Buffy Season 2: One Step Towards Heaven (Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 2 (DVD))

Member Name: GramiWay

Product:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 2 (DVD)
Date:	26/07/08 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 22 brilliantly written episodes with a great cast of characters

Disadvantages: Dull cover, none others really

Buffy The Vampire Slayer bit into its second season in late 1997 with all the wit andstyl that had made it a cult favourite a few months earlier. The second season doesn't really take a big leap from the first in some aspects but the show definately puts its foot into much darker territory and brings some new and strong characters to the mix.

Buffy [Sarah Michelle Gellar] is of course The Slayer. The chosen one that has the strength to stand against the vampires and forces of darkness. Aided by her friends Willow [Alyson Hannigan] and Xander [Nicholas Brendan] and Wotcher Giles [Anthony Stewart Head] she takes on the everyday evils that crawl out of the hellmouth and plague the fictional town of Sunnydale,
whilst also dealing with her family life, studies and of course romantic liasons.

Season two was much about the Buffy and Angel romance. After establishing their relationship last year it's in full swing and provides the major story arcs for the season ahead.
This is the year that Angel reverts to his former evil self the sadistic Angelus. After a night of passion [Buffy losing her virginity in the process] in 'Innocence'. Angel loses his soul due to that moment of 'perfect happiness'and starts to torture Buffy and her friends. I think that noit only does this paint for one of the best episodes of Buffy but it also deals wit ha completly daunting topic that a lot of the audience will relate to. The notion of sleeping with a guy for him to turn bad on you. [Though obviously the writers take that metaphore to the extreme here].

David Boreanaz plays evil so well it's unbelievable. My opinion of him as an actor changed completely after watching the cool and calculated way he just acts like a scary villain without batting an eyelid. Of course taking Angel to the dark side wouldn't be complete without a ready made vampire family in the form of head case Drusilla [played by Julliet Landau] and the obnoxious and obvious eye candy Spike [James Marsters]. Both became very popular characters in the Buffyuniverse due to their loving relationship despite the fact that well - they're dead.

The two arrive in episode three 'School Hard' which I thought was a brilliant episode as it brings Buffy's mum into the line of danger for the first time ,setting things up quite nicely for her uncovering of Buffy's secret at the end of the season.

For Willow the season sees her start to explore the black arts and start dating Oz [Seth Green]. Oz is a great addition to the cast and has that sort of 'cool' vibe the rest of the group lack and 'Phases' is a brilliant episode as he finds out he is a werewolf.
The character relationships shift dramatically this year as Xander starts to date the hilarious Cordelia [Charisma Carpenter] who delivers some of the best lines and put downs in the entire show and I was thrilled that she becomes a bigger part of the show.

Personal highlights from the season include 'Halloween' in which a spell causes everybody to become their costumes. It's a brilliant episode as it shows Buffy in a different light, vulnerable and powerless and is also the first proper episode of many in which the show uses a lot of comedy from something that's gone wrong.

'The Dark Age' is a brilliant delve into Giles' past and really changes the way I perceived his character as he changes from a boring, stuffy librarian into someone that has a lot of strength. This is shown again in 'Passion' when Angelus kills his girlfriend Jenny Calendar [Robia Lamorte].The scene of her murder is truly gripping and misleading throughout leaving no explanation as to why Buffy can move so freely through different genres and still remain hooking.

"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" in which Xander casts a love spell with hilarious results and trhe brilliant 'Killed By Death' that in my opinion lacked a strong story but produced the scariest villain on Buffy to this point - the 'boogeyman' type creature Der Kindestod. The two part finale obviously steals the season providing truly gripping fight scenes between Buffy and Angel as well as one of the most tearful moments in the show's history. It's just another reason why I feel Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of the most talented actresses around.

Alongside the six discs containing all 22 episodes from the season there are a number of great special features here. Commentary from various writers and people who work on the show for specific episodes is a brilliant insight into the genius minds that work on Buffy as well as episode scripts and three interesting featurettes that take you even further into the wonderful world of the vampire slayer. Of all the seasons though it probably has the worst cover and packaging.

Buffy Season 2 is a perfect purchase to add to your collection as everything from the first season is here with so much more as the show continues to build on its exsisting foundations and take over.

Summary: Buffy's back and this season she has to kill her boyfriend