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| Writer: | Marti Noxon |
| Director: | James Whitmore, Jr. |
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| - | Review |
This is an absolutely riveting episode! There is flawless material at work here with perfect execution, and I find myself captivated by it every time. It is creepy, atmoshperic, has fantastic special effects, stunning cinematography, and a powerful message of forgiveness. What could have been just a boring ghost story was turned into an unusual and meaningful experience for Buffy.
It begins with a sad, repressed, and alone Buffy looking down at her friends and others having a good time. This is an interesting correlation to her S6 arc where she's in a similar personal state. There are some huge parallels specifically to "Dead Things" (6x13) at work here. Buffy's mood in this episode reminds me of how, in "Dead Things" (6x13), she is looking down on the dance floor in a similar (although much darker) state of mind, again alone with her friends down below having a good time.
Here in S2, though, she can still talk with her friends about her feelings as she does with Willow. Buffy tells her that she's done making impulsive decisions for a long while. In S6, it's the world and her friends she's hiding from when she has dispaired sex with Spike on the same balcony as she is standing on here. This entire episode is about forgiveness and the conclusion of "Dead Things" (6x13) involves Buffy crying in Tara's lap about feeling she, once again, doesn't deserve forgiveness for her questionable actions. In S2 she won't forgive herself for doing something that wasn't her fault (she didn't know Angel would lose his soul) while in S6 she won't forgive herself, once she realizes she didn't come back from the dead 'wrong,' for making real mistakes that are her fault.
There are a lot of metaphors at work in this episode, and they are all handled with care and are not "in your face." Giles says, "See, uh, many times the spirit is plagued by all manner of worldly troubles. Being dead, it has no way to, uh, to make its peace. So it, it lashes out, growing ever more confused, ever more angry." Buffy quickly replies, "So it's a normal teenager, only dead." Most teenagers experience great bouts of confusion, anger, and happiness: aggressive manifestations of both sides of the emotional spectrum.
The plot really captured my attention and imagination. I found the execution and directing of the plot stunning, and that's what really makes this episode much better than it could have been. It also has an aura of creepiness to it that really works. The special effects are wonderful as well, especially the sequence where the wasps are buzzing around the school and then suddenly separate to make a path so Buffy can enter the school.
While all of what I've discussed is great, it's the ending sequence that really propells this episode into fantastic territory. Buffy thinks the ghost doesn't deserve forgiveness, but that's exactly what the ghost needs. The reason why Buffy feels this way is because she is exactly like the ghost. She badly needs to forgive herself for causing Angel to lose his soul, but she isn't willing to give it to herself. She wants to be punished for her action and thinks she doesn't deserve forgiveness.
The ghost wants her because she's the only person it can truly identify with. Through possession she is able to forgive the ghost and the ghost is able to forgive her. It's so perfect that Angelus was possessed by the women, and that Buffy was possessed by the man who committed the tragedy. What the ghost is saying is directly applicable and meaningful for Buffy and Angel's situation as well. This entire scene is quite moving thanks to fantastic acting by both Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz. There's also a beautiful song in this sequence in the background. Frankly, kudos to everyone involved with that scene.
The episode wraps up back at the new mansion where Angelus is literally washing himself. He's complaining of being "violated by love." This is such an amusing sentiment, because many people think that love is often blinding and uncontrollable. If you twist that definition a bit, you can reach the word 'violating' to describe real love too. After Angelus and Drusilla wander off to kill people, Spike gets out of his wheelchair and announces he's back in business, and is extremely angry at Angelus. I love this entire episode: it's got chills, meaning, resonance, beauty, fantastic music, and power. How downright satisfying and tasty!
| - | Minor Pros/Cons (+/-) |
| Pros: | |
| + | Love the Jenny and Giles theme song playing when she is discussed briefy. |
| + | The recurring use of the same extras. The bearded teacher in Buffy's class, Jonathan, Larry, and many of the students keep making appearances. This is just awesome. |
| + | Spike pretty much giving up getting mad at Angelus at this point. Also great acting from James Marsters showing very clearly this bottled up cold anger he has for Angelus. |
| + | Giles assuming the poltergeist is Jenny even though the rest of the Scoobies know better. |
| + | We find out more about Snyder's knowledge of Sunnydale and why he was assigned to this school. He knows they're located on a hellmouth. |
| + | Willow's first time dabbling into magic. This episode planted the seed that slowly grew in each season through S6. |
| + | Cordy asking if the school gets shut down, would they all automatically graduate. Back in Jr. High I used to ask that same question to myself. |
| - | Foreshadowing |
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| - | Quotes |
| BUFFY: | No, no, you seem like a really great guy, it's...me. I-I'm not seeing anybody. Ever again, actually. |
| BUFFY: | I don't incite! I stopped that boy from killing his girlfriend, ask him. Ask the janitor. |
| SNYDER: | People can be coerced, Summers. I'm no stranger to conspiracy. I saw JFK. |
| BUFFY: | I'm telling you, something weird is going on. |
| XANDER: | Something weird is going on. Isn't that our school motto? |
| XANDER: | Oh, no, no. No. No cool. This was no wimpy chain rattler. This was 'I'm dead as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore.' |
| GILES: | Well, despite the Xander-speak, that's a fairly accurate definition of a poltergeist. |
| ANGELUS: | What do you know about it? I'm the one who was friggin' violated. You didn't have this thing in you. |
| DRUSILLA: | What was it? A demon? |
| ANGELUS: | Love! |
| DRUSILLA: | Poor Angel. |
| - | Score |
| 95/100 | A |
A sharply written episode consisting of zero major mistakes. Usually develops characters in a meaningful manner and is a joy to watch on repeat viewings. Near perfect, but not quite there.
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| - | Screencaps |
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| - | Comments (15) |
| 1. | CareySep 2, 2006 (Sat) | |
| This is a really freakin good episode. No joke. Your grading is so perfect - It's really good, but I dont think it QUITE deserves a P, compared to the other episodes that earned a perfect score. But its really great and I'm glad its on the Top 25. |
| 2. | LottieSep 5, 2006 (Tue) | |
| Also I love how the writers used the fact that Buffy feels she has killed Angel (and in a way, she has) by doing something, as she puts 'rash, stupid and selfish'. I also just want to say that think its great the way your site analyses Buffy in the depth it deserves. |
| 3. | NinaaJun 23, 2007 (Sat) | |
| SHIT YEAH THIS EPISODE IS AMAZING! i mean come one! Buffy and Angels tension is amazing and beyond excellent! I love the script for this episode, i mean who can beat that "just wake up and stop loving somebody!" its just terrific. i cant even think of words! its just amazing! love this episode and i love how you have reviewed it. your doing a really good job =D Ninaaarrrrrr/x |
| 4. | GilliJun 28, 2007 (Thu) | |
| This is without a doubt my FAVORITE episode! it's perfect in like every way for me. when Angel turned back to Angelus i was missing the love between him and Buffy, and although they were possessed, it was beautiful between them btw...i must agree with Ninaa.....these reviews are freaking awesome!! |
| 5. | AlimaemiaJul 4, 2007 (Wed) | |
| One of my favourite things about this episode is the editing. A bad editor could have ruined this episode. |
| 6. | LibMaxJul 25, 2007 (Wed) | |
| I also love this episode. It's the first and maybe the best of the episodes which took the arcs and issues and themes that had been working out in prose through the rest of the season and spun them into poetry (others, in my opinion, are Earshot (parts of it, anyway), Restless, Weight of the World, and Normal Again). Something I'd like to add to MikeJer's excellent analysis. Not only is James (his side of the dialog and his situation generally) a neat metaphorical match for Buffy, but Grace Newman is an equally neat match for Angelus, though it's harder to see. Grace was the older one, the one who should have been more sensible (but wasn't when it counted). And now she's rejecting James out of the clear blue sky for reasons that make no sense to James. He just wants things back the way they were, but she know that's impossible. But it's not because she's stopped loving him. James doesn't want to hear what she has to say and finally kills her (and then goes away to kill himself). But when she finally gets her chance (because bullets won't kill Angelus), Grace tells James that it wasn't his fault and that she never stopped loving him. What's all this got to do with Angelus? Well, in the first place, Buffy "killed" Angel by sleeping with him and releasing Angelus. But I don't think Angelus ever stopped loving Buffy. As Willow pointed out (in Passion?), "You're still the only thing he thinks about." Without I Only Have Eyes For You, Angelus's motives don't seem to make much sense. He's obsessed with Buffy, claims that "to kill this girl, you have to love her" (Innocence), fusses over how best to send his regards (Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered), and generally makes her as miserable as he can (Passion, etc.) without actually attacking her. Then, after I Only Have Eyes For You, he's suddenly done with Buffy and looking to destroy the world instead, something Angelus never tried to do in all his decades of villainy. Spike calls it an "appetite for destruction," but it came from nowhere. Why the sudden shift from Buffy to Acathla? I think it's because I Only Have Eyes For You forced Angelus to face the fact that he was still as in love with Buffy as Angel, only dealing with it differently (the vampire version of a punch on the arm, pigtails in the inkwell, etc.). That's why he's so frantically scrubbing himself at the fountain - not because Grace's love for James hijacked his body, but because he's been made to confront his own (twisted and evil) love for Buffy. I think it's his inability to deal with true love (not to mention the indignity of sharing an emotion with Angel) that makes Angelus decide to end his existence. And of course, if he's going to end his own, he owes it to his reputation to end everyone else's. I think Acathla makes perfect sense for Angelus, but if and only if we acknowledge that his encounter with Grace Newman revealed feelings that he was trying to hide from himself (as she was), feelings he couldn't deal with (just like her). YMMV. |
| 7. | mikejerJul 25, 2007 (Wed) | |
| Very intriguing thoughts LibMax. I've always had a problem with Angelus just randomly deciding he wants to suck every living being (and all his food) into hell. This explanation, though, is interesting and feels very plausible. I like it. :) |
| 8. | AustinAug 21, 2007 (Tue) | |
| What Exactly do you mean when you say atmospheric? |
| 9. | buffyholicOct 16, 2007 (Tue) | |
| Amazing episode. The story is good but when we combine Angel and Buffy´s story and Buffy´s need to be forgiven, this episode is just incredible. The final scene where they re-enact James and Grace´s final moments is thrilling when we see that it parallels Buffy and Angel perfectly. Wonderfully done, wonderfully acted, just wonderful. |
| 10. | Andrew KernJan 13, 2008 (Sun) | |
| I just re-watched this. I've got a different take than LibMax on why Angelus wanted to send the world to hell and how this relates to loving Buffy (or not). I don't think it had to do with Angelus' inability to deal with the true love hidden within him. I think he did it because he realized how easy it would be for him to turn once again into his opposite, someone who loved. Here's my reasoning: * The Judge, after touching Angelus, says "There's no humanity in him." Not even a spark. And this is the same Judge who could burn a vampire flunky simply because he reads. If there was anything of Angel's love for Buffy in Angelus, I think the Judge would have sensed it. * Angelus, in explaining why he wanted to destroy Buffy in the worst way possible, said, "She made me feel like a man. That's not something you just forgive." For Angelus, the worst thing imaginable is to love, to be human in that way. Anything which could bring that about must be punished and destroyed. * Murderous obsession and hatred is not a different way of dealing with love. If we were to say that, I think we'd have to say that Warren loved Katrina. * Unlike with un-souled Spike, I see no evidence that there was anything redeeming about Angelus. There is nothing within him calling out for something different, for him to become someone different. Angelus can only be redeemed from the outside, and that would have to happen completely against his will. (BTW, this is one reason why I find Spike to be a much more interesting character than Angel.) * That's his motivation for going after Buffy so viciously. He saw her as the one thing which could redeem him and make him feel love again. Not only must she be punished for making him love, she must be destroyed to prevent him ever loving again. * That's where IOHEFY comes in. In this episode, something besides Buffy makes him feel love, and it does so easily and instantly. He doesn't even have time or the ability to fight it. In total opposition to Angelus, he becomes someone who would love and forgive the person who murdered him, not because the person deserved it but because they needed it – a very human act, the antithesis of Angelus. His visceral growl once the possession is over sums up perfectly how he feels about this. I think he washes himself so vigorously precisely because "Grace's love for James hijacked his body." * Suddenly, it's not just Buffy who could make him love. I think that after this experience, Angelus sees the whole world as filled with unseen and deadly potential sources of love. His existence as Angelus is seen as thoroughly vulnerable, and the rebirth of Angel as immanent within the world itself. Thus, destroying the world by casting it into hell becomes preferable, if not a necessity, to the certainty that Angelus would once again become (in his eyes) that sappy, brooding go-gooder gazing doe-eyed at the Slayer. * In short, Angelus wants to destroy the world not because he loves, but because he doesn't and because he needs to ensure that he never does. On another note, I have to add my admiration for DB's acting in this. I wasn't all that impressed with his acting up 'til then, but this was great stuff. I can see why Joss started thinking about an Angel spin-off. And yes, it is a wonderful, complex episode and a great example of how BtVS could take a plot which could have been just a retread of a retread of a cliche and create something amazing out of it. |
| 11. | NinaaJun 3, 2008 (Tue) | |
| Andrew Kern ^ you have such an interesting theory. You may be onto something, but we will never know simply because we weren't the ones that wrote the episode, I personally think that he shifted to demolishing the world because he loved buffy and that killed him, he didnt want to love her. He hated the fact that Angel loved her and it could be leaking out onto Angelus, for that ghost to just possess him and be able to make him feel those feelings, to tap into them make him realise he loved that slayer, and he followed her constantly, torturing her, pissing her off ect. because he loved her, and he didnt realise that untill he got possessed which made him think there's no way of shaking that feeling and the only way he could would be to demolish everything. |
| 12. | JadenSep 3, 2008 (Wed) | |
| poor angel got called a bitch. thank god he didnt walk like a woman and have a lisp or thing would have got ugly! |
| 13. | AmberNov 21, 2008 (Fri) | |
| One of my favorite Seasons from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, It so riveting and a ride of excitement, love, heartache. Oh my gosh Sarah and David both play this episode to a T. He has shown his obsession for her in past episodes, Willow has also stated that she is still the only thing he thinks about. Angelus seeks Buffy with Druscilla's vision, meeting her in the school hall way. They begin there James and Grace skit and all happens as it turns out Buffy(James) winds up in the music room where Angelus(Grace) goes onto reunite with Buffy(James). It gets so intense when they begin to kiss and after the James and Graces' spirits lift them. Still kissing and finally coming back to reality that moment that Buffy looks and realizes who she kissing saying his Souled name "Angel". You see as he opens his eyes for a moment he seems as if he is content almost as if he is where he wants to be. But of course has to do the "MANLY or so DEMONY" thing throw her to the side with his scary growl. I think they were both caught in the moment. |
| 14. | JimOct 18, 2009 (Sun) @ 9:52am | |
| Incredible, just astonishing television. The final 10 mins are the best the show's ever been and some of the best TV I've ever seen. "Miles, I need you" "You do?" |
| 15. | Aussie SlayerDec 23, 2009 (Wed) @ 4:49am | |
| I just have to say that I LOVE your reviews! Thanks for the great work! |
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