Surprise (Buffy episode)
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| “Surprise” | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 13 |
| Guest stars | Seth Green (Oz) Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers) Robia LaMorte (Ms. Calendar) James Marsters (Spike) Juliet Landau (Drusilla) |
| Written by | Marti Noxon |
| Directed by | Michael Lange |
| Production no. | 5V13 |
| Original airdate | January 19, 1998 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Bad Eggs" | "Innocence" |
"Surprise" is Episode 13 of Season 2 on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents |
[edit] Plot outline
[edit] Summary
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.
Drusilla also has a birthday, and Spike plans to reassemble The Judge for her. 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 finds that would "explain a lot."
Jenny, who was revealed earlier in the episode to be Janna of the Kalderash tribe (the Gypsies who cursed Angel with a soul), takes advantage of the situation by sending Angel to hide the arm in the farthest corner of the earth. As Buffy and Angel say their goodbye at the docks, 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. There, they find the judge fully assembled and narrowly escape with their life. Angel and Buffy end up at Angel's apartment drenched, leading 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 afterwards, Angel finds himself kneeling outside, crying out Buffy's name in the heavy storm in pain and fear.
[edit] Expanded overview
Buffy wakes up and walks to the bathroom only to find that her bathroom is replaced by the Bronze. With Drusilla silently following her, Buffy walks through the crowds, encountering her mother who asks her "if she thinks she is really ready". We later find out this was in reference to her license, but it could be interpreted as losing her virginity. She meets Willow who is hanging out with her pet monkey and talking in French before finally finding Angel. Suddenly, from behind, Drusilla stakes Angel, and Buffy wakes up. The next day she goes over to Angel's place before school. She tells him about her dream, and while she has to get to school, she has a hard time saying goodbye to Angel. At school, Buffy and Willow talk about whether Buffy is ready to take her relationship with Angel further. Willow goes to talk to Oz, and they make plans to attend Buffy's surprise birthday party together. Meanwhile, Xander tries to ask Cordelia to be his date to the party, but she doesn't want anyone else to know about her relationship with him. We see that Spike, although confined to a wheelchair, is on his way to recovery, while Drusilla is strong as ever.
Buffy asks her mom about getting her driver's license, but her Mom responds with something she said in Buffy's dream, and it scares Buffy. Ms. Calendar is visited by her Uncle, who reminds her of her Gypsy duties. Her responsibility is to make sure Angel's curse remains, and therefore must keep Buffy from him. That night, Ms. Calendar tries to set Buffy up, but her plan is ruined when Buffy spots several vampires and goes to slay them. After killing the last vampire, Buffy discovers the party that was planned. Oz witnesses the killing of the last vampire and is not terribly shocked. Ms. Calendar brings out a box which the vampires were transporting; they open it to find an arm. The arm however comes to life and tries to strangle Buffy. After rescuing Buffy, Angel explains that he thinks Drusilla is trying to bring back a demon called "The Judge". This demon's intention is to kill everything with humanity and leave only demons remaining, so Angel suggests that he take the arm to another country and hide it from Drusilla.
At the warehouse, Drusilla is threatening to poke Dalton's eyes out for losing her present. Spike convinces her to give him a chance and she does. Buffy and Angel go to the dock where Angel is to get on a boat. He gives her a Claddagh ring, and she tries to convince him to stay. As they are kissing, some vampires attack them in hopes of getting the box back. They fight, but Buffy is thrown off the pier, and Angel goes to save her. The vampires make it away with the box containing the Judge's arm.
Everyone researches at the library to find out how to stop the Judge. Buffy has a dream which reveals the warehouse location of the vampires. At the warehouse, Spike and Drusilla are having a party as they bring "The Judge" back to life. Buffy and Angel are then captured at the warehouse while staking it out, but they break free before the Judge can kill them. At his apartment, Angel gives Buffy some clothes to change into. She begins to change and finds that she has a cut on her back. Angel looks at it, and then she ends up crying in his arms, while Angel tells her he loves her. Worried that she may not have the opportunity again, Buffy kisses Angel, indicating that she wants to take their relationship to the next level. They sleep together. Later, Angel wakes up, apparently in a lot of pain. He gets up and somehow ends up outside dressed. Falling to the ground, he cries out Buffy's name. Buffy continues to sleep, unable to hear Angel's cries.
[edit] Quotes and trivia
- Brian Thompson, who played The Judge, also played Luke in "Welcome to the Hellmouth". Both episodes were two-parters in which his character died in the second part.
- Together with "Innocence", the show transitioned from Mondays to Tuesdays. This was the last episode to be played on a Monday -- all subsequent episodes were played on Tuesdays.
- In the first dream, Willow says "L'hippo a pique' ton pantalons", 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 he wonders if the hippo animal cracker is jealous of the fact that the monkey is the only animal cracker with pants and asserts that, "All monkeys are French." Curiously enough, Buffy is not shown to have witnessed this conversation.
[edit] Writing and acting
[edit] Cast and crew
- Guest star Vincent Schiavelli is the only one not in the infobox.
[edit] Production details
[edit] Music
- Christophe Beck - "Buffy-Angel love theme"
- Christophe Beck - "Escape"
- Christophe Beck - "Moment of Happiness"
- Clement & Murray - "Anything"
- Rasputina - "Transylvanian concubine"
[edit] Translations
- Italian title: "Sorpresa" ("Surprise")
- German title: "Der Fluch der Zigeuner" ("The curse of the Gypsies")
- Japanese title: "誕生日の贈り物" ("Tanjōbi no Okurimono" - "Birthday Present")
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
This episode began a tradition of Buffy birthdays gone awry, although Buffy did not celebrate her birthday on-screen in the final season.
This episode started several important plot-lines. Oz and Willow had their first date, commencing one of the longest relationships on the show. Angel is transforming into Angelus and the Big Bad of Season 2.
Buffy, obviously, lost her virginity at the end.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: Fall 1997 - Spring 1998 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, fall 1997 | B2.01 When She Was Bad |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Tales of the Slayers: Broken Bottle of Djinn, 1997 |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.02 Some Assembly Required |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Tales of the Vampires: The Problem with Vampires |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy graphic novel: Spike & Dru: The Queen of Hearts |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.03 School Hard |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.04 Inca Mummy Girl |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.05 Reptile Boy |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy graphic novel: Dust Waltz |
| Sunnydale, October 1997 | B2.06 Halloween |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.07 Lie to Me |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Keep Me In Mind |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: The Suicide King |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Colony |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Night Terrors |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.08 The Dark Age |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.09 What's My Line, Part One |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.10 What's My Line, Part Two |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: After Image |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Carnival of Souls |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.11 Ted |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.12 Bad Eggs |
| Boston, December 1997 - June 1998 | Buffy book: Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary |
| Sunnydale, 1997/8 | Buffy book: Blooded |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.13 Surprise |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.14 Innocence |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.15 Phases |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.16 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.17 Passion |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy graphic novel: Ring of Fire |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.18 Killed by Death |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.19 I Only Have Eyes for You |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.20 Go Fish |
| Sunnydale, spring 1998 | B2.21 Becoming, Part One |
| Sunnydale, spring 1998 | B2.22 Becoming, Part Two |
| Sunnydale, spring 1998 | Buffy graphic novel: Spike & Dru: Paint the Town Red |
[edit] External links
- Surprise at the Internet Movie Database
- Buffy World summary
- Buffy Guide
- Buffy formula, explaining "the big bad" and "the little bad" concepts
- Wikiquote
- TV Tome
