Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Innocence - S02E14 Review

INNOCENCE
SEASON 2 EPISODE 14

Here's the part where thing's change, so strap in tight kiddies! We open up at Spike's place where the Judge is gathering his strength to do this world-destroying, or whatever their actual plan is. Suddenly Dru is struck by a vision of Angel. Angel stumbles through an alley in the rain and collapses when a...let's say, escort...attempts to check on him. He rises to his feet and really violently chomps her up.

Buffy awakens alone and does the shameful walk home in the morning, and she's stopped by her mom, who doesn't suspect a thing. But even she can tell that Buffy looks different in some way; perhaps she's lost her...Innocence! I forgot how subtly this was handled, actually. At school, everybody is there worried about Buffy because she never checked in with them, and in one of my favorite moments, Xander and Willow decide to go after her, guns blazing. It's all a moot point though, as she comes strolling through the door, lying her pants off about her night with Angel. Jenny seems suspicious though, the gypsy wench!

Back at Spike's, Dru is all crazy and happy, and Angel comes walking in Spike's lair, acting uncharacteristically prickish. He insults Spike all over the place and then Spike has the Judge burn all the humanity out of him. Only it doesn't work; Angelus has returned to the fold, and it makes Spike and Dru ecstatic. But Angel isn't just content to destroy the world; he wants to make Buffy suffer. Back at the library, Willow is talking to Buffy on the phone, and I'm only mentioning it because it leads to a really great Xander line.

Willow: No...don't even say that...Angel is NOT dead...
Xander: Say hi for me.

Xander heads to the back of the library where Cordy is, shockingly enough, reading a book about the Judge. They start talking and sort of make up, and this is like the first time that they actually seem really cute together. They kiss and then they pull back to reveal Willow with the most horrified stare ever. He chases her out into the hallway, and she explodes at him about how it's unnatural, and it leads to another really good line. It's really hard to watch though.

Xander: Willow, we were just kissing...it doesn't mean that much.
Willow: No, it just means you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me.

Buffy returns to Angel's place to look for him, and to her surprise, she finds him there. And thus begins one of the hardest scenes to watch where he systematically destroys her by being douchier and douchier, implying that she's not good in bed, she's just a kid, etc. It's awful...absolutely awful. There's something to be said about David Boreanaz's acting from here on. He's really not too great in the majority of the first season, like he hadn't really found the character yet; the first half Season 2 he shows improvement. But here is where he really starts to shine; he completely rocks the evil douchebag persona, and the delight he takes in torturing Buffy is so hard to watch. In a good way, of course.

Jenny is talking to her gypsy uncle about using Angel to stop the Judge, when the uncle explains that Angel's curse of a soul has already been lifted and Buffy is going to have to kill him. Back at school, Xander gets a bright idea in the hallway with Willow when suddenly all the lights go out. Angel appears in the hallway in darkness, telling Willow to come over; he has to show her something. Like fangs, presumably. He grabs Willow by the throat, and then Buffy comes in behind him. He taunts Buffy for awhile while Xander sneaks up and gives him the old cross, chasing him off. But Buffy is really freaked out by the whole situation. Her guilt is expressed in a subtle way, but it's fantastically portrayed by Sarah. The group prods Buff at how this could have happened, and only Willow realizes what is actually going on, as Buffy runs out to be alone. Then Xander forms his plan to defeat the Judge and the group heads out.

Meanwhile, at Spike's, Angel returns, having successfully scared Buffy. Spike seems sort of annoyed by Angel's patience though; he wants to just go ahead and kill her. There's already tension between Angel and Spike and that only mounts throughout the rest of the season. Buffy gets home and just kind of wallows in despair for a long time, crying her heart out. Sarah's definitely the best at crying, though Alyson Hannigan is a close second. Then Buffy has a dream about the night before and then a vision at a funeral where she sees Jenny Calendar. When she awakes, she immediately knows Jenny is somehow responsible. Prophetic dreams seem like they would be really useful!

She heads to school the next day and chokes Jenny down on the desk, with Giles in the room and everything. Jenny explains the reason she was sent to Sunnydale and Giles FINALLY realizes that Buffy and Angel having sex was the reason he went all bad. It's funny, when something embarrassing happens, Giles always takes off his glasses; nice little character quirk. Buffy demands that Jenny take him to the gypsy guy, who is soon visited by Angel. Poor gypsy guy. Actually he's a pretty annoying character, so I'm not that distraught.

The gang pulls up onto an army base and Xander and Cordy try to sneak in while Willow and Oz wait in the van. They're stopped by a guard, but Xander in his army outfit (and still equipped with some army knowledge) from Halloween uses Cordy to convince the guard to let them use a room for a few minutes for some fun time. And surprisingly, it works! In the van, Willow and Oz have a nice moment. Willow comes on to him, but Oz realizes that Willow only wants to get back at Xander, and says he can wait for when she's legitimately interested in him. How sweet!

What's NOT sweet though is Buffy, Jenny, and Giles finding gypsy uncle's body. Angel even went as far to leave Buffy a message in blood: "Was it good for you too?" Pretty creepy, even for a super evil vamp. She finally accepts that she has to kill him now. Xander gives Buffy the secret weapon, Buff and Giles turns their backs on Jenny, and they head out to find the Judge, who turns out to be at the mall. The vamp squad and Judge walk in, and the Judge burns a random guy who looks like Ben Stein. But no worries, just as the Judge is preparing his super burn attack, Buffy pulls out a rocket launcher and blows him away, Dru and Angel barely jumping out of the way. The gang goes to pick up the Judge's pieces, and ooh cool Xander shirt!

Buffy follows Angel into the lobby of a theater and they have it out again under the sprinklers. This time they're fighting, though. Angel tries to taunt her some more, but she knows that the good Angel is gone. After a pretty well-done fight sequence, she has him at her mercy and could kill him, but she opts for a sweet nutcracker instead. How metaphorical; probably the most metaphorical nard-kick of all time!

Afterwards, Buffy and Giles pull up at Buff's house. Giles reassures her and tells her he's not disappointed in her; it's one of my favorite Buffy/Giles moments, he's so supportive! That night, she watches an old movie with her mom, and her mom comments that she looks the same to her. It's a sweet, subtle little moment; these are the times that the Buffy/Joyce relationship really works, not when there's forced conflict. And we end on Buffy just letting the candle on her cupcake burn.

Overall, this is one of my favorite episodes. It's far too dark to be one that I would suddenly rewatch for fun, but in the context of the series, it's a nigh perfect episode. It stands as the spot where the show heads in a darker, more serious direction, for the most part. It's also sort of the turning point where the show becomes truly great. A must-see!

*****