Doppelgängland (Buffy Episode)
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"Doppelgangland" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the fantasy television series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' (1997–2003). It was written and directed by the show's creator,
Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
, and originally aired on
The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bro ...
in the United States on February 23, 1999. The episode's title is derived from the term "
Doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...
", a German word for a lookalike or double of a living person. "Doppelgangland" revisits the alternate reality portrayed in " The Wish", in which Buffy never arrived in
Sunnydale Sunnydale is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California city, as well as a narrative parody of the all ...
and vampires ruled the city.
Anya Aanya, Anya or Anja is a given name. The names are feminine in most cultures especially Indian, and unisex in several African and European countries. Origins and variant forms * Aanya or Anya is an Indian name that means inexhaustible, limitless ...
, a vengeance demon who previously granted the wish, attempts a spell to regain her powers.


Plot

Anya Aanya, Anya or Anja is a given name. The names are feminine in most cultures especially Indian, and unisex in several African and European countries. Origins and variant forms * Aanya or Anya is an Indian name that means inexhaustible, limitless ...
unsuccessfully entreats
D'Hoffryn D'Hoffryn is a fictional character on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', played by Andy Umberger. He is a powerful entity high in the demonic hierarchy. He's the master of the vengeance demons, a cabal which includes humans who are "elevated" to demoni ...
to restore her demonic powers.
Principal Snyder Principal R. Snyder is a fictional character in the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', played by Armin Shimerman. Shimerman originally auditioned for the role of Principal Flutie, but lost that role to Ken Lerner.Sprinder, Matt & St ...
browbeats
Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
into tutoring basketball star Percy West. At Giles's request, Willow hacks into
Mayor Wilkins Richard Wilkins III (commonly referred to as The Mayor) is a fictional character in the fantasy television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). Portrayed by Harry Groener, he is the mayor of Sunnydale, a fictional town rife with vam ...
's files; when
Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...
finds out, she alerts him of the intrusion. The Mayor presents Faith with a fully furnished apartment and then tells her he plans to have Willow killed. Percy makes it clear that his idea of tutoring is that Willow should do his homework, and Willow does not correct him. Frustrated and unhappy, Willow then quarrels with Buffy and
Xander Xander is an abbreviated form of the name Alexander and pronounced like "Zander". Alexander is the Latin form of the Greek name "Alexandros". The name's meaning is interpreted from "alexein" which means "to defend" plus "andros" which translates to ...
and storms off. Willow assists Anya with a spell, but their conjuration goes awry, retrieving Vampire Willow from
Cordelia Cordelia is a feminine given name. It was borne by the tragic heroine of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (1606), a character based on the legendary queen Cordelia. The name is of uncertain origin. It is popularly associated with Latin '' cor'' ( geni ...
's previous wish that Buffy never came to Sunnydale moments before this reality's erasure rather than retrieving the magic amulet Anya sought. Neither Anya nor Willow realize the consequences of their spell. Vampire Willow sees Sunnydale is a lot different. No one is afraid of her and there are more humans than vampires, which means the city is very peaceful and corruption-free. Vampire Willow goes to the Bronze, where she fights with Percy and throwing him across the pool table. Vampire Willow runs into her old lover Xander and realizes that he is alive. She also sees Buffy who is alive and despises her a lot worse. She shows her vampire face to Xander and Buffy. Two vampires sent by the Mayor attack her, but she turns them to her side. Buffy and Xander tell Giles that Willow has been killed and turned vampire, but the genuine Willow arrives to demonstrate their error. None of them are aware of Vampire Willow's true origins. Angel and Anya drop into the Bronze. Vampire Willow and her new minions arrive and capture the crowd.
Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
escapes to find Buffy. Anya recognizes what has happened, offers to restore Vampire Willow to her own world in return for help in retrieving her amulet, and suggests capturing the other Willow to assist in the spell. Angel, Buffy and Xander head for the Bronze, but Willow turns back to get the tranquilizer gun and is grabbed by her doppelganger. Willow manages to shoot the vampire with the tranquilizer gun. The others arrive back in the library and they lock the unconscious vampire in the library cage, then Willow exchanges clothes with her in an attempt to pass herself off as Vampire Willow. They return to the Bronze. Cordelia arrives at the library and unwittingly releases Vampire Willow, who immediately attacks her, but Wesley intervenes and drives the vampire away. At the Bronze, although Anya exposes Willow's disguise, Buffy defeats the other vampires, then captures the returning doppelganger. Anya returns vampire Willow to her own timeline, where the alternate Oz immediately kills her before the reality erases. The next day, Percy, thoroughly intimidated by Willow's doppelganger (and believing she was the real Willow), shows up for tutoring with all his work completed and makes it clear he intends to please her from now on.


Reception

When the episode was originally broadcast in the United States on February 23, 1999, it received a
Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 4.1. It was the second most watched program of the week on
The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bro ...
. Noel Murray from ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' commented that the episode "is terrific on myriad levels, from the dialogue to the plot twists to the multiple spot-on character moments. But mostly it's a top-drawer episode for the way it binds the Buffyverse together, by demonstrating how adept the writing staff is at remembering everything they've done on the show before, and re-using the elements that still have plenty of juice in them." "Doppelgangland" primarily focuses on the character Willow. Series creator
Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
has placed it fifth in his list of favorite episodes from the show, stating "one Willow is certainly not enough."
Malinda Lo Malinda Lo is an American writer of young adult novels including ''Ash'', ''Huntress'', ''Adaptation'', ''Inheritance,'' ''A Line in the Dark'', and '' Last Night at the Telegraph Club''. She also does research on diversity in young adult literat ...
from
AfterEllen.com AfterEllen (also known as AfterEllen.com) is an American culture website founded in 2002, with a focus on entertainment, interviews, reviews, and news of interest to the lesbian and bisexual women's community. The site covers pop culture and li ...
included the episode in her top ten as well.
Alyson Hannigan Alyson Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974) is an American actress. After starting her career at age four with appearances in commercials, she moved to Hollywood at age 11 and soon got an agent. Hannigan began her film career with supporting r ...
, who portrays the character Willow, also considers the episode to be one of her favorites in the series. According to
TV.com TV.com was a website owned by Red Ventures that covered television series and episodes with a focus on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Origin ...
, the episode holds an average score of 9.5/10, based on 658 compiled ratings.


References


Bibliography

* Kaveney, Roz (ed.) (2004). ''Reading the Vampire Slayer: The New, Updated, Unofficial Guide to Buffy and Angel'', Tauris Parke Paperbacks.


External links

*
"Doppelgangland"
at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

"Doppelgangland"
at BuffyGuide.com {{Buffy episodes Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 3) episodes 1999 American television episodes American LGBT-related television episodes Mass media portrayals of bisexuality Television episodes about parallel universes Television episodes written by Joss Whedon Television episodes directed by Joss Whedon