Becoming, Part 1 (1)

Season 2, Episode 21, Aired
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Episode Summary

Through flashbacks, we see much of Angel's history. We see him sired by Darla in 1753, driving Drusilla mad and then siring her in 1860, and being cursed with a soul by the Kalderash clan in 1898. In the present, Angelus hatches a plan to awaken the demon Acathla, who will open a gateway to a hell dimension, and bring Hell to Earth.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (23)

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  • Stand by for a great finale

    10
    "Perfect"
    By joxerlives, Jan 19, 2012 Report Abuse
    Becoming pt1

    The Good;
    The glimpses of Liam and Drusilla in their human forms are just too tragic for words, especially Dru. Good scenes with Whistler and of course Kendra back. Angelus' suicide telegram for Buffy (would they allow that post 9/11?). Snyder's chair shortage gag

    The Bad;
    David's accent. Where is it supposed to be from exactly? Are they after his lucky charms?

    Best line;
    Spike; "It's a big rock. Can't wait to tell my friends, they don't have a rock this big"

    Wheldon Cliches;
    Character death; yep, byebye Kendra, making it one recurring character dead every 8 eps or so. A shame to lose her but I think most would agree that Faith is better as both a character and a Slayer. And if she hadn't died? I figure Faith would have turned up as one of the potentials in season 7 and she rather than Kennedy would have hooked up with Willow.

    Knocked out; yep, Xander, Willow and Giles

    Questions and observations;
    We get to see pre-Slayer Buffy in LA and a different version of Merrick. In this version Buffy does indeed miss the heart first time out as she later tells Dawn. The 'Do you know what time it is?' line is very clever, the same words as Joyce says in the movie but with a completely different meaning. Presumably Angel as a tramp is following the diner incident in the 70s we later see in season 4 of Angel. Willow once again play's the bashful virgin for comic effect. Whistler's 'puppets' speech is interesting when you consider Jasmine manipulating the Fang Gang over the course of Angel. Willow attempts her first spell.
    10/10 no contest
    moreless

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  • Becoming, Part 1

    10
    "Perfect"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Oct 14, 2010 Report Abuse
    Becoming, Part 1 was another perfectly Classic episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I really enjoyed watching the flash backs into the times when Angel was turned into a vampire by Darla. These types of flash backs are awesome and really add to the characters. I also enjoy watching the deliciously mad Druscilla in action as well. This is a great second to last episode of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I also enjoyed the narration by Oz, or Seth Green. It was also sad to see the end of Kendra, the other Vampire Slayer. However this means that there will be a new slayer appearing at some point! I look forward to seeing what happens to wrap the second season up!!!moreless

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  • Season 2, Episode 21.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Wanted23, Apr 19, 2009 Report Abuse
    Angel's past is revealed through flashbacks, such as when he was sired by Darla and when he sired Drusilla. In the present, however, Angelus tries to bring Hell to Earth.

    Angel looked incredibly sexy in the flashbacks, especially the first one. Rawr. I didn't realize that most of the scenes I've seen already have already happened in this episode. Drusilla's confession was one of them, and Buffy and Willow finding the Restoration spell was another. Sarah Michelle Gellar is a really good actress and she is beautiful, too. Not a bad episode at all. I kinda liked that all those flashbacks were included, but at the same time some weren't needed. Awesome episode. :)moreless

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  • Great flashbacks! Awesome episode!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By TheHappyHermit, Mar 08, 2009 Report Abuse
    This was an awesome episode leading to an even better finale. The flashbacks in this episode did so much to enrich the Buffy lore with backstory elements that fans had been wishing for. I also loved Spike and Drusilla in this episode. Spike had a couple of very funny lines, and you start to feel for him as he watches Angel interact with Drusilla. It was also nice to see the character of Darla come back in a flashback. She hadn't appeared in the Buffy universe since the middle of the first season. This episode has almost everything. It has great drama, humor and action. All it's missing is romance and a small portion of that is coming up in Becoming, Part II.moreless

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  • Whistler: Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By addict666, Aug 01, 2008 Report Abuse
    This episode starts the end of the second season and it starts off very well. All the Angel flashbacks are really good and it is fun to see him being a monster. The way he tortured Drusilla and drove her even further towards madness shows how far he is willing to go with his victims. The Whistler is also introduced in this episode and even though he is only here for such a short time he is still such a great character and brings a lot of interesting questions and all of his lines are really deep. Seeing Angel as the pathetic street urchin is nice as well. Kendra's reappearance is also at a good time and watching Drusilla take her out is priceless. I really like Xander as well in this episode, because he understands that Buffy doesn't want to kill Angel because she wants the old Angel back and he calls her out on her refusal to do so. I love how Buffy falls for Angel's trap and sets up the catastrophe at the end with a hurt Willow and a dead Kendra. This episodes leaves you dying for what happens next.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • At the very beginning of this episode the flashback in which Angel is sired by Darla is said to take place in 1753. However, in the episode Halloween when Willow and Buffy are looking through the Watcher's Diary, Willow finds an entry dated 1775 and Buffy says that Angel was eighteen and still human at that date. Edit
    • Giles mentions that the Orb of Thessela he has is being used as a paper weight, a clever take back to Passion where the magic shop owner said he had sold some orbs as new age paperweights. Edit
    • When Angel first meets Buffy, in Welcome to the Hellmouth he says that he'd thought she'd be taller, making it seem as if he'd never seen her before, however, in this episode we see flashbacks of Angel watching Buffy in L.A., well before he meets her in Sunnydale. Although it could be said that since he never saw her up close, he couldn't accurately estimate her height. He also says he thought she'd at least have bigger muscles, but in a tone that sounds like he is joking or lying. This could be to cover up the fact that he has been watching her for months. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • At the Hellmouth Convention in Belfast in April 2003, Juliet Landau noted the problem with her fight scene with Bianca Lawson (Kendra). Juliet had to wear those fake nails and every time the scene would be going well, the nails began to "ping ping ping" (her words) right off her fingers, which resulted in many takes being necessary to film the scene. Edit
    • Whistler speaks of "our side" and it is doubtful that he is referring to the Watchers' Council. This could be a subtle foreshadowing to the "Powers That Be" in the spinoff "Angel." Edit
    • Drusilla was precognitive before she became a vampire. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Willow: This means I can't help you study for tomorrow's final. Buffy: Eh, I'll wing it. Of course, if we go to hell by then, I won't have to take them... or maybe I'll be taking them forever. Edit
    • Buffy: (picking up a pencil and a computer disk) Oh, hey. You dropped this. Willow: (putting the disk into the computer) It's not mine. It might be something of Ms. Calendar's. Buffy: This feels kinda morbid. Willow: I've gone through most of her files already. Buffy: Does that make this less morbid or you really morbid? Willow: I had to. To teach her class. Edit
    • Angelus: Hello lover. I wasn't sure you'd come. Buffy: After your immolation-o-gram? Come on, I had to show. Shouldn't you be out destroying the world right now, pulling the sword out of Al Franken or whatever his name is? Angelus: There's time enough. I wanted to say goodbye first. You are the one thing in this dimension I will miss. Buffy: This is a beautiful moment we're having. Can we please fight? Angelus: I didn't come here to fight. Buffy: No? Angelus: Gosh, I was hoping we could get back together. What do you think? Do we have a shot...? Alright. We'll fight. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Buffy: And you're sure this was the tomb of Alfalfa?
      Alfalfa was one of the main characters in the Our Gang series of films from the 1930's and the TV series Little Rascals. Edit
    • Whistler: My name's Whistler.
      The name Whistler may be a reference to the popular adult comic "Blade" in which the main character, a vampire human hybrid named Blade has a human sidekick named Whistler. This is interesting because the original plan as for Whistler to be Angel's sidekick in his spin-off series, which would then have borne a striking resemblance to Blade. Edit
    • Kendra: This is my lucky stake; it has slain many vampires. I call it, Mr. Pointy.
      In the german version of BTVS the stake is called "Van Heugen", the nemesis of Graf Dracula. Edit

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