Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Lie to Me"
Buffy Summers: "Does it ever get easy?"
[kills a newly risen vampire Ford]
Rupert Giles: "You mean life?"
Buffy Summers: "Yeah. Does it get easy?"
Rupert Giles: "What do you want me to say?"
Buffy Summers: "Lie to me."
Rupert Giles: "Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats. And, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies and... everybody lives happily ever after."
Buffy Summers: "Liar."
Buffy is surprised when her childhood friend Billy Fordham aka Ford shows up at Sunnydale High. Buffy is happy to have an old friend around but things seem strange when he reveals he knows she's the Slayer. And it seems like Angel doesn't trust Ford. Though, trust is light on both sides when Buffy sees Angel with Drusilla and learns about their disturbing past.
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| The lies! The lies! The lies! |
I think it sometimes feels like season two is a little rudderless until things pop off midway through, but as I'm re-watching it for the first time in a few years you can see the breadcrumbs they are sprinkling throughout these first few episodes that will lead us to the eventual big reveal. As I've been re-watching "Buffy" I've been focusing a lot on Buffy and Angel's relationship, particularly in these early stages. It really is kind of creepy when you look at it from the frame of this older guy with this younger girl. I mean, sure Angel is 240 years old and Buffy is 16 but David Boreanaz looks a lot older than Sarah Michelle Gellar. It lends things an even more unsettling quality which I'm sure was always there but I'm sure that I'm picking it up on it harder since I am older now and it just feels a lot more obvious.
There's so much stuff that Angel does in this episode that is a red flag. His jealousy of Ford, which is played for laughs and like oh, isn't this so cute, is really disturbing actually. Because again, Buffy should be with Ford and not with a 240 year old vampire who was 26 years old when he was turned. He is desperate to prove that Ford is up to something shifty because he knows that Ford is the first real rival for Buffy that he's met (sorry not sorry, Xander). He even goes behind Buffy's back to her best friend to try to get dirt on Ford. And you know, I definitely think the scenes with Willow and Angel are fun because we don't see them interact one on one ever, the reason why is still ick. And again, it just shows that he doesn't really trust Buffy, because if he did, he'd go to her with these concerns instead of sneaking around.
Then, we learn what Angel did to Drusilla which is one of the most disturbing stories in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" history. We get to see how disturbed and fucked up Dru is in the cold open when she almost kills the boy on the playground. My biggest question is where is that kids family? i get being late to pick up your kid, but it is full dark and feels like it's close to 9pm. What are you doing letting your kid run around that late? And no other parent was around to sit with him? We learn that Angel tormented Drusilla who was pure and virginal. Drove her crazy. Murdered her family. Everyone she knew and cared about. Drove her to a convent and on the day she took her holy orders, he turned her. That is fucked and the definition of a red flag. Run now, Buffy!!
Ford is played by Jason Behr, plucked from the stable of generic, good looking white boys the WB had at the time. He would go on to play the male lead in the alien invasion teen drama, "Roswell." It's pretty clear that Ford is lying, but I get why Buffy isn't maybe as attuned to it as she should be. I will say, Ford pretending to go to Sunnydale High raises quite a few questions. Did they never see him in class? Did no teacher not think it was weird that this strange kid was walking around campus. It definitely feels like something that Principal Snyder would notice.
Buffy's final confrontation with Ford is pretty affecting. We get to see a side of Buffy that we haven't up to this point. Usually, Buffy is dealing with vampires and demons, but here is someone she knows. Who has been dealt a shitty hand and who is probably partially acting this way because of the tumors in his brain. Buffy wants to help her friend but when push comes to shove she does what is best. Leaving Ford locked up with the vampires so she can save everyone else. You feel for our blonde heroine when she comes back and finds Ford's drained body. I love the moment between Giles and Buffy at Ford's grave when they are waiting to see if he'll rise. And it just shows that Buffy has already kind of said goodbye to her friend the way that she dispassionately stakes him. Knowing that he is already gone.
It was only a matter of time before we ran up against a bunch of lonely, goth teens worshipping vampires... excuse me... the lonely ones. It's very funny and the best part is Angel scoffing at the way they are dressed and then someone dressed exactly like him walking by. The vampire wannabe, Chantarelle, will show up in future episodes of "Buffy" and "Angel" so keep an eye out. I don't think we've had an installment of "Xander is the worst" but we do in this episode. He's gross and jealous when Ford shows up acting again as if this guy is a rival for Buffy's affections when she has made it so clear that is never going to happen. Also, keep that book the vampire stole from the library in the back of your mind. This episode was written by Joss Whedon which I tend to forget. It's a good episode but not one of the ones that he's best known for.
Grade: B+
"The Dark Age"
Buffy Summers: "Xander, how do you feel about digging through some of Giles's personal files and seeing what you can find?"
Xander Harris: "I feel pretty good about it. Does that make me a sociopath?"
Giles world is rocked when his past comes back to haunt him. People he knew when he was younger are showing up in Sunnydale dead and things go from bad to worse when Ethan Rayne returns from Halloween. What is going on? What does it have to do with the Mark of Eyghon? And will it spell the end for Giles's burgeoning relationship with Jenny Calendar?
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| Don't trust her, Giles! |
First her boyfriend is keeping things from her and now her father figure is doing the same thing. It's no wonder Buffy has trust issues with men. When Giles and Ethan Rayne had their meeting at the end of "Halloween" you knew it wasn't going to be the last we saw of the shady storeowner, but I don't think I initially thought that he would be appearing again so quickly. But here he is two episodes later and he's causing even more trouble.
Giles and Jenny Calendar's relationship is moving right along. Jenny is planning surprise dates for them that involve monster trucks, which is a weird choice, but very funny. They are making out in the school hallways. They are making a lot of sexual innuendos about making each other squirm so you just know that things are going to go downhill because that is exactly what happens in situations like this on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Up until this point, Giles has been the stuffy, tweed loving Watcher who scolds Buffy for wanting to have a life of her own and plugs his ears when she listens to her music while aerobicizing. But, just like every adult, they were once young and Giles is no different. Unfortunately, his youthful indiscretions could get his young charge and his new girlfriend killed.
We learn that much like Buffy, Giles's had a destiny he couldn't avoid. The destiny of being a Watcher. He tried. Fleeing Oxford and running the streets of London with a group of delinquents. They dabbled in dark magic to get their kicks. One way they would get their thrills was by being taken over by the demon, Eyghon. He'd ride their corporeal bodies for a bit and then they'd force him out. Until once they couldn't and their friend died. It was this tragedy that got Giles back on the straight and narrow. Listening to this story, all I could think is that Giles is kind of like the Buffyerse's John Constantine. Like, a made for TV Constantine that finally got his shit together.
Eyghon is going after Giles former friends which brings Ethan Rayne back into the Scoobysphere again. Robin Sachs is great as Ethan. He's like the anti-Giles. He and Anthony Stewart Head have amazing chemistry and I just love snarky Englishmen. Rayne is a classic weasel and he does what you know he's going to do. Buffy offers to protect him, but instead he knocks her out when her back is turned and tattoos the mark on to her to try to save himself from Eyghon. I feel like Buffy should have been smarter than this. She remembers what happened at Halloween. You never turn your back on an Englishmen who has no morals Buffy. Everyone knows that.
Eyghon ends up possessing Jenny and she does not have a good time. I have to really commend the make up team here. The make up effects on possessed Jenny are amazing. Maybe some of the best of the series so far. Before Eyghon can burn out Jenny's body, Angel wrestles with her and Eyghon ends up jumping to him, but jokes on Eyghon. Angel already has a demon living in his body and it doesn't take kindly to interlopers. Eyghon is subdued and Jenny is saved. But, shocking no one, Jenny is not feeling the greatest about Giles after something form his past tried to kill her. So, you thought the romance drama was just for the teens on the show. Oh no. It's for everyone.
Grade: B+
Next up, we get a true two-parter as Spike tries to use the stolen book to cure Dru and we meet Kendra the Vampire Slayer.
What do you all think? Does Angel and Buffy's relationship give you more of the ick if you're an older fan? Did finding out Giles was a reformed delinquent make him hotter? Let me know in the comments.
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