“Is he a pig? He sure eats like one.” - Gertie, E.T.

By Sabrina Boyer
The continuation of Becoming, Part 1 continues right into badness. Double badness. For Buffy, for Angel, for Giles, for the world. You’ll see what I mean.

Buffy ran into the library to see Kendra dead, Xander unconscious, Giles gone, and Will is under a bookshelf. And so did the police. They try to arrest Buffy as Snyder looks on with glee, but she throws an elbow punch to the PoPo and runs off, almost to get shot by the unknowing policewoman. “Suspect is very dangerous.” Now, how many times have we seen a middle class, straight, white girl become a fugitive? Not since Thelma and Louise…..and you wonder why I love this show.

All incognito, Buff sneaks into the hospital to check on the gang; Will is unconscious, Xan has a broken wrist, and Giles is AWOL. Bad is bad. Angelus has Giles in the factory, wanting to torture Giles for the information on how to awaken Acathla. “The last time I tortured somebody, they didn’t even have chainsaws.” Meanwhile, the police are letting Joyce in on just how delinquent her daughter’s become. Buffy runs into Whistler, and almost “pulls out his rib cage and where it as a hat.” Hello to the imagery. So, we learn it wasn’t supposed to go down like this; nobody saw Buffy coming. Whistler thought Angel was here to stop Acathla, but smoochies happened and here we are. In the end though, Buffy’s all by herself; she’s always the lone slayer.

And then, what with the police again, guess who is Buffy’s unlikely ally? “Hello cutie!” Spike says. They strike a deal to stop Angel; he wants to save the world. Apparently vampires are all talk, cause Spike wants the world to live. Dog racing, Manchester United, people. “Billions of people walking around like happy meals with legs. It’s all right here.” But then we learn his real motive: Drusilla. He wants her back, before Angelus made the big grand entrance. And so the greatest temporary alliance was born.

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As Willow stirs from her coma, we hear Xander utter the words Will has always longed to hear: “I love you Willow” Xander says. Her reply? “Oz? Oz?” and “Is everybody else ok?” Decidedly not. ‘Ole Ripper is chained to a chair and has obviously been beaten and tortured in interesting and creative ways. But he hasn’t broke yet.

Buffy brings Spike home to meet the mom, and Joyce freaks about where Buffy has been and who peroxide head is; Spike realizes Joyce doesn’t know about her slayer duties, until one of Angel’s lackeys jumps out and she dusts him in front of Joyce’s eyes. “Mom, I’m a vampire slayer.” Joyce and Spike share a moment of silent awkwardness; “Have we met?” Joyce asks. “You hit me with an axe one time. You remember, ‘get the hell away from my daughter?’”

The deal is this: Spike and Dru are able to skip town if Spike helps Buffy kill Angel. Joyce is still not convinced that Buffy is a vampire slayer. “Have you tried not being a slayer?” Joyce blames an absent father figure; also, Joyce was concerned that Buffy was guilty of killing Kendra and Buffy accuses Joyce of being an alcoholic. “I told you, I’m a vampire slayer. Open your eyes mom. What do you think has been going on the last two years; the fights, the weird occurrences; how many times have you washed blood out of my clothes….it doesn’t stop. It never stops…but I have to save the world. Again.” Joyce tries to stop Buffy from leaving and tells her not to come back. Buffy leaves anyway. But Will is willing to help Buff by attempting to restore Angel’s soul. “There’s no use arguing with me. You see my resolve face?” This could help Buffy. But it’s also tres dangerous.

Angel continues his torturing of Giles and finally, with the suggestion of Spike, Dru pretends to be Jenny Calendar, and of course, this is what draws out the secrets to awakening Acathla. As Buffy goes back to the library to grab some weapons, Snyder expels Buffy from school. Not only is she kicked out of her house, she’s kicked out of school. [ps: reference to the mayor here, setting up season three].
Buffy has a run-in with Whistler again; she wants to know how to use the sword that originally bound Acathla; we learn it’s Angel’s blood that’s the key. “I’ve got nothing left to lose,” Buffy says. “Wrong kid, you got one more thing.” Can you guess what that is?

Daybreak. Creepy mansion. Xander jumps out of the bushes. Will told Xander to tell Buffy they’re going to try the spell again; instead, Xan says “kick his ass.” This will come back to haunt them all.
Angel comes very close to awakening Acathla as Buffy busts in to save the day. Will begins the restoration spell. Xander rescues Giles. As Angel gets up from his little beat down by Spike, he has just enough time to remove the sword from Acathla while Dru and Spike make a break for it. As Acathla awakens, Buffy and Angel fight while Will’s spell gets more and more successful. “That’s everything huh? No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all that away and what’s left?” Angel asks. “Me.” Hell yeah!

And just as Buffy’s about to slay Angel, his eyes go all glowy, and well, you know what that means. But it’s too late. The spell that was supposed to help as made what Buffy now has to do impossible and…heartbreaking. But she does it anyway. Cause that’s what slayers have to do. But it’s not without its price. In order to save the world, Buffy must kill Angel, yet not without killing a piece of herself.

Buffy is gone. From her home, from her school, from her friends. Buffy’s now leaving Sunnydale. She’ll be here in awhile.

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About Sabrina Boyer: As a kid my dad would sneak scary movies past my mom and let me indulge in his horror movie fetish. I grew up watching V, Alien Nation, The Thing, The Fog (all originals) and then, in 1992 when Buffy the movie came out, I became obsessed with vampires, girl power, and all things gothic. I once stayed home from school, faked sick, and watched BTVS: the movie 6 times in a row. I know the beginning cheerleading dance by heart (still). Currently, I’m obsessing over Laurell K. Hamilton novels, and dream about Anita Blake being my best friend.