User Reviews

Buffy and Angel are becoming incredibly close and Buffy tells Willow that she wants to do 'that thing' with him. Oz asks Willow out and the two decide to go to Buffy's surprise party. An injured Spike and a full strength Drusilla are assembling 'The Judge'; a powerful demon that kills with its touch. Buffy and Angel have to stop it. Jenny's uncle Enyos has arrived.

Why It's So Good - Poor Buffy, so close to being normal, but yet so far. Spike and Drusilla continue to be iconic villains, and building up the stakes (no pun intended) with the end of the world creates a tension that builds to an inevitable.. ahem.. climax.

Watch Out For - Oz reactions will never stop being gold.

Quote - "You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a bicentennial." - Buffy to Willow.

In this episode's prologue Buffy has a rather disturbing dream; she wakes up and on exiting her room finds herself in the Bronze where things aren't quite right. Her mother asks her is she is sure that she is ready then Drusilla kills Angel… she wakes worrying that it is more than a dream. Giles tries to assure her that it was just a dream but she isn't so sure. As Buffy's seventeenth birthday is approaching her friends are preparing a surprise party. They aren't the only ones preparing for a party; Drusilla is preparing one too… only her present could spell the end of humanity! It emerges that her presents are parts of 'The Judge', an immortal demon whose body parts had been scattered around the world and if brought back together he will come back to life. Meanwhile it emerges that Jenny is in fact a Gypsy from the family that originally cursed Angel and it is her duty to ensure he never finds happiness; which means finding a way to end his relationship with Buffy.

This story gets off to a fine start; all too often when a TV show includes a dream sequence it is so that it looks as if something bad is happening only for it to be 'all a dream'. Here it is obviously a dream from the start; strangely that makes it rather more creepy. As the story proceeds there is some great character development; most obviously the revelation that Jenny has a larger than previously realised role to play in the story but also the fact that Willow and Oz finally start their relationship. Oz's reaction when he saw Buffy slay a vampire was priceless. It was interesting to see how Spike and Drusilla have changed since we last saw them; Dru is stronger, but as mad as ever, and Spike is weakened and in a wheelchair. The Judge proves to be an ominous threat; even vampires aren't safe from his judgement. The 'to be continued' ending was great; something has clearly affected Angel but what remains a mystery. Overall a really impressive episode, season two is proving to be a real corker, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Okay, I know I hit the spoiler button at the top of this review. And I'm sure that most of the people reading this have already seen the show, anyway. But, if you don't know what happens in this episode, and in it's conclusion "Innocence," PLEASE stop reading. "Suprise" sets up the biggest storyline of the season and, arguably, of the entire Buffyverse. Without "Suprise" and "Innocence" the next five seasons of the show would be completely different. And I doubt that there would even be an "Angel" spin off. Watch these episodes BEFORE you read any spoilers, if you can. Trust me.

"Suprise" revolves around two parties: Buffy's 17th birthday bash and Dru's "Let's End the World" celebration. Yes, Drusilla's recovered from that vampire-illness thing and is back on her feet. Spike, sadly, is not. Thanks to that fight with Buffy at the end of "What's My Line? Part 2," Spike is confined to a wheelchair. His recovery is slow going and he'd really rather leave Sunnydale for greener, not-so-populated-by-Buffy-and-Angel, pastures. Dru, however, is determined to have the party to ends all parties. Literally. She's reassembling all the dismembered pieces of the Judge, a big, blue demon guy who can incinerate people with a wave of his hand. The Judge is going to end humanity... With a little help from Drusilla. (Spike's going along with the plan, too, of course. But, he's mainly in it to amuse Dru. Destoying the world plots tend to bore him.) No weapon forged can hurt the Judge and he hates human feelings. Even Spike and Dru's affection for each other disgusts him. He's eager to start wiping out Sunnydale.

Meanwhile, Buffy's having nightmares about Dru killing Angel. Worried, she goes to his apartment to check on him and they share yet another passionate kiss. They're relationship is moving to a more intimate level and they're both feeling in love and (relitively) happy. With Buffy's 17th birthday approaching, the Scoobies are planning a surprise party. No one wants to let a few prophetic dreams and the threat of the Judge being assembled spoil the celebration, but they're all pretty concerned. And they'd be REALLY worried if they knew that Jenny was actually a gypsy and part of the clan who cursed Angel with a soul. She's been spying on Angel this whole time, monitoring his behavior and moods. It seems Angels' curse comes with a loophole. If he experiences a moment of total happiness, Angel looses his soul and reverts to his evil former self, Angelus. Well, after a long night of fighting monsters and hiding in the sewers, Buffy and Angel return to his apartment and finally sleep together. Angel, having no idea that his curse can be removed, has that moment of pure happiness and suddenly he's not feel so well...

I don't know where to start with the great things about this episode. From Angel giving Buffy that ring for her birthday, to Oz's reaction at seeing a vampire get dusted for the first time, to discovering the secret of Jenny's past, to the cool, moody music playing at Dru's party... it's just all brilliant. And who doesn't smile when Willow comes bouncing into the library and hugs Buffy, squealing, "It's happy birthday Buffy!" Also, I love how Spike keeps Dru's mood swings under control with such indulgent ease. Dru starts freaking out about her floral arrangements, ripping them apart with her bare hands as she shrieks. Spike, calm in the face of her frenzy, simply murmurers, "Let's try something different with the flowers." Most of all, though, I love that Angel goes bad. What a great twist! The hero of the show is now a villain. And it was sleeping with Buffy that made him turn evil. I love a lot of things about BTVS, both before and after this episode, but no other storyline will match the drama of this one.

There aren't really a lot of problems in this episode. The only I can come up with is Buffy's mom. I mean Joyce doesn't even buy presents and get cake for Buffy. She did offer to take Buffy on a shopping trip, but that hardly seems the same. She also wasn't at the party at the Bronze. (Was she even invited?) Anyway, I think Joyce should have made more of an effort. It's sort of nit-picky, but it's the only thing I can think of.

My favorite part of the episode: Oz asking Willow out on a date. "See, I like that you're unpredictable."

Surprise

The Good; Everything! Buffy's opening dream is superb. The fight, the Judge, Dru and Spike and THAT ending! Also the clever way you think Jenny is leading Buffy astray but is actually just leading her to the party. Love Oz's reaction to discovering the truth about Sunnydale

The Bad; Are you crazy, this is Buffy at it's best!

Best line; Dru; (after the Judge burns Dalton) "Do it again! Do it again!"

Questions and observations; Xander mentions giving Buffy a 'pre-birthday spanking', a display of kinkiness that will become apparent in all the Scoobies to a greater and lesser degree over the course of the series (actually Xander may not be far too off the mark in terms of Buffy's desires,'Get It Done' later explaining Slayers' penchant for S&M with the stress on the M). Jenny back in the gang but with her true self revealed, all the Scoobies keeping secrets over the years. Buffy loses her virginity, as the age of consent in California is 18 this is technically statutory rape. Oz refers to past groupies although he doesn't have any now. Spike in a wheelchair (like his mother), he seems reluctant to release the Judge, again showing his more human side. The Judge senses it, commenting that Spike and Dru share jealousy and affection (love Spike's confrontation with him "Yeah, what of it mate!?" as though the judge has spilled his pint or something). Dalton also seems to have retained some humanity (enough for the Judge to burn him), perhaps because he was sired by Dru or Spike? The fact that reading is considered sufficiently un-demon like behaviour to warrant a fiery death speaks volumes as to why humanity rules the Earth and demons don't any more. Dru hates the flowers, I thought roses were supposed to repel vamps anyway? Brian Thompson back again and the wonderful Vincent Schavelli. Why not just sink the Judge's arm into the Pacific? Why does Dalton still need his glasses, surely as a vamp his eyes would have healed up like Darla's heart condition and Spike's mum's tuberculosis? Maybe they're just for effect? Small point that Xander says "Hello mom" on the phone and then still needs to say "It's Xander". Does he have siblings or is she just too drunk to understand what he said?

10/10 and more!

Surprise is a favorite of mine as Buffy has vivid dreams that Angel will die. Meanwhile Spike growing tired of the meddling slayer assembles the judge who can burn any creature with an ounce of humanity to ashes. In more ways then one does Buffy's dream come true as Angel is in danger from the new monster and by sleeping with Buffy loses his soul becoming the creature he once was near the end. It seems skaters have cryptic prophetic dreams that come true in ways you don't suspect as Angel could be staked or the man inside goes away.

The judge is a great villain to introduce as no weapon forged by man can defeat him and even while disassembled can cause havoc on those that open the box. His power is awe inspiring causing mayhem and trouble for the populace. Another aspect is Buffy's trend to have bad birthdays as tragedy always seems to strike when you least expect it and cause her to eventually abandon even trying to celebrate it.

Surprise is about Buffy's 17th and the assemblage of the Judge.

Too sentimental in some spots, though there's a lot of story development. Spike and Drusilla entertain and bring about the Judge, having Buffy and Angel run into hiding. Sarah in some of her most beautiful, innocent and sultry moments. Willow's sprightliness memorable as well. I don't care for Jenny Calendar's involvement here, it's handled better in the episodes to come. The dock scene seems a tad unlikely, considering the magnitude and the escape from The Judge equally, but where it goes of course is worth every fault.

I love this episode. It's so good. I love the idea of a dismembered demon, who when you connect the pieces, becomes an unstoppable killing machine, which cannot be destroyed.

In this episode, it's Buffy's seventeenth birthday and the gang has been encouraged by Giles to throw her a surprise birthday party at The Bronze. Buffy has been having nightmares about Angel, and Angel tries to make her feel better by saying that Drusilla and Spike are dead, when we, the audience, know that they in fact, survived. At the birthday party, they find a severed arm of a demon, who Angel explains, cannot be killed by any weapon and who is designed to destroy all good people and anyone with humanity. It is revealed that if Drusilla and Spike reassemble all of the body parts, that the demon will become whole again, and will just destroy anything and everything he can.

Fun Fact: Jenny Calendar was originally not meant to be a gypsy.

Fun Fact: This episode features Giles's second trip to The Bronze, which is a rare occurrence.

Fun Fact: The same actor who plays The Judge, also played Luke the vampire, in the first two episodes of Season 1.

Fun Fact: Originally, Harmony Kendall appeared in this episode, but due to time restrictions, her parts had to be cut from the episode.

Overall, I give this episode a 9 out of 10, which in my rating book is: Amazing.