S02.E17: Passion

[Halting Hex]

Quote

JOYCE (about Buffy's surrendering her virginity):  I just thought that you would have shown better judgment.

BUFFY'S LOOK: Uh, Mom, which of us was boinking the serial-killing robot, again?

Mark Ward's friend Ashley says he worried for Jenny because the music in the final Jenny/Giles conversation was too hopeful, and he thought it was a set-up.  Mark says he knew Jenny was doomed because the chase went on too long…if someone was going to rescue her, the show wouldn't spend all that time on the misdirect.

I'm ineligible for this discussion (I became a regular viewer during S3, so I knew that Jenny was dead before I ever saw this episode), but I think the giveaway was that there's no commercial break.  Normally it's "person in danger", then we cut to commercial while we're scared and worried, and then Buffy shows up to save them.  (Or whatever.)  Here, the fact that we didn't pause on the scare meant the climax was still to come…which was bad news for Jenny.

I noticed that when Angel throws Buffy off of the catwalk, he tosses her right next to the unconscious Giles.  Which seems a bit too helpful of him…although I suppose you could say that helping her make the "pursue Angel or save Giles?" decision benefits him as well.  (A pity Buffy didn't have the censer from WML2 or something similar, since then she was able to take out the fleeing Spike from a distance and still save Angel, and I'm sure she would have liked that sort of option here, too.)

Edited April 19, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Gigi43]

Been watching some episodes recently and the older I get the less I like this episode because of a few issues that grow in irritating me as time goes on:

 

Angelus leaving the picture of Buffy in her room. I've always assumed the implication was he sketched it as he watched her sleep. Maybe he left the sketch as she patrolled, which if I've been wrong ignore the next part. How stupid is Buffy to leave her window unlocked while she sleeps? How light of a sleeper is she? If you know your boyfriend is a soulless monster, you don't protect your doors and windows more?

 

Buffy not going outside when Angelus was talking to Joyce. Maybe she didn't realize he was out there until Joyce came in but Buffy also didn't seem surprised as Joyce opened the door. Angelus could have snapped Joyce's neck instead of standing there (though it seemed Angelus was only into killing one person Buffy almost cared about--- in retrospect of both Buffy and Angel, Angelus lost some his edge with the Sunnydale run when you later find out

Spoiler

what he murdered Dru's family and turned her just to make her feel tormented forever and of course and Holtz's family, for example, leaving Buffy sketches of her mother and murdering her teacher was hardly the worst he was capable of--- as Buffy seemed to imply in Amends. Of course Angelus in Angel was all talk, and that arc was saved by the Faith episodes. Maybe Angelus just wasn't all that without Darla encouraging him.

) 

 

Angelus could have easily gone to Joyce's job or killed her in the driveway another night after that if he wanted too, there was too much 'things are safe for Joyce' now just because of the invite being revoked. The fact that Buffy let Angelus live through the episode

Spoiler

for months

after establishing a threat to her mother that he could still carry out and killing someone in the outter part of the inner circle isn't a great reflection on her slayer skills or how much she cares about everyone else vs. Angel (and I like Angel as a character on Angel, but not the relationship and/ that he came before everyone else including her mother.) 

Joyce not being even more concerned about Angel(us) and asking if Buffy lead him on. Liam was turned in his 20s, so he's supposed to look in his 20s, Joyce knew in Angel by looking at him not to buy he was a 'student' (she should have been more concerned then when she came home to find a man with her then 16yr old without her knowing.) So a man harasses her daughter, had sex with her (statutory) and she first thought was to ask if Buffy lead him on? It seemed their talk ended any concerns Joyce had

Spoiler

she never expresses concern the rest of the season there's a grown man obsessed with Buffy. Does she think Angel(us) was actually scared off by Joyce saying to leave them alone? Was that part of her selective memory loss? 

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Gigi43

[Halting Hex]

I've always fanwanked that Buffy's spider-sense protects her from sudden attacks.  I know Kendra makes a noise just before she attacks Buffy in WML1, but Buffy doesn't wake up from the noise, she reacts to the axe.  And Angel's not interested in close combat, which might lead to staking;  since vampires are immortal, you have to be really careful with the risk/reward calculations, I've always felt.  HIs "break her down, Drusilla 2.0" campaign makes more sense, as the example of Spike being "a wreck" shows, as Angel argues in Innocence.

I do agree that Buffy is wayyyy too unruffled by Angel's proximity to Joyce, but maybe she's only bluffing to sell the "changed the locks" burn?

Spoiler

Yes, Angel had further opportunities to come after Joyce, but once Buffy didn't break here and burns his house down and all, he abandons the "psychological warfare" idea and just tries to kill her directly.  When that approach gets him possessed and "violated" in IOHEFY, he gives up on Buffy altogether and decides to enjoy the good things in life:  murder, sex with Drusilla, plotting the end of human society ("destroying the world"), same as any other good Aurelian.  Ironic that it was Buffy who said "give me time" when it's Angel who evolves over the course of the arc.

 

[Halting Hex]

One reactor I haven't been able to much get into is an English fellow who bills himself as "Cult TV Sofa", his hook being that he gives his reactions whilst lying sideways on his couch, which strikes me as a touch twee.  I mean, this episode especially, you might wish to be on (the edge of) your seat, I'd think.

But I will give him credit for being detail-oriented;  he's the one who told me about how romantically hopeful a song O Soave Fanicuilia is in the context of La Boheme, thus making it into "music to find your beloved's corpse by" even more cruelly ironic. 

And when Jenny was running and couldn't get that double-door open, he was shocked.  "That's a fire door!  It's supposed to open, that's the point!"  Others have just assumed the door was locked after hours, but, er, Sofa Dude (I haven't watched enough to catch his name) is right;  even if fire doors are locked from outside, they're supposed to always open from inside, so people know which door to use, in an emergency. 

Quote

This self-same door will give the gang trouble as they try to escape after the failure of the Magnus Tripod spell in I Only Have Eyes for You, so I guess it's the Hellmouth at work or something?  Wow, I didn't know the school had a cursed door, of all things.

I'd accuse Angel of playing with a loaded deck, but there's no reason he wouldn't be able to chase Jenny down on the quad, so I guess it doesn't make much difference. But still.

And, in what is apparently an ongoing complaint, Sofa Dude noted that the dinner scene features Joyce setting a ridiculously full table, considering it's just for her and Buffy.  "That's a whole chicken!"  He has backup here; alley box  was all "look at those slices of bread", and she's not wrong;  there are about a half-dozen of them.  Was Joyce really expecting Buffy to inhale most of a loaf of that pumpernickel (or whatever it is)?  A bit odd, given that Joyce not only jokes about how little Buffy eats (Prophecy Girl), but that we just had an episode where the plot turns on Buffy's decision to eat explicitly none of Ted's cooking.

I've heard of overcompensation, but sheesh. 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

Sorry, that's meant to be a spoiler in the above post.  I didn't realize I'd used "quote" by mistake, and now my edit button is gone.  My bad.

*****************

Not from the episode:

Quote

JOYCE:  Oh, Buffy!  It's so terrible what happened to that poor Ms. Calendar!  I feel so awful.

BUFFY (glum):  I know.

JOYCE:  But why did Mr. Giles call you with the news, specifically?  I mean, you don't even take computer class.

I know, expecting Joyce to pick up on this may be a bit much (because…Joyce, after all).  But it is a little odd when you think about it, I'd say.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Gigi43]

In the real world Joyce should be concerned about Giles' personal relationship with Buffy/her friends. But she's Joyce and a bad mom (or maybe just isn't bright in all aspects of life, who knows) and didn't even think twice when Buffy sold her the "Angel's my tutor" line in Angel. He  looks in his 20s (I don't think it was ever clear how old Darla was when turned to pass as a highschooler so I won't judge but we know Angel

Spoiler

died in his 20s from Wolfram and Harts files and records, iirc

) and was there alone with her at night. No biggie. That was totally on the up and up. So of course she doesn't think twice about Giles calling her at home. 

[lembergwatcher]

On 6/1/2021 at 2:04 AM, Gigi43 said:

In the real world Joyce should be concerned about Giles' personal relationship with Buffy/her friends.

Not only Joyce but Principal Snyder first and foremost. Why wasn't Snyder even remotely concerned about the amount of time Mr. Giles spent with four minors (Buffy, Willow, Xander, Cordelia) at his library?..

[Halting Hex]

Well, as this episode makes clear, it is a school library.  The presence of students may be surprising, but it really shouldn't be cause for alarm.  (The amount of time the gang spends there after hours, perhaps…but would Snyder know about that?  Presumably he leaves at regular hours.)

******************

Honestly, I've always found the "this is a school library" scene a bit much with the meta (and there's really no excuse for the gang leaving and leaving Jonathan alone), but I did find it funny to notice that when they go to the four-shot (B/X/C/G), Buffy is looking Jonathan like he's an alien, even cocking her head quizzically.  I hadn't noticed this before (since Xander and Giles have all the lines), but cute acting by SMG.
••••••••••••••••••

Quote

ALLEY BOX (annoyed by Angel's monologue in the teaser):  Chill out, dude!

Which put me in mind of When She Was Bad:

Quote

BUFFY (to Angel): Could you contemplate getting over yourself?

…and this reply from the Fringedwellers: "No, Buffy, Angel has never contemplated getting over himself.  And he never will."  Yeah, self-effacing just isn't in his nature.  Even when he's all broody, he's not casual about it.

******************

I'm thinking Joyce should have more of a reaction to Buffy telling her that she had been dating Angel.  Last Joyce saw Angel, he was a "community college student" and Buffy was a high school sophomore.  That's a bit of a gap for Buffy having him at the house once; to find out that Buffy continued to see him, behind Joyce's back…perhaps in the house (or at his place) while Joyce was at that 24/7 gallery…

But apparently Joyce thought that just because she shooed Angel off that one time (when he didn't actually leave), that's the end of it.  A bit presumptive on her part;  teenagers usually require more management than that.  Did Joyce only skim those parenting books or something?

•••••••••••••••••••

Quote

ALLEY BOX (randomly, at the start of the final Jenny/Giles scene):  I just want Giles to be happy!

Wrong show, sis.  Wrong show.

(Okay, that's a simplification.  But it's such a lay-up, I had to do it.)

********************

Quote

GILES:  Working late?

JENNY:  Special project.

From I Robot, You Jane:

Quote

JENNY:  You and Dave are logging a scary amount of computer time.

FRITZ:  Special project.

JENNY:  Oooh, will I be excited?

FRITZ:  You'll die.

Yeah, yeah.  Rub it in, you bastard.

Also, how did Moloch kill Fritz (and Carlo, back when)?  By snapping necks.  Not intentional foreshadowing…but still…

Edited June 3, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

So I really haven't seen Arvin's entire reaction catalog, but I was in a mood to watch this "with" somebody new, so I turned to his vid.

And the first thing is Arvin talking about how excited he was for this episode, because last ep [BB&B] was "so much fun!"  Yeah, not quite the same thing here, dude.  Little did he know that he'd be a sobbing wreck by episode's end, clinging to the (likely vain) hope that Jenny can be restored, somehow.(He had hopes for the "restoration" spell, but of course that's only for the spirit.  Wouldn't do a thing for Jenny's broken neck and the decay going through her body because of it.)

Spoiler

Of course, that's another argument for why Whedon had Angel simply kill Jenny instead of turning her.  If she had been vampirized, it's unlikely they would have wasted the Orb of Thessulah on Cave Brow, when there's a better candidate around.

Quote

GILES:  it's quite clear.  Jenny has earned a second chance.  Angel has already had his.

BUFFY:  But, but…Buffy need dick!  Nice, thick, hard…cold—

XANDER:  Willow can put a strap-on in the freezer.  Come on, now!

WILLOW:  Eep!

 

************************

The shot of Joyce driving up to her house, only to find Angel waiting on the front lawn, is always effectively creepy.  But what are we to make of this?

Quote

JOYCE:  You're Angel.

Yes, Joyce, you know that.  You've met him.   He was in your house.  

Unless Buffy's been running an entire "Community College"-full of "history tutors" through the place, it shouldn't be so surprising that you can put a name to the face, I shouldn't think.  Foreheads that size don't grow on trees, you know.

*****************************

Of course, IMO, the most amusing part of that Joyce/Angel scene is the look on Joyce's face when she sees Angel.  It's almost…smug.

Sort of as if she's thinking "he thinks he's hot stuff because he's got my daughter flustered, but he's dealing with an actual adult now.  Too bad Buffy isn't here to see how Mama deals with punks like this."  That early certainty makes Joyce's ensuing growing terror all the scarier, I say.

********************************

Quote

GILES (at the graveside):  I've buried too many people…but Jenny was the first I've loved.

Yeah, a little too late to say that now, G-Man.  You couldn't have told her when she was alive?  I mean, Jenny's own confession (during the classroom scene in Act I) was awkward af…but at least she said it.  You're too late, old chap.

I mean, I understand the allure of British reserve, but still.

In the immortal words of Joe Schultz, "ah, shitfuck."

Edited July 27, 2021 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

15 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Quote

JOYCE:  You're Angel.

Yes, Joyce, you know that.  You've met him.   He was in your house.

Yeah, but the last time Joyce saw Angel was a year prior to this conversation AFAIK. Memory has a tendency to, you know, fade...

15 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

why Whedon had Angel simply kill Jenny instead of turning her

I'd like to know why did Angel simply kill Miss Calendar instead of, say, torturing her at first?

Edited July 27, 2021 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

Look, obviously I love this episode (see my eleven trillion previous posts on it, above ^), but there are a few clunkers:

Quote

BUFFY:  We've already done your car, Cordelia.  You can go if you like.

CORDELIA: Thanks.  And you I'd do the same thing for you…if either of you had a social life.

Say wha—?  Ty King, did you miss a memo?  Cordelia isn't mean to Willow any more!  (The last harsh thing she said was "And you went mental when?" in Hallowe'en, and she was under stress.  [And Willow kind of shaded her, first.])  To quote Spike, "I know you haven't been in the game for a while, mate" (Ty's last script duty was way back on Some Assembly Required)…but do try to keep up.  Character development happens, you know.

I mean, Cordy literally just spent the entire breezeway scene trying to be helpful, albeit in her own Cordyesque way.  This sudden bout of S1 Bitch Girl is a bit jarring, honestly.

And yes, Cordy still snarks at Xander (although not in this episode), but that's foreplay.  I don't think CC is trying to score a threesome with B/W here.

Unless Xander really got her going with his imagining of Buffy and Willow's "pajama party sleepover with weapons" entailed, and how he wished he had film of his best friends having lesbian sex together.  Hmmmmm…

Edited August 24, 2021 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

On 8/24/2021 at 4:30 PM, Halting Hex said:

Character development happens, you know.

Cordelia is under stress here too obviously. Besides, no matter how good we become with time, there are moments when we just can't control what slips out of our mouths. Old habits die hard, you know. Cordy wore the "Queen Bitch of Sunnydale High" crown for far too long.

So I don't think that's the case of Ty King not "keeping up". But JMO, of course.

Edited August 27, 2021 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

Waiting for a new reaction video (she's already done the ep but she's helping her family and can't upload right now…priorities, girl! Priorities!  We ghouls aren't exactly known for our patience!) and I can't help to think that the most painful part is…

Spoiler

…Angel gets away with it.

Yes, yes, torture.  Yes, yes, he didn't have his soul.  To quote Buffy, "let me take this opportunity to not care".  At the end of the day, this slime goes on living and Jenny…doesn't.

And neither do:

Spoiler

Cordelia (dies from neglect, although it's arguable TPTB just pranked Angel and she's fine)

Fred (dies from incompetence, leading to…)

Wesley (Angel facilitates his suicide)

Lindsay (murdered)

Gunn (dies in a pointless battle Angel started for no real reason)

And, in the comics:

Spoiler

Giles (he never gets tired of doing that, you know)

 

Privileges of being a Romantic Lead, don't you know?

Sure, Spike kills dozens of innocents, performs a necrophiliac rape on the shopkeeper, nearly rapes Willow (2x), makes a full attempt to rape Buffy, and so on, but that's a mere bag of shells, relatively.  Just as always, Sparky is a minor leaguer compared to Big Daddy.  Sigh.

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

2 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

the most painful part is…

Oh yeah. 

Spoiler

Angel got away with it. But the truly painful part is that literally everyone Jenny once considered friends started acting like she never existed. In order not to make Buffy too uncomfortable. Or not to remind Buffy some inconvenient truth about her "relationship" with Forehead.

I don't know about you but to me it looks like Jenny was murdered twice... Erasing the memory is almost as bad as the actual killing.

Wasn't Xander the only Scoobie who mentioned Jenny's last name throughout season three?

 

[Halting Hex]

If we're being that specific about surnames, then, yes.

Spoiler

Only Xander says "Ms. Calendar."  Giles does interrupt Buffy's stomping all over his grief with her "pleeeease tell me Angel could come back" nagging in Beauty and the Beasts to say "When Jenny died…" but that's first name only, IIRC.

Nobody actually calls First!Jenny by any names in Amends.  Giles never sees her, Angel has the sense not to go beyond "her" for fear of getting a crossbow bolt in the ventricles, and Buffy's too gobsmacked (and knows it's the First, right from the start) to do much chit-chat.

Cordelia mentions Angel killing "half the class" in Revelations, but doesn't cite specific names.  (And is probably exaggerating, not that it truly matters, IMO.)

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

On 9/22/2021 at 3:08 PM, Halting Hex said:

Waiting for a new reaction video

Okay, this was actually up yesterday and somehow I missed it, but my shrink wouldn't like my self-flagellating, so we move on…

Quote

JOYCE:  Was [Angel] your first?

REACTOR:  Who the fuck cares?

Yeah, seriously, Joyce.  This issue isn't "How much dick has Buffy had, exactly?"   It's "Buffy fucked a mass-murdering psychopath and now he's stalking both of you."  Try to stay on point, okay?

I grant you, Joyce can't claim much moral high ground because of the whole "was almost engaged to a serial-killing robot" deal, but still.  Focus is an objective good, I say.

Earlier that scene:

Quote

BUFFY:  All that stuff about the herbs and the Latin…he's just real superstitious.

REACTOR/ME (almost simultaneously):  You're buying that?

Yes, the Latin isn't really the point.  Yes, we can't expect Joyce to be considering "vampire" as a possibility.

But still.  You've just found out that Buffy's been lying to you for almost a year, that she's been seeing that older "history tutor" that you thought you got rid of last April behind your back, that she's had sex with him, and that he's a dangerous psycho.  Perhaps you might give Buffy's lies here the same justifiable skepticism you gave to "I had a bad dream?" in Bad Eggs?  Just a thought.

(Not only is Buffy not a great liar, but almost nobody ever believes her, anyhow.  Cordelia eye-rolls at "it's for history class" in OOM,OOS [which makes sense since CC is in both of Buffy's history classes], Snyder ignores her "Carpal-Tunnel Syndrome" try in Hallowe'en and even if Ford hadn't known Buffy was the Slayer, I'm not sure he would have bought that crap about the cats.

Honestly, it feels as though the only person Buffy ever fools is Giles.  From "sick mom" to "Ms. Calendar said you were a babe" to "I'm bailing on research because I want to rest up; I totally don't have a date!', she spins him like a tweed-clad top.  Hmmm.)

Edited September 23, 2021 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

16 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Honestly, it feels as though the only person Buffy ever fools is Giles

Well, Giles happens to be a living, breathing proof that book knowledge and actual wisdom are quite different things

[lembergwatcher]

Since it didn't take too long for Giles to locate Angel, does it mean he and the gang knew about the Vampiric Trio's hideaway all along (as Spike pointed out in Innocence)? 

It really sucks that Giles had to lose Jenny in order to pay Angel the first visit since Innocence. Innocence happened at the end of January, while Passion aired at the end of February, and I can't find any good excuse for Buffy and Giles to sit on their asses for the whole damn month while Angel kept terrorizing Sunnydale and leaving the trail of dead bodies.

Seems like Theresa, that nameless girl whose heart became Dru's Saint Valentine Day's present or Jenny to name but a few could have stayed alive if some experienced demon hunters tried to do their job...

Edited January 30, 2022 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

Yes, not only did Spike fret that the gang knew about the Factory in Innocence, but later in the ep, the team actually went there to seek Angel and the Judge.

It's annoying that they can't do anything with that knowledge, but Buffy's still in "give me time" mode wrt Angel, and it's probably not wise for her to attack Angel and Drusilla AND a pack of hench-vamps solo, anyhow.  (And, for all they know, Spike has healed; it's not as if there's a ton of reference materials on the recovery time of partially burned vampires, after all.)

As for fanciful suggestions about what the gang can do without Buffy (firebomb the building!), well…

• It's a brick building.  You try burning bricks.  The most they could hope for is some cosmetic scarring and giving the occupants smoke-inhalation problems.  Which, as vampires don't actually inhale, seems rather futile.

• Handy-dandy sewers and electrical tunnels underneath for quick escapes, which Buffy knows first-hand, as she used them in Surprise.  Even if Spike managed a quick fix to the damaged floor, I'd think it would be easy for a bunch of healthy vampires to break through.  (Look what they did to Ford's steel door in Lie to Me, or the steel door in the tunnels in The Harvest.

• Setting fires is a good way to get spotted.  Xander's got enough troubles without fighting an arson charge.  And Oz is graduating this year,and Cordelia wouldn't want to be sent to a woman's prison and surrounded by all those lesbians.

(Not that she might not enjoy the licking, but have you seen their hairdos?  CC would die of embarrassment.)

So all they can do is play defense and hope Buffy catches the randoms out on patrol.  Sucks (and clearly not so effective), but there's little they can do about it.

(Well, Jenny could do her "special projects" at home rather than a publicly-accessible school…)

Ironically,

Spoiler

by burning the vampire nest down, Giles probably helps Angel save his ass for a few months.  The events of this episode destroy Buffy's hesitations, as she states in her graveyard vow.  (She promptly runs herself into the hospital next episode by patrolling until her immune system calls timeout.). But now she has no idea how to find him (should have "honed" that vampire-sense, girl) and Angel chooses the time and place.  Annoying.

In other words, as Buffy will someday say,

Spoiler

"Fire bad!"

(Pretty, yes, but even so.)

Edited February 1, 2022 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

On 1/31/2022 at 6:49 PM, Halting Hex said:

It's annoying that they can't do anything with that knowledge, but Buffy's still in "give me time" mode wrt Angel, and it's probably not wise for her to attack Angel and Drusilla AND a pack of hench-vamps solo, anyhow

If you do something as complex as fighting evil, you rely not only on brute force, but on your brains too. Yes, Buffy is either unable or unwilling (or both) to do something about Angel at the moment, but, unlike other slayers before her, she's not alone in this. There's particular Watcher as well who's supposed to be the brainiac of the group, having the knowledge and experience required for the job. Dealing with the things that go bump in the night since probably the late 1970s should've left Giles with enough package to come up with a cunning plan.

Besides, when Spike and Drusilla ruled Sunnydale, they did have a pack of hench-vamps too and even some experienced assassins from the Order of Taraka at one point. None of this however have stopped Buffy from going after all of them when the (un)life of her boyfriend was at stake. True, she is reluctant and in "give me time" mode, but she has a Watcher whose job is to guide Buffy, give advices, propose advices and (sometimes) kick Buffy's petite ass if she's too slow.
But my point is this: Buffy isn't alone. If her muscles are unavailable at this very moment, that's ok since the gang has two geniuses like Giles and Willow, and even Xander can come up with a decent plan (killing the Judge was his idea, after all).

On 1/31/2022 at 6:49 PM, Halting Hex said:

As for fanciful suggestions about what the gang can do without Buffy (firebomb the building!)

How about blowing up the factory? Not something regular high school teens can do, yes, but then again they have an adult man who fought nasties for twenty years. It doesn't have to be an unsolvable problem for the likes of him, right?

On 1/31/2022 at 6:49 PM, Halting Hex said:

So all they can do is play defense and hope Buffy catches the randoms out on patrol.  Sucks (and clearly not so effective), but there's little they can do about it.

Since the dead bodies are mounting, some responsible adults (one Englishman comes to mind) can at least try to take matters in their own hands not waiting for Buffy to wake up. And like I said that wasn't the case when Spike and Dru got Angel several months prior... 

[Halting Hex]

Dropbox changed so its easier to download now, so I'm building my collection of vids from Lexie (a Germany-based reactor).  And I took a look her work here, while I was at it.

She starts off by recapping the past few episodes:  "Angel's evil, Oz is a werewolf…and Xander's a dick!"  Obviously, I strongly disagree with that last characterization, but I always have to acknowledge a good comedy triplet, so she gets a pass.

She then muses on the title for a bit, noting that we've just had a Buffy/Angel episode, a Willow/Oz episode, and a Xander/Cordelia episode, so perhaps this is the Giles/Jenny reconcilation episode she's been waiting for?  (Of course, G/J are her favorite couple and of course Jenny is her fave character.  Of course.)

"Maybe there will be 'passion' between Giles and Jenny?" she asks, hopefully.  Er, um…well, we do get to see Jenny in Rupert's bed…does that count?

Spoiler

It would for Angel and Spike, we later learn.

******************************************************
Michael Gershman's direction here is so great that he does such a seamless dissolve from Giles staring at Jenny's corpse on his bed to Giles with the same expression speaking to the police that I always assumed Giles hadn't moved.  Which is silly, of course.  Giles is standing by his bedroom doorway when he drops the wine bottle, but he's by his front door as the cops talk to him.  (We can see outside.). So he came downstairs to get one last look at Jenny as the EMTs zipped the body bag shut.  Awwww.

*****************************************************

Buffy's vampdar is really for shit, isn't it?  Not only does she not twig that Angel is watching her at the Bronze (in Angel, she at least got a twinge), not only does she walk right by him while he's drinking that poor girl by the exit door, but how does he get right next to her in her bedroom without her noticing?  I mean, it's nice that her spider-sense would protect her from sudden attack (as I hypothesized upthread), but why can't her regular vamp-sense be noticing that nice juicy prey sitting on her bed and sketching her?

Or why can't her regular five senses (in this case, hearing) pay attention the noise Angel must have made while entering?  There's a whole lot of David, after all.  You can't convince me that he can slip in through a window without making the sill creak.  Or the floor, but at least Buffy's floor is carpeted, so that might muffle things.

I would say that Buffy's ignoring the signals Angel sends her because she's in love with him.  But that doesn't explain how she stood five feet away from Spike at the Bronze in School Hard, and didn't twig to his "secret die-dentity", either.

Spoiler

I know, I know…but that plot is years away, so I'm not listening.  La-la-la-la!

And besides, if that's your explanation for Buffy not sensing Spike, then I'm going to have to point out that Buffy completely thinks Vamp!Willow is regular Willow in Döppelgängland until the fangs come out.  Which could even be the point of this entire digression, but shhh about that, lol.

Seriously, it's been almost a year since Buffy showed up in Sunnydale.  Giles should have her at least doing a half-decent job of "honing" by now.

[mmecorday]

I had a rather visceral reaction to Angel killing Jenny when watching this episode for the first time in probably 20 years. I don't remember feeling so angry and upset the first time I saw it. I was actively cheering Giles on when he went to exact revenge (or try to) on Angel.

[Halting Hex]

Quote

BUFFY:  He was in my room.

GILES:  Who?

BUFFY:  Angel.

DARCIE (reacting):  C'mon, Rupe, keep up.

Yeah, seriously.  It's not as if Buffy has multiple stalkers climbing in and out of her window.

(Although it would be funny if she did and Angel had to take a number and wait outside.)

Poor Giles does get a few "duh" lines here and there.  I can't remember which reactor greeted his "It's not over" in the car at the end of Innocence with "No shit, Giles", but yeah.  Perils of being Exposition Guy, I suppose; he sometimes does have to restate the obvious.

**********************************

When the group (minus Willow and the absent Oz) are discussing Angel's tactics in the breezeway and Cordelia is "trying to help" in her own way, Xander gets a surprisingly-adoring smile on his face.  Awww, he's started to appreciate her for what she is.  Which I suppose is character growth from (and continuity with) the previous episode.

Actually, there are a few nods to BB&B in this one.  Not only does Jenny definitely not smile at the shopkeeper's dig about the "tourists" and their Valentine's Day "love potions" and such (she's already had enough "scavenger hunts" to last a lifetime), but all apologies to the Xander-fans here, but I really do think Willow's "men can be such jerks" line was probably about Xander, as well as Angel.  Yes, getting side-swiped by a love spell isn't quite like being stalked by a homicidal maniac, but we just got through talking about how Willow was having a bad reaction to that at the end of last episode, and Buffy told Xander it would take about a month of groveling to make things right.  It's only been two weeks, so… 

Indeed, given that the only time Xander interacts with Willow before Jenny's death is his hopping in on Buffy and Willow's sleepover recap at the top of Act 2, I wonder if the tragedy that follows at least had the benefit of helping to speed the Xillow reconciliation.  Did losing Jenny make Willow realize how much she needed to cherish Xander, no matter what unfortunate Cordelia-related decisions he might make?  Sad, but possible.

*************************************

I said "hopping in" above for a reason: if you look at that scene, you see that as Buffy and Willow start mounting the steps, a skateboarder goes by in the background, and then Xander literally leaps into the frame from the other side…as if dismounting from a skateboard.

Just a guess, but I'm thinking the reason that Xander's skateboard got written out after S1 isn't just what Joss said about it being difficult to film a character on a skateboard, but that it was one thing to let Nick Brendon do that first stunt (where Xander, distracted by Buffy, skates into the stair rail) since it was just a pilot, but now that they were a full-time series, he couldn't risk Nick getting injured.  So Xander carried his board a couple of times (Angel, OoMOoS) and then it was seen no more.  Perhaps Nick's miming a dismount here is a very mild protest?

(Some actors do love to do their own stunts, which is how producers get gray hair.  It's nice that David Boreanaz does the stunt work when Angel falls to the ground both at the start [falling into the puddle while calling for Buffy] and end [hitting the mall floor as Buffy blows the Judge to bits] of Innocence because it's more convincing when you see David's face the whole time, rather than having to change angles.  But even dropping down from just a few feet carries the risk that David might jam his arm or even break a bone, and then where are they?  Angel wants to kill Buffy, but he's hampered by this bum wrist he sprained playing racquetball?

It's notable that when David does the mall stunt, you can see his face as Angel hits the deck, but not Juliet Landau's, until after we cut to Buffy and then cut back to the vampires picking themselves up.  Methinks they slipped a stunt-Drusilla in there. Of course we can see that it's Mike Massa, not David, who goes flying over the railing as the Judge explodes, but even the smaller landing stunt that David did carries risks.  So I can see Joss not wanting to have Nick risk a fall every other episode.)

**************************************

I mentioned that Buffy goes (with Giles) to Jenny's classroom and yet she doesn't say one word to Jenny, merely "reclaims" Willow from Jenny in an act of extreme territorial possessiveness.  But looking again, Buffy doesn't even make eye contact.  Sarah is looking at Alyson, not Robia, the entire scene.  Not even when Jenny greets her.

That's a really cold diss, considering that it's Jenny's classroom.  But Buffy's in full "as far as I'm concerned, you don't even exist" mode.  (Not as literally as Angel will soon render Jenny, but still.)

***********************************

Darcie, however, completely missed all of that, because she was fretting about Buffy not being safe in her own bedroom, due to Angel's having an invite.   First she wondered if Buffy could go to a hotel (didn't work for Uncle Enyos) and then she suggested that Buffy could stay with Giles, "not in the bedroom, of course." 

And here, she wonders if Buffy could stay at Jenny's.  A nice thought, but Angel's already lost his soul.  Jenny showing Buffy that female fun is a much better idea than boinking your "cradle-robbing creature-of-the-night boyfriend" is too little, too late.  As Enyos might have put it, "your time for lesbian seduction is passed!"  Bummer.

(Yes, Buffy could use the orgasms and Jenny is single now, but still.  It won't put Angel's toothpaste back in his tube, as it were.*

*—ETA: I swear, when I originally typed this, I simply mean the "toothpaste/tube" metaphor as a reference to Angel's loss of his soul.  I did not [consciously] intend the possible smuttier double-entendre.  Apologies.)

*************************************

Quote

BUFFY:  Do you remember that guy Angel?

JOYCE:  Angel?  The, um…the college boy who was tutoring you in history?

Darcie cracks up here, because how clueless is Joyce?  But…should Joyce really be this clueless?

I mean, when Joyce (she thought) sent Angel home back in Angel, it sure didn't seem as if she thought Angel was really there to "teach Buffy history".  Indeed, later in that episode, when Joyce is in the hospital and is talking to Giles about Buffy's troubles with history class, she doesn't mention Angel at all.  "She's studying with Willow, she's studying with Darla—"  it didn't seem as though Joyce really believed Angel was another "tutor" then.

I suppose you can just say it's been 10 months (April to February) and Joyce has other things on her mind.  (Remember, she's apparently working so late at the gallery that she missed Buffy crying herself to sleep during Act 3 of Innocence.) But still…Joyce so rarely seems clued in, it's a pity to see her backsliding, as it were.

*****************************************

Quote

SHOPKEEPER:  So, how did you hear about us?

JENNY:  My uncle, Enyos, told me about you.

SHOPKEEPER: So you're Jana, then?

(Jenny looks up)

I hadn't noticed this before, but it makes sense.  It's one thing for the Shopkeeper to know Enyos's name, since he was the customer, but it's a bit surprising for her to learn that her uncle had mentioned her.

Awwww.  I like to think that Enyos was proud.

("My niece, Jana, she is not one for the old ways.  But she is so smart!  She teaches computers!" As I said, aww.)

Edited July 18, 2022 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

12 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

I mentioned that Buffy goes (with Giles) to Jenny's classroom and yet doesn't say one word to Buffy, merely "reclaims" Willow from Jenny in an act of extreme territorial possessiveness, but looking again, she doesn't even make eye contact.  Sarah is looking at Alyson, not Robia, the entire scene.  Not even when Jenny greets her.

That's a really cold diss, considering that it's Jenny's classroom.  But Buffy's in full "as far as I'm concerned, you don't even exist" mode.  (Not as literally as Angel will soon render Jenny, but still.)

Seems like both Momma Summers and Giles turned out to be quite crappy parental figures and failed to teach Miss Buffy some manners. 
Buffy probably sees Jenny as some sort of scapegoat for the whole "sex with Angel fiasco", although the only thing Jenny was guilty of was being too loyal to her clan to the point of not asking important questions ("Why exactly do I have to watch over Angel and when exactly to ring the alarm bells?").
The Kalderashs are to blame for being ridiculously secretive, Buffy is to blame for being foolish and falling for Angel, Angel - for not telling Buffy to sod off, Giles - for failing to put a stop to the whole affair. 
Jenny is the less responsible person for the whole debacle if you think about it...   

[mmecorday]

I don't know why I was even thinking about this as I was puttering around this morning getting ready for work. Did the Sunnydale police ever investigate Jenny Calendar's death? Giles called the police and the police questioned him. Did the investigation just end there? I can't imagine Giles telling the police, "Oh, yes. Of course. This formally insouled vampire going by the name of Angel broke her neck and put her in my bed."

[Halting Hex]

Yeah, I can remember Lexi reacting to the cop saying they needed to ask Giles "a few questions" with a bitter "sure! Let's arrest him, too! He is the "logical" suspect, right?"

However, there's no actual evidence against him, and that "Upstairs" note shows handwriting that inclines towards the right:

Which, as Giles is so severely left-handed that just last episode we saw him reach across his body to grab a book laying by his right hand (honestly, England, just pick it up with the right and then switch hands), means it's very unlikely he wrote that, since any slant to his handwriting would most likely incline towards the left.  And besides, Giles has a bit of an alibi from Willow, two scenes before.

(Yes, it's theoretically possible that Giles killed Jenny, then zipped over to Buffy's place to establish said alibi and only later returned home to "discover" the murder.  But the evidence of the struggle at school makes it very unlikely that Giles killed her there, then brought her to his own place to make himself look more guilty.  No jury would believe that.  Literally the only person on the planet who has zero reason to go to all that work [Jenny's corpse shows no signs of having been knocked out or bound for transport; it's almost certain she died at the school] in order to taunt and/or frame Giles would be the Book Man, himself.)

That said, Sunnydale P.D. doesn't exactly do a great job of inventorying the crime scene.  How do they miss that sketch of Jenny's corpse, exactly?  

Spoiler

That's Giles's alibi right there, if they contrast that skillful sketch with Rupert's own "talent" for drawing, as illustrated later on in Hush and First Date.

I grant you, it's not as bad as

Spoiler

just leaving Kendra's sword in a bag at the scene in Becoming, Part 2,

but at least that was concealed.  The sketch was right in the open.  Sigh.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

A reactor named Kassidy was happy that Jenny told Giles she loved him ("ooh, she said the L-word") but disappointed that Giles didn't reciprocate.  "I bet he says it before the episode ends", she bright-skied.

Well…yeah.  But by the time Rupert says it, Jenny can't really hear it, being underground and in a casket.  (And also dead, for that matter.)

I haven't signed up for Kassidy's unedited vids as yet, and she edits her YouTube vids so fiercely that it's somewhat hard to keep in the moment.  So when we went from "I never get tired of doing that" to "Perhaps I should intervene with Buffy's mother, on Buffy's behalf?" it was a little disconcerting to be right in the middle of the comedy scene without the traditional grieving-through-the-Act-2-break, and I was just watching and going "Meanwhile, Jenny is dead."

Sigh.

[lembergwatcher]

It's kinda ironic that Jenny made a declaration of love to the one person who turned out to be indirectly responsible for her demise... 

Because I don't think Jenny either cared too much about Angel or just wanted to make amends with Buffy with the whole spell thing. She wanted to get back in Rupert's good graces. Pure and simple.

She could've been eating pizza and watching old films in the safety of her private apartment without any risk of having uninvited guests with fangs. Instead she ended up at the one place where Angel could get her... Seems like Jenny's love for Giles clouded her judgement and thus has dulled her survival instinct.

Jenny's blood was not only on Angel's hands but on Giles' and Buffy's too.

[Halting Hex]

I'd guess that Jenny's home computer didn't have the capacity of the SHS machine.  Remember the pile of junk you were working on in 1998?  Not exactly breaking any records for clock speed.

What she should have done is clock out at a reasonable hour.  There's no real need to restore Angel's soul (pauses before deciding to continue sentence…whatever I feel about just letting Angel rot, Jenny clearly had other ideas) on that particular day.  She could have gone home and finished up the next day.

Mind you, I understand that going without Librarian Lovin' is hard (pardon the pun), but if Jenny had just held out for one more day…

[Halting Hex]

Apparently, I can't beat my addiction to an approaching trainwreck, because I'm actually zooming through Cody and Sergio's vids just to get here.

From their Lie to Me reaction:

Quote

(Jenny is talking about her failed Monster Trucks date with Giles)

CODY:  She's so great.

SERGIO:  I love her!

And from The Dark Age:

Quote

(The turquoise goo touches unconscious Jenny's hand)

CODY (horrified):  No!  Not Ms. Calendar!

SERGIO (even more):  Are we going to have to kill Ms. Calendar????

And all I can do is think about what's coming up in 10 or so episodes, what they're walking right into.

Seriously, what is wrong with me??

Oh, and speaking of Lie to Me:

Quote

ANGEL:  I can't.  I can't come in unless you invite me.

WILLOW: Oh.  Well, then, I invite you.  To come in.

CODY: Awww, they're so sweet!

It's so weird to watch Joss plant the bombs and the reactors have no idea what's going on.

To quote Xander: "I'm sick.  I know it."

Edited September 25 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

Well, Cody and Sergio got here.  They're glad to see that Giles and Jenny (in their scene in Act I) might be getting back together.

Quote

SERGIO (hopeful):  Slowly but surely.

ME (bitter):  A fine plan.  Except for the "Jenny's dead in about 20 minutes' airtime" part.

Sergio completely freaks when Willow is talking on the phone to Buffy, because he's remembered that "Angel was in your ROOM?" from 10 episodes back.  (This is a bit of a switch, because usually Cody is the detail-oriented one.  In their Out of Mind, Out of Sight review, when Giles mentions quantum mechanics, he instantly gives an analysis of how Marcie's situation is essentially an inverse of Schrödinger's Cat.  [I almost understood it.  Or, at least, that's what I tell myself.])

So there's one of those bombs I talked about last post going off.  Meanwhile, I'm finding more lines to trigger me.

Quote

(As the gang arrives at school, they spot Jenny walking across the lawn.)

WILLOW:  Oh, darn. She's here.

ME (so bitter):  Last chance you'll ever get to say that, Willow.

Seriously, I fucking hate this episode.  (In a "good" way.  But still.)

Edited September 26 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

Quote

WILLOW: Five hours of lesson plans down the drain!

SERGIO:  Poor Willow.  Maybe someday you'll get to teach a class of your very own.

ME: "Someday" as in "literally tomorrow."

Actually, it was probably the following Monday.  Class was cancelled for however many days.  Jenny was buried on, say, Saturday, and then Snyder put Willow in charge.  But still.  The next time they had class, anyhow.

Crap.  I just imagined Willow sitting in class, trying not to be resentful that Jenny showed up, and yet not even really able to focus.  I hope Jenny spoke to her afterwards, told her how grateful she was that Willow was ready to step in for her.  And I hope Willow didn't feel any conflicting emotions as she spoke to her favorite teacher for (what she had no idea was going to be) the last time.

Anyhow…

Quote

SOME ASSHOLE (v.o.):  Without passion, we'd truly be dead.

(The camera pans across the pond to Jenny's grave)

SERGIO: Oh, my God.  Wasn't Jenny in the cemetery in one of Buffy's dreams?

Holy shit.  (Or, as Oz would say, "Huh".)  I always thought that Buffy's dream of Angel in the Sunlight in Innocence was just Buffy's subconscious putting the pieces together, her realizing that Jenny acted suspicious around Angel, from smoothly trying to get him on a slow boat to Nepal in Surprise, to her showing up conveniently in the Hallway Confrontation, as Willow just pointed out.  Her 
"Spidey-Sense" working, even when she's asleep and, er, dreaming about Angel-boinkage.

But…Buffy also gets prophetic dreams.  Was that dream of an unknown grave and Jenny standing right by it her foreseeing that Angel would be putting Jenny in a grave, less than a month down the road?  The counter-argument is that Buffy's Slayer prophecy dreams were usually about something more consequential than Angel helping Giles get out of a relationship, but the counter-argument can go fuck itself.  Jenny (and this ep) are damn consequential, thank you vey much.

(And thanks to Sergio.  Literally never thought about that before.)

Edited September 26 by Halting Hex