Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reaction - 2x21 - Becoming: Part 1

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The newest video in my editor reacts to series. This week I'm watching and reacting to Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time.
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#reaction #buffy

[@GF_Baltar]

"We're going to start out sad, and then it's going to be very hopeful." Oh, my sweet summer child...

[@TheLexiCrowd]

I mayhaps been incorrect on that one

[@GF_Baltar]

@@TheLexiCrowd Ah, just _slightly_ incorrect 😁

[@charlesbaldwin3166]

Giles saying he was using the orb as a paperweight is one of my favorite call back jokes.

[@reenmomo4501]

When Jenny goes to buy the orb, the seller tells her: " _Sold a couple as "new age" paperweights last year. I do love the "new agers." They paid for my youngest to go to college._ ". We can assume that it was Giles and a past lover... I don't know🤷‍♀

[@jmwild1]

Spike's sass has reached level 100.

[@spikejr3113jr]

“ it’s a big rock, I can’t wait to tell my friends...they don’t have a rock this big” spike mocking angel is what i live for. They kill characters because no one is safe hell buffy died last season and her name is on the tittle of the show.

[@alicequinn505]

And yet she's safe

[@spikejr3113jr]

@@alicequinn505 is she though is she

[@alicequinn505]

umm, yes, her name is on the title of the show and she only died for 5 minutes

[@enicole1203]

@@alicequinn505 long enough for sustained brain damage! But we don't talk about that though...

[@gingerberrycatt]

My favorite thing is that Spike can differentiate between when Dru is actually seeing and when she’s playing.

[@patrickadams7120]

"I'm so happy for the finale"....they all say that at the beginning of this one

[@Logan_Baron]

They fall for it every time.

[@faithvictoria9014]

"Truth is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asked for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we? Helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do after that counts. That's when you find out who you are. You'll see what I mean."

[@MartinGonzalez-ke9uy]

"Bottom line is......"

[@MasterShiruko]

"it would be so funny if someone just got shot" I feel she's going to regret those words

[@roonarific1086]

"It's just a little cut, she'll be fine...oh god, slow motion, she's not fine."

[@Logan_Baron]

We got a tidbit of the Slayer process via Kendra. Kendra was taken from her family, or given up by her family to the watchers to start training her. So they know before one becomes THE Slayer, which girls could become The Slayer. And given that some Slayers have very short life spans, and could be killed the very first time they fight their first vamp, there has to be more than one ready to become The Slayer. So they take them in and start getting any possible slayers ready. Buffy was one they didn't find until she became The Slayer. The movie isn't canon to the show, but it covers some of the ideas of what happened before the show. In the movie, a possible Slayer is recognized by a distinctive birth mark. Buffy had hers removed by a plastic surgeon because it was ugly. That's why they didn't find her until she became the Slayer. Again that's in the movie. Since we see no such mole on Kendra, and the show makes no reference then they must have some other way. Possibly seers like you mention who for some reason did not see Buffy before the turn.

[@Buffy8Fan]

Thought KZbin took me to the wrong channel for a moment.

[@rogerlie4176]

Someone should have reminded Xander about hyena possessed Xander.

[@MathiasE80]

lol yea, especially since the only reason he was not in on the killing of the principal was because he was busy trying to rape Buffy.

[@vishkorg]

But y only angel why not about all vempire Buffy don't care when killing others .so xender is correct Buffy just want her bf back

[@grahamnickless138]

It's a really interesting take on demons that just like with humans there are good demons and evil demons.

[@TheLexiCrowd]

Yeah i really hope they do something more with that because i was so surprsied by that and i think it could be super interesting

[@arc7375]

In the context of the show, “Demons” are simply animals, much like humans are. Some have souls (like Anya for a key example) and some do not. Ancient demons, also known as “first ones” are the equivalent of dinosaurs.

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

"so they brought kendra back to kill her off?" nah, they brought her back to frame buffy for killing her off.

[@barbarabaker1457]

LMAO on a less funny note, she became the literal mirror for Buffy's death. So at least there was some purpose, but she still deserved more screen time.

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

@@barbarabaker1457 she was doomed once people started making fun of her accent. i can't _possibly_ imagine why people were so much harder on her than they were on, say, angel...

[@barbarabaker1457]

@@sirmoonslosthismind Right? Hers wasn't nearly as bad and at least with her they went with some obscure dialect, his you can tell right away not Irish, which works after a couple hundred years but not the past.

[@barbarabaker1457]

5:34 FINALLY, someone else that inappropriately laughed there. I'm not alone 🤣. All else 😭.

[@TheLexiCrowd]

I felt so evil laughing but it was so funny how his arm was flailing and then the way he was positioned in angel’s lap 😂

[@barbarabaker1457]

@@TheLexiCrowd If we don't laugh at the dark stuff, we cry. I choose laughter.

[@WoncoTheSane]

That opening might be the best one yet!! Awesome work

[@ernesthakey3396]

No need to crank up the demon scariness - it is big world, multiple slayers could be in different locations. Kendra has clearly been killing vampires elsewhere. Remember that Kendra was given to her watcher early. Buffy fell through the cracks, apparently, and wasn't found until after she got activated, hence her not being indoctrinated or trained ahead of time.

[@TheLexiCrowd]

Oh i meant it more so in the sense if we could have two slayers on the show. Like if they had tried to make Kendra a regular. I’m not sure if that can work but having multiple slayers in the universe works for sure

[@ernesthakey3396]

@@TheLexiCrowd it does indeed work! And who knows how many potential slayers there are out there...

[@yesie8375]

Might of looked like a tiny cut but Drew probably cut a main artery

[@wendyheatherwood]

The show does eventually expand on how things work with the watchers and slayers, just not yet. Yeah, that guy in the flashback was Buffy's first watcher. The show doesn't go into what happened with him, but there is a prequel comic and the original movie which is not exactly canon to the show but features a version of those events. It's not a great movie but is still a fun watch. I am not a fan of Xander in this two parter, but there is one thing that makes it a little more understandable, probably not intentionally, and that's Jessie. One of Xander's two best friends, only real friends we know of gets turned and there is never any suggestion of turning him back or restoring his soul and Xander ends up being the one that kills him. Sort of. If Angel can be restored so could Jessie. One of his best friends is dead and nobody even suggested that there was a way to save him, but Angel, who has murdered people they know is getting that second chance. I don't agree with him and I think he's being an arse, but I can understand where some of it could be coming from.

[@lilywong9672]

The Titus intro was so fitting!

[@stargazer1682]

Angelus and Angel _are_ the same person. They have to be for there to be any point in him trying to atone or deserving his guilt when he's had a soul. It would cheapen the story to suggest that the restoration of his soul absolves him of his past; it's too simplistic and there's no story if they simply say, "Angelus is gone, the good guy has returned, it's like it never happened." It also ignores our core concepts of identity. Who knows better whether Angel is "really" Angel - Angel or Giles? Giles or Buffy can _say_ that it's not _really_ the person; that they're just a demon walking around with their memories and personality, but in what way does that make them anyone or anything else? Even at this point in the story, without any potential spoilers for what's to come, there's no indication of any new consciousness or anything that could be defined as something other than the person that was - "the demon" that supposedly supplants the human. All they have as a vampire are the memories and personality of who they were as a human. There are no new memories added upon becoming a vampire, and the only thing subtracted is the soul, which itself doesn't contain memories, as this episode shows. By all rights all a soul does is act like the Super Ego, applying morality to one's behavior. We see here when his soul was restored back in the day, it caused brief disorientation, but he had no new memories, no sense of being wherever the soul was; he only remembers what the body remembers, before and after his death, making it a contiguous exist. There is no break in his consciousness from human to vampire, and there's no distinct or separate demon identity. So if it thinks like Angel, and remembers only what Angel remembers, in what way is it not Angel?

[@spikesecho724]

👏👏👏👏👏 THIS

[@barbarabaker1457]

Yeah way too early for that argument but I was plenty eventually.

[@spikesecho724]

Angel as a character is like Jekyll and Hyde, showing the duality of ones own nature and fighting yourself, but fans tend to take the metaphor they are going for and make it literal different beings/personalities. Which is weird, cause if you know the verse at all, you should know what you see is most often metaphor lol.

[@barbarabaker1457]

@@spikesecho724 "If you know the verse" all the reactor knows is what Angel said in episode 7. Hence why I said too early. I consider it spoilery to go farther.

[@stargazer1682]

@@spikesecho724 I do think there's a little more to it than that with Angel, but it'd be hard to get into that more that this point, without potential spoilers.

[@invadertifxiii]

i love the ending monologue i love that quote its actually my all time favorite buffy qoute as someone who changed after a big moment in my life i relate

[@arielcarmona6660]

Yes that original guy was a watcher, her watcher in L.A. before Joyce moved them to Sunnydale. His name was Merrick in the 1992 theatrical Buffy movie and although the movie and the show are totally different entities, I think this was the show's nod to Buffy's life in L.A.

[@bunjitsu7046]

LOVE the Titus beginning. so funny!

[@jeanetteking434]

Xander didn’t even care that they could get rid of angelus without risking buffy’s life...

[@randall-king]

Very much like me-he’s made some shortsighted decisions. He’s a terrific character because he’s realistic like that and also makes some selfless decisions.

[@ronaldfasshauer4390]

Gee buffy or the continued existence of every single person on the face of the planet, who would you chose.

[@dylanburton4955]

@@ronaldfasshauer4390Except Xander wasn’t thinking about Buffy and the world, he was been selfish and thinking of his own jealously of Angel, he’s just using the world ending and who Angelus killed as an excuse to justify it

[@vishkorg]

​@@dylanburton4955but why angel .all vempire have lost soul . Buffy didn't care killing them..she just want angel..So xender was right she wants her bf back. Angel was not even good person to began with before becoming vempire..think about people who were good and some one made them vempire... Xender is realistic whatever his motive maybe

[@1nelsondj]

This is America, we have a real gun problem. This is an emotional episode, especially seeing Drusilla as a sweet, pure young woman then we see the crazy monster that Angelus turned her into. As for Xander wanting him dead a lot of fans say he's just jealous but it's more than that. He always pointed out that Angel even with a soul was still a vampire, a monster. This season showed how he can become a very evil, murderous monster given the right circumstance. Even with his soul there's always that potential. Kendra thought so too and she wouldn't even hug Buffy.

[@Chuthulhu123]

Thank you I'm sick of people constantly trying to hang Xander. He's not always in the right but he's right more times than people seem to want to accept.

[@thatoneguyagain2252]

Everybody seems to ignore Xander's basic position on vampires, which he's never really moved away from. He stated it clearly in S01 E02, after learning that Jesse had been turned: "I don't like vampires. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they're bad". And when speaking to Angel in S01 E12: "Let's get this straight - I don't like you. I pretty much figure that, at the end of the day, you're a vampire". Everybody seems willing to write Xander's dislike of Angel as petty jealousy, when that's not all there is to it. Xander dislikes Angel because he doesn't trust him, and can't get onboard with Buffy embracing him regardless of any feelings he might have about her. He never loses sight of the fact that Angel's a huge potential danger, not just to Buffy, but also to Willow, and to Xander himself. And the rest of the world, for that matter. He never lets his guard down, because he knows that the guy Buffy loves could turn into a psychotic killing machine at any time. How else should he react, when the thing he fears the most actually happens? And why wouldn't he speak out when he sees his friends' willingness to ignore Angel's actions and try to make it all better again? Even if the curse did work (and with Willow's inexperience with magic there's every reason to believe it wouldn't) there's no guarantee that Angel would stay cured. Either way, it's pretty much guaranteed that whether he stays Angelus or becomes Angelus again, more people will die. He's the only one who sees clearly that the danger is real, and he's harsh with Giles because even Giles seems to be going along with redeeming the fiend who killed his lover. Giles is a Watcher - he of all people should recognize the danger and act accordingly.

[@KarlJeager]

@@thatoneguyagain2252 To add a bit to your point, one thing which seems to be rarely brought up is that Xander has a very good reason to not want to believe that a Vampire can be saved. Since if they can then he killed his best friend when he didn't have to, rather than just putting down a monster that was inhabiting his body.

[@NerdySwede]

I love when the slow motion comes on everyone is like - Fuck this is for real-for real!!

[@stardustvideo]

Tiny little cut, she's fine. A few secondz leiter... This is in slomo, she's not fine. 😬😭

[@randall-king]

They couldn’t show a huge gash with blood spurting out on network television.

[@invadertifxiii]

spike and dru are iconic and awesome

[@stephenmarley7281]

Terrific reaction!

[@idontsignin]

Xander can't see the difference between Angel and Angelus. He never could. And after Jenny died pretty much anything went, Any character could be written out at any time without warning. What Xander says in part 2 is pretty much why people don't like him Episode 22 is heartbreaking

[@ronaldfasshauer4390]

Its not like his best friend was murdered then turned into a inhuman monster who wanted to rape then kill cordelia and willow etc.

[@vishkorg]

Why should he angel is vempire like all off them...Buffy didn't care killing others they also have soul lost ... People really look blind eye with other vempire

[@CURohrer]

Lexi stating how she thinks it’ll be funny if someone dies by getting shot…😂😂😂 Wonder if she still thinks that after 6x19

[@thatoneguyagain2252]

Everybody seems willing to write off Xander's dislike of Angel as petty jealousy, when that's not all there is to it. Xander hates Angel because he doesn't trust him, and can't get onboard with the Slayer embracing a vampire, ensouled or not. Regardless of any feelings Xander might have for Buffy, Angel poses a very real threat.. Xander never loses sight of Angel's huge potential for danger, not just to Buffy, but also to Willow, to Giles and to Xander himself. And the rest of the world, for that matter. He never lets his guard down, because he knows that the guy Buffy loves could turn into a psychotic killing machine at any time. WHICH HE DID. So how else should he react, when the thing he fears the most actually happens? And why wouldn't he speak out when he sees his friends' willingness to ignore Angelus' actions and try to make it all better again? Even if the curse did work (and with Willow's inexperience with magic there's every reason to believe it wouldn't) there's no guarantee that Angel would stay cured. Either way, it's pretty much guaranteed that if he stays Angelus or becomes Angelus again, more people will die. Xander's the only one who sees clearly that the danger is real, and he's harsh with Giles because even Giles seems to be going along with the demonstrably stupid idea of redeeming the fiend who killed Jenny in the cruelest way imaginable. Giles is a Watcher - he of all people should recognize the risk. And as her Watcher, it is his duty to make Buffy recognize that risk and act accordingly: to slay. Xander's frustrated by everyone else's shortsightedness, which could easily get all of them killed. He's NOT just having a jealous snit, he's trying to keep them all alive - and if that requires Angel's death, so be it. Angel's a vampire. He should be slain. Why doesn't anyone see that?

[@lenr112]

The thing that gets me is all of the things that Xander says are things that most people are thinking but not saying . How many people would really want to be in friend group with a mass murderer , whatever the circumstances . The other characters go on to say and do worse things than Xander but don't get the same hatred that he gets because he seems to be the only bad apple in the group 🙄

[@trevor3013]

Im excited to see your reaction to xanders hypocrisy later on in the show XD

[@invadertifxiii]

omg the intro was spot on

[@HelloXrancidkitteh]

honestly, she shouldn't have given away her lucky stake, Mr. Pointy.... I always hate that they killed her off. D: same with Jenny. never got over that.

[@fitzytail896]

I love the Titus opening scene!! Perfect!!

[@peterswift5703]

Still hurts me then kendra will dies 😭

[@bex1107]

Re watching this season really made me realize what a big problem Whedon has with "fridging" women. I could argue both Kendra and Jenny are victims of these- but especially Jenny. Like it happens way more than the one time I originally thought. SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!! "Wouldn't it be funny if someone died from a gun shot" THE GASP I GASPED OMFG! But also I did not realize that Whedon did to Kendra was exactly what Amber was afraid of him doing to Tara and was the whole reason she refused to come back. Like this season really showed the beginnings of a lot of Whedon's issues.

[@victorsixtythree]

4:44 - Oh, my - that impaled fish stick! Is Xander predicting the future?? (I know you've watched the season finale, so not a spoiler.)

[@gingerberrycatt]

The Boom Studios Buffy comics are a reboot and Kendra has so much more in it.

[@vincejabroni8338]

I wonder if Kendra awakened as the slayer in the Wishverse.

[@arc7375]

Poor Kendra. She was a great addition to the show. But at least one good thing came of her death. Kendra walked so Faith could run. Or rather, Kendra was murdered so Faith could murder everyone else.

[@DynastyLee-k9o]

I really dislike and hate Faith, she's a sore loser she should have died instead lol 🤣😆. And they should've resurrected Kendra and called another slayer if Faith died that wouldve been perfect.

[@oshrigetreuer1490]

The Tituss intro 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@DaDunge]

25:30 Let's not get too carried away. Angel was not blameless in being turned in the first place.

[@becca1189]

1) He didn't know what he was "consenting" to (Darla being intentionally vague & manipulative) 2) He was drunk and therefor incapable of giving consent It's a rape metaphor.

[@wbrownshadow]

wow very apt now on Buffy series on your reactin and review

[@lenr112]

Angel and Angelus may not be the same person. But they share the same memories. Xander is unable or unwilling to see the distinction. I think most people in his position might feel the same.

[@thesaferoom6968]

AHH YES FINALY ^_^ PLZ DONT MAKE PREDICTIONS, YOU ALLWAYS SPOIL THE SUPRISE SECONDS BEFORE ITS REVIELED AND I FEEL SO BAD FOR YOU GIRL XD, love your show but dont drive your self crazy ^_^

[@knowledge-girl]

The fact that Buffy loves Angel is exactly why Xander wants Angel dead. That's why he tells Buffy that "Willow says kick his ass" in part two.

[@knowledge-girl]

@TheVolourn Xander thinks he has a chance with Buffy. If Buffy actually showed interest in him when not bespelled, he would dump any girl he's with without a thought. He's been pro-kill Angel since the beginning.

[@spikesecho724]

Is Buffys deja vu a reference to a moment we've seen her have before? I don't think it is....that always bothers me lol

[@alsmit4876]

In Nightmares

[@barbarabaker1457]

@@alsmit4876 Yeah all slayer dreams essentially have prophetic elements and since her nightmares were coming true, there were some prophetic elements to them.

[@spikesecho724]

Right.....but we didn't see it/have a reference for it, is what I'm saying....

[@alsmit4876]

@@spikesecho724 yeah it is only Buffy and us can see what she means.

[@alsmit4876]

@@barbarabaker1457 I know :) I just knew recently the reference to Nightmares episode

[@DynastyLee-k9o]

I really like and love Kendra, shes the second best Buffy is the first.

[@DaDunge]

Spoiler She wants to see someone die from getting shot? I hope I rember this comment when it happens.

[@paulsmith8510]

I love Zander for calling it out. Feelings don't matter. Angel is a 200+ year old murderer demon. Zander was coming from a place of protection and frustration.

[@kendavis8046]

The "original" watcher in the TV series alludes to watcher in the movie. No spoiler, but the movie is NOT as good as the TV series. The "original" watcher from the movie was "Merrick", played by Donald Sutherland, and it is widely believed that he argued a LOT with Joss Whedon during filming, leading to some "bad blood." Thus I think there was little effort to try to bring him back to briefly reprise his role from the 1992 movie in the flashback to the LA high school in S2xE21.

[@barbarabaker1457]

Minor movie SPOILER territory And yet he was way more interesting then the comic watcher, even while intentionally being kind of a jerk on what he thought "beneath" him in the role, he still made his relationship with Buffy feel real and other things I won't say. Still haven't finished the OG script though. Probably better than the comic as that was 90% the same as the movie. Watcher/some slayer lore, parent cameo and her friend suddenly being white is all I saw differently.

[@brianhegarty2902]

As Joss turned out to be such a dick, maybe it wasn't entirely Donald Sutherland's fault

[@barbarabaker1457]

@@brianhegarty2902 Right? And from what I read of the comic what he turned down were kind of crappy parts anyway. That original watcher from what I saw in the comics was really boring. But again that's from someone who hasn't actually read the original script yet. I'm getting there I know I'm sorry.

[@barbarabaker1457]

@@Henrik_Holst See this is why I want to read the original script. I hear it's much better than the comic.

[@barbarabaker1457]

@@Henrik_Holst although I was trying to avoid details like this on account of the whole movie thing I don't think she's seen it. Good thing I'm not the mod here, I'd be telling everybody including myself to put some freaking spoilers on top.

[@xxSydneyFox]

So the Buffy film is somewhat cannon according to the comics. SPOILER FOR THE FILM Merrick unfortunately died in the film so he is also dead in the series.

[@DaveF.]

Lexi you will go insane if you carry on attempting to make sense of how the Slayer thing works. It makes no sense, it never does.

[@qrsx66]

28:27 Be careful of what you say would be funny...

[@The_One_In_Black]

I hope you react to the quasi-canonical movie that started the franchise once you get to the end.

[@x_rhi_x2772]

Who is the guy in the intro?

[@TheLexiCrowd]

It’s a clip from unbreakable kimmy schmidt. The actor’s name is tituss burgess

[@x_rhi_x2772]

@@TheLexiCrowd oh cool thanks. Is that show good? I havent watched it yet

[@TheLexiCrowd]

It’s pretty alright. Not my favourite but it is definitely a fun watch

[@AngelAcrobat-wt4yn]

I guarantee all of you, that if Buffy was on Xander’s side and was all for killing Angel and not trying to restore his soul to save him, Lexicrowd would 100% agree with her, but if it’s just Xander, No, I don’t agree with you unless Buffy agrees too. People are so easily influenced by other people, when it’s the right person they want to be influenced by. Buffy Episode 2.17 (When the disk was dropped in between the desk) - Lexicrowd - “No you know what? I don’t want him back.” This Episode - Lexicrowd - “Buffy loved Angel. Do you really want Buffy to kill someone she used to love?” Amazing isn’t it?

[@coldservings]

And Xander is toxic as always. He knows that Angel and Angelus are different individuals ("He's not the same gou you knew" from Phases). He just doesn't care. Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Xander.

[@mMarlie2000]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@zootizoot]

you keep doing that. I don't like it now spoiler s6 it was not funny for someone to die because they were shot. so not funny. I was furious.

[@sinloi2675]

My reaction when she said that lmao. Just... Vivid flashbacks to season six and the faint sound of air raid sirens going off in my head.

[@samshade9524]

@@sinloi2675 Same, same. I yelled, and then I sobbed.

[@Chuthulhu123]

Wouldn't it be funny if someone died from a gunshot, yeah about that

[@67Daidalos]

SPOILER ALERT, don't read if you hadn't watch the whole show !!! That's probably what Whedon have thought too.. He just waited for the moment he will be the only one to find it funny.

[@itsmedino]

Aaaaaa