25 years ago, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was going through it.
She lost her virginity to her hot vampire boyfriend Angel (David Boreanaz), who then lost his soul because of a curse, went evil, and killed her computer science teacher. Principal Snyder (Armin Shimerman) was busy blaming her for everything, anything that went wrong at school, and her mother had yet to learn her daughter was the Chosen One.
As her final battle with her vampire ex seemed to be looming on the horizon, the last few episodes before said confrontation saw our beloved slayer facing many iconic monsters of the week. Teens turned sea monsters, a Freddy Krueger rip-off, and the tortured spirits of two former lovers.
We’re here to talk about the tortured spirits.
A Haunting Lesson in Forgiveness
“To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It’s… It’s not done because people deserve it. It’s done because they need it” – Giles
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 episode, “I Only Have Eyes For You,” aired April 28th 1998, and it used a classic gothic ghost story as the framing. The episode used the ghosts to have our slayer and her vampire ex-boyfriend come back together via possession. The ghosts were a student who was a scorned lover and the teacher who broke off their affair in the ‘50s. The student shot his teacher after she broke it off with him and was cursed with reliving that moment repeatedly. His spirit is violent yet looking for forgiveness.
Exploring Grief and Heartbreak in Buffy Season 2
The ghost story framing helps the themes of the show shine, specifically the themes of that season—grief, heartbreak, and forgiveness. The spirit of the shooter is looking for forgiveness, something Buffy does not think he deserves. Buffy’s anger could be seen in two different ways—she’s angry at herself for all the murder and havoc that’s broken out since she slept with her ex and didn’t think she deserved forgiveness, or she views the ghost in the same way she views Angel. Either way, Buffy is a lot harsher than usual. She’s still beating herself up for what happened and blaming herself for everything that’s happening. She sees no way of ever forgiving herself or Angel. Quite frankly, she’s fucking depressed.
Giles’ Struggle with Loss and Irrational Hope
And speaking of depressed, there’s Giles. He’s still grieving over the loss of his love Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte), at the hands of Angel. He’s not just Buffy’s father figure, but the father figure to damn near every character on the show. He’s the smart, sensible one, yet here we get an irrational man desperate for one last moment with Jenny. His logic is out the window because he’s drowning in his grief. When the Scoobies tell him this spirit seems too violent to be Jenny, he tells them how it’s always good to question authority—but not right now because he’s clearly correct (he’s clearly not). It’s sad to see. He wants it to be her so badly that the usually rational watcher is being incredibly irrational. It’s humanizing and upsetting to see the group’s surrogate father spiral like this. The show also shows you how Giles doesn’t really get over his grief; he learns to manage it.
Lasting Impact of Death in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Grief is something this show always did well. If a character died, it wasn’t forgotten about an episode later. Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers (Kirstine Sutherland), Tara Maclay (Amber Benson)—all characters who show up or are talked about long after they’ve died. Their presence is still felt (albeit mainly through The First Evil turning into 2 out of the 3 of them). The show would go on to spend the better parts of seasons 5 and 6 navigating grief. Also, Giles doesn’t get another love interest on the show besides his brief encounters with Olivia (Phina Oruche) in season 4. So, to see him grieving like this hurts—while also taking him out of the picture momentarily.
Horror Tropes and the Scoobies’ Solo Mission
The Scoobies are on their own for this caper, making it seem scarier. The episode also leans hard on horror tropes—something it would mostly abandon in later seasons. We see Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) attacked by a snake when they invade the school and later look at a disfigured version of herself in the mirror. Willow (Alyson Hannigan) has the idea for the failed séance and gets sucked into a ghostly portal that opens up in the floor below her. Xander (Nicholas Brendon) is attacked by a demon arm popping out of his locker and choking him. But, in true Buffy fashion, the monsters are stand-ins for something else—in this case, they’re stand-ins for what Buffy and Giles are going through.
Buffy’s Emotional Journey and the Power of Possession
Buffy is grieving for what could have been—the love of her life is technically still there, but the man she fell in love with is dead and gone. And while it might sound a little heavy-handed, seeing our hero endure this loss while also still dealing with everyday things like school, friendships, hiding her secret identity, and evil spirits is compelling TV (and okay, maybe those last two aren’t everyday things but if you’re a Vampire Slayer they are). Buffy spends most of the episode refusing to understand why this ghost of a murderer deserves forgiveness—but in the end, she learns it doesn’t matter why.
The ghosts both get to move on only after possessing the bodies of Buffy and Angelus, bringing them together for one last kiss before the season’s over. The shooter, however, inhabits Buffy’s body as he related more to her pain. Angelus survives the gunshot because he’s a vampire, which helps the ghosts reconnect and move on from this trauma. Sarah Michelle Gellar also gives one hell of a monologue as the possessed shooter.
It’s the emotional boost she needed before facing off against Angelus a few episodes later. It makes her understand that it doesn’t matter why he’s doing all of this—she just needs to stop him. And maybe forgive herself.