Saturday, September 3, 2011

"Passion" And "I Only Have Eyes For You:" Literal And Metaphorical Buffy Horror Theatre Rocks!


The Good: Story, Plot, Most of the acting, Sense of mood
The Bad: Moments of acting
The Basics: These two character-driven episodes wonderfully explore grief and the consequences of attempting to find redemption from those we have wronged.


Television that takes risks impresses me. I mean, I can live without every week there being a deep issue or something that merely pleases me, as opposed to knocks my socks off, but I like being impressed. Recently rewatching Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (reviewed here!) for example, I found myself re-impressed by the power of the language, the fearless quality the show had in actually addressing ethnic relations issues as well as political commentary. So, when I find myself reviewing something like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and find myself impressed in a similar way, that might surprise some.

On the video for "Passion" and "I Only Have Eyes For You," there is a rather impressive moment, one that pleasantly shocked me the first time I saw the episode "Passion." That I still see the scene and sit up in shock when reviewing the episode - having seen it several times now - marks it as reasonably impressive. The only thing is, the nature of the scene in question is one that can only be fully appreciated by those who have been watching the serialized show, rather than those who are not invested in the series. It's also one that makes the second episode almost impossible to review in a reasonable way without revealing (at least in part). That's a spoiler warning from me. Yes, these episodes are about a decade old, but I'm still laying down a spoiler warning here.

What impresses me in "Passion" is how daring the producers and director were with their choice to show a rather grisly, on-screen murder. Moreover, it is one of the principle characters that commits the murder and the victim is a character who has had a strong recurring role in the first and second seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. When the moment comes, there is an on-screen killing that has a sense of timing and artistry I had not seen since the climax to Bound (reviewed here!).

In "Passion," Angelus is on the loose still, tormenting Buffy and her friends at every opportunity. He reveals his artistic talent to Buffy by drawing portraits of her and Willow sleeping, letting them know they are well within his view and capacity to destroy. Treating Angelus as a crazed stalker, Buffy is forced to talk to her mother about her relationship with Angel and some of the danger he represents. Unfortunately for all, while Jenny Calendar works to redeem herself in the eyes of Giles by tracking down a spell that will restore the curse (and Angel's soul) to the vampire, Angelus learns of her research.

In "I Only Have Eyes For You," a spirit haunts Sunnydale High. Buffy and the gang work to learn what it will take to put the spirit to rest, while Giles is uncharacteristically unhelpful with the research. As incidents progress, Giles becomes more and more convinced that the spirit is trying to communicate with him and in his grief, he puts himself and the others in danger.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer may not, traditionally, be truly great television, but it does have its moments and the show works best when it operates on both a literal and metaphoric level. On a very literal level, "Passion" is a character's quest for redemption that results in the ultimate sacrifice - a dismal metaphoric level interpretation would say that there's no redemption for our crimes as the monsters of the world will exploit our weaknesses and human vulnerabilities - and "I Only Have Eyes For You" is all about the guilt survivors have when one dies without receiving the forgiveness they had in their heart for them. Giles is integral to both episodes and he works the literal levels to bone, illustrating a character that quietly accepts his lover's efforts to make amends for her past betrayal, but whom he is not able to forgive in time.

The metaphoric level of these episodes is a continuation of the events of "Innocence" (reviewed here!). In that episode, the metaphor explored the fear many young women have that when a relationship becomes sexual, the man they are involved in will become a monster. The transformation of Angel into Angelus personifies that fear. In "Passion," that metaphor is extended to encapsulate the idea that many American women are taught to fear sexuality because it makes men crazy. Yes, sadly, this insecurity exists and is fostered often enough in the treatment of sex crimes and sex education in the U.S., but in "Passion," the metaphor is wonderfully extended to the point where it is almost a hyperbole . . . and then it gets snapped by writer Ty King. When Angelus is at his very worst, when he reaches the pinnacle of his evil, it is the result of what was in him entirely, not anything that even remotely relates to Buffy. In this way, Buffy The Vampire Slayer (of all series'!) courageously debunks the myth that female sexuality is somehow to blame for evil. Wonderfully, this puts the evil within the heart of the evildoers and (finally!) absolves the woman of the blame for (for lack of a better term) sin.

Who would have guessed metaphoric television could be so complex and intelligent? Yet, it is. "I Only Have Eyes For You" is a bit less complex on the metaphoric level. Indeed, the best I might say about that episode is that the metaphor extends to the concept that guilt can make us careless and by not working through our feelings of guilt, our crimes from the past, we often diminish ourselves.

All of this works on both levels because the characters are interesting and compelling. These episodes are powerfully focused on Angelus, Giles and Buffy. Angelus at this point is a rather pure embodiment of evil, having relinquished almost every hint of his humanity. David Boreanaz plays Angelus with a strong, cool sense of creepy. The thing is, when the possessing spirits at Sunnydale High overcome Buffy and Angelus, the result is an acting challenge that Boreanaz has to work for. When the spirit releases him, Boreanaz has some amazing facial expressions/body language to perfectly characterize Angelus' revulsion and it works.

Similarly, Sarah Michelle Gellar manages to play Buffy as a cold warrior in her interactions with Angelus in a way that she had not done up until this point. Moreover, when she is overcome by the possessing spirits at the high school, her performance mirrors Boreanaz's and she makes an extraordinary effort with the acting that works. Add to that that there are gender issues that get swapped with the performers that they make work. While there are moments of weak acting in these episodes, Gellar and Boreanaz are not the one's playing them!

Neither is Anthony Stewart Head, who plays Giles. Giles is broken in these episodes and Head plays him with an amazing, rash, dark quality that transforms the viewer's impressions of the character and the actor's ability to play him. Head turns the character of Giles on his ear and makes the viewer believe that the usually stoic and somewhat distant Giles could be so deeply wounded by the loss of a love we barely saw before. And he does it. Amazingly.

These are good episodes, but the novelty of the gimmick of "I Only Have Eyes For You" wears off quite a bit with subsequent viewings, even though the shock of the murder in "Passion" does not. Anyone who likes strong drama with witty dialogue will enjoy these episodes. Anyone who has no tolerance for the conceits of science fiction/fantasy/supernatural events will likely find this too much to bear, though. Everyone else should buckle up for two decent episodes of television that work very well together.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete Second Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the premiere season here!
or the complete series is available here!
Thanks!]

"Passion" - 9/10
"I Only Have Eyes For You" - 8/10
VHS - 7.5/10

For other television reviews, please click here to visit my index page!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |

No comments:

Post a Comment