"Killed by Death"

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Episode 18 of Season 2

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"Death and disease are things... Buffy cannot fight. It's only natural for her to try to create a defeatable opponent."

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Original US airdate: March 3rd, 1998

Rewatched: August 28th, 2021

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• Writer: Rob des Hotel & Dean Batali         

• Director: Deran Sarafian

• Guests: Kristine Sutherland, Richard Herd, Willie Garson, Andrew Ducote, Juanita Jennings

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This is a fairly typical monster-of-the-week episode, although it is the first to touch on Buffy's childhood. Flashbacks to Buffy at age 8 (with light brown hair, perhaps a nod to Sarah Michelle Gellar's natural brown, or an indication that Buffy bleaches her hair a lighter blond, supported also by the first portrayal of Buffy by Kristy Swanson with blonder hair than Swanson naturally has) show her witnessing the death of her cousin Celia in the hospital, a death she couldn't stop. This has left Buffy afraid of hospitals and when the flu puts her in the hospital in this episode, she is distressed. However, Buffy discovers that der Kindestod killed Celia and is in Sunnydale killing sick kids now. 

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There are three additional themes that are interesting to look at. First, the Scoobies, and Xander specifically, are growing into their roles as Slayerettes. The Scoobies patrol without Buffy at the beginning of the episode as they know she is sick and when Angel attacks, and nearly takes out Buffy, they are able to repel him. Xander then stands guard at the hospital, a public building Angel is free to enter, and faces off with him there, convincing him to leave. Drawn into the group through friendship and/or fate (the death of Jessie or, in Cordelia's case, attacks against her), the Scoobies are beginning to embrace fighting evil even in the absence of a Slayer. 

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Secondly, this episode highlights Xander and Cordelia's relationship again. Xander is jealous when Cordelia flirts with a security guard so Xander can steal hospital records. Cordelia responds to Xander's jealousy by stating she is very aware of how Xander feels about Buffy. Cordelia is also not happy when Xander chooses to guard the hospital, but joins him later with doughnuts and a magazine. This seems to underline again how realistic Xander and Cordelia are in their relationship. They seem to accept that it is not true love, but it is what they want now. As someone who managed to date at least one guy in high school who was probably more into my sister than me, it seems to be a more realistic portrayal of high school romance than many other young adult stories. Xander and Cordelia are a relationship for the here and now, not eternity. 

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Finally, Buffy is again doubted. Somewhat delirious with fever when she sees der Kindestod, no one really believes that there might be a monster in the hospital. In fact, the Scoobies and Giles think it might be a doctor experimenting on kids. Just one more example of Buffy needing to fight to be taken seriously, something many women and girls can identify with and will repeat many times throughout the series.

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"I Only Have Eyes for You"

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Episode 19 of Season 2

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"'Something weird is going on.' Isn't that our school motto?"

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Original US airdate: April 28th, 1998

Rewatched: September 4th, 2021

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• Writer: Marti Noxon     

• Director: James Whitmore Jr.       

• Guests: Meredith Salenger, Christopher Gorham, John Hawkes, Miriam Flynn, Brian Reddy, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Armin Shimerman

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As the Sadie Hawkins dance nears, the ghost of a student, James, who in 1955 shot his teacher, Grace, who he was in a relationship with, comes to haunt the school. This forces Giles and Buffy to face their issues. Although the episode is a metaphor for Buffy and Angel's relationship fallout, it does take a quick look at Giles' feelings after Jenny's death. When a ghost is first identified as the cause of trouble at school, Giles is sure it is Jenny. After all, she died violently (and recently) at the school. This prompts Giles to ignore the Scoobies' take on the situation and to work alone to try to contact Jenny. While Giles has been holding it together rather well, this is a reminder that Angel has not left the Scoobies unscathed and Giles is working through his grief and his guilt.  

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The main theme, however, is Buffy's guilt over Angel. James is thus Buffy's Doppelganger. James loved someone he shouldn't (and she loved him back) and when she wanted to end it, he wasn't ready. He was so angry, he shot Grace and then himself. Of course, James and Grace were human, and Buffy's case is a little different. Angel lost his soul and then decided to try to kill her friends, and Buffy knows she will ultimately have to kill him. Aside from those details, James and Buffy share their residual feelings of love towards their partners, their anger, their guilt. Once it is clear what is happening at the school and that a simple spell will not help, the Scoobies and Giles re-group at Buffy's house and discuss what needs to be done and Buffy says James needs forgiveness. The following dialogue between Buffy and Giles underlines how similar Buffy and James are emotionally:

Giles: "To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy, it's not done because people deserve it, it's done because they need it."

Buffy: "No, James destroyed the one 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 and no matter if he knows now that it was wrong and selfish and stupid. It's just something he is going to have to live with."

Replace "James" with Buffy and she/her pronouns and it describes what happened between her and Angel. 

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This connection causes James to possess Buffy and Grace to possess Angel (who conveniently ends up at the school due to a vision Drusilla has). While playing out the events of 1955, Buffy/James shoots Angel/Grace, but as Angel cannot die from a gunshot, Grace is able to forgive James for what happened and both ghosts find closure. Buffy may even begin to forgive herself a bit.

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A final interesting note- Grace's assertion that she just wants James to have a normal life is very similar to how Angel will break up with Buffy (and leave Sunnydale) at the end of season 3, indicating further the parallels between Grace/Angel and James/Buffy. 

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One final theme to look at is the larger theme of love. While Buffy does underline the importance of love again and again, the series is also able to define the boundaries to love. This episode underscores the dangers to obsessive love and does not present this kind of love in a healthy light (I'm still looking at you, Twilight...)

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In other notes- this is also the first time the mansion is seen. This will be Angel, Spike and Drusilla's house for the rest of this season and Angel will live there alone until he leaves Sunnydale. The mansion does raise the question of why there is a big, abandoned mansion in Sunnydale, though. 

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Willow mentions her interest in magic for the first time. 

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Spike is healing and is now able to stand, something he keeps a secret. 

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Snyder is found to know about the hell mouth and the Mayor is referenced (Snyder is clearly afraid). Season 3 is being foreshadowed again. 

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"Go Fish"

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Episode 20 of Season 2

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"It's about time our school excelled at something."

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Original US airdate: May 5th, 1998

Rewatched: September 11th, 2021

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• Writer: David Fury & Elin Hampton           

• Director: David Semel      

• Guests: Charles Cyphers, Jeremy Garrett, Wentworth Miller, Conchata Ferrell, Armin Shimerman

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Another monster-of-the-week episode, with the dangers of drugs (steroids) as its main theme, "Go Fish" seems to be a very typical teen series episode. When the swim team begins to disappear, the Scoobies find out that the coach's use of steroids mixed with fish DNA is making them turn into gill monsters. Willow interrogates Jonathan, Buffy protects the swim team and Xander goes undercover by trying out and making the swim team. In the end, the three gill monsters kill the school nurse and their coach before returning to the ocean. While the theme about the dangers of drugs is, generally speaking, a good one, as it is not very unique to Buffy, other themes deserve more attention. 

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Closely related to the dangers of drugs is the overall critique of the desire to win found in many schools, the way winning teams are hyped and given privileges, and the inherent unfairness of this. The swim team gets a beach party, access to the cafeteria after hours, Willow is pressured into giving passing grades to the team (she is still teaching Jenny Calendar's classes) and one team member tries to sexually assault Buffy and she is blamed (more on this later). In conjunction with the fish steroids, this paints a picture of the pressure to win at all costs in order to achieve this level of privilege and Buffy is clearly critical of both this pressure to be the best and of the privileges that are granted to sports teams in high schools. In some ways, this is similar to "The Witch" in season 1, but there it was parental pressure, and here the pressure and privilege are found at school. 

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Buffy's assault, which she easily evades by twisting her attacker's wrist and slamming his head into his steering wheel, is an example of victim blaming. Both her attacker and his coach comment on Buffy's clothes as somehow leading him on/being a reason to get the wrong idea. In the age of #MeToo, these concepts have been discussed and clearly found wanting. In no way can dressing a certain way or saying "no" at any point be considered wrong (although in practice, this is still not the case). It is nice to see an example in the media. Although Buffy does mention that her lack of injuries hurt her case (when we know it shouldn't have), the show clearly condemns the concept of leading people on and of dress being the reason sexual assault happens. It's a good example to the viewers that saying no is possible and it's BS if they're told they can't. 

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Finally, in interesting points, although Sunnydale seems to be coastal, few episodes have anything to do with beaches, however, this is one of them. In Jonathan's interrogation, Willow accuses him of using the black arts, foreshadowing season 6. We also see Jonathan being bullied in this episode, foreshadowing "Earshot" in season 3. And, last but not least, Xander is seen in a Speedo.

 

 

"Becoming, Part One"

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Episode 21 of Season 2

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"Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are."

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Original US airdate: May 12th, 1998

Rewatched: September 17th, 2021

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• Writer: Joss Whedon    

• Director: Joss Whedon    

• Guests: Max Perlich, Seth Green, Kristine Sutherland, Julia Benz, Bianca Lawson, Jack McGee, Richard Riehle, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Armin Shimerman

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This episode and the next are rather action packed. In "Becoming, Part One", Buffy has finally come to terms with killing Angel and is ready to go on the offense but this is complicated when Willow finds Jenny's spell to restore Angel's soul (see episode 17 of this season) and Angel decides to unleash the demon Acathla, who will suck earth into hell. Finally, Buffy goes to what she assumes is her final showdown with Angel only to find it's a trap. Willow and Xander are injured, Giles kidnapped and Kendra killed when Drusilla and her minions attack. Only Cordelia is able to escape. But this episode is about more just the action. It's about how we become who we are.

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As the demon Whistler says in a voice-over at the beginning, "there's moments in your life that make you, that set the course of who you're going to be. Something they're little, subtle moments, sometimes they're not." Much of this episode focuses on how Angel became who he was. He was sired in Galway, Ireland in 1753 by Darla (seen here for the first time since the season 1 episode "Angel"). Angel said he wanted Darla to show him her world, she told him to close his eyes (paralleled in the next episode with Buffy) and she sires him, thus truly showing him her world. In London in 1860, Angel encounters Drusilla, starting his long obsession with her where he tormented her, made her go insane and then sired her. Then, we're in the Romanian woods in 1898 where Angel is cursed. Finally, we see Angel in Manhattan in 1996, a homeless vampire barely surviving on rats. Later, in the series Angel, viewers will learn a more nuanced history of Angel between 1898 and 1996, where he briefly tried to live with Darla, Spike and Drusilla, then lived amongst humans, and only later (1970s) renounced living with humans. But in this episode, we get the short version. Whistler, a demon on the side of good, comes to Angel and tells him that he can become someone, "someone to be counted". This is the first hint that Angel's role in Buffy's life has deeper meaning (see season 3 "Amends" and the miracle snow, and the prophecy about the vampire with a soul in Angel). Whistler takes Angel to LA to see Buffy be called as a Slayer and see her struggle with her new role. Angel says he wants to help and he wants Whistler's help. Whistler warns that's it dangerous: "the more you live in this world, the more you see how apart from it you really are." But Angel decides to go, setting into motion the events on Buffy. Angel has become the vampire with a soul who fought for a better world, but who lost his soul and now wants to end the world. As he says while trying to (unsuccessfully) raise Acathla, "everything I am, everything I have done, has led me here." The question remains whether his journey will end here or not. 

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Buffy is also becoming in this episode. Or rather, she has been on this journey since she was called in LA and saw how her slaying put a strain on her parents' marriage and how her decisions have consequences (Angel losing his soul and Jenny dying). In this episode, she chooses to meet Angel and Kendra dies. Buffy is also faced with the difficult decision of whether to give Angel is soul back (Willow and Giles want her to try, Xander and Cordelia don't). While Buffy's journey is ever present, this episode and the next really highlight it. What will Buffy have to sacrifice to save the world, and will she be able to do what is needed of her? It should be noted that at the end of season 5, she will sacrifice herself, showing that she is willing to go far to save the world, and in season 5's "Fool for Love" Spike will explain that every Slayer has a death wish, which may mean that every Slayer reaches a point where she cannot accept the weight of her choices (and could also show motivation for Buffy to sacrifice herself at the end of that season). In the sense that Buffy is a Bildungsroman, Buffy's journey, while not showcased like Angel's through copious flashbacks, represents the quintessential aspect of growing up: our decisions are not easy and they impact those around us. Becoming an adult means making hard choices. 

 

Finally, Willow begins her journey to becoming a witch, attempting to cast her first spell. Giles does warn that this could open a door Willow can't close (foreshadowing season 6). This is Willow's first step towards power and abuse of power. 

 

These journeys show that this episode is about how we become who we are, which is a consequence of our choices as well as how we react to the events around us. It's about how we find out who we are. 

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A few continuity notes- Giles mentions he has been using an Orb of Thesulah as a paperweight, something mentioned by the proprietor of the magic shop in "Passion". Kendra's death in this episode will activate Faith. We meet Mr. Pointy, Kendra's stake, for the first time. 

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And one final note: Drusilla was first seen as a very weak, injured vampire and even once she regained her strength, she did little on screen to warrant her reputation as one of the big bad vampires. In fact, her insanity and her very feminine, long dresses seemed to contradict her dangerousness. In this episode, Drusilla fights Kendra, and while her fighting skills did not win the day, she was able to mesmerize or hypnotize Kendra (as the Master did Buffy in season 1) and kill her. This episode really shows how powerful Drusilla is.

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"Becoming, Part Two"

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Episode 22 of Season 2

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"It never stops."

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Original US airdate: May 19th, 1998

Rewatched: September 25th, 2021

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• Writer: Joss Whedon    

• Director: Joss Whedon    

• Guests: Max Perlich, Seth Green, Kristine Sutherland, Robia LaMorte, James G. MacDonald, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Armin Shimerman

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Another action-packed episode, and despite Buffy generally being focused on strength through community (i.e., on how the Scoobies help Buffy be a better slayer), this episode focuses on Buffy's (individual) strength as a Slayer. With Kendra dead, Willow and Xander in the hospital, Giles kidnapped, and Buffy suspected of foul play by the police, all seems lost. And at first, it doesn't get much better. Finally, Buffy finds an ally in Spike, who wants Drusilla back, and Buffy is able to save the day, but the cost is huge. Joyce finds out Buffy is the Slayer and in a heated moment kicks her out of the house. Willow's spell works, but too late. Angel has summoned Acathla and Buffy is ready to send Angel and Acathla to hell when Angel regains his soul. Buffy is forced to run Angel through with a sword and send him to hell to save the world. At the end of the episode, Buffy has packed a bag and is on the bus leaving Sunnydale. The Slayer is not alright. 

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Buffy gains a lot of her strength from her community. In fact, the season 3 episode "The Wish" indicates that without her family and friends, Buffy would not be as strong as she is. Spike's comments in "School Hard" (that he wasn't expecting a Slayer with family and friends) also supports this. But Buffy also needs to be strong herself. Her entire journey across seven seasons is about learning her strength as a Slayer and this episode is one stop on the journey. Whistler points out two aspects of this journey to Buffy. First, he asks her what she is prepared to give up and then he says "in the end you're always by yourself. You're all you've got, that's the point." This is mirrored later when Angel says to Buffy: "That's everything, huh? No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all that away and what's left?" Buffy, of course, answers "me" and then kicks Angel's ass. This episode underscores that slaying is not without costs. Buffy will again and again be asked to give everything, including her life, to save the world and she has to understand that she may lose everything. But Buffy also learns some of her strength in this episode. When all else fails, she can rely on herself and her strength to save the day. This journey will culminate in season 7, when Buffy goes against the First Evil and again must find the strength to fight it when she loses her community for a time. However, in season 7 she finally decides to change the face of slaying to make it no longer be one Slayer who bears the weight of the world. But we're only in season 2 and Buffy, while growing into her role as a Slayer, still has a long way to go to accepting and then changing Slayerhood. In this episode, she finds the strength to fight Angel and the strength to kill him even with his soul. But she doesn't have the strength to face her mother, her friends, Kendra's death, or slaying and Buffy chooses to leave Sunnydale. It will take her several months to find her way back.

Another theme of this episode is Buffy's relationship to her mother. Buffy finally tells Joyce she is the Slayer after Joyce witnesses Buffy slaying a vampire. Joyce, of course, is not 100% understanding (who would be?) and Buffy doesn't have time to fully explain to Joyce, since she needs to go and save the world. It should be noted that this episode is not actually the first time Buffy tells her parents she is the slayer. In "Normal Again" in season 6, we will learn that the first time, they had her committed to a mental institution for a few weeks. This time, Joyce believes her (so it's better than the last time in that respect, I guess), although one exchange does hint at the first time, with Joyce saying it's insane and Buffy responding that she is not crazy.  Perhaps seeing Buffy slay a vampire, or having seen so much supernatural activity in Sunnydale allows Joyce to believe this time. But, believing is not accepting. Joyce believes, but is not able to accept that this is who Buffy is and that Buffy needs to save the world, not call the police to clear her name. As Buffy tells her mother when her mother asks her if she ever tried not being a Slayer: "No, it doesn't stop. It never stops. Do you think I chose to be like this? Do you have any idea how lonely it is? How dangerous? I would love to be upstairs watching TV, or gossiping about boys or, God, even studying. But I have to save the world. Again." Buffy is trying to tell her mother who she is, but Joyce doesn't quite get why Buffy can't stop and fill in all the blanks. When Buffy leaves to save the world, Joyce tells her not to come back if she leaves. This is, of course, a teenager's worst nightmare. That parents may not accept who we truly are, and of course Buffy lives through this to the extreme, the hyperbole making it a relatable metaphor for many viewers. 

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Finally, there's Spike. This episode can be seen as the first step on his road to redemption. He turns on Angel and makes a pact with Buffy. True, his motivations are to get Drusilla back and that he likes the world (so doesn't want it sucked into hell), and when he's leaving the mansion with Drusilla (who he knocked out by cutting off her breath, which shouldn't have worked on a vampire... but that's something for another day), he thinks Angel will kill Buffy and leaves him to it. So, he is not a hero in this episode, really. However, his blithe claim that he wants to save the world will end up coming true by season 7. This episode starts Spike's journey away from evil.

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Some interesting notes at the end: Xander lies to Buffy about a message from Willow. Willow wanted Xander to tell Buffy she was trying the spell again. Xander tells Buffy Willow wants her to kick Angel's ass. The truth will not come out until season 7. Snyder leaves a message for the mayor after he expels Buffy, laying more groundwork for season 3. Willow's spell works, setting her on the path of witchcraft. Both Buffy and Darla tell Angel to close his eyes before "killing" him.