Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Episode title: Innocence

Original air date: January 20, 1998

“It’s intresing to me that “preparing” looks a great bit like sitting on your ass. When do we destroy the world already” – Spike

So last week we ended on one of the most memorable cliff hangers of the series with Angel’s curse being lifted as the result of him having sex with Buffy, with the previous episode leaving him to howl into the rain as his soul was removed and he became Angelus once more. Seemingly between episodes it stopped raining despite the scene continuing but here as we get to witness first hand Angel’s evil side as he bites a smoking woman followed by exhaling a long plume of smoke in a pretty nice touch. Needless to say the days of Angel being the brooding love interest for now are clearly over as he this episode establishes him as the big evil for the season as he reunites with Spike and Drusilla.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:14

Episode title: Surprise

Original air date: January 19, 1998

“My boyfriend had a bicentennial.” – Buffy

It’s only been a couple of weeks but already we are faced with another two part episode, but more importantly this episode also marks the first Buffy birthday something which would become a running theme with future Buffy birthdays falling on either the 13^th or 14^th episode of each season. This however doesn’t mean Buffy has an easy week, as Spike and Drusilla return with a new plot to assemble the limbs of a powerful demon known as “The Judge”.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:13

Episode title: Bad Eggs

Original air date: January 12, 1998

“I See Your ‘Gyughhh!’ and raise you a Nyaghhh!” – Buffy

It’s a mixed bag of ideas that this underrated (let alone another of my favourite) episodes as it not only manages to reference both “Aliens” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” but also manages to work in a pair of vampire cowboys as well.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:12

Episode title: What’s My Line Part 2

Original air date: November 24, 1997

“I Mock You With My Monkey Pants” – Oz

So last weeks episode ended on a cliffhanger with Angel being locked in a cage by Kendra and facing being dusted by the quickly approaching sunrise. Elsewhere Buffy was left dealing with the fact that Kendra was the second slayer, while also wondering when the remaining two assassins from the “Order of Taraka” hired by Spike were going to strike. It was a surprisingly busy time in Sunnydale in what was really a ho-hum episode so this second part really had a lot to make up for.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:10

Episode title: What’s My Line Part 1

Original air date: November 17, 1997

“I aspire to help my fellow man. Check. As long as he’s not smelly, dirty, or something gross.” – Cordelia

The first half of a two parter and honestly it another ho-hum episode this week as Spike calls in a trio of assassins from the “Order of Taraka” to eliminate Buffy.

The issues with two part episodes is that you usually have the slow build-up of the first episode as the scene is set and pieces are moved into place ready for the payoff in the second part. Why they choose to split this story into two parts however is unclear and seems to only have been done so that the ending of this first part (which I will get to later) would have more of an impact. The main issue here though is that none of the characters have anything particularly interesting to do this week as you get the sneaking suspicion that everyone is just killing time while they wait for something to happen.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:09

Episode title: The Dark Age

Original air date: November 10, 1997

“Ooo, gang, did you hear that? A bonus day of class plus Cordelia, mix in a little rectal surgery and it’s my best day ever.” – Xander

If like myself you’ve been hankering for the return of Giles former best friend Ethan Rayne since he made his first appearance in “Halloween” your no doubt be delighted that the chaos worshiping trickster is back this week, as he’s forced like Giles to deal with an event from their past. The bad news though is that this is possibly one of the more lacklustre episodes to date but atleast Ethan’s back and that’s a good thing….right?

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:08

Episode title: Lie To Me

Original air date: November 3, 1997

“Things used to be pretty simple. A hundred years, just hanging out, feeling guilty. I really honed by brooding skills. Then she comes along.” – Angel

Another underrated episode this week as Buffy’s duties as a slayer once again attract the wrong kind of attention, this time from her friend Ford who has recently transferred from L.A. to Sunnydale. Little does she know that Ford is also a member of group of vampire fantasists with Ford soon making a deal with Spike to hand him Buffy in exchange for Spike turning him into a vampire.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:07

“I’m gonna do what any man would do about it: somethin’ damn manly” – Xander

Halloween has come to Sunnydale this week and while you might expect it to be a hotbed of supernatural activity, its actually the opposite it seems with Halloween seemingly being considered a holiday of sorts for the supernatural. This however doesn’t mean it’s an easy week for the Scoobies as this week they have to deal with a case of personality switching when they fall foul of their Halloween costumes changing their wearer into their costumed personas.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:06

Episode title: Reptile Boy

Original air date: October 13, 1997

“One day I’ll have money. Prestige. Power. And on that day they’ll still have more.” – Xander

Kind of a weird episode this week as Buffy investigates a missing high school student, while struggling once more to balance a normal life outside of her slayer responsibilities. At the same time her confused feelings for Angel lead to her attending a frat party with Cordelia only to discover that the fraternity members hide more than a few secrets of their own.

Continue reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer S:02 Ep:05