Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 8

2.17 Passion

After watching this episode it's easy to see why this is regarded as one of the best episodes of Buffy. A truly emotional episode we won't see another one this upsetting in the Buffy-verse until Hero in Angel's season 1 or in Buffy itself The Body in season 5, both bringing with it a death like in this episode. The most upsetting moment for me personally was not Jenny's death. I imagine on first viewing this was more of a shock factor- sometimes it still is surprising that the death actually happens; that snap of the neck and realising she has gone. However I found the scenes where Willow and Buffy find out and where Giles breaks down are the most upsetting moments. Seeing our characters deal with the grief is heartbreaking, making it not just about the loss of the character but seeing our favourite characters having to deal with something awful. The episode starts off strong with Angel's haunting dialogue and continues so, mixing horror with drama and even comedy. (Willow's conversation with Giles at Buffy's springs to mind as an example) It's episode like this that make Buffy a truly classic show. Many shows when doing a big episode like this fail to mix in some comedy but Passion does this effortlessly.
A couple of things to note: Giles apartment/house is pretty much the same as in season 4. It's nice continuity but had they wanted there was plenty of room to change this set as it would be perfectly understandable for Giles to move after having this tragedy unfold in his home. Also after Jenny, Giles never really has another proper love interest, though there are a few here and there. It is perhaps a tribute to Jenny that he never had another relationship on the show. My first perfectly scored episode (10/10)

2.18 Killed By Death

I'm not a big fan of this episode. In seems to lack the beginning middle and end structure, jumping in very quickly with Buffy being sick. Although this could've been a good thing, it didn't really work somehow. I thought the link to Buffy's past- the demon had killed her cousin was very tenuous and not really needed at all. Re-watching the episode I liked the idea that Giles posited that Buffy could be trying to make up a tangible demon to fight, instead of facing her own fears. These issue kind of gets addressed later in the show, but perhaps this was too early an episode for Buffy to be dealing with an abstract demon. I did like not knowing who the demon was and the idea that it could've been a real human- the security guard or doctor, but I'm glad in a way that they didn't go down this route. I guess it was always going to be hard to follow the events of the previous episode, but all in all this was a bit of a disappointing episode (5.5/10)

2.19 I Only Have Eyes For You

Another one of my favourite episodes. For me this is one of the more simple but powerful episodes of Buffy, there is some exposition but the idea of a poltergeist is pretty simple so doesn't need a huge amount of explaining, plus Buffy doesn't actually fight anything in this episode (apart from some brief defence early in the episode). Its a hugely painful, but emotional episode about love and I adored the way in played out in couples again and again. The premise that James (the poltergeist) was trying again and again to find a happy ending for this tragic story was brilliant and very well ties in with Buffy's own situation. The resolution of the story was in hindsight a foreshadowing for the season 2 finale and Angel's resurrection in season 3 where he forgives her for having to kill him.
Seeing the Hellmouth at its most supernatural was also neat, but I loved the revelation that Snyder knew about the Hellmouth. It's never really discussed why or how, but its explains his hatred for children- I guess he's not really a teacher of any kind, just someone who knows how to manage these supernatural situations.
I also liked that Jenny was not forgotten in the episode and Spike's revelation that he could walk, which sets up nicely for the finale. Apart from some ropey special effects this was an excellent episode (9.5/10)

2.20 Go Fish

A fairly standard episode, which is a bit of a shame considering its placement in the season (so late and in between some really good episodes), however it is a decent episode. I liked the concept of the boys actually being the monsters rather than being pursued by them, though we didn't get a full explanation as to what the coach was drugging the boys with. The episode touched on high school athletes getting preferential treatment, but in true Sunnydale style, it wasn't the usual football or basketball teams due to their "high mortality rate" as Willow pointed out! (7.5/10)