"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Becoming: Part 2 (1998)

User Rating:

9.3/10   

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Joss Whedon (written by)

TV Series:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)

Original Air Date:

19 May 1998 (Season 2, Episode 22)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Buffy arrives too late to save the gang from Drusilla's surprise attack, and ends up being arrested...

Plot Keywords:

Hero Gone Bad | Library | Student Principal Relationship | Teenage Love | Boots

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter	...	Cordelia Chase
David Boreanaz	...	Angelus
Anthony Head	...	Rupert Giles (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Max Perlich	...	Whistler
Seth Green	...	Oz
Kristine Sutherland	...	Joyce Summers
Robia LaMorte	...	Jenny Calendar
James MacDonald	...	Detective Stein (as James G. MacDonald)
James Marsters	...	Spike
Juliet Landau	...	Drusilla
Armin Shimerman	...	Principal Snyder
Susan Leslie	...	First Cop

Runtime:

44 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Trivia:

The sequence with the Mutant Enemy mascot, the little monster that goes "Grr Argh" at the end of all episodes, was changed for a total of six episodes: - in "Becoming Part Two" (#2.22) it said, 'Oh, I need a hug." - in "Amends" (#3.10) it wore a Santa hat and bells were jingling. - in "Graduation Day Part Two" (#3.22) it wore a graduation cap. - in "Once More With Feeling" (#6.07) it sang its "Grr Argh." - in "Storyteller" (#7.16) it sang, "We are as gods." - in "Chosen" (#7.22) it looked out at the viewers instead of looking straight-forward.

Goofs:

Plot holes: In the final fight scene, Spike strangles Drusilla, causing her to pass out. However, when Buffy dies in Prophecy Girl, Angel establishes that Vampires do not breathe (he is unable to perform CPR on Buffy, stating "I have no breath").

Quotes:

Spike: You have your way with him, you'll never get to destroy the world. And I don't fancy spending the next month trying to get librarian out of the carpet.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 50 Ways to Leave Your TV Lover (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Close Your Eyes (Buffy/Angel Love Theme)

This was the episode that got me!

I must admit that I hadn't been watching BTVS when this episode aired, but I do remember that everyone at work was talking about it. I was surprised that a TV based on a less-than-ideal movie was generating such a buzz...

...and when the DVD set came out I didn't think about getting it until a friend insisted I watch the episodes that had the Angelus vs. Buffy storyline, which of course, culminated in 'Becoming Part 2'. I was so stunned by what I saw! Joss Wheldon had (again) turned convention on its' ear by not only making the good guy a bad guy (and a really bad guy at that!) but then plotting the entire episode so that, timing being what it was, Willow just managed to cast the spell that returned Angel's soul... just in time for Buffy to have to kill Angel, not Angelus to save the world! A scene that could have been so campy was instead transformed into one of the most poignant and tragic sequences ever. In the denouement, listening to the bittersweet strains of Sarah McLaughlin as Buffy makes her decision to leave town left me near-tears, and the final scene of Buffy riding the slow bus out of town... just amazing. There were plenty of scenes between all the major characters that were great, and some of the quotes from this show are still being quoted today! "Happy Meals with legs"? Too funny!

This was it -- the episode that cemented Buffy in my mind for all time.