Giles (aka Rupert Giles):
Giles (aka Rupert Giles):
Anne; Dead Man's Party; Faith, Hope, and Trick; All Men Are Beasts; Homecoming; Band Candy; Revelations; Lovers Walk; The Wish; Amends; Gingerbread; Helpless; The Zeppo; Bad Girls; Consequences; Doppelgangland Enemies; Earshot; Choices; The Prom; Graduation part I; Graduation Part II
In Anne, Giles is pretty distraught and distracted since Buffy's been gone all summer. We learn that he's been going places on tips and leads, but coming up short all the time. When he visits Buffy's mom Joyce, he tells her that she shouldn't blame herself for Buffy's disappearance, and gets a shock when Joyce tells him, "I don't. I blame you." Apparently Giles has been in contact with Joycie this summer. Also in this ep., Giles cautions Willow about her and the gang's efforts to slay in Buffy's absence. Face it, the man cares.
DMP is a pretty hysterical Giles ep. Although at first Giles is sorta struggling to keep his emotions in check when he sees Buffy back in Sunnydale for the first time, he later becomes one of the comic focal points...rattling on about Americans, fleeing zombies, defending himself against Cordelia's cat jibes...This episode pretty much reestablishes the Watcher/Slayer type thing, I think. If not entirely, then some. Plus, Giles hotwires a car. Foreshadowing for antics in BC? Maybe..plus, watch Giles as he puts the strong arm on Principal Snyder to get Buffy reinstated at school.
In FHT, Giles gets a new protege under his wing, sort of -- new slayer in town Faith. While Giles seems to like this spirited gal, he's also still set on finding out exactly what went down at the Garden Mansion with Buffy last year. His reasoning for wanting to know? He fibs to Buffy about some kind of spell or ritual concerning Acathla. Anyhoo, as it turns out, the fib works and Buffy later spills. Interestingly enough, witchy Willow bought into Giles's fib, too...something she wasn't expecting from him!
In AMAB, Giles is concerned with finding out if Ozwolf is responsible for killing someone in the woods. Also, he reveals to Buffy that he used to dream about saving his chick Jenny Calendar. No huge developments here really.
Homecoming is actually another laugh-worthy Giles ep. We get to see Giles at a school dance, and suddenly he becomes FunnyMan, a break from his usual Mr. Caution Man.
Classic Giles Moment?:
Giles: "We have to find Buffy. Something terrible's happened!...Just kidding. Thought I'd give you a scare." --
Anyhoo, no other big revelations here. Giles likes finger sandwiches. Although he is the one who clued Buffy and Cordy in to the fact that Willow and Xander et al. didn't mention they were going to be giving the cat-fighting competing chicks corsages. So, that info. was crucial towards Buffy's defeating the bad guys during SlayerFest '98.
The beginning of the ep. BC is amusing in that we see a graveside Giles and Buffy, seriously discussing something. Prophecies? Naw. Just boning up for the SATs. But it quickly degenerates (pun) from there, especially where Giles is concerned! If I could have understood most of what he said in this ep., I'd have been happy. But, closed-captioning... Anyhoo, in this episode, more Giles and Joyce scenes, which are fun to watch. I think I like watching them because it's sort of like helping to define Buffy's character and her conflicting worlds...it used to be, even more so, that is. Anyhoo, in this episode, Giles is affected by the cursed candy and he reverts to his youthful badass status.
He wants to punch out Ethan Rayne, smooch Joyce, and steal stuff. It's fun, if not alarming. Also, Giles has a close call with the demon Lurconis.
Some Things Never Change?:
Giles: "Well then, let's do something. Let's find the demon and kick the crap out of it." -- Giles to Buffy at the hospital, on tracking down the stolen babies.
Giles is a bit upset in Revelations. Not only does he have to deal with Faith's new watcher Gwendolyn Post, he also must deal with the knowledge that Angel's back and Buffy didn't tell him. Giles tells Buffy that she has no respect for him, and that kind of blows. Then he gets knocked out by Post, and that kind of blows too. Yow. But he makes it out alive, and that's what matters, right?
In Lovers Walk, we learn that Giles packs like Buffy. He's pretty much out of this entire episode, as he's at some retreat type thing in the woods.
The Wish is a pretty cool Giles episode. Well, it is for the Alternate-Reality Giles, anyway. This Giles is less tweedy, and he's still a Watcher, but he has no slayer. Instead he makes do with some students -- Nancy, Oz, and Larry -- and their operation is known as The White Hats, well, at least to the vampires.
Basically this Giles witnesses Cordy's death at the fangs of vampWillow and vampXander while he's locked inside the cage. He also is the one who does some research on Cordy's amulet. He summons the demon Anyanka and smashes the amulet, reversing the spell. So, that was cool.
Amends is the first time that Giles sees Angel since..Angel's been back from Hell. He gets the crossbow and reluctantly invites Angel in so Angel can ask for his help. Giles agrees to help research why Angel's back and why the demons are plaguing him. Giles kinda scared me when he was harsh to Angel, I mean, it was cool, and edgy, and..crossbow! We also learn that Joyce is averse to inviting Giles over to spend Xmas Eve with her and Buffy. Gee, what really happened between those two in Band Candy?
Giles does more saving the day type of stuff in Gingerbread, but not without getting knocked out first. Basically Giles is in research mode big time in this episode, and he and Cordy go to save Buffy, Willow, and Amy from being burned by an angry mom. I mean, mob. He and Cordy are successful, so that's cool. What's also interesting is that this seems to be the first time since Band Candy that Giles and Joyce have been in each other's company. Slight awkwardness abounds. I could be wrong, but I think it's the first time, anyway.
Helpless is big in terms of the Buffy/Giles relationship. While Buffy's upset at first that Giles seems to be just "strictly Watcher" with her, she later gets angry with him when she learns that he's the one who sapped her of her Slayer strength as part of a Watchers Council tradition. Because of his admission to her, he's fired by the Council. It's also outed that he cares for Buffy as if she were his own child. So, good in terms of relationship defining...but bad in terms of job security.
In The Zeppo, Giles does your basic fighting and then researching to help keep the Hellmouth from opening. He goes to a mausoleum or some structure and does an incantation in the hopes of getting some help, but it fails. And he later tells Xander his help isn't needed. Giles later helps the gang close the Hellmouth, and apparently, he did something really brave that has Buffy and Willow talking about it the next day.
Giles has to meet Buffy's new watcher in Bad Girls. He's not about to help him out any, either. In fact, the whole episode is fodder for Giles to make one wry comment after another. Hysterical. Giles also gets to do some sword-fighting this time out. We know he loves that, since every so often we'll see him practice brandishing a sword while no one's around...
In Consequences, Giles gets to deal with the news that Faith killed a man. Giles and the gang set about trying to help Faith, but the chick will have none of it. Giles learns about the Xander/Faith tryst, and later he joins the gang in their search for Faith. Nothing huge in terms of development for him, though we do see that he didn't believe Faith when she told him that Buffy was the one who killed the guy. Whew.
Doppelgangland is pretty funny where Giles is concerned. When he believes Willow's dead, he mourns with Buffy and Xander, saying that she had been the best of all of them. Then when it's learned that Willow's alive, he rushes up to engulf her in a hug. Very amusing. When Buffy asks if Faith should join them on their latest vamp adventure, Giles says that she shouldn't; and later he helps the gang perform the ritual that will send vampWillow back to her reality. That's pretty much it.
Enemies gives Giles a chance to sort of work behind the scenes...sorta. Even though new watcher Wesley is supposed to be in charge, Giles kinda is behind the whole Angel/Angelus charade. Actually it's not really made clear, but the Hooded Guy must have told Giles that he was summoned by the Mayor to cast Angel's soul out of him...so he did this favor for Giles in which he only pretended to do it. Why? Because Giles introduced him to his wife. So, whatever. So he's not just bookman, after all. He's still Watcher Guy, when no one is looking. (I just had to say that, even if it makes no sense.)
Earshot info. coming after the episode airs.
To be Continued!
Previous Giles Character Page (Seasons 1 and 2)
Story Arc: Giles & Jenny Calendar
The ABCs of Sunnydale
