*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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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
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.
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!
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