Episode 1: Anne

Before we start the third season, let me share a conversation I had with Kali while watching this episode: Me- This episode is part boring/dull and part adorable/awesome. Kali- I feel like that's a good description of season 3.

I felt like this was too funny not to share. Not hating on Season 3, but in our opinions Buffy is best post-high school, especially Seasons 4-6. But enough with this, on to the episode!

Season Three, Episode One

"Anne"

“That’s right big boy. Come and get it”

We start our season  off with AX, Willow, and Oz slaying vampires. I know, this sounds really funny without Buffy being there. That's because it is really funny. Willow tries using puns and wit because Buffy used to and Oz tries throwing the stake to slay a vampire only to fail miserably. AX mentions how pathetic they are and mentions Buffy using the past tense which causes Willow to freak out and remind him about the "past tense rule." I really love her.

In order to get the full affect of this scene, we need to step out of being viewers and become these characters. They don't know that Buffy's been gone because they were taking a break between seasons and that Buffy will be back now that the newest season has begun. It's difficult for me to grasp the fact that they have no idea whether or not they will ever see their friend again and I have no idea how horrible this must feel to them all. It makes me feel really bad for them and really dislike Buffy.

We end up seeing Buffy on a beach with Angel which is obviously a dream but this scene doesn't do anything to make me dislike Buffy less. I understand you loved him but you're a teenager and you knew him for around 6 months before he lost his soul so why would you choose him over your friends? But I digress, the real issue is how the hell did Buffy go for so long without having evil to defeat?! What, you move 30 minutes outside of Sunnydale and there's no evil at all? Why the hell are Slayers such a big deal then?

SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE LIBRARY!

School is back in session which means Willow back in the library because she has a super human thirst for knowledge (anyone up for a Friends reference? No? *Sigh* fineeeee.) Willow runs into Cordelia on her way out of the library and she freaks out over whether or not AX is still into her. They both are so strange, they freak out so much and obviously care about each other but then once they see each other they act stupidly and start arguing. Teenagers are so strange...However, my favorite part is when Cordelia is talking to Willow, questioning whether AX met anyone saying how can he since they're only monsters;“but then again he’s always been attracted to monsters…” lolz.

So we know how AX and Willow are coping with Buffy, but what about Giles? We see him get off the phone with an apparent lead from Oakland and he rushes to catch a plane. We learn from AX that this has happened numerous times. Poor Giles :(

Oh, I forgot to mention one of the most important parts of this episode; oops. So Buffy is going by Anne, her middle name, and working in a diner. She waits on this couple, Lily and Rickie who are stupid teenagers in "love." Before I continue on, I must first rant about why I dislike teenagers in relationships so much. It isn't because I don't believe that love and real relationship need to happen only when you're older, but teenagers throw around words all the time and it's beyond irritating. Buffy and Angel, yeah, you were getting to the point where you can say "I love you" because you were together for a long time and you knew each other well. Random high schoolers dating for less than a week, they aren't in love. This stuff really irks me so I feel the need to clear it up before I continue sounding like a love-hating person. And now we can go back to the episode...

Lily, who used to be Chantarelle, recognizes Buffy and tells her she won’t rat her out. They talk as they walk down the street and I have little interest in what's being said. We get the main point, both of these girls are hurting and feel lost and change their identities in hopes that this will fix their problems and they can recreate themselves.

Back in Sunnydale, Willow is being adorable:

Fun Fact: I spent 45 minutes looking for a GIF of this

Giles goes to Joyce upon returning and tells her that she shouldn’t blame herself and she says she blames him! This shit is getting irritating. We learned in the last episode from Whistler that no one asks for life to change but it's what you do after those changes and EVERYONE IS BEHAVING STUPIDLY! Buffy ran away? Joyce blames Giles? SERIOUSLY?!?!

Lily asks Anne to help her find Rickie because “that’s what [Buffy] does” is help people. Anne refuses at first but she goes anyway. They start at the blood bank (why don't vampires come here to eat?)

Buffy: This will probably go faster if we split up? Lily: Can I go with you? Buffy: Okay, where did I lose you on the whole splitting up thing?

Just before I start to become bored, Buffy finds Rickie but he's dead and around 80 years old. She tells Lily that she “can’t close her eyes and hope that it goes away” and that she’s going to have to deal with it. The entire time was everyone else laughing and wondering why Buffy can't just listen to her own advice?

Buffy goes to blood drive and the nurse lady says she gives "them" the names of the healthy ones. Buffy then goes to the place where they reside but it's too later and they already have Lily. Which, by the way, how stupid do they expect all of these kids to be? They freaking ask them to change into a hospital gown and take a dip in a vat of disgusting black tar looking shit! And people don't catch on and run the hell away from them?!?

Black tar spa treatments are all the rage in LA!

Before we continue onward, I'm just going to leave this here...

What a cool way to get AX and Cordelia back together without being irritating for another 3 hours!

Back in Hell (lol), Lily keeps saying how she always knew she was going here. Ken makes her feel great about herself by agreeing. He then goes on to talk about Rickie by saying “he remembered [Lily's] name years after he had forgotten his own.” Now, I’m sure this is meant to be romantic, but all I could think was that this was obviously because Lily’s name was effing tattooed on his arm.

Bottom line and the major point of this episode is that you can't hide from who you are. Buffy tries but she ultimate goes back to her roots because, like Harry, she has a saving people thing. All the gross looking demon minions try making all the teenagers who are dressed like house elves say that they're nobody and Buffy refuses. She says that she's Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she can't hide this fact. She can never be no one because she knows exactly who she's supposed to be.

Now epic fights ensues until Ken stops everyone and I love how stupid Joss makes bad guys at times. Like he’s giving this hugely epic speech proclaiming his power and Lily pushes him because he’s retarded and was giving this speech over a ledge, practically begging for her to push him. What a moron.

Buffy kills Ken, in one of the most grossest ways possible. A gate falls on him, piercing his feet and she beats his head after asking if he wants to see her impression of Gandhi because “well, you know, [Gandhi] was really pissed off.” Buffy sort of needs to attend history class again to learn about Gandhi after she's done being a badass....

After learning her lesson, Buffy decides to go back home and leaves Lily with her place, job, and name. Another reason why I love Joss: he brings her back in Angel  and we see that she’s doing okay.

Back in Sunnydale, I have no idea what Joyce is fixing with the dishwasher completely full of dishes but she gets up from all the hard work she was doing and gets the door and her and Buffy are reunited once more.

D'awwww

Favorite Line: “I don’t even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one” - Buffy

-Sarah!

Kali's Notes:
- I had trouble wanting to watch this episode again and I realized why while I was watching it: The heart of Buffy is the relationships. Buffy on her own (as a character or as a show) isn't good. At the end of Season 2, she felt like all that she had left was herself but after everything she goes through in this episode she starts to realize how important her friends are.
- We see just how courageous The Scooby Gang is. Even though they have no obligation to do so, they go out fighting vampires because somebody has to do it. GO SCOOBIES!
- I have to point out that Willow's hair keeps getting shorter every season. She is totally part of my hair revolution. Also, Giles has new glasses and they make him look foxy.
- A couple contradictory TV tropes I want to point out. The police siren in the distance always seems to signify living in the "ghetto", which annoys me to being with. Then we see Buffy working in a diner, getting her ass slapped by a trucker guy. Where are we? Inner city or out in the country? PICK A PLACE, GUYS!
- Buffy, don't roll your eyes at them. Pie is totally more healthy than cake. Pie has fruit.
- I really appreciate Giles more and more. He's relentlessly following leads on where Buffy might be, never giving up on trying to find. Of course, then Joyce ruins my happy moment with Giles by being A BIG MEAN POOPY HEAD! Seriously, of all the people to blame, Giles is not one of them. You know how you said you don't blame yourself? Well you should, you threw her out. "I'm not going to blame myself because I'm going to blame the other parental figure in her life because I can't deal with the fact that she treated him more like a parent than me."
- I really like how this show portrayed the situation of teenage runaways. It's not believable for every teenager that runs away from home to be like Buffy, where she finds a nice place to stay and a steady job, so they showed the situation of your "average" runaways- living on the streets, not having money to buy food, shady people (demons in this case) taking advantage of their situation, etc. I think what the demon says sums up their situation pretty well. "What is hell but the total absense of hope?" I'm not an expert in the subject, but a good portion of teenagers that run from home leave one bad situation for another. "Many teenage runaways leave home in search of safety and freedom from what they consider abusive treatment, whether physical, sexual, or emotional." (Look I did research!) They also leave to try to find a better situation. Buffy wasn't doing any of these things. She has several people at home that love her and treat her well. As Sarah stated above, Buffy was running from herself and as we see when she is in "hell", she is able to reclaim who she truly is. I feel like this song needs to be playing during Buffy's runaway scenes.
- Favorite Lines:
Cordelia: What's the plan?
AX: The vampire attacks you.
Cordelia: And then what?
AX: The vampire kills you. We watch, we rejoice.

Season 2 Recap

It's a bit long, but we had lots to say about this season!
Check out our Season 2 recap here on our YouTube page.

EDIT: First, we want to take a second to thank everyone who reads/watches our reviews! We promise even bigger and better things in the future. Feel free to start a discussion in comments, we love talking about Buffy...obviously.

Secondly, Outtakes are now up!

Becoming, Part 2

*Note: Sarah is still white regular font and Kali is gray italics.

We start with the horribleness of Buffy being arrested. Obviously, this is no good since she has to go kick Angel's ass, so she becomes a badass and escapes. Let's keep track of all the hits Buffy takes within this episode in hopes that this will help us understand why fleeing was the only option she saw available to her. Buffy Hit Count: 1

I like how  we pick up at the exact moment Part 1 left off. Buffy runs into Principal Snyder while the cops are trying to arrest her. Buffy to Snyder: "You stupid little troll." GO BUFFY! Then she beats up the cops and dodges bullets. GO BUFFY GO! Just the way this episode starts you know shit is about it get really real.

In disguise, Buffy goes to the hospital to find her friends. Xander sees her first and helps her hide from the cops by hugging her. This would be more adorable if he wasn't being such an ass throughout this and the last episode. After the cops leave, Xander takes Buffy to Willow and my heart breaks as Xander explains how she's not conscious. I want her to be okay and adorable, not hurt! I HATE YOU JOSS WHEDON! Again, Buffy feels responsible and full of guilt for causing her friends hurt (BHC: 2.) Cordelia then joins everyone and actually asks how Willow's doing and shows concern for her well being! Is anyone else weirded out by this? Anyways, Xander asks how far Giles was behind Cordelia and she said she thought he was in the hospital. All at once everyone realizes that he's been taken (BHC: 3.)

We cut to Giles tied up and about to be tortured by Angelus. You get to see how Angelus is out to cause people as much pain as possible, not just kill them. He tells Giles that he's excited to torture him and even hopes that Giles doesn't tell him how to wake Acathla because he REALLY wants to torture Giles for awhile. Angelus takes pleasure in causing others pain.

Next we see the police talking with Joyce. I need to point out how completely moronic the Sunnydale police are here. Buffy isn't there and Joyce has no idea what's going on and they explain nothing! Basically, from Joyce's perspective, she knows that the police think Buffy did something illegal and Willow is hurt. If I were her, I would be very confused...

Buffy runs into Whistler and not too much happen except for the fact that we get this awesome quote: “In the end you're always by yourself. You’re all you got, that’s the point” – Whistler
Don't forget the other awesome quote: "I'm going to pull out your ribcage and wear it as a hat."- Buffy. Man, Buffy ate her bad-ass Wheaties today. Ever since finding Kendra dead, she has been a Slayer with a mission. The death of Ms.Calendar made her realize she needed to kill Angelus, but the death of Kendra has given her the motivation to actually do it.

Now, Buffy is about to arrested when SPIKE SAVES THE DAY. The cop was all "Freeze!", Buffy put her hands up, and then Spike was all *punches cop in the face*. Buffy is so grateful to Spike that she... hits him? Really Buffy? We really get to see the beginning of what the Buffy/Spike relationship is going to be like. They hit each other like it's part of their normal conversation!
"Hi, how's it going?" *punch*
"I'm good, how about you?" *punch*
"Pretty good myself. Nice weather we are having." *punch*

I love Spike's line and his delivery of it: "I wanna save the world." He really does though. He likes the way things are, plus he just wants to be with Drusilla and live happily ever after. Oh Spike, you are a hopeless romantic and I love you so much for it.

He ends up talking about how he wants to help Buffy because they each can't do it alone and they both have a lot they could lose. Spike agrees to help in exchange for his and Drusilla's safety. The deal is that Spike will make sure Giles stays alive, or else Buffy will kill Drusilla, and he'll make it so that way it's just Buffy and Angel fighting. He tells her where they're hiding at and when to meet him there and the plans are set in motion.

Buffy ends the conversation with telling Spike "I hate you," and him responding "And I'm all you've got." That pretty much sums up their entire relationship.

Xander is holding Willow's hand, while she lays unconscious in her hospital bed. This moment is so sweet and so heartbreaking. Xander is telling Willow how much she means to him, how she's his best friend, and finally he says, "I love you." You can tell by the way he says this that it's more than just as friends. It's sad that he finally starts to come to terms with his feelings for Willow now that she is thinking more about Oz.

Willow wakes up! She asks for Oz and they both are adorable.

“My head feels big, is it big?” “No, it’s head-sized”

Buffy and Spike are walking back to her house to finish discussing plans when Joyce finds them and asks what Buffy is doing. She says her and Spike are in a band; I'm very curious as to what kind of bands Spike listens to since he says that “she plays the triangle.” Love how Spike makes himself the lead singer. No one's buying this cover and Buffy ends up slaying one of "Angel's guys" in front of her mom so she "comes out" to her.

Back in the house, Joyce and Spike make me giggle while Buffy and Willow make me sad. We see here how for the first time Buffy really has to rely on herself. She no longer has Giles there to guide her and tell her what to do. Buffy and Spike talk openly in front of Joyce and Buffy argues over whether or not she'll let Drusilla go because she killed Kendra. Spike has the best reaction ever and fangirls over the fact that Drusilla bagged a Slayer.

"She didn't tell me! Hey, good for her!"

Joyce is very lost and asks if she “explode(d) like that man out there." I feel really bad for Joyce; she just doesn't understand and Buffy literally does not have any time to explain it to her. For the first time, Joyce reacts very poorly, but I don't blame her because this is a lot to handle. I don't think many mothers would just say "Ok honey, you go out there and get those bad vampires then!" Buffy has a point that her mom isn't paying the closest attention to her, but its also quite a jump for Buffy to expect her mom to completely understand what's going on. It's Joyce's own ignorance ("Have you tried not being a Slayer?"), but it's Buffy's fault for not telling her anything. Buffy tells her mom how she would rather be doing anything, including studying, but she can't because she has to save the world. She goes to leave and Joyce says if she leaves the house then she shouldn't even think about coming back. Buffy has a sad. (BHC: 4.)

Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia talk and Willow decides that she wants to try the spell again. Everyone feels as though this is a bad idea, but she has "resolve face" so everyone follows her lead. Have I mentioned how much I love Willow yet within this post? If I haven't, OMG I LOVE HER! If I have, I've very sorry but I feel the need to discuss how awesome she is every 15 minutes.

I love you, Willow <3

In which Giles is a badass: “In order to perform... to be worthy... you must perform the ritual... in a tutu.” I think they teach you how to be tortured at Watcher school because both him and Wesley are awesome at it. They both don't give anything away AND are able to make awesome jokes to their torturers.

Dru “plays a game” with Giles and turns into Ms. Calendar. Sadness ensues. Although, it is pretty hilarious when Drusilla starts making out with Giles, and then Spike and Angelus are all "Um... Dru... you can stop now... DRU!"

Buffy goes back to get the sword from the library and Principal Snyder expels her (BHC: 5.) After this, Snyder calls the mayor. We've had several references to him this season, it's nice how they are leading up to his involvement in Season 3.

“Raiding an Englishmen’s fridge is like dating a nun; you never get the good stuff” –Whistler. Here we also get some great foreshadowing of what's to come. Whistler explains everything about Acathla (which Buffy should have probably asked him the first time she met him). As Buffy leaves, we already see her mindset when she says "I've got nothing left to lose." Whistler replies "Wrong kid, you got one more thing." Uh-oh...

Dick!Xander returns! Or AX as I suppose we are referring to him now. Anyways, he was instructed by Willow to tell Buffy of her attempts to work some magic (literally) when he went to save Giles with her. However, he instead gives her a different message

"Kick his ass"

Interesting Note: In Season 7, this comes back into play during "Selfless."

BUFFY: Do you remember cheering me on? Both of you. Do you remember giving me Willow’s message: Kick his ass?
WILLOW: I never said that!

Yay for continuity! Drew Goddard wrote this episode and is very fannish and does awesome stuff like this.

I hate you so much right now AX. I really do.

Xander goes in to rescue Giles and they have some of the best dialogue ever. Giles: “you’re not real, it’s a trick. They get inside my head, make me see things I want" Xander: “Then why would they make you see me?” Giles: “Oh right, let’s go."

Both rituals start, Angelus trying to raise Acathla, Willow trying to restore Angel's soul. I love how Buffy walks in to stop Angelus and he asks if she is going to take them all on alone. Then Spike gets out of his wheelchair (which I still don't understand why he is in) and starts beating the crap out of Angelus. Everything is in complete chaos. Everybody is fighting, rituals are going on, and I get very confused as to how it is possible to choke out a vampire. Seriously, if they don't need to breath and their hearts don't pump blood, how the hell can Spike choke Drusilla til she passes out?

Willow starts to get weak from performing the spell, then as if possessed, begins chanting in Rumanian is a great moment of bad-assery.

To continue the bad-assery, Buffy and Angelus have a super awesome sword fight. He knocks away her sword, then some of my favorite dialogue of the whole series occurs.

Angelus: No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all that away and what's left?
Buffy: Me

That one word just says so much. Buffy has lost so much since Innocence, but even more in just the last episode. This is showing the theme of the season finale. If you strip away everything that a person has, all that is left is the very core of who they are, and that's when you learn what you are made of.

Willow’s spell worked, however it was after Angelus already started the ritual (BHC: 6.)  

I was happy for about 5 seconds when Angel's soul returned. Yay, now everything will be happy again with rainbows and unicorns! Then I remember Whistler's warning, and what has to happen if the ritual is started. This is when all the sadness in the world falls down upon me.

“Close your eyes”

So, just from this part alone, our hit count went up to six. This isn't even including the fact that Kendra died! So after all of these blows, we can see why Buffy felt her only option was to flee. We're shown very often how she has bad coping skills so it makes sense that she would like this option more than returning to her friends and having there help recovering which would be the healthiest thing for her to do. So, she goes to her place to pack her stuff and leaves her mom a note.  Joyce later finds this and has a sad.

At first I wanted to critique Buffy for leaving, but I sometimes forget that while she may be a superhero, she is also a teenage girl. She was kicked out of her house by her mom, expelled from school, and had to kill her boyfriend to save to world, I'm pretty sure I'd want to run away from all of that too. For the first time, we really start to understand how lonely being the Slayer is, having to make life or death decisions in order to save the world.

We end the episode with the gang together awaiting Buffy's return to find out if everything turned out okay because they have no idea all of what occurred with her and Angel or if Willow's spell worked or not. Again, AX pisses me off because he sounds hopeful that Buffy had to kill Angel before the cure would work. I kind of hate you right now, AX. Willow makes me so sad by saying “she’ll be here in a while." And that's how we leave our beloved characters, with them all having a sad.

"Joss Whedon is so mean to us; why can't he just let us be happy for once?"

P.S. On Friday the video for our Season 2 recap will be up, Saturday the outtakes will be available (I promise hilarity), and on Monday we will begin Season 3!

Becoming, Part 1

*Note: Because there is too much that each of us want to write about, we are BOTH doing the write-up for Becoming Parts 1 and 2. Sarah is in white font, Kali is in gray italics. Let the fun begin!

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Xander joins the swim team and almost turns into a fish monster because of the steroids being pumped into the steam room. We now join our friends in a completely different setting, ignoring the last episode entirely, to find Buffy and Xander in a graveyard discussing Buffy's upcoming battle with Angel in which she will be killing him. And now back to our show...

We start the episode with some Angel back-story. Galway 1753. He meets Darla in a dark alley, where all classy women hang out and they have a conversation that goes something like this:
Angel: You're sexy. Do you wanna have sex with me?
Darla: Maybe, do you mind if I'm very creepy before we do anything though?
Angel: As long as I get some, you can do whatever you want baby. Where you from?
Darla: Around, wanna see the world with me?
Angel: K
Darla: *cires Angel*

Again, I really enjoy the narration, this time done by a new character we are introduced to in the form of Whistler. He talks about moments that define us and change our lives without us knowing it, referring to Angel right now, but also to what Buffy has to do in the next episode. FYI, Whistler was originally designed to be the Doyle character on Angel.

Then we see Edward Angel, like a creeper, watching Buffy as she slays vampires and talks about how she's ready to kill Angel. She then talks with Xander about finals and says "it'll all be over soon." To which Angel says, like a creeper, "oh yes it will, my love."

I get what Buffy is feeling here. I'm sure there have been a lot of times in our lives where there are things that we don't want to do, but have to do and the only thing driving us towards doing them is just to get it over with. Buffy doesn't want to kill Angelus. I'm sure she'd much prefer to have her boyfriend back, but as far as she knows right now that is not going to happen. Just like ripping off a Band-Aid only about a million times worse. You know it'll hurt, but it has to happen, so just do it quick and it'll be done.

We are now introduced to some sort of ancient artifact which is obviously bad since it's always bad. Giles notices that it's something that can be opened, but he says not to open it until he transcribes the writing. The curator asks if Giles wants to be surprised. No Giles doesn't wanna be suprised, it's probably something that will try and eat your soul. Nothing good can come from this.

Back at the school, adorableness ensues with Xander reenacting the slayage with fish sticks and Willow sitting on Oz's lap. The adorableness of Willow continues when Principal Snyder comes in and asks if there's been a chair shortage to which she says “I didn’t read anything about—oh *moves off of Oz’s lap*”
"I think you'd sweat cute blood" That's semi-creepy but Oz saying it is adorable too.

Adorable Willow is adorable

I also need to give Cordelia a high-five for what she says behind Principal Snyder's back here, not just for what she says, but for the fact that it's in defense of Buffy, "How about because you're a tiny impotent Nazi with a bug up his butt the size of an emu?" Way to defend your friends, Cordy!

And now more Angel back story. London, 1860. We see Drusilla in confession with Angel, since he just murdered the priest, talking about how worried she is that she's evil. Angel, always the helpful guy, tells her that she’s a spawn of Satan and that she needs to “give in” and be evil. Way to be a jerk, dude.

Until this rewatch, I always just enjoyed Drusilla for her insanity and the random things she said. Now that I've come to think about characters more, I feel so horribly bad for her. She is trying to be a good Cathlotic girl.
"I don't want to be an evil thing"
"Be evil. Just give in."
"I want to be good. I want to be pure."
You gotta feel bad for her. At least from what we've learned about vampires, the demon takes her body but doesn't get her soul. Then we cut from human Drusilla to her now, to see what Angelus has turned her into.

Now, Angelus is all over Drusilla. Does he do it to piss Spike off or because he wants someone in his life? Last time he was around these two, he had Darla with him. Other than the obvious excuse of "Angelus is just an evil asshole and wants to make Spike angry", I think I have another entirely plausable reason. Angelus is hiding his feelings for Spike. Believe me, even Joss says that there is something between them. If you watch it from that perspective, it all makes perfect sense.

No one understands our man-love.

While studying with Willow, Buffy drops her pencil and has déjà vu. She drops the pencil again to see why and finds a floppy disc. They put it in and see that it has a translation Ms. Calendar was working on to restore Angel with his soul. Then we go back to flashbackyness and see the moment in which Angel gains his soul and experiences true suffering over all he’s done as Angelus. Rumanian Woods, 1898. It's sort of sad...

Sad Angel is sad

Taking after Angel now, Xander becomes dick!Xander. Willow tells the scoobies that she might be able to work some magic, literally, and work Ms. Calendar's spell to restore Angel's soul. Giles to Willow: "Channeling such potent magics through yourself could be opening a door you won't be able to close" Yup, that's pretty much what happens. To which Xander freaks the hell out and starts telling Buffy she's only doing this so she can forget about Ms. Calendar's murder and bring her boyfriend back. When Giles tries to reason with him, he reaches a new level of jerkiness and yells that Jenny's dead.

Jerky Xander is a jerk

From this point on, Xander will now be referred to as AX (Asshole Xander) until he does something overwhelmingly redeeming, so it might be awhile. This is what I have to say to you AX. You are a big asshole right now. I know your tiny brain may not get this, but it wasn't Angel that did all those things, it was Angelus. Hey remember that time you tried to rape Buffy and ate a pig? Yeah, that's right, shut your cake hole hypocrite. Ooo, and Cordelia supports him, that's your first clue that he's obviously wrong. Fuck you AX, FUCK. YOU. Buffy just wants her boyfriend back? How about you just want him dead because you're a jealous asshole? I hate your face. </rant>

“Willow, where did you learn that word?” *giggles*

“Can’t wait to tell my friends, they don’t have a rock this big”- Spike <3 SPIKE FOREVER.

Oh, I forgot about this tomb thing because it wasn't interesting at all until now. Basically, construction workers found this Tomb of some difficult name; I’m going with Buffy though so the thing is now going to be called the Tomb of Alfalfa. So Giles was trying to work on translating it but before he could work it out Angelus and Drusilla stole it. After learning that it was stolen, we learn that the Tomb of Alfalfa will send the whole world into Hell which isn't the best news in the world...

Acathla is going to suck the world into hell. Even if you are evil, why would want this?
Also, on the theme of moments defining who you are, what Angelus says here really fits, just not in the way he's thinking. "Everything that I am, everything that I have done, has led me here."

“Of course if we go to hell by then I won’t have to take them. Or I’ll be taking them forever” –Buffy

More back story! Whistler, who was actually Rune in Gilmore Girls; I spent most of this trying to figure out who he was! Anyways, he takes Angel to go see Buffy on the day she was chosen. He hears the council talking to her in a very creepy way, might I add. Perhaps the council should work on sounding less crazy their first time meeting the new Slayer. I thought the exact same thing, STAY OUT OF MY HEAD SARAH!

"You must save the world from vampires, even though you didn't know they existed until just now. I'm not insane. Do you like my mustache?"

Don't potential Slayers get trained too? We see that more in Season 7, but there are hundreds of Watchers for... one Slayer? No, some potential Slayers have Watchers. And how do they find out whose a potential Slayer? On that same thought, how do they even find out who is a Slayer? Is there are magic book that writes there names in it like in Harry Potter? I do remember Giles talking about "seers" working with the council, so maybe that? I NEED ANSWERS. 

After watching her reaction to becoming chosen, Angel asks Whistler to become his Yoda so he can learn from him of ways to help her. Which is cute, and creepy, especially since Whistler comments by saying that "she must be cuter than the last one." SHE'S A TEENAGER AND HE'S OVER TWO CENTURIES OLD!

*in a sing song voice* “Someone wasn’t worthy”-Spike

In class, a suicide vampire relays her message from Angel to Buffy that she must meet him to fight or more will die. How can you convince someone to just kill themselves, especially a soulless vampire? Never knowing a trap when she sees one, Buffy goes to meet him leaving the gang in Kendra's protection. She doesn't want to risk him killing more people? How will he kill more people if you don't show up? I mean, he's been killing lots of people already and NOW you are concerned? They both sort of have an adorable Slayer bonding moment and Kendra gives Buffy Mr. Pointy.

D'awww. The Slayers bonding over stakes; how adorable.

Buffy meets Angelus in the cemetary just like old times.
Angelus: "I was hoping we could get back together." Oh I am going to miss your funniness, Angelus.
Hey look Buffy, the trap is a trap.
"And you fall for it every single time!" Indeed she does Angel, indeed she does.

We get our first glimpse at the other powers that Drusilla has. Not only does she have visions of the future, but she can hypnotize someone as powerful as a Slayer. Kendra is killed in a way, like Jenny, to show that she won't be coming back as a vampire. Although this sounds morbid, it's a waste of Slayer blood. I mean, Spike talks about how powerful Slayer blood is, so Drusilla really should have drank from her. Just sayin'.

After a few minutes of fighting, Angel lets Buffy in on the fact that “this wasn’t about her” and she races back to the library. Sadness ensues as we see Buffy racing in slow motion, with no sound backing her up, to the library to see the remains of the awefulness that took place. The first thing she sees when she runs in in Kendra dead on the floor. As she's mourning over her body, we see a gun and here a guy yell “freeze.”

Worst. Timing. Ever.

As this episode comes to a close, we get more narrative from Whistler. I love when Joss does narrations, he's just so damn good at it.

"Bottom line is- even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does."
"It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are."

Even though this is Part 1, the episode is actually able to stand on its own, where usually when Joss write a 2- parter, the first part isn't that great because all it does is set up the second part. This time it sets up Part 2, but has a good story giving us so much information on Angel as a character.

To be continued…

Episode 20: Go Fish

Dear Journal,

Why is everyone obsessing so much over these morons? All they're doing is swimming; how easy is that to do? Just because they can win trophies, they suddenly deserve all of these special privleges. I try saying this to everyone and Cordelia tells me that my believing everyone is equal is just “propaganda spouted out by the ugly and less deserving."

I swear, sometimes I don't even know why we're seeing each other! Why doesn't she just go off and find some stupid jock to hang around with. Someone who just views her as a piece of ass instead of the amazing person that she is. I didn't ask for her to start seeing me, she chose to and now I'm starting to feel as if she thinks she made the wrong choice. Well that's just fine with me; I can get any woman I want for myself. Well, except for Buffy. And Willow because she's seeing Oz now. But there are more women, right? Just give me a minute to think...

Okay, so I'm drawing a blank on a woman here at Sunnydale that I can get to date me. But so what? What's so cool about being in a relationship anyways? I can live without kissing someone; I haven't made out with Cordelia at all within the past few hours and I'm doing just fine. Some withdrawal pains, but those will go away after a while.

Anyways, all I'm saying is that these jocks don't deserve all this special treatment that they're getting. They also don't deserve to be killed either though. Or, I don't know, maybe they do if they think they can take advantage of Buffy and feel so entitled to everything without working for it at all.

~~~~~~

We've all spent hours studying now trying to find bad guys with high cholesterol making them go on skinless diets. I really need a break, I'll just go and get some soda. I really wish my mom gave me money for both two; I can't decide whether I want orange or grape...

Great now Mr. Meathead is in here acting all superior to me. "I'm a jock so I can eat food from the cafeteria at all hours of the night." What do I care, he'll never have what I do; Buffy rejected him and she leans on me for support. Whatever, I'm just going to ignore him and get my soda.

*screaming*

What the hell was that? And what's the horrible smell? What is going---MONSTER!!!

*runs*

Everyone goes into task mode after I tell them what I saw. Cordelia won't stop teasing me because she thinks I ran like a girl when I didn't. I just walked in a very fast pace, I'd like to see how she would have reacted if she had seen that thing! All I wanted was a soda, I was expecting to come face to face with some smelly monster. Everyone goes off in different directions and I'm left with nothing to do to help the team solve this thing. What do I have to do to be taken seriously around here? I've been helping the gang save the world for two years and they don't trust me with anything still. I guess I'll just have to take matters into my own hands; I'll join the swim team and keep an eye on the guys when Buffy can't. Also maybe this will help Cordelia see me as more than some lame guy that she can use to get smoochies.

~~~~~

I wasn't expecting to find Willow, Buffy, and Cordelia here at swim practice. I need to cover up; they're all making fun of me when I say that I'm under cover. I tell them about what I was thinking about how Buffy can't always watch them and so me being here will help the team; I can be with them in the locker room, and not in a nude way like Willow mentions! All clothes are staying on! I've learned my lesson from Larry about this; I'm not exposing myself to anyone. Except maybe Cordelia if she'll let me, but that's besides the point.

~~~~~~~

I don’t get why these guys are in the steam room so often. I mean, it’s so boring! Everyone is sweaty and smells gross. These guys are so stupid; I don’t get why everyone obsesses over these jocks so damn much. Why does Cordelia think these guys are better than me?

Back in the steam room, I’m gonna play it cool and find out who has the goods. No one talks in this room though so how do I get it out of them? I know, I’ll start talking about food. Jocks like food, right?

~~~~

None of these guys understand how to continue on a conversation! I guess playing it cool won’t work, it’s time to try asking plainly.

~~~~~

THE STEAM?! I didn’t sign up to become fish boy; I was just watching over all these lame jocks! I need to tell everyone. There has to be something we can do to make sure I keep my skin; I’ve grown very fond of it.

~~~~~

Cordelia only cares about herself! I say that I’ve been given fish drugs three times and she’s concerned about her social standing. I’ve about had enough of this. I do all of this to get her to see that I’m man enough for her and she refuses to recognize any of these efforts. Why are we even dating if she thinks so little of me?

~~~

Ugh, turning into a fish is sickening. What if I end up scratching all my skin off and turning into a fish sooner? I need to go and make sure I don’t have scales; I’ll just run into the bathroom to check.

~~~~

I can’t believe Cordelia is still willing to date even when she thinks I’ve turned into a fish. And she thinks I look hot in my speedo! I guess this whole venture was successful (well, except for the fact that in a matter of hours I could become very tasty dipped in tartar sauce.) I guess Cordelia really does like me, though. Everyone else teases me for being with her but I really think this is right. They just don’t get to see this side of Cordy.

And now that all of this mayhem is over, I will be starting my treatments with Fishes Anonymous and will be good as new soon. And then I won’t ever join any sort of team again. After hearing everything Cordelia said, I feel confident that the relationship will last without the need for me to pursue more manly activities. Plus, with more free time I’ll be able to spend more time with Cordy inside broom closets if you know what I'm saying...

Until next time,
Xander

Favorite Line: Xander: I'm under cover Buffy: Not under much

-Sarah

Kali’s Notes:

- So...did they forget to write an episode and have to put one together in like 5 minutes? Or did they make it suck in order for the finale to be good? Or did they just use up all their awesome on the last few episodes? It's a decent lesson on not using steroids, but this feels so... season 1. The lesson is very obvious, the puns/jokes are more than lame, and this episode just doesn't fit in the sequence. You have all this Angel/Buffy drama then this episode is just thrown in there.

- Ok, I have to say it: OMG PLEASE STOP, WILLOW WOULD NOT BE TEACHING THE EFFING CLASS. Doesn’t she have classes of her own she needs to attend? Does she only teach during the period she already had class, but then who teaches the other periods? And they live in Southern California, are you trying to tell me that there are no computer teachers in Southern freaking California? Then she complains about Gage not talking her seriously, well I wouldn’t take you seriously either! You're a student, not a teacher. Ok, I think I’m done.

- Since we are on the subject of Willow, although it’s mostly done as a joke, we start to see how power-hungry she can get. From teaching the class to interrogating Jonathon, she starts to throw her weight around. It’s an early indicator for what will happen in a few seasons.

- At least we get some guest stars that go on to have good careers and are nice to look at like hot Prison Break guy and Shane West.

- I’ve dated guys like Ken, that seem to like the sound of their voice a little too much. Even though Buffy is dressed perfectly fine to me, he blames her for leading him on. Jerk. I’m glad Buffy smashed your face. I think I might start doing the same.

- Lastly, I reacted the same way as Willow and Buffy seeing Xander in a Speedo.

Season 2, Episode 19

"I Only Have Eyes For You"

Sometimes when you are angry with someone you care about it’s not them that you are mad at, it’s yourself. We see that from Buffy throughout this episode. I’ve had my share of unhealthy relationships and bad breakups to know where Buffy is coming from when a boy asks to the Sadie Hawkins Dance and she replies that she isn’t dating…ever again. After a relationship goes bad, you just want to throw in the towel and give up on love completely.

We are then introduced to the theme of the episode early only through a conversation between Willow and Buffy. Willow is telling her to try dating again and be a little impulsive. Buffy responds with, "Impulsive? Do you remember my ex-boyfriend, the vampire? I slept with him, he lost his soul, now my boyfriend's gone forever, and the demon that wears his face is killing my friends. The next impulsive decision I make will involve my choice of dentures." We see right there how Buffy blames herself for everything that has happened. “I slept with him…” then everything she lists she is stated as an effect to her having sex with Angel.

Because of the Sadie Hawkins Dance, ghosts possess a male and female to act out an encounter between them. Buffy catches it the first time and is able to stop anyone from getting hurt. Principal Snyder blames her for what happened, although she obviously had nothing to do with it. Giles witnesses the second ghost possession, but is unable to stop it before the female teacher falls off the balcony. It’s quite sad how Giles gets it in his head, and then clings to the idea that Ms. Calendar is haunting the school.

 I’m starting to not dislike Principal Snyder anymore. From his point of view, Buffy obviously is a delinquent (skipping class, always around when there is trouble, not a very good student), and he is aware that they are on the Hellmouth so he is just trying to maintain order. Although he obviously has a serious lack of training since everyone knows that YOU DON’T HAVE STUDENTS TEACHING CLASSES. Also, a little bit later the Mayor is mentioned to Principal Snyder, setting things up for next season.

Anyways, Willow is teaching the computer class. She must be so amazing at computers that she was able to repair the computer that Angelus smashed and burned since she states that she was able to look up Ms. Calendar’s lesson plans on it. Willow also mentions that she is starting to research magic. It’s usually in high school when girls become interested in magic, but don’t become full wiccans until college…

Things start getting crazier around the school. Teachers writing crazy things on the chalkboard, Buffy having day dreams, hands grabbing people… ok that sounds like normal high school stuff, but get this- Xander… he correctly defines something. I KNOW! I’m scared too. Giles says that this is all because of a poltergeist and is convinced it has something to do with Jenny. And don’t you dare disagree because Giles is invoking the “Nah nah nah, I am right and you are wrong” rule.

Willow discovers on her “laptop” that in 1955 a student James Stanley killed his teacher Grace Newman after she tried to break off their affair then killed himself. Then all hell breaks loose in the cafeteria, followed by one of the best moments of the series so far. Cordelia gets bitten in the face by a snake! That bares repeating. CORDELIA. SNAKE BITE. IN THE FACE.

Karma's a bitch and so are you.

We also see the mansion that Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla are moving into after Giles went all vengeancey and set their warehouse on fire. I’m 99% sure this is the same set that is used on Angel. Drusilla even mention jasmine growing in the back garden. Just saying. Drusilla has a vision about something that will weaken the Slayer, so Angelus goes to the school to… I don’t know… probably continue not trying to kill her.

With Willow’s research, they try to form a triangle in order to cast the spirits out. Each person is attacked respectively and after the spell finishes it doesn’t seem like it’s worked. The only thing it seems to accomplish is calling an infestation of wasps to surround the school.

Back at Buffy’s house she rants about “James” wanting forgiveness and not deserving it, but it’s clear to everyone that she is talking about herself.

Buffy: No. James destroyed the person he loved the most in a moment of blind
passion. And that's not something you forgive. No matter why he did
what he did. No matter if he knows now that it was wrong and stupid and
selfish. He's just going to have to live with it...

Because Buffy identifies so much with James, his spirit calls her to the school so she returns without telling anyone.

This time James’s spirit possesses Buffy and Grace’s spirit possesses Angel. They act this scene out extremely well. It cuts between Buffy/Angel and the real James/Grace. Joss stated that this is what made him think David Boreanez could have his own show. I honestly don’t think he was that great; I think it was Sarah Michelle Gellar that really carried this scene. When they get to the part where James/Buffy accidentally shoots Grace/Angel we see this scene play out, but Grace just so happens to be possessing someone that doesn’t die from gunshot wounds. Grace/Angel is able to meet James/Buffy in the music room where James went years ago to take his own life. The dialogue here is amazing because it applies to both couples.

Angel/Grace: Don't do this.

Buffy/James: Grace? But I - I killed you.

Angel/Grace: It's not your fault. It was an accident.

Buffy/James: It is my fault! How could I let this --

Angel/Grace: I'm the one who should be sorry, James. You thought I stopped loving you. But I never did. I loved you with my last breath.

The spirits leave their bodies and Buffy is left kissing Angelus. It’s sweet and sad when Buffy then asks “Angel?” causing Angelus to run off in disgust. Yet, Buffy realizes that Angel really did love her and that he would forgive her for contributing to him losing his would. After her talk with Giles, we see that she understands how one person can forgive another, but she still doesn’t really forgive herself.

Angel?

Now, this scene at the end, I just don’t get. Angelus and Dru go off hunting leaving Spike the cripple behind. First of all, don’t vampires heal way faster than humans so shouldn’t the others be suspicious that he’s healed by now? Most importantly, why is he faking at all? I might have forgotten the answer if it’s in the next few episodes (I really hope it is) because this just doesn’t make sense to me. I would think that he would want to prove to Angelus that we was able to take care of Dru and kick his ass as soon as he was able to. I guess we will see!

Grab your diapers, shit is about to get real.

-Kali!

Sarah's Notes

-Buffy wasn’t impulsive with Angel, but she feels she was since it went so horribly

-“You stink of lies” –Principal Snyder

-“I bet you’ll think coding pretty cool, I mean if you find two digit multi stacked conversions and number clusters a big hoot” –Willow (Favorite Line)

-“Despite the Xander speak, that’s a fairly accurate description of a poltergeist” –Giles (SO THIS WHERE PEEVES WENT WHEN  HE WAS KICKED OUT OF THE MOVIES!)

-Does Giles ever go home? Or for that mater does anyone ever leave this school? By the amount of darkness it seems like the janitor/teacher fight happens around 9pm

-Giles thinks it’s Ms. Calendar and won't listen to reason about how it can't be; poor guy.

-“Okay so we can flip the ghost over when it turns all nice and brown” –Xander

-“I shall totally confront and expel all evil” – Cordelia

-"Try to have fun without me" -Angel. That line is perfect for  Angel/Spike shippers!

Episode 18: Killed by Death

Season Two, Episode Eighteen

"Killed By Death"

At the beginning of this episode, we’re faced with an issue I never imaged the Slayer facing: Buffy is sick, like, medically sick. This is why I love Joss. In most cases, when someone is a superhero, normal stuff like this is completely ignored. Joss goes for the normal and mundane happening to his superhero in order to show how she reacts and it's results are epic.

“World’s spinning a little bit but I like it, it’s kind of like a ride”-Buffy.

We meet Buffy in the graveyard, per the usual, out on patrol. However, the rest of the gang joins her and questions why she's out there. They say how one night in wouldn't kill her and she responds by saying “No, but it might kill somebody else.” She's feeling a lot of guilt over many things outside of her control right now, especially. She didn’t ask to be a Slayer, she didn’t ask to be sick, and she never could have known sleeping with Angel would have had such catastrophic consequences. This is the start of one of Buffy's main traits which is playing the martyr. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since she is the Slayer and this trait sort of comes with the territory it would seem; but it can get kind of sad.

And during all my rambling Buffy passes out after her friends save her from her "ex-hunny." And funny lines occur in the hospital:

-“She’s sick, make it better” –Xander

-“Yes, we’ll get those vampires; it’s best to play along” – Giles

Random tangent: What thing is Cordelia talking about on Buffy’s face? If anyone knows the answer to this, let me know, because I am confused. [/tangent]

Buffy wakes up and sees creeper child followed by the creepy big bad of today's episode. She doses off once more, and when she wakes up begins to take out her IV. I actually did that before. Not with an IV, but I had something in during an MRI scan to give me drugs to put me to sleep since I’d be in the machine for close to an hour. I ended up waking up and being loopy and slightly freaking out and I started pulling at the needle because I saw blood and, yeah, luckily I got too tired to continue or the outcomes wouldn’t have been very pretty. [/second tangent]

Buffy played as a superhero. How adorable.

Buffy couldn’t save her cousin from death

“yeah, stick them in water, maybe they’ll grow”

Next comes the gang entering with gifts that are so perfect for each of their characters: Xander brought “flowers,” Willow finished her homework, Cordelia brought nothing, and Giles brought grapes. Lol

Not flowers

Next is my favorite part! Buffy tells the others about the creepy big bad and Cordelia says “so this isn’t about being afraid of hospitals and conjuring up a real monster that you could fight?” Giles may be right about her not having tact, but you can't say she isn't smart. I mean, that's exactly what it seems like Buffy is doing! Obviously, it isn't, since we're on the Hellmouth and stuff like this happens very often, but this makes complete sense.  Giles even agrees later saying “death and disease are possibly the only think Buffy can’t fight”; it would be only natural for Buffy to create something in which she can fight. Cordelia’s all up in the know for this episode and calling everyone out, it’s sort of awesome in a funny/kinda mean way. Buffy’s insecurity and Xander being in love with Buffy; and her flirting with that security guy to help Xander get out is hysterical.

Tons of funny stuff happens next:

-Cordelia is irritating Giles “it asks endless questions of those it’s supposed to be working with so nothing gets done”

-Buffy almost drinking it pure xD

-“No more frogs”- Willow LOL

But the main point is still pretty clear. We see a flashback of Buffy "saving" her cousin while pretending to be a superhero. Cut now to her cousin dying while she watches helplessly. Now Buffy is an actual superhero and is able to easily kill this guy. She just sort of stares at him afterwards and you can tell she's thinking about how simple that was and how much she is able to protect herself and her friends now. The monster doesn't have to be insanely hard to kill because the purpose of him in this episode was to teach Buffy an important lesson: she isn't helpless anymore and she has what it takes to get the job done, no matter what the job is.

This just needs to be included because it's awesome

Favorite Line:  Willow: I'm good at medical stuff, since Xander and I used to play doctor all the time. Xander: No, she's being literal. She used to have all these medical volumes, and diagnosed me with stuff. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was playing it wrong. Willow: Wrong? Why? How did you play doctor? Buffy: I... never have. LOL

-Sarah

Kali’s Notes:

Just a few things I wanted to point out that I thought during the episode:

- Isn't the Slayer supposed to be all super-strength, so why is a flu virus kicking her ass?

- Cordelia is there, why isn't Oz? I WANT MORE OZ.

- My response to Cordelia when she is talking about fixing “that thing” that is wrong with Buffy’s face. Why don't we fix that thing that's wrong with your mouth? You know that thing where sound comes out of it.

- Why is Freddy Krueger here?

-"Tact is just not saying true stuff." While I dislike Cordelia, she has a point here. She's not necessarily out to be rude; she just doesn't have that filter that tells her not to say things that she shouldn't. She just says whatever she thinks. We see more of this in Earshot.

- Hospitals don't let you wear pajamas; they make you wear ugly gowns.

- I love Giles constant annoyance with Cordelia.

- Why is there a door with basement access in the middle of the children’s ward?

- Lol, Willow and her "Frogs!"

- During this episode, I was right there with Giles when he thought that Buffy was just hallucinating because she wanted something that she was able to fight and beat. After last episode, she has a lot of guilt over not being able to save people. Losing Ms. Calendar triggered a childhood memory of her cousin dying in a hospital and Buffy standing helpless at her side. Her guilt carries over into the next episode.

- Favorite Line, Xander: She's sick! Make it better!