Buffy the Vampire Slayer
If you're a first time viewer of season two of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," you may have thought that while there have been some great episodes, that the season may feel a little rudderless. And that is fair. But here's where things really start to amp up. Let's get to it.
"Surprise"
Angel: "You still haven't told me what you wanted for your birthday."
Buffy Summers: "Surprise me."
Angel: "Okay, I will."
[kisses Buffy]
Buffy Summers: "This is nice. I like seeing you first thing in the morning."
Angel: "It's bedtime for me."
Buffy Summers: "Well, then I like seeing you at bedtime. Um... um, heh... y-you know what I mean."
Angel: "I think so. What do you mean?"
Buffy Summers: "I like seeing you. The part at the end of the night where we say goodbye?... It's getting harder."
Angel: "Yeah... it is."
It's Buffy's seventeenth birthday and she is contemplating some pretty big decisions. She is considering taking her relationship to the next level, but her dreams are showing her Angel in danger from a returned Drusilla. It turns out that part of her dream is correct as Drusilla and Spike are re-assembling a demon called the Judge, who can burn the humanity out of people and can't be harmed by any weapon forged. Happy birthday, Buffy, indeed.
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| Final moments of love. |
If you're a fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," one thing you know is that Buffy has a lot of bad birthdays and this is the first one that we see. And believe it or not, this is probably not even the worst one.
Like I said in the opening of this recap, season two has felt a little meandering. It feels like we aren't seeing a unifying direction. But with these two episodes the disparate plot threads of season two start to come together and we get a Big Bad that is maybe the most personal Big Bad that Buffy will ever face. And not just that, but the show really starts to lean into the teenage aspect of the series.
They really start to lean into Buffy's prophetic dreams. They talked about it last season, but with these episodes they really double down on it. And I love that. As a Buffy fan, you really start to hone in on the details whenever Buffy has a dream. The dream in the cold open is a doozy. Buffy walking from her house into the Bronze. She finds Willow sitting at table with a monkey dressed as a bellhop and Willow is talking backwards. Joyce is there and asks, "Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?" and then drops her saucer to the ground and it shatters. Then, Drusilla shows up and stakes Angel. What a way to learn that it is Buffy's birthday.
All season we've seen the relationship between Buffy and Angel escalate and I think we all know the direction it's heading. It's apparent in every scene the two of them share. That sexual attention. When Buffy goes to see Angel to check to make sure he's safe and to tell him about her dream, you think they might give in to their carnal urges right there, but they don't. When Buffy goes to school and talks to Willow about it, the conversation between them seems very real. The way that Buffy is unsure, but steadfast. She's old enough to know that there is a progression to these things. She knows how this works. It's very believable. At this time, teenagers on television seemed hyper aware and verbose. And almost too cool or too smart. But this still feels like a real talk between two teenage girls about doing something that will change them forever.
Romance permeates this episode and not just between Buffy and Angel. Buffy points out the attraction between Oz and Willow. We get another really adorable moment between the two of them. The chemistry that Alyson Hannigan and Seth Green have is palpable. I was grinning from ear to ear watching them talk about asking each other out. Oz eventually agrees to be Willow's date to Buffy's surprise party and is truly initiated into the Scooby Gang when he sees Buffy stake a vampire. He has the most Oz response to it. He's not shocked. In fact, it makes a lot of sense.
Jenny Calendar has a secret. She's a member of the Kalderash Clan. They are the Romani people that cursed Angel with a soul after her murdered their favorite daughter. Jenny was sent to make sure that Angel was still being taunted and her uncle shows up because they sense that torment is lessening. This was a great reveal. Jenny just seemed like a love interest for Giles, but this puts a whole new wrinkle into the situation. Especially when she works to get Angel to leave with the Judge's arm to keep Drusilla and Spike from reassembling him.
This whole episode there is this undercurrent that something bad is going to happen to Buffy or Angel. They have so many wonderful tender moments. Angel gives Buffy a Claddagh ring, which has become such a big part of the mythology of the show. They have so many beautiful and tender moments. They have a brief showdown with Spike, Drusilla and the Judge. There is a thrilling chase through the sewers in the rain back to Angel's apartment. It culminates just the way you think it will. That sexual tension is finally resolved as the two of them finally have sex. But, the hammer falls after as Angel runs into the rain, crying out for Buffy like he's in pain.
There's so much about this episode that is great. It's nice to see Drusilla back and she is still crazy but not frail and more dangerous. Her and Spike's roles are reversed as Drusilla is coming up with the plans and is nursing Spike back to health. Giles is great. He is adamant that Buffy's surprise party continue. It's just a great episode. If you haven't watched it, do it now. If you haven't watched it in a while, do it now. Just watch this episode.
Grade: A-
"Innocence"
Angelus: "You can't do it. You can't kill me."
[Buffy kicks him in the groin and then turns and walks away]
Buffy Summers: "Give me time."
After fleeing out into the rain, Angel kills a woman that comes to check on him. Angelus is back. Angelus regroups with Spike and Drusilla. He's ready to make Buffy pay for making him feel human. After being an asshole about his night with Buffy, he leaves her brokenhearted. But it's not long before he makes his move. Can Buffy stop the Judge and potentially kill the first man she's ever loved?
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| Mother/daughter time. |
This is not just the best episode of season two, but it's definitely one of the top ten episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." I could even see it in the top five. It's perfect. It does everything right. It has all the elements that fans have come to love and expect from the show. There is the character drama. The relationship drama. The killer action set pieces. I think "Innocence" is really what showed people that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was really something special.
I have to start this recap by giving a slow clap to David Boreanaz. He gets to, excuse the pun, sink his teeth into the role of Angel in a way he never has before with this shift to Angelus. And just for clarity's sake, we are going refer to Angel as Angelus while he is soulless. I love the way that they reveal that things have changed. A woman is smoking a cigarette and sees him in pain. She goes to check on him and he bites her. As he drops her body to the ground, he exhales cigarette smoke from the cigarette she was smoking. This is such an iconic visual from the show.
There is such a shift between Angel and Angelus. We are used to seeing a sort of soft spoken, soft performance from Boreanaz, but it's so different now that he's soulless. You can see Boreanaz relishing this evil version of Angel. You first see it when he meets back up with Spike and Drusilla. One of my favorite things is Angelus giving Spike the business and it starts here. There is a moment in this episode where Angelus is talking about how he won't give Buffy a slow death and Drusilla chimes in. He's going to do to Buffy what he did to her and Angelus is proud that Dru knows what he is talking about. And it's just so gross.
Speaking of gross, there is the conversation that Angelus has with Buffy at his apartment. He does exactly what I think everyone is worried someone they really love will do after they have sex with them for the first time. He is an absolute piece of shit. He blows her off. He tells her she wasn't good. His tossed off "love you too" is like a knife to the heart. Joss Whedon has talked about how a lot of times, after you sleep with someone for the first time, it can feel like they become a totally different person. A bad person. And like, he sucks, but taking that feeling and having the person become a literal monster works really well.
It's not just Buffy going through it in the romance department. Willow catches Xander and Cordelia making out in the stacks and she does not take it well. It's nice to finally see Willow not just seeing Xander for who he really is, but letting him have it. Oz continues to be the anti-Xander when he rebuffs Willow's offer to make out because he knows she just wants to do it to make Xander jealous. But makes her feel good when he tells her that he does look forward to making out with her someday when she wants to do it with him because she really likes him.
There are so many iconic Buffy moments in this episode. The biggest one is probably the rocket launcher. The whole thing with the Judge is that no weapon forged can kill him, but there are modern weapons that aren't forged. Xander's Halloween military knowledge comes in handy and it won't be the last time. Seeing Buffy standing there with the rocket launcher is one of the first images that comes to my mind when I think of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Then, there is the fight between Buffy and Angelus in the mall theater lobby. The sprinklers going off. It's brutal and it's wild to think that just last episode the two of them spent most of their time together making out and having sex. What a juxtaposition. They really go all out here and I have to give it up to the show's stunt team. Buffy kicking Angelus right in the nuts is a supremely cathartic moment for Buffy and for the audience. He had it coming.
I can't not talk about Sarah Michelle Gellar in this recap. I know there is no way that she would have ever won an Emmy for this show, but this episode makes a good case for why she should have. She is perfect her. And watching her take Buffy through these different moments from shock and disgust when she talks to Angelus about their night together to her breaking down over his transformation to her resolve that she will soon be ready to kill Angelus. And to top it all off, we get a wonderfully tender moment between Buffy and Joyce.
Again, there are so many great things about this episode. Giles continues to be the perfect surrogate father for Buffy, handling her breakdown in his car pitch perfectly. Jenny finds herself on the outs with the gang. Her uncle is killed because Angelus knows he might be able to curse him again. Things are kicking into high gear now and I hope you all are ready.
Grade: A
Next up, Oz has a secret and Xander gets Amy to cast a love spell on Cordelia.
What did you all think? Are these two great episodes? Are you not a fan for some reason? Tell me about it in the comments.
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