Season 2, Episode 17
First Aired February 24th, 1998
Until this episode, Angelus was certainly a thorn in Buffy's side. He was a formidable opponent, and Buffy would have a hard time killing him because of her love for Angel, but until "Passion", Angelus hadn't done anything to give credence to all the "worst vampire in history" stories that had been told about him. Then came "Passion". The episode opens from Angelus' perspective as he hides in the shadows and watches as Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Cordelia go about their night, trying to have some fun amid the chaos of dealing with Oz's new werewolf affliction, the Cordelia/Xander love spell, and of course the lingering threat of Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike. Throughout the episode, Angelus orchestrates his mindgames from the shadows, making his presence known without ever being seen. Buffy awakes one morning to an envelope containing an elaborate charcoal drawing of herself, a reminder from Angelus that he can enter her home whenever he chooses. Willow gets a similar message when she returns home one night to find an envelope full of her pet fish (she invited Angel in earlier in the season). One more person gets such an envelope, but that will be explained later.
Giles and Jenny are still reconciling after the revelation that she isn't exactly who she claimed to be, but this episode gave us hope that they would end up together after all. Furthermore, Jenny finally found a way to restore Angel's soul; until this episode, the correct spell had been lost, and no one thought that they would ever see Angel again. Unfortunately, before Jenny could tell anyone about her discovery, Angelus intervened. He met her at the school one night, taunted her, destroyed her computer (which had a file of the translated spell), chased her through the hallways, and finally killed her. However, he chose not to feed on her; instead, he snapped her neck, meaning that he would have to kill again that night in order to sustain himself.
The final mindfuck and evelope went to Giles; Jenny had asked to meet him that night, and when Giles returned home, he saw an open bottle of wine, an envelope with a note that said "Upstairs", and a trail of rose petals leading to his bedroom. And in his room, waiting for him, was Jenny's body. His violent reaction reminded us that he had a turbulent past, and forshadowed his dark move toward Ben in "The Gift". The episode had humor, but it also had some of the best drama and thrills of the entire show. I still get chills every time Giles walks up the stairs.
Up next: Buffy # 7...
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