Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Angel was cursed with a soul by gypsies he had scorned, but a moment of true happiness with Buffy ensured he lost it again. He's been wreaking havoc in the lives of the Scoobies, psychologically torturing them and going so far as to kill Jenny Calendar, who had been close to translating the spell to restore his soul.
Buffy gears herself up to face Angel, but he has other plans. With the recent discovery of the ancient demon Acathla who is able to send the entire world into a hell dimension with one breath, Angel decides he wants to end the world. Meanwhile, Buffy and Willow discover Jenny's translation of the restoration ritual and it's agreed they will try to restore Angel's soul. An attack on the library leads to Giles' capture to discover how to do the right ritual and Buffy heads to the mansion to face down Angel, armed with a new unlikely ally.
If there's one thing that Buffy did consistently well throughout its seven seasons, it's the finale episodes. Sometimes two-parters, sometimes standalone, always the result of a season long arc, Buffy finales have always been cracking episodes, capturing the humour and emotion that makes the series so strong. Partly, it's because the threat of cancellation always hung over the show, which meant that the writers always wrote each season to bring the series to a largely satisfying close should that happen.
There's a constant sense of horror to Becoming, building from Buffy's desire to finish her battle with Angel, the impending end of the world scenario (neatly paralleled with Buffy having to take finals), the self-immolating vampire at the front of a classroom and Giles' torture scenes. It returns the second season to the slow build of tension that has been mounting throughout the last few episodes and the building sense of dread climaxes spectacularly in the final scene of Part One.
It's the first of several major flashback episodes, one which use some element of the past to explain a character's motivations. For Angel, it shows the episodes in his life that have been the most talked about; his siring, the killing of his family, driving Dru insane and seeing Buffy for the first time. It starts building towards his solo quest for redemption with the spin-off wasn't in the pipeline (announced shortly after Becoming aired). It's a useful technique, demonstrating how Liam, Angel's pre-vamp self, was always a bit of a twit so the fact that Angelus turned out so evil isn't a surprise. It also gives us a greater understanding of how much he has to make up for and how significant the regaining of his soul was. As he said in an earlier episode, 'you have no idea what it's like to have done the things that I've done... and to care'.
With the discovery of the curse that could restore Angel's soul, Willow and Buffy set the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons when it comes to deciding his fate. It's a complicated moral decision and Whedon utilises the characters to represent different sides of the argument. Whenever the central characters fight, it's always particularly galling, like seeing a close family in the throes of a heated argument. Xander goes all out, bringing forth his callous streak to declare that Angel should die and Buffy is compromised by her feelings. Buffy sees it as a back-up plan, as does Willow who would perform the magic. Giles, meanwhile, is the most compromised of them all, understanding Buffy's position whilst also still reeling from Jenny's death.
Stakes always seems so much higher when the Scoobies are ripped apart and few scenes are as powerfully frightening as the one in which the gang are attacked in the library at the end of the first part. Whedon's reputation for killing off people suddenly wasn't quite as concrete as it is now, but after the death of Jenny, it felt like anyone could be next. At the end of the episode, Buffy is about to be arrested, Willow's unconscious, Xander's got a broken arm and Kendra's dead (goodbye Bianca Lawson, we barely knew you).
The haunting voiceover from Whistler about Big Moments cements this sense of loss; we have no idea how to follow this Big Moment and at this stage, neither do the characters. It's another example of a voiceover working particularly well and because it is a voice we're not used to, it adds a sense of detachment to the scene. Whistler is watching this play out with us. It also ties us back to Passion and recalls the slow motion discovering of Jenny's death. The message is clear; this is a game-changing episode and we still have the second part to come.
These Big Moments continue into the next episode, including Joyce finding out that her daughter is a Slayer. It's one of the lighter moments in the episode, post-alliance with Spike, which leads to a wonderful moment in which Joyce and Spike awkwardly bond over their previous meeting in School Hard. It soon gives way though into a conversation between Buffy and Joyce which leads to the latter running away from home. Their mother-daughter relationship is always one of the best aspects of the season, particularly as they try to negotiate understanding each other and this is sorely tested here.
Everything that occurs in this episode determines that by the end, Buffy is left entirely alone. It's a common theme in the season finales and whilst the series is at great pains to prove that she is nothing without her friends, it also points out continually that when it comes to the big fights, there's only so much help they can give. Becoming features one of the best explorations of this. It may be really obvious that the fight is not entirely David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar, but there's no denying that it is one of the best one-on-one showdowns of the series, probably second only to Buffy and Faith's clash in Graduation Day. The stakes are high and the tragedy of the outcome makes it just that bit worse. When Buffy kills Angel, she can't face her friends and departs alone; only now has she truly lost of everything.
Whilst Part One focuses on Angel's past, Part Two hints a lot towards key developments in future. There's another reference to the Mayor and his interest in Buffy, Xander tells Willow he loves her while she's unconscious and Willow begins practicing magic with the restoration ritual. These will have all flown over our heads when it first aired, but it's great to go back and catch them on the way through the rewatch.
And so to the heartbreaking end of the episode. It still pains me to this day that Xander is never called out on his lie, but without it, the ending wouldn't be so awful. Buffy saved the world again, but at great personal cost this time, something which this season has continually hinted towards. When she pulls off in the bus at the end, to the strains of Sarah MacLachlan's Full of Grace, it feels very final despite knowing that she'll come back. The ramifications of this episode also have a long-lasting impact on the third season, which is also arguably the series' most consistently good run.
Well, that's the second season everyone. It's all going rather quickly now. Also, just as the Angel series was announced after Becoming, I'm announcing that I shall be doing an Angel re-watch alongside the Buffy one when we get to the end of the third season. How very exciting. Well, for me anyway, I've only seen the entirety of Angel once through.
Quote of the Week:
Angel: No weapons... No friends... No hope. Take all that away and what's left?
Buffy: Me.
*Air punch*
Let's Get Trivial: The Mutant Enemy monster at the end dispenses with his usual 'Grr arrgh' to say 'Oh I need a hug'. You and me both, fella.
Demonology 101: Whistler is the first instance of a good demon existing in the Buffyverse, something that becomes increasingly important to both Buffy and Angel in their respective series.
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Go Fish, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Giles and Jenny's relationship has fractured due to the revelations of her part in ensuring Angel loses his soul, Angelus continues to taunt the gang and Buffy finds herself struggling to keep him at bay.
I'm writing this first paragraph before I even begin watching this week's episode because there are few episodes that stick so clearly in the mind like Passion does. Several images immediately come to mind when someone talks about Passion; Willow's fish, the drawing of Buffy left on her pillow, the final chase, the rose petals... Even now, I'm getting a little upset just thinking about it. It's an episode that revels in its own darkness, because Angelus' particular brand of emotional torture gets to take centre stage and we get literally into his head. Very few Buffy episodes use a voiceover, but its sparing use over the course of the series' run really allows it to work effectively, hammering home the emotions of the episode in which it is featured. David Boreanaz is on voiceover duties here and the thought of it gives me the shivers.
Passion finds Angelus stepping up his game when it comes to torturing Buffy and her friends. The cold open follows his gaze as he stalks Buffy whilst she dances at the Bronze and then follows her home to draw pictures of her while she sleeps. The gang work on a de-invitation spell to prevent Angelus from entering their various homes and Cordelia's car, which comically comes equipped with garlic bouquets later on. Meanwhile Jenny is trying to repair her reputation with the group by tracking down what's needed for the Ritual of Restoration which would give Angelus back his soul. She slowly rekindles her friendship with Willow and works to do the same with her relationship with Giles, the pair agreeing to meet on a date once she has finished translating the ritual. Angelus, however, has other ideas.
After the levity of Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, the psychological horror of Passion is quite the gear change, but handled characteristically well thanks to Ty King's script and Michael E. Gershman's direction. The opening scene's voiceover and the gaze-focused camera-work create the edgy, uncomfortable atmosphere that permeates the episode, placing us within Angelus' mind. We see some of the action throughout from Angelus' gaze, particularly the scene in which Buffy and Willow find out about Jenny. The focus on Buffy, Joyce and Willow with the stalking in the first half of the episode is a feint of sorts before the real attack takes place. We've heard much about Angelus' particular brand of villainy before and after he turned, but this is the first time we've really seen him in action. It's chilling.
David Boreanaz's performance in this episode is one of his best, getting to play all the playfully dangerous facets of Angelus' character and rolling with it. The scene with Joyce at the doorstep in which he reveals the true extent of his relationship with Buffy is masterful in its manipulation. Kristine Sutherland also puts in a wonderful performance here, discovering that Buffy hasn't exactly been telling her everything. It's a pre-cursor to her finding out about Buffy's dual life later in the season and it's handled well, demonstrating the strength of their relationship when its tested.
However, most of the preceding episode is to establish this tense atmosphere, building up to the moment in which Angelus confronts Jenny about her attempts to restore his soul. The chase through the school is made even more dramatic by the knowledge that everyone who could possibly help Jenny is elsewhere; there is no last minute dramatic rescue as Buffy bursts through the doors, Jenny is completely alone. Famously, Whedon ensured that Boreanaz was in full vamp face for this particular death, because he didn't want viewers to hate Angel, but to entirely associate this with his other half. As with Buffy, it's the moment in which the audience finally sees Angelus' ruthlessness. It also serves as a double-edged revelation; this is the first instance of Whedon's characteristic willingness to kill off characters to demonstrate a point. Here, it's no character is safe.
As if killing Jenny hadn't been enough, the final ten minutes of the episode continue to show Angelus' emotional torture. The scene where Giles discovers Jenny's body, mistakenly thinking she'd set up a romantic date for the two of them, is one of the most heartbreaking sequences Buffy produced in its seven seasons. La Boheme is playing on the record player; the specific piece is O soave fanciulla, the piece the central couple sing to each other as they realise they are falling in love. It's a choice dripping with irony, much like the rest of the scene and it's another turn of the screw as Giles ascends the stairs to find her body. Angelus reminds me of Heath Ledger's Joker in this respect; yes there is an endgame, but really he just wants to see how far he can push people before they break entirely.
Giles very nearly does break entirely, going off on a vengeance mission half-cocked and overly emotional, leading to Buffy bursting in to save the day and beat the crap out of Angelus before saving Giles' life. If you hadn't already shed a tear at the discovery of Jenny's body, or the near-silent phone call as Buffy and Willow find out, then you certainly will as Buffy hits Giles to calm him down and then clutches him as he sobs uncontrollably. I'm an emotional wreck by the end of this episode every time I see it. This last viewing was no exception.
I've mentioned before that I'm a fairly emotional television watcher, I get far too wrapped up in these things. However, Passion stands out as one episode in which it is entirely justified. We've been getting to know these characters over the course of twenty-nine episodes and the Scoobies always felt like a family from the outset. By killing off a character who has been with us from the beginning and who means so much to people in the group, Passion forces us to confront the nightmarish world they live. Sure Buffy died, but she was always going to come back somehow. Jenny won't. The fragility of life on the Hellmouth suddenly is pulled sharply into focus and, building into the final episodes of the season, it becomes increasingly apparent that the stakes are too high for everyone to get out alive.
Quote of the Week:
Angelus: Passion... it lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us, guides us... passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments; the joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank... without passion, we'd be truly dead.
Let's Get Trivial: In an interview with the BBC, Anthony Head revealed this to be his favourite episode.
- Becky
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: After the events of What's My Line, the gang believe Spike and Dru to be dead. Cordelia and Xander are still in the sort-of groping phase of the relationship and Willow and Oz are making tentative steps towards theirs. Elsewhere, Angel still remains under the gypsy curse that gives him his soul.
When it comes to television and film, I'm a fairly emotional person. I get wrapped up in the dilemmas of fictional characters quickly and easily and can sob at a scene far faster than I would like to admit. However, there are but a handful of moments like these that will stay with me, the mere thought of which could bring those emotions flooding back to the surface. The Surprise/Innocence two-parter has a whole bunch of those moments and it all stems back to when I watched Buffy the first time round.
If I remember correctly, I was around 11 when these episodes were airing on BBC2 and I had just managed to convince the family to start watching them with me. Partly because I knew they'd like it and also because I was really tired of having to sneak in VHS recordings when they weren't looking. It was around this time that I started realising I was watching something really, really good. And I can pinpoint the exact moment that this occurred to me. It was during Innocence as I stared aghast at Angel (second in affection rankings only to Billy Kennedy from Neighbours at this point in my life) killed someone. In cold blood. The credits music kicked in and I knew from then on, this wasn't just something enjoyable to watch of a Thursday evening, it was something I needed to watch every week. In short, Buffy is the first television show I ever became completely hooked on and it is entirely down to these two episodes.
Needless to say, these are two episodes I've been most looking forward to revisiting and thankfully, they didn't disappoint. After a prophetic dream, Buffy worries that Drusilla is alive and has designs on killing Angel. She's not far off the mark as the gang soon discover that Spike and Dru are assembling a demon of legend, capable of reducing the righteous to ash. Seeing as our Scoobies have nothing but good in them, the Judge is bad news. Even worse, one of them undergoes a complete transformation that has Big Bad written all over it...
Surprise is a somewhat misleading title in that there are few surprises that take place in this episode. There are a couple for the characters, like Oz discovering vampires exist and handling it with his deadpan charm or Buffy's surprise party, but anything major is held back. Instead, it's a slow build-up to the crushing series of revelations that are to hit the characters when we get to Innocence. Like gathering the piece of the Judge, Surprise starts to slot bits of information together to form a bigger picture. In this case, it is the revelation of this season's Big Bad and those already trying to stop it happening. The audience gets some information ahead of the characters, like the reveal of Jenny Calendar's heritage, but this only serves to heighten the suspense.
The episode does suffer somewhat for being the major set-up for Innocence; Surprise has a lot of foundation work to lay in but does so swiftly and there are plenty of twists to keep you interested. However, it is Innocence that lingers much longer in the memory. There's a poetic term, specifically related to sonnets, called a turn or a volta. The turn usually takes place around the ninth line or third quatrain (depending on what style you're reading) and signals a shift, a change in mood for the conclusion of the poem. As far as I'm aware, television seasons don't have a terminology to describe a similar shift so I shall have to apply the turn to Innocence, for that is what it is.
Other seasons have similar shifts in tone, usually to do with discovering bad guys (Faith and Willow are prime examples), but because it was the first, the Angelus reveal stands out like no other. It was a massive twist and one which cements the second season as a firm fan favourite. Primarily, it is the personal connection we have with this character through Buffy. As her boyfriend, Angel is the nice, dependable sort (albeit with fangs) who occasionally saves the day and looks good with his top off. To have him become the bad guy is just something I wasn't prepared for and it's massively important for the theme of this episode.
Joyce smashing the saucer in Buffy's prophetic dream at the beginning of Surprise proves to be something of an over-riding image for these two episodes; relationships break down, hearts break and illusions shatter. For a show so grounded in the supernatural (and there's plenty of that here too), the episodes where humanity and reality break through that magical fog are the ones that really stick with you. Just think of The Body with its meditation on death, Hush with its emphasis on our ability to communicate without words or The Gift and its message of sacrifice. Innocence is one such episode, in which our characters, and to a certain extent the audience, are forced to face up to the sudden, overwhelming realisation that some people just aren't what they seem.
As ever, the breakdown of the relationship between Buffy and the transformed Angel is another metaphor for teenage worries and experiences. In this case, it's the 'having sex with a guy immediately transforms him into a monster' fear brought to the fore in all its hideously soul-destroying glory (pun intended). Losing your virginity is a Big Deal and it's something so often discussed as a teenage girl fear (and I'm sure for others too). I'm also fairly certain a lot of people of all genders and persuasions have experienced a relationship development only for the other person to turn out to be a complete arse. Here it's maximised in a way that only Buffy can; it brings back the murderous, borderline insane vampire that Angel has suppressed via the gypsy curse.
I'm not going into the 'Buffy is punished for sex' criticism here as I'm saving that all for Parker Abrams and I also don't think it actually applies to this situation. That Buffy and Angel have sex in this two-parter is not the most shocking part about this turn in their relationship. It is, as it always is when teenage sex in high school dramas is concerned, about the consequences. The heartbreaking scene is the moment in which Angelus (for the sake of differentiation) tortures Buffy who believes she is speaking to Angel. He manipulates her into thinking it was just about the sex and slowly, painfully, breaks down the self-confidence we expect in our Slayer. It doesn't even matter that he's a vampire in this scene nor that she's the slayer. To paraphrase a rom-com, she's just a girl, standing in front of a boy and expecting him to love her. And he no longer does. The illusion shatters and she sees his true self.
It's also important to remember that Angel isn't the only person to be revealed as something different to the characters in these episodes and that people being awful isn't all just about sex. Throughout the season so far, there's been a constant theme of growing up, of accepting responsibility and the world around you, particularly for Buffy, but other characters weren't immune. Giles was even pursued by his teenage past at one point, something he'd always been running from and is forced to confront Jenny's ulterior motive. What this episode does so well is capture that loss of innocence (hence the title) so well and just as with Buffy and Angel, so too must the other characters go through it.
Despite the obvious Buffy-Angel-Christophe Beck theme heart-wrenching, the most upsetting scene remains the moment in which Willow discovers Xander kissing Cordelia. It's the moment in the hallway when confronts him and tearfully confesses her feelings for him; "it means you'd rather be with someone you hate, than be with me". Maybe it's just my strong affinity with Willow's character, but there is something particularly galling about seeing someone being hurt by their crush in such a complete way. Unreciprocated love is a quintessential teenage experience and to have that happen in the midst of all this supernatural shenanigans just makes the show feel that much more human. It's another illusion shattering and one that is arguably worse than the Angel reveal.
The human/inhuman dynamic is obviously particularly important then in this episode, so it is fitting that we get a villain whose modus operandi is to kill of the humanity within people. Unlike some other Buffy villains, the Judge is actually worthy of his reputation and shown to be such, partially down to Brian Thompson's fearsome appearance (see Sunnydale Who's Who). His 'no weapon forged can kill him' schtick is built up well and fits in well with the sense of dread that slowly mounts over the course over the two episodes. It's what makes the climactic battle so satisfying. It's a freaking rocket launcher.
I haven't really spoken much about the villains in the episodes, mainly because I think they're not as important in the scheme of things, but that doesn't mean they're not effective. Juliet Landau in particular has a ball in this episode and is a lot of fun to watch, especially when Angelus returns. Speaking of, David Boreanaz is always much better as Angelus than he is as Angel during his run on Buffy and he's certainly more entertaining. Angel's character of tortured and brooding doesn't work until he gets his own series, but Angelus walks in fully formed with a predilection for torture that makes him truly despicable.
That being said, it's still really satisfying to see Buffy kick him in the balls.
Returning to the emotional person of the opening paragraph, she's still here and Surprise and Innocence still hit me harder than a lot of episodes. There's a lot to relate to here and the monster as metaphor has never worked better than it does in Innocence. This remains one of the soaring high points of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a brutal, emotional meditation on growing up and quite literally facing your demons.
Quote of the Week:Joyce: "What did you do for your birthday? Did you have fun?"
Buffy: "I got older"
Inventive Kill: ROCKET LAUNCHER.
Let's Get Trivial: Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon provided the breathy noises for the flashback sex scene because they were too embarrassed to ask David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar to do it in ADR.
Sunnydale Who's Who: Is there a finer genre character actor than Brian Thompson? He clocks up two runs in Buffy, one as the Judge here and the other as Luke back in the first season. He's also particularly scary as an alien hunter in X-Files.
- Becky
You can view Becky's look at previous episode, Bad Eggs, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A vampire stole a mysterious volume from Giles' library and immediately passed it on to Spike earlier in the season, tensions have been mounting between Cordelia and Xander and oh yeah, Buffy died.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing sometimes isn't it? Throughout this series re-watch, I've had some great moments; spotted things I'd not seen before, references that had previously passed me by, or little character moments that mean more to me than they did on the first few watches. It's largely been a positive experience, but there are also those moments, fleeting or otherwise, that expose flaws in the Buffy DNA that had passed me by before, one such episode being Reptile Boy earlier this season. The What's My Line two-parter manages to encompass both positive and negative aspects when revisiting this episode.
First of all, the summary: What's My Line finds Buffy contemplating her future as Sunnydale High hosts a careers fair whilst Willow finally meets Oz and Xander and Cordelia continue their sparring. All is not good in Sunnydale however (when is it ever?) as Spike and Dru unlock a ritual to restore Dru's health but it involves chaining up Angel half naked in a church. Obviously. To distract Buffy, Spike brings in the Order of Taraka, a nice collection of assassins with a variety of skillsets. When she is set upon by a mysterious female fighter, Buffy assumes her to be an assassin, but she reveals herself to be Kendra, another vampire slayer activated when Buffy 'died' in last season's Prophecy Girl.
First up, let's start with the positives; What's My Line is a cracking two parter that sets in stone some of the most important foundations for later seasons, particularly the third (with Faith) and the seventh (with the Potentials). It's also the episode where Buffy finally starts to confront her duty as the Slayer, rather than trying to run away from it and complain about it all the time. She sees Kendra as offering her a way out of the life, a chance to let her step forward so Buffy can have a normal life. However, by the end of the episode, working with Kendra shows her that actually, she's pretty damn good at her job and enjoys it at least a little bit. It's an important development for the character and though the tension continues between the role of the Slayer and Buffy's regular world persona, it is in What's My Line that she starts to get a little less whiney about the whole deal.
One of the major strengths of these episodes is the dialogue which (aside from the horrendously awkward Kendra moments which we'll get to later) sparkles with a ready wit and keeps the pace zipping along. It's the first episode with Marti Noxon in the writer's chair (along with Howard Gordon) who goes on to become one of the most consistently good writers in the Buffy dialogue bank. She gets to introduce another big character in Oz, though we've already seen him, with some brilliant deadpan one-liners and give our main characters some nicely witty exchanges. A particular favourite is Buffy's 'OK, a regular kid and her cradle-robbing-creature-of-the-night boyfriend'. It was a struggle to pick any one line as I usually do below, but I went for one I quote most often and is definitely the most difficult to get into a general conversation.
And so we come to the negatives which, in my lesser experienced days, I had glossed over simply because I wasn't quite tuned into them. Buffy as a show has always had a bit of a race problem, something which has been recognised and written about by more expert people than I. That I hadn't noticed how overtly problematic Kendra's introduction was says a huge amount about the insidious way in which race is presented in Buffy; it's normalised to the point where it took me countless watches of this two parter to really pick up on. Some viewers may not even see it as a problem, but now I've clocked on to it, What's My Line became quite uncomfortable to watch in places. It has been written about elsewhere and I particularly recommend Kent Ono's 'To Be a Vampire on Buffy' which is available to read here; he only focuses on the first three seasons of the show (those that had aired at the time of writing) but produces a really interesting analysis of the way in which race is presented.
Kendra's accent has been singled out for ridicule from the moment the episodes first aired and it is a terrible accent, a weird mash-up of Jamaican patois and whatever the producers were telling Bianca Lawson to do at the time (she too hated the accent). However, it is more how characters interact with her that becomes increasingly problematic. Upon Buffy's introduction to her, she describes a truce as 'no kicko, no fighto' in response to Kendra's accent, despite her clearly being perfectly capable of speaking English. Buffy goes on to mock her continually throughout the second part, even imitating her accent at one point for no apparent reason. Giles treats her with a patronising tone and Xander reduces her to a blubbering servant, incapable of getting a word out without stammering uncontrollably or making eye contact.
Within the show, this is attributed to Kendra's training; she has been brought up from day one to be a Slayer and isn't allowed to have friends or interact with boys. Unlike Buffy who has been granted a fair amount of freedom (despite her complaining), Kendra has been restricted throughout. However, when looked at within the context of Kendra's race, this behaviour, in contrast to the enlightened Californian blond, white Slayer, looks primitive and barbaric and most importantly, is treated as such. It's certainly eye-opening to watch these episodes in that context and suddenly, I find myself not liking this two-parter as much as I thought I would.
Returning to the duality of hindsight that I opened with, What's My Line becomes a curiously mixed bag; on the one hand, it is an absolute joy to hear some of this dialogue again, to see Oz and Willow interact for the very first time, to see the Order of Taraka get bigged up something rotten by everyone involved and then all get dispatched rather easily by the Scoobies. On the other hand, it brings one of Buffy's major problems into the limelight and somehow, seeing the treatment of Kendra for what it is means that I don't think I shall appreciate these episodes on the same level again which really is a shame.
Quote of the Week: Oz - "I mock you with my monkey pants" (It had to be this. Just had to be)
Let's Get Trivial: This is the first time that the main characters are referred to as the Scooby Gang, by Xander as he is breaking into Buffy's house with Cordelia.
Inventive Kill: Two for the price of one this week - Buffy slits the first assassin's throat with a handy swing on some hockey nets and her ice skate blade. Willow bags her first vampire kill in a tag team effort with Giles.
Demonology 101: Spike was originally supposed to be killed off in this episode but James Marsters and the character proved so popular with audiences that he was written back into the season, going on to become one of the show's most memorable figures.
- Becky
PS. I will one day get these posts out on time. I promise.
You can read Becky's look back at The Dark Age here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Anointed One has survived into the second season and has put together another posse of vampires to ritualistically take on the Slayer. Also, Principle Snyder is totally gunning to get Buffy kicked out of school
Ladies and gentlemen, the talent has arrived, crashing into the Welcome to Sunnydale sign with a cool car, a reckless attitude and a knack for killing slayers. Yes people, Spike's in town.
I think it's fair to say that School Hard is where Buffy really kicks it up a notch and starts hinting at not only the bigger picture, but the highs that this season in particular is about to hit. Buffy faces the prospect of Parent-Teacher Night and organising the whole event with fellow delinquent student Sheila (I heard she ate a live duck once). Snyder is determined to prove Buffy's inadequacy and Joyce is out to find out just what is going on in Buffy's school life. Not only that, but the Night of St Vigeous is coming up and the Anointed One is gunning for the Slayer. It's the one night of the year that vamps' abilities are heightened and they actually stand a chance of cutting down everyone's favourite blonde bombshell. It never comes again mind, this St Vigeous thing, so maybe when Spike shows up, he really does ruin it forever.
So called because it's Die Hard in a high school (something I only actually realised a couple of months ago), School Hard sets a whole bunch of stuff up for the coming series in one handy 45 minute slot. First up, and the most obvious, is the arrival of Spike and Dru, the Buffyverse's very own Sid and Nancy, mad, bad and dangerous for just about everyone. Spike's entrance to the factory, all posturing and kickass attitude, was exactly the shake-up the show needed in terms of its bad guys. The Master's dogmatic nature may have worked to set up the Buffyverse in the first season, but let's face it, there's only so much ritualising you can take and Spike demonstrates the punky, subversive attitude that Buffy will become known for. This also happens to set up two of the Big Bads for the season with bonkers Dru in toe.
The third is but glimpsed in this episode as Angel uses his former self and friendship with Spike to get into the school once the hostage situation has arisen. With Boreanaz' voice shifting up an octave for play-acting Angelus and offering Xander as bait, it's a hint at what is on the way for the season, another bit of foreshadowing to go along with that in When She Was Bad. It also introduces us to the concept of a sire (the process of making a vampire) and though this would go on to be proven factually incorrect (Drusilla sires Spike), Spike yelling 'you were my sire man' at Angel hints at a deeper connection between the two as well as an expansion of Buffy's vampire lore.
As far as the human characters go, it also proffers some foreshadowing in the form of Joyce attending Parent-Teacher Night and seeing Buffy in action. Well, sort of. Buffy's very careful to make sure she doesn't see all that much, just enough for Joyce to give her a week and a half's grace. It's a great episode for their relationship, one that hints at Joyce discovering the truth about her daughter later in the season whilst also demonstrating Buffy's desire to retain her mum's approval. Oh and Joyce does get her very own Ripley moment when she bashes Spike over the head with an axe. So that's nice.
The dialogue is characteristically snappy, with James Marsters announcing his unique presence on the show immediately with a series of quips about vampire boasting; "If every vampire who said he was at the Crucifixion was actually there, it would've been like Woodstock." Spike's bravura also makes him a good villain; as it's his first appearance, and other characters are emphasising just how good he can be, it lends a degree of tension to the episode (let's just ignore the worst stunt-doubling EVER). Without this, the concept of everyone being held hostage in the school by a load of vampires could have fallen completely flat.
As it stands, School Hard is the first truly great episode of the second season, thanks in no small part to a blistering performance from Marsters, who was initially only supposed to be in a few episodes. Think how different the mythology would have been then.
Next Time: Inca Mummy Girl
Quote of the Week: Spike - "From now on, we're going to have a little less ritual and a little more fun around here.
Inventive Kill: Spike wacks the Anointed One in a cage and hoists him up into a beam of sunlight. Mmm. Crispy.
Let's Get Trivial: Spike casually mentions/brags that he has killed two Slayers. He only mentions the one in the Boxer Rebellion, Xin Rong, and later he will talk about Nikki in New York (both seen in Fool For Love)
- Becky
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