"Surprise" & "Innocence"

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Episode 13 & 14 of Season 2

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"I'll just let it burn."

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Original US airdate: January 19th & January 20th, 1998

Rewatched: July 11th, 2021

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• Writer ("Surprise"): Marti Noxon

• Writer ("Innocence"): Joss Whedon     

• Director ("Surprise"): Michael Lange  

• Director ("Innocence"): Joss Whedon

• Guests ("Surprise"): Seth Green, Kristine Sutherland, Robia LaMorte, Brian Thompson, Eric Saiet, Vincent Shiavelli, James Marsters, Juliet Landau

• Guests ("Innocence"): Seth Green, Kristine Sutherland, Robia LaMorte, Brian Thompson, Ryan Francis, Vincent Schiavelli, James Marsters, Juliet Landau

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These two episodes originally aired one day apart as Buffy moved from Monday nights to Tuesday nights. The basic synopsis is that Buffy celebrates her 17th birthday and when she sleeps with Angel, he loses his soul. "Surprise" starts with the two very much in love and ends with Angel needing to leave the country to hide an arm that belongs to the Judge, a demon that cannot be killed by weapons forged by man and who can burn anyone with humanity. While saying goodbye, Angel gives Buffy a claddagh ring as a sign of his love. Later, after a run-in with the Judge, they will seek refuge in Angel's apartment and have sex for the first time. Buffy awakes, in "Innocence", to find Angel gone. Later, when she finds him again, he blows her off. Even later, when he tries to kill her friends at the school, Buffy realizes Angel is no longer himself and he has lost his soul. As Jenny later confirms, his one moment of true happiness has lifted the curse. 

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Some of the Slayer's powers which have not been present since the beginning of season 1 are present here again. "Surprise" starts with a dream sequence, and a later on in "Innocence" there is another. These scenes help cement the power of prophetic dreams for the Slayer. This will be important in season 3 and 4 as well. 

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Additionally, we learn that Jenny is really Jana, a gypsy from the tribe who cursed Angel. This revelation leaves Buffy and Giles feeling betrayed, and with little wonder. Jenny was let into to Buffy's deepest secret, and Jenny felt betrayed when Giles's young adult antics came home to roost. Hiding her role in Angel's curse does seem like betrayal. 

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Oz asks Willow out and learns about Buffy. He joins the Scoobies and starts his relationship with Willow. His exchange with her in "Innocence", about not wanting to kiss her until she really wants to kiss him, is more proof that Oz is a good guy and this relationship is, at least so far, healthy. Willow also finds out about Cordelia and Xander, which she does not take well. 

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Both Drusilla and Spike survived the fire in the church, although Spike is in a wheelchair. Spike not being at full capacity will influence the triangle with Drusilla and Angel that continues with Angel's return to the dark side. It is also important to note that the Judge comments on the humanity of Drusilla and Spike. Spike's humanity, despite his lack of a soul, will continue to play a role and is perhaps the main driving force behind his journey to gain his soul, which he embarks on between season 6 & 7.

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Xander's latent army knowledge (from the Halloween episode) comes in handy in finding a weapon (a rocket launcher) not forged by man that can do in the Judge. 

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So, to bring this to an end, what is the main theme of these two episodes? Love and relationships. All the Scooby relationships go through some change here- Xander and Cordelia go public, Oz and Willow have a first date, Jenny and Giles face another challenge, Angel and Buffy go through love and hate, and Spike and Drusilla face the return of Angel. Even non-romantic relationships are highlighted. Willow is able to intuit that Buffy and Angel had sex, showing her strong connection to Buffy, and Buffy turns to her mother and Giles in her time of need, which underlines how important both her mother and her father figure continue to be in her life. Love is powerful, but not easy. 

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"Phases"

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Episode 15 of Season 2

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"This is what happens when a woman tries to do a man's job."

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Original US airdate: January 27th, 1998

Rewatched: July 16th, 2021

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• Writer: Rob des Hotel & Dean Batali         

• Director: Bruce Seth Green           

• Guests: Seth Green, Camila Griggs, Jack Conley

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This episode has three main themes: werewolves, relationships, and misogyny. Let's start with the werewolves. The Scoobies find out there is a werewolf in Sunnydale and set out to catch it. As werewolves are human most of the time and may not know or be able to control their activities as a werewolf, Giles deems this the best plan. It is only later in the episode that Oz finds out he is the werewolf, which he tries to keep hidden. However, instead of being able to chain himself up alone in his own home, Willow comes to find him and witnesses his change. He chases after her as she runs to Buffy. Buffy, Giles and Willow try to trap Oz, and Willow is able to shoot him with the tranquilizer gun. The werewolf embodies animal instinct without conscience and it is often used, as it is on Buffy as a metaphor for puberty. Oz tell Willow he's "going through some changes", to which Willow replies "well, welcome to the world. Things happen. Don't you think I'm going through a lot?" Like so many things on Buffy, Oz is going through an exaggerated puberty, which perhaps even non-werewolf viewers can identify with. 

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The second theme is related to the first. Oz's werewolf nature has drawn a werewolf hunter named Cain to Sunnydale. He doesn't understand why Buffy and Giles want to save the werewolf, as he hunts them for profit, selling their skins and saving a tooth from each as a trophy. He has killed 11 already. He makes several comments undermining Buffy, including the quote at the top of the page and also "No wonder this town is overrun with monsters, no one here's man enough to kill them." He also originally assumes, after running into Giles and Buffy at lover's lane, that the two are an item, and doesn't respect Giles's role as a support for Buffy. This series will repeatedly show how Buffy is underestimated because she is just a girl, and this episode, while a bit obvious in its statement, is one part of this. Buffy ends up sending Cain on his way after bending his rifle into a "U" shape. Buffy is, indeed, person enough to fight the forces of evil and keep Sunnydale safe.

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The third theme is relationships. Xander and Cordelia are openly dating and seem to be getting along, if it weren't for Xander's jealousy of Willow and Oz and his continued feelings for Buffy, brought again to the surface when he hugs her in this episode. Xander is not yet ready to fully commit to Cordelia, it seems. Willow and Oz seem a bit rocky in this episode. It starts with them rehashing a nice date, but then Oz's werewolf secret causes him to pull away. Once the secret is out, Willow and Oz decide to try dating, despite Oz's 3-day-a-month incapacitation. This commitment to each other leads to their first kiss. Finally, Buffy is feeling the fallout from Angel's turn to the dark side. Angel is, for all practical purposes, now her ex, and Buffy is a bit bummed. It is, of course, further complicated by Angel being evil again. Although he does not directly go after her, Joyce or the Scoobies in this episode, he does send Buffy a message by turning her classmate Theresa into a vampire. Buffy must face the loss of someone she knew (at least a bit) at the hands of the man she once loved and was not able to kill in the previous episode. Although it is Xander, not Buffy, who dusts Theresa, Buffy is still shook up by the experience. Willow and Oz continue to be an example of a positive relationship, Xander and Cordelia of a more common teen relationship (I'll date you 'cause you're there), Buffy and Angel, at least at this moment, are more of a dumpster fire. Love comes in many forms. 

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As a footnote, Buffy often contends with the guilt of the deaths of those she couldn't save. Although it is indeed her decisions that sometimes directly lead to death (Buffy's inability to kill Angel in the last episode, for example), as Xander tells Buffy, "You can't blame yourself for every death that happens in Sunnydale. If it weren't for you, people would be lined up five deep waiting to get themselves buried." And this is a valid point. Buffy does her best to fight the forces of evil and the world would be a worse place without her, she is not responsible to all deaths.

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The three themes in this episode are intertwined much in the way life is. Finding out a new truth about yourself in the midst of all the struggles you and your friends are going through is something that resonates. 

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Finally, a few notes on continuity. Here, Cain talks of selling werewolf skins but in a later episode of Angel, where a werewolf is going to be eaten as a delicacy, it must be eaten alive or it will revert to human form. In terms of positive continuity, Oz notices that the eyes of the cheerleading statue at school follow you, a reference to season 1, episode 3, where Amy's mother is imprisoned in the statue. Xander slips up and says he remembers being a hyena, after he lied and told Willow and Buffy he didn't remember the events in season 1, episode 6. Finally, we learn that Larry is gay. He bullied Xander in season 2, episode 6 and is the stereotypical football playing, mean-to-women, too-many-sexual-references bully. He comes out to Xander in this episode when Xander wants to find out if Larry is the werewolf. While they talk, Xander, referencing his hyena days, says he understands all those urges, which Larry mistakes for Xander saying Xander is gay. This prompts Larry to come out for the first time. 

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"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"

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Episode 16 of Season 2

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"I want the Hellmouth to be working for me."

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Original US airdate: February 10th, 1998

Rewatched: July 24th, 2021

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• Writer: Marti Noxon     

• Director: James A. Contner            

• Guests: Seth Green, Kristine Sutherland, Robia LaMorte, Elizabeth Anne Allen, Mercedes McNab, Lorna Scott, James Marsters, Juliet Landau

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Another episode with relationships as the central theme and a very Buffy Valentine's episode. We see more of the Spike-Angel-Dru love triangle, Jenny and Giles are still on the outs, with Jenny making overtures that Giles does not seem ready for, Buffy is still recovering from her "break up" with Angel, and Willow still is very excited about Oz. So, things are very much, at least on these fronts, as they have been. Central to this episode are Cordy and Xander. Cordy's popularity is suffering from her relationship with Xander, so although she continues to be attracted to him, especially to his great V-day outfit and thoughtful present, she breaks up with him. 

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Amy, who we last saw in season 1, is now a witch, and Xander recruits her to cast a love spell on Cordelia. Xander's intent is to make Cordy fall in love with him and then dump her and make her feel the same pain he now feels. The spell backfires, and instead of Cordy falling in love with Xander, every woman in Sunnydale except Cordy does. Intense rivalry between the women ensues, with Amy turning Buffy into a rat (foreshadowing of Amy's later fate), and Xander and Cordelia being chased and finally finding refuge in Buffy's basement (where they shared their first kiss). It is also noteworthy that Dru saves Xander from Angel (Angel was hoping to kill Xander as a present to Buffy). In the end, Giles and Amy lift the spell and everything returns to normal. Then, Cordelia makes the decision that her feelings are more important than her popularity, a sign of her slow growth away from the superficial since learning the truth about Sunnydale in season 1. Cordelia declares to her friends that she doesn't care what they think and is much cooler than they are, so she'll date whoever she wants to date. 

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Throughout the series, Cordelia functions as a Doppelgänger for Buffy. In season 1, she very much plays the role of what Buffy would have been had she not been the Slayer, but as the series progresses, we see Cordelia embark on a similar path as Buffy (this path continues on Angel). This episode marks a turning point for Cordelia. She is, in a sense, committing herself not just to Xander, but also to the Scoobies, thus accepting a role in fighting evil. More broadly, her choice to date Xander and to find meaning outside of her popularity are important messages for girls to see. Girls encountered Buffy once she already was the Slayer. Girls experience Cordelia choosing the path of power and duty. This makes Cordy a powerful role model in addition to Buffy.

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In the fun fact category, this is the first episode in which we see Xander's bedroom. 

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"Passion"

 

Episode 17 of Season 2

 

"Passion, it lies in all of us ... and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws and howl."

 

Original US airdate: February 24th, 1998

Rewatched: July 31st, 2021

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• Writer: Ty King

• Director: Michael E. Gershman    

• Guests: Kristine Sutherland, Robia LaMorte, Richard Assad, James Marsters, Juliet Landau

 

In terms of themes, this episode does not have a lot. It is, however, integral to this season's story arch. Although Angel lost his soul in episode 13/14 of this season, it has taken until now to show his true evil side. He stalks Buffy, leaving drawings of Buffy and her mother sleeping, kills Willow's fish, and kills Jenny (in part to hurt Buffy but also to stop Jenny from giving him his soul back). Also, as Jenny has been on the outs with the Scoobies, she hasn't kept them in the loop on her attempt to give Angel his soul back, meaning now that she's dead, it will take until the finale for the Scoobies to find the spell. 

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In this episode, Jenny and Giles reconcile, making her death (and Angel's presentation of her corpse) incredibly tragic, but this episode is also filled with love. Buffy's love of Giles helps her save him from his folly of trying to kill Angel, Joyce's love of Buffy is on display when Joyce learns Angel and Buffy slept together, and the Scoobies support each other through Angel's stalking and Jenny's death. 

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Apart from love and loss, the one theme that does jump out is that of stalking. Buffy is a product of the 90s and of teen romance. Many examples of teen drama from the 80s, 90s and even beyond are a bit abysmal at supporting healthy relationships, but Buffy does tend to fare a bit better (here's looking at Oz and Willow as another healthy Buffy example). Angel doesn't stalk until he loses his soul and his stalking (watching Buffy sleep, leaving her pictures he drew on her pillow) is clearly marked as not okay. There are some undertones of accepting bad behavior as not that bad in Buffy's conversation with her mother over dinner, however the context mitigates this to some extent. Buffy is not able to tell Joyce Angel is a vampire and it is Buffy's desire that Joyce not confront Angel, but rather stay inside, not invite him in and wait for Buffy to save the day. In the end (here's looking at you Twilight) Buffy is able to say to some degree that non-consensual actions (like watching you sleep) are not okay. 

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In fun facts, this episode is the first to reference Willow and Xander's tradition of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas and Xander's snoopy dance, Willow begins teaching Jenny's computer class, two students (Jonathan and another) come to the library to check out books (like for the first and only time), the magic shop is visited for the first time, and the factory where Spike and Drusilla have been living is set on fire by Giles. 

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Finally, there is some discrepancy to invites. How did Angel get into Giles's apartment? Although Giles mentions needing to do the spell to keep Angel out himself, it is not clear when Angel was invited into Giles's home. For Buffy and Willow, it is clear Angel can enter and their need to find a spell to keep him out as well. Also, when Jenny asks Angel how he got in the school and he mentions the motto (enter all who seek knowledge), this is again misleading, as public buildings never need an invitation. 

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