S02.E09: What's My Line (Part 1)

[Lisin]

To get help killing Buffy while he intensifies his search for Dru's cure, Spike calls upon the Order of Taraka. Buffy is attacked by a series of assassins, including her heir "Kendra, the Vampire Slayer", who was called when Buffy died at the end of Season 1 and initially mistakes Buffy for a vampire. Kendra, having seen "vampire" Buffy kissing vampire Angel, has already taken Angel out of the picture.

 

OZ!! (sorry) And Kendra! I wasn't a huge Kendra fan but I did find her introduction to be very interesting, I liked the twist that once Buffy "died" another Slayer was called and that no one had thought about that. I like Buffy's sadness at not having a real future. I like Angel and the ice skating. I like a whole lot about this episode. I don't really have any complaints. Huh. 

[Dianthus]

This is, I think, a telling exchange:

Willow: "You and Angel are going ice-skating? Alone?"

Buffy: "Unless some unfortunate evil pops up. But I'm in full see-no-evil mode."

 

When it comes to Angel, Buffy has no other mode.

[DAngelus]

is what Lisin quoted the actual episode summary in use these days?  What's the source? It's wayyyyy too spoilery, IMO.

 

And the proper reaction to "OZ!!!" is "so?", I always feel.  Never a fan of The Plastic Werewolf, even if he was funnier than The Perfect Lesbian Earth Mother Whose Feet Willow Is Not Fit to Lick, IMO.  (Man, did Willow get the suckiest canon pairings, or what?  When freaking Kennedy is the high point…)

 

Worst episode of season two, grossly padded (Marti even admits it on the commentary, when she's not busy burbling about how sexy JM is) and a bit character-destructive.  I mean, why is Angel so obsessed about only dating Buffy when there's nobody else to see?    He can't go the ice rink when it's open?  That's a Spike "you must join me in darkness" move, where Reptile Boy, supposedly, showed Angel being willing to make steps towards a real relationship.

 

(Okay, so the real reason is that Marti wanted it to be possible for Octarus to attack Buffy and for Kendra to see the fight and subsequent kiss without any witnesses around, and that Joss wanted to avoid springing for an arena's worth of extras. Still annoys me, though.)

 

Likewise, the Romantic Ice Skating Date sucks out all the Scoobies' brains.  Buffy, who in S1 was always the one to figure out the plot and rather enjoyed rubbing it in Giles's face when she was proven right (see NKABOTFD) now claims she's useless to the research efforts and begs off, with only Xander objecting, and he seconds the "dumb down Buffy" thread with that silly "you totally contribute, you go for snacks!" line.  Willow, who in Reptile Boy was hugely disappointed in Buffy for lying to Giles so she could go on a date, now…helps Buffy lie to Giles so she can go on a date. (I guess we know which episode Marti didn't get around to seeing, huh?)  And Giles of course suspects nothing, because Buffy has always been so upright and honest with him, right?  Holy facepalm.

 

(Well, maybe Giles figures he and Buffy are on a more honest footing after the events of Lie to Me/The Dark Age.  Poor Rupert.)

 

And the "Giles snaps at Xander" bit, while uncharacteristic for this point in the series, at least seems excusable by the stress and, more importantly, Giles apologizes to Xander for being an asshole.  Take a good look, folks, you won't see that again… [/bitter]

 

Still, we do get to meet some good new supporting characters (Willy, Kendra, Dalton), there's at least some decent dialogue ("Cordelia Chase, always willing to lend a helping hand to the rich and the pretty."  "Which, lucky me, excludes you.  Twice.") and the triple-cliffhanger, while taking way too long to set up, does give us the basis for the far-better part 2.

 

Even the worst of S2 is still S2, after all.

[La Tortuga]

In addition to Sarah's re-watch complaint (Why the hell doesn't anyone just stake Spike already), I'd like to lodge one of my own:

 

Why don't any of these vampires just firebomb Buffy's goddamned house?

 

The Master sends his best goons. Then somebody sends for The Three. Then Spike sends his goons. Then he sends for Order of Taraka assassins. All the while, "SUMMERS" is in big block lettering on Buffy's mailbox, and she routinely leaves her window open at night. How hard is it to wait until she's asleep and throw some explosives through her freaking window? These vampires can get ancient historical relics and hand-written texts, but they can't get sticks of dynamite or nitroglycerine?

 

Is that something that happens later in the series? Do the vampires finally stop thinking like gothic novel characters and start thinking like guys who want to get something done?

[Jack Shaftoe]

Firebomb? Why bother? If I were a vampire I would just steal a gun from the first gun shop I saw and go and kill Buffy with hilarious ease.

 

And no, vampires don't really get any smarter in that respect later in the series. Which was unavoidable, really, since the premise of one girl against all demons and vampires can only possibly work if they are all morons. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Which really kind of fits, since Buffy also gets exponentially dumber as the series progresses.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎20‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 6:14 PM, Lisin said:

 

OZ!! (sorry) And Kendra! I wasn't a huge Kendra fan but I did find her introduction to be very interesting, I liked the twist that once Buffy "died" another Slayer was called and that no one had thought about that. I like Buffy's sadness at not having a real future. I like Angel and the ice skating. I like a whole lot about this episode. I don't really have any complaints. Huh. 

Well, we have had Oz before?

 

On ‎21‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 2:12 AM, Dianthus said:

This is, I think, a telling exchange:

Willow: "You and Angel are going ice-skating? Alone?"

Buffy: "Unless some unfortunate evil pops up. But I'm in full see-no-evil mode."

 

When it comes to Angel, Buffy has no other mode.

Good point. 

 

On ‎21‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 5:10 AM, DAngelus said:

is what Lisin quoted the actual episode summary in use these days?  What's the source? It's wayyyyy too spoilery, IMO.

 

And the proper reaction to "OZ!!!" is "so?", I always feel.  Never a fan of The Plastic Werewolf, even if he was funnier than The Perfect Lesbian Earth Mother Whose Feet Willow Is Not Fit to Lick, IMO.  (Man, did Willow get the suckiest canon pairings, or what?  When freaking Kennedy is the high point…)

 

Worst episode of season two, grossly padded (Marti even admits it on the commentary, when she's not busy burbling about how sexy JM is) and a bit character-destructive.  I mean, why is Angel so obsessed about only dating Buffy when there's nobody else to see?    He can't go the ice rink when it's open?  That's a Spike "you must join me in darkness" move, where Reptile Boy, supposedly, showed Angel being willing to make steps towards a real relationship.

 

(Okay, so the real reason is that Marti wanted it to be possible for Octarus to attack Buffy and for Kendra to see the fight and subsequent kiss without any witnesses around, and that Joss wanted to avoid springing for an arena's worth of extras. Still annoys me, though.)

 

Likewise, the Romantic Ice Skating Date sucks out all the Scoobies' brains.  Buffy, who in S1 was always the one to figure out the plot and rather enjoyed rubbing it in Giles's face when she was proven right (see NKABOTFD) now claims she's useless to the research efforts and begs off, with only Xander objecting, and he seconds the "dumb down Buffy" thread with that silly "you totally contribute, you go for snacks!" line.  Willow, who in Reptile Boy was hugely disappointed in Buffy for lying to Giles so she could go on a date, now…helps Buffy lie to Giles so she can go on a date. (I guess we know which episode Marti didn't get around to seeing, huh?)  And Giles of course suspects nothing, because Buffy has always been so upright and honest with him, right?  Holy facepalm.

 

(Well, maybe Giles figures he and Buffy are on a more honest footing after the events of Lie to Me/The Dark Age.  Poor Rupert.)

 

And the "Giles snaps at Xander" bit, while uncharacteristic for this point in the series, at least seems excusable by the stress and, more importantly, Giles apologizes to Xander for being an asshole.  Take a good look, folks, you won't see that again… [/bitter]

 

Still, we do get to meet some good new supporting characters (Willy, Kendra, Dalton), there's at least some decent dialogue ("Cordelia Chase, always willing to lend a helping hand to the rich and the pretty."  "Which, lucky me, excludes you.  Twice.") and the triple-cliffhanger, while taking way too long to set up, does give us the basis for the far-better part 2.

 

Even the worst of S2 is still S2, after all.

I loved both Willow's partners, it was a tribute to the show that they were so different yet popular and credible. 

 

On ‎13‎/‎08‎/‎2014 at 9:54 AM, La Tortuga said:

In addition to Sarah's re-watch complaint (Why the hell doesn't anyone just stake Spike already), I'd like to lodge one of my own:

 

Why don't any of these vampires just firebomb Buffy's goddamned house?

 

The Master sends his best goons. Then somebody sends for The Three. Then Spike sends his goons. Then he sends for Order of Taraka assassins. All the while, "SUMMERS" is in big block lettering on Buffy's mailbox, and she routinely leaves her window open at night. How hard is it to wait until she's asleep and throw some explosives through her freaking window? These vampires can get ancient historical relics and hand-written texts, but they can't get sticks of dynamite or nitroglycerine?

 

Is that something that happens later in the series? Do the vampires finally stop thinking like gothic novel characters and start thinking like guys who want to get something done?

According to Joss vampires don't use guns or other modern weapons as it goes against their demonic nature. We see some break the rules but neither successfully.

 

On ‎13‎/‎08‎/‎2014 at 7:55 PM, Jack Shaftoe said:

Firebomb? Why bother? If I were a vampire I would just steal a gun from the first gun shop I saw and go and kill Buffy with hilarious ease.

 

And no, vampires don't really get any smarter in that respect later in the series. Which was unavoidable, really, since the premise of one girl against all demons and vampires can only possibly work if they are all morons. 

How so?

 

On ‎14‎/‎08‎/‎2014 at 3:35 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Which really kind of fits, since Buffy also gets exponentially dumber as the series progresses.

The character or the show?

 What's my line? pt1

The Good; Love Buffy's miniskirt and booties, very hot. The neighbours scream blending into the plane's engine noise. Will and Oz, awwww! Buffy ice-skating, you wonder who's better now, SMG or

Spoiler

Michelle 'Ice Princess' Tractenberg?

Or maybe Julie Benz who is also apparently was once rated 12th best in the US. Buffy's gesture with the torch when Giles suggests she consider law enforcement as a career. Death by iceskate! Buffy's paranoia as she walks through careers day. The Xander/Snyder faceoff. Cordy's little expression at the thought of free cosmetics. Buffy's look of shock at the final line.

The Bad; Kendra's accent for one although if she was taken from her parents as a child and raised in the UK you'd expect it to be a mishmash.

Best line; Cordy; "What am I, mass transportation?" Xander; "That's what guys say but it's just locker room talk"

Questions and observations; A small town like Sunnydale must have a pretty huge airport to handle a 747? Why has no one tried to hire the Order of Taraka before now? Willy the Snitch for the first time. Angel tortures him, of course. Xander refers to the Scooby gang for the first time. First sign of Will's frog fear. Is this the first appearance of Mr Gordo?  Xander breaks into Buffy's house very easily, for such a dangerous town everyone seems very slack. What happened to the Slayer rule about not killing humans, Kendra tries to kill Buff with the axe.

Spoiler

Also Dalton who will reappear as Spike's lackey in future eps

10/10 great stuff

[illdoc]

13 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

maybe Julie Benz who is also apparently was once rated 12th best in the US

 

13 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Death by iceskate!

Interestingly enough, a couple of years before BtVS, Julie was in an episode of Diagnosis Murder as an ice skater who killed someone with an ice skate!

[Halting Hex]

On June 15, 2018 at 2:49 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

What happened to the Slayer rule about not killing humans, Kendra tries to kill Buff with the axe.

Kendra thinks Buffy's a vampire, so she's being consistent there.

Interesting that Kendra tries to incinerate Angel and tries to decapitate Buffy.  Where's Mr. Pointy when she needs him?  Out for a fresh whittling?

Edited June 16, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

13 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Kendra thinks Buffy's a vampire, so she's being consistent there.

Interesting that Kendra tries to incinerate Angel and tries to decapitate Buffy.  Where's Mr. Pointy when she needs him?  Out for a fresh whittling?

Hasn't she seen Buffy in daylight at this stage? 

[Halting Hex]

No, she first spotted Buffy and Angel at the ice rink, followed Angel to Willy's, and then went to Angel's place to attack Buffy.  All before sunrise.  (How she knew to go to the ice rink, or where Angel's place was, is not explained.)

Kendra herself is honest about her mistake in part 2:

Quote

BUFFY:  Why did you attack me?
KENDRA:  I tought you were a vampire.

BUFFY:  A swing and a miss for the rookie!

KENDRA:  I had good reason to tink you were.  Did I not see you kissing a vampire?

WILLOW (indignant):  Buffy would never do that! (realizing) Oh.  Except that sometimes you do that. (protective again) But only with Angel! (double-checking) Right?

Thinking about it, I guess Kendra was actually trailing Octarus (the one-eyed demon assassin) to the rink.  He came by bus where she came by plane, but he's memorable enough she could have picked up his trail, I guess.

And, as there's a day between the ice rink battle and Kendra's attacks on B/A (the day during which Buffy is all tense at school and jumps at Oz in the corridor), I guess that Kendra followed Angel home from the rink that first night, and then followed him to Willy's on the second night.  Then, after caging Angel, she went to search his place and found his "vampiric" girlfriend.  Swing and a miss, indeed.

Edited June 17, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎16‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 12:04 AM, illdoc said:

 

Interestingly enough, a couple of years before BtVS, Julie was in an episode of Diagnosis Murder as an ice skater who killed someone with an ice skate!

That's rather gruesome for that show! If you watch Black Christmas there's a scene where Michelle Tractenberg's character is;

Spoiler

killed by an ice skate to the head, a possible in-joke to her role as the Ice Princess. Apparently she only took the part on condition she would die having survived so many times on Buffy. 

[TheView]

Kendra was originally cast as Cordelia but had to decline.

[Halting Hex]

Yes, Bianca was the second Cordelia.  (SMG being the first, of course.)  It's always fun to watch Sarah giving Nick the "Bitch of the Year" dance in  When She Was Bad and imagine that

Spoiler

they could be making out in closets every week

, had things been a little different.  Same thing for watching

Spoiler

Kendra getting all stuttery around Xander in part 2 of this one

.  Strange how casting works out.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎20‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 4:15 AM, TheView said:

Kendra was originally cast as Cordelia but had to decline.

Now I always heard that she was their first choice but the studio said no which is how they got CC?

[lembergwatcher]

And to think it was Giles

Spoiler

who has inadvertently encouraged the whole Xordelia... thing.

I'm really starting to not like Mr. Tweedy Pants.

[Halting Hex]

I'll blame Giles for a lot of things

Spoiler

("No, no, [Angel's] good now" in Part 2 of this one continues to grate)

but suggesting that Xander go rescue Buffy by catching a lift with someone who has a car might be a biiiit over the line, IMO.  Xander's a big enough boy to make his own decisions.  Giles was busy dealing with Willow's frog fear by then.

[lembergwatcher]

This whole "Career Fair" shtick is a damn interesting plot twist at some point

Spoiler

(even though it would turn out to be a big fat joke as the series progressed).

Buffy's possible involvement in the law enforcement makes me rephrase the lyrics of "Women in Uniform" - the song that  originally appeared on Guilty Until Proven Insane - 1978 release by the Australian glam rock band Skyhooks - and was covered by Iron Maiden in 1980:

'Beehive hairdo', forty-five on the hip
Patrolwoman Summers*, don't you give her no lip
Took me to the station for a breath test
Then back to her bedroom for some house arrest...

---------------
*Saunders actually

Another odd thing is, momma and daddy Rosenberg do not express even slightest concern over their

Spoiler

only

daughter spending too much time with that creepy-looking librarian probably her father's age. I hope Willow didn't tell her parents she spent the whole night at the library with Mr. Giles. Because it would be too much even for them not to react...

Edited April 6, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

So Xander can't reach Buffy at her house?  Well, Buffy's not any place terribly obscure;  she's spending the night at Angel's.  How tough is it to guess that a traumatized girl might go to her boyfriend's?

And remember, Angel has a phone and the group knows this.  (Giles calls him in Prophecy Girl.)  So why don't they try there?Well, maybe Giles just didn't tell Xander that he has Angel's number?  Not so much "A Watcher's got needs!", but just to keep the peace?

Quote

(Angel's phone rings and he answers it.)

ANGEL (into phone):  Hello?

(Angry silence on the line.)

ANGEL:  Xander, I know it's you.

(a pause, then…)

XANDER (voice):  What, some stupid vampire power told you that?

ANGEL (confused):  No, I have Caller ID.

XANDER (voice):  Oh, you think you're so clever, huh?  Well, you don't fool me!  You're mean and you're evil and you're a vampire and I hate you!  And I don't care how hot and gorgeous and sexy you are, because I don't even like guys and I don't like vampires and I don't like you!  So there!  (slams down phone)

ANGEL (holding the dead line, sighing):  Boys.  Why you got to be so dramatic?

(He shakes his head and hangs up.)

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

Speaking of alternative sexuality…I'm working my way through S2 and I hit this snorefest, and I discovered something intriguing:  Sarah Michelle Gellar is wearing a ring on her right thumb throughout a good portion of the episode:

And so forth.  You don't need to see them all.  (Not in the teaser, or the ice-skating, or when Buffy wanders the streets lonely at night, but pretty much every other scene.)

Now the thumb-ring (particularly on the right hand) is generally considered a lesbian-signifier, so this can't be plot-related, unless Buffy and Kendra are going to really start getting along in part 2.  I guess SMG was trying to hint to Aly how much she liked working with her, before somebody told her to knock it off?  Huh.

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

Freeze-framing and checking screencaps helped me catch an editing error:  when Buffy lies down on Angel's bed, it's a tight shot as her head hits the pillow, but you can see her slide her right hand under the pillow, too.

Then we cut to a medium shot, and Buffy's right hand is still on her knee (thumb-ring glistening) and we see her slide the hand under the pillow, all over again.  Ooopsie.  

It's bad enough Marti Noxon is padding out Howard Gordon's half-finished script with unnecessary scenes (do we need to see Giles tell Xander to get a ride from Cordelia to Buffy's house when, the moment we see him and Cordy arrive there, she will be complaining about having to give him said ride?  And frankly, we could lose the W/X/Snyder scene, save Armin Shimerman's paycheck, and move right along), but we don't need editor Skip McDonald  showing us instant replays to fill-up the run-time.  No matter how interesting SMG's thumb ring might be.

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

If talk of SMG's private life makes you want to hyperventilate, you could always use that handily-labeled "Breathing Apparatus" seen on the wall of the airplane's cargo bay, just before Kendra bonks the guy checking the area out. Nice job by set decorator David Koneff of plugging a potential plothole (the cargo hold isn't pressurized; how did Kendra survive at 30,000 feet?) there.  

Although given that Kendra apparently isn't human (whether she really is another Slayer, somehow, or whether she's a demonic Taraka assassin), which probably helped her with the cold, maybe she didn't even need the Breathing Apparatus.  But nice detail work, anyhow.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

So, Buffy lies to Giles so she can go out on a date…

On 6/21/2014 at 12:10 AM, DAngelus said:

Giles of course suspects nothing, because Buffy has always been so upright and honest with him, right?  Holy facepalm.

Literally the very previous episode:

(Points to the vidcapper for catching Xillow's disbelieving reactions, as well)

I mean, it would be nice to think that Giles is just cutting Buffy some slack because he's grateful that she saved Jenny's life—

(Ugh, can you imagine if she hadn't and Jenny died?  Thank goodness that didn't happen!)

—but it sure doesn't play like that on the screen.  No, it's more like Giles just accepts what Buffy tells him (about "resting up") unequivocally.  And he wasn't even knocked unconscious last episode!  

(Although Eyghon!Jenny did rough him up a bit.  But still.)

Personally, I think that

Spoiler

Giles just spotted that ring on Buffy's right thumb as she left the Library…

…and figured he didn't have to worry about Angel any longer (Drusilla, perhaps…), but I'll understand if people are tired of my bringing SMG's personal life into this, so that's why the spoiler bars.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

So the Review Crew guys hit this one, and Mikey was disconsolate that Jenny is gone (Mike teased him with "Mikey's crush is off the show!"), but surely that's an overstatement, right?  She is still teaching a class that (we saw last episode) half the cast is taking, after all.  She might turn up again, down the road.

I mean, to quote Xander, "this is a big school", so there's no guarantees, but it's not impossible she'll get over her trauma, eventually.

Mike moves on to critiquing Spike's exuberant claim that he will dance with Drusilla: "Isn't he just carrying her?"  "That's dancing!" Mikey responds, IMO somewhat defensively.  I guess those who aren't exactly gifted in the Terpsichorean arts will take any "dancing" credit they can get hold of.

Buffy's ethics get discussed a time or two here.  When Angel mentions that the ice rink is closed on Tuesdays, Joe mocks this as "Her first B[reaking] and E[ntering], how romantic!"  Which took me aback, as surely Buffy is established as a scofflaw by now.  (She broke into the Funeral Home in A Certain Owen-osity, into CRD in I Moloch, You Willow,  and into the Bronze in both Angel and When She Was Bad, off the top of my head.) But I suppose she is supposed to be on the side of Law and Order, so perhaps Angel shouldn't encourage her tendency to trespass.

(After all, later in the ep, she breaks into his place.  The guys note that he has to be invited in, but she can just force the door.  Hardly seems fair.  Sow the invasive wind, reap the broken doorknob, Dead Boy.)

The guys did like that "cradle-robbing, creature-of-the-night boyfriend" line ("Thank God they're acknowledging it!" says Mike), as none of them particularly like Angel being wayyyyyyyyy too old for Buffy, but Mikey points out that this is the first time Buffy has actually said "boyfriend", which I hadn't realized before.  (Xander mocks Angel as "Buffy's beau, her special friend" to Ford in Lie to Me, but Buffy never had said the word.  She couldn't even define their relationship when discussing it with Tom in Reptile Boy.) Huh.  So I guess we had Bangel progression in the episode, even before Buffy smooches him while he's vamped out.

Speaking of the ice rink, Mikey is a bit surprised that Buffy apparently slit a human's throat with her skate, which seemed a bit much, as Octarus is clearly not a vampire and Buffy generally doesn't kill humans.  (She did toss Dr. Weirick into the hyena pit in The Pack, but that seemed more like self-defense rather than a deliberate killing, IMO.)  And while we just generally assume that Octarus is a demon, Giles does tell us in the very next scene that some of the Taraka assassins are human.  I grant you that he was smacking Angel around pretty good and Angel has vampire strength, but maybe Octarus is just a really big dude.  Perhaps Buffy should have tried slamming his head into the rink walls or something, rather than going for full lethality so quickly.

Once Xander refers to the group as "The Scooby Gang" in this episode, the guys try to puzzle out whom our five regulars match up with in the actual Scooby-Doo.  Mikey wants to make the standard "Xander is Shaggy" casting, but Mike is pretty sure he smells something brewing between Xander and Cordelia, and so says that Xander should be the Fred to Cordelia's Daphne.  Since Willow is obviously Velma, that leaves Giles and Buffy as Shaggy and Scooby.  I wouldn't have thought to cast Giles as Shaggy, but we did just find out last episode that he and Ethan and their pals used to get "stoned" fairly regularly, back in the same time period when the cartoons were being produced.  So perhaps that tracks.

And poor Buffy, always being equated to the dog! Ruh-roh!  I guess you can say that dating Angel is proof that she attracts fleas, but only if you're in a nasty mood.

Spoiler

Speaking of things that Giles and Ethan used to get up to, I just now realized that The DuLac Compendium is probably nothing more than gay porn!  I mean "debase the beef canoe"…well, "beef canoe" sounds rather like "flesh torpedo" to my (perverted) ears!  And no doubt Giles and Ethan (and Randall and Thomas and Philip) debased their "canoes" by sticking them up each others' "bases" and…okay, stopping now.

I know, I know…allegedly that's a mistranslation and you can make pretty much anything sound smutty if you work hard enough.  But still…if that's the case, then it's no wonder DuLac was excommunicated!  (And no wonder Giles was so upset that Julia [blonde vampire] stole that book!  Hands off my porn, girl!  Sheesh!)

 

Edited July 12 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

A nice bit from another reactor (Georgia [not Georgia Corsby]), who notes that not only does Buffy kissing Angel when he's envamped show how much she trusts him, but it's a mirror to their first kiss, which led to his losing control and showing his demon face for the first time.

Granted, we could argue if Buffy showing deeper trust in Angel is necessarily a good thing, seeing how easily he threatened Willy later in the episode, but that's probably a longer discussion.