Buffy the Vampire Slayer - What's My Line Part 1 - S02E09 Review

WHAT'S MY LINE PART 1
SEASON 2 EPISODE 9

Here's our first real two-parter, if you don't count the pilot and second episode; definitely the first one with a "Part 1 - Part 2" either way. It's really odd placement to put a two-parter, actually, right before the halfway point. We open up at school where the gang is at a Career Fair, taking quizzes to see what job they're most suited for. Buff and Xand are less than pleased. Xander hates that the school is trying to determine what job he'll have based off one test, and Buffy knows that she's going to be stuck with Slayer duty forever anyway.

Meanwhile Spike and Dru are trying to find a cure for Dru's sickness, using a smart vampire to translate it. Even vamps have nerds! Dru reads her tarot cards and finds a location of some key that can decode the book that tells where the cure is. Wow, that's...needlessly complex. Later the nerdy vamp is getting the key out of a mausoleum when Buffy shows up, but he gets away. When she gets home she finds Angel waiting, holding her stuffed pig like a girly man. They talk about Buffy wanting a normal life and how Buffy used to skate when she was little. The coolest thing about this scene is a shot where Buffy looks at Angel as they're sitting on the bed, then looks into the mirror to see only herself. It's not a new shot, the show has done it before, but it captures Buffy's loneliness really well. Anyway, they make plans to go skating at a closed roller rink like a real couple, how cute.

The next day everyone gets their careers back except Willow, for some reason. At Spike's, it turns out that nerdy vamp stole a cross that can somehow help them complete the cure for Dru, and Spike decides to send some bounty hunters after her called the Order of Taraka. Is it really an "order" if there are only three of them? The bad guys build them up as being some super evils but soon that will seem fairly silly. Later at school, Xander makes a fool of himself to Principal Snyder by putting his foot in his mouth as usual, and Willow gets pulled aside by some suits; apparently there are two students that a big software company has been dying to meet with, and she's one of them. Oz is the other; this is the first meeting of the two, and it's only a little bit awkward!

Buffy and Giles find the crypt where the cross was stolen from, all the while talking about Buffy's future job. Apparently she'd make a good cop; or at least an effective one. Then we get an introduction to two of the bounty hunters; one coming from the bus stop who is CLEARLY a bounty hunter. The other is a dull, normal cosmetics salesman. Oh and he turns into worms, so there's that. Then a mystery girl who stowed away in a plane busts out of the cargo hold in Sunnydale. Lots of little scenes all at once.

Meanwhile everybody researches while Buffy ditches and heads to the ice rink. Sarah Michelle Gellar obviously loves to skate or they wouldn't have incorporated it into the story. But uh oh, Mr. Obviously a Bounty Hunter is stalking her from the shadows, and attacks her with the subtlety of a bull, before Angel shows up to help. I'm not sure what he is; he's not a vamp because we see him outside in the daylight, and he doesn't explode or anything. I guess he's just a normal person. So Buffy slits his throat with her ice skate. How cheery! Then Buffy kisses Angel in vamp face, saying she didn't even notice he was all vampy. Which is actually kind of sweet, if not really weird.

Buffy shows the ring to Giles who gives some Taraka exposition, while Xander makes inappropriate jokes. But then in an odd turn, Giles yells at Xander for making jokes. That's his job! Leave him alone! There's a funny scene where worm guy's hand reforms from worms into skin. Looks like spaghetti more than worms, really. Then Buffy gets paranoid because Giles and Angel have built up this Order of Taraka as being super horrible. They're not even that bad, I don't know what the big deal is. Buffy, on the run-ish, then heads to Angel's and lays down on his bed. His apartment is actually really cool, as it's filled with all kinds of cultures that he's seen in his lifetime; I AM a little curious as to where he gets rent money from though.

Angel shows up at a bar owned by a guy named Willy the Snitch. He also played the weaselly guy on Becker. He intimidates Willy for info, then he gets ambushed by the mystery girl from the cargo plane. She locks him in a cage with a nice view of a window so he'll be dust by morning. And oh man, this girl's accent is the worst. It's absolutely awful. At the library, Giles and Willow figure out that the cross and book are meant for a ritual to save Drusilla.

Xander and Cordelia drive to Buffy's house to see if she's there. They get no answer since her mom's out of town, so they decide to break in. Xander also refers to the group as the Scooby Gang, which is interesting, and also kind of out of nowhere. It's never been mentioned before now, but it's pretty much the definitive name for the group. While they check inside, Cordy gets a knock at the door and lets the cosmetics (worm) guy in, because she has a weakness for that sort of thing. Stupid Cordy!

This is the part of the episode where everything seems hopeless: Xander and Cordy are about to be attacked by bugman, Angel is slowly watching the sun rise, getting hotter by the moment, and Buffy gets attacked by the mystery girl with the horrible accent at Angel's pad. They fight for awhile but they seem to be evenly matched, even if Buffy really overcompensates with the one-liners in this fight. Then Buffy asks who she is, to which she replies "I'm Kendra, the Vampire Slayer". Whoa, as Keanu might say.

Overall this isn't at all a bad episode, but it doesn't really stand out too much. There's a lot going on, but it's mostly plot-based rather than character-based. In fact, it's mostly setup for the concluding part. It's a pretty average episode without many great lines to elevate it. There are some pretty cool shots in this one though.

**1/2