go with it. She gainfully instructs the others on how to fight and gains some much needed confidence in the process. Xander provides the brawn and combat tactics having finally gained the ability to fight his own battles and win; his Halloween wish, unlike Buffy’s, happens to be very advantageous to himself and the rest of the group. He gets a second chance to confront his bully, Larry the pirate, and ends up finally rescuing Buffy in the process. Xander is given the opportunity to prove his masculinity.