Episode 2.17: Passion. Original Airdate 2.24.98
"Angel steps up his torment of Buffy and her friends as Jenny searches for a way to restore his soul."
*Notes from us in 2020: We have retroactively redacted the slur in our 2012 post title and will make sure that we do not use the word in any new posts going forward.*
Daniel's Thoughts:
- It’s cheesy but I kinda like when Angel narrates the episodes.
- No peripheral vision, really? They walked right by Angel killing someone.
- Angel is an excellent artist! Not…what I’m supposed to get from the picture.
- I love how Cordelia continues to be paranoid about her car throughout the entire episode and no one ever corrects her.
- Funny, tongue-in-cheek, reference to the fact that no kids are ever in the library.
- Again, I think they’re being way too hard on Jenny.
- Ok, points to Joyce for noticing something is wrong but she had to spoil it with, “I read all the parenting books.” What are all these parenting books that she’s always spouting on about?
- Aww, Willow’s fish!
- Don’t eat the puppy, Spike! Ruff. Good Dog.
- The Orb of Thesula is pretty.
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| preeeeeeeeeeeeetty. |
- In other vamp films, it’s stated that pretty much any religious symbol would work. I wish they incorporated it here and used a Jewish star instead of a cross for Willow’s threshold. But I’m glad, at least, Willow at least mentions that it would bother her dad if he saw it.
- "Sorry Angel, I changed the locks." Fuck yeah moment!
- Oh good, Dru still hasn’t killed the puppy!
- Would a computer really make that much fire?
- The Angelus/Jenny chase is great. Really well choreographed. And great use of the set.
- Also, Jenny :(
- “Sure! Like what would you say?” Oh, Willow. So good with the subtly letting Giles know that his business there is done.
- Ok, I concede. Joyce is being good mom.
- Oh Giles, poor sweet Giles :(
- Angelus is so evil that that he has to not only kill Jenny but see the reaction of those most affected by it. And the smile he gives is so creepy.
- And does Xander have to wear such a ridiculous outfit in this type of episode?
- I think the puppy is growing on Dru!
- Giles is so badass!
- Such a nice scene between Buffy and Giles.
- Weird to end this episode on Willow taking over the teaching. This is something that angers a friend of mine a lot. He says they’d never allow a student to teach a HS class.
Zelda's Thoughts:
- I don't want to - this will make me sad - let's just skip it nooooooooooooooooo.
- OMG they're so innocent and sweet, Willow even has a lolipop, WHY DOES THIS SHOW HATE US.
- I can't even tell if the narration in Passion is good. I never listen to it, honestly. DB's delivery is just so uninflected and dull.
- Also shenanigans Buffy didn't notice the vamp feeding RIGHT NEXT TO HER, even if that was a cool stalking shot.
- Angelus is such a creepy fucktard. But a good artist.
- Look! Giles is stamping books! He's actually pretending to be a librarian. And then he even tells Jonathan where to find books on Stalin.
- Guys, can we take a moment to acknowledge that Danny Strong is now an EMMY WINNER and will be writing the final Hunger Games screenplay? Can we just ... bask in that for a moment?
- "By sneaking in her room and leaving stuff at night? Why doesn't he just slit her throat or strangle her while she's sleeping or cut her heart out? What? I'm trying to help." Good point, Cordy. Calling her own shenanigan there.
- "The more people know the secret, the more it cheapens it for the rest of us!"
- "because otherwise chaos could ensue." I love you Willow.
- "Yes, well, that's one of the unpleasant side effects of betrayal." :(
- GILESANDJENNYTHEIRLOVEISSOTRUE
. I hate Angelus. - Props to Joyce for reading our Continuity notes and remembering that Angel is "the college boy who's tutoring [Buffy] in history."
- Gawd. He killed her pretty colorful fish. He truly IS diabolical.
- "She's an orphan. Her owner died ... without a fight." PUPPY.
- "We were worried." // "No we weren't." JM always wins at delivery.
- I love that when she finally puts the puppy in his lap, he does start petting it.
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| No one can resist a cuddly puppy. |
- "I don't like computers. They give me the willies." Said the guy in the magic shop.
- "Five hours of lesson planning yesterday down the drain." Five HOURS???? On one day's teaching?
- Yay Buffy for looking past her pain and resentment to try and help Jenny and Giles mend, as much as she can. "I don't want him to be lonely. I don't want anyone to."
- Angelus is so creepy. Actually pretty interesting that he seems to be playing into the story Buffy told Joyce, saying he needs to be with her. I wonder what his actual intention was with all this though. I ... am actually not sure. Unless his intention was never to kill Joyce, but just more psychological torture of Buffy, trusting she'd get there in time to save Joyce (since he left the note at Willow's place)? Yes. I'm going with that.
- As soon as Jenny tells Giles she spoke to Buffy, he visibly lightens - maybe there's hope for them yet! Except NOT because Joss hates us.
- So Spike didn't eat Sunshine the Puppy yet. New mascot?
- We're both annoyed by the banter about Angelus being invited to the school. It's not a residence; he'd be fine regardless.
- He is legitimately creepy. And it is legitimately upsetting when he smashes the Orb of Thesula.
- Poor Jenny. I think she knows now she's going to die, even if she'll try her hardest to escape. And I believed she would get away. They always get away on TV. Not in all the horror movies, but on TV. I didn't believe they'd actually kill her, and I continued to not quite believe it, the first time, til Giles found her.
- And he kills her so cruelly, too. Laughing in her face. Doesn't even feed.
- The Talk with Joyce and Buffy ... actually well-handled. And sad. Poor Buffy. Poor sad Buffy.
- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I DON'T WANT TO WATCH THIS SCENE. I want to protect Giles from the sad.
- The music, the lighting, the smash of the glasses, ASH's face as he realizes. It's all so well done and so horrible. So well orchestrated. Angelus is a bastard and I hate him. Can we kill him now?
- And then he goes to watch Buffy find out. Not Giles, but Buffy. Because it's all about her. He's so awful. That little smile.
- Everyone's so good in this episode.
- Beautiful tracking shot through Giles's apartment as he arms himself for his suicide mission.
- I'm just spitballing here, but it looks like Angelus has - AGAIN - killed the beloved daughter of the whatsit tribe. THEY SHOULD CURSE HIM AGAIN.
- "I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before the rest of you jumped on the bandwagon." Except your hatred was born of jealousy and you're petty. This is the first time the rest of us really hate Angelus I think. Well, for me anyway. Not so much for killing Jenny, but for hurting Giles. NO HURTING GILES.
- Giles wailing on Angelus with fiery torch? Yesthankyoumoreplease.
- Buffy shows up, and Dru calmly wheels Spike out of the way.
- Battle at the factory is pretty badass awesome. All the Buffy/Angel fights are, really.
- Angelus running away from a fight again. He's got a coward's pattern here.
- Buffy's face after she punches Giles. Giles's face. I can't, you guys. It's too sad.
- Oh God and Willow walking into the classroom to take over. She's so sad.
- AND THERE GOES THE DISC.
Crossfire!
D: How does [Jenny] have a tombstone so quickly?
Z: Maybe they make 'em really fast in Sunnydale.
Favorite Lines:
Daniel: "You can't leave me. I can't do this alone." - Buffy
Zelda: "Hey, how come Buffy doesn't get a snotty 'once again you boil it down to its simplest form' thing? Watcher's pet." - Xander
90s Factoid:
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| Jenny uses a dot matrix printer |
Arc Stuff:
- Jonathan!
- Angelus has permission to enter Buffy's house, Willow's house, Gile's house and Cordy's car. Not anymore though.
- Our first time in a magic shop! Though, as this one is below street level, clearly not OUR magic shop.
- An Orb of Thesula will restore Angel's soul.
- Willow's father's name is Ira. And he's big on the Jewishness.
- Xander does the Snoopy Dance every year at Christmas for Willow.
- Angelus told Joyce he and Buffy slept together.
- First major character death (if you don't count Jesse, which why should you, since NO ONE REMEMBERS HIM) with Jenny.
- The disc with the re-ensoulment spell is hidden in the crack by the desk.
Stats:
Voiceover - none (unless you count Angelus's episode-long thing)
Dead Humans - 3
Dead Undeads - 0
Dead Fish - 3
Giles Unconscious - 1
Giles Cleans His Glasses - 0
Buffy Breaks a Door - 0
Evil Reveal - 0
Unevil Reveal - 0
Shenanigans Called - 1
Apocalypse Called - 0
This is pretty much my favorite episode. And screw you both I LOVE THE ANGELUS NARRATION! I WILL LOVE IT FOREVER AND EVER.
ReplyDeletePassion ... it lies in all of us...
Read my first comment, Kelly :P
DeleteRight then, Zelda you is a silly bear. Daniel and I are totes right on this. :-)
DeleteDavid Boreanaz doesn't know how to have a dynamic voice which makes for a textured voiceover that I won't zone out during. He's like my 11th grade English teacher.
Delete""I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before the rest of you jumped on the bandwagon." Except your hatred was born of jealousy and you're petty. This is the first time the rest of us really hate Angelus I think."
ReplyDeleteI hated Angel long before most and long after. ;D I never understood why the Scoobies were so cold towards Jenny regarding him. It's not like she knew what would happen or that she hoped he'd turn evil. It made me hate Angel even more.
This was such a good episode. It is one of those episodes that leaves a huge impression on you. Jenny's death was so jarring and unnatural to me that I was like you, I didn't believe it at first. I still wince every time I hear that *snap* of her neck, it's a very well done and frightening scene.
Hehe, well you and Xander get to drive the bandwagon the rest of us jump on! :P
DeleteBuffy's face when she answers the phone, and then Willow sobbing. Makes me so sad. :(
Yes!
Delete*hops in driver's seat*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOy1EoX5T0k
And yeah, Buffy's face and Willow's crying means ultimate sadness. :( Damn you, Joss! :'(
I half agree with your assessment cause I do like Angel...but I agree that they were way too hard on Jenny. I can understand being suspicious because she withheld information, but she honestly didn't know what would happen. Giving her the silent treatment for one episode, is one thing but flat out giving her the cold shoulder for weeks and even attacking her, as Buffy did when she first found out, was way too harsh.
DeleteI like the Angelus narration too.
ReplyDeleteI also like Cordy. It's this whole new thing.
"Except your hatred was born of jealousy and you're petty. This is the first time the rest of us really hate Angelus I think. Well, for me anyway. Not so much for killing Jenny, but for hurting Giles. NO HURTING GILES."
ReplyDeleteWe are the same.
I once thought I started hating Xander around S3, but nope. It's as early as now.
I would like to add my own love to the Angelus narration thing. I like Boreanaz as Angelus. Much more textured than plain ol' Angel.
Let's see, what else? Oh, right, some chick died in this one. I actually do not care so much about Jenny, but I do care an obscene amount for Giles AND WHY CAN'T HE BE HAPPY, JOSS?! THIS IS PERSECUTION! *runs off, sobbing*
Yes, we are the same. :)
DeleteI don't think I ever hated Xander, but we'll see what this indepth rewatch does for that.
I agree, he's waaaaaaaaaay more interesting as Angelus. But he still sucks at voiceover. THAT'S JUST WHAT I THINK OKAY??????
"Five hours of lesson planning yesterday down the drain." Five HOURS???? On one day's teaching?
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience student teaching so far, this is totally plausible. Especially since it's over-achieving Willow, and especially since she's never taught before. :)
Oh Jeepers. I had no idea, Chelsea and Paul!
DeleteAs a teacher...
ReplyDeleteI chose to believe that there was a random substitute in the room at the end, but Willow was leading the class. This is still an unusual idea, but at least it's legal and not completely unheard of.
Knowing how long I've spent on a lesson combined with Willow's nerdiness and eagerness to do a good job, five hours is not unbelievable.
I hardly ever comment on blogs, but as a teacher I do have to support the five hour lesson plans - nothing unbelievable about that! No prior experience + being Willow? 5 hours is an absolute minimum.
DeleteWillow teaching can just be explained away as Sunnydale being slightly different from other schools and thus finding it more difficult to get ANY teacher in the middle of term.
Wowzers! Okay, everyone, I fully rescind my exclamation of disbelief and horror at Willow's five hours of lesson planning. Both my parents are teachers and do a lot of lesson-planning, but 5 hours for one day seemed excessive to me, especially for a substitute. Wouldn't she already have Jenny's lesson plan to work off of?
DeleteNaw, you're right, she's Willow. She would want to make her own.
Okay. I take it all back. 5 hours it is!
Weird to end this episode on Willow taking over the teaching. This is something that angers a friend of mine a lot. He says they’d never allow a student to teach a HS class.
ReplyDeleteActually, I did. Granted it was always with supervision, but technically I've taught spanish, english, and Matter and Energy. I was considered a volunteer Teachers Aide, but still.
Heya - just had to chime in about the Willow teaching thing. There is actually a legal thing where if a school absolutely can't find a teacher to take over, a particularly savvy highschool student can be asked to stand in. They are paid minimum wage (not being qualified and all) and it's very rare that this would occur, but it can legally be done (in Canada, anyway, I dunno if it's a universal thing)
ReplyDeleteAlso, as to five hours of lesson planning for a day...I've taken as long or longer to plan/find resources for a single 75 minute lesson, so yeah, it's a thing.
Anywho! Sorry to nitpick/comment on something you guys wrote a while ago. I absolutely love these reviews - they've provided me with a lot of smirks/laughter and "me too's!" It's always nice to see other people's takes on the show, what they like/love/dislike/hate. So yeah, you're both awesome!
Hey there! You're totally right on the lesson plan thing, and you're not the only one to let us know either ;). I'll throw one last salvo that I find it unlikely Willow would NEED to craft a lesson plan for one day's teaching when it would make more sense - and indeed a proper substitute teacher would do this - to just follow the one Jenny already had made.
DeleteChiming in on the Willow-as-substitute:
ReplyDeleteYes, in the real world it wouldn't have happened. But, I chalk it up to the Hellmouth, and just assume that Sunnydale Unified School District has a very hard time attracting teachers. My head-canon is that Willow may have given lessons on occasion, but credentialed teachers gave the tests and issued the grades. (Also, given that this is 1998, it may have been difficult for Sunnydale to hire a computer teacher as competent as Willow anyway, so Snyder probably figured he'd save money.)