Buffy - More Season 2 impressions (episodes 21 & 22)

[thalia_seawood]

In the early hours of this morning, I watched the two final episodes of season 2.


Becoming - Part 1 & 2
First of all, I love the title of this episodes. Because it is about how people become the way they are.
The most obvious story that's told here is Angel's, but, of course, we also see Buffy growing up and changing. We also get a glimpse of still-human Drusilla.

The flashbacks are all lovely. When I created the little overview below, I realised that each time, Angel's life is in some way transformed by a woman.

Darla flashback
- I really like Darla's new old look. Suits her much more than the schoolgirl attire.
- It's nice to see human Angel: He's gallant, but also very sure of his charms (which I found a bit irksome). What I liked about him is that he longs to see more of the world.
- Angel doesn't really get asked if he wants to become a vampire. Darla simply decides for him.

Drusilla flashback
- We learn that Drusilla already has psychic abilities when she's human. Quite obviously she feels very guilty about it and her mother and Angel aren't helping her one bit.
- I found it moving that she tries so hard to be a good person. It makes what happened to her all the more awful.
- Is Drusilla the first vampire Angel makes? Do we ever learn this? If yes, the first meeting between them would be all the more meaningful; it would show a new step in Angel's "life".
- Side Note: Recently, I had compared Anne Rice vampires to Joss Whedon vampires. One big difference is that in Anne Rice's world it's (mostly) desirable to be a vampire. In Joss Whedon's world becoming a vampire is overall bad. The personality you have before your transformation is shattered to a large extent and merged with the demon. Louis or Lestat, on the other hand, basically retain their human personality. Drusilla, the vampire, is a terrifying creature despite the appeal she has.

Gypsy flashback
- Angel is given his soul back by the curse of a gypsy woman. He brings this curse upon himself by killing another woman, "the most beloved daughter" as she has been called. Once again women cause the changes in his life.
- Interesting to see that after he retains his soul he's first confused and doesn't remember what happened in the meantime. When he starts remembering what he did as a vampire, is this another curse or something that happens after the first shock of the soul-transfer is over?

Buffy flashback
- Whistler really has no sense of fashion. Not sure I like his character: He felt a bit like a deus-ex-machina device to me.
- What I loved is Angel watching Buffy through the windows of her home and being absolutely entranced by her. The scene is, of course, eerily reminiscent of similar scenes in Passion. Here he sympathises with her and wants to protect her. In short: His gallant knight instincts from long ago kick in. The same instincts that wanted him to be a protector to Darla. In the Passion scenes, this instinct has been twisted. Here he enjoys seeing Buffy's suffering. What hasn't changed is that he's drawn to her.
Here it also became quite clear to me that beauty holds a strong attraction for him: Darla, Drusilla, the gypsy girl, Buffy. On some level, they appeal to him.
- Fascinating to see young, careless Buffy who appears to be the queen of her school.
- Are the Buffy flashback scenes taken from the movie Buffy ?


The plot of the story is very powerful: There are so many things going on. Here are the most powerful moments in basically chronological order.

- Angel is plotting to end the world.
This makes it clear how much of a demon he is. He actually enjoys the thought that hell will take over the world.

- There's hope for bringing Angel's soul back, but the first attempt fails.
I had expected that their first attempt would fail, but I was still disappointed when it happened.

- Buffy faces Angel; in the meantime her friends are attacked.
Angel is *very* good at cruelty: The way he starts the conversation telling Buffy that he wants everything to be all right again. You know she doesn't believe him, but for a moment she still hopes that what he says is true.
Angel taunting Buffy that she falls for his tricks every time, is quite painful.

- Kendra dies.
That was a surprise. Another secondary character dead. I expect her follow-up Slayer has been activated immediately.
The way Kendra dies is quite sad; not in direct battle, but because Drusilla puts her under a spell. A scene strongly reminiscent of a snake and a rabbit.

- Willow is unconscious.
I was glad when she woke up again. Very interesting that Xander's words "I love you." are what let her wake up. She then mumbles "Oz.", but it was Xander's voice she reacted to. Seems she's not over him yet. Xander is intrigued by what happen; I have a feeling that part of him is flattered by her reaction. With this scene, romance between them becomes a possibility, not that I want to see them become more than friends.

- Giles is kidnapped and tortured.
The torture scenes all pack punch. We don't see any details and we don't need to.
Angel as torturer is freaky: He hurts Giles, but behaves like a lover. Freaky.
Drusilla playing mindgames with Giles is very painful to watch. It must be awful for Giles to understand later on that it was not Jenny he spoke to and who he kissed, but Drusilla.


- Buffy is hunted by the police.
Wow, Joss lets the whole world turn on Buffy.

- Buffy's mother finds out that her daughter kills vampires in her spare time.
I was waiting for this to happen. This was not the best time for her to find out.

- Buffy makes a deal with Spike.
This scene provided a much needed later moment in the overall very dark episode.
I have to admit that I really, really like Spike in all his Becoming scenes. Doesn't matter if what he does is morally right or wrong, I like him. Nice to know he becomes a regular later on.
Anyway his scenes with Buffy make it very clear how different he is from Angel. Biggest difference is that he loves the world. He's more human than demon in some ways.
Joyce and Spike making small talk is one of the funniest scenes in the whole Buffy series so far.
Joyce: Have we met?

Spike: (faces her) Um... you hit me with an ax one time. Remember? (makes an ax-holding gesture) Uh, 'get the hell away from my daughter.' (lowers his arms)

Joyce: Oh.

- Joyce and Buffy have a bad, bad argument.
Wow, that argument went badly. Joyce putting an ultimatum on Buffy is very bad. I can understand that she is panicking, but this is the worst thing that could happen to Buffy.

- Buffy being expelled from school.
Joss is really taking everything from Buffy in this episode: Her freedom is threatened (police), she loses the support of her mother, she loses her place at school, her friends have been hurt, a fellow slayer has been killed. Of course, it will get worse. Like Whistler says there's still something she can lose apart from her life.

- Willow tries to bring Angel's soul back a second time.
Willow's biggest strength is her will-power.
Side Note: Her name fits her quite well: Buffy often calls her "Will". Also a willow tree can be bent, but usually doesn't break.

- Xander lies to Buffy about Willow's message for her.
In many ways, this was the worst scene for me. Because of his immature jealousy and hatred for Angel, Xander lies to Buffy about something really important. Nothing bad comes of it, but it's a very serious betrayal nonetheless. If one of my friends did something to me on this level, I would end the friendship.

- Spike goes against Angel and takes Drusilla with him - against her will.
Spike really has a big grudge against Angel by this time. Seems he tries to put him in wheelchair for some time.
Taking aways Drusilla against her will is problematic. On the one hand, she clearly has a very unhealthy relationship with Angel, on the other hand, Drusilla should be able to make her own decisions. I think she will not be pleased when she wakes up. When she was weak, she would have went along with Spike, but now? I can't see it.

- Buffy and Angel fight.
My favorite quote is this:
Angelus: Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... No friends... No hope.

Buffy closes her eyes and steels herself for whatever's coming.

Angelus: Take all that away... and what's left?

He draws the sword back and thrusts it directly at her face. With lightning-fast reflexes she swings up with both arms and catches the
blade between the palms of her hands. She opens her eyes and meets his.

Buffy: Me.

- Angel gets his soul back.
When he gets his soul back it's already too late. We know what Buffy will have to do.
Once again it's interesting to see that Angel doesn't remember what happened in the meantime. Will his memory kick in again?
As far as I see it, his demon part is so strong that without his soul it takes over completely. When he gets his soul back, his human part is able to take over.
Spike already seems to have a balance between demon and human part despite not having a soul. Without soul, Spike has nothing to hold him back from killing.

- Buffy has to kill Angel.
Painful to watch, though not unexpected.
I think this scene must have been absolutely awful back then. I have the big advantage of knowing that we will see him again and soon. After all, he gets a TV show of his own. Yep, that knowledge REALLY helped me yesterday.

- Buffy leaves everything behind.
Makes a lot of sense, but is incredibly painful to watch.



And that's it for now, because I still have to pack my stuff together.

I'm going to Vienna over the weekend. Which means I will have to spend 3 Buffy- and Internet-free days. On the plus side, I'll be seeing Vienna and spending time with my man. So it's all good. :-) I will miss Buffy though.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Okay, now you saw the big one. And yes, that was one tear-filled summer for first time watchers.*g*

Angel & memory: it's just the shock. He remembers pretty quickly upon processing.

It's interesting that you interpret the Darla scene as young human Angel wanting to protect her. Other viewers saw it as a come-on with possible rape intentions if she had said no. It all depends on how you see Angel, I suppose. When souled, he does have a strong protective instinct, but he can also be a complete bastard (see his own show for more of that) in the right circumstances. But whatever his intentions, this episode is the first that draws deliberate Darla-Buffy parallels. Note that Darla tells him "close your eyes" before she kisses, bites, sires and thus damns him, and Buffy tells him "close your eyes" before she kisses him, puts a sword through him and sends him to hell. It's not the last time these two will be paralleled.

Drusilla was not the first vampire Angel sired. We actuall don't get told who was the first (though we get told who was the last pre-Sunnydale); the first chronologically speaking we see him siring is a guy named Penn whom you'll meet in the first season of Angel, a good century before Dru. Presumably there were others in between.

The Buffy flashback scenes appear in similar form in the movie, but they were reshot for this episode (different actress, plus Joss made some tiny but significant alterations).

Xander giving Buffy the wrong message: this became known as The Lie in the fandom and was hotly debated for quite some time, i.e. did he do it because he was afraid Buffy would be distracted and unable to defeat Angel if she knew, or did he do it because he hated Angel? (Imo, both are true.) It won't come back to haunt Xander until season 7, though.

Spike and Joyce: are priceless together. Not their last scene.

Buffy: gets put through hell, and will need some significant time to recover. The scars will stay with her from this point onwards, not surprisingly, and yes, Joss really took everything in this episode.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

One question regarding the curse:
Does the second curse also come with the side note "If you experience a moment of true happiness, you will lose your soul."? Just wondering if Angel can ever lose his soul again.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Yes. Willow replicated the curse exactly. At this point, she's not experienced enough to try for a variation. And yes, he can.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

It's a recipe for disaster. Because sooner or later, Angel will be happy again.

I also means that Angel will stay away from Buffy. Well, he would do that anyway, because of major feelings of guilt that are only equalled by Buffy's guilt.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, major, major feelings of guilt on both parts.

However, the breaking of the curse depends on "one moment of complete happiness". Now in the case of Suprise, Angel experienced it not "just" because he and Buffy had sex but because she accepted him completely, and she was the most important person in the world to him, plus of course he was unaware of the conditions of the curse.

Now, after being made aware and after knowing exactly what he did during his second soulless stint, wouldn't you say it's doubtful that the curse could be broken in exactly the same way? Mind you, I'm not saying Angel won't be completely happy again. Just that it's unlikely Buffy alone would have this effect again, or expecially not given what happened.

Lighter sidenote: parts of the audience plus some of the characters tend to simplify things a little and thus think Angel having great sex would do the trick. This leads to a highly memorable and very funny rant by Angel in season 2 of AtS about how he's not a eunuch. (And really, does anyone think he spent a century without sex before Buffy?)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

You're right: It's quite unlikely that Angel will ever reach this kind of happiness with Buffy again. At this particular time, everything they did together would be overshadowed by guilt. The charm of Angel's relationship with Buffy was in part that it was so innocent; with her he could just be the way he was and forget for some while about his dark past. This can be seen when he listens to her talking about her high school worries or takes in all the details of her room.

(And isn't my new Book icon shiny even though it's otherwise unrelated to my post. :-)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Angel & memory: it's just the shock. He remembers pretty quickly upon processing.

So the realisation of what he did in the meantime kick in very soon. Very fitting that he will be in hell when he his memories return. That combined with Buffy killing him, should be worse than any torture other demons could invent for him.

It's interesting that you interpret the Darla scene as young human Angel wanting to protect her. Other viewers saw it as a come-on with possible rape intentions if she had said no. It all depends on how you see Angel, I suppose.

I didn't get the rape overtones, but I think he would have tried to seduce her if she had been less experienced and self-confident. The way things are he's fascinated by her, probably not only because she's beautiful, but because she's fearless.

But whatever his intentions, this episode is the first that draws deliberate Darla-Buffy parallels.

So true. I hadn't noticed this yet.


The Buffy flashback scenes appear in similar form in the movie, but they were reshot for this episode (different actress, plus Joss made some tiny but significant alterations).

Oh, so Buffy was played by a different actress in the movie. Didn't know that. Well, I'm glad Sarah Michelle Gellar got the job, because she's excellent.
I'm also impressed by David Boreanaz: Like Sarah he takes his character through a wide range of emotions.
Charisma Carpenter does a great job, too. There are little moments when she just seems to add a little something to make the character more complex.

Xander giving Buffy the wrong message: this became known as The Lie in the fandom and was hotly debated for quite some time, i.e. did he do it because he was afraid Buffy would be distracted and unable to defeat Angel if she knew, or did he do it because he hated Angel? (Imo, both are true.) It won't come back to haunt Xander until season 7, though.

Considering that he has been jealous of Angel from day 1 and has spoken out against him many times, I think it's more an issue of "Finally Buffy is rid off him and now they want to bring him back.". He may also think that underneath the nice guy facade a monster has been lurking all the time, which is a view I can understand. The urge to protect Buffy is there as well, but I think he uses the more acceptable motivation to cover up the less acceptable (jealousy) in his own mind.

Xander's dark side is that he always wants to have what he cannot have. We see that in "The Pack" and in "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered".

Spike and Joyce: are priceless together. Not their last scene.

They have an odd chemistry, a bit like mother-in-law and son-in-law trying to connect during their first meeting. Very odd.

Buffy: gets put through hell, and will need some significant time to recover. The scars will stay with her from this point onwards, not surprisingly, and yes, Joss really took everything in this episode.

And we love her because she suffers. If she never had a price to pay, she wouldn't be half as likeable. In fact, Buffy could so easily have been a Mary Sue. However, Joss is a master of taking character stereotypes and add some flaws and character quirks to the mixture, then puts the character through hardships and allows them to change and grow.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Darla: I think seduction would be what he would have gone for too, yes. And I agree that the element of fearlessness must have fascinated him - remember, for a woman to be alone in a street in the middle of the night in 1753 and being serenely unembarrassed about this is extraordinary, if she's not a streetwalker. (Which, actually, Darla used to be back in her own human days, but that's another story. She's also completely unembarrassed about that.)

Yes, Buffy was played by Kirsty Swanson. Who isn't bad, but nowhere as good as SMG. The scene of Buffy coming home, and standing in front of the mirror is a case in point. They both have the same dialogue and the same direction - go there, look at mirror - but the emotional impact, Buffy realizing that she killed someone and from now on, this is going to be part of her life - is something SMG gets across far, far better.

DB and CC: agreed, and they benefit from the spinoff to no end because that puts their characters in different positions. (I.e. in the case of Angel, on BTVS we see him (mostly) in as much as he relates to Buffy, because that is his function in her story - demon lover, to use a literary archetype. We don't see him having much interaction with anyone else, and if he has, it is mostly about Buffy. Whereas on AtS he's the main character and has a variety of non-romantic relationships which flesh him out to no end. Cordelia on BTVS goes from comedic foil to fleshed out sidekick but never more than that, whereas on AtS, she's one of the main characters, again with her own storyline. Allows for loads more acting.)

Xander's dark side: true. This also plays havoc on... but that would be spoiling. His affection and admiration for Buffy also go side by side with quite an acerbic temper whenever she falls from the pedestal he has put her on, hence remarks as "no, you just want to forget all about Ms Calendar so you can get your boyfriend back".

Buffy's non-Mary-Sue-ness: yes, absolutely. That's why she's one of my favourite main characters.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about the character dynamics and realised there are some neat parallels to Harry Potter:
Buffy's character has parallels to Harry's.
Xander (including his weaknesses) has similarities to Ron. Willow with her intelligence and her interest in studying, but also with a certain tendency to meddle reminds me a bit of Hermione.
Cordelia is the female version of Draco Malfoy, only Joss gives her the chance to become three-dimensional much sooner.
Giles is reminiscent of Dumbledore. Well, he's the classical mentor figure.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

All true, and a neat coincidence, since BTVS predates HP by a few years. However, Joss is a big fan, and the later seasons of both BTVS and ATS have Potter references, as does his run of Astonishing X-Men. ("I'm not going to Hogwarts, Mom!")

Unfortunately, that makes crossovers rather unlikely, though there is a great one by lj user="marinarusalka"> involving a young Giles and Ethan, and I always thought Buffy and Harry could exhange views on how it sucks to be the Chosen one.*g*

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're really picking up on a lot of stuff that will become (hee) more important/explicit later on in the series. And yes, the end of "Becoming Pt. II" was completely devastating back in the day -- the "Close your eyes" theme still gets me choked up.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I can imagine that it must have been bad, because obviously you didn't know there would be a spin-off called Angel in the future.
For curiosity's sake: How long was the wait in between seasons?

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

The standard May - September, as far as I know. I think I watched "Becoming" twenty times that summer.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Since I live in Europe, we're kind of "standard-free", i.e. the shows are really broadcast in traditional seasons. We get synchronised versions that are aired quite regularly.
As far as I remember TNG was aired regularly once a day until all the episodes were out. When they ran out of episodes, sometimes they made a break and then started over from the beginning again...
And, of course, we're always about a season behind or though. Depends on the popularity of the show.
Which means I spend a lot of money on buying some of the orginal DS9 videotapes so I could see the episodes before the synchronised version were finally aired here.

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

Forgot -- the biggest difference in the Buffy flashback scenes is that in the movie, her Watcher was played by Donald Sutherland, and he rocked. Not as much as Giles, but still. The movie was where my fannishness began. It's got a very different tone, but it's great fun.

P.S.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Whistler: we won't see him again. Originally, he was supposed to be in the spin-off, but the actor wasn't available and so Joss created a different role for a different actor. In Becoming, he's very much a deus ex machina, I agree, but in overall context, it works far better because Angel the series developes its own mythology in which Whistler's intervention fits quite well.

Joyce finds out about Buffy being a Slayer: aside from being painful, this scene is also a witty parody of a classic coming out scene. "Have you tried not being a Slayer?" (i.e. "Have you tried not being gay?") This was stolen paid homage to in the second X-Men movie, where the mother asks "have you tried not being a mutant"?

Buffy makes a deal with Spike: this was I think when the first Buffy/Spike fanfiction started to appear, many a season before the characters went that way on the show. I couldn't see it then - at that point, Buffy is really in no shape for any romance, let alone one with another vampire, and Spike is still completely in love with Dru - but what is apparent, even then, is that the two have chemistry.

Have fun in Vienna. When you're back, we should get together for exchange of DVDs and the like, no?

Re: P.S.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

"Have you tried not being a Slayer?" (i.e. "Have you tried not being gay?") This was stolen paid homage to in the second X-Men movie, where the mother asks "have you tried not being a mutant"?

Yes, noticed the parallel, too. The fun thing is that Buffy *did* try not be a Slayer during the Kendra two-parter. This is when she realised that it's not a job, but part of her.
"Have you tried being not XXX?" is an absolute killer comment and very painful as well, because it postulates that it's just an act you put on and not part of what you really are.

Buffy makes a deal with Spike: this was I think when the first Buffy/Spike fanfiction started to appear, many a season before the characters went that way on the show. I couldn't see it then - at that point, Buffy is really in no shape for any romance, let alone one with another vampire, and Spike is still completely in love with Dru - but what is apparent, even then, is that the two have chemistry.

I wouldn't want to see them in a romantic relationship around this time, but I could see them hanging out together, e.g. spending the night in front of the TV and thinking/talking about their lost loves.

Have fun in Vienna. When you're back, we should get together for exchange of DVDs and the like, no?

Thanks, I will. We should be leaving in 5 minutes.
As for getting together: Wonderful idea! I have time next week on Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday.
And: I've caved in and ordered the complete Angel DVD box from amazon.co.uk. :-)

Re: P.S.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Getting together: I return to Munich on Thursday, so either Thursday evening or Saturday would work for me.

I caved in as well.*g* And it's good you have, because once you reach season 4 of BTVS, you should try and watch as it was originally broadcast, i.e. episodes from both shows directly after another. In the first two seasons of AtS, there are some crossovers which are set up on BTVS, and also some episodes which have a different impact if watched alone. Fool For Love, the Spike background episode, for example, is great on its own but gains even more dimension if you watch the parallel AtS episode (name withheld for spoilery reasons) directly afterwards, as it was broadcast, because it's a Rashomon kind of thing - seen from Angel's perspective, some of the scenes suddenly look very different, most notably the China flashback. (The episodes were shot simultanously, of course.)

[juonetar.livejournal.com]

Season 2 finale was really powerful when I first watched it. It still is, but back then I didn't know what would happen next. Even the possibilities I speculated about were different.

Joyce and Spike: now there's two characters who are always interesting together.

Is Drusilla the first vampire Angel makes? Do we ever learn this?
Dru isn't the first.

By the way, I checked some of the fics I thought I could rec for you. I think they all spoil too much of the later seasons.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

By the way, I checked some of the fics I thought I could rec for you. I think they all spoil too much of the later seasons.

No problem. I think I'll ask for recs again when I've reached season 5 or so. :-)