Diary of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Virgin – Giles has a past … who knew?

by Jason Hughes

(Season 2, Episodes 5-8)

I know adults are people, too. Hell I play one in reality. And yet, like Buffy, I never bothered to think much of Giles beyond his role as a Watcher. Now I’m going to be suspicious that everyone with a British accent might have hung with Rupert back in the day. I think he, Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell used to all hang out and pass judgment on all the other kids.

We’re also making steady progress on integrating Cordelia more into the Scooby gang. She’s even less god-awful annoying, though Xander doesn’t think so yet. As for Oz: in four episodes, he had exactly two scenes, where he pined after Willow. When does Seth Green really join this show?

2.5 – “Reptile Boy”
(Original Air Date: October 13, 1997) Man, they are really dragging out this Angel-Buffy thing, aren’t they? Doesn’t she know the clock is ticking? After all, Angel’s gonna be heading off for his own series here in a few more seasons. Oh well, I guess it’s tough to admit you’re willing to get snuggly with a guy you’re supposed to stake.

The “high school moral” of the episode was that it is possible to push a young person too far with responsibilities and obligations. And when you do, they make dumb decisions like agreeing to go with Cordelia to a frat party with older boys … and drinking … and date-rape drugs … and orgies. Well, that’s what Willow said anyway. Luckily, Buffy avoided the orgy, but did wind up drugged and chained up to be fed to a snake creature.

The snake thing at the end left a lot to be desired in the effects and costuming department. You could practically see the metal hoops stringing his “body” together. The face was better, but over-all he was representative of the whole episode for me, a little dull.

I do think it’s starting to get awkward the way the writers have to keep forcing Cordelia into the main storylines. Maybe they went too far into making her hate the Scoobies so much in the first season. Now they’re not sure how to integrate her into their lives; though her continuing infatuation with Angel helps.

2.6 – “Halloween”
(Original Air Date: October 27, 1997) Giles has a secret! Giles has a secret! Why didn’t I think to explore more about the secret past of one Giles Rupert? He didn’t just wake-up a forty-something British Watcher in Sunnydale. And apparently his past is going to be a juicy reveal.

I liked so many things about this episode I don’t know where to begin. The whole idea of Rupert’s nemesis(?) rigging up the Halloween costumes to transform the kids into what they’re wearing was brilliant. I liked how the whole situation inadvertently gave Willow some much needed self-confidence. Rock that skinny white body, girl!

Spike got to come up and take advantage of the situation to create some more havoc. It was fun seeing him lead an army of transformed children demonspawn. Xander got to reassert his manhood by beating up the bully-turned-pirate when he was attacking Buffy. Buffy got to be a pampered eighteenth century “lady,” thus appreciating her empowered kick-ass twentieth century self.

And Giles got to be all kick-ass fo’ real, taking down the costume shop owner, Ethan Rayne. Apparently, Rayne has a former connection to Giles, and I’d expect he’ll be back to tell us more about it. And about Giles’ secret past.

2.7 – “Lie to Me”
(Original Air Date: November 2, 1997) When I was in college, the big role-playing game was Vampire: The Masquerade. And on campus, a group of players created a LARP (live action role play) of it that reached out to the entire city. They filled the commons and the surrounding grounds on weekends in their weird garb and they looked and acted just like the wannabe vampires in this episode.

And it was just as uncomfortable to walk through them to get to the cafeteria as it looked like it was for Willow, Xander and Angel. It was an appropriate touch that it was Buffy’s former crush and good friend Ford who was the villain behind all this. After all, we can’t have this girl thinking that anyone who touches her life won’t be impacted in a horrible and destructive way.

I’m sure she goes to bed fretting about the horrible fates that await Xander and Willow every night. Maybe not so much for Cordy, who didn’t even appear in this episode. We did, however, get a beautifully tragic installment about the struggle to fit in, and how far some people will go for their own selfish desires.

As for Spike, he’s such a better villain than The Master. I love how cavalier he is. We’ve now had two episodes in a row where he’s just going with the flow. No master plans or rituals. Crazy shit going down on Halloween? Sure, why not, we’ll have a feeding frenzy. Crazy kid offers up his friends and the Slayer? Hey, it’s free food! He’s so impulsive.

I fell in love with the heart-to-heart between Giles and Buffy at the end. Even the interruption and staking of Ford, just risen from the grave, was beautifully tragic and appropriate. If only the world could be as filled with roses and happiness as Giles’ lie.

2.8 – “The Dark Age”
(Original Air Date: November 10, 1997) Man, I thought Jenny Calendar was made of sterner stuff than that! I think Cordelia handled her first close encounter a little better. At least she went right back to being herself. Granted, she wasn’t possessed by a demon summoned by her boyfriend, but still.

When I said I figured Ethan Rayne would be back, I didn’t expect him so soon, but it was nice to get some explanation as to his and Giles’ relationship. And while it doesn’t come as a surprise that Giles was getting high in his younger days, after all he’s right there at the hippie age, it is surprising that he was doing it with a demon.

But what would have happened if Angel’s demon hadn’t been able to beat the demon Eyghon when it jumped from Ms. Calendar into Angel? Would Angel have become Eyghon? Vampire-Eyghon? Would he have gotten high? Nobody seemed to be enjoying the possession this time around. Maybe Eyghon went bad over the years. What’s the shelf-life on a drug-demon?

Previously on Diary of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Virgin
Now you can just click the show title under TV Shows over there on the right for all our previous installments. Handy, isn’t it?