Buffy: Surprise

Angel: "You still haven't told me what you wanted for your birthday."
Buffy: "Surprise me."

Deciding to have sex for the first time is a major life decision; Buffy and Angel had been working up to it for a long time and it was inevitable. It's hard to tell what happened to Angel at the end of the episode, but it appears that jumping a cargo ship to Asia and months of separation from Buffy might have been the way to go, after all.

There is a lot of couple interaction besides that of Buffy and Angel in this episode: Oz finally asks Willow to go out with him, and says things that people usually think but don't say in these situations -- like "I'm going to ask you out but I'm really nervous about it;" Xander is now trying hard to get Cordelia to publicly acknowledge that they have a relationship.

The Judge confirms that Spike and Drusilla have human qualities; they "share affection and jealousy." (Drusilla is just a hoot watching the Judge destroy Dalton, saying, "Do it again! Do it again!") While Spike is now emotionally depressed, physically scarred, and confined to a wheelchair; although he is still evil, his personality appears to be changing. He is starting to sound almost like the voice of sanity in contrast to Drusilla's madness.

Bits and pieces:

-- Jenny, who is (interestingly enough) trying to keep Buffy and Angel apart, has a secret: she's a gypsy. Didn't see that one coming.

-- The symbolic dream sequences work incredibly well with the plot. Broken plates, white nightgowns, rings dropping to the floor, wonderful symbols of lost virginity.

-- Oz attends Buffy's surprise party as Willow's date and sees Buffy slay a vamp. What's fun is that he takes it in stride, and says "it explains a lot." The atypical reaction is a lot more fun than shocked histrionics.

-- Angel gives Buffy a cladagh ring.

-- The gang use "round robin" calls in order to be free to fight evil.

-- Drusilla's clothes are now the more traditional vampire clothes, black and red. And the music at the party ("Transylvania Concubine") is very expressive of Drusilla.

-- Dalton is too human because "he reads." Not all vampires are straight-up, dyed-in-the-wool evil.

-- Brian Thompson, who played the Judge in this episode, also played Luke in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest."

-- In the dream sequence at the beginning of the episode, Willow says in French, "The hippo stole his pants." This seems to be a reference to Oz's animal crackers spiel at the end of "What's My Line II."

-- Obligatory dog reference: Willow wears a sweater with a dog on it.

-- Buffy says that they never saw Drusilla's body (and, one assumes, Spike's). But if Drusilla were dead, wouldn't she be dust?

-- Angel gets out of bed nude, but falls out of the door into the rain fully clothed a moment later.

-- This is the first episode that takes place on Buffy's birthday. Buffy birthday episodes become an annual tradition for the rest of the series.

Quotable quotes:

Willow: "Oh, I don't know, though. I mean, he is a senior."
Buffy: "You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a bicentennial."

Oz: "I'm gonna ask you to go out with me tomorrow night. And I'm kinda nervous about it, actually. It's interesting."
Willow: "Oh. Well, if it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes."
Oz: "Yeah, it helps. It-it creates a comfort zone. Do you wanna go out with me tomorrow night?"
Willow: "Oh! I can't!"
Oz: "Well, see, I like that you're unpredictable."

Giles: "Even if she is alive, uh, we can still protect Angel. Dreams aren't prophecies, Buffy. You dreamt that the Master had risen, but you stopped it from happening."
Xander: "You ground his bones to make your bread."
Buffy: "That's true. Except for the bread part."

Giles: "The more I study the Judge, the less I like him. His touch can literally burn the humanity out of you. A true creature of evil can survive the process. No human ever has."
Xander: "What's the problem? We send Cordy to fight this guy, and we go for pizza."

Four out of four stars,

Billie