30 Days of Buffy: Day 18

Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time

So I'm going to delve into Angel a bit for this post.  Because the character I want to talk about appeared on both Buffy and Angel and I still wish I had seen more of her.

She first shows up in the season 2 episode Lie to Me, going by the name Chanterelle. Chanterelle is lonely and desperate for acceptance. She has joined up with a cult of vampire worshipers, convinced that becoming a vampire is the key to fixing her unhappiness. Little does she know that Spike and his gang have no intention of turning her (or the other cult members). They just want an easy meal. Fortunately Buffy saves her.

When next we meet Chanterelle, she has changed her name to Lily. Lily is broke, homeless, hungry. She's completely dependent on her boyfriend, Ricky. Ricky even went so far as picking her new name for her.  She runs into Buffy in a diner in LA, when Buffy is living and working there under the guise of Anne.  The two of them help each other reclaim control over their lives.

Buffy is too late to save Ricky, so Lily must face the prospect of life on her own. Buffy helps her see that she is worthwhile, and that she can take care of herself. Lily asks if she can have the name Anne. For her, it symbolizes self-reliance, courage, and strength, which are qualities Lily has come to value and wants to find in herself.

The next time we run into Anne is in the second season episode of Angel, Blood Money. She has faced the demons and decided that there are scarier things. Upon discovering that she could take care of herself, Anne turned around and started giving back. On Angel, Anne has opened a homeless shelter. It's a wonderful success. Anne and her shelter appear on Angel a few more times, including the season finale. And she shows that she does possess the strength and self-reliance she wanted so badly in the third season of Buffy.

I wish we had seen more of her journey. I would have liked to witness Lily's transformation into Anne. I like to think that she stayed in touch with Buffy, at least for a few months. I really wish there had been an episode, or even a series of flashbacks, to show how she found her strength and why she decided to open a shelter.  It is undoubtedly an interesting story, and one I wish more time had been devoted to.