Overall Rating: 8.0
Another very strong story with a lot of things to enjoy in the details that fall between the main plot points. This two-parter has the benefit of allowing us to catch our breath a bit and slow things down...letting us enjoy the characters like fine chocolate, rather than scarfing them down like a KitKat bar on the road (OK...so I haven't had my favorite food since the start of Lent and it's on my mind...deal with it! :)).
Plot Summary:
Spike and Drusilla are tired of small time plots and waiting around for a chance to take out the Slayer and restore Dru back to health. While Drusilla madly rambles about her frustration with Buffy and her ailing vampire body, Spike arranges for a very powerful and dangerous order of assassins to begin a relentless pursuit of Buffy to keep her occupied while the duo cooks up a little surprise for Angel. The Order of Taraka is an unstoppable band of demons who take many forms and who, one by one, will try to kill her until they either succeed or are called off the job by their masters (in this case, Spike).
The first wave of Order demons arrives in Sunnydale - a creepy looking male carrying beauty samples, a woman who steals a police uniform and gun at airport security, and large brutish looking beast who stalks into town on foot. The last of these three attacks Buffy after she breaks up a vampire raid on a mausoleum in the graveyard, killing one of the two thieves, but failing to stop the other from making off with a book that Giles later identifies as a dark spell book. Angel takes Buffy ice skating to cheer her up after she fails to dust that second thief, and the brute attacks her at the rink. Thankfully, Buffy is wearing a pair of very sharp blades which she uses to slash the demon in the throat (which, BTW, was kind of cool...LOL).
This whole encounter is secretly watched by an exotic and beautiful woman. She sees Angel demonic visage during the fight and then sees the Slayer and this vampire kissing. Later, when Giles learns of the attack and Buffy provides some left over evidence of the attacker, he realizes this is the Order of Taraka and tells Buffy in no uncertain terms that she's not going to win this battle by picking off assassins. She needs to hide while research is done to figure out who sent them. Buffy disappears - Xander and Willow try to find her at her house, but come up empty. They are then paid a visit by the creepy looking salesman - actually a demon composed entirely of maggots (ew!), and Cordelia - ever the sucker for vanity - lets him in! He decomposes and goes after them, and they hide in the basement and barricade the door. There, trapped in that little space, they have the moment we've all been waiting for with not-so-baited-breath. "I hate you!" "I hate you more!" "Let's kiss!!" A little cliche, but we'll blow past it.
Buffy has actually gone to Angel's place, but he's not there. He's at a demon bar called Willy's trying to beat information about the Order of Taraka out of the bartender. Unfortunately, he's being tailed by the super-hot new girl, who tracks him down and fights with him, eventually cornering him in a cage that, in a matter of a few hours, will be exposed to direct sunlight. She announces that she's a vampire slayer and he's a vampire! Then she goes off in search of Buffy. SHe finds her asleep in Angel's bed and attacks her with a huge hatchet. They fight to a draw and Buffy demands to know who this chick is. "I'm Kendra - the vampire slayer!"
As the second hour opens, career week at Sunnydale High is in full swing and the upperclassmen are all being tested for their ideal future jobs. While everyone else is worried about their future occupations, Buffy and Kendra report to Giles. Kendra is baffled about what she has found in this slayer. First of all, Buffy was supposed to be dead. Second of all, a slayer is not supposed to have friends and family and a rather liberal watcher letting her get away with a lot of stuff that she herself was denied. And of course, a slayer is not supposed to be making mad smoochies with a vampire. She has to be caught up on a lot of things. Nonetheless, Kendra and Buffy share a common bond and seem to get along reasonably well in short order and in the midst of career week festivities (and Buffy's intriguing and well thought out placement in law enforcement), Buffy dreams that perhaps Kendra can take over the reigns a bit and allow her to have a more normal life - that is until Kendra confesses that she has likely killed Angel. Buffy races off to try to save him from the sun, but finds that he's already been dragged into the sewers - where? No one seems to know.
The career week placements produce mixed results - poor Xander is introduced to the wonders of manual labor (d'oh!), Willow meets Oz again, this time while both of them are heavily recruiting by an IT and computer programming/consulting firm for an elite training opportunity for the gifted. It turns out that Oz - who has variously given the appearance of being a musical genius but not particularly academically inclined - is just a genius all around, but prefers to focus on his art and not take things too seriously. Willow begins to fall for Oz after they talk for a while, heavily charmed by the chemistry they seem to immediately possess. Buffy's police training turns out to be a trap. The third assassin fires shots into the crowd of students trying to kill Buffy - who is barely saved by Kendra. Oz takes a bullet to save Willow's life (nice bit of chivalry there, Oz!), and the slayerettes regroup.
The true nature of Spike's plan is also finally revealed. He must have the blood of Drusilla's sire (the vampire who created her) and the full moon (tonight!) and she will be cured of what ails her. Her sire is, of course, Angel. Willy has dragged Angel to Spike's lair and there, he is tortured by Drusilla (sick little minx!). He tries to goad Spike into killing him too soon, but Drusilla is able to restrain him...barely. Giles, meanwhile, comes to this realization on his own after researching the materials in the book that was stolen. After Cordelia and Xander escape from the clutches of bug man (and each other's arms!), they, along with Buffy and Kendra get the news from Giles. Buffy and Kendra decide to try to beat the information out of Willy (the bartender), but that plays right into Spike's hands. Buffy insists on going with Willy immediately rather than waiting for orders from Giles. Willy leads Buffy right into a trap at the church where she is taken captive as an offering for Drusilla for when she "gets well."
Kendra goes back to Giles to warn him that Buffy has gone rogue and may be in trouble and the slayer brigade arrives as the ritual to save Drusilla is beginning. A huge battle ensues and, in just a few minutes, Angel will be dead from the effects of the magicks Spike has already worked. Buffy frees him in the nick of time. Meanwhile, Kendra and Buffy trade off doing battle with Spike and eventually they manage to torch the church and trap Spike under a huge pile of rubble. Badly injured, he is pulled free by...a fully revived Drusilla! Who promises to take care of him in a huge role reversal for the couple. Kendra heads back to her home (evidently in Romania, though her accent is horribly inaccurate for the region) and Buffy reluctantly accepts that she can't walk away with the slaying gig no matter how much she might long for simpler days like those she spent as a figure skater and cheerleader.
Writing: 7.5
There's a lot to like about the writing here. The big plots are pretty traditional Buffy action - Spike lays out another all-out attack on the slayer and her clan. As much as I love Spike and Drusilla and their off-color and unique interactions, that part is not what really makes this episode above average. No - the story does as well as it does in my mind because it's filled with little details and moments that make many of the regulars seem more well-rounded and allow us to relate better to their hardships. Knowing that Buffy was a gifted figure skater - that she took great joy in being on the rink and has had to give up her dreams of a career in the sport for the sake of her calling - makes what follows (the introduction of a second slayer) all the more tantalizing and eventually saddening for the viewer. The long running Oz and Willow tease-a-palooza gets a rather spectacular (and very charming) payoff here as well.
The big negatives in this script include the hokey stuff with Xander and Cordelia (this love/hate dynamic has been done so much better in other franchises - I know Marti Noxon was going for intentional cheese, but I think what we got was a little too goofy to actually work. The key to cheesy love/hate romance is to make us actually see some chemistry there and want it to happen and on that note, this story completely fails. As well, the departure of Kendra felt forced. Her arrival, while interesting, is a bit cheapened by her quick and, IMHO, unnecessary withdrawal from Buffy's "scene." She does make one final appearance toward the end of this season and is unceremoniously killed by Drusilla, but I really wish we could have had more of a chance to play with the idea of tag-team slayage and to tantalize Buffy with dreams of having some kind of normal life before we pulled the rug out from under her.
By the way, while we're on the subject of negatives, the act-out line "Now it's personal - nobody messes with my boyfriend!" was beyond corny and into "ugh!!" territory. I really wish they'd stay away from being so on the nose with their comedy that they get metaphorical mucus on their shoes. On the whole, don't get me wrong, this was entertaining TV and well worth the viewing, but I do feel like opportunities were missed and that has to be reflected in the ratings.
Acting: 9.0
On the other hand, there were very few real weaknesses in the acting. Even during the ridiculous Xander/Cordelia scenes, I think Nicholas Brendon and Charisma Carpenter did just about all they could do to salvage some humor and keep things grounded. The guest cast was phenomenal - highlighted as usual by Juliet Landau (Drusilla), James Marsters (Spike) and Armin Shimerman (Snyder) - all of whom are easily strong enough for regular roles, but now including Seth Green (Oz) and Bianca Lawson (Kendra), both of whom bring a lot to the table. Green may have overdone the understated persona at times and Lawson's accent was...well it wasn't good, but talk to Peter Jurasik about how tough it is to do Romanian accents correctly. :)
Message: 7.5
To be a hero, something must always be sacrificed. Have you ever wondered why every hero-genre story every crafted includes this truth? Humanity apparently values self-sacrifice in the name of a greater good. It's obviously a positive for society, the math is simple here, but what about for the hero? It seems a little harsh to expect someone who has been "called" to give up his or her dreams wholesale for our benefit, yet we do. What we're really echoing is the story of Jesus on the cross, and the truth we're really getting at is that when you sacrifice to help others, you are really helping yourself. Buffy plays with this idea more than once and quite rightly, Buffy frequently realizes that she would not be able to live with herself if she walked away from her duties as the slayer. If we are closer to God (nearer to heaven) the more we learn to love unconditionally and accept love with all of its consequences, then the ultimate expression of love is giving of oneself without the expectation for personal gains merely to help someone else.
I would have been more impressed with this story had this message been hit a little harder. Unfortunately, the title "What's My Line" doesn't foretell much about the meat of the multiple plots. The second hour plays a bit with careers and Buffy's destiny-laden future, but that theme feels a little cobbled-together. I'd rather have spent less time with some of the other side plots and more time exploring the process Buffy goes through in once again accepting the loss of some of her freedom to help make the world better. Buffy's unconvincing romance with Angel got more screen time than anything she said or thought about when a second slayer arrived to potentially offer her an "out" and I think that's a serious missed opportunity.
No Highlights for this one - though I recommend http://www.buffyguide.com/ if you want to pick up some of the best bits from the dialogue. My time is limited these days and two part episodes just kill me.
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