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Post by Clare on Sept 23, 2008 8:39:06 GMT -5
2.17 Passion - Episode #029
Angelus kills Jenny, and Giles takes his revenge - but is nearly killed doing so
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on Sept 26, 2008 10:44:51 GMT -5
I'm giving this episode a 7, which is the most I can give considering I'm not a big fan of emotional arc episodes.
On rewatching it I'm liking it more than before. This episode shows the peak of angelus's evilness, as he kills jenny and leaves her in giles's apartment to find, surrounded by flowers and candles. It really makes you hate angelus, and its rare that I ever really hate a bad guy on tv
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Post by jennf10 on Nov 26, 2008 16:06:41 GMT -5
PASSION is one of the best Buffy episodes ever. It is how Angel gets to the heart of his victim and makes sure they know they are a target.
In this episode, Jenny Calendar is trying to redeem herself to the Gang by finding the spell to return Angel's soul. In the process, she gains the attention to Angelus, who does not like the idea of getting that pesky soul back. He stalks her at Sunnydale High, ultmately killing her. The add insult, he does not take her blood, just snaps her neck.
What is crafty about this episode is the way Angelus lays out Jenny at Giles' apartment. This spawns the return of Ripa, who comes to the factory ready to take on Angelus. Spike makes sure that Dru does not interfere, as Angelus brought this on himself.
Finally, Buffy's reaction to Giles going after Angelus was classic. It was a daughter protecting her father, even from himself. After they get out of the factory, when she tells him she can't do this alone, that is one of the defining moments in the series with their relationship.
Overall, great emotional episode which significantly moved the plot forward. Excellent.
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Post by partcynic on Nov 11, 2009 10:55:54 GMT -5
2x17 “Passion”
Episode Rating = 10
When going back and doing “Buffy” rewatches, I often find that I have to gear myself up for the big emotional stories in the first three seasons – partly because of how affecting they are, and partly because I’m worried that seeing them too much will dim their power. However, over a decade later, my second concern has yet to come true, and “Passion” in particular has remained comfortably lodged as my favourite episode ever since I first saw it (in fact, I believe this was the first episode that I sat down and made a point of taping. Though I’d watched the show in order from the start, I guess you could say that this was the one that made me a for-life fan). Bringing many of the conflicts from the last few episodes to a boil, the plot provides one of the biggest gut-punches the series ever featured, amidst some of its darkest and most disturbing scenes. In addition to its near unsurpassed emotional impact, the episode also provides some astonishing character and universe development, finally removing Sunnydale’s sense of innocence and demonstrating just how evil Angelus truly is.
What I Liked about “Passion”:
- Right from the start, the episode creates a grim atmosphere, with Buffy et al dancing at the Bronze and being silently stalked by Angelus. His monologue on the nature of passion gives us a heretofore unseen look inside the character’s head, and lends the story a unique stylistic frame (from what I can remember, this is the only ep handled in this manner). The juxtaposition between the gang smiling and laughing as they leave and Angelus feeding is great, and the creep factor gradually heightens as he sneaks into Buffy’s bedroom and watches her as she sleeps.
- Buffy’s fear the following morning upon seeing Angelus’ drawing is tangible, and puts her on edge in a way we’ve never seen before. The library scene was solid, injecting a little bit of humour with Cordy’s myopic concern about her car (and the fantastic moment with Jonathon and Xander, which poked fun at how strange it is that no other Sunnydale High students ever seem to visit the library), and well as introducing the interesting concept of a de-invitation spell. The Scooby chat in the hallway was also fun, with Xander and Cordelia having fantastic dialogue, Buffy’s concern about her mother being believable, and Giles’ statement about remaining level-headed despite provocation being beautifully ironic knowing what will happen later.
- Willow’s chat with Jenny is very cute, and I loved how thrilled she was with the prospect of being a substitute (and then her worrying about not having her authority respected). The arrival of Buffy and Giles built nicely upon the frosty interaction they had with Jenny in “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, and the subsequent ‘Ginny’ moment worked emotionally. It’s especially sad knowing that Jenny will never get the chance to make things right.
- I enjoyed the scene with Buffy attempting to broach the Angel situation with Joyce (and how spot-on her mother was in her assessment of the situation), and the following bit with Willow and her fish was fine. I also liked the cut from Willow discovering her envelope’s contents to the shot of her sitting with Buffy and holding a stake, which added some slight humour to an otherwise dark situation.
- The twisted triangle between Spike, Drusilla and Angelus is continuing to grow in complexity, and we really get to see how Spike is being supplanted in Dru’s affections. The latter’s arrival with ‘Miss Sunshine’ was funny, and I smiled at her “open wide for mummy” line. Her vision was also an organic way of having the trio be alerted to the threat Jenny posed to them.
- It was cool to get to visit an actual magic shop (I wonder how many there are in Sunnydale?), and I liked how the owner dropped his ‘mysterious' accent when he realised Jenny was aware of true magic. It was also noteworthy for introducing the very important Orb of Thesulah, as well as showing us just what Jenny’s intentions were.
- The events of the following day are all good, from Buffy’s chat with Jenny in the morning (I admired how Buffy was able to put her own feelings to one side and act in Giles’ best interests) to the visit to Willow’s in the early evening (yay for the mention of Xander and the Snoopy dance!) As they were earlier in the episode, Angelus’ tactics (going after Joyce) continued to prove sinister, and having his focus be on emotionally torturing Buffy instead of just killing her adds depth to his character.
- The final chat between Giles and Jenny is sweet, despite setting up (wondrous) horrors for later. The subsequent scene where Jenny realised Angelus had snuck into the classroom was frightening, and you could feel her fear as he threatened her and then destroyed her computer (but thankfully not the backup copy of the files on the floppy disk). The subsequent chase is incredibly tense, and I’m always willing Jenny to make it out of there, even though she won’t do so alive. Her death itself is disturbing and visceral, and Angelus’ glee at the act elevates him to a new level of evil. It was also a great idea to leave no doubt as to Jenny’s fate, giving the audience awareness of what’s happened, and ramping up the discomfort as the rest of the characters gradually find out.
- Of all of Joyce’s material, I think that her big talk with Buffy is her finest, and it captures her both in the role of frustrated/upset mother to a secretive daughter, and a truly loving person who wants what’s best for her child. Kristine Sutherland did well in conveying her character’s emotions, and I felt for her as a result.
- The scene with Giles returning to his apartment is one of the most beautifully horrific things the show ever portrayed. Given that the viewer knows Jenny’s fate, it’s hard not to have your heart sink as he takes the rose from his door and smiles, and then enters to find his home decorated with candles and flower petals. It’s heartbreaking to watch him happily ascend the stairs only to find Jenny’s dead body lying on his bed, and the emotions are synchronised perfectly to the music that plays in the background. It’s a devastating moment – suffice to say that if Angelus’ cruel behaviour towards Buffy in “Innocence” didn’t make you want him dead, this would guarantee it.
- Giles’ phone call to Buffy provides an equally upsetting follow-up. Seeing Angelus smirk outside of the Summers house as Willow breaks down and Buffy sinks to the floor in grief (I think not only mourning for Jenny and Giles’ pain, but in feeling that what’s happened is her fault) is very moving, and Angelus’ monologue works wonderfully with it.
- There’s a great thrill to seeing Giles take on Angelus and do what Buffy hasn’t (for once, I’m in agreement with Xander), even though it’s basically a suicide mission. It says a lot about Spike’s feelings that he’s more than happy to leave Angelus to be beaten, and Buffy’s eventual appearance leads to a solid fight scene. The ending (as she’s forced to abandon the battle to get Giles to safety) is another excellent moment, and their mutual grieving embrace (where Buffy is required to be Giles’ emotional rock for once) is powerful, especially Buffy’s line about how she can’t do this without him.
- Angelus’ closing narration brings the episode’s theme full circle, and the music that plays as Giles and Buffy stand by Jenny’s grave is gorgeous. Their pain and sorrow is very real, as is Buffy’s regret that she couldn’t bring herself to kill Angelus when she had the chance. The subsequent transition to Buffy narrating is fantastic, and the ending perfect, as the secret to restoring Angel’s soul ends up falling innocuously between new-substitute teacher Willow’s desks.
What I Disliked about “Passion”:
I can honestly say that there was nothing I really disliked about this episode. Instead, I’ll just mention a few things I felt could have (a) done with some more thought, or (b) made already-great things even better.
- Angelus is pretty lucky that Buffy seemed to be sleeping deeply. I wonder why the Powers that Be (or whomever it is that’s responsible for Buffy’s prophetic dreams) didn’t send her one to let her know a murderous psychopath was watching over her.
- Angelus’ two ‘gifts’ for Willow should have been a bit more concealed. It’s weird that Willow and Cordelia don’t immediately notice the inconspicuous brown envelopes on the bed despite them being in plain sight.
- Why would Angelus leave a drawing of Joyce specifically for Willow to find? Was he trying to lure Buffy away so he could then attack Joyce while she was alone at the Summers house?
- I liked the discussion between Jenny and Angelus about his presence at the school (particularly his line about being a knowledge seeker), but it should have been obvious that a vampire would be able to enter a public building, so that dialogue wasn’t really necessary.
- A couple more seconds could have been left between Jenny knocking Angelus over with the janitor’s cart and him grabbing her as she fled. As is, he seems to have teleported up the stairs.
- It was believable that Giles may have invited Angel into his home at some point, but I would have liked to see this happen onscreen in a previous episode.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I’ve always held this episode in very high esteem, and continue to do so now. I have very few qualms about calling it my number one, and it’s a top-tier edition in the fields of narrative, theme, acting, character development, emotional impact, and universe development. It admittedly doesn’t have much humour, but what’s present is good, and the episode can’t be faulted for not being funny when that was never its intention (besides, the previous ep was wall-to-wall comedy, so they balance out). Since it does so fantastically in everything it set out to do, I’m happy to award “Passion” my first of only two ‘10’ scores, and my continued admiration as one of the finest hours of TV drama I’ve had the fortune to see.
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Post by cyclica on Nov 15, 2009 15:21:44 GMT -5
Passion. Or is it passions? I hardly need mention that it's one of the biggest emotional episodes of the show, and upon rewatching and analyzing, I've come to appreciate it more. To me, it's somewhat reminiscent of 'never kill a boy on the first date', in the sense that it's a simple vampire story with no gimmicks. Throughout season 2 every arc episode has had some monster or unique aspect to get you watching (the judge, new slayer etc) but this episode is just a straight up main-characters-only, character and emotion driven episode. My favourite part of the episode has to be the narration. Hearing angelous talking about passion throughout the episode is clever, creepy, and in a weird way even classy. It gets especially unnerving when he starts talking about the 'ecstasy of grief' as he watches buffy and willow break down in tears when they discover jenny is dead. And that scene is just one of the big emotional scenes. Towards the end the episode gets really dark - giles discovering jenny's body, going out to fight angelous, buffy having to hit giles to bring him to his senses and then telling him she can't do it alone - all scenes that leave an emotional impact when watching, and most episodes would be lucky just to have one such scene. The look on giles's face as he walks in on jenny's body, and the cut to him later on still standing there with the same look on his face, that's one of the most memorable and heart breaking moments of the whole show. This episode isn't without humour either. I loved jonathan walking in on the gang in the library, and xander's reaction to it. The running joke about cordelia being worried about angel in her car was good too, as was giles intending to intervine when buffy and joyce were talking about angel, but then realising he didn't know what to say. And the angel/spike/dru dynamic is as good as always. I especially enjoyed giles beating angel with a flaming plank of wood, and spike telling dru 'No fair going into the ring unless he tags you first'. I'm standing by my 7 rating. Even though I can appreciate the quality of writing, I'm rating based on enjoyment, and there are other episodes I enjoy more that would get higher ratings from me. Plus there were a few, um , problematic scenes. Sorry partcynic!  - At the start buffy and the gang walk past angel feeding on someone, and they don't notice him? It's not like he was standing in a shadow so dark he couldn't be seen. I guess buffy forgot to 'hone'.  - Willow goes to her fishtank when on the phone to buffy, the turns around, and an envelope containing ehr dead fish is waiting for her. Are we supposed to believe angel snuck in, left the envelope and left without willow noticing, during the five seconds her back was turned? - And if angel is so evil, why did he kill willow's fish, when he could have killed willow? Killing some fish seems pretty lame compared to what he's gonna do later on. - When angel meets joyce he reveals he had sex with buffy. Since this seemed to be the only reason he was talking to joyce (you'd think he'd just kill her), his plan to annoy buffy seemed to be resting on the assumption that buffy hadn't told joyce about that night she spent with angel. He had no way of knowing what buffy had told joyce, and if she had turned to him and said 'I already know', what would he have done then? Walked home looking like an idiot? - Drucilla goes to the magic shop to find out what jenny bought, presumably because her vision told her jenny went there, but not why she went there. But in the very next scene angel meets jenny and finds out she bought the orb of thesulah, so what was the point of the dru scene? Did dru go home and tell angel about the orb, and then he went out? Because the way it was edited implied that the two scenes took place at the same time. - Angel knocks over a computer monitor, and it catches fire? Would a monitor do that? - Angel is chasing jenny through the school, then suddenly he's in front of her and she runs into him? Is this a cartoon? This kind of intentional mistake really bothers me because it's the writers treating us like idiots, like we wouldn't notice how clearly impossible that scene was. - And why did he snap her neck and not drink her blood? Why would he not want to drink her blood? - At what point did giles invite angel round his house? He must have because vamps can't get in without an invitation. And you'd think if giles had invited him over at some point, he would have done the de-invitation spell like everyone else did. - During the fight in the factory, angel asks buffy if she's going to let her old man burn, and she jumps over the railing to help giles. But no, rewind that scene. Buffy didn't jump over the railing, angel helped her over, and not in a 'throw her to her death' kind of way. It was one actor assisting another in a way that they hoped the audience wouldn't notice. Pleh. |
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Post by partcynic on Nov 16, 2009 7:56:59 GMT -5
I'm glad we agree on so much, and I'm happy you appreciate the ep for what it is. So instead of saying 'I agree' to all of your comments in the first half, I'll get straight to the second one. Ha - no problem! Besides, most of the things you mentioned are minor niggles as opposed to flawed scenes, and some aren't actually problems. From a distance, they looked like a couple making out, so I didn't have a problem with the way it was shown. And besides, Buffy's never been one to hone - when Giles told her to do that, she failed and just focused on the guy's outfit. No - the envelope was already there. The issue in that bit isn't what you mentioned, but that Willow didn't immediately notice an inconspicious envelope hidden in plain sight. They brought this up via Cordelia at the start. Angel wasn't interested in killing them (until Dru got wind of Jenny's plan). He just wanted to upset and frighten them with a reminder that he could enter their homes at any time, and there was nothing they could do about it (as far as he knew). But it's not an unreasonable assumption at all. He knows that Buffy and Joyce aren't exceptionally close anyway, and that Buffy keeps secrets from her (the whole Slayer thing). And ignoring that, what kind of 17 year old is going to be telling their parent(s) they just lost their virginity? There's nothing in the B/J relationship (nor in real life) to support the idea that Buffy would have said something. As for killing Joyce, I reckon Angel probably would have - it's just that he thought he'd be able to follow her in, but then got 'uninvited'. I'm not sure what you mean here. Dru had a vision of the store, went there once the sun set, and quizzed (and probably killed) the owner. She then relayed the information about the re-ensouling spell to Angel, who switched his plans from going after Buffy to killing Jenny. There's nothing in the classroom scene that suggests he was unaware of the spell - he clearly already knows what the orb is and what it's used for (doesn't he even say that the orb "takes him back"?). I can't say I see anything in the writing, editing or acting that implies anything else. Computers are electronic, so they can certainly catch fire if violently damaged while plugged in. I thought that was a problem, but not an intentional mistake. I imagine that the scene was probably longer before, but got cut down badly in the editing stage. Vampires aren't exactly obligated to kill their victims by biting them - we've seen plenty of neck snappings during the show's run. And as is pointed out in "Amends", Angel killed more for pleasure than for feeding. Besides, there's nothing to say he couldn't have drained her after killing her - he could have just decided to go with the plan of tormenting Giles instead. Following that, he may have thought that leaving Jenny with two obvious puncture marks would have instantly revealed that she was dead, instead of giving Giles that little moment of happiness before he realised what had happened. I noted the first bit too - but it's not a problem, as Giles was always pretty positive towards Angel (until his reversion). It's perfectly plausible that he could have invited him into his home at some point in the past (though I concede that it would have been nice to be shown this). As for the deinvitation scene, rewatch the bit where he visits the Summers house and chats to Willow. He plainly states that now that Willow and Buffy have done the spell, he'll go home and do it. Remember that the bulk of this episode takes place in one evening - it's not like Giles had days to do it, but didn't. He just let the other Scoobs go first because (a) Angel had already done things to threaten them and (b) he'd probably be more concerned with his 'children''s welfare than his own. |
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Post by cyclica on Nov 16, 2009 18:53:35 GMT -5
I thought it was the same magic shop every time, just remodelled? From a distance, they looked like a couple making out, so I didn't have a problem with the way it was shown. And besides, Buffy's never been one to hone - when Giles told her to do that, she failed and just focused on the guy's outfit. To me it looked like angel (and a girl) making out. And I was half-joking about the honing. No - the envelope was already there. The issue in that bit isn't what you mentioned, but that Willow didn't immediately notice an inconspicious envelope hidden in plain sight. I figured she didn't notice it because it wasn't there, until she turned around and turned back. Either way it doesn't make much sense. I'm not sure what you mean here. Dru had a vision of the store, went there once the sun set, and quizzed (and probably killed) the owner. She then relayed the information about the re-ensouling spell to Angel, who switched his plans from going after Buffy to killing Jenny. There's nothing in the classroom scene that suggests he was unaware of the spell - he clearly already knows what the orb is and what it's used for (doesn't he even say that the orb "takes him back"). I can't say I see anything in the writing, editing or acting that implies anything else. Maybe it's just me, but whenever I watch those two scenes it always feels like 'this is what dru is doing, meanwhile this is what angel is doing, at the same time'. If they had put another scene in between there would be no problem, it would show that time had passed. But cutting straight from dru finding out about the orb (or rather dru just about to find out) to angel using the info with no 'dru tells angel' scene inbetween feels jarring to me. Like dru's scene ended halfway through, and we're going to go back to it later on, only we don't. Computers are electronic, so they can certainly catch fire if violently damaged while plugged in. I guess I didn't put enough thought into that one. It just seemed like such a strange image, a flaming computer monitor. Besides, there's nothing to say he couldn't have drained her after killing her - he could have just decided to go with the plan of tormenting Giles instead. Following that, he may have thought that leaving Jenny with two obvious puncture marks would have instantly revealed that she was dead, instead of giving Giles that little moment of happiness before he realised what had happened. Drinking from a dead person isn't as fun as drinking from a living person. The blood wouldn't be as warm and wouldn't gush into your mouth. Uh... I assume. I get what you mean about wanting to leave giles a moment of happiness. But he could have bit jenny on one side, and put her on the bed so that the other side of her neck would be seen by giles. As for the deinvitation scene, rewatch the bit where he visits the Summers house and chats to Willow. He plainly states that now that Willow and Buffy have done the spell, he'll go home and do it. Bah! I must have missed that bit. Btw partcynic, is there a reason why you're zooming ahead with the reviews? And why you've skipped 'what's my line'?
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Post by partcynic on Nov 17, 2009 9:14:57 GMT -5
From S3 onwards, they used the same location and remodelled it. But the one here was actually a different location. Yeah - it is a bit odd, since it's not really the first thing you'd think of when it comes to a computer-caused fire. But it is possible. Do you remember when I posted a couple of weeks ago (about my computer failing and me losing a bunch of reviews)? I lost everything from The Dark Age to Innocence, and had to rewrite most of them. While I was able to do Ted-Innocence from memory, I couldn't do that for TDA and WML, so I need to rewatch them. Since I didn't want to go over them twice in a short space of time, I decided to get ahead with the other eps and revist them once I'm done with the rest of the season. That way, we should finish at around the same time - I'll clear Go Fish and Becoming in the next few days, and when you come to do those three, I'll go back and do TDA/WML. That way, we'll go back to being synchronised when we go on to S3 (if you want to carry on with the rest of the series). |
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Post by cyclica on Nov 18, 2009 17:52:05 GMT -5
Do you remember when I posted a couple of weeks ago (about my computer failing and me losing a bunch of reviews)? I lost everything from The Dark Age to Innocence, and had to rewrite most of them. While I was able to do Ted-Innocence from memory, I couldn't do that for TDA and WML, so I need to rewatch them. Since I didn't want to go over them twice in a short space of time, I decided to get ahead with the other eps and revist them once I'm done with the rest of the season. That way, we should finish at around the same time - I'll clear Go Fish and Becoming in the next few days, and when you come to do those three, I'll go back and do TDA/WML. That way, we'll go back to being synchronised when we go on to S3 (if you want to carry on with the rest of the series). Ah ok. Since your reviews are always so detailed, I assumed you were rewatching them. I always try to do my reviews as soon after watching the ep as possible, so they're fresh in my mind. If you've reviewed 4 eps from memory (ted, bad eggs, surprise and innocence), well that's pretty impressive. |
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