Passion (Buffy episode)
"
Passion" is episode 17 of season 2 of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also
List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Summary
Buffy approaches Ms. Calendar at the school and tells her that Giles missed her. Giles tells Jenny that he needs no apologies. To make up for her actions, Jenny manages to translate the spell to restore a vampire's soul with her computer, but Drusilla has sensed the plan. She and Angelus force the plan out of the magic shop owner, and Angelus finds Jenny working alone in her classroom. She tells him she can save him, but he refuses. She slips a floppy disk beside the desk before fleeing Angelus and a chase around the school ensues. Angelus catches her, and snaps her neck in one brutal move. He lays her out at Giles' home in an elaborate, romantic manner that demonstrates his sick viciousness. The Scoobies are devastated when they learn of the death.
Expanded overview
Angel narrates this episode. He provides an effective description of "passion". At the Bronze, Buffy and Xander are dancing on the dance floor while Angelus watches from the background. Buffy, Willow, Xander and Cordelia leave the Bronze hand in hand as Angelus watches from the shadows. That night in Buffy's room she cautiously checks around and then goes to sleep. Angelus appears in the window then comes to sit by her side. He strokes her face and watches her sleep. The next morning Buffy awakes to find an envelope by her. She opens it and sees a charcoal picture of herself as she sleeps. The next morning Buffy goes to Giles for a way to keep Angelus out of her room. Cordelia overreacts and gets worried because she invited him in her car.
They leave the library and Buffy ponders telling her mother the truth but Giles urges her not to. In Ms. Calendar's computer class, Jenny asks Willow to cover her class if she happens to be late. Willow is happy then worried then happy again at the thought of all that power. Buffy and Giles enter to get Willow and an awkward few words are passed between them. As the girls leave, Giles remains to talk to Jenny. She gives him a book that should help keep Angelus out of Buffy's house. Jenny apologizes and Giles attempts to tell her off but their feelings for each other make it difficult.
That night, Willow is talking to Buffy on the phone as she gets ready for bed. She goes over to feed her fish. She notices an envelope on her desk and opens it. She pulls out a string with her fish hanging from it. Willow ends up spending the night at Buffy's with garlic adorning the bed and weapons in their hands. Early that morning in the factory, Drusilla presents Spike with a puppy to eat. He refuses to be treated like a child. Angelus arrives and worsens the vibe between him and Spike. Dru has a vision that someone is going to harm them. That day Ms. Calendar goes to a store where she buys an Orb of Thesulah. At school Willow and Buffy arrive together and meet up with Xander. Willow leaves to teach her class just as she sees Ms. Calendar arrive. Buffy confronts her but can't get the words out right away. She works her way to telling Jenny that Giles misses her. Inside, Buffy meets up with Giles and is relieved to find that he has found a spell to keep Angelus out.
That night, Ms. Calendar stays late to work on translating the text for the spell to bring back Angel's soul. Giles interrupts and they agree to meet later at his apartment. While protecting Willow's house, they find a picture of Buffy's mom drawn by Angelus. Buffy's mom drives up to their house to find Angelus out front. He confronts her and scares her by telling her how he can't live without Buffy. Then he 'accidentally' mentions the passionate night he spent with Buffy. Her mother rushes inside and he tries to follow but Buffy and Willow got there first and Willow is just finishing the spell. Later on, Giles comes over to get the book and questions intervening on Buffy's "talk" with her mom. Convinced by Willow that nothing he can say will help, he leaves.
Jenny translates the text into English and quickly saves it on a disk. Then she prints it. As she looks over the printing text, she sees Angelus in the back of her classroom. She realizes he got in by reading the sign out front that welcomes all that seek knowledge. He takes the Orb of Thesulah and smashes it against the chalkboard. He also smashes her computer and burns the printed text in the fire created by the computer. Jenny tries to escape but is thrown against the door. She quickly gets up and runs searching for a way out. Many of the doors are locked and she finds herself trapped. She finally finds a way outside and runs from Angelus. He gets closer and she doesn't know what to do. She rushes to a door but it is stuck. As he gains on her she pushes it open and runs for the nearest escape pushing anything she can into his way. She is caught finally and her neck is snapped completely around.
Giles arrives at his apartment to find a rose on the door. He enters and finds champagne. He follows the candles and the rose petals upstairs. As he looks on the bed, he finds Jenny dead and drops the champagne. He remains in grief as the police arrive and ask him to come with them. He requests a phone call and he calls Buffy at her house. She receives the news as Angelus watches outside. Willow picks up the phone and bursts into tears. A smile comes over Angelus' face. Xander and Cordelia drive up to Buffy's house where they head to Giles' place in hopes of saving him from getting himself killed. They arrive to find that he has taken all his weapons and headed out.
At the factory Spike questions whether Angelus is ever going to kill the slayer. Suddenly fire spills over the dining table as Spike and Dru back up and Angelus moves to find out what's up. A crossbow arrow is shot into his shoulder. Giles comes walking in with a stick with gasoline at the end. He lights it with the fire on the table and proceeds to attack Angelus with it. After several hits Angelus grabs Giles by the throat. Before he can do much damage Buffy throws him into a wall. They fight and then Angelus distracts Buffy with the thought of Giles dying. She is thrown off the edge of the platform and rushes to his side. As they escape Giles shoves her off. She hits him and then bursts into tears. She tells him she can't do this alone and she doesn't want to lose him.
The next day, Buffy and Giles go to visit Ms. Calendar's grave. Buffy apologizes for not being able to kill Angelus. At school, Willow takes over for Ms. Calendar temporarily until the new teacher can get there. Buffy's narration takes over for Angel's, lamenting that nothing can bring the good Angel back. As Willow tries to clear the desk, she knocks Ms. Calendar's disk off the table and between it and a filing cabinet.
The title of this episode is a double entendre: love as in Rupert's passion for Jenny and suffering as the good people felt after she was killed.
Music
*
Christophe Beck - "Angel Waits"
*
Christophe Beck - "Remembering Jenny"
*
Morcheeba - "Never an easy way"
*
Giacomo Puccini - "La boheme (O soave fanciulla)"
*This is Tony Head's
favorite episode.
*Robia LaMorte lamented at her character being killed just as the show was getting popular.
Arc significance
Joss Whedon killed Jenny Calendar as a warning to fans that no character was safe and to the actors not to "make him angry." The deadliest strike to the Scooby Gang yet is brutally straightforward.
Timing
*Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
*
Soulful Spike Society analysis of Passion"
