PASSION (2x17)

Wow. Simply...wow. The first time I saw this episode it left me completely numb for 15 minutes. Every single time I've seen it since I've felt not quite so much shock, but instead a hollow, cold feeling inside me. Spine-tingled, angered, and goosebump ridden can be added to that as well. There's a reason why this is one of the best episodes in the entire series. This episode is the first major shock of the series and represents the point where I was proud to own the S2 DVD set and proud to call myself a huge 'Buffy' fan.

It begins powerfully and ends powerfully, one of the very few BtVS episodes to do that. Most start out slow and build to a powerful conclusion. In this, we instead get creeped out by Angelus' perverted and sick mental torturing of Buffy and her friends. The opening scene is extremely creepy and, surprisingly, actually quite scary as Angelus is right on Buffy's bed, stalking her as she sleeps. When Buffy wakes up the next morning she finds a picture of her, drawn by Angelus, left on her pillow. All of this is so incredibly disturbing, I'm frankly surprised this doesn't freak Buffy out more. I know I'd be completely petrified had that happened to me.

In a important scene later on, Giles makes it clear to Jenny that he's not the person she has to make things right with. Basically, when Buffy decides to forgive Jenny, so will Giles. I love Giles' loyalty and pure devotion to Buffy, both as a Watcher and as a father figure. It is really good to see Jenny genuinely wanting to make up for her mistake by attempting recreate the curse to restore Angel's soul. Fortunately for her, Buffy gets past her anger to share with her the fact that Giles misses her, and that she doesn't want anyone to be alone. Buffy is essentially giving Giles permission to continue dating Jenny after what she did. This is extremely selfless of her and is incredibly pleasing to see.

Unfortunately, as Giles and Jenny begin piecing their relationship back together, everything else goes to hell. Angelus turns things up another notch by attacking Buffy's friends. He kills all of Willow's fish by sewing them together with a string and leaving them in a note on Willow's bed. Then he reveals that he and Buffy had sex to Joyce. Then he stops Jenny from getting the freshly translated curse to the Scoobies, which leads to a violently raw scene in the computer lab where Angelus smashes the Orb of Thesulah and threatens to kill Jenny. What follows is a scary and riveting chase scene that you always think is going to end with Buffy saving the day.

This show, however, is unique and decides to take a much darker, much riskier route by killing off a main character instead of taking the easy way out. Yes, Jenny wasn't in every episode, but she was certainly a main character. The neck snap is brutal, shocking, unambiguous, and completely earth shattering. Main characters can actually die in this show. This makes everyone's plight against evil after this is scary, tense, and gives the show a level of realism and depth rarely seen on television. All bets are off and anyone can be killed off now.

While Angelus is busy killing off Jenny, Willow is hanging out over at Buffy's place while Joyce has "the talk" about sex with Buffy. I think Joyce handles it pretty well in a very tender scene with Buffy. Buffy also responds exactly like she should and openly admits she made a big mistake in having sex with Angel. I don't think she's sorry just because he lost his soul either. I think she knows she wasn't quite ready for it yet either. This is obviously a lesson to not rush into having sex as there can be dire consequences. This isn't preaching, though, and it delivers an important message that sex is something that is meant for people with a relationship that is solid and supportable, and is not for the reckless.

As incredibly painful as it is to see Jenny Calendar's neck snapped by Buffy's ex-lover, the following scenes are, impressively, several times more painful to watch. Giles comes home expecting a romantic evening to reconnect with Jenny and what we, and he, gets instead is one of the most brutal, disturbing, and perverted things I've ever seen on television. Angelus not only kills Jenny Calendar, but he then uses her body to lead Giles into thinking he's going to have a romantic encounter is his room. Every time I see the rose on the door and Giles' big warm smile I cringe in pain. Angelus sets up everything: the opera, the rose, the wine, and the note that only says 'upstairs.' Giles warmly walks upstairs, ecstatic with the reality of reconnecting with Jenny after all that has happened. Instead he walks up to find Jenny's body carefully laid out on his bed, with her eyes left open, staring blankly at him. I don't have words to describe how evil and sick this is. This scene elicited the strongest emotional response from me ever before when watching film up to that point.

The pain and cruelty somehow still doesn't end here. The following, equally painful scene, involves Giles calling Buffy and telling her what happened. All we see is the reaction from Buffy as she collapses into a corner in disbelieving tears and Willow as she bursts into sobbing pain and sorrow in Joyce's arms. While all of this is happening, Angelus is just outside the window soaking in all of the suffering he's caused and taking pure, undiluted pleasure from the experience. It is during this scene that I actually want Buffy to kill Angelus for good. I don't care if Angel comes back or not anymore, this guy needs to be dusted, right away.

Giles, now in complete determination mode, gathers up his best weapons and takes off to kill Angelus. The Scooby Gang arrives at his house too late to stop him. Xander uses this as an opportunity to point out that he hopes Giles is able to kill Angelus and that he hated Angel long before anyone else. It's powerful and telling to see Buffy completely and unwaveringly agree. Buffy then runs to the factory to prevent Giles from getting himself killed. This involves a perfectly-executed and passionate fight scene that really delivers. What's more passionate, though, is the aftermath of the fight when Giles pushes Buffy off him and yells out, "Why did you come here!? This wasn't your fight!" Buffy punches him to the ground where she drops to her knees and simply hugs Giles tight as he weeps his heart out for Jenny.

While burying Jenny in the graveyard, Buffy apologizes with all her heart for not killing Angelus when she had the chance back in Innocence (2x14). What a massive price the group had to pay for hope that someday Angel might regain his soul. And hope there is, with that floppy disk lying in between the cracks. This episode is another defining moment for the series and one of the most powerful pieces of drama I've ever witnessed in my life. Absolutely stunning directing, perfect acting, creepy music, great action, powerful emotion, and awesome execution.