guys i swear i’ve seen wiki articles about witch trials in the 1860s, im sorry😭 i know they were much more prominent in the 1600s but thought there would still be that mentality around dru’s time🤷♀️ also all apologies that i didn’t recognize darla
15:05 Maybe, but it is also 100 % accurate. If it had been any other vampire Buffy would not have hesitated even for a single second. Not to mention that she had the chance to kill Angel at the end of Episode 14 and didn't do it which means that she is directly responsible for every single person Angelus killed afterwards (and that where quite a few people - basically at least 1 per episode that we know of and most likely a lot more).
@@HH-hd7nd "which means that she is directly responsible for every single person" - no, just no. That is not how things works at all, Angelous is directly responsible for those, no one else.
The orb being used as a paper weight is one of those clever callback jokes this show does that you only get on rewatches. When Jenny buys the orb the guy in the shop tells her that it is useless and most of those are sold as paper weight
Angel once told Buffy what he did to Drusilla...in "Lie To Me". “First I made her insane. Killed everyone she ever loved. Visited every mental torture on her I could devise. She eventually fled to a convent, and on the day she took her holy orders, I turned her into a demon.”
53:50 When they showed the first time Angel was re-ensouled, they _did_ show him disoriented and confused about where he was or what had happened; and the Kalderash man who was talking to him told him it would pass and he would remember everything. That whole scene was teasing how the second time would play out, where again, Angel was disoriented and confused, but he got the pointy end of the sword before his mind had a chance to clear.
The argument between Buffy and Joyce is inspired by coming out conversations between parents and their kids when they find out that their kid is gay. "Have you ever tryed not to be a slayer/ gay?" "I dont accept that/ its nothing i choosed to be" Its just pure gold writing.
So good that it was one of the only lines they kept for the first X-Men movie from JW's original treatment. It's when Iceman's mom asks him "Have you tried not being a mutant?"
Are you sure? I never interpreted it that way. Maybe it was thought up by future Buffy watchers who interpreted it that way. I'm not saying that the parallels aren't there. I may be wrong, but is it possible that it was just about Buffy being the Slayer?
The Judge didn't sense "weakness" on Dru and Spike - strictly speaking. He sensed traces of _humanity,_ which admittedly to a demon like the Judge made them "unclean". However, he also sensed it in the other vampire who did their research, whom the Judge burned. At the very least this forms a pattern suggesting this is the norm for vampires and Angel is the outlier. But, taken in context, Angel had _just_ lost his soul *_and_* fed; which conceivably made him read as "clean" by the Judge's standards. This would arguably be supported by "I Only Have Eyes for You." After being possessed by the spirit of the teacher, Angel is scrubbing himself in the fountain, saying the feeling of that humanity made him feel dirty; and decides he needed a "vile kill" to feel better. It's plausible vile acts suppress whatever lingering humanity vampires have; and for whatever reason, Angelus is motivated more than others to suppress that humanity. So he chases that relief by being extra bloodthirsty.
There’s a subtle bit of acting that I missed for years, so I point it out when I can. When Spike’s leaving in the car, there’s a moment starting @55:08 where his hand winds up in the sunlight. He pulls his hand out of the light real fast, and continues driving with his other hand in the shade. I don’t know whose decision that was (probably James, but no easy way to know, unless someone here does). Whoever it was, full marks for attention to detail.
The vampires didn't chase after Cordy, for the same reason they didn't stick around and feed off of Xander or Willow. Their Only target was to get Giles. Once the bookcase was pushed onto Willow she was no longer an obstacle. Once Xander was knocked out, he was no longer an obstacle. As soon as Cordy ran she was no obstacle and of no concern. If they all ran no one would have chased any of them (except Giles if he ran).
Expelled. Had to "kill" the love of her life after he got his soul back. Wanted for murder by the cops. Told by her mother not to come back. Giles tortured. And my favorite bit, Xander telling her that Willow said "kick his ass" - he lied, but Buffy has to believe even Willow had jumped on the "kill Angel" bandwagon.
Exactly. For Buffy she has lost everything, everyone, that made her life and slaying worth it. She thinks her mother doesnt believe her or worse, she does and hates her for it; she thinks her friends and watcher will never understand or accept her grief and confusion over Angel as they were tortured and hurt by him and Xanders false message seals that train of thought. No school. No love. Just a lot of pain, grief, loss, loneliness… no wonder she ran away. Its too much!
The way Angel reaches his hand out to Buffy even after she impaled him 😭 the look of confused beyrayal on his face 😭😭 the way Buffy cant even meet his eyes 😭😭😭 I'm fine
When Giles says he was using his Orb of Thessila as a paper weight, that is a call back to the shop keeper telling Ms. Calendar that he sells them to tourists as paper weights. It seems they are quite plentiful, but have been rendered useless because the magic to make use of them was lost to time. Until now that is.
I think the "you fall for it every singe time" line when he lured Buffy away so he could capture her friends is a reference to the start of the season when The Anointed One did the same thing and lured Buffy away to capture her friends in his plan to use them to revive the Master
Re Whistler and his purpose: If you go back and review what he says, he's pretty direct (or at least as direct as a wisecracking mysterious messenger can be) about who he is and what he's doing. He tells Angel, and Buffy, that he's been sent to balance the scales between good and evil, and that Angel needs to play a part in it. And though he's a demon, he tells Angel that not all demons are dedicated to the destruction of life, so we can assume that whoever sent him (that, admittedly, is a bit vague) wants to preserve life, so they are on the side of good.
I am and have always been 1500000% TeamBuffy when it comes to this show. So, at the end, I was devastated when she had to kill Angel, because she was. Because she's now killed him twice. And I feel that's why she ran away. She feels like Jenny died because of her, that Kendra died because of her, that she's responsible for Willow ending up in the hospital, Giles being tortured for hours on end, for all of it. Buffy doesn't think Angel is to blame for Jenny's death. She blames herself.
To me, this has always been the most heartbreaking season finale of Buffy. She was forced to take the life of the man she loves, had a fierce argument with her mother, and carries the weight of guilt over Jenny and Kendra's deaths.
The memory loss when Angel is re-ensouled by Willow is referenced in the previous episode as well. Angel says “Where am I?” and the Romani man replies “You don’t remember. Everything you have done for the past 100 years. In a moment you will.”
The first interaction between Angel and Buffy was in S1E1 - he was following her down an alley, she did a handstand on a pole above the alleyway and swung down behind him and knocked him down.
I think the shopkeeper told Jenny people use the spheres as paperweights in the episode when she got hers. "Remember that one time..." In band camp? Sometimes slo-mo is for dramatic effect. Others are to cover for slow runners. This could be for both.
"Have another drink mom!" this is a subtle hint that Buffy's mom is a bit of a lush. She handles the stresses of Sunnydale by drinking. Joyce may not be a "bad" drunk, but she must get drunk, or at least overdrink enough that Buffy has picked up on it.
Really nice reaction. Becoming is definitely when Buffy the show is firing on all cylinders. One of the things about Dru and her powers is that she and Buffy seem to have duelling prophetic dreams. Dru dreamt Angel would be at her party during Innocence and Surprise. Angel wanted to torture Buffy the way he tortured Dru, etc.
Great reaction as always, and very observant about some of the smaller points! I think you missed two things though: they emphasized that when Angel fist gets his soul returned to him (even the first time the Gypsies cursed him), he couldn’t remember what happened without his soul at first… It takes a little while for him to remember, and then he suffers from it. That’s why he was so confused when he got his soul back. And also, it was much worse than Buffy killing her first love… she sent him to hell! This was also explained by Whistler… that when the demon awoke, stabbing the person who woke him would end it so the entire world would not be swallowed physically into hell, but the person who opened the portal would be sucked into hell, which you saw happen right as the portal closed. And since Angel is a vampire, being stabbed by a metal sword hurts him, but it doesn’t kill him. He was swallowed into hell to suffer for eternity, and Buffy knows she’s done that to the person she loves. Extremely tragic.
There’s a philosophical conversation happening in these two episodes of Being vs. Becoming that’s only become noticeable to me as a grad student watching your reaction. It’s an existential and post war phenomena where more people push back against the idea of innate essence that people are inherently good or bad or witches or dammed or vampire etc. Satre and other existentialists argue that if essence is less of a driving force than existence, aka being is less important than the choices of becoming (active version of being) then at the core we are nothing or close to nothing and the most important thing are our actions and choices. Yes this episode seems to say that essence is real aka angel’s soul, buffy saying to angel famously that what’s left without all of her friends etc what she has is “me”. But when Buffy and the whole gang experience a lot of tragedy, there’s that whole narration at the end of the first part that’s like “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” Buffy and the gang face this tragedy head on and defy the helplessness in face of tragedy. Buffy chooses to name her identity, she chooses to walk out her door after what her mom says, she doesn’t just let the police take her, she chooses to have that tender moment with angel yet sacrifice his life and her love in acknowledging angel’s actions as irreversible. It’s really poetic that this show always reveals new layers when you watch it again. I’m contemplating the active role of becoming while also acknowledging the extent to which we may have inherent essence as well. Really enjoyed this reaction ❤️
Snyder was never a “heehee-haha” type of character. He was always meant to be an antagonist to not just our main characters, but to the students overall. Just because some of his line deliveries are funny doesn’t mean he was a character we were ever supposed to “like” or feel fond of. Snyder has always wanted Buffy out of the school because he thought of her as a troublemaker. Snyder is meant to represent “the establishment” or “the man” so to speak.
I always considered him evil. He has previously shown disrespect for the police. I doubt the authorities want an incredibly powerful young woman who is not under their absolute control doing anything. They don’t want to work with her, they want her out of the picture.
I feel like with Buffy, the show treats their one offs, campy stand alones, as part of the process, like with a good meal, you might want to cleanse your palate before dessert, and by doing so, it changes they way you experience the following episode or story, and when done well, it is intentional and perfect
I remember when I saw your reaction to School Hard I thought you might have missed a significant bit and your confusion over Snyder affirms it. His reaction to the vampires attacking the school and discussion with the person from the mayor's office over whether they can blame it on PCP, plus the look of worry when he's told the mayor wants to talk to him... he's definitely known all along
When buffy is on the bus leaving Sunnydale, the sign says "Now Leaving Sunnydale, Come Back Soon." They had just learned that the show had been picked up for a 3rd season, so they added that to let the fans know there would be another season. Because nothing had been announced at that point.
We have to consider television censorship when determining the severity of wounds. It would be more obvious if there was arterial blood squirting from the wound and spraying everywhere, but it’s TV in the 90’s and kids may be watching. So we have to work with a fatal neck scratch. Personally, I would have preferred a blood pack squeezed between the fingers when she put her hand to her throat to make it a little more clear. It doesn’t have to be accurately graphic. But it’s devastating enough once it’s clear what was supposed to be going on. So it works as is, I think.
Love your new background! I have been looking forward to these 2 Episodes- Season 2 has such a great arc. I also love the title Becoming part 1 and 2 I think it is summed up when angelus says to Buffy about having no family, no friends- take all that away what do you have? And she takes that moment of inner strength and says ME… it just gets me! I also feel Joyce reacted horribly to buffys reveal but she was just in shock- I think when she reads the letter you can see how upset she is. Also another line that always gets me- Dru as a highly religious young girl- “I don’t want to be an evil thing--“ angelus knew how to get to the core of what destroys a person Dru’s line
Also I remember being so upset and confused and angel being re-ensouled and dying- I was a few years behind when it came out when I watched it so I knew there was a show Angel- I got so confused than I remembered like you did that there is 100s of years of angels history - I remember really wanting to know how that show was gonna work/ be….
I just finished watching your reaction and I really liked a lot of the points you brought up. Telling Drew "to trust the process" actually made me laugh out loud. I really like the metaphor behind this episode in this season. Besides the metaphors of sex and responsibility of sex. I read that angel is also a metaphor for alcoholism. Buffy being in love with him and wanting the best for him even though he's an alcoholic and has issues. I like that the metaphor is you can choose to be your own person and have choice or be stuck in hell or this relationship. I wish more shows and movies would say it's okay to be in love with someone but also do the healthy thing for yourself and leave that person too.
As usual, you ask so many good questions, and (as usual) we can't really answer most of them without being spoilery. 😶But one that feels fairly safe is you speculating about just who pre-vampire Drusilla was. At the time this was airing, some of my online friends and I speculated that perhaps Dru was a potential Slayer. It's been established that Slayers have prophetic dreams (Buffy sometimes has them). We used to look for clues that showed parallels between Dru and Buffy. The only one I can remember now is how, in the "Surprise" episode, Dru is having a party and getting gifts at the same time as Buffy. Nothing further was ever revealed about it, but that doesn't mean we were wrong.
Also also. You assume all demons are bad… but demons just have a different sense of morality, not all demons seek the destruction of our world / humanity. I feel like you should watch Warrior Nun, which is very Buffy-esque (but also very queer with more Catholicism).
The Cordelia thing was not suspicious. I would agree with whatever the comment was mentioned at the beginning about overanalyzing things. Like yeah, you're "watching for the first time" - but while the show may be clever, it's not some grand mystery where every sentence should be picked apart and analyzed like a Dan Brown novel. Especially if you mishear or misinterpret what someone says. There's no prize for figuring things out before the show tells you. Essentially, Cordelia said she was so scare she didn't notice no one was chasing her. She didn't say anything about not being important enough to be chased. There doesn't need to be any greater meaning inferred from that, because all it was meant to communicate was just how scare she was; and that she was actually embarrassed that, unlike the others who stayed and fought, she was so preoccupied with her own survival, she drove through almost three counties before realizing her fear was unjustified. By reading more into that, you miss the part where it's kind of a humanizing moment for Cordelia, because she's actually admitted disappointment in herself for not being braver. And it's not just necessarily you; it's any easy rabbit hole to fall down, especially for a reactor. Alley Box picked up on a word said by a character at the start of one season and spent like a quarter of the season trying to figure out how the plot was connecting back to that word, when it was just a word and had nothing to do anything. Are there Easter Eggs that potentially have double meanings you may or may not pick-up on until they payoff later? I, nor hopefully anyone else will ever tell, because the point of watching is to find out, and react to what's happening. There _might_ be things you can reasonably pick-up and other things you may never guess until it's revealed. There may be layers fans who have been watching for 20 years have only just picked up through re-watches or discussion. Theories are fine to a point, but if you try out-thinking the show and stay ten steps ahead of it, you're not in the moment; and that's when you miss what's actually happening.
I like how you put that. I'm mostly here to see the actual reactions, not analyses, but Cass does get some things SPOT ON and that's fun to see, and then other things are BIG YIKIES to know she's going to regret wishing for something when it finally comes. 😁 And that's a lot of fun too.
@@JhadeSagrav Honestly, I gave up watching Cass' reactions when she started season 4 but wasn't reacting to Angel (on TH-cam). I never quite got into her reactions much; in part because of the over-analysis, but also, I'm not entirely convinced she hadn't seen the show before. Like, the she makes these random predictions are are _way_ too accurate; and is either she's a really good guesser, clairvoyant or seen the show. And yeah, she whiffs on some of the predictions, but to such a wild degree that it reads to me more like she's just trying to cover her bases and not appear to be right too often. I could be wrong. There's another Buffy reactor I started watching around the same time I'm a little suspicious of too. Who knows? 🤷♂
This explains that Drusilla was born with the visions. She either would have been executed for being a witch, or sent away to an insane asylum, which were little more than dungeons for early death back then. According to Lie To Me, she was about to become a nun when Angel turned her. But that was after she lost her whole family. Whistler was a messenger demon, sent by some higher powers to recruit Angel into helping Buffy. But also to learn how to be more like her in fighting evil, which was supposed to include stopping Acathla. The point being he's supposed to have a destiny to do more that sit around back alleys, eating rats. They were actually finalizing plans for the spin-off at this point. Since Angel didn't even remember what happened, it shows that Angel's soul is not in the driver's seat when the demon takes over. But he'll eventually remember as he can access all those memories stored in his brain. This is where Willow becomes a real witch. Another "becoming" for the list. I'm pretty sure Snyder knew Buffy was the slayer and he's working for the mayor. And definitely some of the cops are in on it too. Did you miss the grr arrgh monster at the end of the credits? You're supposed to watch it in this one.
"The only reason we put more thought into it for Angel is we know him." I mean, exactly. If some weird thing happened to someone I loved that turned them into a monster (like a brain tumor) but I could bring the original person back without them dying (like surgery), then yes. It's easy for Xander to say kill Angel because Xander never liked him. Also, it seems like you're still misunderstanding the ghost possession episode (unless this commentary was made prior to posting the reaction vid) because it was about Buffy forgiving herself for what she perceived was her fault, not about forgiving Angel. Did miss or accidentally skip over it, but was there no commentary on Xander not telling Buffy that Willow was going to attempt the spell again? A heads up but it's one of the The Biggest controversy about Xander in the show's existence, so it is big lore.
While I can’t fault him for feeling the way he does and Xander is still a teenager, it was very selfish of him and did infuriate me Especially cuz it’s most likely that he was doing it cuz of his own personal dislike of Angel in the first place rather then for the sake of saving the world
Go back to 1:47. She does address the ghost possession episode “I Only Have Eyes for You”. She got it after reading comments from that post. But yeah, it looks like she glossed over Xander’s “Big Lie” in the finale- thank you for pointing it out!
Becoming part 1 was a great lead into the brilliant S2 finale Becoming part 2. So much in this episode to digest. The loss of Kendra, Angel's back story being turned by Darla, and we also see Drusilla being tormented by Angelus in The Confessional. At least the floppy disk has been found, and Willow can now work her magic. We now have the climax to come of the brilliant last episode. I think you can now really see how this show engrosses all reactors that enter The Buffyverse! and, S3 is a near flawless Season, even better than this! Becoming part 2 was a terrific ending to S2 setting up the brilliant S3. Here we see Buffy faced with the ultimate heart breaking choice to kill her lover or save the world. We of course know she will make the right choice. Willow comes through at the end, but Buffy has to go through with the final act. So poignant at the end when from afar Buffy sees her friends but decides to leave Sunnydale, Joyce too is so regretful as she knows Buffy is now gone after their terrible row, all against the backdrop of Sarah McLachlan's beautiful haunting ballad Full Of Grace. I think we can see you are now hooked on the show, as are all reactors that enter 'The Buffyverse' and it only gets better. You will love S3 it's incredible!
Fantastic reaction. All that happened here, and all that you speculated on, just makes me hope that you're able to start Season 3 soon :D Also, for whatever it's worth -- your frequent pauses to discuss your thoughts about what's happening, or what might happen next, is what makes you one of my very favorite Buffy reactors. You mentioned people giving you grief about "your assumptions", and that's absolutely ridiculous. Your ideas and speculations are excellent, even when you're off about where things might be going. You're thoughtful and insightful and those kinds of moments are exactly why I watch.
The show showed its real potential this season with darker tones, despite some filler episodes. Buffy breaking down & crushing the Master's bones., Jenny and Kendra's deaths, Drusilla's dark lunacy, the return of Angelus, Buffy leaving home. All great moments throughout the season spreead between the ususal comedy and snappy dialogue.
What the show wanted to tell you about Xander hearing Willow say "Oz" was that he was momentarily surlrised, but then stepped aside immediately. When it mattered, he wasn't jealous. Because he's really much better than his sporadic adolescent rants suggest.
Okay. About the Joyce bit though. You've gotta understand when Joyce tells Buffy, "If you walk out that door, don't even think about coming back", she isn't actively trying to get Buffy to leave forever. She's desperately trying (albeit, pretty poorly) to stop her from leaving. It's a classic parental idle threat that Joyce is making under a crazy amount of psychological stress. The police have said Buffy's been implicated in a murder, that several of her closest friends (whom Joyce herself cares about) are seriously injured, and Buffy herself has gone missing. Since then, Joyce has been panic-driving around Sunnydale only to find Buffy's back home with some guy she doesn't (immediately) recognize. For Joyce, Buffy's behavior seems bizarre. The police are after her, Willow is in the hospital, and someone has been murdered, but Buffy seems pretty chill. That is, until a gangster on PCP jumps out of some petunias and Buffy instantly vaporizes him with a quick mortal chest wound. And while to Buffy (and to us) this is just another night in Sunnydale, for Joyce, her evening of blind panic has just turned into a spontaneous existential crisis. As a result of her mind now shattering into a thousand shrieking pieces, Joyce resorts to the only coping mechanism she has ever known (denial), but this time she needs a cheeky drink or three just to get there. During which, she realises the strange man with her daughter is actually the guy who tried to slaughter them both on parent-teacher night a couple weeks ago. Nothing Buffy says makes any sense (because Buffy is in save-the-world mode, and Joyce has literally zero points of reference for anything that's happening) so, to Joyce, it sounds like Buffy is have some kind of a mental breakdown (which, thanks to Joyce's own mental breakdown, is an easier reality for her to accept than the existence of demons and the possibility that her daughter is some kind of vampire-vigilante), and when Joyce desperately seeks some kind of sound explanation for all the insanity, Buffy just tells her to "have another drink" (which not only breaks the camel's back; it also busts his kneecaps, and comes back later for his kids). So Joyce finally snaps. (Which, frankly, isn't just understandable. It's basically obligatory. You'd have to be a robot Dalai Lama on xanax to keep it chill at this point). And when she frantically tries to prevent Buffy from leaving, Buffy responds with a quick demonstration of how Slayer strength works and shoves her into the kitchen counter. With the amount of batshit crazy Joyce has now experienced, her only three options are really "standard rage", "inconsolable scream-crying" or "catatonic fugue"; so she goes with the first. So yeah, Joyce 100% said the wrong thing, but how many people out there would really handle it any better? And, more importantly, we see that Joyce immediately regrets her actions. She didn't mean it; she just snapped in a moment of panic, pain, and exasperation. So let's not judge Joyce too harshly; she's human and made a mistake. If you've ever said something in anger to a loved one that you instantly regretted (especially without the involvement of homicide suspicions and existential crises concerning the supernatural), spare a little love for Joyce. She's having an unusual evening. But otherwise, hey, judge away - and sorry about your porch, that's gotta be a super weird sweep. Like, do you even keep the broom after that?
I don’t know if anyone told you yet there was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) movie. A different actor played Buffy the lore is slightly different, but the main backstory is there about how she became a slayer in L.A.
Angel is a vampire. When vampires are killed, they turn to dust. Angel was stabbed by steel, not wood, and not in the heart. Therefore, Angel was not killed - just sucked into hell.
Awesome Post, Cass. I have to admit, I posted a comment earlier explaining how Buffy wasn't responsible for Angel loosing his Soul, or getting it back, and then my Coffee kicked in and woke me up. When he lost his Soul AFTER Him and Buffy did the,,, Nasty., LOL. I did delete it, but I'm sure that someone saw it. So, I admit that I was a fool and made a foolish AND WRONG comment. I admit that. Forgive me, please. LMAO! Season 2 was the season that made "INPROVEMENTS" sound even better than the first time they said it. IMO, that was Good, getting Better. Looking forward to Season 3. GREAT Post, Cass. 🤗
Fantastic - I was about to go to bed - but definitely going to watch this instead. Hope you enjoy it - it's one of the best season finales of the series - and such a step from S1.
There’s a lot I projected as a queer person coming out onto buffy coming out as a vampire slayer and Joyce saying things like “have you ever tried not being a slayer”, “it’s because you didn’t have a strong father figure isn’t it” and ultimately kicking her out. I think it was somewhat intentional to make it similar to the weight of a teenager or person taking ownership of who they are even at their parents disapproval.
Joyce wasn’t actually trying to end the conversation with the “Don’t even think about coming back” comment, that was her trying to get Buffy to stay and talk to her properly, rather than just giving her the brush off and expecting her to immediately come to terms with it.
Re the debate around restoring Angel's soul: For me it has nothing to do with forgiveness vs. not forgiving, because it's straightforwardly clear that ensouled Angel would *never* have allowed himself to do the things he did while soulless, nor was it ever a choice he made to lose his soul. The entire situation was something that happened *to* him against his will, so to me it's a no brainer that of course if there's the opportunity to restore his soul that's what they should do. Now, with that said, Xander would have absolutely had a point if they still had no idea about the spell and Buffy was still holding off on killing Angel despite there being no tangible hope that his soul could be restored. If that was the case, then absolutely, whether it was Angel's fault or not, the situation was that he needed to be stopped and if there was no way to restore his soul then killing him was the only option. But the fact that he was making this argument specifically at the moment it WAS clear there was another option to try is what makes no sense. Because like... of course, now that they found the spell that very well could work, why would they not try that first? They had it there and ready to be tried, and if it didn't work, then it's right back to the killing Angel plan which Buffy was fully prepared to go through with. But meanwhile, if it did work, it's not just morally better, but practically speaking, ensouled Angel is a massive asset in the fight for good! There is everything to gain from trying the spell first before jumping right to killing him, and very little to lose. So Xander was just purely coming from a place of hatred for Angel; nothing to do with a logical conclusion for peoples' safety. Sure the world would be safer without Angel altogether than with him still existing and soulless, but it would be safEST with him in it and ensouled again.
SPOILERS . . . . . . . . . . Considering the near apocalypse in Season 3 and the events of his own spin off show, the world was definitely better with Angel in it there to also fight the evil, and he played a part in the season 3 finale of course with fighting alongside everyone
Re: Buffy's fashion change. It's been said a few times that, at her old school, she was basically Cordelia so it kind of makes sense that she would be more stereotypically feminine/"preppy."
Oh, and one more thing. When our TV first aired that show, they only bought two seasons. So for several years I was sure this is the series finale. Yeah.
Or maybe Buffy doesn't live long enough to save the world if she's holding back in a fight she comes close to losing anyway. Willow thought she would have time to stall. Xander thought she shouldn't be distracted by a maybe with the entire world on the line. He was wrong about not attempting the spell earlier, they lose nothing by trying and maybe take the most dangerous piece off the board, but it is less clear here.
@@mintyfresh3533 If I may say, as someone who was never a big fan of Angel to begin with, I really don't even have issues with Xander wanting him gone rather than cured (which, btw, is it a cure? Because isn't it supposed to be a curse?). The dude killed Jenny, and honestly if there's one thing I don't like is how quickly the fanbase just forgets about that. Also, Angel and Angelus aren't really two separate entity, the only difference between the two is that one has a conscience and the other doesn't. That's literally why the spell works as a curse; because the things Angelus did, that's also the things Angel did.
@@ChevaliersEmeraude Every single description in the show of what vampires are describes them as two separate beings. Even from the very first time they have this kind of talk RE: Jesse "You aren't looking at your friend, you're looking at the thing that killed him." Vamps are demons living in a human body. Angel is a human sharing his body with a demon who is constrained by his soul. They share knowledge and even some personality traits with the body's original owner, but it's made abundantly clear that in no uncertain terms Vampires and the humans they took over are absolutely two different people. Spoilers This is made even more explicit as the series goes on. When Angel get body swapped in Carpe Noctem, his body keeps the demon, he doesn't take it with him. Darla's epiphany about being human before Dru turns her, even Spike in Lies My Parents told me realizes he wasn't talking to his mother, and Souled!Spike is able to understand that he needs to grow as a person before seeing Buffy instead of forcing himself on her repeatedly, up to the point of SA.
@@ChevaliersEmeraude I have to second what @jackmars931 said- it’s made very clear that Angel and Angelus are not the same being, it’s the equivalent of being possessed by a demon, of course they should try and cure him before killing him like they’d do for any of the scoobies, he’s their friend (albeit not Xander’s, he’s hated him from the start out of petty jealousy) I will never be a fan of Xander, he’s done too many questionable things and he doesn’t have the excuse of being possessed so 😅
Xander's line of "You can paint this any way you want but the way I see it you want to forget all about Miss Calender's murder so you can have your boyfriend back" IS the one that he says that pisses me off the most throughout the entire series. He has made it very clear he hates Angel and he hated Angel before he lost his soul and he hated him before he even knew he was a vampire. Its all rooted in deep seated jealousy that even now he can't fully move past his feelings for Buffy. And instead of dealing with that and being understanding he lashes out and he becomes the absolute worse. For a moment Buffy is no better than Angel in his eyes and words cannot describe how pissed off it makes me. He turns his jealousy of Angel into this bizarre need to feel moral superior not just about him but to Buffy for ever having feelings for Angel instead of him. There's a lot of things I accept and forgive Xander for as he's young but in this specific case he can fuck right off. it's even worse than insensitive considering Buffy has been racked with guilt ever since Angel lost his soul and even more so after he killed Jenny. Xander is ignoring Buffy's pain and trauma of having the man she loved more than anyone else turn evil after she lost her virginity with him just so he can have his "gotcha" moment.
I think you're the first to predict that Kendra was back just to die of the reactors I've watched. It's always been my theory that Willow was possessed by someone from the clan of that originally cursed him. That one of them saw what she was trying to do and wanted to make sure it worked. And given that two members of that clan were in Sunnydale when they died, Jenny and her uncle, it was probably one of them. Probably Jenny since she had been going over that particular version of the restoration spell which seems to have been slightly different from the one that was heard in the flashback to when he was cursed.
I definitely felt for Angel at the end of his arc - in my eyes, Angel and Angelus are completely separate, and it's so tragic that he was killed by someone he loved for something he didn't remember doing. I felt worse for Buffy, though - when she cries, I cry.
I think Angel's strong drive as a person - that drive to be a brave hero - Is the drive that allows Angelus to be the most horrific among vampires. They're not completely separate as a result, but they are in terms of character, which is what you're referring to.
Angel drinking the blood of Darla from her breast is important. It signifies her as his "mother," she "Breast fed" him as a mother breast feeds their child. Notice later (or earlier in our case) that Drusilla called Angel her "daddy."
If the Watcher's Council had a way to return the soul of every vampire, they would be doing that. Returning Angel's soul grants him the option of redemption if he can live with the guilt of who he has become.
Prophetic visions don't seem to be related to witchcraft. Indeed, in this universe witchcraft can be taught, but I don't remember anyone studying visions.
i was literally thinking about this reaction being uploaded earlier - feels like i manifested it! love your thoughtful reactions and commentary, cass. much love and i hope you're good :) can't wait to watch. when you're further along, you'll look back and see these two episodes as crucial for multiple reasons. that's all i'm going to say. ;)
15:45 Angel still wears it, only he turned it in the opposite direction. I feel so bad for Angel at the end of this. I mean, I of course feel Buffy's pain, but Angel has just been stabbed and sent to hell by the woman he loves and he has no idea why. And even though I think the scene works perfect and wouldn't change it, maybe Buffy could have said something instead of telling him to close his eyes and running a sword through him. Like, very quickly, say "the world is about to be sucked into hell, the only way to stop it is to spill your blood and let this demon take you instead." I think Angel would have been willing to sacrifice himself. Also, I never understand when people believe what Spike says. He's showing how much of a hypocrite he is. He says he loves this world with people in it, but he was the one who put the Judge back together and encouraged him to burn every human, which would have left them without any "happy meals with legs", and then he walks away when Angel is about to kill Buffy, in which case, again, end of the world and he human buffet. Just saying...
I’m not sure if it’s a fan theory or something introduced in the Buffy comics but the fandom says that if Drusilla had she lived would have been a saint
I really enjoy seeing Cass go through these episodes. The verbal processing of the show, the characters and their relationships is really fun and entertaining. And it's only going to get better from here.
The turning of a vampire is Mostly just those 2 steps. The only thing is that they need to be brought nearly to death by the biting/draining of blood. So not just bite and get them to drink, but biting draining enough blood to get them near death and then getting them to drink. Which I think part of it is that the draining them nearly to death is that they are weakened enough and desperate enough to not be able to resist drinking blood.
Tbf on joice buffy and spike werent at the house that long, they probably weren't there for more than 40 mins at most. Then shes hearing buffy talk about killing people and then trying to rush off. If you heard your child talking about that kinda stuff youd probably think they were haveing a mental break
guys i swear i’ve seen wiki articles about witch trials in the 1860s, im sorry😭 i know they were much more prominent in the 1600s but thought there would still be that mentality around dru’s time🤷♀️ also all apologies that i didn’t recognize darla
There are probably still witch trials someplace today. Humanity rarely ever stops doing stupid things.
@@TheRealGSmithcheckmark Islamic countries sometimes still and Africa are the last I've heard of.
Well Darla was both way back in S1 and only in a few episodes (died in episode 7) and she also looked a bit different then.
15:05 Maybe, but it is also 100 % accurate. If it had been any other vampire Buffy would not have hesitated even for a single second. Not to mention that she had the chance to kill Angel at the end of Episode 14 and didn't do it which means that she is directly responsible for every single person Angelus killed afterwards (and that where quite a few people - basically at least 1 per episode that we know of and most likely a lot more).
@@HH-hd7nd "which means that she is directly responsible for every single person" - no, just no. That is not how things works at all, Angelous is directly responsible for those, no one else.
The orb being used as a paper weight is one of those clever callback jokes this show does that you only get on rewatches. When Jenny buys the orb the guy in the shop tells her that it is useless and most of those are sold as paper weight
It’s a big part of what makes the show so rewatchable, all the call backs you pick up that many miss the first time around.
Both Darla and Buffy telling Angel “Close your eyes” is just chef’s kiss writing.
I never noticed.
@@TheRealGSmith It's the name of their theme song.
This whole show is chef's kiss 😂
@@cedricdallaire3324 PERIOD
@@gungho1284And what a good theme it is!
"You can't just kick in the rock music after that."
How many of us have had that thought with this show?
S5E16
Angel once told Buffy what he did to Drusilla...in "Lie To Me".
“First I made her insane. Killed everyone she ever loved. Visited every mental torture on her I could devise. She eventually fled to a convent, and on the day she took her holy orders, I turned her into a demon.”
53:50 When they showed the first time Angel was re-ensouled, they _did_ show him disoriented and confused about where he was or what had happened; and the Kalderash man who was talking to him told him it would pass and he would remember everything. That whole scene was teasing how the second time would play out, where again, Angel was disoriented and confused, but he got the pointy end of the sword before his mind had a chance to clear.
Best line ever from a Buffy reactor: "Dru, just trust the process."
The argument between Buffy and Joyce is inspired by coming out conversations between parents and their kids when they find out that their kid is gay.
"Have you ever tryed not to be a slayer/ gay?"
"I dont accept that/ its nothing i choosed to be"
Its just pure gold writing.
So good that it was one of the only lines they kept for the first X-Men movie from JW's original treatment. It's when Iceman's mom asks him "Have you tried not being a mutant?"
Did you see that somewhere??
That moment made both Sarah Michelle Gellar and Buffy LGBTQ icons.
Are you sure? I never interpreted it that way. Maybe it was thought up by future Buffy watchers who interpreted it that way.
I'm not saying that the parallels aren't there. I may be wrong, but is it possible that it was just about Buffy being the Slayer?
@@ronfehr7899 I'm sure I've seen that Joss Whedon confirmed it was a deliberate metaphor.
The Judge didn't sense "weakness" on Dru and Spike - strictly speaking. He sensed traces of _humanity,_ which admittedly to a demon like the Judge made them "unclean". However, he also sensed it in the other vampire who did their research, whom the Judge burned. At the very least this forms a pattern suggesting this is the norm for vampires and Angel is the outlier.
But, taken in context, Angel had _just_ lost his soul *_and_* fed; which conceivably made him read as "clean" by the Judge's standards.
This would arguably be supported by "I Only Have Eyes for You." After being possessed by the spirit of the teacher, Angel is scrubbing himself in the fountain, saying the feeling of that humanity made him feel dirty; and decides he needed a "vile kill" to feel better. It's plausible vile acts suppress whatever lingering humanity vampires have; and for whatever reason, Angelus is motivated more than others to suppress that humanity. So he chases that relief by being extra bloodthirsty.
17:00 You skipped the best line, "It's a big rock. I can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a rock this big."
Have to disagree, the best line is 🎶"Someone wasn't worthy!"🎶 But in either case, Spike does have the best lines!
@@TheMacerica I like the "Someone wasn't worthy" line because he delivers it in the same sing-song way as "Someone's in the ceiling" from School Hard.
@@TheMacerica "Someone wasn't worthy" is the best line from Becoming pt 1, for sure.
Perhaps she does indeed have a big rock and the line was irrelevant to her.
@@TheMacerica i like "someone wasn't worthy" but the rock line is better in my opinion. It's delivered with such dedpan snark.
There’s a subtle bit of acting that I missed for years, so I point it out when I can. When Spike’s leaving in the car, there’s a moment starting @55:08 where his hand winds up in the sunlight. He pulls his hand out of the light real fast, and continues driving with his other hand in the shade. I don’t know whose decision that was (probably James, but no easy way to know, unless someone here does). Whoever it was, full marks for attention to detail.
The vampires didn't chase after Cordy, for the same reason they didn't stick around and feed off of Xander or Willow. Their Only target was to get Giles. Once the bookcase was pushed onto Willow she was no longer an obstacle. Once Xander was knocked out, he was no longer an obstacle. As soon as Cordy ran she was no obstacle and of no concern. If they all ran no one would have chased any of them (except Giles if he ran).
Expelled. Had to "kill" the love of her life after he got his soul back. Wanted for murder by the cops. Told by her mother not to come back. Giles tortured. And my favorite bit, Xander telling her that Willow said "kick his ass" - he lied, but Buffy has to believe even Willow had jumped on the "kill Angel" bandwagon.
Exactly. For Buffy she has lost everything, everyone, that made her life and slaying worth it. She thinks her mother doesnt believe her or worse, she does and hates her for it; she thinks her friends and watcher will never understand or accept her grief and confusion over Angel as they were tortured and hurt by him and Xanders false message seals that train of thought. No school. No love. Just a lot of pain, grief, loss, loneliness… no wonder she ran away. Its too much!
The way Angel reaches his hand out to Buffy even after she impaled him 😭 the look of confused beyrayal on his face 😭😭 the way Buffy cant even meet his eyes 😭😭😭
I'm fine
When Giles says he was using his Orb of Thessila as a paper weight, that is a call back to the shop keeper telling Ms. Calendar that he sells them to tourists as paper weights. It seems they are quite plentiful, but have been rendered useless because the magic to make use of them was lost to time. Until now that is.
I think the "you fall for it every singe time" line when he lured Buffy away so he could capture her friends is a reference to the start of the season when The Anointed One did the same thing and lured Buffy away to capture her friends in his plan to use them to revive the Master
Buffy wasn't concerned with forgiving Angel, she was concerned with forgiving herself.
49:45 Never forget Spike is a vampire. He has more human characteristics than Angelus, but he's still a vampire
I think this is an important point. People who downplay how evil he was are undercutting how exceptional his changes were.
Re Whistler and his purpose: If you go back and review what he says, he's pretty direct (or at least as direct as a wisecracking mysterious messenger can be) about who he is and what he's doing. He tells Angel, and Buffy, that he's been sent to balance the scales between good and evil, and that Angel needs to play a part in it. And though he's a demon, he tells Angel that not all demons are dedicated to the destruction of life, so we can assume that whoever sent him (that, admittedly, is a bit vague) wants to preserve life, so they are on the side of good.
Yep and if you've seen the rest of the whole series you know what his role is ultimately meant to be
I am and have always been 1500000% TeamBuffy when it comes to this show. So, at the end, I was devastated when she had to kill Angel, because she was. Because she's now killed him twice. And I feel that's why she ran away. She feels like Jenny died because of her, that Kendra died because of her, that she's responsible for Willow ending up in the hospital, Giles being tortured for hours on end, for all of it. Buffy doesn't think Angel is to blame for Jenny's death. She blames herself.
Its very much like Buffy to shoulder the blame for when things go wrong. I feel so bad for her.
Buffy brings death to all those around her. In a way.
To me, this has always been the most heartbreaking season finale of Buffy. She was forced to take the life of the man she loves, had a fierce argument with her mother, and carries the weight of guilt over Jenny and Kendra's deaths.
The memory loss when Angel is re-ensouled by Willow is referenced in the previous episode as well. Angel says “Where am I?” and the Romani man replies “You don’t remember. Everything you have done for the past 100 years. In a moment you will.”
When Kendra shows up she doesn’t look quite the same. She’s dressed just like Buffy. It’s a nice detail that is usually overlooked.
The first interaction between Angel and Buffy was in S1E1 - he was following her down an alley, she did a handstand on a pole above the alleyway and swung down behind him and knocked him down.
Objectively speaking, an Ensouled Angel saves lives on a regular basis so that's the only choice. He's actively out there fighting evil.
"I don't know what kind of season finales the show is going to have"
me: heavy breathing
I think the shopkeeper told Jenny people use the spheres as paperweights in the episode when she got hers.
"Remember that one time..." In band camp?
Sometimes slo-mo is for dramatic effect. Others are to cover for slow runners. This could be for both.
"Have another drink mom!" this is a subtle hint that Buffy's mom is a bit of a lush. She handles the stresses of Sunnydale by drinking. Joyce may not be a "bad" drunk, but she must get drunk, or at least overdrink enough that Buffy has picked up on it.
I was the same age as Buffy when I saw this. Her sacrifice was so heroic and this episode has stayed with me.
LOVE your reacts! I hope you enjoy this series as much I do. Absolutely a FANTASTIC series to watch and analyze!
Really nice reaction. Becoming is definitely when Buffy the show is firing on all cylinders. One of the things about Dru and her powers is that she and Buffy seem to have duelling prophetic dreams. Dru dreamt Angel would be at her party during Innocence and Surprise. Angel wanted to torture Buffy the way he tortured Dru, etc.
Great reaction as always, and very observant about some of the smaller points!
I think you missed two things though: they emphasized that when Angel fist gets his soul returned to him (even the first time the Gypsies cursed him), he couldn’t remember what happened without his soul at first… It takes a little while for him to remember, and then he suffers from it. That’s why he was so confused when he got his soul back.
And also, it was much worse than Buffy killing her first love… she sent him to hell! This was also explained by Whistler… that when the demon awoke, stabbing the person who woke him would end it so the entire world would not be swallowed physically into hell, but the person who opened the portal would be sucked into hell, which you saw happen right as the portal closed. And since Angel is a vampire, being stabbed by a metal sword hurts him, but it doesn’t kill him. He was swallowed into hell to suffer for eternity, and Buffy knows she’s done that to the person she loves. Extremely tragic.
If you didnt notice, the vampire who turned Angel was Darla, the blonde vampire girl from season 1
The math of kill/restore angel is really simple to me: if you restore Angel, then Buffy doesn't have to risk her life in an extra-traumatising fight.
There’s a philosophical conversation happening in these two episodes of Being vs. Becoming that’s only become noticeable to me as a grad student watching your reaction. It’s an existential and post war phenomena where more people push back against the idea of innate essence that people are inherently good or bad or witches or dammed or vampire etc. Satre and other existentialists argue that if essence is less of a driving force than existence, aka being is less important than the choices of becoming (active version of being) then at the core we are nothing or close to nothing and the most important thing are our actions and choices. Yes this episode seems to say that essence is real aka angel’s soul, buffy saying to angel famously that what’s left without all of her friends etc what she has is “me”. But when Buffy and the whole gang experience a lot of tragedy, there’s that whole narration at the end of the first part that’s like “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” Buffy and the gang face this tragedy head on and defy the helplessness in face of tragedy. Buffy chooses to name her identity, she chooses to walk out her door after what her mom says, she doesn’t just let the police take her, she chooses to have that tender moment with angel yet sacrifice his life and her love in acknowledging angel’s actions as irreversible. It’s really poetic that this show always reveals new layers when you watch it again. I’m contemplating the active role of becoming while also acknowledging the extent to which we may have inherent essence as well. Really enjoyed this reaction ❤️
Snyder was never a “heehee-haha” type of character. He was always meant to be an antagonist to not just our main characters, but to the students overall. Just because some of his line deliveries are funny doesn’t mean he was a character we were ever supposed to “like” or feel fond of. Snyder has always wanted Buffy out of the school because he thought of her as a troublemaker. Snyder is meant to represent “the establishment” or “the man” so to speak.
I always considered him evil. He has previously shown disrespect for the police.
I doubt the authorities want an incredibly powerful young woman who is not under their absolute control doing anything.
They don’t want to work with her, they want her out of the picture.
@@Richard_Ashton You're just prejudiced because he's a ferengi!
@@Ironoclasty How can I be prejudiced just because I’ve already made up my mind?
I like him, am fond of him, and think he’s hilarious. Just because he’s an antagonist doesn’t mean he’s a supervillain 😂
@@Richard_Ashton Touche' Well played, sir!
I feel like with Buffy, the show treats their one offs, campy stand alones, as part of the process, like with a good meal, you might want to cleanse your palate before dessert, and by doing so, it changes they way you experience the following episode or story, and when done well, it is intentional and perfect
I remember when I saw your reaction to School Hard I thought you might have missed a significant bit and your confusion over Snyder affirms it. His reaction to the vampires attacking the school and discussion with the person from the mayor's office over whether they can blame it on PCP, plus the look of worry when he's told the mayor wants to talk to him... he's definitely known all along
That was a detective working for the police department, but the police department is fully complicit with the mayor, so it's a minor distinction.
You need to watch the end credits atvthe end of this episode. The little "arrgh urgh" guy.
When buffy is on the bus leaving Sunnydale, the sign says "Now Leaving Sunnydale, Come Back Soon." They had just learned that the show had been picked up for a 3rd season, so they added that to let the fans know there would be another season. Because nothing had been announced at that point.
The trap Angel uses to lure Buffy away from her friends is a fantastic call back to the 1st episode of the season. "And you fall for it every time!"
We have to consider television censorship when determining the severity of wounds. It would be more obvious if there was arterial blood squirting from the wound and spraying everywhere, but it’s TV in the 90’s and kids may be watching. So we have to work with a fatal neck scratch.
Personally, I would have preferred a blood pack squeezed between the fingers when she put her hand to her throat to make it a little more clear. It doesn’t have to be accurately graphic. But it’s devastating enough once it’s clear what was supposed to be going on. So it works as is, I think.
Love your new background!
I have been looking forward to these 2
Episodes-
Season 2 has such a great arc.
I also love the title
Becoming part 1 and 2
I think it is summed up when angelus says to Buffy about having no family, no friends- take all that away what do you have? And she takes that moment of inner strength and says ME… it just gets me!
I also feel Joyce reacted horribly to buffys reveal but she was just in shock- I think when she reads the letter you can see how upset she is.
Also another line that always gets me- Dru as a highly religious young girl- “I don’t want to be an evil thing--“ angelus knew how to get to the core of what destroys a person
Dru’s line
Also I remember being so upset and confused and angel being re-ensouled and dying- I was a few years behind when it came out when I watched it so I knew there was a show Angel- I got so confused than I remembered like you did that there is 100s of years of angels history - I remember really wanting to know how that show was gonna work/ be….
Oh bless. You have so much more faith in Buffy about her relationship with Angel.
I just finished watching your reaction and I really liked a lot of the points you brought up. Telling Drew "to trust the process" actually made me laugh out loud.
I really like the metaphor behind this episode in this season. Besides the metaphors of sex and responsibility of sex. I read that angel is also a metaphor for alcoholism. Buffy being in love with him and wanting the best for him even though he's an alcoholic and has issues. I like that the metaphor is you can choose to be your own person and have choice or be stuck in hell or this relationship. I wish more shows and movies would say it's okay to be in love with someone but also do the healthy thing for yourself and leave that person too.
As usual, you ask so many good questions, and (as usual) we can't really answer most of them without being spoilery. 😶But one that feels fairly safe is you speculating about just who pre-vampire Drusilla was. At the time this was airing, some of my online friends and I speculated that perhaps Dru was a potential Slayer. It's been established that Slayers have prophetic dreams (Buffy sometimes has them). We used to look for clues that showed parallels between Dru and Buffy. The only one I can remember now is how, in the "Surprise" episode, Dru is having a party and getting gifts at the same time as Buffy. Nothing further was ever revealed about it, but that doesn't mean we were wrong.
You should always be a bit scared of a season finale of Buffy.
Also, always mourning Jenny, Kendra…. & other characters
Also also. You assume all demons are bad… but demons just have a different sense of morality, not all demons seek the destruction of our world / humanity.
I feel like you should watch Warrior Nun, which is very Buffy-esque (but also very queer with more Catholicism).
Aaaannd we're back! We have arrived to the end of season 2 😮 Cant wait for your reactions moving forward
This finale is perfection, my heart breaks everytime Buffy has to kill angel with his soul intact. Plus all the angel backstory is great
I love the Whistler voiceover. It seems like a lot of fans don't like him, but for me he's the perfect narrator
The Cordelia thing was not suspicious. I would agree with whatever the comment was mentioned at the beginning about overanalyzing things. Like yeah, you're "watching for the first time" - but while the show may be clever, it's not some grand mystery where every sentence should be picked apart and analyzed like a Dan Brown novel. Especially if you mishear or misinterpret what someone says. There's no prize for figuring things out before the show tells you.
Essentially, Cordelia said she was so scare she didn't notice no one was chasing her. She didn't say anything about not being important enough to be chased.
There doesn't need to be any greater meaning inferred from that, because all it was meant to communicate was just how scare she was; and that she was actually embarrassed that, unlike the others who stayed and fought, she was so preoccupied with her own survival, she drove through almost three counties before realizing her fear was unjustified. By reading more into that, you miss the part where it's kind of a humanizing moment for Cordelia, because she's actually admitted disappointment in herself for not being braver.
And it's not just necessarily you; it's any easy rabbit hole to fall down, especially for a reactor. Alley Box picked up on a word said by a character at the start of one season and spent like a quarter of the season trying to figure out how the plot was connecting back to that word, when it was just a word and had nothing to do anything.
Are there Easter Eggs that potentially have double meanings you may or may not pick-up on until they payoff later? I, nor hopefully anyone else will ever tell, because the point of watching is to find out, and react to what's happening. There _might_ be things you can reasonably pick-up and other things you may never guess until it's revealed. There may be layers fans who have been watching for 20 years have only just picked up through re-watches or discussion. Theories are fine to a point, but if you try out-thinking the show and stay ten steps ahead of it, you're not in the moment; and that's when you miss what's actually happening.
I like how you put that. I'm mostly here to see the actual reactions, not analyses, but Cass does get some things SPOT ON and that's fun to see, and then other things are BIG YIKIES to know she's going to regret wishing for something when it finally comes. 😁 And that's a lot of fun too.
@@JhadeSagrav Honestly, I gave up watching Cass' reactions when she started season 4 but wasn't reacting to Angel (on TH-cam). I never quite got into her reactions much; in part because of the over-analysis, but also, I'm not entirely convinced she hadn't seen the show before. Like, the she makes these random predictions are are _way_ too accurate; and is either she's a really good guesser, clairvoyant or seen the show. And yeah, she whiffs on some of the predictions, but to such a wild degree that it reads to me more like she's just trying to cover her bases and not appear to be right too often. I could be wrong. There's another Buffy reactor I started watching around the same time I'm a little suspicious of too. Who knows?
🤷♂
I'm so excited!!!
I really, really enjoy ur reactions and I can't wait to see what u think of future seasons :D
This explains that Drusilla was born with the visions. She either would have been executed for being a witch, or sent away to an insane asylum, which were little more than dungeons for early death back then. According to Lie To Me, she was about to become a nun when Angel turned her. But that was after she lost her whole family.
Whistler was a messenger demon, sent by some higher powers to recruit Angel into helping Buffy. But also to learn how to be more like her in fighting evil, which was supposed to include stopping Acathla. The point being he's supposed to have a destiny to do more that sit around back alleys, eating rats. They were actually finalizing plans for the spin-off at this point.
Since Angel didn't even remember what happened, it shows that Angel's soul is not in the driver's seat when the demon takes over. But he'll eventually remember as he can access all those memories stored in his brain.
This is where Willow becomes a real witch. Another "becoming" for the list.
I'm pretty sure Snyder knew Buffy was the slayer and he's working for the mayor. And definitely some of the cops are in on it too.
Did you miss the grr arrgh monster at the end of the credits? You're supposed to watch it in this one.
"The only reason we put more thought into it for Angel is we know him." I mean, exactly. If some weird thing happened to someone I loved that turned them into a monster (like a brain tumor) but I could bring the original person back without them dying (like surgery), then yes. It's easy for Xander to say kill Angel because Xander never liked him. Also, it seems like you're still misunderstanding the ghost possession episode (unless this commentary was made prior to posting the reaction vid) because it was about Buffy forgiving herself for what she perceived was her fault, not about forgiving Angel.
Did miss or accidentally skip over it, but was there no commentary on Xander not telling Buffy that Willow was going to attempt the spell again? A heads up but it's one of the The Biggest controversy about Xander in the show's existence, so it is big lore.
So why don’t we do the same for every other vampire? There are a number who were known to Buffy previously and they are always to be killed.
While I can’t fault him for feeling the way he does and Xander is still a teenager, it was very selfish of him and did infuriate me
Especially cuz it’s most likely that he was doing it cuz of his own personal dislike of Angel in the first place rather then for the sake of saving the world
Go back to 1:47. She does address the ghost possession episode “I Only Have Eyes for You”. She got it after reading comments from that post. But yeah, it looks like she glossed over Xander’s “Big Lie” in the finale- thank you for pointing it out!
Becoming part 1 was a great lead into the brilliant S2 finale Becoming part 2. So much in this episode to digest. The loss of Kendra, Angel's back story being turned by Darla, and we also see Drusilla being tormented by Angelus in The Confessional. At least the floppy disk has been found, and Willow can now work her magic. We now have the climax to come of the brilliant last episode. I think you can now really see how this show engrosses all reactors that enter The Buffyverse! and, S3 is a near flawless Season, even better than this!
Becoming part 2 was a terrific ending to S2 setting up the brilliant S3. Here we see Buffy faced with the ultimate heart breaking choice to kill her lover or save the world. We of course know she will make the right choice. Willow comes through at the end, but Buffy has to go through with the final act. So poignant at the end when from afar Buffy sees her friends but decides to leave Sunnydale, Joyce too is so regretful as she knows Buffy is now gone after their terrible row, all against the backdrop of Sarah McLachlan's beautiful haunting ballad Full Of Grace. I think we can see you are now hooked on the show, as are all reactors that enter 'The Buffyverse' and it only gets better. You will love S3 it's incredible!
That last episode was the first one I saw when I was a kid and even without most context I was DEVASTATED.
"are they going to try and scar me and traumatize me?" The answer to that question will always be yes for Buffy writers, lol.
It’s worthwhile noting that restoring a soul might not be dark / black magic.
Fantastic reaction. All that happened here, and all that you speculated on, just makes me hope that you're able to start Season 3 soon :D
Also, for whatever it's worth -- your frequent pauses to discuss your thoughts about what's happening, or what might happen next, is what makes you one of my very favorite Buffy reactors. You mentioned people giving you grief about "your assumptions", and that's absolutely ridiculous. Your ideas and speculations are excellent, even when you're off about where things might be going. You're thoughtful and insightful and those kinds of moments are exactly why I watch.
This. So much this.
The show showed its real potential this season with darker tones, despite some filler episodes. Buffy breaking down & crushing the Master's bones., Jenny and Kendra's deaths, Drusilla's dark lunacy, the return of Angelus, Buffy leaving home. All great moments throughout the season spreead between the ususal comedy and snappy dialogue.
What the show wanted to tell you about Xander hearing Willow say "Oz" was that he was momentarily surlrised, but then stepped aside immediately. When it mattered, he wasn't jealous. Because he's really much better than his sporadic adolescent rants suggest.
I always thought that Jennifer Calendar's spirit had been waiting for somebody to pick up the ritual and run with it.
Great reactions. Your theories are always interesting. Looking forward to Season 3.
Okay. About the Joyce bit though. You've gotta understand when Joyce tells Buffy, "If you walk out that door, don't even think about coming back", she isn't actively trying to get Buffy to leave forever. She's desperately trying (albeit, pretty poorly) to stop her from leaving. It's a classic parental idle threat that Joyce is making under a crazy amount of psychological stress. The police have said Buffy's been implicated in a murder, that several of her closest friends (whom Joyce herself cares about) are seriously injured, and Buffy herself has gone missing.
Since then, Joyce has been panic-driving around Sunnydale only to find Buffy's back home with some guy she doesn't (immediately) recognize. For Joyce, Buffy's behavior seems bizarre. The police are after her, Willow is in the hospital, and someone has been murdered, but Buffy seems pretty chill. That is, until a gangster on PCP jumps out of some petunias and Buffy instantly vaporizes him with a quick mortal chest wound. And while to Buffy (and to us) this is just another night in Sunnydale, for Joyce, her evening of blind panic has just turned into a spontaneous existential crisis.
As a result of her mind now shattering into a thousand shrieking pieces, Joyce resorts to the only coping mechanism she has ever known (denial), but this time she needs a cheeky drink or three just to get there. During which, she realises the strange man with her daughter is actually the guy who tried to slaughter them both on parent-teacher night a couple weeks ago.
Nothing Buffy says makes any sense (because Buffy is in save-the-world mode, and Joyce has literally zero points of reference for anything that's happening) so, to Joyce, it sounds like Buffy is have some kind of a mental breakdown (which, thanks to Joyce's own mental breakdown, is an easier reality for her to accept than the existence of demons and the possibility that her daughter is some kind of vampire-vigilante), and when Joyce desperately seeks some kind of sound explanation for all the insanity, Buffy just tells her to "have another drink" (which not only breaks the camel's back; it also busts his kneecaps, and comes back later for his kids). So Joyce finally snaps. (Which, frankly, isn't just understandable. It's basically obligatory. You'd have to be a robot Dalai Lama on xanax to keep it chill at this point). And when she frantically tries to prevent Buffy from leaving, Buffy responds with a quick demonstration of how Slayer strength works and shoves her into the kitchen counter. With the amount of batshit crazy Joyce has now experienced, her only three options are really "standard rage", "inconsolable scream-crying" or "catatonic fugue"; so she goes with the first.
So yeah, Joyce 100% said the wrong thing, but how many people out there would really handle it any better? And, more importantly, we see that Joyce immediately regrets her actions. She didn't mean it; she just snapped in a moment of panic, pain, and exasperation. So let's not judge Joyce too harshly; she's human and made a mistake. If you've ever said something in anger to a loved one that you instantly regretted (especially without the involvement of homicide suspicions and existential crises concerning the supernatural), spare a little love for Joyce. She's having an unusual evening.
But otherwise, hey, judge away - and sorry about your porch, that's gotta be a super weird sweep. Like, do you even keep the broom after that?
Your. Freaking. Metaphors. Bro. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for this literary masterpiece.😂😂😂
I don’t know if anyone told you yet there was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) movie. A different actor played Buffy the lore is slightly different, but the main backstory is there about how she became a slayer in L.A.
If you can’t forgive, can you expect to ever be forgiven?
I definitely felt for Angel & also felt horrible for Buffy at the end of this season.
love this!! looking foward to you season 3 reactions ❤
Angel is a vampire. When vampires are killed, they turn to dust.
Angel was stabbed by steel, not wood, and not in the heart.
Therefore, Angel was not killed - just sucked into hell.
Awesome Post, Cass. I have to admit, I posted a comment earlier explaining how Buffy wasn't responsible for Angel loosing his Soul, or getting it back, and then my Coffee kicked in and woke me up. When he lost his Soul AFTER Him and Buffy did the,,, Nasty., LOL. I did delete it, but I'm sure that someone saw it. So, I admit that I was a fool and made a foolish AND WRONG comment. I admit that. Forgive me, please. LMAO! Season 2 was the season that made "INPROVEMENTS" sound even better than the first time they said it. IMO, that was Good, getting Better. Looking forward to Season 3. GREAT Post, Cass. 🤗
I like the little callback to the movie with her first watcher that died.
Fantastic - I was about to go to bed - but definitely going to watch this instead. Hope you enjoy it - it's one of the best season finales of the series - and such a step from S1.
There’s a lot I projected as a queer person coming out onto buffy coming out as a vampire slayer and Joyce saying things like “have you ever tried not being a slayer”, “it’s because you didn’t have a strong father figure isn’t it” and ultimately kicking her out. I think it was somewhat intentional to make it similar to the weight of a teenager or person taking ownership of who they are even at their parents disapproval.
Joyce wasn’t actually trying to end the conversation with the “Don’t even think about coming back” comment, that was her trying to get Buffy to stay and talk to her properly, rather than just giving her the brush off and expecting her to immediately come to terms with it.
Re the debate around restoring Angel's soul: For me it has nothing to do with forgiveness vs. not forgiving, because it's straightforwardly clear that ensouled Angel would *never* have allowed himself to do the things he did while soulless, nor was it ever a choice he made to lose his soul. The entire situation was something that happened *to* him against his will, so to me it's a no brainer that of course if there's the opportunity to restore his soul that's what they should do.
Now, with that said, Xander would have absolutely had a point if they still had no idea about the spell and Buffy was still holding off on killing Angel despite there being no tangible hope that his soul could be restored. If that was the case, then absolutely, whether it was Angel's fault or not, the situation was that he needed to be stopped and if there was no way to restore his soul then killing him was the only option. But the fact that he was making this argument specifically at the moment it WAS clear there was another option to try is what makes no sense. Because like... of course, now that they found the spell that very well could work, why would they not try that first? They had it there and ready to be tried, and if it didn't work, then it's right back to the killing Angel plan which Buffy was fully prepared to go through with. But meanwhile, if it did work, it's not just morally better, but practically speaking, ensouled Angel is a massive asset in the fight for good! There is everything to gain from trying the spell first before jumping right to killing him, and very little to lose. So Xander was just purely coming from a place of hatred for Angel; nothing to do with a logical conclusion for peoples' safety. Sure the world would be safer without Angel altogether than with him still existing and soulless, but it would be safEST with him in it and ensouled again.
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Considering the near apocalypse in Season 3 and the events of his own spin off show, the world was definitely better with Angel in it there to also fight the evil, and he played a part in the season 3 finale of course with fighting alongside everyone
This is the most Spider-Man that Buffy gets. I love it.
I liked your thought about Cordy potentially being a vampire!
Oh, Cass! you are going to luuuuuurve Season 3
and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and comics...
When Jenny bought her orb of Thessala, remember that the guy who sold it said he mostly sold them as paperweights.
Re: Buffy's fashion change. It's been said a few times that, at her old school, she was basically Cordelia so it kind of makes sense that she would be more stereotypically feminine/"preppy."
Oh, and one more thing. When our TV first aired that show, they only bought two seasons. So for several years I was sure this is the series finale. Yeah.
It is never about "forgiveness." It is about "redemption."
Such an uplifting and optimistic two-parter.
I love that you, like me, quickly became a Spike girly.
Been looking forward to this reaction! ✨ Xander not passing on the message to Buffy that Willow's doing the spell is my 13th reason
Or maybe Buffy doesn't live long enough to save the world if she's holding back in a fight she comes close to losing anyway. Willow thought she would have time to stall. Xander thought she shouldn't be distracted by a maybe with the entire world on the line. He was wrong about not attempting the spell earlier, they lose nothing by trying and maybe take the most dangerous piece off the board, but it is less clear here.
@@mintyfresh3533 If I may say, as someone who was never a big fan of Angel to begin with, I really don't even have issues with Xander wanting him gone rather than cured (which, btw, is it a cure? Because isn't it supposed to be a curse?). The dude killed Jenny, and honestly if there's one thing I don't like is how quickly the fanbase just forgets about that. Also, Angel and Angelus aren't really two separate entity, the only difference between the two is that one has a conscience and the other doesn't. That's literally why the spell works as a curse; because the things Angelus did, that's also the things Angel did.
@@ChevaliersEmeraudeDo people also forget BBB where Angel was seconds away from killing Xander until Dru stepped in?
@@ChevaliersEmeraude Every single description in the show of what vampires are describes them as two separate beings. Even from the very first time they have this kind of talk RE: Jesse "You aren't looking at your friend, you're looking at the thing that killed him." Vamps are demons living in a human body. Angel is a human sharing his body with a demon who is constrained by his soul. They share knowledge and even some personality traits with the body's original owner, but it's made abundantly clear that in no uncertain terms Vampires and the humans they took over are absolutely two different people.
Spoilers
This is made even more explicit as the series goes on. When Angel get body swapped in Carpe Noctem, his body keeps the demon, he doesn't take it with him. Darla's epiphany about being human before Dru turns her, even Spike in Lies My Parents told me realizes he wasn't talking to his mother, and Souled!Spike is able to understand that he needs to grow as a person before seeing Buffy instead of forcing himself on her repeatedly, up to the point of SA.
@@ChevaliersEmeraude I have to second what @jackmars931 said- it’s made very clear that Angel and Angelus are not the same being, it’s the equivalent of being possessed by a demon, of course they should try and cure him before killing him like they’d do for any of the scoobies, he’s their friend (albeit not Xander’s, he’s hated him from the start out of petty jealousy)
I will never be a fan of Xander, he’s done too many questionable things and he doesn’t have the excuse of being possessed so 😅
Xander's line of "You can paint this any way you want but the way I see it you want to forget all about Miss Calender's murder so you can have your boyfriend back" IS the one that he says that pisses me off the most throughout the entire series. He has made it very clear he hates Angel and he hated Angel before he lost his soul and he hated him before he even knew he was a vampire. Its all rooted in deep seated jealousy that even now he can't fully move past his feelings for Buffy. And instead of dealing with that and being understanding he lashes out and he becomes the absolute worse. For a moment Buffy is no better than Angel in his eyes and words cannot describe how pissed off it makes me. He turns his jealousy of Angel into this bizarre need to feel moral superior not just about him but to Buffy for ever having feelings for Angel instead of him.
There's a lot of things I accept and forgive Xander for as he's young but in this specific case he can fuck right off. it's even worse than insensitive considering Buffy has been racked with guilt ever since Angel lost his soul and even more so after he killed Jenny. Xander is ignoring Buffy's pain and trauma of having the man she loved more than anyone else turn evil after she lost her virginity with him just so he can have his "gotcha" moment.
I think you're the first to predict that Kendra was back just to die of the reactors I've watched.
It's always been my theory that Willow was possessed by someone from the clan of that originally cursed him. That one of them saw what she was trying to do and wanted to make sure it worked. And given that two members of that clan were in Sunnydale when they died, Jenny and her uncle, it was probably one of them. Probably Jenny since she had been going over that particular version of the restoration spell which seems to have been slightly different from the one that was heard in the flashback to when he was cursed.
Just realized how much foreshadowing there is in that final episode, won't mention what because spoilers but damn.
I definitely felt for Angel at the end of his arc - in my eyes, Angel and Angelus are completely separate, and it's so tragic that he was killed by someone he loved for something he didn't remember doing. I felt worse for Buffy, though - when she cries, I cry.
I think Angel's strong drive as a person - that drive to be a brave hero - Is the drive that allows Angelus to be the most horrific among vampires. They're not completely separate as a result, but they are in terms of character, which is what you're referring to.
Angel drinking the blood of Darla from her breast is important. It signifies her as his "mother," she "Breast fed" him as a mother breast feeds their child. Notice later (or earlier in our case) that Drusilla called Angel her "daddy."
If the Watcher's Council had a way to return the soul of every vampire, they would be doing that. Returning Angel's soul grants him the option of redemption if he can live with the guilt of who he has become.
Some really excellent new characters this season: Spike and Druscilla, Kendra, Oz, and evil Angel!
I can't ever ever ever ever imagine being a parent.
9:15 Wtichunts in 1860? That seems very late I was under the impression they died out in the 1750s.
I believe they still happen today, although of course not in well-developed countries.
In The Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in government detention centers in March 2009.
I thought Drusilla was a Slayer in waiting.
Prophetic visions don't seem to be related to witchcraft. Indeed, in this universe witchcraft can be taught, but I don't remember anyone studying visions.
i was literally thinking about this reaction being uploaded earlier - feels like i manifested it! love your thoughtful reactions and commentary, cass. much love and i hope you're good :) can't wait to watch.
when you're further along, you'll look back and see these two episodes as crucial for multiple reasons. that's all i'm going to say. ;)
15:45 Angel still wears it, only he turned it in the opposite direction.
I feel so bad for Angel at the end of this. I mean, I of course feel Buffy's pain, but Angel has just been stabbed and sent to hell by the woman he loves and he has no idea why. And even though I think the scene works perfect and wouldn't change it, maybe Buffy could have said something instead of telling him to close his eyes and running a sword through him. Like, very quickly, say "the world is about to be sucked into hell, the only way to stop it is to spill your blood and let this demon take you instead." I think Angel would have been willing to sacrifice himself.
Also, I never understand when people believe what Spike says. He's showing how much of a hypocrite he is. He says he loves this world with people in it, but he was the one who put the Judge back together and encouraged him to burn every human, which would have left them without any "happy meals with legs", and then he walks away when Angel is about to kill Buffy, in which case, again, end of the world and he human buffet. Just saying...
I’m not sure if it’s a fan theory or something introduced in the Buffy comics but the fandom says that if Drusilla had she lived would have been a saint
I really enjoy seeing Cass go through these episodes. The verbal processing of the show, the characters and their relationships is really fun and entertaining. And it's only going to get better from here.
The turning of a vampire is Mostly just those 2 steps. The only thing is that they need to be brought nearly to death by the biting/draining of blood. So not just bite and get them to drink, but biting draining enough blood to get them near death and then getting them to drink. Which I think part of it is that the draining them nearly to death is that they are weakened enough and desperate enough to not be able to resist drinking blood.
Tbf on joice buffy and spike werent at the house that long, they probably weren't there for more than 40 mins at most. Then shes hearing buffy talk about killing people and then trying to rush off. If you heard your child talking about that kinda stuff youd probably think they were haveing a mental break
I’ve lost count how many times I’ve said “poor Buffy” watching Buffy.