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Episode 2.13: Surprise | Episode 2.15: Phases
Characters:
| Buffy | Angel | Xander |
| Willow | Giles | Cordelia |
| Spike | Oz |
Overall (9/10)
Buffy:
And in this episode, we have the root cause of all of Buffy's future relationship problems. The first time she sleeps with a guy, he turns evil. This is an obvious metaphor for those guys who are nice to a girl until they get teh sex. However, most of those guys don't start murdering people after doing the wacky.
It's heartbreaking to watch Buffy in this episode. She wakes up alone, and Angel's nowhere to be found. When she does finally meet up with him, he rips her apart (that scene is painful to watch). If Buffy were in a more stable state, she probably would have realized something was wrong. As it was, she's at her most vulnerable now.
However, once she realizes what has happened to Angel, she briefly tries to appeal to whatever humanity may be left in him. This doesn't work, of course, and after Jenny's uncle is murdered, she becomes determined as to what she needs to do. Like with Ford in Lie to Me, she knows that Angel must die. Because at this point in the series, anything without a soul has to be killed. This is fuzzied up quite a bit later on in the series, but it's painfully black and white right now. No soul = no good = dead Angel.
But Buffy isn't in a strong enough emotional state to do so in this episode. Can't blame her. Should she have killed him now? Absolutely. And she knows it. But she's just not ready to do it. I'm not going to go into Buffy's feelings of guilt as to what she did here because that is dealt with very well in I Only Have Eyes For You.
Angel:
And Angel is bad!! It looks like Angel's soul actually stifles his personality. As it is, I prefer him without it. Much more entertaining and fun to watch.
We finally see first-hand what Angel is like without a soul. As has been hinted at before, he's not one to kill his victims immediately. He likes to "play" with them first. Before offing Buffy, he's going to torture her, much like he did to Drusilla.
Let's talk about that curse for a bit. So, Angel gets cursed with a soul to make him feel all guilty and mopey. However, there's a clause in the curse where if he stops feeling guilty and gets a happy, he loses his soul and, ergo, loses the punishment? Huh? Soulless Angel isn't suffering anymore. What's the point of that clause?
A couple theories have been brought up. One is that the gypsies didn't have any choice and that that clause had to be included to do the curse. That's why they have people watching Angel to make sure he doesn't get a happy. If that's the case, then why wasn't Jenny told about this all-important loophole?
Another theory is that they put that clause in there on purpose. They knew that Angel would not want to lose his soul and would do whatever it takes to keep himself from getting too happy. But if that's true, then why didn't they let Angel know so that he could see to his imposed miserableness? Angel didn't have any idea what would happen if he had sex with Buffy.
Neither of these really fit quite right, and it's just kinda accepted as one of those things that we're not supposed to think about.
I was impressed that they didn't do the whole "deep down a part of the good Angel still exists" thing. Angel makes it quite clear that that isn't going to happen. However, he also stresses at several points that he's still Angel. Buffy tries to say that he isn't, but, really, he kinda is. He's an Angel without the inhibitions that a soul placed on him.
The soul is never really explained in the Buffyverse, and a lot of people have different theories as to what, exactly, it is. I tend to think of it as something of a moral compass. Without one, you're naturally inclined to do whatever you feel like without any regard for anything. It's possible to change and do good if you really want to, but most soulless creatures don't (Spike being the big exception). As such, without a conscience, Angel does whatever he wants without that niggling voice telling him that it's wrong.
That's why we see many similarities between souled and unsouled Angel. He still has the same urges and desires (he has a demon in him in both states). However, the soul lets him know how to act appropriately (This interpretation of the soul can help explain a lot of Spike's behaviour in S5 and S6 when he's desperately trying to be good without having any sort of internal voice telling him how to be).
Xander:
Xander actually gets quite a bit to do in this episode. At the beginning, he's the first one ready to go off and rescue Buffy. As I've mentioned previously, the boy is loyal. Especially to the Buffster.
Cordelia picks up on this, of course (Later on, Anya will do the same). But they manage to make up in true Xander/Cordy fashion with some kissage. Unfortunately, Willow sees it. And if Xander's been oblivious to Willow's feelings before, he can't possibly turn a blind eye anymore. However, what can he say? He handles it the best he can, really, especially in the middle of a crisis.
And he actually comes up with a plan. A plan that works. Xander came up with a working plan. I don't get to write that very often. His soldier skills from Halloween come back into play. I wonder, does Buffy remember stuff about the 18th century?
Willow is the first person to figure out what's going on with Buffy. She doesn't actually state it, but it seems fairly obvious that she knows what happened between Buffy and Angel when she orders Giles to stop questioning Buffy. Her concern for her friend is apparent.
Add onto this her catching Cordelia and Xander smooching, and Willow is probably on social stress overload. Is Willow upset that Xander is with Cordelia, or is she just upset that Xander is with somebody else? I think the latter. Yes, the fact that it's Cordelia is surely confusing and unbelievable. But Willow's last statement to Xander (Wonderfully delivered by Alyson Hannigan) makes it seem that she's upset that he's with somebody that isn't her.
However, Willow sucks it up and comes back to help the gang. As she always does. She does try to make Xander jealous with some Oz kissage, though. She gets rejected by him in the nicest possible way.
Giles gets a good show in this one as he fully supports Buffy in every way possible. The most apparent is his dismissal of Jenny at Buffy's request.
Lemme go into Jenny's involvement in this. Jenny was sent to make sure Angel still suffers. However, she wasn't told anything about the happiness clause? Sorta strange. Regardless, as she told Buffy, she didn't know what was going to happen. The main thing she's guilty of is hiding her true identity. However, even if they'd known, things would probably have turned out the same considering Jenny didn't have the relevant knowledge. Logically, Jenny's "betrayal" isn't a very large or significant one.
However, logic doesn't have much to do with Buffy at this time. She needs someone to blame (other than herself), so she blames Miss Calendar. I think Giles, on some level, realizes this, but he supports his Slayer in turning his back on Jenny. He knows that right now, Buffy needs all of his support and he won't betray that by siding with Jenny.
His talk with Buffy in the car at the end is so caring and fatherly. This is really the first hint of the paternal affection he's been developing for her. Yes, they've shared touching moments before, but they've always been in a mentor/student context. This truly sounds like a father talking to his daughter. And it's a wonderful scene that almost makes me cry every time.
Anybody else find Cordelia very cute when she's "making up" with Xander? Course, that all gets shot to hell when Willow sees them. Beyond that and her being used to get into the armory, Miss Chase doesn't have a whole lot to do in this episode besides provide some comic relief. Which is much needed.
Poor Spike, left all alone while everyone else goes out to destroy the world. Notice Angel leading Drusilla away from him at the end, and Spike looking none too pleased about it. It seems that the initial joy at having his grandsire back is quickly fading as he realizes what's going to happen now that the alpha male is back.
And Spike is not in any position to do anything about it, as will be pointed out to him many, many times.
Oz is the most mature teenage boy in the world. Most guys, at the prospect of smoochies, would be all over it. Oz, though, can wait. He knows that Willow's suggestion is made out of a desire to make somebody else jealous, and he doesn't want that. He wants her to genuinely want him, and that's just amazingly sweet.
The plot with The Judge is secondary to the revelations about Angel. Angel had a happy moment in having sex with Buffy and has lost his soul. Cue the angst.
The Judge? Nah. The main bad is now Angel. And I did mention that I love Angel without his soul, right? Oh, yeah, horrible guy. But so fun to watch.
This is all-arc, man.
Much better than it's lead-in, this episode very effectively deals with the "morning after" issues, and the issues of Angel losing his soul. It's a very touching episode, and a definite turning point in the season (and the series, really, as Buffy is forever affected by these events).
Special performance award goes to Seth Green for making the line "Uh...arm!" funny. I want my own Seth Green.
9 out of 10. Very, very good.
As you know, I am a sucker for the Buffy/Giles scenes. The final scene with the two of them in his car is just beautifully written and acted. Kudos all around.
Episode 2.13: Surprise | Episode 2.15: Phases
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