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