Overall Rating: 8.5
It's schmaltzy, it has a REALLY corny ending that makes you shake your head and say "really, guys? Really??" And I don't care. The message is so purely, wonderfully Christian and cuts so deeply into my soul that I don't even care that it stars David Boreanez (who can't pull off his tragic role as well as I'd prefer) and features only one truly brilliant scene. It still deserves high praise.
Plot Synopsis:
A full helping of gooey gooey cheese may be found at BuffyGuide.com.
The Skinny:
As I said in my opening comments, this episode gives me a great desire to backhand slap Joss Whedon - the fact that he actually wrote this episode completely stuns me. He's been on record numerous times decrying our silly beliefs in the "sky bully" and then he busts out the miracle snowstorm from God?? And then he busts out one of most Christian-themed Buffy episodes ever written?? Help me out, readers...my brain hurts from the "huh????" And oh yes...from the HYPERGLAUCEMIA!! It's...so...sappy!! OW...brain cramps!!..my teeth hurt!! LOL
Anyway, getting past the artery-clogging cheese, I would like to applaud Joss for once again channeling his inner Catholic and correctly preaching that when one's soul is burdened with guilt from prior bad acts, the correct action is NOT to give up and commit suicide, no matter how much you might think you deserve to die for your crimes (nor is it correct for someone else to want you dead to pay for crimes, claiming you deserve nothing less). How does that solve anything? It is, in fact, not what real redemption is about...real redemption (and repentance) involves giving of yourself without expectation of personal gain, and it involved FEELING the guilt of your acts and letting your soul learn from the experience.
Buffy also reminds us with an impassioned plea that it's not just about Angel...his fate is not entirely his own. People contemplating suicide rarely take enough time to consider how their action, whether it succeeds or not, will affect those around them. Buffy talks Angel off that hilltop after he faces the "first evil" (a very insightful metaphor for the dark side in all of us) by reminding him that he's important to a lot of people - especially to the one he loves the most. That entire sequence is gorgeously portrayed (bravo to the direction!), and very effective...at least for me. Not to be forgotten...Buffy also demonstrates a quality of mercy and forgiveness that an ardent Catholic would envy and admire. It's all a very attractive package.
Writing: 8.0
I can't get TOO crazily optimistic about the script...it definitely has a high cholesterol level from all the cheese...but it's a guilty pleasure, what can I say.
Acting: 7.5
David Boreanez just is not cut out to play Angel. Every time he is asked to convey the deep torment a vampire with a soul must feel, he falls way...way flat. The rest of the cast - ESPECIALLY SMG - are outstanding for most of the episode.
Message: 10.0
Hooray for real heroes depicting a morality grounded in unwillingly Catholic roots. :)
Highlights:
OZ: Seeing you with Xander...it just...
WILLOW: But...you can't hold on to the past forever...because...it's in the past...and this is so in the past. Me and Xander...
OZ: I don't know...I don't know if it ever will be over with you guys.
WILLOW: Oz, you have to believe me...
OZ: But this is what I do know. I miss you. Like every second. It's like I lost an arm...or worse...a torso. So...I'm thinking...maybe...I'd be willing...to give it a shot?
WILLOW: Really?
OZ: Yeah...
WILLOW: Do you want us to hug now? (aaawwwww...)
OZ: Yeah, I'd be good with that. (how sweet)
JOYCE: Do you really want to let Faith spend Christmas all alone in that dingy little motel room?
BUFFY: Alright...you're still number one with the guilt trips, Mom.
JOYCE: I try.
BUFFY: I'll ask her. What about Giles...he's been a little...
JOYCE: (interrupting) No! I think he'll be fine on his own. (HA!! Ah...I love continuity...)
ANGEL: I'm sorry to bother you.
GILES: (laughing through his anger) I'm sorry, but coming from you, that phrase seems rather funny.
ANGEL: I need your help.
GILES: And the funny keeps coming. (ooooh)
ANGEL: I can't come in unless you invite me.
GILES: (returns with a crossbow...awesome!) I'm aware of that. Come in.
ANGEL: I need to know why I'm here.
GILES: On Earth?
ANGEL: I should be rotting in some demon dimension suffering an eternity of torment.
GILES: I'm inclined to agree with that. (owwwch!)
ANGEL: But I was freed, and I need to understand why.
GILES: And knowing this might give you some peace?
ANGEL: I could.
GILES: I think you should think about that...because frankly, sir, the last time you became complacent about your existence, it ended rather badly (Giles is awesome!)
BUFFY: Willy...
WILLY: Oh the slayer's here...what brings the slayer to my bar. (the vamps all start hiding...LOL)
XANDER: Oh let's see...give me a double shot of... (trying to sound cool) of information pal!
BUFFY: Priest guys...they worship the first evil...the call themselves the...
XANDER: ...bringers...
BUFFY: The harbingers. They have a no-eyes kind of look.
WILLY: Doesn't ring a bell.
XANDER: How about I ring that bell for ya! Cause if you don't start talkin'...(turns to Buffy)...does the intimidation come now?
BUFFY: Maybe you shouldn't help. (LOL!)
WILLOW: We're alone...and we're both mature...youngish type people. I mean...I want it to be special...
OZ: How special are we talking here?
WILLOW: Well...we're alone...I thought we could...you know...do that thing. I mean...I'm ready to...
OZ: OK (he stands)...
WILLOW: Where are you going?
OZ: No no...not going...just...OK...that's pretty special.
WILLOW: (stands with him) I want to be with you, Oz...first...I mean...I'm ready.
OZ: OK, well don't take the wrong way...but I'm not. When it happens, I want it to be because we both need it to...for the same reason. You have nothing to prove to me.
WILLOW: Well I wanted you to know...
OZ: I do...I get the message. (they kiss...very...very sweet)
BUFFY: (anxiously and hurried) I don't have time to explain this. You just have to trust me. That thing that was haunting you...
ANGEL: (interrupts) It wasn't haunting me. It was showing me.
BUFFY: (confused) Showing you?
ANGEL: What I am.
BUFFY: (insistently) Were.
ANGEL: And ever shall be. I wanted to know why I was back. Now I do.
BUFFY: You *don't* know. Some great evil takes credit for bringing you back and you buy it? You just give up?
ANGEL: (harshly) I can't do it again, Buffy. I can't become a killer.
BUFFY: Then fight it.
ANGEL: It's too hard.
BUFFY: (desperately) Angel, please, you *have* to get inside.
ANGEL: It told me to kill you. You were in the dream. You know. It told me to lose my soul in you and become a monster again.
BUFFY: I know what it told you. What does it matter?
ANGEL: (raises his voice) Because I wanted to! Because I want you so badly! I want to take comfort in you, and I know it'll cost me my soul, \and a part of me doesn't care. (He sobs. Buffy is at a loss for words.)
ANGEL: Look, I'm weak. I've never been anything else. It's not the demon in me that needs killing, Buffy. It's the man.
BUFFY: You're weak. Everybody is. Everybody fails. Maybe this evil did bring you back, but if it did, it's because it needs you. And that means that you can hurt it. (Angel doesn't want to believe her.) Angel, you have the power to do real good, to make amends. (raises her voice) But if you die now, then all that you ever were was a monster. (She looks out at the sky as it begins to lighten.) Angel, please, the sun is coming up!
ANGEL: Just go.
BUFFY: I won't!
ANGEL: What, do you think this is simple? You think there's an easy answer? You can never understand what I've done! Now go!
BUFFY: You are not staying here. (grabs his arm) I won't let you!
ANGEL: I said LEAVE! (He jerks his arm free of her grasp. In her anger and desperation Buffy punches him. He reacts by shoving her away from him roughly, making her fall face forward, hard to the ground.) Oh, my God...(He goes to her and crouches over her, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her around to face him. Buffy fears his intentions and cries out.)
BUFFY: No! No! (He grabs her roughly by the arms and holds her firmly.)
ANGEL: Am I a thing worth saving, huh? (shakes her) Am I a righteous man? (shakes her) The world wants me gone!
BUFFY: (tearfully) What about me? I love you so much... And I tried to make you go away... I killed you and it didn't help. (She shoves him off of her and gets up.)
BUFFY: (crying) And I hate it! I hate that it's *so* hard... and that you can hurt me *so* much. (sobs, then harshly) I know everything that you did, because you did it to me. Oh, God! I wish that I wished you dead. I don't. (whispers) I can't. (Angel gets up now, too.)
ANGEL: Buffy, please. Just this once... let me be strong.
BUFFY: Strong is fighting! It's hard, and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do. And we can do it together.(Angel struggles with himself, knowing she's right.) But if you're too much of a coward for that, then burn. If I can't convince you that you belong in this world, then I don't know what can. But do *not* expect me to watch. And *don't* expect me to mourn for you, because...(She stops in mid-sentence because it has inexplicably begun to snow - apparently, God is the one that needs to do some convincing...this whole scene is just awesome beyond words)
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