Buffy: 2.22 ‘Becoming – Part 2’

A beautifully made video tribute to the Slayer

Writen and directed by: Joss Whedon

What's the sitch?

The police arrest Buffy but she escapes and heads to the hospital to check on her friends. Xander is up and about albeit with a broken arm while poor Willow is lying unconscious with possible brain damage. Giles, however, is missing. He’s been kidnapped by Dru and Angelus to help them figure out how to awaken Acathla.

On her way home, Buffy is stopped by another policeman, who is quickly knocked unconscious by Spike. Spike wants to stop Angelus from destroying the world as he likes the world just the way it is. He proposes that Buffy and he work together to stop and then kill his grandsire. In exchange for his help Spike promises to leave town forever, taking Dru with him. And so an uneasy alliance is formed, which is soon put to the test at Buffy’s house where they kill a vamp together in front of a shocked Joyce.

Buffy finally has to tell Joyce the truth – that she is the Slayer, and that she has to leave and save the world. Again. Angry and in denial, Joyce tells Buffy that if she leaves the house now she can never come back. Buffy, with no choice, leaves and runs to the school to find Kendra's sword, running in to Snyder, who, with much relish, expels her on the spot. Buffy takes the sword and goes to kill Angelus.

Meanwhile Angelus is torturing Giles, trying to get him to tell the secret of Acathla. But in the end it is Dru's hypnotic power pretending to be Jenny Calendar that tricks Giles in to giving away the secret. The secret is Angelus himself; it is his blood which will awaken Acathla. Back at the hospital Willow attempts the spell to curse Angelus with his soul again, while at the mansion Buffy arrives…and Spike makes his move. After neutralising the other vamp henchmen, Spike takes Drusilla and leaves the house and the town, leaving Buffy and Angelus in a fight to the death. But Angelus manages to touch his blood to Acathla, and the demon starts to awaken. Time is almost up for the world as the portal to suck it in to hell begins to open. Buffy knows that the only thing that can save the world and close the portal is to kill Angelus. And then the worst happens…the curse takes effect and Angelus's soul is restored.

Angel is Angel once more. The man Buffy loves.

But it's too late.

The lovers exchange a kiss and some intimate words, and then Buffy drives the knight’s sword through Angel, sending him to Hell.

Acathla's vortex closes. The world is safe once more.

The next day the gang's back at school, battered and broken but still (mostly) in one piece. But there's no sign of Buffy. They speculate that she may have gone off with a cured Angel for some alone time and hope to see her back soon.

But Buffy is not coming back anytime soon. She watches her friends from a distance and then turns and walks sadly away. We then see that she’s left a note on her bed for her mother, a note which makes Joyce cry when she reads it.

Our final sight of Buffy is of her sat alone on a bus, heartbroken, staring out of the window as the vehicle leaves town, passing by a sign which reads ‘You are now leaving Sunnydale. Come back soon.’

What's the sitch beneath the sitch?

See part 1. But also when Buffy is forced to ‘come out’ to her mom about being the Slayer, the whole thing becomes a major gay metaphor, as if Buffy is admitting to her mom that she’s a lesbian. Her mom’s shocked reaction and then throwing her daughter out of the house only makes it more metaphorey. Heh. Metaphorey. See what I did there? I made a Buffy word.

Who's giving us the wiggins this week?

Angelus, Drusilla, Acathla and Joss Whedon, the evil genius.

Why it rocks

What do you mean why? Just watch it for gods sake.

Whedon you bastard! Television simply doesn’t get better than this. Epic drama, intimate emotion, big excitement, full-on pulse pounding action, heartbreaking tragedy, smart metaphor, pain, blood, love, loss, pain, more pain…it’s all crammed in to 44 exquisite minutes so expertly and effectively crafted you wonder how on earth anyone could do it and do it so well. But then you remember that this is Joss we’re talking about. He does this stuff in his sleep, at least it seems like that as it just feels so effortless.

Everything about this episode is stunning. Every scene fizzes and pops with energy, story, character, emotion, depth. It’s a template for how to make a truly great series finale and is my second favourite of all Buffy finales just behind Joss’s The Gift from season five.

All the cast give their all and are utterly brilliant. But in the end, this rests solely on the tiny shoulders of Sarah Michelle Gellar. And boy, does she do good. If you didn't love Buffy Anne Summers before, then I dare you not to love her after this. By the end of Season 2, Sarah and Joss were quickly firming up Buffy's place as one of the greatest heroes of modern fiction. This was always Joss's freely admitted aim. He always wanted to make Buffy a beloved icon. And by the end of the series seven year run he'd succeed in doing just that.

Favourite bits? All of it, but okay…

Spike and Joyce making awkward small talk in Buffy’s living room. “So, do you live in town?”

Spike explaining why he wants to save the world. “Dog racing, Manchester United…”

Giles calling Angelus a pillock.

Drusilla as Jenny Calendar

Buffy and Joyce arguing about her being the Slayer and Joyce’s stupid, “Well have you tried not to be?”

The epic sword fight between Buffy and Angelus.

The part in the sword fight where Angelus thinks he has Buffy and says confidently, “Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... No friends...No hope. Take all that away... and what's left?” He goes to ram the sword in to her face, to kill her, but at the last moment Buffy catches the blade between her palms and answers simply, “Me,” before smashing it back in to his face. It’s a real “YEAH!” punch the air moment.

The beautiful music by Christophe Beck titled ‘Close Your Eyes’ as Buffy kisses Angel and then kills him.

The whole sad epilogue as Buffy, heartbroken, leaves Sunnydale with the lovely song ‘Full of Grace’ by Sarah Mclachlan playing beneath.

The little Mutant Enemy guy at the end of the credits saying, “Oh, I need a hug,” instead of the usual “Grr Argh!”

Why it sucks

The hairline on Angel's stand-in during the climactic swordfight makes it obvious that it's not David Boreanaz.

It's been established in Buffy that vampires don't breathe, at least not in the "real" way that humans do. That is, they obviously can and do inhale and exhale air — it's necessary in order to talk (or smoke). But they don't actually need to. So, without that need for oxygen, the chokehold Spike puts on Drusilla should not make her lose consciousness.

It's Buftastic

Buffy catching that sword blade between her palms and striking back.

Dialogue to die for

Angelus (to Giles): I wanna torture you. I used to love it, and it's been a long time. I mean, the last time I tortured somebody, they didn't even have chainsaws

Spike: We like to talk big. Vampires do. 'I'm going to destroy the world.' That's just tough guy talk. Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I like this world. You've got... dog racing, Manchester United. And you've got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. With a real... passion for destruction. Angel could pull it off. Goodbye, Piccadilly. Farewell, Leicester Bloody Square. You know what I'm saying?

Giles: You must perform the ritual... in a tutu. Pillock!
Angelus: All right. Someone get the chainsaw.

Xander: Cavalry's here. Cavalry's a frightened guy with a rock, but it's here.

Angelus: Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... No friends...No hope. Take all that away... and what's left?
Buffy: Me.

Angel: What's happening?
Buffy: Shh. Don't worry about it. I love you.
Angel: I love you.
Buffy: Close your eyes.

Mutant Enemy monster: Ooh, I need a hug

And another thing

The "Grr...argh" at the end of each episode was altered for this one... instead, it said, "Ooh, I need a hug." However, most of the US did not get this version after the original airing (due, apparently, to a mistake made by the WB). The altered version can be seen in syndication and on the official DVD release.

The house used as Angel’s mansion is Ennis house, 2655 Glendower Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027. It was designed and built in 1924 by world- famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was also Deckard’s house in Blade Runner and was recently put up for sale for a meagre $4m.

How many stakes?

I definitely need a hug. Poor Buffy. 5+ (out of 5)

And so ends my review/guide of Buffy season 2. Season 3 coming soon, my personal favourite season - mostly for one reason: Faith. Big smile.

Buffy: 2.21 ‘Becoming – Part 1’

A short preview of Becoming – parts 1 & 2

Writen and directed by: Joss Whedon

What's the sitch?

We learn though flashbacks how Angel became a vampire after being sired by the gorgeous Darla (Julie Benz) in a dirty alleyway in 18th century Ireland. Then, years later, we see his soul being restored by the gypsies after he killed their princess, so that he will know suffering and will not be able to have a moment’s true happiness ever again lest he lose his soul once more. Then things skip forward and we see him being picked up from the gutter in 1996 by the good demon Whistler and taken to covertly see Buffy at her original school in LA. Angel is smitten by the girl and vows to help her from that moment on. Flash forward to 1998 and Angelus has stolen a recently excavated stone demon called Acathla from the University. The vampire has realised just who Acathla is, and that once revived the powerful demon will suck the entire world into hell. Something Angelus can’t wait to do. Meanwhile Buffy finds the disk of Jenny's with the spell to restore Angelus' soul and Kendra returns to town after her watcher tells her that a dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale. She has also come bearing a sword from the knight who first defeated Acathla, which should be able to slay the demon once again if needed. Across town in his new mansion, Angelus tries to awaken Acathla, but is unable. So Drusilla takes her gang to go and kidnap Giles in order to make the learned watcher tell them the correct way to awaken the sleeping demon. At the same time, Angelus distracts Buffy, luring her away from her friends in order for Dru to go capture Giles. This leaves Kendra alone to try and defend the Scoobies from Dru. But Kendra fails and she dies at Dru’s hands, having her throat slit by the insane vampire. During the fight Willow is put into a coma, and Xander has his arm broken and knocked out. After realising she’s been duped, Buffy rushed back to the library. But she’s too late. She finds Kendra's body just as the police arrive. They point their guns at the Slayer and go to arrest her for murder.

What's the sitch beneath the sitch?

Joss likes his one-word titles that sum up his episodes perfectly. Becoming parts 1 & 2 are both about exactly that. They are about people growing, changing, adapting, becoming what they want to be, what they need to be in life. There are hard choices and painful decisions throughout. There are past loves and new agonies. There’s terrible loss and utter heartbreak. Life moves on and growing up is painful, never more so than in Sunnydale. And Joss brings the pain here, as always, slowly stripping everything away from Buffy. By the end of part 2 she will have nothing. But she will ultimately become stronger as a result. As the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Who's giving us the wiggins this week?

Angelus and Dru

Why it rocks

It’s a Joss Whedon written/directed by.

The themes are rich and the drama hugely compelling.

There is a ton happening here with lots of action and major character developments. It’s basically one massive set-up for next episode’s epic pay off.

Xander’s fish-stick re-enactment of Buffy fighting and staking a vamp.

Kendra (Bianca Lawson) is back…with a sword and her awful accent.

Bianca Lawson is Hot!

Kendra gives Buffy her lucky stake to use. She calls it ‘Mr Pointy’. :)

Why it sucks

Yet again Angel’s age is inconsistent. From latter episodes it seems that this one is wrong.

Angel’s Oirish accent. Oh dear.

The scene of Buffy listening to her parents argue in Los Angeles in 1996 conflicts with what was said in "Nightmares," aired in May 1997. In that episode Buffy says that her parents divorce was "finalised last year, but they were separated for a while before that."

Angel seeing Buffy from afar in 1996 does not jibe with his attitude the first time he met her in "Welcome to the Hellmouth."

Acathla makes for two world ending demons this season. Blimey! They're like busses...


It's Buftastic

That shot of Buffy running back in to the school corridor to go to her friends. The camera pans around as it follows her and cranks up in to slow motion partway through as Buffy, panic-faced, runs at us for all she’s worth.

Dialogue to die for

Cordelia (about Principle Snyder after he’s just left): How about because you're a tiny, impotent Nazi with a bug up his butt the size of an emu?

Spike: (looking unimpressed at Acathla's tomb): It's a big rock. Can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a rock this big.

Buffy (on the phone to Willow): Well, I'll do a couple of sweeps, and then I'll stop by. Yeah, Xander was pretty much being a... Willow! Where did you learn that word? My God. You kiss your mother with that mouth?

Kendra: In case de curse does not succeed, dis is my lucky stake. I have killed many vampires wit it. I call it Mr. Pointy.
Buffy: You named your stake?
Kendra: Yes.
Buffy: Remind me to get you a stuffed animal.

Angelus: Jeez, is it me, or is your heart not in this? Maybe I'll just go home, destroy the world.
Buffy: Well, I think Mr. Pointy'll have something to say about that.

Whistler (end voiceover): 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. You'll see what I mean.

And another thing

Angel was made into a vampire by Darla in Galway, Ireland, in 1753, and first met Drusilla in London in 1860.

Drusilla was precognitive before she became a vampire.

Becoming won the 1998 Emmy for best music composition for a series

How many stakes?

It’s a killer cliffhanger. 5 (out of 5)