Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2x17) - Passion

[fajrdrako]

Love the way Angel's comments on 'passion' are used as a frame for the episode. "Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?" This is opposite of the mindless vampire, without feelings, who is simply driven by hunger for blood.

Nice to see that the consequences of having invited a vampire into one's home are addressed, and that there is a way to rescind the invitation.

1. Xander seems to have forgotten what a library is. I still don't recognize Jonathan on sight.
   
   
2. Great Giles line: "Yes, Xander, once more you've managed to boil a complex thought down to its simplest possible form." I like it when Giles appreciates Xander.
   
   
3. Why does Giles tell Buffy she can't tell Joyce that she's the Slayer? Or about Angel? Is this 'Watcher's handbook' stuff or does he not trust Joyce?
   
   
4. This made me laugh:

   Buffy: But I've gotta tell her something. I've gotta do something. Giles, Angel has an all-access pass to my house, and I'm not always there when my mother is. I can't protect her.
   Giles: I told you I will find a-a spell.
   Buffy: What about *until* you find a spell?
   Cordelia: Until then, you and your mother are welcome to ride around with me in my car.

   
   
5. Xander says, "How come Buffy doesn't get a snotty 'once again you boil it down to the simplest form' thing?" Which means that the line I took as appreciation from Giles, Xander took as sarcasm. I like his rejoinder: "Watcher's pet."
   
   
6. Goodline from Giles: "Since Angel lost his soul, he's regained his sense of whimsy." If that's what you call it.
   
   
7. Love this:

   Jenny: I know you feel betrayed.
   Giles: Yes. Well, that's one of the unpleasant side effects of betrayal.

   Her declaration of love seems to mollify him somewhat. And I must say, her feelings seem more sincere than they ever did before.
   
   
8. Joyce says to Buffy, "Come on. You can tell me anything. I've read all the parenting books. You cannot surprise me." You know, I think my mother said exactly those words to me once. And I think I gave her exactly the same "You have got to be kidding" look that Buffy gives Joyce.
   
   
9. So Angel goes after Willow's fish. Ugh.
   
   
10. I like the way Willow points out to Buffy that Angel is still obsessed with her. "You're still the only thing he thinks about."
    
    
11. Angel and Spike are being testy with each other. Drusilla is enjoying it.
    
    
12. A tiny place like Sunnydale has a Gypsy occult shop. That's very cool. And they have a Thesulan Orb in stock. Also cool. Sometimes I think Joss takes his names of stuff from Doctor Strange comics.
    
    
13. Jenny says, "I'm working on a computer program to translate the Rumanian liturgy to English based on a random sampling of the text." Does that make any sense at all? Not that I can figure. But hey, it's magic.
    
    
14. The exchange does lead to one of those brilliant lines that ends the scene and reminds me of some of Dorothy Dunnett's great scene-enders:

    Shopkeeper: By the way... Not that it's any of my business, really, but, uh, what are you planning on conjuring up? If you can decipher the text?
    Jenny: A present for a friend of mine.
    Shopkeeper: Really? What are you gonna give him?
    Jenny: His soul.

    I like this because I'd been thinking in terms of Jenny doing something for Buffy (whose life she helped to ruin) or Giles (whom she betrayed) but it's all the better in that she's planning to help Angel - who saved her life - and whom she calls a friend still, though everyone else has given him up for evil.
    
    
15. I love the way Willow gets into teaching with enthusiasm: "I have a class to teach in about five minutes, and I have to arrive early to glare disapprovingly at the stragglers. Oh, darn. She's here. Five hours of lesson planning yesterday down the drain..."
    
    
16. Buffy makes it clear she doesn't like or forgive Jenny, but her speech about Giles is very gallant: "He misses you. He doesn't say anything, I mean, but I know he does. And I don't want him to be lonely. I don't want anyone to."
    
    
17. It's interesting and scary that Angel does the drawing of Joyce. Even more so that he approaches her. And from Buffy's point of view, even scarier that he tells her that he and Buffy had sex - making it clear that he is and was a dangerous older man.
    
    
18. Jenny tells Giles that Buffy said he missed her and Giles calls Buffy "a meddlesome girl". But he doesn't seem terribly displeased.
    
    
19. Then Angel goes and terrorizes Jenny. Good scene. Then he kills her. Oooh. "I never get tired of doing that." Angel doesn't seem to feed much - he seems to like killing for its own sake. I may be wrong but it seems to me the only times we've seen him feed on someone is when he wants to create another vampire. (Assuming he can do this deliberately.)
    
    
20. I liked it that Giles offers to intevene with Joyce, but really has nothing he can say. It's up to Buffy. And the talk is as awkward as one might wish, but Joyce comes through with, "Buffy, you can shut me out of your life, I am pretty much used to that. But don't expect me to ever stop caring about you, because it's never gonna happen. I love you more than anything in the world. That would be your cue to, uh, roll your eyes and tell me I'm grossing you out." But Buffy isn't grossed, she needs all the support she can get, and she can't begin to tell Joyce how bad it is with Angel.
    
    
21. Good atmosphere to Giles' discovery of Jenny's body. (Sniff. I feel for him.)
    
    
22. So Giles goes after Angel with his 'good' weapons and we get this interesting diatribe from Xander:

    Xander: I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before you guys jumped on the bandwagon. So I think I deserve a little something for not saying 'I told you so' long before now. And if Giles wants to go after the, uh, (looks up at Buffy) fiend that murdered his girlfriend, I say, 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'
    Buffy: You're right.

    Except that I believe Buffy still loves Angel, and I don't think she'll be able to kill him even if she thinks she should.
    
    
23. Angel says, "Angelus: Don't worry, roller boy. I've got everything under control." And then Giles attacks. Sometimes I wish this show was "Giles the Vampire Slayer". The man has style. And Angel (who can't pretend he's in control) says, "Jeez, whatever happened to wooden stakes?"
    
    
24. So Buffy saves Giles. Love her lines: "Are you trying to get yourself killed?! You can't leave me. I can't do this alone." I love this: much as I enjoy the Buffy/Angel relationship, I lvoe her interaction with Giles.
    
    
25. Angel says, "Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Without passion, we'd be truly dead."
    
    
26. And Buffy says, " I can't hold on to the past anymore. Angel has gone. Nothing's ever gonna bring him back." I don't believe her.
    
    
    

Comments

[liliaeth]

Kendra's parents apparantly knew.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Kendra's parents apparantly knew.

Yes. Which again makes me wonder why Giles thinks Joyce shouldn't be told.

[liliaeth]

I'm pretty sure it's because he fears that unlike Kendra's parents, Joyce isn't very likely to hand over her teenage daughter into something that has a high chance of killing her before she even turns 18.

Most parents wouldn't.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Most parents wouldn't.

Well, no. Understandably. But it isn't as if Joyce has a vote. Buffy is a slayer whether she or Joyce likes it or not. So... I would guess Giles is just trying to keep peace in Buffy's household for as long as possible.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Because Buffy wasn't taken from the family. The other Slayers are taken young, the parents are told (sometimes "compensated"), etc. But Buffy wasn't even aware she was a slayer until high school (again, you're missing movie canon). Slayers have always been isolated up until Buffy - it's why in the pilot Giles is so frustrated by the fact that Xander and Willow must be brought into the equation. It's supposed to be Slayer and Watcher and that's it, to keep the Slayer entirely focused.

[spherissa.livejournal.com]

Any idea why Buffy wasn't taken when young? And you can email me spherissa at gmail dot com if you don't want to spoil fajrdrako


My step sister was obsessed with Buffy and made me watch far too many episodes of it too many times but I somehow managed to avoid big chunks of lore ;-) Mainly via the method of having nose buried in book...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Any idea why Buffy wasn't taken when young?

That's exactly the question in my head.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Focussed in the way Kendra talks about? Makes sense. Why did the whole situation go off the rails with Buffy?

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

I think there was something about the Council missing that Buffy was going to be a Slayer. I think they just didn't know about her at all and she didn't get a Watcher until after she had become the Slayer because that is when they found her.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That would make sense. Is it from the movie canon, or does it come up later?

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

*nod* My canon knowledge is fading over the years, but I seem to remember that too - not ALL Slayers are pre-identified, and they have to search some out.

OOH I remembered something. It's from the Buffy novels. I'm utterly paraphrasing and probably misremembering SOME of it.

I reamember the Watchers' Council would train girls, but they never knew which one would be activated. At times, the activated slayer wouldn't be one they'd trained.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I remembered something. It's from the Buffy novels.

Are they considered canon? Generally?

I reamember the Watchers' Council would train girls, but they never knew which one would be activated.

What does 'activated' mean in this context?

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

They're not official canon, but there's a lot in there that was gotten from staff writers

Activated is when one slayer dies, and another one rises - she's activated.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

there's a lot in there that was gotten from staff writers

Handy. I've been thinking of the Torchwood novels like that, but I think they're a little more contradictory.

she's activated.

But she already knows how to fight? Like Kendra, learning from early childhood?

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Not the mechanics of fighting, but *apparently* a lot of the fighting is instinctual, and is combined with the uber-powers that come into play when a slayer is activated.

A lot of this becomes clearer in season 7 :D

[ceruleancat.livejournal.com]

Yes. that's what i seem to remember too. I don't even remember if it was mentioned in the first ep's recap of her first watcher.

They're usually taken young and trained before they're called. Buffy became slayer and only then the council found her and the first watcher had to teach her on the job. Possibly why she remains different from the standard slayer thorugout.

[teaphile.livejournal.com]

To the Council, as we find out in pieces over the seasons, love and affection are weaknesses. That's some of what Giles is working from, but I think what influences him the most is that he knows that some part of Buffy will want to obey her mother if Joyce says, no, you can't do this, and Joyce isn't a person who backs down.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

he knows that some part of Buffy will want to obey her mother if Joyce says, no, you can't do this, and Joyce isn't a person who backs down.

But when Joyce does find out, the opposite happens. (Yes, I've watched to the end of season 2.) Buffy refuses to obey and Joyce kicks her out.

Which is, I suppose, back to stage 1. But I conclude that Giles thought it was best - best for Buffy - if she stayed with Joyce for as long as possible.

[gillo]

Yes, I've watched to the end of season 2.

Somehow, I always knew you would want to move through them faster than the original plan, though I wish you had a less painful reason to have the time to do it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I always knew you would want to move through them faster than the original plan, though I wish you had a less painful reason to have the time to do it.

To be really honest, I've watched as far as "Band Candy". Yes, it's unfortunate that I'm doing it because I can't do much else - I can watch other shows and read books and so on, but ... Buffy appeals. I'm considering watching right through to the end of season 3 then writing my comments. Because sitting up at the computer and writing comments is much harder than relaxing on the sofa and watching. But I didn't want to get this much out of synch. Bother.

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Heh - I had doubts it would last. Best laid plans, etc...

I think the pace will accelerate in other seasons - particularly 5 and 6, but parts of the others as well. Although Season 2 is pretty memorable.

So what did you think of Becoming I and II and Anne?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Best laid plans, etc...

Well, yes. It's just sitting there waiting for me. And I am curious.

Season 2 is pretty memorable.

I did love season 2.

So what did you think of Becoming I and II and Anne?

Patience, grasshopper.

[gillo]

To be really honest, I've watched as far as "Band Candy".

An episode I adore - Giles as Ripper is a scream, while teen Snyder is just hysterical.

but ...

Buffy

appeals

Not that your fans are saying "I told you so" or anything, but...

But I didn't want to get this much out of synch. Bother.

It's a nuisance, but I totally appreciate the drive to see more.

After S3 you really ought to alternate

Angel

episodes, or at least some key ones.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

An episode I adore - Giles as Ripper is a scream, while teen Snyder is just hysterical.

It was a treat.

I didn't realize I was so close to the beginning of Angel. Hmm.

[gillo]

Angel

and S4 of

Buffy

ran back to back, I believe.