The Watcher Diaries: The Dark Age - Buffy Episode 2.8

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 04.23.2008

Giles. Just a stuffy watcher right? This week on Buffy, we find out his past is a lot darker than anyone ever thought. The Scooby Gang checks in with their full review of 'The Dark Age'!

Adults are people too. Which is a scary thought when you’re young. You see them as the decision makers, the responsible people that are always in control. You may resent their authority from time to time, but when that authority comes crashing down, it’s a truly frightening thing.

This week in Sunnydale, a dark past that Rupert Giles has been running from finally catches up to him and puts all that he loves at risk. Here’s J.D. Dunn with the recap!

Episode 2.08 — "The Dark Age"
W: Dean Batali, Rob Des Hotel
D: Bruce Seth Green
Original Airdate: November 10, 1997

Synopsis: Buffy and the gang think Giles has been uptight since birth, that is until a group of Giles' old friends start turning up dead. When one of Giles' dead friends comes back to attack Buffy and Ethan Rayne, he passes on the demon Eyghon to Miss Calendar. It seems that Rupert Giles and his friends did a little conjuring long ago and all carry the "Mark of Eyghon", which leads the demon to them. When Buffy goes to protect Ethan, he double-crosses her and tattoos the Mark of Eyghon on her so the demon will seek her instead. Willow has the idea to transfer the demon into Angel's body where his own internal demon can kill it.

Interesting Note: The photo of a young Giles is actually Sid Vicious with Anthony Stewart Head's face superimposed.

Now here's Jeremy Thomas with the full review!

"The Dark Age" is, after the last two highly effective episodes, a change of pace in characters, though the quality remains the same. One of the first early episodes to focus on Giles, it allows for the Watcher's backstory to be told and forces us to look at Rupert as more then just the stodgy British librarian he was built up as through the first season and a half. One of the most brilliant parts about the Buffyverse shows is their talent for establishing characters, making you believe one thing about them, and then turning it right on its ear. It would happen later with, among others, Angel, Cordelia, Spike, Willow, Dawn…almost everyone, really, and Giles got the first major treatment of it here in this episode.

The concept of one's past coming back to haunt them is a common one in serial dramas and fiction, and this episode was a great take on the theme. We were given a tantalizing peek into Giles's past as "Ripper," and in turn, Anthony Stewart Head was given a great opportunity to let the tweed loose a bit. Head plays Rupert as more of a desperate, momentarily unhinged man, a move that works incredibly well. Even when he's forgetting his duties as a Watcher and starting to drink compulsively, as he's trying to hide his past from the Scoobies who look up to him, Giles never seems ignoble. He's seamier as his past is unraveling his present life, but he's doing it in order to save those he cares about here in Sunnydale. You can see the pain in his eyes when he learns each of his old compatriots have fallen to Eyghon. He's fallible now, and capable of gross judgments of error. But that just serves, thanks to the deft writing and Head's acting skills, to humanize him more.

As for the rest of the cast, the stand-outs for this episode are Robia LaMorte as Jenny and Robin Sachs as Ethan Rayne. LaMorte has a lot to do here as possessed Jenny, and does it well. Certainly, it's not incredibly difficult to look vicious and demonic with the great make-up artists doing their magic, but it's the moments where she's just regular old Jenny that she gets to shine. From the warm, flirtatious attitude she has in the beginning when she's hitting on Giles, one could never believe that by the end she'll be skittish and scared. Jenny's transition is not unlike that of a victim of sexual assault…and really, in a lot of ways, that makes sense, because she was invaded in the most invasive way one can imagine a Buffyverse character being…her very soul and body was possessed. And the one person she has to blame for it, right or not, is Giles. Sachs, on the other hand, is as good as he was in "Halloween," maybe even better. Ethan Rayne was never in a bad episode of Buffy, ever, and this one was no exception. He's not evil, per se, but he's certainly an immoral, selfish bastard. Sachs plays him with a charisma that makes it very hard to dislike him, which is one of the traditions of Buffy villains. I was always hoping to see Ethan become a constant character as a mini-Big Bad or something like that, but alas we would only see him in two more episodes after this.

The one other thing we see in this episode—really, for the first time—is Joss Whedon's Unwritten Rule of Relationships. For those unfamiliar with the rule, it goes something like this: When two characters on a Joss Whedon show look like they've reached a happy point in their relationship, beware; it's all about to come crashing hideously down. In fact, it's not only going to come crashing down…it's going to come down in the most agonizing way Joss can imagine. Giles and Jenny here are just a cleansing of the palette before the big ones come this season, specifically , in "Innocence" and "Passions." All in all, a great episode that hints at greater things still to come.

Quotable Moments:

Xander: "Ooh, gang, didja hear that? A bonus day of class plus Cordelia! Mix in a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever!"

Willow: HEY! We don't have time for this! Our friends are in trouble! Now, we have to put our heads together and, and get them out of it! And if you two aren't with me a hundred and ten percent, then get the hell out of my library!
Cordelia: We're sorry.
Xander: We'll be good.

Buffy: "I'm not gonna lie to you. It was scary. I'm so used to you being a grownup, and then I find out that you're a person."

Monster Of The Week: Eyghon is, according to this episode, an Etruscan demon, also known as "The Sleepwalker." It can only exist in this reality by possessing an unconscious or dead host. Temporary possession gives the host a "euphoric feeling of power." However, unless the proper rituals are done, then it becomes permanent and Eyghon is "born from within the host." Once called, Eyghon can take possession of the dead, but its demonic energy will soon disintegrates the host corpse, forcing it to jump into the nearest unconscious or dead body if it wants to keep living.

Trivia

When Eyghon leaves Giles' apartment after first possessing Ms. Calendar, it says, "Be seeing you." This is the same thing Ethan said on the card he left at the end of "Halloween." Coincidence? I think not.

J.D. Dunn

Finally, we get to see some depth out of Giles' character, who until now has been mostly the bland librarian. Portraying him as a reformed punk is quite a brilliant move on the part of the writers because we see why he has come to this extreme. Plus, the use of Angel's demon to kill Eyghon was a clever bit.

Mike Gorman

The secrets of Giles' past that are hinted at in the episode, "Halloween", are brought to light this week. This great episode exposes Giles past dark dealings as "Ripper" and makes him more than the stodgy father figure he has been up to now. We learn that his warnings and care for Buffy and the gang come from more than just his Watcher training. He truly has "been there" and "done that" if you will. Anthony Stewart Head is allowed to flex his acting chops a bit more than usual and it turns out great. He adds depth to Giles this week that will be developed in seasons to come. This week also sets up the fun episode, "Band Candy" down the line. I'll add that the possession of friends, a la Jenny Calendar is also good foreshadowing for the villain turn one of the main characters will soon take.

Jerome Cusson

Coming off two very solid episodes and with the epic stuff coming real quick, this was an excellent bridge. Seeing Giles as the focal point is always great to see as Anthony Stewart Head was really the rock that held this show together. I almost wish we could have gotten to see more of Ethan and even "The Ripper." One of the things the writers, and especially Joss Whedon, does so well is provide so many great characters that they can almost have spinoffs of all of them.

Jason Chamberlain

“You can’t just bury stuff Buff. It’ll come right back up to get you.”
Xander gives Buffy that warning in an episode yet to come, but it would totally apply to Giles in this episode as well. In this episode we get a little more of the backstory that was hinted at in Halloween, and we learn the extent to which Giles strayed from the ‘proper’ path when he was young. Anthony Stewart Head brings it in this episode as he careens from stuffy to scared as hell to angry to regretful and back again. We also get some Robia Lamorte hotness (well, until she goes all demon face anyway) a little more sexual tension (with a knife you could cut it!) between Xander and Cordy and an always welcome visit from that snake Ethan Rayne.

GRR!!! ARGH!!!

The 411: The Dark Age is another one of those episodes that, while not specifically tying into the overall story arc of the season, is an important part of Buffy lore. It’s largely a character piece for Giles, making him into a more well-rounded, and far more interesting, character than other, lesser shows would have the patience or foresight to create. Elements of this episode will resonate later…both in this season with Giles and Jenny, and later on when Giles has to get nasty from time to time. It’s a very good episode, highly recommended.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]