Buffy - Passion S2 E17 - Full Reaction

Juliette: I hope everything is okay in your world. I'm just in a very good mood today... Oof. That aged well, didn't it?

Finally I get to watch this lol. Been in hospital for a week it was torture not being able to keep up with you on buffy

I'm right here crying with you! This episode breaks us all. The scene I rewatched (over and over) upon my first viewing of "Passion" was Giles and Buffy outside the factory.. Because not a minute before it, Buffy is throwing around a vampire, a murderer, and drawing blood; she's dragging a hysterical grown man from a burning building with ease.. And then she starts to cry, and reality hits with an immediacy that destroys me. This is a seventeen-year-old girl and her beloved father figure. Her first love, first everything, has murdered her school teacher: one of her protectors. And then she's holding on for dear life to a sobbing Giles - begging him not to be reckless, as he's in his right to be, because the thought of navigating this alone terrifies her. I bawled the first time. And on this 50th time, it was much the same. I love the choice not to have the other Scooby's here for this one - it's just Buffy and Giles, and they need one another. It feels so much like grief that it's borderline obscene. Welcome to Buffy, Juliette. We're just gettin' started.

💜😭😭💜

Ah Passion. If Surprise/Innocense didn't clue viewers into the fact that this show is more than a campy fantasy, this one certainly does. As awful as Angel is right now, I like him for the story. He's much more interesting to me than souled Angel ever was. Completely off topic, but I wanted to ask: do you add subtitles to these videos yourself, or are they auto-generated? They're very good, and very much appreciated. YouTube's auto-generated subtitles are awful but these are quite good.

There's always a bright glimmer to see in such terrible situations. You can ship yourself with Giles again. (Sorry.)

One thing I love about Buffy, which makes it a masterpiece, is there are consequences. There are no resets. Characters change. In fact, they change so much that by the end they are almost different characters, but they still feel the same. It is so gradual and well earned. Its like the 16 year old me is not the same as the 21 year old me, but it is still me. Of course that wouldn't work without phenomenal writing, directing, and acting of well loved characters. For all the camp and cheese and humor, it earns its' dramatic punches. As does Dr. Who...

"He's feeding off her reaction, He loves it" I think I speak for all us buffy reaction enjoyers when I say boy do I feel called out right now!

Don't feel bad Juliette, every reactor I've watched has been in denial over Jenny's death. It was a real shock for most of us. I stand with Xander at this point and want Angel dead. He's done to much damage, is to psychotic, and I'd never trust him even if you managed to restore his soul again. I can't take Buffy crying, it rips my heart out every time. The imagination and brutality of arranging Jenny's body for Gile's to find like that is so fiendish it defies comprehension. This was hard on me so I really felt for you during it but this kind of powerful storytelling is why we love the show.

Oh jules I just wanna hug you! Bless your little heart! ♡

We've all been in your siuation of non-belief and I think that this episode was the one where the show 'grew up'! Up until now the main cast were always put into dangerous situations but were never in real peril. The tragic death of Jenny Calendar makes you double guess all previous assumptions. For the scene where Giles calls Buffy & Willow, the crew set up a phone line so that Anthony Stewart Head could interact with SMG and Alyson Hannigan which IMO makes this scene extra harrowing.

I'll copy a little of what I said on the YouTube video here: My problem is this won't really mean anything for Angel. You know damn well that he will never pay for his crimes. His killing Miss Calendar doesn't *mean* anything outside of Giles because he'll never face recrimination for it. You just *know* that if he gets his soul back, in a handful of episodes he'll be paling around with Buffy and crew, trading barbs with them between emo-goth whining about his past. But nothing actually *matters*. Once more, rivers of blood follow Angel, and nothing happens. Justice is never served. 🖖💙

While Buffy is always going to surprise and shock you, there are few episodes that are quite as shocking and as heartbreaking as this one. When you think about it, this storyline is not just the single episode. The whole thing was set up over the entire season by introducing a very likable character, making her special to one of our favorite characters, making her a critical part of the group, her betrayal, and her eventual redemption that was so harshly interrupted. This is long-term storytelling, and at the time, very few TV series were doing anything like it.

Oh, Juliette, my heart goes out to you. I remember being in total disbelief when I first saw this, too. This show can be fun and lighthearted, but it can also be devastating and I think your disclaimer at the beginning of this post is a good one. I think this action was meant to cause confusion in people's feelings - from both the characters and the viewers. It's a masterfully done episode, the writing and the performances are top notch, though. It's nice to be able to appreciate that more now than I did when it first aired.

I'm sorry you're feeling so bad about Angel(us) after this episode. But hopefully you know you're not alone. We were all broken by this episode. Hugs to you.