Previously: Xander joined the swim team and we saw FAR more of him than we wanted to. Also, monsters.
Becoming, Part 1
Kirsti: Brace yourselves, guys. It’s about to get flashback-y up in here.
We open in Galway in 1753 with an Angel voiceover telling us about how sometimes there are important moments in life. Liam (aka Alive!Angel) staggers out of a pub, pissed as a fart (that’s “drunk” to you, America) and wearing breeches and white knee socks and buckled shoes and ponytail and TERRIBLE IRISH ACCENT OMG I CAN’T EVEN. (S: LOL it’s true; these flashbacks are not fine moments for David Boreanaz)
He sees a lady in a huge poufy dress standing at the entrance to an alley, and follows her in. Said lady is Darla. “What’s a lady of your station doing in an alley with the reputation this one has?” Liam asks, and apparently pick-up lines haven’t changed a whole lot since 1753. There’s more terrible accenting, and Darla offers to show Liam the world. He says that sounds awesome, and Darla gets her bite on. She slices her boobs open with a fingernail, and then shoves his head down for him to motorboat drink her blood.
Lor: Why doesn’t Darla have an accent? Why did they put David Boreanaz through the pain and then decide that Darla was born modern American? I’M CONFUSED ALREADY.
Sweeney: These are excellent questions, particularly since (1) there will be more of these flashback episodes -and- (2) HIS ACCENT NEVER IMPROVES.
K: I suspect Whedon couldn’t be fucked working out where Darla was from? Or Julie Benz can’t do an accent to save her life, so they just didn’t bother.
Cut to the present, where Angelus is grinning an evil grin as Buffy fights a group of vampires in the cemetery. You know he’s still a baddie because he’s wearing a Billowy Coat of Doom. Buffy stakes one vamp, then tells another that she has a message for Angel: “I’m done waiting. I’m taking the fight to him.” The vamp attacks her, and she stakes him, with a “Great. I’ll tell him myself” sigh of resignation. She helps Xander up from his dose of head injury (GOOD), and says that they should probably go home and study for finals. When Xander mopes about exams, she tells him to look on the bright side – that it will all be over soon. Angelus, lurking in the bushes, murmurs “Yes, my love. It will.” and disappears into the night. Roll credits.
Cut to a giant stone blob and some “archaeologists.” We know this because there’s a pith helmet in the background. Giles enters, and the archaeologist guy thanks him for coming, saying that he never knew they had the world’s authority on obscure artefacts right! here! in Sunnydale!
Lor: Right here in River City!
K: Giles stares at the giant stone blob, and asks if they’ve carbon dated it. I’m going to stop and wear my archaeologist hat for a moment: YOU CANNOT CARBON DATE A ROCK. Similarly, YOU CANNOT CARBON DATE CLAY. You can use thermoluminescence dating on clay. But not carbon dating. Yeesh, Giles. For a so-called expert, you kinda suck.
</archaeology themed rant>
Sweeney: I love you.
K: Giles takes a sample from the giant stone blob, and points out that there’s a giant crack running down the side and that therefore it can be opened. The archaeologist gets all “OOOOH, LET’S OPEN THE PRESENT!!!” and Giles asks him to wait until he’s translated the writing on the side.
Cut to the cafeteria where Xander is using fish fingers and a toothpick to recreate Buffy’s vampire slaying the previous night for Cordy, Willow and Oz. Willow mentions the fact that she’s still teaching computer class, and REALLY, SUNNYDALE HIGH? STILL? Principal Snyder approaches and says “Are we having a chair shortage?” to Willow, because she’s sitting on Oz’s lap. (S: This really throws a wrench into my anti-student/teacher thing, doesn’t it? K: Yep.) In typical clueless Willow fashion, her reply is “I didn’t read anything about…oh.” Bless. Buffy sasses at Snyder and he gets all “Oh yeah? I’ll kick your arse out of school, missy,” which seems slightly excessive.
Lor: I missed Oz! And also, apparently every time they mention Willow still teaching we’re going to have the same freakout. It will never not be freak out worthy.
K: Of all the things to worry about at Sunnydale High, you’d think potential death would rate higher than students teaching the class. NOPE.
Cut to London in 1860. Human!Drusilla enters the confessional at the church. (L: SHE LOOKS SO DIFFERENT.) Angelus is in the other side of the confession booth, eating the priest (file under: “sentences I never thought I’d write”). Dru starts to confess, and Angelus decides to have some fun with her. Dru mentions her visions, and now Angelus is REALLY interested. He doles out some douchery by calling Dru a child of Satan, and tells her to give in and be evil, and she freaks out.
Back at the mansion in the present, Dru’s returning from a walk. Apparently the moon was talking to her. Angelus works out that this means she’s had a vision. She says that there’s something terrible coming, and that it’s “at the museum. A tomb. With a surprise inside!”
Angelus gets all “Wow, your visions are made of awesome,” and Spike (who’s maintaining his wheelchair act, FYI) goes “No, you ninny. She read it in the morning paper!” Angelus gets all excited when he reads the article, and smiles a creepy smile.
Lor: My Spike love keeps growing because I am so over Dru and Ange-lush. I know I’ve said this before but it bears repeating as Dru creepily chomps at the air near Angelus’ ear.
K: Meanwhile, Buffy is studying with Willow in the computer lab. Buffy drops her pencil, and it rolls down the side of the desk, landing next to the floppy disc containing the translation Jenny did. She picks it up, and gets a case of deja vu. She repeats the pencil dropping routine, and finds the disc. Willow plugs it into her laptop, and they get all “WHOA, THIS IS BIG” when they see what it contains.
Cut to the woods of Romania in 1898. A dead girl in a Pretty White Virginal Dress is laid out on the ground outside as an old lady chants over a fire. Angelus, running like a maniac through the woods, suddenly gets a case of glowy eyes, and is informed that he’s been gypsy cursed on account of all the killing and that now he’ll know what true suffering is.
Lor: I’m not going to lie to you guys: the entire soul thing confuses me. Is a vampire a demon living inside of a soulless human skin? That’s what I’ve been assuming? So at this point is Angel the Demon being gifted with a soul so he can feel bad about what he’s done? Or is it the original Liam soul? And are we to assume that Angel and Angelus are separate entities or not? Just, you know, for clarification.
Sweeney: I’m going to defer to Kirsti for the final word on this, but my understanding is that it’s the original Liam soul sharing the original Liam body with the Angel(us) demon. There’s not really a difference between Angel and Angelus, except that for bloggy purposes, I have regarded Angel as the combination of soul+demon.
If that understanding is correct, this punishment is fucked. Basically, the Liam-soul who has been, you know, dead for about a century is now feeling major Catholic guilt for the shit that the demon did. It does not make sense and I am joining you in the land of the confused. I’m looking forward to our group of BtVS experts leaving comments explaining this.
K: Yeah, I’m pretty sure Sweeney’s right on this one. It’s Liam sharing his body with a demon. Except that it gets all complicated because Angelus is, at the end of the day, Liam. Just a demonic version of Liam. So it’s not really like Liam is being punished for stuff he didn’t do. It’s more than Angelus is being punished by being able to feel guilt. I think?? Much like Sweeney, I’m going to defer to our panel of experts for the final answer.
Lor: So is it:
(a) Liam Soul + Angelus Demon = Angel
(b) Liam – Soul = Angelus
(c) Angelus Demon with access to Liam’s body and memories – soul = Still Angelus but a really broody one aka Angel
(d) NO LOR. It’s none of these
(e) WHAT.
Vote accordingly.
K: Back in the Wiggins Library, the girls show Giles what they’ve found. Cordy asks if this means they can curse Angelus again. Giles says that it needs more knowledge of the black arts than he has (Oh pu-leeeeese. Like Ripper didn’t dabble in the black arts!). Willow pipes up, saying “Well, I’ve been going through her files, and researching the black arts for fun – or educational fun – and I may be able to work this.” Giles points out the danger, but Willow is determined. Xander interrupts with his special brand of “I hate Angel” douchecanoe-ness, and MY GOD. WHY IS BUFFY FRIENDS WITH HIM?!?!?! Anyway, he’s Team Kill Angel, and yelling ensues. Xander delivers more tremendouche behaviour, and Buffy – visibly (and unsurprisingly) upset – leaves.
L: Buffy’s “how could you?” looks here are devastating. Can we at all blame Angel for Mrs. Calendars death? I’m not sure that we can and I don’t get Xander’s reaction to any of this.
Then again, I hardly ever get Xander.
K: Over at the museum, archaeologist guy hears whispery voices coming from the giant stone blob. He wanders over and puts his hand on it, only to have Dru grab him and get her snack on. Angelus has his minions pack up the giant stone blob and take it back to the mansion.
Up in her bedroom, Buffy is on the phone to Willow. “Yeah, Xander was pretty much being a…Willow!! Where did you learn that word? You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Buffy says, and YAY WILLOW FOR CALLING XANDER NAMES. As they talk, Buffy’s packing up some stakes and crucifixes, and she comes across her claddagh ring in the bottom of a drawer. The Flute of Sad Feelings plays Buffy and Angel’s theme music, and Buffy mopes her way through the park. She hears noises behind her, and spins around to find herself confronted with Kendra. Apparently there’s a dark power about to rise in Sunnydale, and her Watcher sent her to help out.
Cut to the mansion, where the giant stone blob has pride of place. “It’s a big rock. Can’t wait to tell my friends. They don’t have a rock this big” snarks Spike, and THANK GOD SPIKE IS BACK, YOU GUYS. Angelus informs us that it contains Acathla, the demon who came to swallow the world, who was killed by a virtuous knight before he could draw breath and who turned to stone as a result.
TL;DR version? The big stone blob contains a demon that can end the world. Angelus wants to wake it up and send the whole planet to hell. “My friends, we’re about to make history………..END.” says Angelus, and he gives yet another evil smirk. Ugh, WE GET IT, YOU’RE EVIL. Yeesh.
Lor: Not as scary as one would imagine a world swallowing demon to be.
K: Not even remotely. At the Wiggins Library, Giles fills Buffy and Kendra in on the archaeologist-dead-giant-stone-blob-gone thing, as well as what the giant stone blob really is. Willow asks what the whole getting sucked into hell thing means, and Giles explains that Acathla can, with one breath, create a vortex between our world and a hell dimension, leading to eternal torment and general suckiness.
Buffy asks Willow to try the curse as a back up plan to the whole killing Angel thing. Willow says that she doesn’t do well under pressure, and can-someone-else-be-the-back-up-plan-please? At that, Kendra pulls a lame looking sword out of her bag, and says that it was blessed by the knight who slew the demon, and so it might stop Acathla. MIGHT. Giles gets all excited about the sword, then asks Willow how much time she needs for the ritual. She says she needs about a day, and an Orb of Thesulah. Conveniently, Giles has one that he’s been using as a paperweight. This is certainly a better alternative than paying $219.99 for the one that’s available on Amazon!! (Yes, I looked it up. I’m a nerd. I research things.)
Sweeney: This bit was a fun nod to Ms. Calendar’s shopping experience when she bought hers. I laughed.
K: Too bad for Jenny that there was no such thing as Amazon in 1997. Maybe she wouldn’t have died and would have had a chance to redeem herself. Giles says that Angelus needs to perform a ritual too before Acathla can be woken up, and we’re suddenly at the mansion. Angelus’ ritual apparently consists of killing an innocent shirtless guy, smearing your hand in his blood, and then…cut to Manhattan, 1996. Angel is living off rats in back alleys. LOVELY.
Lor: SRSLY? We’re supposed to believe that he’s had to live with a soul for 98 years and he’s THIS inept?
Sweeney: +1. There’s a really long list of Things That Don’t Make Sense in this episode. It’s ironic, of course, because the flashback episodes are meant to fill you with new understanding. Mostly, this one just fills me with the understanding that Whedon was making this shit up as he went for the first two seasons, and is now hastily trying to correct that.
K: I dunno, guys. If you’re living in the sewers eating rats and brooding, you’re probably not big with the whole finding out if you can buy blood from a butcher without seeming extra suspicious. Plus, hobo!Angel is hilarious.
A guy in an ugly hat approaches. A guy who knows that Angel’s a vampire, and a vampire with a soul at that. Ugly Hat Guy says that his name is Whistler, and that he’s a demon but not a bad guy, and that he’s interested to see who Angel’s going to become because it could go either way. Whistler wants Angel to see something, and we’re suddenly in Los Angeles at what I’m pretty sure is the Courthouse from Back to the Future (the internet just backed me up. It IS the Courthouse from BttF.) Here, it’s Hemery High, and Angel watches from a car with blacked out windows as Younger!Buffy finds out that she’s the Slayer on the steps of the school.
Lor: I LOL’d at the blacked out windows because 1.) how could he see? 2.) DID NO ONE NOTICE? and 3.) Rape-mobile forever.
Sweeney: I bet Christian Grey has one just like it! But, like, a fancy, expensive rape-mobile.
K: +1. At a cemetery that night, Angel watches from the shadows as Buffy stakes her first vampire and I’m suddenly having an urge to rewatch the BtVS movie. At Buffy’s house in LA, Angel peers in the window as Joyce tells Buffy off for being home late, and as Buffy cries silently in the bathroom while her parents fight in the kitchen.
Down in the sewers, Angel tells Whistler that he wants to help Buffy, that he wants to become someone. We cut back to the present, and Angelus approaching the sword in Acathla’s chest. There’s some flashy lights and some swirly mists, and then Angelus gets knocked back. “Someone wasn’t woooorthy!” Spike sing-songs, as Drusilla makes panicky noises. Angelus gets cranky and starts smashing things, and then says that they’ll have their Armageddon, one way or another.
Cut to the school, where Buffy and the gang are sitting in their finals. I take a moment to laugh, because they’re using pencils but Xander shakes his like it’s a pen that’s run out of ink. A vampire in a billowy cloak of doom walks into the classroom and entones “Tonight. Sundown. At the graveyard. You will come to him. You will come to him or more will die. TONIGHT“, and bursts into flames, which causes something of a disruption to the exam.
Lor: Messenger Vamp erupts into flames when in the sunlight. Angel winces as he looks out from his rape-mobile. Not very consistent, Mr. Whedon.
Sweeney: Things That Kill Vampires is consistently inconsistent for a good while here. By the end, I’m still not clear on the limits. This is a bit problematic since the killing of vampires is kind of a central element to the show.
K: In the Wiggins Library, Buffy says that she’s going to go, and my GOD what is she wearing??
Some kind of knee length shot silk coat, from the looks of it. Anyway, Kendra says that she’ll go with, but Buffy tells her that she needs her to stay at the library, just in case. Willow says that she’ll start the ritual, and Buffy goes to leave. Kendra offers Buffy her lucky stake, Mr. Pointy, for good luck. In the cemetery, Angelus (in his Leather Pants of Evil) greets Buffy (in her Shot Silk Coat of Middle Aged Opera Goer) with a “Hello, lover. I wasn’t sure you’d show.” “After your immolation-o-gram? Come on, I had to show“, she replies. There’s some more banter, and then just as they’re about to fight, we cut back to the Wiggins Library where Willow and the gang are starting the spell. It’s all going well until the place becomes overrun with vampires. A bookshelf crushes Willow, Xander’s arm gets broken, Giles gets knocked out, and Cordy runs for her life.
Back at the cemetery, the fight is still going. Buffy pulls out Mr. Pointy, and says something about finishing it. Angelus giggles, and says “This wasn’t about you. This was never about you!” Buffy twigs to the TRAP!!!! situation, and runs off. In the library, Kendra stakes a couple of vamps before ending up surrounded. Dru enters and starts giving Kendra some kind of spirit fingers routine. They fight briefly before Dru has Kendra by the neck. She does some kind of weird hypnosis thing, then slits Kendra’s throat with a fingernail.
Lor: I was surprised Dru didn’t lick-y, lick-y as I was under the impression Slayer!Blood was like the best stuff ever.
K: Good point…
“Let’s get what we came for, dears.” Dru says to the minions, and they grab an unconscious Giles and drag him away with them. (L: NOOOO!!!) Buffy slow-motion runs into the library as the Tinkly Pianos of Sadness play and Whistler voiceovers that you’re never ready for the big moments, even if you see them coming. She runs to Kendra, and it’s clear that she’s dead. As Buffy strokes Kendra’s hand, Whistler’s voiceover continues: “So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can’t help that. It’s what you do afterwards that counts. That’s when you find out who you are.” The camera pans out, and a gun enters the frame. “Freeze!” yells a voice, and Buffy spins around.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Next time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Will Buffy be able to stop Angelus before the world gets sucked into a hell dimension? Find out in BtVS S02 E22 – Becoming, Part 2.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.
Nicole is the co-captain of Snark Squad and these days she spends most of her time editing podcasts. She spends too much time on Twitter and very occasionally vlogs and blogs. In her day job she's a producer, editor, director, and sometimes host of educational YouTube channels. She loves travel, maps, panda gifs, and semicolons. Writing biographies stresses her out; she crowd sourced this one years ago and has been using a version of it ever since. She would like to thank Twitter for their help.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
