Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 - Review

SPOILER WARNING

Even though Buffy's first season wasn't great, it did end on a relatively strong note. And fortunately, the show received a second season with 22 episodes and it manages to take everything in entirely different directions. A lot of people say that this is the point where the show reaches its peak and cements itself as one of the best and most influential shows ever, and I can't argue with that. However, it takes awhile and you'd have to sit through some more average/bad Monster of the Week episodes, but we do get some gems in the first half.

The season begins with a tradition of opening every season in a cemetery. Xander and Willow are walking together, eating ice cream and playing a game where one says a movie quote and the other has to figure out which movie it came from. My friends have created a game like this for me to test my movie knowledge. Even though I know pretty much every famous movie quote, they would stump me with some obscure ones. Anyway, Xander and Willow have a tender moment as he wipes some ice cream off her nose. They lean in to kiss, only to be interrupted by a vamp. Lucky for them, Buffy comes in at the right time to save them.

Our heroine has been spending her entire summer vacation with her dad in LA, while in Sunnydale things have been unusually vacant with no vampires or monsters lurking around. It may be because the Hellmouth was low on energy when it was closed and needed time to recharge based on a suggestion by Giles. But the strangest thing is Buffy doesn't seem like herself. She acts isolated, has been very aggressive in her training, and does bizarre things like dance with Xander seductively, much to Willow's heartache and Angel's crossness. Even Cordelia, of all people, calls out on Buffy and her erratic behavior. You know something is amiss when Cordelia seems to be the reasonable one. The gang deduces that Buffy is not handling the events from Prophecy Girl very well. Meanwhile, The Anointed One has been planning to resurrect the Master. His vampire henchmen kidnap Cordelia, Jenny, Giles, and Willow since the ritual calls for the blood of the souls who were near the Master literally. Buffy goes to save everyone with the help of Xander and Angel. She then breaks the bones of the Master with a sledgehammer in an emotional moment.

After that, she is hesitant to meet again with her friends after the way she treated them, but she is instantly welcomed back by them, complete with an upbeat, cheesy piano score. The premiere ends on a funny note with the Anointed One looking over the broken bones of his master and exclaims, "I hate that girl."

In terms of new characters, we get two new villains in the third episode, Spike & Drusilla. Spike (James Marsters) is a punk rocker type vampire who has killed two slayers. Drusilla (Juliet Landau) is his lover who is ill and has psychic powers. I love these two characters respectively. Spike is an enjoyable, cocky baddie who I didn't think much of the first time but grew to love as he got more screentime and an arc in the show. It's also ironic that he was supposed to die halfway in the season but because he was so popular with fans, his role was expanded. Drusilla is a very mental vamp who can be really creepy and enjoyable at the same time. I love characters who are very insane and can display madness in an unsettling or hilarious way.

Another villain who pops up more than once is Ethan Rayne (the late Robin Sachs). He is a frenemy of Giles and a complete instigator who uses magic to cause chaos. When we see first him, he opens a costume shop and places a curse on those who bought costumes at his place to become the very thing they're masquerading as. I found Ethan to be devilishly enjoyable and a great foil for Giles. We also learn more about Giles' past when he, Ethan, and other mates summoned a demon named Eyghon who is after each and every one of them and have even possessed Jenny Calendar but she was saved...for now.

As for new characters on the good side, in an unexpected turn, we get introduced to another Slayer named Kendra (Bianca Lawson.) When a Slayer gets killed, another gets activated. However, when Buffy died, and Xander brought her back to life, we have two Slayers which hasn't occurred. Kendra is what a normal Slayer should be according to the Watchers Council: alone, removed from family, committed to her duties, and emotionless (everything Buffy isn't) though she shares a laugh with Giles over a certain footnote in a volume of text. She makes a decent foil for Buffy but a major issue is her forced Jamaican accent. It instills that a Slayer can come from anywhere around the world but it's a bit distracting like Halle Berry's accent in the first X-Men film.

We also get introduced to Oz (Seth Green), a guitarist who's part of a band called Dingoes Ate My Baby. He's an impassive student who becomes very attracted to Willow when he first sees her in an Eskimo coat. "Who is that girl?" he asks himself. But he finally meets her and they formed a relationship that I love. They share a lot of sweet moments together including one where he's talking to her about animal crackers and how the monkey only gets pants. He digresses briefly to say "You have the sweetest smile I've ever seen." But Oz becomes a werewolf after being bit by his infant cousin Jordy who's also one. In the show, however, a person can become a werewolf for three days: the day with a full moon, and the days before and after it. But it seems like Willow can live with this major change even though Oz chased her as a wolf.

Besides Willow and Oz's relationship, all the other main characters have their own relationships. Buffy and Angel share more tender moments together, although I forgot how long some of their scenes went with a lot of kissing. There was so much kissing between them that it felt like fanservice. But more power to those who love them and consider them soulmates. Xander and Cordelia unexpectedly get together after they kissed while being trapped in Buffy's basement and arguing. "We need to get out of here," Xander tells her after the kiss. Giles and Jenny get more romantically involved this season. Giles, at first, is very hesitant to ask out Jenny but she asks him if he'd like to attend a football and get a bite to eat. I wish it was that easy for me to ask someone out.

But then, the season makes a major dramatic turn when Angel loses his soul after consummating his relationship with Buffy. He becomes his evil alter ego, Angelus, who is the true Big Bad this season, and he plans to make Buffy and her friends' lives a living hell. Angelus is so enjoyable in how sinister he can be, and it allows David Boreanaz to do more than brood. Because of his connection to Buffy, it makes it all the more gripping. Buffy is pushed to the test of whether or not she can kill the monster that was her lost love and protect everyone around her. We get some unbelievable episodes from this dark, incredible storyline that reached such unexpected emotional heights.

Best Episodes

School Hard

In Spike's major debut, he makes a deal with the Anointed One to kill Buffy. Meanwhile, Buffy is forced by Principal Snyder to help another delinquent set things up for Parent Teacher Night. Not only that, she also has to worry about her mom finding out her alleged troublemaking from Snyder and the Night of St. Vigeous where Spike says he'll kill her. However, on Parent Teacher Night, Spike and a gang of vamps unexpectedly take the school hostage simply because he couldn't wait. So it's up to Buffy and her friends to help everyone escape. This is a great showcase not just for Spike but for Drusilla too, as they proved to be new worthy additions and threats to our heroes. Even at the end, Spike proves he'll be staying when he kills the Anointed One by throwing him in a cage and lifts him up to the sunlight. 

There are a couple of issues I have like when Buffy and her mother walk home safely, Joyce tells her daughter that she could care less about what Snyder told her about Buffy. I think she meant she couldn't care less. And the last one is during the episode where Willow and Cordelia hide in the custodian closet to be safe. Near the end, it's revealed they're still in the closet even after everyone has gone. I know it's supposed to be played for laughs, but all I'm thinking is what if Buffy is worried about Willow's whereabouts? However, you could say that she would see Willow and Cordelia are okay the next day, so this is just a nitpick.

I'd also like to say that I was lucky enough to meet James Marsters who plays Spike last year at Wizard World Comic Con in Austin, Texas. He was very nice and cool and we talked about coffee and how much it helps him get through the day like chugging down some he bought the night before and cooled it. I complimented a picture of his where it shows before and after he's had a cup, and he said it was all real. It was good to meet you too, James.

Yeah my smile is dopey, but it's a triumphant one.

Halloween

Of course, it was inevitable that Buffy would do a Halloween episode and man does it have a great concept. When Buffy and her friends are forced once again by Snyder to partake in the Halloween volunteer program where they'd take kids out trick or treating. But a curse is placed on them by Ethan Rayne and they become the costumes they're wearing. Buffy becomes a helpless noblewoman in an effort to be more like Angel's type from his lifetime; Willow becomes a ghost, leaving her exposed to a skanky outfit Buffy made her wear earlier; and Xander becomes a soldier. With Buffy weak, it is up to Willow, Xander, Angel, and Cordelia (who's dress like a cat but doesn't turn into one because she got her costume at a different shop) to protect her. Little do they know, even though vampires and demons don't come out on Halloween ironically, Spike takes advantage of the situation to find and kill Buffy.

This great concept has been used in other shows like The Simpsons and The Fairly Oddparents. Another thing I love is how Willow becomes the leader since she hasn't lost her memory like the others. There's also a hilarious moment where she startles Giles by walking through the library wall. At the end, when she's back to normal, Willow ditches her ghost costume and walks home more confident. She passes Oz driving in a zebra striped van who again asks, "Who is that girl?" 

Speaking of Giles, we learn there's more to him when it's revealed he knows Ethan who calls him Ripper. Their adversity is very intriguing and luckily does not stop here.

As for issues, Buffy's on again off again accent as a noblewoman is a bit grating. I am very positive I wasn't the only one who was glad to see her back as herself in a fist pump moment where she says to Spike, "Hi, honey. I'm home," and then proceeds to kick his butt. In another moment, a vampire is able to get into Buffy's home without being invited. Maybe it's a guy dressed as a vampire who became one? If that was the case, I don't think it would be a good idea for Angel to stake him.

Innocence

This was the game changer. The moment where stuff became real in this show. When I first saw this, I wondered "What have I gotten myself into?" In the previous episode, Surprise, Buffy's friends set up a surprise birthday for her while Spike gives Drusilla a surprise for her too. It is the parts of a powerful demon called the Judge who can't be killed by any forged weapon. This leaves Buffy and Angel incredibly worried as they tried to stop them from putting together the Judge. While fighting in Spike and Drusilla's hideaway, Angel incapacitates the Judge by dropping a multi-television set on him and escapes with Buffy. They sleep together and Angel loses his soul since he had a perfectly happy moment with Buffy. The soul was to make him suffer for his terrible deeds in the past.

Now Angelus and super evil, he reveals himself to an excited Spike and Drusilla. He later returns to a worried Buffy and breaks her heart, acting like that night was not so special. This is one of the best metaphors the show has had in which someone gives herself to someone else and it turns out he was bad and not caring. Joss Whedon himself was shocked at the things he wrote in this scene.

It also is revealed that Jenny is part of the gypsy tribe that cursed Angel and has been ordered by her uncle to shadow him, making sure he still suffers. After receiving a dream, Buffy confronts Jenny seeing if she had anything to do with Angel's change. She admits that she was watching her and Angel to keep them apart, but she didn't mean any harm to anyone. This would cause a brief strain on her relationship with Giles.

Meanwhile, Xander thinks of a plan to help Buffy. He breaks into a military facility to get something, having retained his knowledge of being a soldier in Halloween. With Xander's "gift" to her, Buffy and her friends make their way to a mall where Angelus and Drusilla arrive with the Judge to purge people. Then we get one of the greatest and awesome moments in the entire show. Buffy shoots an arrow to get the Judge's attention. "You're a fool," says the Judge. "No weapon forged can stop me." Buffy says "That was then. This is now," and she gets out a rocket launcher and aims it at him. After a dramatic pause, the Judge says "What's that do?" Then Buffy shoots a rocket and BOOM the Judge explodes! 

While her friends pick up the pieces of the Judge, Buffy goes to fight Angelus. There is one strange thing about this scene and that is there are posters for a movie called Quest for Camelot, which is an animated Warner Bros. movie trying to be a Disney movie. I just realized that there were posters for this movie everywhere in the cinema. I always get distracted by the heavy promotion during this scene which I felt is why there are posters everywhere but it didn't seem to help, still bombing the box office. Anyway, Buffy gets out a stake. "You can't do it," Angelus tells her. "You can't kill me." After a brief hesitation, she gives Angelus a hard kick to the yarbles. "Give me time," she says.

Then we get this beautiful ending where Giles drives Buffy and assures her he's not upset with her and will always support her. God bless you, Giles. The scene follows with Buffy and her mom watching a movie with a little birthday cupcake for her.

If there's one statement from this episode that's true, it is this line from Giles: "The coming months are gonna be hard I suspect on all of us." I'm sure everyone had no idea.

Passion

"Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping...waiting...and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us...guides us...passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?"

The opening voice-over from Angelus marks another unbelievable and shocking chapter for not just this season but for the entire show. Angelus is now making his way to destroy Buffy and everyone around her. Buffy wakes up and finds a drawing of herself sleeping from Angelus. She decides she needs to dispose of his access to her house and others like Willow who found her fish dead in a line. Luckily they didn't get to know each other. Angelus approaches Joyce returning home but thankfully Buffy was there to prevent him from getting in her home. In that scene, Joyce has a bag of groceries that also contained oranges. Everyone who watched The Godfather and Breaking Bad should know what that means.

At the same time, Jenny is trying to make amends not just with Giles but with Buffy, too. She decides to make it up to Buffy by restoring Angel's soul with an Orb of Thesulah and a translation of the text for the ritual. Unfortunately, Angelus becomes aware of Jenny's plan when Drusilla gets a vision. He pays her visit at the school and destroys the orb and her computer where she was translating the text. Jenny tries to run away but he catches up to her and snaps her neck. This would be a major theme where no one is safe and they could die anytime.

Giles returns home to find a path of rose petals leading up his stairs. He thinks Jenny has set up a surprise for him but as he walks up the stairs, he finds her dead body on his bed. My heart aches for Giles in this scene. After receiving the most heartbreaking cocktease, he calls Buffy and Willow to tell the bad news. As you can imagine, they were so broken hearing the news as Angelus watched them with evil glee.

"Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief."

The gang goes to Giles' apartment but he's not there. After noticing weapons missing, Buffy realizes he's going to try and get vengeance on Angelus. Giles sets Angelus' hideaway on fire and fights him. However, he gets knocked out as usual and Buffy saves him. After regaining consciousness, Giles angrily says to Buffy, "Why did you come here? This wasn't your fight!" She punches him in the face and then tearfully clutches him. "You can't leave me. I can't do this alone." This moment alone tugs my heartstrings. It was the first indication I had that this show was having a strong emotional grip on me.

As she and Giles look down on Jenny's grave, Buffy says she's ready to kill Angelus, believing Angel is gone for good. But hope doesn't seem lost in the form of a yellow disk containing the info Jenny had.

"It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. 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."

I Only Have Eyes for You

The plot for this episode centers around a ghost story involving a student from 1950s named James who had an affair with a teacher named Grace. Their spirits possess students and teachers in the school to re-enact the night where Grace tries to end the affair and James pull out a gun on Grace, shoots her and himself. On top of that, other paranormal phenomena occur like food turning into snakes and arms reaching out of lockers. Buffy doesn't feel sympathy for James, going through her own similar experience. She and her friends try an exorcism but failed. At the same time, Giles gives Buffy some advice about forgiveness which I am a big believer in. She then makes her way back to the school where Angelus is waiting for her.

In a very clever twist, James possesses Buffy and Angelus gets possessed by Grace. I love how the dialogue mirrors Buffy and Angel's own relationship. Buffy/James shoots Angelus/Grace, but since a bullet can't kill a vamp, Grace could be able to stop James and forgive him, allowing their spirits to rest in peace. Angelus runs off, disgusted.

Becoming, Part I 

In the first part of the finale, we see Angel when he was human. He was an Irish drunkard in the 17th century until he runs into Darla who feeds on me and turns him. We also see how he manipulated Drusilla and drove her into insanity. After these two flashbacks, we fade back to present day to show the monsters they became respectively. Very effective. We then see how Angel became cursed with a soul from the gypsies for feeding one of their kind. After over 100 years, he is very low, aimless, and homeless, feeding on rats. But he's approached by a mysterious man named Whistler who takes him to LA where a normal Buffy is confronted by Merrick played not by Donald Sutherland. He even sees her fighting vamps for the first time and finding out about her power, all the while dealing with her parents arguing about her whereabouts. Angel finally decides that he has a new purpose.

In the present day, Angelus steals some mysterious obelisk which turns out to be a stone demon named Acathla who can bring Hell on Earth when someone worthy could pull out a sword in him. He is, however, unsuccessful in pulling out the sword. I love it when Spike rubs it in by saying "Someone wasn't worthy," in a singsong voice.

Meanwhile Buffy discovers the yellow disk that Jenny stored the restoration text. She feels she can bring Angel back with this and Willow could do the spell, since she's been getting into magic. Giles doesn't want Willow to go through with it because magic "could open a door that [she] may not be able to close." Xander is against this because of all the destruction Angelus caused and wants him dead right now. It's kind of a hard scene to watch because of the argument the characters have and how Xander behaves, though I sometimes think he may have a point that Buffy has to put her needs behind the needs of Sunnydale and the world. Feel free to prove me wrong. Anyway, after receiving a message from a vamp on a suicide mission, Buffy goes to face Angelus. Luckily Kendra is in town and watches the gang for protection. She even gives Buffy her lucky stake whom she names Mr. Pointy. I guess the writers figured she needed a quirk. This turns out to be a trap as Angelus' henchmen and Drusilla fight the gang. Xander breaks his arm. a bookshelf falls on Willow, Drusilla hypnotizes Kendra and slits her throat, and Giles gets kidnapped. After Angelus reveals what this was all about, Buffy runs back to the school. We get this beautiful slo-mo shot of her running while Whistler gives a voiceover:

"Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterward that counts. That's when you find out who you are. You'll see what I mean."

It goes without saying that everyone who first watched this show was shocked at the "big moments" that happened this season. I know I wasn't expecting them but it really changed my life, watching this show. And there would be no shortage of "big moments" for the remainder of the show.

Becoming, Part II

The incredible conclusion begins with Buffy getting arrested for allegedly killing Kendra. But she makes an escape and is now a wanted fugitive. She meets up with Xander and learns of Willow's head injury which put her in a comatose state. Cordelia meets up with everyone to check on them after running away from the attack at the library. I love how far Cordelia has come on the show going from a shallow High schooler to a more caring person. We'd also get some more good development of her in Angel. Angelus has kidnapped Giles to get information about how to get the sword out of Acathla. Even though he's tortured relentlessly, Giles remains resilient.

While Buffy is walking down the road, she is stopped by a policeman but Spike, of all people, comes in and knocks out the cop. He tells Buffy that he wants to help her save the world and stop Angelus, mainly because he wants Dru back. Plus he is attached to the world and its pleasures. They make their way back to Buffy's home where her mother is wondering about the allegations of murder involving her daughter. Just then, a vamp pops up and Buffy stakes him in front of Joyce. She is forced to come clean of her secret identity.

Xander has been standing by Willow's side, telling her how much she means to him and even says "I love you." At that moment, Willow wakes up and says Oz's name who has arrived at the right time. Buffy gets a call from Willow telling her she's all right now. Meanwhile, Joyce and Spike sit together in awkward silence in a hilarious scene. We also get this exchange:

JOYCE: Have we met?
SPIKE: Um...you hit me with an ax one time. Remember? "Get the hell away from my daughter."
JOYCE: Oh. So you do live in town.

As you can imagine, Joyce is very boggled by this new information Buffy has told her. She even uses the classic question parents ask their kids who are different. In this case, it's "Have you tried not being a Slayer?" She confronts Buffy about what's been going on with her. Buffy proclaims that she wishes she was normal and could do things a normal teenage girl would do but she has to save the world...again. As she leaves, Joyce tells her to don't come back, though I don't think she means it and is just using it as a tactic to get her to obey.

Buffy goes back to the library to get some weapons, mainly a sword. Even though it could be proven she is innocent, Principal Snyder tells her that the police are stupid and that she is expelled. I hate Snyder so much in this episode! He's been an extreme pain in the neck this season, watching over Buffy and painting her as a massive instigator. Willow decides she wants to try the spell again and sends Xander to tell Buffy, but not without showing her resolve face.

Buffy makes her way to save Giles and stop Angelus. She's joined by Xander who tells her that Willow told her to "kick his ass." This is a very controversial moment for fans. A lot of times Xander can be seen as a jerk and I agree with that, but this moment is very often why some people say Xander is an irredeemable a-hole and a bad friend to Buffy. But I got my own reservations about this scene. First off, should Xander lie to her? Absolutely not! If I was in his shoes, I would speak the truth because I'm very honest. But did I think he had some justifiable reasons for lying? In some ways, I think he does. I feel that after Willow got comatose, that was the final straw for him since she was close to him and he didn't want more death from Angelus. I also think he didn't feel magic would help after what happened to him in Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered. Plus I feel stalling Angelus wouldn't help Buffy if she even loses focus for a second. One last thing is I don't think it would make a huge difference if Angelus already pulled the sword out, seeing how she would have no choice. Speaking of which, Angelus brings in Drusilla to use a mind trick on Giles to see her as Jenny. Giles falls for it and says that Angelus' blood is the key to pulling out the sword.

As Angelus pulls out the sword from Acathla, he and Buffy have a sword fight while Xander rescues Giles and Spike fights Drusilla. A small drawback from the scene is in the wide shots, Angelus' stunt double is so obvious with a receding hairline. While that's going on, Willow tries the restoration spell again with as much strength as she had. She gets seemingly possessed and speaks Romanian rather well. Some theorized Jenny had possessed her or it could be the Romanian gods giving her a hand.

As Xander leaves with Giles and Spike leaves with Dru, we get another incredible moment when Buffy's on the ground and Angelus taunts her. "Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... no friends... no hope. Take all that away... and what's left?" He plunges his sword toward her but Buffy stops it with her palms and says "Me." YEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! Buffy immediately gains the upper hand. But just as she is about to finish him, Angel's soul is restored.

Angel is very confused and doesn't seem to remember what's happened. Buffy is confused, too, for that matter. But the two embrace each other and kiss. Buffy sees Acathla opening a portal of hell. Very sorrowful, she tells Angel to close his eyes. Great parallel, seeing how Darla tells him that when she turns him. Buffy kisses Angel one last time and stabs him with her sword, closing the portal and sending him to Hell. Wow! That...was...heavy! This scene is one of the biggest heartbreaking moments in the show. Sarah Michelle Gellar does an incredible performance! I also have to give props to David Boreanaz for his; the confusion and tears in his eyes were very well done. It's so unbelievable how Buffy saves the world once more but loses a lot. With Prophecy Girl, people may have seen some good emotion in it but this finale takes it further and tops it. Buffy is so grief-stricken that she leaves Sunnydale without telling her friends, though she leaves a note for her mother. If that wasn't bad enough, we get Sarah McLaughlin singing "Full of Grace" at the end.  To quote the Grr Argh monster at the end, "Oh, I need a hug." Curse you, Joss, but bravo at the same time!

Honorable mentions:

"Phases"

A new monster wrecks havoc in the form of a werewolf. But as you know Oz is the werewolf and he's very worried about what his friends would react to this, especially Willow. There is also a werewolf hunter named Kane who Buffy has to keep an eye on and prevent him from inhumanely killing the wolf. But we get a lot of moments of levity to this episode. Giles' enthusiasm for research on werewolves mirrors my excitement when we'd explore another monster besides vampires. I also love how Xander makes a joke about moon pie which makes Giles laugh and Buffy and Willow just look at him with a strange look. There's a funny subplot involving Larry who often bullies Xander and other girls. When the students are given a self-defense lesson, Buffy is teamed up with Larry behind her in a demonstration. He tells her. "Oh, Summers, you're turning me on." Buffy has had it and flips him over! Go, Buff! Later Xander confronts Larry when he suspects him as the werewolf but he unintentionally gets Larry to admit that he's gay and think that Xander is gay, too. Needless to say, Larry becomes a better person after that. The episode ends simply with Willow and Oz kissing for the first time. I feel it should have ended here and not on Oz's dopey grin and his line, "A werewolf in love." It doesn't sound as poetic as a Slayer and vampire in love.

"Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered is another funny episode. It's Valentine's Day and Xander plans on giving Cordelia a pretty necklace. However, Cordelia has her doubts about her relationship after she's teased by her friends. When she's given the necklace, she immediately tells Xander she wants to break up. Xander doesn't take it well as you'd expect, so he approaches Amy who's been dabbling in magic and forces her to do a love spell on Cordelia so he can reject her and make her feel his pain. However, the spell backfires and every girl in Sunnydale is head over heels with Xander except Cordy. Even Jenny and the lunch lady are obsessed with him. There is a very funny scene where Xander is walking in slo-mo and every girl is fawning over him but he's so anxious about his situation. Things get really out of hand when Amy turns Buffy into a rat and the other girls attack Cordy for rejecting Xander. They are then chased by a mob of angry, lovesick girls lead by an ax-wielding Willow. It's kind of scary how obsession can twist a person's mind. This seems like every hot actor's nightmare. But everything is back normal at the end, unlike some of the other episodes.

Worst episodes:

"Bad Eggs"

As great as this season was, you have to admit there were some subpar episodes and this one is the biggest dud. Buffy and her friends are given the assignment to watch over an egg as if it were their child. It turns out the eggs came from a demon known as a Bozoar who is underneath the hard floor of the school basement. The offspring start taking control of the students and teachers to release the demon. This is just an Invaders from Mars plot done very tritely. We also get vampire brothers called The Gorches who are not terrible but feel redundant. Is it me or does Lyle look a lot like Robert Rodriguez? Another drawback is Joyce's parenting to Buffy gets very overbearing when she disappears either to fight the Gorches or make out with Angel mostly. I can't think of a more appropriate title for this episode.

Best parts of the episode: Xander boils his egg so he won't break it. His reaction to seeing the creature inside is very funny. "Can I just say Gyughh?!" Another funny moment is Joyce's reaction to getting a little bozoar attached to her by a controlled and stone-faced Giles.

"Go Fish"

Even though the second half of the season was a winning streak, this episode slowed things down a bit. Strange things happen this time to the swim team at Sunnydale High. It turns out they tear out of their skins and become sea monsters from aromatherapy, believing it is steroids. But this whole plot is another weak metaphor with a weak execution. Also, there were some sexist moments when Buffy is given a ride to school by one of the team members who tries to make a move on her. She breaks his arm and hurts his nose and gets in trouble with Snyder immediately. She is then told by the swim team coach to dress more appropriately and not a revealing fashion. *frustrated groan*

Best parts of the episode: Xander going undercover as a swim team member and Cordelia and Willow gawking at the sight of him in a speedo. A pretty funny anti-smoking poster in the school that just says "Ban the butt." *snicker immaturely* Fans of Prison Break would probably get a kick out of seeing a young Wentworth Miller.

Writers Scoreboard

With each season, more writers would come and go to write episodes, while also working as producers. Perhaps the most prominent ones are Marti Noxon and David Fury who would stay and write more till the show's end. I feel Noxon nails the Buffy-speak even if not all of her episodes are great, but some of them are considered one of the best. I can truly see why she would be in Joss' favor and become an executive producer later in the show. Some like Ty King and Carl Ellsworth would write only one or two and then leave. Ellsworth, oddly enough, got fired after doing Halloween. Besides them, we'd bid farewell to the writing teams of Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer as well as Rob Des Hotel & Dean Batali who were at the beginning. Same goes for Howard Gordon who would later work on Angel and Elin Hampton.

NOTE: This scoring system I will admit is not perfect. You might disagree with the way I give points. Again the way it works is I give 0 points if an episode is bad or average, 1 point if it's good, and 2 points if it's great. Take it with a grain of salt and remember this line from Whose Line is it Anyway, "The points don't matter."

Joss Whedon - 6 points

• When She Was Bad (0)
• Lie to Me (0)
• Ted - co-written with David Greenwalt (0)
• Innocence (2)
• Becoming Part 1 (2)
• Becoming Part 2 (2)

Ty King - 2 points

• Some Assembly Required  (0)
• Passion (2)

David Greenwalt - 1 point

• School Hard  (1)
• Reptile Boy (0)
• Ted - co-written with Joss Whedon (0)

Marti Noxon - 4 points

• What's My Line Part 1 - co-written with Howard Gordon (0)
• What's My Line Part 2 (0)
• Bad Eggs (0)
• Surprise (1)
• Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered  (1)
• I Only Have Eyes For You (2)

Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer - 0 points

• Inca Mummy Girl (0)

Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali - 1 point

• The Dark Age (0)
• Phases (1)
• Killed by Death (0)

Carl Ellsworth - 1 point

• Halloween (1)

David Fury and Elin Hampton - 0 points

• Go Fish (0)

Howard Gordon - 0 points

• What's My Line Part 1 - co-written with Marti Noxon (0) 

Total scoring

Joss Whedon - 9 points

Marti Noxon - 4 points

David Greenwalt - 3 points

Ty King - 2 points

Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali - 2 points
Carl Ellsworth - 1 point
David Fury - 0 points
Elin Hampton - 0 points

Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer - 0 points

Dana Reston - 0 points

Howard Gordon - 0 points

Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden - 0 points