Buffy The Vampire SlayerI Only Have Eyes For You
My 8 All-time Favorite "Buffy" Episodes
DVD Season 2, Episode 19
Jenny D - TwoCents Staff Writer
jennyd@thetwocentscorp.com
One thing that I love about the early years of Buffy is the use of music. Number 8 on our list is no different. The use of the song “I Only Have Eyes for You” in this episode is perfect.
We find the Scooby gang, including Cordelia, at the Bronze. Buffy is approached by Ben, who wants her to ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. However, Buffy is just not in date mode. Willow thinks she needs to be more impulsive, but as Buffy explains, the last time she was impulsive, she slept with her boyfriend who lost his soul and the demon wearing his face is killing her friends. And most teenagers only have to worry about zits.
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Buffy The Vampire Slayer
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My 8 All-time Favorite "Buffy" Episodes
DVD Season 2, Episode 19
Jenny D - TwoCents Staff Writer
jennyd@thetwocentscorp.com
One thing that I love about the early years of Buffy is the use of music. Number 8 on our list is no different. The use of the song “I Only Have Eyes for You” in this episode is perfect.
We find the Scooby gang, including Cordelia, at the Bronze. Buffy is approached by Ben, who wants her to ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. However, Buffy is just not in date mode. Willow thinks she needs to be more impulsive, but as Buffy explains, the last time she was impulsive, she slept with her boyfriend who lost his soul and the demon wearing his face is killing her friends. And most teenagers only have to worry about zits.
The scene is set for the theme of our episode as we see two arguing students in the school and the boy pulls a gun on the girl. Why are they at school? Why did Buffy show up all of a sudden? Who knows, but she always seems to know where the trouble is. She stops the guy and all of a sudden, no one knows what is going on and the gun is gone. Principal Snyder is convinced that somehow it is Buffy’s fault. As she stands up, an old yearbook falls off the shelf.
As Buffy sits in class, she starts to go in and out of her realty and the past. She sees a student and a young teacher talking. As he hands her a book, they hold hands. When she comes back to her realty, her teacher unintentionally writes, “Don’t walk away from me bitch” on the board. Now Buffy knows something weird is going on. Xander reminds her that is there school motto. But he is more convinced when he opens his locker and gets pulled inside by an arm. They go to the library to discuss what is happening. Giles is convinced that it is a poltergeist based on what Xander described. Xander was very proud of himself for that.
We see the same scene as before with the teenagers, but this time, it is a teacher and the janitor. They argue, she tells him it is over, he pulls a gun on her, but this time it Is Giles that hears the whole thing happen. But he can’t get there in time as the janitor shoots the teacher and she falls off the balcony. As Giles tackles him, the gun disappears again.
Giles is convinced that it is Jenny. The Scoobies are not convinced it is her. Willow does a little investigating and learns about a student and a teacher who were rumored to have an affair. She tried to break it off, so he killed her and himself on the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance, which happened to be that night. Buffy is not very empathetic for him and insists they have to stop him before it happens again.
At lunch, a break out of snakes erupts in the cafeteria, as the school is evacuated. This allows Buffy and the Scoobies to take care of the ghost without anyone being there. Willow figures out how they can exorcise the ghost. They will set up a triangle around the hot spot. So Buffy, Xander, Willow and Cordelia head to the school, but they don’t have a very warm welcome.
At Angel, Spike and Drusilla’s new place, Drusilla has a vision about Buffy and tells Angel that it is time. One person who I thought was great on the show was Juliet Landau, who played Drusilla. It is amazing how well she played a complete crazy person. I think this brings up a great discussion. Who is your favorite Buffy baddie? Leave in the comment section along with what you think of this episode.
Back to the episode, as the get into their places, things begin to happen. Buffy get tranformed back in time and sees the two dancing. Chordelia sees her face disform and Willow gets pulled into the floor. Luckily Giles is there to save her. He now knows it is not Jenny. It is midnight. They perform the excorcism. As they here a loud noise, a cloud of bugs comes after them and engulfs the school.
Back at Buffy’s house, they talk about what to do now. Buffy knows why he is doing this. He wants forgiveness. She can relate to him. He destroyed the person he loves as Buffy did. She finds a flier from the Sadie Hawkins Dance in her pocket and returns to the school. They realize she left, and they are concerend that she will be shot. But, she is the only one there, so it should be ok. But she is not alone. Angel shows up. But roles are switched. Buffy plays the part of James, and Angel is Miss Newman. They go though the whole sequence. For me, the reason I chose this episode is becausae of this part.
The parallel between the story of James and Miss Newman and the story of Buffy and Angel is amazing writing. Two stories that are completely different and so similar at the same time. It of course ends the sae way it always does, James (Buffy) shoots Miss Newman (Angel). But since Angel is immortal, they are allowed to continue the story. James shooting Miss Newman was an accident. She knows this. Now she can go to him and tell him it is ok. AS Buffy turns on the song “I Only Have Eyes For You”, she looks into the mirror and sees James. She raises the gun, but Angel stops her. He tells her it is ok and that he never stopped loving her. As they kiss, you see Miss Newman and James and back to Buffy and Angel. It is over, and their spirits are at rest. Buffy and Angel open their eyes, and Angel pushes her away and leaves. Back at the mansion, Angel and Drusilla leave and we see that Spike can walk, he has been hiding it from them.
Well, that was number 8 on my list. Would it have made your top Buffy episodes list? If so, where at? Next week I will be reviewing number 7 on my list, “The Body”, season 5, episode 16. This is such a sad episode, especially for diehard Buffy fans (sorry for the bad choice of words). Please leave your two cents in the comment section or e-mail me at JennyD@thetwocentscorp.com. I will see you next week!
I never really watched Buffy but I did see this one , because of Chris Gorham being in it. I wrote to you on one of the earlier reviews... good to see you again.
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