Writer:

Marti Noxon

Director:

Michael Lange

Regulars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris

Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase

David Boreanaz as Angel

Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Stars:

Seth Green as Oz

Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

Robia LaMorte as Ms. Calendar

James Marsters as Spike

Juliet Landau as Drusilla

Cast:

Brian Thompson as The Judge

Eric Saiet as Dalton

Mercedes McNab as Harmony

Vincent Schiavelli as Jenny's uncle

The love lives of the gang are heating up — Buffy and Angel are growing closer, Xander and Cordy are fighting like cat and dog (only with kissing). Oz and Willow arrange a date for Buffy's surprise birthday party at the Bronze the next night. Jenny is visited by her mysterious Gypsy uncle, who warns Jenny to keep Buffy away from Angel. Dru and Spike are assembling an indestructible demon called the Judge, but Buffy manages to steal one of his arms, thus preventing his full assembly and in the process crashes her own party, quite literally. Jenny suggests that Angel take the arm to the other side of the world, but he and Buffy are ambushed by Spike's hench-vampires, and the Judge is re-awakened. The Judge has the power to kill with a single touch, and almost kills Buffy, but Angel saves her. Later that night, in Angel's mansion, Buffy and Angel consummate their relationship. Some dark magic is summoned by this, and Angel runs from his bed into the street, screaming Buffy's name in pain. — Short synopsis by Bruce.

For the full, detailed synopsis, click here.

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The Judge is yet another world-threatening demon, created by Joss and friends, inspired by the works of Bram Stoker. Angel describes him thusly: "It's a legend... way before my time... of a demon brought forth to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity... separate the righteous from the wicked... and to burn the righteous down."

Oz: "I'm gonna ask you to go out with me tomorrow night. And I'm kinda nervous about it, actually. It's interesting."
Willow: "Oh. Well, if it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes."
Oz: "Yeah, it helps. It creates a comfort zone. Do you wanna go out with me tomorrow night?"
Willow, cringing and slapping her forehead: "Oh! I can't!"
Oz: "Well, see, I like that you're unpredictable."

Giles: "Why don't you meet me here at seven o'clock? We'll map out a strategy."
Buffy: "What am I supposed to do until then?"
Giles: "Go to classes, do your homework, have supper..."
Buffy: "Right. Be that Buffy."

The Judge, indicating Dalton: "This one is full of feeling. He reads. Bring him to me." — We like this because it says that reading is at least part of what makes us human, something we firmly agree with.

Spike turns the hero cliché on its ear:

• Angel: "Leave her alone."
  Spike: "Yeah, that'll work. Now say 'pretty please'."
• Angel: "Take me instead of her!"
  Spike: "Uh, you're not clear on the concept, pal. There is no 'instead'. Just first and second."

More quotes from this episode...

• "You ground his bones to make your bread."  In the traditional telling of the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk," the villainous giant says, "Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread!"

• Eric Saiet reprises his role as Dalton, the bookish vampire he played in "What's My Line (Part 1)." Brian Thompson, who played Luke in "Welcome To The Hellmouth," also returns, playing the Judge.

• In Buffy's dream sequence at the beginning, Willow sits next to a monkey and says, "L'hippo a piqué ses pantalons," which translates as "The hippo stole his pants." This is an obvious reference to the "monkey pants" speech Oz gave Willow at the end of "What's My Line (Part 2)." Willow must have told Buffy all about her conversation with Oz at some point.

• Willow says to Buffy, "Carpe diem. You told me that once." As everyone who's ever seen the 1989 Robin Williams movie Dead Poets Society knows, carpe diem is Latin for "seize the day." This is a reference to "Welcome To The Hellmouth," when Buffy told Willow to "seize the moment." In both instances the advice led to bad results (Willow was nearly killed by a vampire, and Buffy and Angel... well, you know).

• Jenny Calendar is in fact a Romani, or gypsy. Her real name is Janna, of the Kalderash clan, and she was sent by her people to make sure that the curse which restored Angel's soul almost a hundred years ago (first mentioned in "Angel") stays in effect, ensuring his eternal suffering and punishment.

• This episode takes place on Buffy's seventeenth birthday, implying that Buffy was born in January 1981. (See "I, Robot — You Jane.") This is supported in "Helpless," "Doomed," and "A New Man."

• Jenny drives a Volkswagen Beetle (the old kind, not the new kind).

• Buffy greets Dalton by saying, "Every time I see you, you're stealing something." This is a reference to the last time she saw him, in "What's My Line (Part 1)," when she saw him stealing the du Lac Cross.

• Rasputina - "Transylvanian Concubine" (From the BtVS Soundtrack, TVT Records, 1999; and Thanks for the Ether, Columbia Records, 1996)
  This songs starts when Drusilla calls for "more music" at her party.
  
  
• This episode also features an original song called "Anything," written by series composers Shawn K. Clement and Sean Murray and performed by Cari Howe, which plays during Buffy's dream sequence at the beginning.

Brian:

As with "What's My Line," we once again have a two-parter with a nice, leisurely setup. However, this one doesn't work as well as part one of "WML," perhaps because of the expectations created by the WB's promotional campaign for this episode. I have an idea in my mind of how this two-parter will play out, and it seems to me that this first part was, largely, treading water, and that the "good stuff" will be saved for the conclusion. Which is fine, I guess, but this part seemed to be unsure of itself somewhat. The much-touted first liaison between Buffy and Angel, despite its placement at the end of the episode, was not at all the climactic affair I expected it to be. It seemed to be almost an afterthought. "Oh, by the way, they made love," was the half-hearted effect. Although I will wait until the conclusion to pass judgment on the overall story, this first part seemed slightly obligatory, as though the producers felt a story of this magnitude required two parts instead of one, and also suffered from some violated expectations. As such, I can't call it one of my favorites. (7/10)

Will:

The long-awaited Buffy 2-Night Event finally got here. I was personally looking forward to this because it would have Spike and Drusilla appearing in it. I have made it quite clear in past reviews that I prefer episodes that contain those two wacky British vamps. I was actually a bit disappointed by their performances in this offering. Overall, I found this episode to be a bit content-free in one way. All right, there is a really mean, bad, and downright ugly creature that can't be killed with any weapon. This seems to give some rather cool possibilities, but it didn't go too far with it. I know, I know... it is a two-part episode, but my evaluation is made on this episode by itself. I found it interesting that Jenny Calendar turned out to be a gypsy that is watching Angel to make sure that he is not happy. I actually never liked her. My prediction is that she will be dying in the all-too-near future. By far, the best part of the episode was the scene between Willow and Oz on the bench. I must say that Oz is a very cool character. He is mysterious, shy, witty and quite funny. I really hope that the writers allow Willow to find some true love. Overall this episode was intriguing, but unfortunately it feels like it is not solved (because it is not). It was not a bad episode, but free-standing it is not as good as most episodes. (7/10)