1997/1998… the obsession grows…

It’s 1997. Every girl is walking around sporting either a short, "just out of bed" Meg Ryan hairdo or a face framing Jennifer Anniston cut… but there aren’t too many "Give me Buffy hair" requests… yet. Half a season has aired, and Joss Whedon’s brainchild, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has cultivated a small, but loyal following (I wouldn’t call us a cult… yet. The end of Season One didn’t really leave a huge cliff hanger. The Big Bad was destroyed, the Scoobies are left to enjoy the summer, as are their new fans. So Season Two is open for anything, and anything is pretty much what we got!


Season Two, Episode Guide:

2.1 ~ When She Was Bad ~ Original airdate: September 15, 1997. Written and directed by: Joss Whedon.
Principal Snyder: There are some things that I can just smell. It's like a sixth sense.
Giles: Actually, that would be one of the five.

Buffy comes back from a summer in L.A. with her dad, acting aloof and cold toward her friends. The Anointed One tries to resurrect The Master by kidnapping Willow and Giles, and it is in saving her friends that she herself is saved. 8.5 out of 10

2.2 ~ Some Assembly Required ~ OA: September 22, 1997. W: Ty King. D: Bruce Seth Green.
Buffy: Sorry, but I'm an old-fashioned gal. I was raised to believe that men dig up the corpses and women have the babies.

Two High School Boys are building a girlfriend for one of the boy’s dead brother. Cordelia is to supply the perfect face. Giles and the Computer teacher, Jenny Calendar, begin a slow dating ritual. 7 out of 10

2.3 ~ School Hard ~ OA: September 29, 1997. W: David Greenwalt. D: John T. Kretchmer.

This is the first real episode of the season. We meet this season’s Big Bad, a Vampire couple, Spike and Drusilla. Spike offers to kill the slayer, and shows an incredible fighting prowess, where Drucilla shows us that she is merciless and completely insane. When Angel and the destructive duo cross paths, it’s evident that it isn’t their first meeting. Spike kills the Anointed One, and then casually wonders what’s on Television. 9.5 out of 10

2.4 ~ Inca Mummy Girl ~ OA: October 6, 1997. W: Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer. D: Ellen Pressman.

Xander once again shows his bad taste in women by unwittingly dating a Mummy. This is one of the worst episodes, plot-wise. But it introduces one character who will later become one of the main cast stars: Oz (Seth Green) and a character who makes an appearance every six or seven episodes, and later becomes a faux Big Bad: Jonathan. 6 out of 10

2.5 ~ Reptile Boy ~ OA: October 13, 1997. W and D: David Greenwalt.
Buffy: I told one lie, I had one drink.
Giles: Yes, and you were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake. The words 'let that be a lesson' are a tad redundant at this juncture.

Once again craving a “normal” life, Buffy lies to Giles about having too much homework, and instead attends a frat party with Cordelia. The two girls are drugged and chained to a dungeon wall, where they are to be sacrifices to a demon who, in his turn, gives them wealth and good fortune. Angel, at Willow’s behest, asks Buffy out for coffee… Sometime. 7.5 out of 10

2.6 ~ Halloween ~ OA: October 27, 1997. W: Carl Ellsworth. D: Bruce Seth Green.

Anyone who buys their costumes from the Sunnydale costume shop finds themselves becoming what their costume is when the proprietor of the shop performs a ritual. Xander becomes a militant army guy, Willow a ghost (dressed like a hoochie-mamma), and Buffy becomes a helpless 18th century gal, complete with fainting spells and all. Things that will become important later: Xander retains all military knowledge. Store proprietor, Ethan, knows Giles and addresses him as “Ripper”, and Drusilla is apparently psychic and crazy. 9 out of 10

2.7 ~ Lie to Me ~ OA: November 3, 1997. W and D: Joss Whedon.

A childhood friend of Buffy’s from L.A. shows up at Sunnydale High. He has promised Spike to deliver the Slayer, and wants to be sired in return. Though Buffy is sad when she finds out her friend is dying of cancer, she still escapes the trap and leaves him to die at Spike’s hands (teeth?). 8 out of 10

2.8 ~ The Dark Age ~ OA: November 10, 1997. W: Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali. D: Bruce Seth Green.

Giles’s past is explained as the Halloween Costume Shop proprietor returns, and a demon they once called upon in their youth comes with him. 8 out of 10

2.9 ~ What’s my Line? (Part 1) ~ OA: November 17, 1997. W: Howard Gordon and Marti Noxon. D: David Solomon.

Spike hires a group of very dedicated bounty hunters to kill the Slayer while he works on translating a cure for Drusilla. A beautiful young black woman arrives in town and fights with Buffy. Both girls are equally quick, agile and strong. Buffy stops to ask who this girl is. The answer: (If you’ve seen it, c’mon, give me the accent and recite it with me): “I am Kendra, the Vampire Slayer.” Cut to credits. 10 out of 10

2.10 ~ What’s my Line? (Part 2) ~ OA: November 24, 1997. W: Marti Noxon. D: David Semel.

Kendra, the Vampire Slayer? Huh? They decide to take a break and go to Buffy’s watcher to sort this out. The prophecy states that when one Slayer dies, another is called. When Buffy died (and Xander revived her) at The Master’s hands, Kendra’s powers were activated. Oz and Willow strike up some more conversation, Giles finds out that the death of Drusilla’s sire is needed in order to cure her. Buffy lets everyone know that Angel is Dru’s sire, and Kendra goes with her to rescue Angel. They just save him in time, Spike is crushed under a huge pipe, and Drusilla, strength returned, pulls him from the rubble. 10 out of 10

2.11 ~ Ted ~ OA: December 8, 1997. W: David Greenwalt and Joss Whedon D: Bruce Seth Green

Joyce begins dating the “Perfect” man, who turns out to be a homicidal robot (played by John Ritter). This one doesn’t do much to add to the serial plots, but it’s decent as a stand alone episode. 7 out of 10

2.12 ~ Bad Eggs ~ OA: January 12, 1998. W: Marti Noxon. D: David Greenwalt

Vampire Brothers, modeled after Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, plant eggs in the Sunnydale school system that hatch and attack people. 6 out of 10

2.13 ~ Surprise ~ OA: January 19, 1998 w: Marti Noxon d: Michael Lange

Drucsilla is gathering body parts of a demon called The Judge who is to cleanse the earth of all humanity. Jenny Calendar is found to be a descendant of the Gypsy tribe who originally cursed Angel with a soul, sent to watch over him. Beginning a series trend, we learn that most actions in Buffyverse have definite consequences. Buffy and Angel consummate their relationship, and the episode ends with Angel running into the night, screaming her name. 10 out of 10

2.14 ~ Innocence ~ OA: January 20,1998 w&d: Joss Whedon
Xander: I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me want to have sex.

Angel’s first act, once the pain has subsided, is to feed from and kill a passerby. His soul is gone, he is once again Angelus. Buffy defeats the Judge, and fights with Angelus, but isn’t yet able to bring herself to kill him, knowing that it was their encounter that brought him perfect happiness and destroyed his soul. 10 out of 10

2.15 ~ Phases ~ OA: January 27,1998 w: Dean Batali and Rob des Hotel d: Bruce Seth Green
Willow: Well, I like you. You're nice, and you're funny, and you don't smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either

Oz and Willow become closer, before they both find out that Oz is a werewolf. It doesn’t bother Willow too much… all par for the course in Buffyverse. 8 out of 10

2.16 ~ Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered ~ OA: February 10, 1998 w: Marti Noxon d: James A. Contner

Xander blackmails Amy into putting a love spell on Cordelia, which goes horribly wrong. 7 out of 10

2.17 ~ Passion ~ OA: February 24, 1998 w: Ty King d: Michael Gershman
Angelus: If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we'd be truly dead

Easily one of my favorite early episodes, Passion shows us just how bad Angelus was/is. He taunts his would-be victims, Buffy and all her friends. Just when Jenny finds a translation for the spell to restore his soul, he kills her. 10 out of 10

2.18 ~ Killed by Death ~ OA: March 3,1998 w: Dean Batali and Rob des Hotel d: Deran Sarafian

A mostly stand-alone episode where Buffy gets sick and battles a monster preying on children in the hospital. 6.5 out of 10

2.19 ~ I Only Have Eyes for You ~ OA: April 28,1998 w: Marti Noxon d: James Whitmore Jr.

The ghosts of former student/teacher lovers begin possessing students, resulting in a few deaths. Angel and Buffy are possessed during the Sadies Hawkin’s dance. 9 out of 10

2.20 ~ Go Fish ~ OA: May 05,1998 w: David Fury and Elin Hampton d: David Semel

Xander goes undercover on the swim team to investigate why some of the team members are turning into reptile boys. 7.5 out of 10

2.21 ~ Becoming, Part 1 ~ OA: May 12,1998 w: Joss Whedon d: Joss Whedon

Buffy and Willow find the spell to restore Angel’s soul. Angel is trying to unleash the demon, Acathala, and kidnaps Giles to help him. Druscilla kills Kendra. 9 out of 10

2.22 ~ Becoming, Part 2 ~ OA: May 19,1998 w: Joss Whedon d: Joss Whedon
~Angelus: I want to torture you. I used to love it, and it's been a long time. I mean, the last time I tortured someone, they didn't even have chain saws.

Joyce sees Buffy in action, but refuses to believe the obvious. They fight and Joyce forbids Buffy from leaving the house. Having to save the world, Buffy defies her mother and goes to fight Angelus. Learning that if Acathala is awakened, only killing Angelus will stop the ritual. Angel does succeed in waking the demon, and moments before Buffy is going to kill him, Willow completes the soul-restoration spell and Angel returns. In a heart-wrenching scene, Buffy kisses him and then kills him. The last scene is Buffy leaving Sunnydale. 10 out of 10

Total Season Average: 8.34 out of 10



Cast and Characters:

In the opening credits…

Buffy Summers ~ played by Sarah Michelle Gellar

Xander Harris ~ played by Nicholas Brendon

Willow Rosenberg ~ played by Alyson Hannigan

Cordelia Chase ~ played by Charisma Carpenter

Added to the Main Cast… Angel ~ played by David Boreanaz

Rupert Giles ~ played by Anthony Stewart Head


DVD Extras:

~Disc 2: Audio commentary for "Reptile Boy" by writer and director David Greenwalt, script for "Reptile Boy"
~Disc 3: Audio commentary for "What's My Line?" (part 1) by co-writer Marti Noxon, Audio commentary for "What's My Line?" (part 2) by co-writer Marti Noxon, script for "What's My Line?" (part 1), script for "What's My Line?" (part 2)
~Disc 4: Interview with Joss Whedon on "Surprise" , Interview with Joss Whedon on "Innocence", audio commentary for "Innocence" by writer and director Joss Whedon, script for "Innocence"
~Disc 5: Interview with Joss Whedon on "Passion" , interview with Joss Whedon on "I Only Have Eyes For You"
~Disc 6: Interview with Joss Whedon on "Becoming", interview with Joss Whedon on, featurette: "Designing Buffy", featurette: "A Buffy Bestiary", featurette: "Beauty and Beasts" , 2 UK TV spots, 6 domestic TV spots: "Spectacular", "Sensation", "The Warrior", "Ultimate Scare", "Deadly Trap", "Big Bad John", "Angel" video trailer , season 2 "Buffy" DVD trailer, still gallery of set designs and monsters, updated cast bios, additional still photo galleries


Miscellaneous fun trivia:

~Episode 2.9 (What’s my line, Part 1) introduces the Scooby Gang reference, which has since become a general term when talking about Buffy and her clan.
~Bianca Lawson (Kendra, the Vampire Slayer) originally auditioned for the part of Cordelia Chase.
~Spike’s character was originally written as dying in Episode 2.10 (What’s my line, Part 2)… can you even imagine?
~The songs for Oz’s group, 'Dingoes Ate My Baby', are performed by Four Star Mary, a real-life band from Los Angeles. Although the band members shown are all actors, Four Star Mary themselves appeared in the season 4 finale 'Restless'.
~ Spike's leather duster was purchased new for $2000. It was then run over with a truck numerous times to make it look old and dirty.
~ In episode 2.8 The Dark Age the picture of Giles holding a bass guitar is actually his head superimposed onto a photo of Sid Vicious.



Other Buffy Reviews:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1 DVD

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 3 DVD

Once More... With Feeling, Soundtrack

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age