Jenny Lott

Dr. J. Winslade
LSP 112
14 January 2015
Beauty and the Beasts, Domestic Violence, and the Horrors of High School
In true Buffy the Vampire Slayer fashion, season three episode Beauty and the Beast
draws inspiration from a classic, well-known story, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
In this episode, which focuses on the one-shot characters Debbie and Pete, Willows werewolf
boyfriend Oz is the primary suspect for a recent Sunnydale murder, but the real guilty party is
Pete, who has drunk a serum of his own creation that turns him into a demonic, rage-filled
monster. Just like in the story of Dr. Jekyll, at first, Pete needs to drink the serum to transform,
but eventually can become this monster all on his own, prompted to transform by Debbie, his
girlfriend. However, while Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde primarily focuses on proving to the reader
that all men have monsters within, this episode speaks very loudly about domestic violence.
We first catch a glimpse of the monster Pete has become when he and Debbie are alone in
the closet where he keeps his serum, and he discovers that it is empty. He gets angry, asking
Debbie if she drank it. When she expresses concern for how it makes him change, he transforms,
revealing that he doesnt need to drink anything to change, and he blames her for his anger. He
proceeds to beat her. This scene is a very obvious metaphor for domestic violence. Many times,
something seemingly innocuous will trigger an angry response from an abuser. They will then
become aggressive and violent. Such responses keep the abused person in constant fear of such
an episode. Debbie is clearly frightened when Pete interrogates her about the serum, implying
that a similar episode has happened before. After he beats her, he suddenly changes back into a

human and with innocent doe eyes begs her for forgiveness. Abusers commonly, after violent
outbursts, will return to normal and make excuses for their behaviour, playing the part of a
sweet, caring individual who just lost control for a moment. Debbie forgives him, and when
Buffy asks her about it, Debbie insists that Pete only does this because he loves her. Many abuse
victims will make excuses for their abusers out of fear or from being emotionally manipulated
into believing that they themselves are at fault for their abusers actions. This storyline can also
be construed as a metaphor for alcoholism, and how many abusers use the influence of alcohol as
an excuse for their behaviours.
It is also important to note that this is the episode in which Buffy discovers that Angel has
returned from hell. While that storyline and Debbie and Petes dont seem to be related, they
actually parallel one another. Angel, before being sent to hell, was Angelus, a monster who
emotionally tortured Buffy and her friends all through season two. In that situation, Angelus was
an abuser, and the decision to place the storyline about domestic violence in the same episode as
Angels return into Buffys life highlights that. Angel, like Pete, is also very animalistic in this
episode, and the scene where he kneels at Buffys feet and cries is oddly similar to the scene in
which Pete begs Debbie for forgiveness.
Pete eventually kills Debbie, which is sadly how too many domestic disputes end. Young
women, and especially high school girls, are particularly susceptible to being pressured or
bullied into abusive relationships when they have little to no experience with healthy
relationships. This episode highlights very real fears many young women face in their day-to-day
lives.