The Dark Age

"The Dark Age" is episode 8 of season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

An old childhood friend of Giles appears, only to die. It is revealed that an old demon from Giles' shady teenage past is haunting him and Ethan Rayne. The demon possesses Ms. Calendar, and is defeated by Angel.

Plot
A man tries to get into the library to see Giles but a demon woman shows up and strangles him to death. He falls to the floor, and she turns into a puddle of green slime.

At school, we see Buffy and Willow playing 'Anywhere But Here' in which they recount their fantasies; Buffy is on a beach before sunset having her feet rubbed by Gavin Rossdale, Willow is in Florence at a restaurant eating ziti when she is joined by John Cusack. Giles tells Buffy to meet him later at the hospital where there will be a blood delivery, which attracts vampires. When Giles gets back to the library, a detective is waiting for him--the dead man had Giles' address on him. Giles identifies the body as an old friend from London. The body has a tattoo on it, which Giles says he can't identify.

Shaken, Giles doesn't meet Buffy at the hospital, and she battles the doctor-dressed vampires alone until Angel shows up. She asks Angel to see that the blood gets to the hospital and goes to check on Giles. When Buffy goes to Giles' house to see what happened, he looks terribly drunk and sends her away. He calls another friend in London and finds out that she's dead, too. As he rolls up his sleeves, we see he has the same tattoo as his friend. Meanwhile, the dead friend, Phillip, comes back to life in the morgue, his eyes flashing, and escapes.

On Saturday, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia meet with Jenny Calendar -- Giles' girlfriend -- for a computer class. Buffy shows up to express her concern about Giles' behavior. Cordelia mentions the police visit to the library, which slipped her Cordelia-centered mind. In the library, Buffy finds Ethan, the costume shop owner and Giles's old friend who tried to kill her on Halloween. As she calls Giles, Ethan mentions the "Mark of Eyghon". Giles says she's in danger, and the dead Phillip enters.

A panicked Giles shows up and, after a scuffle which leaves Jenny unconscious, Phillip turns into the green goo. Some of it gets on Jenny and when she comes to, she seems normal but we see her eyes flash. Research freak Willow discovers the "Mark of Eyghon" in a book: Eyghon possesses the body of a dead or unconscious host. They figure out that he's jumped from Phillip's body to Jenny's. Possessed Jenny, looking and sounding like a demon, tries to seduce Giles at his apartment. When Buffy comes to the rescue, Jenny jumps out the window. Giles explains to Buffy that he ran with a bad crowd when he was young, and they used Eyghon as a temporary high -- directing him in and out of each others' bodies.

But one friend died, then later the girl who killed Phillip, and now it seems the rest of the group will die, too. Buffy goes to the deserted costume shop to try to help Ethan but he knocks her out, ties her up and puts the mark of Eyghon on her. He then pours acid on his own tattoo so that Eyghon will take Buffy instead of him. Jenny enters, a complete demon, and Buffy breaks free. Angel enters suddenly and chokes Jenny: Eyhgon's spirit leaves her body and enters Angel's, since he's really dead (Willow's plan). Eyghon fights Angel's demon, and is beaten. Jenny's back to normal, but Ethan escapes.

Starring

 * Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
 * Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
 * Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
 * Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
 * David Boreanaz as Angel
 * Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Starring

 * Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar
 * Robin Sachs as Ethan Rayne
 * Stuart McLean as Philip Henry

Co Starring

 * Wendy Way as Diedre Page
 * Michael Earl Reid as Custodian
 * Daniel Henry Murray as Creepy Cult Guy
 * Carlease Burke as Detective Winslow
 * Tony Sears as Morgue Attendant
 * John Bellucci as Man

Trivia

 * “The Dark Age” pulled in an audience of 3.7 million households on its original airing.


 * Giles says, "And the rest is silence". This line is from Shakespeare's Hamlet, and is also spoken in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film) by Buffy's previous Watcher Merrick, and at the end of the film by Buffy herself.


 * Giles lends Jenny Calendar a first edition novel by British author E.M. Forster (1879-1970). Forster's most famous works are A Room With A View, Howard's End and A Passage To India.


 * Giles mentions that he's a fan of The Bay City Rollers. They were a band in the 1970s. Their best-selling record was 'Saturday Night'.


 * Buffy says to Giles in The Dark Age, "I care from you Lost Weekend-ing in your apartment!". The Lost Weekend (1945) is a movie about the effects of alcoholism on a man's life. The film was based on the novel by Charles R. Jackson. The movie won a number of Academy Awards for; best picture, best actor (Ray Milland), best director (Billy Wilder) and best screenplay (Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett).


 * In "Halloween", Ethan had left behind a note on the counter of the costume shop which had said, "Be seeing you." Eyghon leaves Giles' apartment after possessing Ms. Calendar and also leaves a note saying, "Be seeing you." The phrase is likely a reference to 1960s cult paranoia TV-drama, The Prisoner.


 * After recovering from her possession, Jenny tells Giles "I mean, I'm not running around, wind in my hair, 'The hills are alive with the sound of music' fine, but... I'm coping." She is referencing the title song of The Sound of Music (1959) written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The movie starred Julie Andrews in 1965.

Continuity

 * This is the first episode to establish details about Giles' more "wild" youth, parts of which will occasionally return to haunt him throughout the series.


 * Due to the events of this episode, Giles' and Jenny's relationship will remain strained.


 * In this episode Giles slams a door in Buffy's face. The favor is returned six years later at the end of "Lies My Parents Told Me".


 * Buffy and Willow later play "Anywhere But Here" game in the season 8 comic of the same name. This time in Buffy's fantasy she is approached by Daniel Craig whilst lying on the beach. Willow's fantasy has changed to herself and Tina Fey being trapped in a cabin during a snowstorm.


 * Xander's comment, ""No one can be wound as straight and narrow as Giles without a dark side erupting," is also interesting if applied to Willow Rosenberg, regarding later episodes such as "Grave".


 * This episode marks the first instance of Willow demonstrating leadership in the Scooby Gang in place of Buffy or Giles, something which will come into greater significance later in the series.