FEATURE: Angel - She

Previously on Angel: Cordy's got a nice new flat and it's haunted, but with a nice ghost. Wesley's now hanging around and helping it out when he can. Angel's finding this whole interacting with humans thing a little hard to handle.

Cordelia's housewarming party gives us a brief insight into Angel's lack of social skills, Wesley's even worse and Phantom Dennis is still awesome. Realising that Wesley's hanging around because he needs a job, Angel welcomes him as an associate in the Investigations and he's on hand as Cordy has a vision of a man being burned alive from the inside out. Complete with exploding eyeballs. Yum. Angel finds himself in the middle of a transdimensional battle, aiding the demon princess Jhiera, who is attempting to free the women of her world, kept as slaves by men, who perform an operation equivalent to a lobotomy to ensure the women remain well-behaved.

Angel has already shown on several occasions so far that is a willingness to take on some of the darker aspects of life than Buffy could do with its lighter fare and She is a classic example of this. In its exploration of female slavery and mutilation at the hands of men, it continues the feminist slant of its sister show, but with more intent to explore the violence of it (though Buffy would tackle this later on). Jhiera's quest to free the women of her society is a fierce cry of independence follows nicely on from last week's exploration of female body violation in Expecting. Like Cordelia's experience, women are abused by the men of their race, forced into subservience. 

The men of her race remove the part of the woman's body that controls their desires and sexual power in order to more subdue them and keep them in their subservient place in society. The parallels to Female Genital Mutilation, an ongoing issue in our own society. Not only is there a physical destruction, but also one of identity as the women who have undergone the procedure refer to themselves as "it" once their bodies have been violated and they have become more malleable. Their sense of self is lost in the process. It's not a graphic horror in this episode, but it's an insidious one and sadly something that remains just as relevant to the way in which women are treated in our own society. 

The balance of the darker elements of the episode are met with some great moments of levity. Not only does Angel give a little speech on Manet's La Musique, he also hints that he is the eponymous creature in Baudelaire's Le Vampire, part of his collection Les Fleurs du mal. I love little references to what Angel got up to during his time as a vampire and it's always amusing when he gets to show off his considerable arts knowledge. This is especially amusing when contrasted to his sheer inability to use mobile phones. However, the crowning comedy moment has to be Angel and Wesley's imagined and real dancing skills respectively. It's just glorious. And I love that we got the end credits too.

With the now solid three member team of Angel Investigations, it's fitting that Wesley's first episode actually employed is such a good one. The writing team of Noxon and Greenwalt write a screenplay that sparkles with characteristic wit but also with an incisive exploration of violence against women. It's helped by a fierce performance from Bai Ling as Jhiera, one of the more memorable additions to the guest characters. I also like that she isn't given any leeway by Angel, despite the obvious support he has for her cause; you don't kill innocent people on Angel's turf, nor do you let his friends die.

It's a great little episode, this one, full to the brim of ideas, anger and charm. Not only do we get an allegory of the way in which women can be controlled and harmed by their own society, but also a look at Angel's code of conduct when it comes to his friend. Oh, and Wesley and Angel's dancing of course. Who could forget that?

Quote of the Week:

Cordelia [to Angel]: I was so glad you came. You know how parties are? You're always worried that no one's gonna suck the energy out of the room like a giant black hole of boring despair. But, there you were in a clinch!

Inventive Kill: Incinerated from the inside out, leading to inadvertent popping of the eyeballs. They didn't show that on Channel 4 back in the day.

LA Who's Who: This episode marks the second appearance of Sean Gunn.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at the previous episode, Expecting, here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Wild At Heart

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike has taken a right royal ass-kicking in both Sunnydale and LA. Oz has been worried about his werewolf-y side getting out and taking over and Willow has noticed he's grown more distant whilst she's been getting into Wicca more and more.

After a visit to The Bronze, Willow notices Oz's attraction to lead singer Veruca even more as Buffy also realises what's worrying her best friend. On the night before the full moon, Oz escapes from his cage and chases Maggie Walsh down only to meet another werewolf. We soon learn that it's Veruca and during their full mooning, Oz sleeps with her, betraying Willow and scaring himself in the process. Meanwhile, Spike has returned to Sunnydale; the "Big Bad is back" but he finds himself tasered and captured by the commando guys who have been lurking in the shadows for the first few episodes of this season.

I don't like this episode. Not because it isn't good. It is. It's heartbreaking. Oz leaves. And it's a departure that I've never quite gotten over in all these years because it's Oz and Oz is awesome and now we're going to have to do without his witty one-liners which made Quote of the Week that bit easier. Stupid Oz. Whilst his leaving does lead to one of the most revolutionary relationships on TV with Willow and Tara, it also deprives us of the lovely little romance that was Willow and Oz and the last real link back to high school-bound Buffy in that first flush of romance.

Change has been the big theme of the season so far as the characters adapt to their new setting at college whilst the show attempts to do the same. The opening scenes at The Bronze are a great example of this; Willow comments that it's like a "big comfy blanky" and works because it's familiar. It's handy too for the audience  to visually link back to what the show was, even if the presence of Giles is as jarring for us as it is for the characters. It also struck me this time how the gang has changed with the lack of Angel and Cordelia at The Bronze suddenly very noticeable, which brings me back to what I was saying about Oz being the last real link back to high school for the main Scoobies.

Oz has never been at the forefront of many stories, except the werewolf episodes, but he's developed well and quietly in that time. Fear, Itself showed us a more emotional side to the character, one which was hysterically terrified of the creature that resided within him and the loss of control that could potentially happen, harming Willow in the process. Seth Green doesn't need to do much to convey Oz's emotions and it's always great when he gets chance to flex his muscles with a more complex storyline such as this one. 

It's another example of the show flirting with the idea that supernatural power is something of an addiction to be managed rather than anything positive. We've seen it already with Faith and Angel, but Oz has always been seemingly in control, losing it at the point that Veruca threatens Willow, killing for the first time. Veruca represents the what Oz could become, someone who gets off on the power she wields and the reason why he leaves at the end of the episode. Oz leaves to regain the control that he feels he's lost. 

The other side of the episode is how Willow copes with the change that's going on around her. The scene in which she finds out is as heartbreaking as anything Buffy has done. Most of the season so far has focused on how Buffy hasn't acclimatised and Willow hits the ground running, mostly because of the stability that Oz provides. Now, Oz is leaving, Buffy is achieving academically and Willow is floundering. It's the first time she resorts to magic as a way of coping with her emotion, but crucially steps back from it before she goes too far. It's another little moment of foreshadowing, not only for the way in which magic becomes her emotional crutch, but also in the way she deals with heartbreak. Oz almost functions as the preliminary event before Tara and the arrival of Dark Willow.

I'm an emotional Buffy watcher and it's something we've been through before, but I'd truly forgotten how sad this episode is. It feels like a real line in the sand, the moment that Buffy properly sheds the high school trappings and starts confronting the kind of adult heartbreak we didn't see too often outside of mid- and season finales. I already miss Oz.

Quote of the Week:

Willow: Oz, don't you love me?
Oz: My whole life... I've never loved anything else.

Inventive Kill: Wolf Oz takes down Wolf Veruca and rips her throat out.

Let's Get Trivial: The love triangle between Oz, Veruca and Willow was initially supposed to continue for most of the season, but Seth Green decided that he wanted to leave the show to focus on his film career. That abruptness was channelled into the episode and Whedon admits Willow got her heart broken precisely because that's how everyone was feeling behind the scenes.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Beer Bad, here. If you really want to. It's still a terrible episode.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Living Conditions

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The gang have now entered the college years, or at least, Oz, Buffy and Willow have. Xander is back living with his parents and Giles is enjoying unemployment. Buffy is still having trouble fitting in after her disastrous first couple of days but has a nice new roommate to get to know.

Buffy is finding difficult to adjust to life with her new roommate, Kathy. Not only does she have to find excuses for her late night patrol excursions, she has to put up with excessive Cher, accusatory milk suggestions and telephone bill systems. She also begins to have weird nightmares about a demon pouring blood down her throat and sucking her soul and, given that she's a Slayer, this doesn't really set alarm bells ringing. 

What does is her increasingly psychotic behaviour towards and about Kathy, lending the Scoobies to think that she might be possessed. But she might not be as wrong about Kathy as everyone thinks. There's also a new love interest on the horizon. We'll tackle the evil Parker Abrams in the next episode, but hey, here he is. Yeurch. The douchey warning signs are already there, but Buffy's loneliness makes her an easy target for campus arses.

Roommates/Housemates. Can't live with 'em, can't hope that they're actually a demon sucking your soul so you can get rid of them. Living with people you don't know very well is hard. Trying to ignore each other's bad habits, remain calm and make the most of the situation is enough to drive anyone mad. Passive-aggressive wars of attrition are going on right now up and down the land with that housemate of yours who just won't play nice. Post-its become weapons, whiteboards the kind of thing that could change the direction of the battle forever. Of course, not all of us have Buffy's excuse, but that doesn't make her experiences in Living Conditions any less recognisable.

It's one of the metaphors in the fourth season that actually works well, the banality of the kind of things that annoy people mixed with the evil of demon possession. Dagney Kerr's performance as the permanently upbeat Kathy is pitched at just the right level of perky annoying, allowing us into Buffy's state of exasperation and Marti Noxon's script gives Kerr some great, Ned Flanders-esque expressions. Sarah Michelle Gellar's increasing psychosis around the whole deal is also played perfectly, allowing her to fire off one liners with maniacal aplomb. Their clashes, accompanied by some nifty visual and audio editing and a suitably dramatic score, are the highlights of the episode.

The episode is undercut nicely with the ultimate reveal of Kathy's back story as a transdimensional demon who wasn't actually given permission to go to college but went anyway. The little temper tantrum she has with the demon that comes to get her is a brilliant little scene. I also love that she is without a soul, because so often when living with an absolute terror of a person, that's how it feels. It is a sad one and one which Buffy should be able to identify with, given her own quest for a normal life, but of course she gets Willow as a roommate instead. I love the little sting of Buffy's eyes narrowing.

Living Conditions suffers slightly from repeating the neuroses from the previous episode (Buffy really doesn't like people touching her things) and the 'Buffy can't get used to college' thing threatens to get tired quickly. It also marks a consecutive episode in which Buffy's assertions about the threat she's facing isn't believed. Thankfully, the sparky and insightful dialogue hides those differences well enough to produce a fun instalment.

Quote of the Week (Marti Noxon scripts are the hardest for this kind of thing):

Buffy: So then Kathy's like, 'It's share time.' And I'm like, 'Oh yeah? Share this! [throws a few air punches]
Oz: So either you hit her or you did your wacky mime routine for her...
Buffy: Well, I didn't do either actually, but she deserved it, don't you think?
Oz: Nobody deserves mime, Buffy.

Let's Get Trivial: The sixth episode so far to not feature vampires in any form. It does have evil toenail clippings though.

Demonology 101: Although we don't know she's a werewolf yet, we meet Veruca. We don't like Veruca. Everyone narrow their eyes at her.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at The Freshman here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Prom

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Faith's on the dark side with the Mayor, who was a bit too honest about how a mismatched couple like Buffy and Angel could fare as they travel along. Buffy and the gang are still trying to find out stuff about the Mayor's Ascension as Graduation Day looms on the horizon.

Hands up if you cry at this episode.

All of you? If not, someone is either lying or completely stone-hearted. Because this is the episode where Buffy finally gets to be recognised for what she does and is acknowledged as a nice, nearly normal girl who happens to save people's asses a lot. This is also what she does in this episode as a guy called Tucker Wells who no one really knows decides to get revenge on everyone because a girl wouldn't be his date to the prom. A guy threatening violence because he found he wasn't automatically entitled to a woman's time? Never... Ahem. Anyway, basically Buffy decides that this isn't on and goes after the hell hounds that Tucker has conjured up and brainwashed into attacking formal wear.

Though the prom is something that's only just started to take in the UK, it's a concept that is hugely familiar to us through the teen movies we all know and love. The prom is a rite of passage event, the beginning of the end of high school and also the opportunity for new beginnings afterwards. This episode sort of subverts it in the traditional way by packing the episode full of endings; Angel and Buffy break up, he commits to leaving and Cordy has lost everything. 

That being said, it's not without humour. In fact, it contains some cracking lines, not to mention it features the best 'asking for a prom date' line ever from Anya: "Men are evil. Will you go with me?" Wesley's constant dithering about Cordelia is always amusing whilst Anya regales Xander with all of her tales of vengeance demoning. Nicholas Brendon's expression throughout that whole scene is pitch perfect. Still, I'm upset this exchange had to be cut out of the final episode for length:

Willow: Promise me you'll never be linear?
Oz: On my trout.

Despite everyone else's joys and woes, the episode is all about Buffy. Going right back to Prophecy Girl when she was determined to go to the dance despite an ancient manuscript telling her she was due to die and through the Homecoming Slayerfest, Buffy is determined to at least fit in a bit and have a normal high school experience. The prom represents another opportunity, possibly the last, for her to do this and she doesn't take too kindly to someone threatening it. Saving the prom may just be another day in the office for her, but the episode's sweetest moment comes as the Class of '99 recognise Buffy as their Class Protector.

Jonathan's speech is another perfect example of how Buffy combines humour with melancholy to produce something exceptionally moving. It's one of my favourite moments of the entire series, precisely because it combines those two things so well. There's Jonathan giving the speech after Buffy stopping him from committing suicide in the earlier episode, Earshot, which carries even more emotional heft given Jonathan's fate later in the series. Then there's the references to how the Class of '99 is graduating with the lowest mortality rate in Sunnydale High history to the weird things everyone has faced at school ("Zombies!" "Hyena people!" "Snyder!"). 

Coupled with the moment in which Angel appears to dance with Buffy at the prom itself, everything about this episode is pretty much perfect. The sombreness builds well into the general tension surrounding the approach to the Mayor's Ascension, whilst the levity ensures it doesn't get too maudlin. Next week, we hit Graduation Day which not only contains my favourite line of Oz's, it also might be the best two-part finale Buffy produced. 

Quote of the Week:

Giles [to Wesley]: For God's sake man, she's eighteen. And you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it would you? And stop fluttering about.

Let's Get Trivial: Vera Wang designed Buffy's gorgeous and floofy wedding dress for this episode. Wang would also go on to design Sarah Michelle Gellar's wedding dress when she married Freddie Prinze Jr.

Demonology 101: Tucker's brother, Andrew, famously goes on to become one of The Trio who kinda suck at everything. He does do some neat film-making later on though.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look back at Choices here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Wish

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy struggles to come to terms with having Angel in her life.  Willow and Xander have been caught in a clinch by Oz and Cordelia, their relationships breaking up as a result. 

One of Buffy's many themes is 'be careful what you wish for', which is wise really considering that everyone lives in a place where wishes can be granted by pretty much any so-powered demon, witch or warlock that you come across. Cordelia learns the lesson the very hard way after she decides to try and right the wrongs that Xander has done to her, not by laying the blame at Xander's feet, but instead at Buffy's. Her logic is that Buffy's appearance in Sunnydale disturbed the status quo so much that Cordelia ended up falling for Xander. When she wishes that Buffy never came to Sunnydale in front of vengeance demon Anyanka, she gets exactly that, but the consequences aren't exactly what she imagined.

Series episodes that take place in a bizarro version of the usual events are often amongst the most entertaining, offering a virtual blank slate for the writers to go a little wacky with their ideas. The Wish is one such episode and its alternate reality does not disappoint. Usually, the 'reset' at the end of the episode is something that particularly annoys me because it makes an episode feel pointless. However, in Buffy, the question of 'what happened if Buffy never arrived in Sunnydale?' is a pretty spectacular one and writer Marti Noxon and director David Greenwalt go to town on the concept. This isn't an episode for the characters to develop; it's one in which the audience learns just how vital the concept of friends and family is to the show and the Scoobies.

In order to do this, The Wish strips everything back, taking away all the people and relationshps we've come to rely on and tearing them apart. Sunnydale becomes a vampire-ridden post-apocalyptic wasteland in which the High School populous has been decimated by the Master's forces, including Xander and Willow, now all vamped up and wearing leather. The other characters' paths are altered too without Buffy there to rally them; Giles never becomes a Watcher and is instead left leading the opposing human forces, including a not-so-meathead Larry and Oz, the Master was never killed by Buffy and so reigns supreme whilst Angel is locked in a cage and tortured whenever Willow feels like it. And Buffy? She's all badass and clearly unable to reconcile her high school life with the tortures of being a Slayer on a Hellmouth in Cleveland, Ohio.

The horror alone of seeing Buffy a little more on the Faith side of slaying is enough to make this episode a standout and Sarah Michelle Gellar's performance is great. She clearly revels getting a chance to play up the soldier side of the character and sells it, combat suited, jackbooted and with a nasty lip scar to match. Her entrance is brilliant, a stark contrast to her first appearance in the series itself. Here, she's heard before she is seen, her victims flying through the air and saving Giles from them all. Even Gellar's diminutive frame looks imposing in the low-angled shot that introduces the new, more mercenary Buffy.

She's not the only one having fun as we get our first glimpse of Alyson Hannigan's Evil Willow, here in vampiric and slightly kinky form with her catchphrase 'bored now' making its first appearance as well. It's fun that her relationship with Xander carries on into this world too, showing how they were always going to remain friends. Even with fangs. Not everyone fares so well in the transition. Bless Nicholas Brendon. He can carry the humour and the emotional stuff well, but he doesn't make a very good villain, particularly next to the returning Mark Metcalf as the first season's Big Bad, the Master.

There are a lot of neat links and twists made across the episode to the Sunnydale we know and love. Cordelia's transition from the old town to the new bizarro version is expertly done, handling a wealth of exposition in just a couple of short scenes. The audience quickly learns that vampires have taken over, the humans have brought in several rules to ensure that people stay safe with the vampire threat and the usual hangouts like The Bronze have been taken over. These few scenes cut quickly to the chase and allows the meat of the episode to be taken up with the fight against the Master and Giles' quest to stop Anyanka's creation.

The character work that has gone into all of the previous episodes before getting to this one guarantees that the final, climactic battle packs a visceral punch. The slow motion fight that sees Xander staked by Buffy without ever being friends, Oz dust Willow, Angel staked with barely a reaction from Buffy and then having her neck broken by the Master still galls even after all this time. It's a haunting moment and scored beautifully, offering a glimpse at what might have been. Even though we know that Giles will smash Anyanka's amulet and ensure that Buffy's not really dead, we still have to go through it and see these characters destroy each other.

There's a couple of nitpicky questions that could be asked of this episode (Where's Darla and Luke if Angel and Buffy never killed them? Why is Jesse not alive? Should Jenny be there too?) but largely, it's something particularly brilliant. When it comes to the character of Buffy, it highlights just how different she is from her predecessors in the 'true' version of Sunnydale. Bizarro Buffy is practically dead inside already and holds her life pretty cheaply, having nothing to cling on to in the world because she never met Xander, Willow or Giles. Even Cordelia is defended by her at some point in the episode. 

Like many episodes throughout the series' run, the concept of family is central to the proceedings, but here it is not so much for the characters' benefit, as it is in Tara-centric Season Four episode, the conveniently titled Family, but for the audience. It offers a brief glimpse into Buffy's world if she really was as alone as previous Slayers had been before her, if she didn't have the guidance of Giles in her life and if she lost everything she needed to keep her going. It's no small leap to say that the Buffy of The Wish is very similar in tone to the Buffy that returns from the dead in Season Six when she is struggling to reconnect with the world around her. Okay, she doesn't wear combat fatigues and spit on her shoes, but there's that same steely coldness that creeps into her reactions.

There's also an interesting parallel drawn between the suffering Cordelia and Bizarro Buffy. Although Cordy would never like to admit it, she shares a lot in common with Buffy and that's what makes their relationship so fractious. Buffy attempts to offer Cordelia her support, in much the same way that Cordy offered Buffy hers during When She Was Bad. Their conversation even takes place in the exact same spot outside The Bronze.

Neither particularly wants to acknowledge their common ground, but The Wish highlights it another way. Cordelia finds herself abandoned by both the Scoobies and her old friends in the normal world as well as being comically out of touch with the Bizarro one. Buffy too is alone, unwilling to work with others to achieve anything. Both characters don't survive to the end of the Bizarro timeline. For both characters, their isolation proves to be their undoing.

As I said at the beginning of the post, usually the reset button is a concept I abhor in television episodes because it's usually just an excuse to play in another sandbox for a bit whilst leaving the original unattended and undeveloped. However, The Wish is a masterful example, one that offers a chance to glimpse something so far away from the usual state of affairs whilst also allowing the audience to develop their understanding of the characters involved. Plus, Anya's arrived. That's never a bad thing.

Quote of the Week:

Anyanka: You trusting fool! How do you know the other world is any better than this?
Giles: Because it has to be.

Let's Get Trivial: This won't be the last time we see this reality. We'll check back in later in the season with Doppelgangland.

Inventive Kill: An unnamed Cordette is exsanguinated as the Master perfects the mass production of blood. I'm also really happy I just got to use the word 'exsanguinated'.

Demonology 101: The Pergamum Codex prophecy that comes to pass in Prophecy Girl with Buffy's death at the hands of the Master happens once again here, confirming that there really was no way of thwarting it before she died.

Sunnydale Who's Who: Said Cordette drained in the factory process is played by Nicole Bilderback, who would later go on to star in Bring It On with fellow Buffy alumni Eliza Dushku and Clare Kramer (Glory).

- Becky

You can check out Becky's review of previous episode, Lovers' Walk, here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Beauty and the Beasts

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Oz is a werewolf, but locks himself in the library to avoid maiming anyone. Angel's returned from the hell dimension Buffy sent him to, but she doesn't know it yet as she's too busy dating Scott.

The episode opens and closes with Buffy's voiceover, reading extracts from Jack London's The Call of the Wild, as Willow watches Oz in full werewolf mode at the library. When Xander falls asleep on Oz-watch and a vicious animal attack takes place, suspicion is instantly placed on his wolfish self. The gang desperately try to hunt down another possibility as Oz begins to wrestle with the idea that he may have killed someone. Meanwhile, Buffy's patrol causes her to run into a feral Angel, chaining him up in the mansion and hoping he's not the one causing the attacks. What is actually happening is that a friend of Scot's, Pete, has turned himself into a rage monster after trying to 'macho' up to impress his girlfriend Debbie.

A curious thing happened whilst watching the opening of this episode. I realised that I had absolutely no recollection of it. I've definitely seen it before because this isn't my first Buffy re-watch rodeo, but there was nothing in my brain that made me go 'oh, it's this episode!' Watching it back now, it's largely because it's not very good. It's one of the few cases where the themes overtake the story and it results in an episode that had a lot of potential, but one which falters in its execution. Domestic violence is ostensibly the major focus with the added exploration of masculine duality, the sensitive exterior versus the beast within.

The plot itself lacks the usual metaphorical zing, but that's because it's largely not that metaphorical. The domestic violence that Debbie experiences is very real and somehow, having Pete take some serum to Hulk-rage his way into it feels like a clumsy add-on. It would have been far more powerful if it had been a human killer at the centre of it all, something fairly rare in the Buffyverse. Not only would it have enhanced the exploration of violence in Buffy's world, but it would also have provided a much more nuanced examination of masculine duality alongside Oz and Angel. Both of those characters have a monster not of their making as part of their personality whereas Pete creates his through that glowing serum thing. Would it not have been more powerful in this instance if he was just an ordinary guy who became a monster?

Part of this problem is that we don't see much of Debbie and Pete in the episode beforehand apart from exchanging flowers and sweet nothings. Whilst this adds to the domestic violence/behind closed doors angle, it also ensures that the revelation that Pete is behind the killings because of his love for Debbie feels tacked on. There's no real effort to get to know Debbie and Pete as characters before he turns into his own personal Hyde. When the violence does come, we're sympathetic to Debbie purely because of the situation and that makes it feel a little exploitative and the domestic violence angle very heavy-handed. The episode is much stronger when dealing with the vaguer notions of duality and inherent violence within characters like Oz or Angel. Because we've known these characters for a comparatively longer time, their respective narratives are more compelling and thematically a whole lot more interesting.

It also means their own stories get sidelined towards the end of the narrative in favour of a gungho chase scene through the corridors of Sunnydale High. Oz wrestling with his wolf side starts here as he starts to wonder whether they are entirely separate entities, or whether it is something he has to deal with in his human side. Angel meanwhile has been so broken by his hellish experiences that he's feral, concerned only with protecting Buffy by the episode's end. I'd much rather have seen more of Oz trying to come to terms with his potential murder status because Seth Green has the nuances of his character down early on. The wry humour becomes a defence mechanism and his relationship with Willow suffers because he doesn't want to put her in harm's way. I know we go on to see this later in the fourth season, but this feels like the perfect episode to have introduced it properly, rather than as a vague introduction to someone else's plot.

The strongest scene of the episode is when Buffy and Willow confront Debbie in the bathroom and quickly set about trying to convince her that Pete is not worth all of the violence. Debbie employs the language often used by victims of domestic abuse to justify their partner's actions (whilst Pete does the same to justify his own). Buffy has previously shown she abhors any form of violence against women and goes hell for leather in trying to convince Debbie otherwise. However, it's one of those situations where Buffy can't save everyone and Debbie runs back to Pete only to die at his hand. It's a tragic ending for her character and would have been more effective had the narrative pushed their relationship to the forefront more.

Just about everything in this episode feels a little off. The script doesn't sparkle with its usual wit, which is surprising considering its a Marti Noxon-led episode and the story feels disparate, despite its obvious thematic connections. It's the first dud so far of the third season, but next week, it's Homecoming so get your party dress on.

Quote of the Week:

Willow: Hey at least this time it's not your boyfriend who's a cold-blooded... [Oz walks over] jelly doughnut.

Let's Get Trivial: Those chains that Buffy uses to restrain Angel? They're in a chest with Drusilla's dolls. Which means those are Spike and Dru's sex chains. Yep.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at the previous episode here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Go Fish

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Not a huge amount relevant to this episode. Angel's still evil, I guess.

Heading for the State Championships, the Sunnydale High swim team are taking advantage of their prestige, but soon one of their number is found eviscerated on the beach and one in the cafeteria. Xander spots a fish monster leaving the scene of the crime and decides to go undercover to investigate whilst Buffy protects the next swimmer on the list. Go Fish is probably one of Buffy's more science-fictiony episodes and it does attempt to provide a commentary on the lengths American schools will go to to enable their teams to win as well as the personal lengths athletes will go to. It's also still as bad as I remembered.

Flirting with B-movie territory, thanks in part to the obvious man in a fish monster suit, Go Fish is an episode about various kinds of body horror. First up, the swim team themselves obviously turn into giant gill monster fish things, leaving their human skin behind. Writer Marti Noxon has often spoken about the central metaphor of steroid usage and it's largely the most effective aspect of the episode, if not the most subtle. The swim team become overly aggressive and arrogant, almost territorial, as their success grows. However, it soon becomes clear it is as a result of bodily corruption so bad that Angel spits out Gage's blood and lets him go. We know it must be serious when Evil Angel doesn't want to kill someone.

The horror, then, is about the corruption from within, demonstrated brilliantly in the scene in which Gage transforms into a fish monster right before Buffy in the boy's locker room. It's a superb job of the make-up department and I can't help but wince every time Gage starts ripping open his own chest to see scales underneath. Even the aforementioned obvious man in a suit look is handled well, all scaly and oozy, despite the resemblance to the fish monster things from Stingray. The idea of your body out of your control is a common horror trope, particularly analogous to cancer or other bodily degenerative diseases. Here, the swim team's bodies are in the control of their coach, continuing a Soviet experiment that clearly didn't work out too well.

However, this isn't the only type of body horror explored in this episode and it's arguably the less subtle of the two. When taken out on a date with Cameron, swim team star and all round monologuing douchebag, Buffy finds herself having to fend off unwanted sexual advances; he locks her in the car and tries to force himself on her. Thankfully, Buffy manages to sprain his wrist and break his nose and escapes the situation. Though clearly not at fault, Cameron, the coach and Snyder all blame Buffy because of the way she dresses. Later, Buffy is thrown to the fish men because 'boys have other needs'. Basically, Buffy is about to be gang-raped by fish monsters. In both situations, her bodily autonomy is taken away from her and they are the most psychologically disturbing moments in the episode. Linking back to the episode's theme of the lengths American schools will go to to protect their own teams, I'm reminded of the recent Steubenville rape case and the way in which the footballers were treated not only by the town, but by the press. Go Fish aired 16 years ago and this aspect of it is still relevant. That's not only scary, it's depressing. 

It's not all depressing body stuff though. In fact, one of the most hilarious moments of the episode comes with the big reveal of Xander in Speedos. Depending on your feelings towards Xander, this may be one of his character highlights. It's a scene that showcases the sparkling dialogue that Noxon is brilliant at as well as the chemistry between the four high school leads. At Xander's proclamation that he's undercover, Buffy snorts and declares 'not under much'. Meanwhile, Cordelia and Willow can barely contain their glee. It's little moments like this, and the constant fish-related puns, that stop this episode from being entirely unsubtle metaphor and helps us to keep in mind that the show can be so much better.

If it does have all this stuff going on, then why do I think it is a bad episode? The trouble with Go Fish is it just feels completely out of sync with this stage in the season. This is the episode before the big two-part finale and it's a retrograde step, especially considering how well I Only Have Eyes For You set up the dynamics of the Buffy/Angel relationship. It says absolutely nothing about the central characters and does little to build anticipation going forward. Since Surprise, we've had such an excellent run of episodes, both arc-related and Monster-of-the-Week so I always find it disappointing when I get to Go Fish because it feels like it should be in the first half of the season and not the back run of episodes. In fact, as my 'Previously...' stated, there's nothing really in this episode to tie it into anything else. Substitute Angel for a random vamp and it could even be a first season episode.

Next week, thankfully, the show will return massively to form and I'll have more stuff to write about. I am never not an emotional wreck at the end of the Becoming two-parter. Why does Season 2 make me cry so much?!

Quote of the Week:

Buffy: I think we should lock up the rest of the swim team before they get in touch with their inner halibut.

Let's Get Trivial: This is the last episode in which the opening 'Into every generation...' speech is used.

Sunnydale Who's Who: Gage is played by Wentworth Miller, he of Prison Break fame and recent scribe of the magnificent Stoker. Also look out for a small part from Shane West, who he didn't really do much after the double whammy of a Nicholas Sparks movie and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, as another member of the swim team in one of Xander's steam room scenes.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at I Only Have Eyes for You here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Xander and Cordelia are now officially a couple, Buffy and Angel are still at loggerheads and Willow appears to have moved on from her best friend with newbie Oz.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered finds the gang approaching Valentine's Day with a mixture of both excitement and trepidation; newly single Buffy discovers that Angelus has a particular penchant for torturing his victims and their puppies on Valentine' Day whilst both Xander and Willow are getting ready for a Valentine's Day actually in relationships. However when the pressures of popularity get to Cordelia and she dumps Xander on the day itself, he takes drastic steps to get his revenge, employing Amy, now a practicing witch, to cast a love spell on Cordelia. However, Amy's still a fledgling and magic used for personal gain never goes very well so Xander actually enchants the entire female population of Sunnydale to fall obsessively, madly in love with him. Even Drusilla.

Over the past few episodes, it's become slowly apparent that Xander can be kind of a dick. Not just to the women in his life, but just in general. It's a fairly accurate phase for a teenage boy to go through and in that sense, Xander's flawed character does feel very genuine, even if it is slightly galling to realise that one of your favourite characters isn't quite how you remembered them. Whilst this episode isn't the apotheosis of Xander's dickishness (hello Becoming or maybe even Hell's Bells), it does showcase it supremely. The cruel intent to manipulate Cordelia understandably comes from a place of heart, but with Buffy's equating of magic with drugs, the idea of a love spell is essentially like vengefully Rohypnolling someone (there's a reference to Roofies in the episode itself). 

That it backfires leads to some wonderful comic karma as well as a chance for Xander to redeem himself when forced to deal with the advances of various Sunnydale women, not least of all Buffy. The scene with Buffy goes some way to repair his reputation in my eyes because he knows she is not actually consenting to do the things she's offering, trenchcoat and all. The idea of consent was addressed in the earlier episode Reptile Boy much less successfully, offering a mixed moral message that tended to suggest it was Buffy's fault she was drugged and nearly eaten. It is handled slightly better here with Xander taking responsibility for his actions and it being made clear that it is the fault of the drugger, rather than the druggee. 

Whilst this episode is ostensibly Xander-centric, I'd argue that it's actually more important for the long term development of Cordelia. In this episode, she dumps Xander unceremoniously because her friends, Harmony in particular, have decided that he's not cool enough or worthy of her. Unable to reconcile her popularity with her boyfriend, Cordy chooses the latter and breaks Xander's heart in the process. Although callous here, she later stands up to Harmony declaring her to be a sheep and making it clear that Cordelia Chase isn't afraid of anyone. It's the beginning of her journey that would culminate in Angel where she realises that she doesn't actually have to be mean all the time. It feeds into one of the dominant messages of Buffy of always being true to yourself and you will never be alone if you are.

Aside from the development of the Xander-Cordy relationship, the episode is also a comedic delight, a lot of the humour wrought from the seduction attempts of Sunnydale's various ladyfolk. They're also particularly hilarious in the post-Belieber/One Directioner era when teenage girls exhibit all the signs of crazy people). Drusilla wants to make Xander immortal so she can love him forever, Willow decides to kill him after he rejects her advances and Amy turns Buffy into a rat for the majority of the episode. There's even a hilarious moment for Joyce coming over all MILF before getting a little psychotic in her own home. The ladies of Buffy rise to the challenge and some of the one liners are particularly sharp. Buffy's exchange with Oz once she regains her human form remains one of their characters' best interactions whilst Giles' yelling at Xander carries a fair amount of satisfaction as well as humour.

One of the strongest aids to the humour of this episode is Christophe Beck's lively score. Music has always been an integral element of Buffy but Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered is perhaps the first where it really has a chance to shine. Beck uses strings to up the ante on the episode's playfulness, allowing them to form an accompaniment that is more akin to the scene-setting of a silent movie than the usual background filler of a teen TV score. It is also impressive how the tone of the score switches easily between the aforementioned playfulness into the darker escalation of tension that builds throughout the episode, particularly when Xander and Cordy are trapped in the basement. It helps to keep the pace on what could have been a repetitively structured episode.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered does suffer slightly by appearing after the sublime Phases and before the heartwrenching Passion; it's memorable more for the humour than its message. However, it does allow Xander to be both annoying and redemptive whilst giving Cordelia a time to shine. Another strong episode then and this season just keeps getting better. Shush. We're not at Go Fish yet.

Quote of the Week:

Cordelia: "You know what you are, Harmony? You're a sheep."
Harmony: "I'm not a sheep!"
Cordelia: "You're a sheep. All you ever do is what everyone else does, so you can say you did it first. And here I am scrambling for your approval when I'm way cooler than you because I'm not a sheep. I do what I wanna do and I wear what I wanna wear, and you know what? I'll date whoever the hell I wanna date! No matter how lame he is..."

Demonology 101: This is the first time the phrase Big Bad is used, a phrase which has become synonymous with the master threat of a television season, first coined by Buffy when she calls Angel 'the big bad thing in the dark'.

Let's Get Trivial: Buffy spends the majority of the episode as a rat because Sarah Michelle Gellar had to be in New York to host Saturday Night Live. The episode was written in a matter of days to accommodate this.

- Becky

You can read Becky's look at Phases here.

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FEATURE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Surprise & Innocence

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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