Angel is dying, and with Faith out of the picture, there's only one Slayer left for him to drain in order to live. Will Buffy be able to halt the Mayor's ascension, or is Sunnydale about to fall?
After part one, this episode had a lot to live up to, not to mention the fact that its being held back by the WB has given it an almost unprecedented level of anticipation. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a bad Buffy episode. In fact, it's one of the best. However, it mainly contains what you'd expect, although it does have a couple of surprises thrown in.
After last episode's setting up, there still seems to be more to do. The Angel's illness plot seemed rather like padding in part one, especially as everyone knows he's got a spin-off to do, and here it still seems to be filling some kind of hole in the plotting. Too much time is spent on character introspection, meaning the final battle seems a little too staightforward. In fact the Faith/Buffy fight was a more powerful section than the actual ascension. It would have been better to see the characters after the battle for longer, maybe tying slightly better into the Angel spin-off.
Having said all this, there's plenty to love as well. Drama, romance and comedy once again combine superbly to give us such classic moments as Buffy and Willow realizing the Mayor's going to do his entire speech before his ascension. "Come on, ascend already," complains Willow. "Evil," comments Buffy.
It's certainly a satisfying end fight in every respect. The idea of outfitting all the graduees with heavy ordnance is superb, and it's great to watch some of the supporting cast joining in the fight. David Boreanaz is a revelation, with some fantastic hand-to-hand moves that are going to look astonishing in his new series, and the Mayor's snake-form is well-realized. The way he's beaten, despite, as mentioned, being a little easy, is apt, with Buffy taking out the school to finish her time there. Hell, it beats burning down the gym at her last one. The only question is, how can Joss Whedon outdo something like this?
****
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