BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, SEASON TWO: A RETROSPECTIVE ON THE GRANDEST VAMP KILLER WE'VE EVER SEEN

And then, there was Spike.

Season one of Buffy introduced a fairly rote villain. Called simply “the Master,” he was a classic vampire, trench-coated and angry, with a legion of Sunnydale’s finest at his beck and call and plans for reopening the Hellmouth upon which Sunnydale is built. Each season of the show has one key villain, the Big Bad, as they’re called, and the Master was the dullest one, which makes it all the more exciting when Sid and Nancy-style vamps Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) roll into town, and Spike takes his place in my heart as all-time favorite Buffy character.

Season two includes some pivotal plots for the series, namely Angel’s regression into Angelus, a soulless vampire with a thirst for blood and penchant for hurting Buffy and her friends. But it takes a while to get to that point, and in between, we’ve got some series favorites: “Halloween,” in which the characters take on the personae of the costumes they’re wearing; a Giles origin story called “The Dark Age”; and, of course, “School Hard,” which sees the introduction of Spike, a Billy Idol-esque vampire who storms into Sunnydale on Parent-Teacher Night at Sunnydale High.

Immediately, we can tell that Spike isn’t our average vampire. He has a sense of humor about what he does, his sarcasm is biting, and his hobby is killing Slayers, but not without acknowledging their allure first. In an interview, James Marsters said that, when he played Spike, he always treated Buffy as a sexual object, something to hunt. This is something that’s highlighted in season five and beyond, but here, we see glimpses of Spike’s amusingly powerful libido.

Spike establishes himself as our Big Bad for the season, teamed with the wonderfully spacey, childlike Drusilla. They tear apart the town and in a way that’s far more entertaining than anything the Master ever did. And when Angel becomes the evil force he once was, the trifecta becomes near unstoppable, making for the best ragtag bunch of villains we ever see in the Buffyverse.

It’s in “Surprise” and “Innocence” that we see Angel’s transformation, and it’s beautifully handled. In this version of vampire mythology, when a vamp with a restored soul experiences a moment of true happiness, something strange happens within them. The soul is gone again, and they revert back to whatever they were before. In Angel’s case, having sex with Buffy means he’s soulless again. As it turns out, Angel is a brilliant villain, killing off some increasingly important characters (like Miss Calendar, a favorite of mine) and toying with Buffy’s emotions to the point that she’s near crippled by his new personality.

This culminates in Willow’s performing a spell to restore Angel’s soul, and even though it works, Buffy still recognizes that she must kill the one she loves most. In one of the series’ most poignant moments, Angel’s soul is restored the moment after a vicious swordfight between him and Buffy ends, and Buffy is going in for the kill as a dimension to all evil is ripped open. “I love you, Buffy,” says Angel, on the verge of tears. Buffy, already crying, replies, “I love you, too” as she plunges a sword into his heart.

Powerful moments like this make season two much stronger than the first. There’s also great humor and “aw, shucks” sweet moments in this season. Most of the latter come from Willow and Oz (Seth Green), a werewolf, a man of few words with a heart of gold who becomes our favorite sidekick’s first love. Although their love never reaches the depth of Willow and Tara’s (which will come much later), it still makes for a great romance to watch. Other treasures of the season include the courtship of Xander and Cordelia; “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” my vote for funniest episode of the series, in which Xander attempts to win Cordelia back through magic and instead finds every woman in Sunnydale lusting after him; and “Killed By Death,” featuring one of the scariest villains in all the Buffyverse.

The strongest piece in this season is the element of emotion the producers begin to tap into, in combination with the way they treat sexuality. They see its pull over a character like Xander, whose hatred for Cordelia is overshadowed by his desire to touch and feel and kiss a woman. They see how it transforms Willow, granting her confidence and inspiring her to develop her new supernatural talents. Most importantly, it’s recognized that sex holds great power and the potential for destruction. This is a theme that continues throughout the run of the series, and how important it becomes for these young adults facing a world already so plagued with difficulty.

If I give season one a solid B, then this one’s on the cusp of an A- but remains at B+. I can’t shell out an A for anything just yet, although some single episodes do deserve it. It’s in season three that several new characters emerge, Sunnydale High begins to fade into memory and the series’ strongest Big Bad makes his way onscreen. With season three, you’re in for a ride, and it takes a lot to hold on, but it’s certainly worth it. Stay tuned.

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