Passion (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode)

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"Passion"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 17
Directed by Michael Gershman
Written by Ty King
Production code 5V17
Original air date February 24, 1998
Guest actors
Episode chronology
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"Bewitched, Bothered
and Bewildered
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List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes

"Passion" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the fantasy-horror television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). The episode was written by Ty King and directed by Michael Gershman, who served as the show's cinematographer. It originally aired on The WB Television Network in the United States on February 24, 1998.

The premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that an adolescent girl, Buffy Summers, is chosen by mystical forces and given superhuman powers to kill vampires, demons, and other evil creatures in the fictional town of Sunnydale. She is supported by a close circle of family and friends, nicknamed the Scooby Gang. In "Passion", Buffy attempts to protect her close ones from Angelus and his murderous intent as Jenny Calendar continues to search for a spell to restore his soul.

"Passion" was highly praised by critics when it aired, and it is the only episode in the series to feature narration by David Boreanaz. It is frequently considered one of the best episodes in the series.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Angelus's voice narrates a poetic evocation of "passion." Buffy peers out her window but sees nothing. After she drifts off, Angelus enters her room. Buffy wakes to find an envelope on her pillow, containing a charcoal drawing of herself. Buffy tells Giles about the drawing and asks if there's a spell to reverse Angel's invitation into her house. Because Angelus can enter her house at will, Buffy wants to tell her mother the truth to protect her until the reversal spell is in place. Giles discourages her.

Jenny explains to Giles that she was raised by the people Angelus hurt most. She explains that she lied to Giles and Buffy because she thought it was the right thing to do. Giles suggests she make things right with Buffy. Later, Buffy explains to her mother that she has been having problems with Angel. Buffy further explains that she'll talk to him if he shows up, but she warns Joyce not to invite him in the house. Later that night, Willow discovers that Angelus has been in her room too leaving behind another sick gift of dead goldfish hanging from some string and spends the night at Buffy's. Early that morning at the factory, Drusilla has a vision, detailing someone attempting to break up the newly reunited family. Meanwhile, Jenny goes to a Gypsy novelty shop to buy an Orb of Thesulah.

Buffy later confronts Jenny and explains that Giles misses her. They are then informed that Giles has found a spell to revoke a Vampire's invitation into any house. Later, Joyce pulls into her driveway and find Angelus waiting for her in the front yard. Joyce becomes agitated and panics while trying to get inside the house. Angelus starts to follow but he is unable to cross the threshold. Willow is shown reciting the spell, and Buffy shuts the door in his face.

When Giles finds Jenny staying late at the school, she explains she needs to work a little longer. Giles invites her over to his place after she's finished. Jenny keeps working to translate the ritual's text. At last, she is successful and saves the program to disk. She jumps to see Angelus sitting in the dark at the back of her classroom. Angelus picks up the Orb of Thesulah and smashes it. Searching for a way out, Jenny flees as Angelus lopes after her. She runs straight into Angelus' grasp, and he snaps her neck.

Giles returns home to find the place decorated with candles, wine and rose petals that mark a trail to the bedroom. In the background the duett "O soave fanciulla" from Puccini's La Bohème is playing. As Giles follows the trail to its end he finds Jenny's lifeless body. At Buffy's house, Angelus lurks outside. As the phone rings, he watches the Slayer answer, her face fall, and her body sink to the floor in a grief-stricken crouch. He watches Willow take the phone, listen, and burst into such wild sobs that Joyce rushes into the room to hold her. Cordelia and Xander drive to Buffy's house, where Buffy and Willow wait outside for them. The four of them drive to Giles' apartment to try to make contact. Meanwhile, Giles has gone back to his apartment to arm for battle. Piecing together evidence of Angelus' set-up and Giles' intent, the four friends argue about what to do.

At the factory, Spike argues with Angelus over his cat and mouse games with the Slayer when there's an explosive crash and the long dining table erupts in flame. Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike recoil and move to escape. Giles enters and stalks the length of the room, lights a baseball bat. When Giles raises a torch for a savage overhand chop, however, Angelus grabs him by the throat and lifts him clear off the floor. At that moment, Buffy enters the fray. She breaks Giles free of Angelus' grasp. Drusilla and Spike exit the building. Chasing a battered Angelus up onto the catwalk, the Slayer thrashes him nearly to pieces. Buffy looks down at the unconscious Giles, now completely surrounded by flames. As Angelus boosts her over the rail and makes his own escape, Buffy jumps down and half-carries Giles from the building.

Later that night, as Angelus' imparts the epilogue of his "passion" drama, Giles comes home his apartment. Laying down a sheaf of flowers on Jenny's Grave, Giles murmurs a few simple words and Buffy's eyes fill with tears. She apologizes aloud for not being able to kill Angelus when she had the chance. At the school, Willow gravely announces that she has been temporarily assigned to teach Ms. Calendar's class. As Willow sets her books on the desk, the backup disk Jenny created slides and falls into the narrow darkness between the desk and a filing cabinet.

[edit] Production and writing

According to Joss Whedon, Jenny Calendar's death serves notice to fans, first, that no one is safe, death is scary and real, and second, that Angelus is not "just a little evil," he's not "grouchy," he's truly evil and Buffy needs to address the situation. The series creator also jokes that the episode is a message to the actors: "Be very good, or I'll kill you."

In an interview with the BBC, Anthony Stewart Head says this is his favorite episode, "because it was a beautifully shot episode and a beautifully written one." He also provides the vocals to the music for the scene at Jenny’s grave.

[edit] Themes

[edit] Invitation and exclusion

According to Noel Murray from The A.V. Club, a recurring theme in "Passion" is "the common feeling of being left out."

[edit] Cultural references

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
CanonIndexJoss Whedon
Series FilmTelevision • (Episodes1234567) • Comics (Season EightSeason Nine) • Buffyverse canon
Main characters BuffyWillowXanderCordeliaGilesAngelSpikeOzAnyaTaraDawnRiley
Major villains The MasterDrusillaAngelusThe MayorAdamGloryThe TrioDark WillowThe First
Spin-offs AngelFrayTales of the SlayersTales of the VampiresBuffy the Animated Series
Expanded universe NovelsUndeveloped productionsVideo games
Auxiliary AcademiaCCGDVDsGuidebooksIn popular cultureMagazinesMusicRPGs
Universe Big BadsHellmouthMain charactersMinor charactersMonsters • • Scooby GangSunnydaleVampire
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
Season 1 "Welcome to the Hellmouth" • "The Harvest" • "Witch" • "Teacher's Pet" • "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" • "The Pack" • "Angel" • "I, Robot... You, Jane" • "The Puppet Show" • "Nightmares" • "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" • "Prophecy Girl"
Season 2 "When She Was Bad" • "Some Assembly Required" • "School Hard" • "Inca Mummy Girl" • "Reptile Boy" • "Halloween" • "Lie to Me" • "The Dark Age" • "What's My Line, Parts One and Two" • "Ted" • Bad Eggs" • "Surprise" • "Innocence" • "Phases" • "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" • "Passion" • "Killed by Death" • "I Only Have Eyes for You" • "Go Fish" "Becoming, Parts One and Two"
Season 3 "Anne" • "Dead Man's Party" • "Faith, Hope & Trick" • "Beauty and the Beasts" • "Homecoming" • "Band Candy" • "Revelations" • "Lovers Walk" • "The Wish" • "Amends" "Gingerbread" • "Helpless" • "The Zeppo" • "Bad Girls" • "Consequences" • "Doppelgangland" • "Enemies" • "Earshot" • "Choices" • "The Prom" • "Graduation Day, Parts One and Two"
Season 4 "The Freshman" • "Living Conditions" • "The Harsh Light of Day" • "Fear, Itself" • "Beer Bad" • "Wild at Heart" • "The Initiative" • "Pangs" • "Something Blue" • "Hush" "Doomed" • "A New Man" • "The I in Team" • "Goodbye Iowa" • "This Year's Girl" • "Who Are You" • "Superstar" • "Where the Wild Things Are" • "New Moon Rising" • "The Yoko Factor" "Primeval" • "Restless"
Season 5 "Buffy vs. Dracula" • "Real Me" • "The Replacement" • "Out of My Mind" • "No Place Like Home" • "Family" • "Fool for Love" • "Shadow" • "Listening to Fear" • "Into the Woods" • "Triangle" • "Checkpoint" • "Blood Ties" • "Crush" • "I Was Made to Love You" • "The Body" "Forever" • "Intervention" • "Tough Love" • "Spiral" • "The Weight of the World" • "The Gift"
Season 6 "Bargaining, Parts One and Two" • "After Life" • "Flooded" • "Life Serial" • "All the Way" • "Once More, with Feeling" • "Tabula Rasa" • "Smashed" • "Wrecked (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode)Wrecked" • "Gone" • "Doublemeat Palace" • "Dead Things" • "Older and Far Away" • "As You Were" • "Hell's Bells" • "Normal Again" • "Entropy" • "Seeing Red" • "Villains" • "Two to Go" • "Grave"
Season 7 "Lessons" • "Beneath You" • "Same Time, Same Place" • "Help" • "Selfless" • "Him" • "Conversations with Dead People" • "Sleeper" • "Never Leave Me" • "Bring on the Night" • "Showtime" • "Potential" • "The Killer in Me" • "First Date" • "Get It Done" • "Storyteller" • "Lies My Parents Told Me" • "Dirty Girls" • "Empty Places" • "Touched" • "End of Days" • "Chosen"
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