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Episode 2.14 Innocence

by Kristi

Summary:

This ep opens with Spike, Dru, and the Judge. Spike (who must be noted still looks awfully good even with burn scars covering half of his face) has already gotten bored and is itching for action...or at least to kill something. Dru suddenly falls to the grown, obviously having a vision of some sort. When Spike asks what’s wrong she smiles.

The ep then cuts to Buffy alone in Angel’s bed. Buffy stirs and looks around, but Angel is no where to be found. We then see Angel outside in the ally. (He also somehow managed to fully dress himself through all the pain and disorientation of losing his soul, but I digress. Besides, I didn’t want to see Nekkid!Angel anyway.) Angel mutters “Oh no.” and then collapses onto the ground. A prostitute who’s witnessed all of this goes up to him and asks if he’s okay. He jumps up, turns to face her in game face, kills her, and then proclaims he’s okay at last.
Buffy goes home, runs into her mother, looks shell-shocked, and nothing much else happens there.

We once again see Dru whose muttering about naming stars (mmmmkay). Spike rolls up to her to see if she’s feeling better. She talks about the stars and Spike says she can’t see them during the day. (Over 100 years of putting up with insane babble like that...now that’s devotion) In walks Angel and we soon learn that he’s now souless when he’s touched by the Judge but nothing happens. (Though I think it was a bit obvious when he killed the Hooker and suddenly grew a personality.) Spike and Dru seem very happy about this and Dru starts up about how they’re a family again. Angel acts like he’s going to threaten Spike, but instead gives him a wet one on the forehead. (I assume this is the kiss that launched the Spike/Angel ship on the Internet.) Spike wants to get to killing the Slayer and makes a couple of (now) very ironic statements. Angel says that he plans to deal with her in his own way first. (He’s also smokes a cigarette which is, of course, iconic for evil.)

Later we see the library full of the Scooby Gang. They still haven’t heard from Buffy or Angel. A confrontation starts up about finding them, but then Buffy comes walks into the library so she no longer needs to be found. She tells them that her and Angel had to hide out (hmmm) and that they got separated, and that she hasn’t heard from Angel. They go off to class and Buffy tells Willow that she wishes he would contact her because they really need to talk (Wait a second! Does that mean Buffy actually wanted to talk about a relationship???) We also see that Miss Calendar overheard this short convo and walks away suspicously.

Even later we see the Scoobies (minus Buffy) in the library researching the Judge. Willow is on the phone with Buffy, whose worried about Angel. Xander goes up in the stacks where Cordy is looking through a book. They have some banter and then start to kiss only to be discovered by Willow. She runs out and Xander chases her. They have a confrontation in the hall. Willow (who’s reacting like he was kissing The devil himself...or maybe Giles) is mad that he was hiding from her and that he’d “rather be with someone he hates” than her.

Meanwhile, Buffy walks up to her house, stops at the door, then turns and walks back toward the road. (Which begs the question, where she was calling Willow from? Pay phone?) She arrives at Angel’s apartment and walks over to the bed. Angel walks out of another room wearing only leather pants. (Which, of course, means he’s evil.) Buffy runs to him and hugs him. She wonders where he was, and Angel says that he didn’t want to stick around after that. Buffy is clearly hurt and asks if it was her. Angel cruelly answers that she was a ‘real pro’ and that she has a lot to learn about men. He also asks if she expected a ‘dulcet choir of pretty little birdies”.

Crying, she tells him she loves him as he heads for the door. As he leaves he says “Love ya, too. I’ll call you.”
In another part of SunnyD, Jenney is talking to her uncle about the curse.

Back at the school Xander sees Willow in the hall. He runs up to her and they chat out their problems and Xander comes up with a plan to defeat the Judge, who can not be killed with any weapon forged according to their books. Suddenly, the lights go out and Angel appears in the shadows. He tells Xander to go get the others and for Willow to come to him because he has something to show her. (You’d think Willow would know better than to go to ANYone who’s covered in shadows. Especially a broody vampire who suddenly isn’t sounding very broody.) Willow starts to go to him, but is stopped by Miss Calendar who’s holding a cross. It’s too late though, and a vamped out Angel grabs her from behind. Xander comes running back as well. Jenny tells them it’s no longer Angel, but the vampire protests that it’s the real Angel. Buffy comes in a confronts Angel with a quip. Xander takes this time to shove a cross at Angel’s face which allows Willow to escape. Buffy tells him that there must be somewhere in him that he still remembers who he is. He once again says he’s the REAL Angel. (I would have to agree to an extent. It may not be the ‘real’ Angel, but it is defiantly STILL Angel. At least in my opinion.) Angel grabs Buffy, kisses her roughly on the mouth, throws her to the ground, and runs out the nearby door. Buffy sobs on the floor.

Later, the Scoobies discuss the latest development. Giles wonders what triggered the transformation, and Buffy looks horrified as she begins to realize what happened. She eventually runs out. Giles calls to her, but Willow, who’s also realized, tells him to shut up. The start to talk about the Judge and Xander prepares his plan.
At the factory we finally get the see the REALLY important characters again. (You know, Spike and those other two. ^_~) Spike (ever the impatient, impulsive one) wonders why Angel didn’t just kill Buffy. Angel explains that he has plans first, and Dru says that he’s gonna hurt Buffy, he hurt her. Spike still thinks he should just kill her, but Angel gets mad and declares that Spike doesn’t ‘get it’. He says that to kill this girl, you have to love her.
At her house, Buffy goes into her bedroom. She sees the ring Angel gave and begins to cry on her bed as she remembers the night before. After falling asleep she has a dream that suggests Jenny isn’t telling all she knows. (It also provides a bit of foreshadowing of the teacher’s impending demise.)

The next morning Buffy storms into Jenny’s classroom, slams her down on her desk, and demands to know what she knows. Giles is also there and tries to calm Buffy down. Jenny relunctatly explains about the curse. Giles also discovers just what triggered Angel’s soul lossage.

Later Angel kills Jenny’s uncle in his hotel room.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Scoobs go to an army base. With Cordy’s help, Xander gets into the armory. Back in Oz’s van, Willow tries to get him to make-out with her, but he won’t because she’s just trying to get back at Xander. He tell her he wants to kiss her, but only when her motives are just wanting to kiss him as well.

Also meanwhile, Buffy, Giles and Jenny find her dead uncle. The words “Was it good for you too?” are written on the wall in his blood. Giles tells Buffy that Angel is just trying to make it harder. Buffy says he’s making it easier.
At the factory, the Judge declares that he’s finally ready to kill people. Spike, who has Dru sitting in his lap, is relieved even though he doesn’t get to go along for the fun. Angel mocks him because of his current handicap, and the Judge, Dru, and Angel leave.

At the school, the Scoobs prepare for the upcoming battle with their new army provided toy. Jenny asks if there is something she can do, to which Buffy replies ‘Get out’. She looks to Giles, but he stands by Buffy. Jenny leaves and the others ready themselves to face the Judge.

They show up at the factory a bit later, to find no one there. Spike, whose positioned his wheelchair where they kind find him, listens to them talk with an odd look on his face. The Scoobies decide that they would have taken the Judge to a place crowded with people, and head off to the most obvious location they can think of.
Across town at a mall/multiplex, Dru, Angel, the Judge and some minions immerge from a door and stand above the crowd. The Judge burns the nearest man to death. He then gestures at the crowd and begins to do the same to all of them at once. He suddenly stops when he’s hit in the chest with a crossbow dart. They look up to see Buffy standing on top of the revetment stand. The Scoobies hand her their secret weapon, which happens to be a rocketlauncher. She fires, and a knowing Dru and Angel leap out of the way. The Judge isn’t as knowledgeable of modern weapons and is hit with the full force of the blast, also being blown to pieces. While the rest of the Scoobies pick up the Judge’s pieces, Buffy goes after a fleeing Angel.

She catches up to him in another part of the theater and they begin to fight. Angel taunts her inability to kill him, and she eventually kicks him where it hurts. She turns and walks away from an Angel who’s gasping in pain.
Later in outside of Buffy’s house, in Giles’ car, Buffy and her Watcher has a talk. He tells her he’s not going yell at her and that she’ll have nothing but his ‘support and respect’.

In the final scene, we see Buffy sitting on the couch with her mother. Joyce lights the candle on a cupcake and asks Buffy what she did for her birthday. Buffy replies that she got older.

Grr.Argh.

Spike:

Unfortunately, this episode didn’t have much Spike, so there is not much to say. We were, however, shown quite clearly how Spike is not one to just sit around and do nothing, nor is he the type for long drawn out maniacal plans. We’re also once again shown how he can get bored easily.
On the redemption front, there isn’t much to tell, though he doesn’t continue to tenderly take care of Dru.

Spike Quotes:

(Some VERY ironic quotes in this one)

“No more of this ‘I’ve got a soul’ crap?” - Spike to newly unsouled Angel.

“I gotta tell you, it made me sick to my stomach seeing you being the Slayer's lapdog -” Spike to Angel.