History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E21BecomingPart1

* BookshelfDominoes: In the library melee, a vampire pushes a bookshelf onto the screaming Willow, who is knocked out. The following episode reveals that she has [[ConvenientComa slipped into a coma]] from her injuries.

* CurbStompBattle: The entire battle when Drusilla and four hench-vamps attack the library when they know Buffy isn't there. They break Xander's arm, injure Willow badly enough to leave her in a coma, kidnap Giles and kill Kendra, a Slayer. Particularly curbstomp-y on the last one - Drusilla calls off her minions and faces Kendra herself, and takes about 20 seconds to grab her, mesmerise her and cut her throat.

* GlowingEyes: Angelus' eyes glow orange as his soul is restored. The effect is repeated next episode.

Written by Whedon, Creator/RobDesHotel, Creator/DeanBatali, & Creator/MartiNoxon.

Directed by Creator/JossWhedon

Written by Whedon, Creator/RobDesHotel, Creator/DeanBatali, & Creator/MartiNoxon

* DropDeadGorgeous: The dead Romani girl still looks fit, [[WomanInWhite dressed in white]] and covered in rose petals.

* DeconstructedTrope: While Angelus put his own dark spin on StalkingIsLove, this episode subverts the Bangel romance with a ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' {{subtext}} that portrays Angel as a pathetic loser motivated as much by his desire for the innocent 15-year old Buffy, as by his quest for redemption. This theme is reinforced by the Season 3 episode "Amends."

Through flashbacks, we see more of Angel's history as recalled by an enigmatic demon called Whistler. We see Angel sired by Darla in 1753, and later being cursed with a soul by the Kalderash clan in 1898. Angel is next seen living as a vagrant until he is retrieved by Whistler in 1996, who shows him the one thing that can give his life meaning: Buffy Summers, rookie Slayer. Whistler observes that Buffy is in way over her head, and Angel resolves to watch over her from afar.

* OurWormholesAreDifferent

* ResignedToTheCall

* RitualMagic[=/=]HumanSacrifice
* RockBottom[=/=]TwoRoadsBeforeYou

* SelfImmolation[=/=]ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: Angelus' "immolation-o-gram"

* SwordInTheStone

* TwoPartEpisode

** Seeing Angel's sudden resolve to do good after getting one look at Buffy, Whistler comments that she must be "prettier than the last one". A nightmare version of the Master made the same comment to Buffy herself in the episode ''Nightmares'' (which takes place the previous season, but is chronologically later than this flashback, hence CallForward).

** When asked about the Orb of Thessulah by Willow, Giles says he has one, saying "I've been using it as a paperweight." This references Ms.Calendar's visit to the magic store in "Passion", in which the shopkeeper tells her that tourists have been buying them as New Age paperweights.
** When Buffy realizes that Angelus has lured her away from the library so that Giles can be captured, he gleefully points out that "you fall for it ''every single time''!" This is a reference to "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E1WhenSheWasBad When She Was Bad]]", in which Buffy followed a false lead, leaving Willow, Cordelia, Jenny and Giles to be abducted for the Master's resurrection.

* DeconstructedTrope: While Angelus put his own dark spin on StalkingIsLove, this episode subverts the Bangel romance with a ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' {{subtext}} that portrays Angel as a pathetic loser motivated as much by his desire for the innocent 15-year old Buffy, as by his quest for redemption. This theme is reinforced by the Season 3 episode "Amends".

* DopeSlap: Angelus slapping Spike across the head by way of "[[EvilIsPetty good morning]]".

* FailedASpotCheck: Dru alerting Angelus that there's a tomb waiting for them at the museum "with a surprise inside." Angelus marvels at his delicate seer and asks if she can see all that in her head. "No, you ninny. She read it in the morning paper," deadpans Spike, and shows him the paper with a headline reading "[-MYSTERY OBELISK UNEARTHED-]". Angelus irritably snatches it.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: In 1898, a Romani man approaches the groveling Angel and taunts, "It hurts, yes?". Angel stammers that he doesn't understand -- he apparently [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone remembers nothing from after he was sired in 1753 to the present]]. The man assures him that all those colorful memories will be returning presently. Angel repeatedly gasps "No..." as he slowly kneels to the ground, the full enormity of his undead existence starting to coalesce.

* ShapedLikeItself: Back at the mansion, Angelus grandly shows off his new toy to an unimpressed Spike. "It's a big rock.", Spike snarks. "I can't wait to tell my friends. ''They'' don't have a rock this big."

** In the german dub, Kendra's stake is called "Van Heugen", the nemesis of [[{{Dracula}} Graf Dracula]].

** Whistler tells Angel that he can either become "even ''more'' useless", or he can become someone. A person. Someone to be counted. Angel asks Whistler what he wants with him, and Whistler replies that he wants to show him something. Flash to upbeat music as we pan down on a high school in Los Angeles. Angel rolls down his window, squints at the bright light, and looks over to see Buffy coming down the steps, chattering with three of her friends.

** Along with "Fool for Love", "[[Recap/AngelS02E07Darla Darla]]" and "The Girl in Question", this is one of only four Buffyverse episodes in which all four members of Angelus' 'family' appear.

* LethalJokeCharacter: Drusilla's fighting style looks ridiculous, and she's a lunatic who can barely hold a conversation with most people, but in her first proper fight of the season she takes out a Slayer with almost no effort.

** I don't know about you but I'm seriously beginning to wonder about Drusilla's "precognition" by this point.

* TheBadGuyWins

* EccentricMentor

* OriginsEpisode

* SeriesContinuityError: When Angel first meets Buffy in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E1WelcolmeToTheHellmouth Welcome to the Hellmouth]]" he says that he'd thought she'd be taller, or at least have bigger muscles. This could be to cover up the fact that he has been watching her for months.

* SuicideMission: It's not revealed why a vampire would sacrifice herself simply to deliver a message to the Slayer. Either Drusilla hypnotized her, or the henchvamps have been caught up in the same apocalyptic fervor as their leaders.

* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler: Kendra.]]

** When Willow proposes to try to perform the spell, Giles warns her that she may be opening a door that can't be easily closed. [[spoiler: He's right—the Restorations spell sets Willow on a path of dark magic. She begins practicing seriously in season three, and grows steadily more powerful as the series progresses. Giles's concerns about Willow becoming too involved in magic will prove well founded in Season 6.]]
** Whistler says that there are moments in a person's life that affect the whole path their life will take, even though they might not know it. This episode features several such moments: Liam takes up Darla's offer to show him the world; Willow takes her first step on the path to being a witch; Kendra's attention wanders for a moment and she is killed by Drusilla, causing a new Slayer (Faith) to be called; and in the next episode, Spike [[spoiler:betrays Angelus and helps Buffy save the world]].

* GlowingEyes: Angelus' eyes glow orange as his soul is restored. [[spoiler:The effect is repeated next episode]].

** When Buffy realizes that Angelus has lured her away from the library so that Giles can be captured, he gleefully points out that "you fall for it ''every time''!" This is a reference to "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E1WhenSheWasBad When She Was Bad]]", in which Buffy followed a false lead, leaving Willow, Cordelia, Jenny and Giles to be abducted for the Master's resurrection.

* DarkMessiah: Angel has become this to some vampires with his intent to bring forth TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. FridgeBrilliance at work again: as some Spike and Dru's minions were part of the Order of Aurelius, an apocalyptic cult, Angel's plan would sit well with them.

* RedShirt: Doug the curator picked a bad day to work late. As he inspects the runes, Angelus brings in a gang of henchvamps to steal the obelisk. "[[PreMortemOneLiner I'll take one of these to go.]]" Dru grabs the curator from behind and bites into his neck. Angelus tut-tuts, "Dru? [[BondOneLiner Save me some.]]"

* BrickJoke: In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passions Passions]]" the shop owner mentions that somebody had purchased a couple Orbs of Thesulah and was using them as [[PricelessPaperWeight new age paperweights]]. We find out Giles was the one who bought them when he moved to Sunnydale the previous year.

** Angel in his hooptie and this pudgy older guy in a dark suit soliciting teen girls.

* VillainousBSOD: Should you wonder at the gypsies' seemingly magnanimous response to their daughter's death, Angel's expression as the curse takes effect will probably make you reconsider.

* DropDeadGorgeous: The dead Gypsy girl still looks fit, [[WomanInWhite dressed in white]] and covered in rose petals.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: In 1898, a gypsy man approaches the groveling Angel and taunts, "It hurts, yes?". Angel stammers that he doesn't understand -- he apparently [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone remembers nothing from after he was sired in 1753 to the present]]. Gypsy Man assures him that all those colorful memories will be returning presently. Angel repeatedly gasps "No..." as he slowly kneels to the ground, the full enormity of his undead existence starting to coalesce.

** When asked about the Orb of Thessulah by Willow, Giles says he has one, saying "I've been using it as a paperweight." This references Ms.Calendar's visit to the gypsy store in "Passion", in which the shopkeeper tells her that tourists have been buying them as New Age paperweights.

* DeconstructedTrope: While Angelus put his own dark spin on StalkingIsLove, this episode subverts the Bangel romance with a ''{{Lolita}}'' {{subtext}} that portrays Angel as a pathetic loser motivated as much by his desire for the innocent 15-year old Buffy, as by his quest for redemption. This theme is reinforced by the Season 3 episode "Amends".

* ContinuityNod: When asked about the Orb of Thessulah by Willow, Giles says he has one, saying "I've been using it as a paperweight." This references Ms.Calendar's visit to the gypsy store in "Passion", in which the shopkeeper tells her that tourists have been buying them as New Age paperweights.
** When Buffy realizes that Angelus has lured her away from the library so that Giles can be captured, he gleefully points out that "you fall for it ''every time''!" This is a reference to "When She Was Bad", in which Buffy followed a false lead, leaving Willow, Cordelia, Jenny and Giles to be abducted for the Master's resurrection.

* BookEnds / CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: As Buffy dusts her last vamp in the [[BatmanColdOpen cold open]], she gives a hand up to Xander, who has been conked out and hidden behind a headstone for this whole scene. He insists he was [[HalfTruth doing okay]] in the fight until "they resorted to fisticuffs." Later, Xander's arm is broken by a vampire, but surprisingly, he manages to fight on anyway. Ironically, he ends up being the most victorious of the non-superpowered Scoobies.
* BrickJoke: In "Passions" the shop owner mentions that somebody had purchased a couple Orbs of Thesulah and was using them as [[PricelessPaperWeight new age paperweights]]. We find out Giles was the one who bought them when he moved to Sunnydale the previous year.

* CallForward: Buffy is revealed to be quite TheDitz (like Cordelia, even down to the GirlPosse) before she found her destiny. This will be mentioned in a later episode in which Buffy confesses she once made Cordy [[UpToEleven look deep by comparison]].

* FridgeHorror: Giles had an Orb of Thesulah (even if he had been using it as a paperweight) all along. In "Passion", Jenny didn't know this and went to buy one from the magic shop, and Angel only knew she was going to perform the soul-restoration by interrogating the shopkeeper. If Jenny had known that Giles had an Orb, she'd still be alive and Angel's soul would have been returned five episodes earlier.

* TheOtherDarrin: Perennial mustachioed Richard Riehle guest-stars as Merrick, Buffy's first watcher. This role was portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the feature movie.
* OralFixation / PinkMeansFeminine: SMG as pre-Sunnydale Buffy.

* RecycledSet: The scene of young Buffy staking her first vamp takes place in a cemetery that is obviously the same as the one in Sunnydale.

* {{Retcon}}: The flashback to Los Angeles is taken directly from Joss Whedon's original script for the [[Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy feature film]]. It is later published in comic format.
* RitualMagic / HumanSacrifice
* RockBottom / TwoRoadsBeforeYou

* SelfImmolation / ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: Angelus' "immolation-o-gram"
* SeriesContinuityError: When Angel first meets Buffy in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" he says that he'd thought she'd be taller, or at least have bigger muscles. This could be to cover up the fact that he has been watching her for months.

* ShoutOut: In ''Creator/{{Marvel}}'''s comic/film franchise ''Film/{{Blade}}'', Blade is a half-vampire who [[HunterOfHisOwnKind kills other vamps]] (sound familiar?) and has a mentor named Whistler.

* CaliforniaDoubling: How did Angel get from New York all the way to California in one cut? Easy: he walked between sets.

* {{Cliffhanger}} / FromBadToWorse: Buffy sprinting across town, only to find she's too late; Giles has been kidnapped, her friends are injured, and Kendra lies dead on the library floor. Buffy collapses to her knees and strokes Kendra's face with her hand as a gun is raised behind her. "Freeze!" shouts a police officer. Caught red-handed.

* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Without Buffy, the Scoobies are revealed to be frighteningly unprepared to deal with a handful of vamps, let alone a powerful one one like Drusilla.