For me, Becoming part two loses points for the same reason The Gift loses points - they took back the death that made it meaningful.

You know, I never saw Becoming Pt. 2 until after Angel had his own show, and it still gets me in the gut every time, and I'll tell you why. It's not *just* Buffy having to send Angel to hell even though he's been re-souled -- it's the fact that she's been expelled from school, she just saw Kendra's corpse, and her mother basically threw her out.

The combination of all that, plus seeing the emotions that cross her face when she realizes Angel is re-souled, is what makes it such a damn good episode for me.

For me, Becoming part two loses points for the same reason The Gift loses points - they took back the death that made it meaningful.

But her death -- esp. the shot of the gravestone -- is all "The Gift" had going for it. Worst season ender in the canon. If she kills herself because she's weary (weight of the world & all that) fine; but the it's all Summers blood & I can sacrifice myself instead of her... what a load! And moreover what an un-setup, unjustified load. I don't care if Joss wrote it it was a big cheat and a poorly executed one. Call Angel's return a cheat if you want to but Becoming was brilliantly executed. And Buffy didn't know she wasn't killing him (cf. your comment on the end of The Wish): "When I killed him, Angel was cured... but i-it was... it was too late, and I, I had to. So I, I told him that I loved him... and I kissed him... and I killed him." When I watch it it still has that oomph because she does what she has to do even though it's tearing her apart to do it.

I don't care if Joss wrote it it was a big cheat and a poorly executed one.

You betcha. I wasn't crazy about The Gift even the first time I saw it.

Well, you both have a point. The key to Becoming pt. 2 is that Buffy makes the choice to kill Angel, that's the hinge to the story. And that hard choice and all it means isn't undercut by Angel's later (never explained!) return.

Daniel, your links don't take me to pictures. is it me?

And that hard choice and all it means isn't undercut by Angel's later (never explained!) return.

Angel's return was orchestrated by the First. But, through true love for Buffy (and a mysterious snowstorm), Angel overcame the First and everybody was happy. For about two episodes.

Really? Is that a real plot point or just character speculation in Amends? I didn't think Angel's return from Hell ever had a canonical explanation.

Hell, it could have been Jasmine who brought Angel back. Talk about your over-elaborate plans - makes Dr. Evil look like Scott Evil.

I didn't think Angel's return from Hell ever had a canonical explanation.

I thought that was part of the (ongoing) point: "Why was I brought back?" To make Amends, be the dreaded c-word, to Shanshu (in L.A. or elsewhere). I don't think it's ever been nailed down. And on that note, bon soir, tout.

Tom Welling's lips are not lips that were meant to touch women. I got nothing wrong with the premise, but I find the execution very distracting, troubling even, especially when Lex isn't in the frame.

For pretty? I submit this guy. He's nowhere near the most attractive man I've oosted for, but he short-circuits (sorry) me something awful.

IIRC, when Angel decides to run off and greet the morning sun, the First says something like "That's not why we brought you back. But it'll do." At least part of that is to itself, after Angel has left. I took that as a pretty clear indication that it was responsible for releasing him from hell (at the exact moment when Buffy had come to terms with his loss I might add, thus making the return more torment than relief). The fact that the opposition also had plans and acted to preserve him doesn't necessarily contradict this.

Man, rehashing this makes me even more bitter that they hired Boreanaz to appear in the last 2 Buffy eps to make a pointless maguffin delivery, rather than having him make an appearance as the First wearing Angel's face. That would have been sooo much better...

Of course, then Buffy's plan might have actually had to work on its own merits, rather than having Spike save the day with the Pimp Chain of Scrubbing Bubbles.