Wild at Heart (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"Wild at Heart" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, first airing on November 9, 1999 on The WB. It was written by Marti Noxon and directed by David Grossman.

In the episode, Oz (Seth Green), a werewolf, is drawn by animal instinct to Veruca (Paige Moss), another werewolf. This causes friction with his girlfriend, Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), and ultimately Oz leaves town to explore the wolf side of him. The circumstances seen in "Wild at Heart" arose from Seth Green's abrupt decision to leave the series.

Plot synopsis[]

Buffy is chased by a vampire, which she fights and then stakes. Spike stalks her from a distance and promises trouble, but he is struck by tasers and carried off by masked and heavily armed men lurking in the Sunnydale shadows. At the Bronze, the gang watches Veruca perform her song "Shy" and all the guys are mesmerized by her singing.

The next morning, Willow wakes up in Oz's bed and they talk about how they will be apart for three nights while Oz locks himself away during the full moon, and a Wicca group is meeting on those three nights. At school, Veruca invites Oz to sit with her at lunch, which he accepts since there is room for Willow and they start talking amps. Willow arrives, and is lost by their terminology, leading everyone to flee the incredibly awkward situation. Buffy tells Willow not to worry about Oz.

That night, Oz locks himself into a cage in a crypt but he breaks free in his werewolf form. As Professor Walsh is leaving the school that night, Oz jumps out at her. Another werewolf appears and while Walsh runs and hides in the bushes, the two werewolves jump out and fight with each other. Oz wakes up the next morning to see that the other werewolf is Veruca. They sneak into the campus laundry room for clothes and Veruca appeals to the animal within him. Willow shows up at Oz's room and instead of being welcomed with opened arms, Oz is closed off and so she leaves. Buffy informs Giles of the two werewolves being spotted on campus, so she talks to Oz, but he says he does not remember anything about what happened when he got out. Desperate for a male perspective, Willow asks Xander about Oz and he suggests they talk and work it out.

Oz arranges for Veruca to meet him in the crypt that night, and manages to convince her to lock herself in the cage with him so no one gets hurt. Immediately before transforming, they kiss. The next morning, breakfast foods in hand, Willow arrives and is shocked to see Oz and Veruca curled up naked together. Oz gets dressed and explains Veruca is a werewolf like himself, who had to be locked up so she could not hurt anyone. He claims he had no choice, but Willow, tearful and angry, points out Oz could have instead told the other Scoobies, and perhaps found a solution other than locking her up with him. Stoking the argument, Veruca agrees with Willow, and Oz, in an uncharacteristic burst of anger, orders Veruca to leave. He continues trying to explain things to Willow, but she accuses him of having feelings for Veruca in "in an animal way", more than he wanted her, and runs off crying.

Walking home in a dazed state, Willow is almost hit by an oncoming car, which Riley quickly manages to rescue her from. Buffy takes Willow back to their dorm and then goes to confront Veruca. Using Oz's heightened senses to lead the way, Buffy and Oz go looking for Veruca, although Buffy disapproves of Oz for cheating on her best friend. They find Veruca's clothes and then realize that she left her clothes to throw them off her scent and has gone after Willow. Willow is in one of the campus labs, conjuring a spell that will prove to be devastating revenge against Oz and Veruca. She cannot bring herself to complete the spell, however, and Veruca then enters, locking the door with intent to kill Willow when the sun goes down and get her out of the way. Just in time, Oz breaks in and the two werewolves fight until Oz rips Veruca's throat out. Before he can attack Willow, Buffy arrives and tranquilizes him, and then turns to comfort a traumatized and hysterical Willow.

The next day, Buffy talks to Giles about a heavily armed guy she ran into while searching for Veruca who was dressed the same way as the guys they ran into on Halloween. Willow finds Oz in his room, packing. Unsure of what separates him from the wolf, he is leaving until he can figure it out. Before leaving, he tells Willow that he has only ever loved her.

References[]

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External links[]

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• "Wild at Heart" at IMDb