Surprise

"Surprise" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the twenty-sixth episode altogether.

Synopsis


The Scoobies are planning a surprise birthday for Buffy's 17th birthday. Willow is asked by Oz on a date, but is reminded of the party after promising him she will agree. She invites him to the party.

Jenny is revealed to be Janna of the Clan Kalderash (the gypsies who cursed Angel with a soul), when her uncle visits her to tell her that an old woman of the tribe has noticed that Angel's suffering is decreased lately, and wants to know why. They realize it is because of the Slayer. Jenny is tasked with increasing his unhappiness. She is against performing this duty, as she feels Angel is now fighting for good and has a role to play. But her uncle is implacable.

Drusilla also has a birthday, and Spike plans to reassemble The Judge for her as a birthday present. The ancient demon would destroy humanity. One of the pieces Spike arranged to be shipped to Sunnydale is intercepted by Buffy, however, as Ms. Calendar drives her to the surprise party. Buffy slays the vampires transporting an arm of The Judge and crashes through the wall and into her party. Oz, surprised, is told that vampires exist and remarks that "explains a lot."

Jenny takes advantage of the situation by sending Angel to hide the arm in the farthest corner of the earth. Buffy and Angel say their tearful goodbye at the docks, and Angel gives Buffy a cladagh ring. Suddenly, Spike's vampires attack them and steal the arm. Returning empty-handed, they decide to go to the factory where Drusilla is having her party and see if they can keep the parts from being assembled.There, they find The Judge fully assembled and narrowly escape with their life. Angel and Buffy end up at Angel's apartment drenched, with Buffy shivering. Angel goes to warm her, and this leads to Angel finally revealing his love for her. Buffy tells Angel she loves him as well, and both share their first intimate night together. While Buffy sleeps contented afterward, Angel stands up and gasps and clutches his chest. He rises and staggers outside, then falls to his knees, crying out Buffy's name while a heavy storm rages.

Continuity

 * Several important plot-lines begin in this episode. Oz and Willow have their first date, commencing one of the longest relationships on the show. Angel is transformed into Angelus, becoming the Big Bad of season two. Spike and Drusilla are established as worthy adversaries, allowing for Spike's eventual return appearances in seasons three and four, and for his permanent membership as regular cast for seasons five, six and seven.


 * In the first dream, Willow says "L'hippo a piqué ton pantalon," which means, "The hippo stole your pants" in French, while speaking to the monkey. This refers back to her conversation with Oz near the end of "What's My Line, Part Two," in which, intentionally absurd, he wonders if the hippo animal cracker is jealous of the fact that the monkey is the only animal cracker with pants, as well as asserting that, "All monkeys are French." Buffy is not shown to have witnessed this conversation, which lends credence to her fear that this dream is prophetic, yielding real information about things outside her direct experience to date.


 * Buffy's birthday gift from Angel, her Claddagh ring, not only comes to signify her lost love for the rest of season two, but also plays an important part in the beginning of season three, first as a resonant antecedent to Scott Hope's impromptu gift, and then as a mystical focus for Angel's return from Acathla's hell dimension.


 * This episode begins a tradition of Buffy birthdays gone awry, although Buffy does not celebrate her birthday on-screen in the final season. The 12th or 13th episode of each season is traditionally when Buffy celebrates her birthday; her birthday takes place in episode 12 of Season Three ("Helpless"), episode 12 of Season Four ("A New Man"), episode 13 of Season Five ("Blood Ties") and episode 14 of Season Six ("Older and Far Away"). Buffy's birthday is not shown celebrated in Season One (it presumably occurred before the beginning of the half-long season) or in Season Seven.

Broadcast

 * Together with "Innocence," the show transitioned from Mondays to Tuesdays. This was the last episode to be played on a Monday - all subsequent episodes aired on Tuesday.

Goofs, Bloopers, and Continuity errors

 * When Buffy goes to angel to make sure he's still alive after her dream, she says that they never found Drusilla's body.Drusilla's body, should she have died in the church fire, would have burned and turned to ash and there would have been no body to find.

Deleted Scenes

 * This scene was cut for length:
 * Jenny: "I guess it makes sense. I mean, all of Buffy's senses are heightened. Why should her intuition be different?"
 * Giles: "Precisely. It's not unheard-of for the Slayer to start having prophetic dreams and visions as she approaches adulthood."
 * Jenny: "Adulthood? Buffy's seventeen tomorrow, Giles. Don't rush her."
 * Giles: "I'm not the one rushing her. While I loathe to say it, the fact is, the Slayer rarely lives into her mid-twenties. It follows that she'd exhibit signs of maturity early on. Her whole life cycle is accelerated."
 * Jenny: "Still, you should be careful about treating her like a grown-up. Like - this thing with Angel. Have you even talked to her about it?"
 * Giles: "I...I suppose I try not to pry."
 * Jenny: "Maybe you should, a little. The way she talks, it's clear she has intense feelings for him."
 * Giles: "Well, yes. They're friends..."
 * Jenny: "They're more than friends, and you know it."
 * Giles: "I'm not her father, Jenny."
 * Jenny: "She looks up to you. She'll never actually say that, but she does. And I just think, at her age, it's easy to get in over your head. She could make some bad choices here. Trust me on this one."
 * Giles: "I'll keep an eye to it. Right now, I'm worried enough trying to think of the right birthday present."


 * And also this one:
 * Cordelia: "Hello. I'm having, like, a totally random thought. Xander Harris. Is it just me, or does his shirt almost match his pants?"
 * Harmony: "Almost. Why do I care?"
 * Cordelia: "Well. If you look at him a certain way - is he vaguely...cute?"
 * Xander: [Doing a spazzy dance for Willow's amusement]
 * Harmony: "Oh, yeah. I'm hot for spaz boy. Are you tripping, Cordelia?"
 * Cordelia: "You thought I was serious? Please. I was just testing you. Ha. I'm hot for spaz boy. Good one."

Music

 * Christophe Beck - "Buffy-Angel Love Theme"
 * Christophe Beck - "Escape"
 * Christophe Beck - "Moment of Happiness"
 * Clement & Murray - "Anything"
 * Rasputina - "Transylvanian Concubine"

Other

 * Brian Thompson, who played the Judge, also played Luke in "Welcome to the Hellmouth." Both episodes were two-part episodes in which his character died in the second part.