0:04 : The two police officers in this scene are supporting artists Susan Leslie and Thomas G. Waites.

0:06 : Buffy is still exactly where she was in the previous episode, crouched down over Kendra’s form…

0:09 : …and strangely Bianca Lawson doesn’t appear in the episode itself, despite appearing in the script and, indeed, was present on set. This one seems to be an editing error; her body appears to have been cropped out of shot.
    This may be intentional however: It creates a sense of dislocation, as if Kendra has already been erased from the world.

1:08 : This is the final time we see this set of opening titles. Buffy had well and truly made its mark on the WB Network at this point and was already renewed for a third season. A slightly bigger budget was allocated, and next season the music is given a refresh, the film and video shots become cleaner – and the one that everybody forgets – the entire logo of the show changes!
    It’s also fitting that the last time we see these titles is the episode where Buffy’s childhood ends.

3:40 : Buffy thinks that Angel planned the attack on the library to stop the spell. But, what she never realises, is that they wanted Giles for Acathla. The spell happening at the same time was a complete coincidence. Did Drusilla not get a vision this time?

4:06 : See? Cordy isn’t all bad. As soon as absolute seriousness is needed, she is resolute, not one bitchy comment in sight and definitely being genuinely kind. And that hug she gives Xander… Maybe they should have stayed together?
    It’s a rare glimpse of Cordy’s true heart before Angel turns her into a full‑blown hero.

5:48 : Joyce must be sick of this guy… James G. MacDonald reprises his role as Detective Stein, first seen in Ted arresting Buffy for manslaughter. Now he wants her for murder. He’ll do this again in season three’s Consequences…

6:24 : The layout of Giles’ apartment has gone through some changes since it was introduced in The Dark Age. The door Buffy comes through will be the same door Spike comes through in Pangs. This appears to be the normal door. The entrance, down some steps. Until Season Four.
    But we also see no steps sometimes, so is this a back entrance, via the terrace seen from The Freshman onwards? But oddly it seems to be the door Giles came through in Passion, which had the steps!
    Oh, what we’d do for visual maps of the sets!

7:28 : Buffy correctly surmises that Whistler is an immortal demon sent down to keep the score and balance out good and evil. She’s not impressed. Neither are we – he doesn’t actually do much of anything in the entire two-parter apart from say what we already know.

8:11 : Surprise! In a truly surprising moment Buffy is saved from the police officer… by Spike! And the smile on his face is perfect! “Hello cutie!”

9:14 : It turns out that Spike is quite fond of the human race and doesn’t want to see the world end. He likes the dog races, Manchester United and people. People who walk ‘around like Happy Meals on Legs.” It seems he was just humouring Drusilla in Surprise and Innocence when he helped her assemble the apocalypse-bringing Judge.

9:57 : Spike makes a reference to “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” first performed by Jack Judge in 1912 and later used during the First World War as a British Marching Song for the troops. Traditionally, children learn it in school.

10:10 : This is interesting: at this point in the series all Spike wants is Drusilla and to get the Hell out of Sunnydale. He has no desire for anything else now, not even an obsession with the Slayer. Angelus has soured the whole experience for him. What’s even more interesting is that Spike, a soulless vampire, can put his love and protection of Drusilla to the forefront where it becomes his absolute number one priority. Spike seems to be unique amongst vampires from the get-go… More destiny and fate?

11:30 : Xander is beginning to realise his feelings for Willow are deeper than he first thought…

11:38 : He references her tutoring him in trigonometry, which he promised her a nickel for in Welcome to the Hellmouth.

12:17 : And in typical Buffy style, Willow wakes up after his declaration of love – and calls straight for Oz, who walks through the door. This is Seth Green‘s last episode as a guest star until season four – he’s promoted to a series regular for Season 3.

13:02 : In an effort to help his performance and look pained when being tortured by Angelus, Anthony Stewart Head would put a red hot chilli in his mouth just before a take to look distressed.

14:30 : Buffy claims to be in a rock band with Spike, which is an in-joke as James Marsters has long fronted the band Ghost of the Robot.

15:02 : FINALLY! Joyce cannot deny it now – she’s seen a vampire dust in front of her. Imagine how horrible she must have felt after this though – when she realised everything that Buffy’s been through since Hemery.

17:05 : Joyce asks Spike if they’ve met, knowing him from somewhere. He admits that she attacked with him with an axe ‘one time’ and told him to get away from her daughter, which we saw in School Hard. Joyce acknowledges this and then does a double take. This, believe it or not, is the start of a genuine friendship – she is the closest thing he has to a mother other than Dru and turns to Joyce for advice more than once.

17:52 : Spike’s reaction to Drusilla killing Kendra is funny (he thinks it’s great), but it’s the follow up after seeing Buffy’s face that clinches it: “Although not from your perspective, I suppose.” But a note: he addresses why Buffy’s reaction would be different, which is empathy – a very human trait that no other vampire in the history of the show (Angel excluded) has ever shown. Not one of them.

19:18 : The big moment! The one we’ve been waiting for. It’s a vital moment, both for the audience, who’ve been sharing Buffy’s secret and watching her struggle since mid-season when she’s needed her mom and couldn’t tell her… and it couldn’t go worse.
    It’s the first time we hear Buffy really talk from her heart about how she personally feels about the calling and it all comes out here. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Kristine Sutherland are exquisite in the scene and when Joyce tells her that she shouldn’t bother coming home, we feel every single step of Buffy’s soul as she walks through that door.
    An absolutely stunning moment.

21:20 : Willow gives Xander her resolve face, which she used in The Dark Age on both him and Cordelia.

22:38 : Just because it’s funny, and because you’ll go straight to the visual, Giles tells Angel that the way to awaken Acathla is to do the ritual again – this time wearing a tutu!

23:49 : And here he comes, the little troll… Principal Snyder, who looks remarkably pleased with himself as he does so, expels Buffy from Sunnydale High, something he’s been desperate to do since at least The Puppet Show and something he’s made no secret of wanting. However, he seems excited to tell the Mayor for some reason…

25:55 : Robia LaMorte returns for another guest appearance, although she’s not technically playing Jenny; she’s playing Drusilla looking like Jenny using hypnotism or a glamour.

26:00 : Christophe Beck‘s ‘Remembering Jenny’ plays gently underneath this entire scene, which adds to how disturbing it is. Drusilla is, as the First does later, weaponising her image.

26:00 : Both Drusilla’s ‘Jenny’ here and the First when it takes Jenny’s form in Amends, wear the same clothing that Jenny was wearing the night she was killed in Passion.

28:55 : Buffy comes back to Giles’ apartment to find Whistler for information. This time she comes through the more familiar door, the same one Giles came through when he arrived home in Passion.

30:45 : Xander lies here and tells Buffy that Willow’s message was ‘Kick his ass’; indeed this is not the nicest thing Xander has ever done. If Buffy had known, would she have waited, or would she then have been too late anyway? Either way, Buffy goes to confront Angelus here, believing her best friends are cheering her on in her battle to kill her former love…

30:45 : Xander, surprisingly, manages to (a) keep this quiet for a long time – Willow doesn’t find out until Season Seven’s Selfless – but (b) never faces consequences due to the emergency at the time!

31:35 : Buffy makes an absolutely spectacular entrance by beheading a vampire and waiting, calmly, for Spike to rise. It’s quite an epic display.

32:34 : Spike tells Drusilla, as they start fighting, that he doesn’t want to hurt her… before punching her down, shrugging and simply stating “Doesn’t mean I won’t.”

32:34 : Ironically, Buffy and Willow will share the exact same exchange in Two to Go.

33:50 : Spike grabs Drusilla and somehow chokes her unconscious by putting her in a choke hold. He can’t be holding off her air supply…

35:06 : Willow falters during the spell and is suddenly chanting in a different language, oblivious to anything other than casting the spell. The question then becomes who possesses or channels through Willow here? Jenny? The Romany? The Powers That Be? So many possibilities…

36:06 : Another one of those moments you will never forget. Angelus taunts Buffy with his sword, telling her that she has no weapons, no friends and no hope… what could she possibly have left?
    Then Buffy catches the blade mid thrust – with her eyes closed – and pelts it back at him, hitting him in the face with the hilt of his own weapon and strongly declares, as she opens her eyes: “Me.”

36:30 : Spike gets into his blacked out car, grabs Drusilla close and storms out of Sunnydale in a hurry. He has absolutely no intention of ever coming near the town again.

37:25 : Just as he did in the flashback to 1898 in the last episode, after his soul is restored, Angel’s memories of the past few months are foggy and hazy.

37:30 : And for the final major time this season, as Buffy realises that her Angel is back, the Buffy/Angel love theme begins to play…

39:30 : And the circle completes: Angel’s life begins and ends with a woman whispering him into darkness… The last thing Liam hears as a human is Darla’s voice, and here the last thing Angel hears before death is Buffy’s voice. It’s mythic symmetry. It’s also the same three words: “Close your eyes.”

39:58 : Angel is gone. There is silence. Watch Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s face and just take it in. Breathtaking.

40:05 : Sarah McLachlan‘s ‘Full of Grace’ plays over the entire sequence until the episode’s final frame. You will remember this moment forever.

43:26 : Buffy leaves Sunnydale on a bus. We see a sign asking us to come back to Sunnydale soon…

43:26 : Which we would, since the show had already been renewed for a Third Season to debut in the fall, which would be revered as one of the best seasons of the show’s run.

44:07 : The trauma from this episode is real, even for our Mutant Enemy Monster, who instead of proclaiming his usual “Grrr! Arrgh!” sounds rather upset and says “Oh, I need a hug.” The voice is presumably Joss Whedon.
    The demon isn’t wrong: The episode wrings you out, shakes you, lifts you, breaks you, and then leaves you staring at the credits wondering how a 45‑minute episode of 90s television just rearranged your internal organs.