Buffy The Vampire Slayer, “Innocence" Review (2x14)

Brief Synopsis: “After a night of passion with Buffy, Angel awakens as a soulless monster. After killing a human for the first time in decades, he remembers what it’s like to be a true vampire. He then joins Spike and Drusilla in their plan to destroy the residents of Sunnydale.”

"Surprise" (2x13) quick link here                                                                                                                    "Phases" (2x15) quick link here


Two quick notes before we get started...

1)    I will be reviewing the episodes in bullet point form. This is because it makes the reviews simple to read, and helps break up the text.
2)    If you are watching the show for the first time along with these reviews, please be warned that there may be a few spoilers for things that haven’t happened yet.

With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?

•    We’re now up to episode 26 of my reviews of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, and this is easily my favourite episode thus far. There have been some other spectacular episodes along the way (“Angel”, “Prophecy Girl”, “School Hard”, “Halloween”, “Ted”, and  “Surprise” immediately spring to mind), but none of them have held quite as much weight as this episode. It reaches the heights of emotional complexity not seen since “Prophecy Girl”, and then exceeds them. “Innocence” will be the death of me, I swear. As much as I love emotionally draining episodes like this one (all my favourites have heightened emotion), I also hate watching them because I love all the characters so much and don’t want to see them in pain.
•    This episode focuses on the appearance of Angelus. After sleeping with Buffy at the end of the last episode, Angel has lost his soul...again. In his place is the terrifying, manipulative, dark, dangerous Angelus. Without getting too deep into it at this time, Angelus is arguably the most impressive, interesting ‘Big Bad’ that “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” ever created. I personally have him as joint-first with The Mayor, but I loved The Mayor for very different reasons. The Mayor wasn’t scary (usually) like Angelus, and I was never truly worried about the safety of the Scoobies before The Mayor ascended. Faith provided the genuine fear for the Scoobies’ lives. However, with Angelus I was terrified that someone was going to be killed or brutally hurt right from the beginning. It was inevitable. Angelus had been built up as the worst vampire in recorded history. If everyone had survived this season it would have been rather anti-climactic...but I’m getting ahead of myself.

•                               “Behind the walls of innocence, echo the lies they hold within.
                                 We’re losing even if we win; what better way to start again?”

I feel as though these lyrics from Egypt Central’s “Walls Of Innocence” are especially accurate to this episode and to Buffy’s journey throughout it. This episode is called “Innocence” because that is what Buffy loses here. I don’t just mean that she loses her sexual innocence, but her innocence in life. When I look back on Buffy Summers’ journey, “Innocence” is the episode where I feel she did the most growing up in a short space of time. Buffy loses her virginity and her boyfriend in this episode. Not only does she lose him, but he actively hurts her and wants to torture her.

•    The Judge: “I am preparing.”
      Spike: “Yeah, it’s interesting to me that preparing looks a great bit like sitting on your ass.”

Do my ears detect a sassy Spike?

•    The episode then pans to Angel, who is where we left him at the end of “Surprise”. Angel is clearly in a great deal of pain...and then it disappears. Angel stands up, and then *BAM*, he drains a woman and then exhales her cigarette smoke! ANGELUS IS BORN! You immediately know that something has changed. From a purely visual standpoint it’s one of my favourite Buffyverse moments. The parallels to that ‘after sex cigarette’ are apparent (why do only evil people seem to smoke in the Buffyverse?).
•    Joss Whedon has stated that this episode is his favourite, and I can see why. Joss lives off of our misery. Every time he makes a fan cry, he grows stronger and more powerful. I swear, he’s become so successful with The Avengers and everything because of all the tears we’ve cried. This episode can be summed up in one word: tragic. If it wasn’t for a couple of cute Willow-Oz moments and Giles’ talk to Buffy in his car at the end of the episode (which is depressing in itself in some ways), I would just hide under my bed and never come out again. Even though I’m saying all that, IT’S AWESOME TV! THESE ARE THE TYPE OF STORIES THAT ALL TELEVISION SHOWS SHOULD BE TELLING! Just the fact that Joss is willing to take you on these extreme emotional journeys is what makes the Buffyverse better than other shows. Plus, emotional journeys is how the audience gets attached to the characters! You feel what they feel, you hurt when they hurt. That is why Joss is a genius.
•    Joyce’s mothering instincts kicked in and she knows something is wrong with Buffy just by looking at her. I love Joyce again now. I was having severe “Joyce is mean!” feels after “Ted” and “Bad Eggs”, but she really rises to the occasion in this episode.
•    I must point out the bitter irony that Jenny tells her uncle Enyos “people are going to die!”....yup...Enyos and Jenny to name a few.
•    Spike: “You can’t see the stars love, that’s the ceiling. Also it’s day.”

Why must Angelus come along and ruin our happy home? I love Spike and Dru together!

•    I could talk about David’s acting as Angelus all day. He manages to change everything that was Angel in order to be Angelus. His facial expressions, sentence structure, his movements...they’re all different. Even more amazing is that he did all this transformation instantly. It didn’t take David a few episodes to get into the groove. From the very first scene he was the embodiment of Angelus. In my opinion, David’s acting in the first season was a little wooden (excuse the pun there...I couldn’t resist ). As the second season progressed (around “What’s My Line Part One”), he started to become a good actor. After “Innocence”, he was brilliant. Even in season three when he’s Angel again, his acting is vastly improved due to his work as Angelus. Also, a special shout-out to Angelus’ half-smirk.
•    Angelus: “She made me feel like a human being. That’s not the kind of thing you just forgive.”

I’ve always found that to be a very memorable and very powerful line. Angelus really helps solidify the fact that Spike is different to most vampires. Spike’s somehow more human, even without a soul. I like comparing this quote to Angel’s “It’s not the beast in me that needs killing, Buffy, it’s the man” from season three’s “Amends”. Both Angel and Angelus seem to believe that the ‘human’ side of Angel (the soul) is his biggest weakness. Whether or not it’s true is irrelevant. Angel believing that his ‘human’ side is weaker than his demon side is fascinating to me, as it helps shape his entire identity. You see it crop up time and time again after Angel moves to Los Angeles.

•    Angelus: “Spike, my boy, you really don’t get it, do you? You tried to kill her, but you couldn’t. Look at you. You’re a wreck. She’s stronger than any Slayer you’ve ever faced. Force won’t get it done. You’ve got to work from the inside. To kill this girl...you have to love her.”

This becomes Angelus’ mission statement for the remainder of this season. He could have killed Buffy the second she walked into his apartment in this episode. Why didn’t he?...because he wants to break her first. He wants to play mind games with her. He wants to torture her. When she has nothing left, he will kill her. He did the same to Drusilla many years previously, only he turned Drusilla into a vampire at the end of it all. Angelus’ love of psychological games is both his biggest strength and his biggest weakness. Sometimes he takes too much pleasure in the mind games instead of just getting the kill (like with Buffy). This character trait is a big part of the reason why Angelus is the greatest villain in the Buffyverse (in my opinion) and my personal favourite villain.

•    Willow seeing Xander and Cordelia kissing in the library is heartbreaking. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again...Alyson has the best upset face I’ve ever seen. She just makes you want to dive through the television and hug her.
•    Willow: “No, it just means you’d rather be with someone you hate than be with me.”

My heart just broke. It’s very easy to empathise with Willow in this episode. She’s been in love with Xander since they were very young children. Ever since “Welcome To The Hellmouth”, we’ve watched Willow try to get Xander’s attention in a romantic capacity. Even though it’s eased off in the past few episodes, it doesn’t mean that Willow’s feelings are gone. Not only does she see Xander kissing someone, but that someone turns out to be Cordelia, who is the only person we’ve seen Willow truly dislike since the inception of the show.
•    ...There was a “We Hate Cordelia” club? That seems a little harsh.
•    The scene between Buffy and Angel in Angel’s apartment is distressing and difficult to watch. It’s the apex of this episode. Angelus is so damn hateable already. I’m really impressed with both Joss Whedon’s writing ability and David’s acting ability that they can make Angelus so hateable in such a short amount of time.

Buffy: “Was it....was I not good?”

How did Sarah not win more awards for Buffy?! Her facial expressions and acting were flawless in this scene. The reason why Buffy and Angel have been so overly-cute this season is because Joss has been planning this. Buffy sleeping with Angel and then Angel losing his soul and becoming evil is almost a perfect metaphor for the way that some teenagers are after getting sex from you. Take Parker two years later, for example. Parker slept with Buffy, distanced himself, treated Buffy like crap, and then made Buffy feel like it was all her fault. Parker is almost like a non-supernatural version of Angel turning into Angelus.

Joss Whedon said that writing this scene made him hate himself a little bit. He was appalled that these words were coming out of his pen. That he was capable of writing such cruelness. It’s also interesting to note that originally this scene took place outside. They recorded it outside, and Joss realised that the scene wasn’t working. He soon discovered that the scene was too intimate to take place outside. It needed to take place in Angel’s apartment; in the bed where they had sex. He was definitely right.

•    Xander: “Woah, woah, I think I’m having a thought. Yeah, yeah, that’s a thought.”

Easy there, Xander, don’t strain yourself. Also, Nicky’s face during that whole little speech was absolutely hilarious.
•    Don’t walk towards Angelus, Willow!
•    Seriously, don’t walk towards Angelus, Willow! LOOK HOW WEIRD HE’S ACTING!
•    Angelus: “Dream on school girl, your boyfriend is dead.”

I think that line has iconic status by this point. There is so much memorable dialogue during this episode; you can definitely tell Joss wrote this one. It’s no coincidence that I have “Innocence” and “Prophecy Girl” ranked as my top two episodes thus far into the reviews. 

•    When Xander is explaining his plan, so much was communicated visually between Xander and Willow. It was really well acted. Willow’s conveying hurt and anger with her eyes, and Xander is conveying regret and resentment (when Willow said she’d get Oz to help) with his. It was all a verbal non-verbal (give yourself 10 points if you get that Buffy reference).
•    David and Sarah aren’t making the sex noises during the flashback, by the way. Joss Whedon and Cindy Rabideau (the sound editor) are. Joss was too embarrassed to ask Sarah and David to do it.

•    It was heart-warming (and a little upsetting) to see Giles choose Buffy over Jenny. Jenny hasn’t really done anything wrong except try to convince Angel to leave Sunnydale and not tell Giles about her past (Giles didn’t tell Jenny about Eyghon and the man he killed).
•    Xander got Buffy a rocket launcher for her birthday. There is a rocket launcher on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”! I can die happy.
•    Using a rocket launcher to blow up The Judge was genius. It made for a great visual and a very memorable death. The slow-motion jumping by Angelus and Drusilla was superb. However, The Judge died way too easily for my liking. After such a big build-up, what did he actually accomplish? He killed Dalton, a vampire. Not much else.
•    Oz: “uhhhhhhhh.....arm.”
•    I think every male in the world felt the groin shot that Angelus received from Buffy. Ouch. Sympathy pains.
•    Giles: “Do you want me to wag my finger at you and tell you you acted rashly? You did, and I can. But I know you loved him, and he has proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn't have known what would happen. The coming months are going to be very hard, I suspect on all of us. But if you're looking for guilt Buffy, I'm not your man. All you will have from me is my support... and my respect.”

Oh Giles...I wish you were my Dad. As I’ve said previously, I grew up without a father-figure in my life. Seeing relationships like Buffy and Giles’ somehow made that easier. Their relationship is one of the best things about “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. Since Angel went bad, Buffy has been blaming herself. She feels like she is responsible for Angel losing his soul. Giles is telling Buffy in this scene that she did nothing wrong. It’s not her fault that Angelus is back. Having the inclusion of this scene sends such a wonderful message to the audience. It’s okay to go for what you want. All Buffy did was have sex with someone who she loved and who loved her back. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. 

•    Joyce: “Make a wish.”
     Buffy: “I’ll just let it burn.”
    *Buffy then leans on Joyce’s shoulder*
 
What is there to say about that? It’s just too sad to think about. Joss just got stronger and more powerful again...curse you, Whedon! Also, I cannot contain my feels at Joyce making Buffy a birthday cupcake.
•    After the drama and sadness of the past two episodes, I feel like I need a really terrible werewolf costume to make me feel better. What are the odds of that happening in the next episode?...
•    To conclude, this episode is superb. It’s the first 10/10 rating that I have given. It’s the culmination of the first 26 episodes, and it sets up the rest of the season. Its importance to Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s success cannot be understated. This episode, along with “Passion”, is what put the show on the map.  


Quote Of The Episode

Oz: “Sometime when I'm sitting in class, I'm not thinking about class, 'cause that could never happen, and I'll think about kissing you and then everything stops. It's like, freeze frame. Willow kissage......I'm not going to kiss you.”

Willow: “What? But...freeze frame.”

Oz: “Well, to the casual observer it looks like you want to make your friend Xander jealous, or even the score or something. That's on the empty side. You see in my fantasy, when I'm kissing you...you're kissing me.”


This, right here, is the moment I fell in love with Oz as a character. He’s just a genuinely good guy...plus he’s far more perceptive than he gets credit for. It takes a special kind of person to turn down kissing someone because they want to be the sole reason for the kiss.


FINAL SCORE: 10/10

So what are your thoughts on "Innocence"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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