Buffy: 2.14 ‘Innocence’

Joss talks about making this episode.

Writer: Joss Whedon
Director: Joss Whedon

What's the sitch?

One moment of pure happiness is all it took to destroy everything.

Angel has lost his soul and as a result has reverted to the evil vampire Angelus. Buffy awakens in Angel’s bed, no longer a virgin, to find her lover disappeared. She leaves for home. And upon arriving back home her mom asks her if she’s okay, saying Buffy looks somehow different. Buffy just shrugs it off and heads out again in search of Angel, to track him down and find out why he left her all alone. Newly evil Angelus, meanwhile, has sought out Spike and Dru who are both over the moon to see their old grandsire and sire (respectively) returned to the evil fold. And with great relish, Angelus reveals to them his plans for Buffy – he intends to make her suffer terribly for having made him feel human, before he eventually kills her.

What's the sitch beneath the sitch?

The theme of this episode is right there in the title. ‘Innocence’ the episode is all about the innocence of childhood and then the loss of that innocence when the line in to adulthood is crossed. But here that line isn’t just crossed, it is stomped all over in size fourteen boots. As such, fear, hurt and desperation hangs over this episode like a heavy shroud and pushes the show in to deeper, darker territory. Up until now the monsters and whatnot have been scary and deadly for sure, but with Angelus, the big bad evil is now personal, intimate and emotionally crippling for our heroine. Angelus doesn’t just want to kill Buffy. He wants to control her, torture her emotionally, belittle her and cause her endless pain. Buffy has lost her virginity; she has lost her innocence. The ramifications of which will push her in to places of torment she had never even dreamt existed. Buffy has already lost a great deal. Before this season is done she will lose virtually everything.

As for the big metaphor... Well, it’s kinda obvious with Angel/Angelus being the boyfriend from hell who after being nice and lovely and getting what he wants, turns in to a vile, abusive, controlling jerk. And it works supremely well.

Who's giving us the wiggins this week?

Angelus

Why it rocks

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where Buffy the Vampire Slayer went from being a great show to being something truly special.

Leave it to Joss to bring us the uber-pain and to turn the whole world upside down. Basically, Joss Whedon is an evil genius. ‘Innocence’ will make you laugh, gasp, it may even make you cry. The hurt that hangs over this episode is palpable. This is Joss’s personal favourite Buffy episode and it is right up there for me alongside the other classics. Because this is the point where things changed. Where a lot of people looked up and really took notice of this show. If you ever thought that Buffy was just some silly kids show not worthy of serious attention then watch ‘Innocence’ and think again. Yes, there is silliness here, but it is clever silliness and it’s vastly outweighed by the emotional drama, the tender themes, the powerful acting. And above all else it has a cute girl with a rocket launcher. What more could you ever need?

More reasons for greatness? Okay...

Angelus casually blowing out of his own mouth cigarette smoke taken from the throat of a girl he’s just killed. One of the single greatest moments in Buffy history and TV coolness.

The scene where Angelus coldly dismisses their lovemaking and calls Buffy a “pro” is ghastly but great. Watch Sarah and if your heart doesn’t ache for Buffy then you ain’t a very nice person. David Boreanaz plays the scene brilliantly with just the right level of mocking and cruel disdain.

Buffy, a rocket launcher on her shoulder, fires the weapon at the Judge, blowing him apart, destroying him.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is put through the emotional wringer and gives it her all. When she’s in so much pain you can’t help but feel it too.

David Boreanaz doing evil. He’s having way too much fun as the cruel and sadistic Angelus to be healthy. It’s a bit pantomime in places but remains a highly effective turn.

Buffy’s end fight with Angelus. She can’t bring herself to kill him so the fight ends with one almighty slayer boot to Angelus’s man bits.

The scene near the end in Giles’s car when he brings a heartbroken and guilt ridden Buffy back home is a thing of simple tender beauty. Joss's dialogue and the performances from Tony Head and SMG are exquisite.

The very end of the episode. It has Buffy curled up on the couch with her mom watching a sad black and white movie on TV, feeling traumatised and far older than her mere seventeen years.

Why it sucks

Nothing sucks about this.

Okay, so if I’m being really picky then the whole Xander stealing the rocket launcher thing is kinda ludicrous. But then he did have his retained soldier knowledge from Halloween. And disbelief must be suspended. After all, this IS a show with vampires and demons and other ooglie booglies.

And I’m still a tiny bit uncomfortable about the whole idea that teenage girls having sex always leads to really bad things happening. Even Joss has admitted that he’s a bit uncomfortable about that too, but said that it works well within the context of this particular story and also as more of a metaphor about being used and abused by older men.

It's Buftastic

Ooh, so many classic moments to choose from. But it has to be a toss up between Angelus blowing the dead girl’s cigarette smoke out of his mouth and Buffy with the rocket launcher. Okay, I'm gonna go with Buffy and her huge explodey weapon as you just can’t beat a cute girl with a rocket launcher. See Zoe Saldana in ‘The Losers’ if you don’t believe me.


Dialogue to die for

Buffy: "I—I don't understand. Was it me? Was I not good?"
Angel (laughing): "You were great. Really. I thought you were a pro." (OUCH!)

Cordelia: "This is great. There's an unkillable demon in town, Angel's joined his team, the Slayer is a basket case... I'd say we've hit bottom."
Xander: "I have a plan."
Cordelia: "Oh, no, here's a lower place."

Cordelia: "Well, does looking at guns make you wanna have sex?"
Xander: "I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex."

Xander: Whoa. Whoa! I... I think I'm having a thought. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a thought. Now I'm having a plan...Now I'm having a wiggins.

Joyce: "So what'd you do for your birthday? Did you have fun?"
Buffy: "I got older."

And another thing

The first time ‘Innocence’ aired it scored a 5.2 Nilesen rating, the highest ever viewing figure for Buffy in the US.

At the end, the movie Buffy and her mom are watching is Stowaway, a 1936 musical starring Shirley Temple, Alice Faye and Robert Young. The song "Goodnight, My Love" is being sung by Faye and Young.

Xander is older than Buffy.

In the flashback scenes of Buffy and Angel making love, the heavy breathing wasn't David and Sarah, but series creator Joss Whedon and supervising sound editor Cindy Rabideau. (Joss was far too embarrassed to ask his stars to record it.)

This is Joss Whedon’s favourite episode of Buffy. He says in the commentary that when he sees her with that rocket launcher he’s never loved her more.

How many stakes?

It’s an evil masterwork from Angelus and Joss. 5+ (out of 5)

Buffy: 2.13 ‘Surprise’

This SO is not gonna end well.

Writer: Marti Noxon
Director: Michael Lange

What's the sitch?

It’s Buffy’s birthday. And that never ends well. For a start she’s having disturbing prophetic dreams of Angel’s death. And while her friends are planning a surprise party at The Bronze for the Slayer, reinvigorated vampire Drusilla is planning a party of her own at the old factory to celebrate her return to full strength as wheelchair-bound Spike looks on. Dru’s ultimate party piece will be the reassembling of a powerful ancient demon called The Judge. Un-killable by any weapon forged by man, The Judge was cut in to pieces aeons ago and sent to the four corners of the earth. Now being brought piece by piece to Sunnydale, the last of the Judge parts, however, gets intercepted by Buffy. Recognising the Judge’s body part for what it is, Angel (as suggested by devious Jenny) decides to take said part as far away from Sunnydale as possible, far across the world in fact. Tonight. This news shatters Buffy’s world as she and Angel are now extremely close and she can’t bear to lose him. But when they go to the docks where Angel plans to catch a freighter, Drusilla’s men ambush them and steal back the Judge’s body part. Regrouping, Buffy and Angel head to the factory for some recon to see how far Drusilla has got in reassembling The Judge. And they are shocked to see the demon is up and around and slowly regaining his devastating killing strength. A fight breaks out and the heroic pair only just manages to escape with their lives. Caught in the rain they head on back to Angel’s place to dry off and nurse their wounds. One thing leads to another and eventually they end up making love. And so, on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Buffy loses her virginity to the man she loves. But Angel is about to lose something far greater…

What's the sitch beneath the sitch?

This is part one of a two-part story all about relationships, intimacy, betrayal and the hard lessons of growing up. It’s about the redefining of relationships with some people growing closer and others growing apart. Buffy and Angel are getting ever closer with the big ‘S’ starting to assert itself as the next logical step in their relationship. But there is fear and trepidation over taking that next step. Meanwhile Xander and Cordy are getting more and more passionate but are unable to move their relationship on to a proper footing, while Jenny and Giles are getting closer, though it turns out Jenny is keeping a very big secret from Rupert and the gang. And last but certainly not least Willow and Oz finally get together for a proper date…kinda. All too soon, though, events will throw some of these relationships in to utter turmoil.

Who's giving us the wiggins this week?

Newly revitalised Drusilla and the big blue meanie called The Judge.

Why it rocks

This is part one of one hell of a two-part story with writer Marti Noxon nicely setting up the chess pieces ready for Joss to come along in part 2 and gleefully, tragically knock the whole darn board over.

We bid a welcome return to Buffy’s often disturbing prophetic dreams.

Oz is such a great character. God bless Seth Green.

Juliet Landau as newly revitalised Drusilla is deliciously freaky, especially when she loses it over her roses.

The scene with Willow and Oz on the school bench where he asks her out is a highlight. It’s cleverly written and both actors are delightful.

Love the vampire party at the factory. Nicely goth with a great tune playing in the background – ‘Transylvanian Concubine’ by Rasputina.

The Jenny revelation is unexpected and adds a whole new aspect. Plus the late Vincent Schiavelli as her uncle makes a great addition to the cast.

The Judge looks pretty cool and the effect when he burns people up is shiny.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz’s chemistry boils over. You can tell all the way through this episode that their relationship is building up to an inexorable…um…climax.

That cliffhanger. Oh crap!

Why it sucks

The Judge is pretty cool but is one of two potentially world ending uber-demons the vamps try to resurrect in this season. Plus he looks a bit too blue – a kind of Smurf on steroids.

It’s an excellent episode but it is essentially just set-up material for the big payoff of part 2.

It's Buftastic

Oz asking Willow out.

Dialogue to die for

Angel: Leave her alone.
Spike: Yeah, that'll work. Now say 'pretty please'.
Angel: Take me instead of her!
Spike: Uh, you're not clear on the concept, mate. There is no 'instead'. Just first and second.


Buffy (to Willow about Oz): You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a bicentennial.

Xander: Buffy, I feel a pre-birthday spanking coming on.

Willow: Carpe diem. You told me that once.
Buffy: Fish of the day?

And another thing

Brian Thompson, who played Luke in ‘Welcome to the Hellmouth’ and the X-Files’ alien bounty hunter amongst other hulking types plays the Judge.

This episode takes place on Buffy's seventeenth birthday, implying that Buffy was born in January 1981. This goes on to become canon with the original air date for this double bill of January 19th becoming our girl’s official birthday. She turns 30 this year (2011).

How many stakes?

A very pleasant surprise indeed. 4 (out of 5)