Buffy: Passion (2.17)

Things aren't fun anymore. That's the message from this episode. Before Passion, we had the "Angel's gone bad" arc, where we're shocked and intrigued by Angel's reversion back to his Angelus persona. Here, the story becomes far heavier than simply another big bad. Passion is incredibly disturbing because the series doesn't shy away from depicting Angelus as a complete monster who casually enjoys the torment and misery he is inflicting on others. Spike doesn't get it. Angelus could easily just murder Buffy and her friends at the drop of a hat, but there's no fun in that. What Angelus wants to do is break the Scoobies down piece by piece, tormenting them in increasingly personal ways until they just can't take it anymore. He's a monster, through and through.

Following that theme, there is no scene more heartbreaking than Giles' discovery of Jenny's body, elaborately staged by Angelus to create maximum pain, followed by his gleeful voyeurism of watching Buffy and Willow being told the news of Jenny's murder. It's a devastating moment, Angelus' humor contrasted with Giles' devastation, Buffy's breakdown and Willow's tears.

I grew to really love Jenny Calendar while re-watching these episodes. She brings a certain dynamic to the Scoobies which is welcome, like another adult involved with the group but still human enough to be on the periphery of things, like an adult version of Cordelia (minus the cattiness). Buffy and Giles' treatment of her was tough to watch, though, since I didn't think she deserved to be completely ignored and banished from the group. She messed up, I guess, but it's not her fault that Angel is now evil. Like she said, she grew up believing nothing but the fact that Angelus was a monster, and that she couldn't help but fall in love during her 'mission'. Great work by Robia LaMorte, too. She'll be missed.

Passion also follows through on the most obvious metaphor of the Angelus arc. Here he's elaborately depicted as 'the nightmare ex-boyfriend', stalking Buffy and having changed for the worse ever since they slept together. It's an old story, even Joyce isn't surprised by what has happened. Her discussion with Buffy about sleeping with Angel was beautifully written, a talk that wasn't angry or preachy, but understanding and relatable.

Like a sequel to Innocence, Passion once again increases the horror as we see the true cruelty and sadistic violence Angelus specializes in. It's an uncomfortable episode full of pain and heartbreak, but so beautifully written and acted. You feel for everybody involved. A+

Credits
Guest stars Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers); Robia LaMorte (Jenny Calendar); Richard Assad (Shopkeeper); James Marsters (Spike); Juliet Landau (Drusilla)
Writer Ty King Director Michael E. Gershman