-As You Like It – Angelus returns - Playing a part- Xander & Angel – Transcending our roles – Knowing what to see – The value of time – Being stuck in the past – Conclusion - Spicy extras for James Marsters' fans -

I am no Shakespearean scholar, or any scholar at all, so I won’t attempt to provide here a blow-by-blow comparison of this episode to As You Like It, Shakespeare’s comedy about the world as a stage, life as a fleeting series of acts, and love as the fire providing the lighting. But I will suggest to any of you who are such scholars, that you dust off the Elizabethan collection, and re-read the play after carefully watching Innocence. If you like to hunt not only for the large, thematic comparisons, but also for the smaller similarities, hidden like Easter Eggs in the details and the dialogue – then go at it. I think you will enjoy, if you are so inclined.

However, if I was so inclined, I would have entitled this essay The Interplay and Character of the Malleability and Stringency of Human Existence, or perhaps, Illusions and Allusions: Love, Destiny & The Phased Passage of Time. But that’s not me, or my role in the S’cubie gang. So, let’s get this show on the road: What do I know?

I know that when I first see Angel after the fall - see him rise from the wet alley, quickly kill a hooker, wickedly blow her cigarette smoke out of his mouth and intone, "I feel just fine" - I think: Here, HERE is Angel. Watching him, I feel as Willow does later in the episode when she catches Xander kissing Cordelia: "I knew it!! I knew it!! Well, not ‘knew it’ in the sense of having the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn’t know!"

Beautifully written and brilliantly acted, the character of Angelus exudes a glorious sense of release. There is a wildness about him that delights, a ferocity that pleases. He revels in the freedom that has come with the shedding of that unwanted soul. And there is a subtlety to the portrayal that gives us a sense that Angelus has been just below the surface all this time. The brooding and lovelorn Angel suddenly seems, for now, like nothing more than a role in a play, a part that was easily discarded by Angelus once the lights came down.

Life’s a show, and we all play our parts. When Angel returns to Spike & Dru, he refers to his transformation as if it were an opportunity to star in a Broadway musical:

Spike (to Dru): "Do you know what happened to Angel?"

Angel (appearing from the sidelines): "Well . . . he moves to New York and tries to fulfill that Broadway dream. It’s tough slaying, but one day he’s working in the chorus when the big star twists her ankle."

Listen for the many references to people and the parts they must play. Jenny plays her part for her gypsy tribe unquestioningly, without even knowing the full story. After Jenny confronts her Uncle Enyos with the fact that terrible things are happening, her Uncle says: "We control nothing. We are not wizards, Janna. We merely play our parts."

Uncle Enyos’ view is reflected in Angelus’ story of being cursed, and in several other situations in this episode: Cordelia goes along with Xander’s plan for her to play the part of trashy girlfriend, though Xander won’t explain it to her for fear she won’t do it. Buffy has unwittingly played a key role in setting into motion horrific consequences put in place by persons long dead. And we hear many references to "an army" and we see many soldiers, the ultimate symbols of obedient role-playing.

It is worth noting that Xander has cast Cordelia in the role of a hooker-type; it’s the third reference of the episode. Previously, Angel leaves Buffy’s bed to go immediately to biting a hooker. Later, in one of the most heart-wrenching moments ever seen on TV, he characterizes a devastated and newly deflowered Buffy as "a pro" in bed. Both Xander and Angel, young males themselves playing stereotypical roles, are seen force-fitting women into the timeless role of whore and sex object.

Other parallels are drawn between Xander & Angel. Xander exhibits a callous attitude toward Cordelia, even after he has just kissed her, telling Willow: "It doesn’t mean that much." And we see Spike’s disgust with Angel’s interest in The Slayer reflected in Willow’s exchange with Xander after she discovers him with Cordelia:

Willow: " . . . You two were fighting way too much! It’s not natural!"

Xander: "I know it’s weird . . ."

Willow: "Weird? It’s against all laws of God and Man! It’s Cordelia! Remember? The ‘We Hate Cordelia’ club, of which you are the treasurer??"

Willow is reminding Xander of his proper role, just as Spike tries to do with Angel after he learns that Angel has not killed Buffy: "Now, I know you haven’t been in the game for a while, mate, but we still do kill people. Sort of our raison d’etre, you know." Spike wants Angel to be a proper member of their "We Hate Humanity" club. But Angel has other ideas.

Angelus, like Xander in the aftermath of his Halloween role as a soldier, still remembers his time as Angel. He knows Buffy’s access codes, he remembers the whole layout. And despite Spike’s impatience, he’s not through with her yet.

So perhaps Uncle Enyos isn’t entirely correct in his assessment of our lives as roles into which others have cast us. We may be trapped at times, like Spike in his wheelchair. But there is a way to prevail against the pressures from our culture, our biology and even our loved ones, to conform to a pre-arranged plan. Listen to Oz as he handily transcends both Willow’s manipulations and the urges of his own sexuality, when Willow wants a kiss:

Oz: "Well, to the casual observer, it would appear that you’re trying to make your friend Xander jealous, or even the score or something. And that’s on the empty side. See, in my fantasy, when I’m kissing YOU, you’re kissing ME. (He pauses to look at her.) It’s OK. I can wait."

Oz is being modest here. He is not a casual observer, but an astonishingly keen one. He knows what to see, and he allows himself to see it even when it pains and disappoints him. It is ignorance and fear that trap us, and it is knowledge and courage that set us free, that give us power and control.

"You have to know what to see." It’s what Angel tells Buffy when she dreams of him at a sunny gravesite, right before Jenny Calendar lifts a veil to reveal her face. Buffy wakes up sure in the knowledge that Jenny has played a part in her tragedy.

Seeing the truth in someone’s face is an image that is used several times in this episode:

JOYCE looks into Buffy’s face after Buffy returns from her first time with Angel and asks if something is wrong, explaining: "I don’t know. You just look . . ." She can’t quite find the word, but she’s looking closely, and she sees something there.

BUFFY tells Giles, as a way of confirming The Judge’s evil nature, that he is "not the prettiest man in town."

JENNY quickly (and falsely) explains to Willow how she knew that Angel had gone bad: "I saw his face."

ANGEL gloats to Spike & Dru about how he hurt Buffy: "You should’ve seen her face!"

BUFFY, at the very beginning of her graveyard dream, sees Angel in his game face.

JOYCE, again looking into Buffy’s face at the end of the episode, sees that the daughter she loves is still the daughter she loves: "You look the same to me," she says to Buffy.

You have to know what to see, and then, you have to let yourself see it. But note that it is not just knowledge that is on Oz’s side when he neatly sidesteps Willow’s plans for him. Time, his willingness to wait for the proper role, is also on his side. Angel asks Spike & Dru to "give him tonight" – to lay low for one night so he can torment Buffy before The Judge wreaks havoc. Xander asks the soldier on guard duty for five minutes in the armory so he can steal the rocket-launcher. After Angel taunts Spike about his disability, Spike says in an ominous tone: "I won’t be in this chair forever." Buffy, when she finds herself unable to kill Angel, says: "Give me time." You may need five minutes, or twenty minutes, or one night, or five weeks or five years. But if you use your time wisely, to further your goals, to gain wisdom, to heal and to grow, it can be a servant rather than a thief.

Valuing the passage of time however, is different than being stuck in the past. It is the latter that is The Judge’s undoing at the end of the episode. Accompanied by Angel & Dru, The Judge arrives at the Sunnydale Mall. He can burn the humanity out of people, and it is looking very much as if some customers will have to just die combusting. But it’s their lucky day. Buffy's on the scene with the biggest phallic symbol I’ve ever seen our girl toting: A rocket launcher.

Wow Buffy. Way to get your rocks back. She aims that bad boy at the witless Judge like she’s been sporting one all her life. While Buffy takes aim, The Judge, not at all hip to late 20^th century technology, prattles on about how no weapon forged can stop him. "That was then," says Buffy, "this is now." And she blows him all sky high.

She instructs her friends to gather the flaming Judge bits, and she takes off after Angel, who is making his escape through the mall. The smoking remnants of The Judge cause the sprinkler system to go off, and as Buffy & Angel begin a vicious battle, we are reminded of their similarly moist coupling of the night before. (What then, sex and violence are related? OK . . . got it. No need to see that message again.)

Angel taunts Buffy: "Not quittin’ on me already, are ya? C’mon Buffy. You know you want it, huh?"

And when Buffy gains the advantage yet finds herself unable to stake him, he jeers at her again: "You can’t do it, you can’t kill me."

But Angel is underestimating Buffy. When Angel has Willow by the throat in a school hallway, he says her helplessness is a real turn-on. Angel is stuck in his past – both distant and recent. Because women, particularly Buffy, as helpless whorish sex objects? Sorry Angel. That was then, this is now. And for now, all Angel’s miscalculation will cost him is a kick to the groin so tremendous that he drops, like a suddenly repentant sinner, straight to his knees.

Buffy is down, and she is hurting. But she’s a fighter, and she will not die of a broken heart. Listen to Xander and Cordelia, earlier in the episode:

Cordelia (responding to Xander’s apology for snapping at her): "I know. You were too busy rushing off to die for your beloved Buffy. You’d never die for me."

Xander: "No, I might die FROM you. Does that get me any points?"

Cordelia: "No."

You tell him, Cordelia. Because people don’t die from love, and Angel is wrong when he tells Spike: "To kill this girl, you have to love her." No, that’s not going to work either. Here’s my favorite As You Like It quote: "Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love."

Properly given and received, love is restorative, not fatal. So here’s my favorite Innocence quote:

Giles (to Buffy, after she tells him that he must be disappointed in her): "Do you want me to wag my finger at you and tell you that you acted rashly? You did. And I can. I know that you loved him. And he has proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn’t have known this would happen. The coming months are going . . . are going to be hard, I suspect, for all of us. But if it’s guilt you’re looking for Buffy, I’m not your man. All you will get from me is my support. And my respect."

Giles has found the perfect words, and he loves her so well he brings tears to my eyes. But not as many as I cry during the next scene: Buffy settles down for the evening to watch a romantic old movie musical with her mother. Joyce, with her "you look the same to me", reassures Buffy that all is not lost. And in an episode that is full of references to songs and singing, she lights a candle on Buffy’s birthday cupcake and says, "I don’t have to sing, do I?" No, Joyce, this isn’t that episode where everyone has to sing.

And another birthday tradition bites the dust when Buffy decides not to blow out the candle to make a wish. "Let it burn," says Buffy. She will walk through the fire. Let it hurt, let the lessons she has learned be branded into her very soul. Because with the help of those who love her, and at the end of Innocence, she has already begun to pick up the pieces of her shattered heart.

Spicy extras for James Marsters’ fans:

• Again, not enough Spike, but again, an important episode for our Blondie Bear. Angel’s mocking begins in earnest here, and it will eventually send Spike right into his first collaboration with The Slayer.
• That is some sexy move Spike makes when he puts the flat of his hand against Dru’s abdomen as Spike, Angel & Dru discuss Angel’s yen to hurt Buffy. Where does James come up with this stuff?
• I love Spike when he’s simmering. I can’t wait for the boil over.