•According to a report for Polygon, Faith Lehane—portrayed by Eliza Dushku—made her first appearance in the season 3 episode “Faith, Hope & Trick,” which originally aired 28 years ago today.
The character was introduced as an ultimate foil to Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the chosen Slayer burdened with powers and a responsibility she never asked for. Throughout seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy struggles to keep her internal darkness at bay even when giving in would be far easier.
Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) initially represents the blissful ignorance of adolescence before maturing into a complex member of the Scooby Gang, while Kendra (Bianca Lawson) is a fellow Slayer too rigid and by-the-book for her own good. Faith, however, embraces the ruthless aspects of the job—a trait that ultimately leads her down a destructive path.
Faith makes a splashy introduction
While hanging with the gang at the Bronze one night, Buffy notices a vampire luring a young girl outside. Instead of Buffy stepping in, the unnamed woman is killed by Faith herself, who then introduces herself as a new Slayer.
Everyone takes to Faith, but Buffy isn’t thrilled about working with her. During a joint patrol later, the two are attacked by vampires. Rather than helping Buffy when she’s swarmed, Faith focuses on beating down a single vampire—appearing to take pleasure in it. This marks the first of many bad signs as it becomes clear that Faith isn’t exactly a team player.
Faith is a dark mirror to Buffy
The two eventually track down the ancient vampire Kakistos (Jeremy Roberts), who recently arrived in Sunnydale after killing Faith’s old Watcher. Faith gets her revenge, but Kakistos’s henchman Mr. Trick (K. Todd Freeman) escapes and will later serve as a key supporter of season 3’s primary villain.
Buffy is still hiding the truth about what happened with Angel at the end of season 2, yet Faith hogs the spotlight in the best possible way. Her first appearance outside the Bronze gives the impression she’s here to fill the void Kendra leaves behind after her death in season 2—an assumption quickly proven false.
Faith’s assertive nature challenges Buffy’s true status as the Slayer. While her initial skepticism might read as a metaphor for teenage insecurity, she appears onto something: Faith may be a gifted Slayer but is also extremely unpredictable. This ultimately leads to her turn into villainy later in season 3, setting up one of the darkest conflicts in Buffy history.
If we look at Faith’s role in this episode alone, she serves as an impetus for Buffy to move on. “I’ve been holding on to that for so long, it felt good to get it out,” she tells Giles after recounting the fateful final night with Angel. Unfortunately, fate has other plans for Angel’s return, forcing our beloved Slayer to face yet another trial.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is streaming on Hulu.
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