Season 2 of Buffy is the point at which the series truly comes into its own. It solidified the half-arc structure that Buffy is known for, and drastically bumped up the quality from the first.
Buffy's second season is split up into two halves, like pretty much all of the other seasons in the show. The first half is about the duo of vampires Spike and Drusilla and their attempts to bring Drusilla back to full power. The second half actually has Angel as a villain, after he loses his soul in a moment of pure happiness. The Spike/Drusilla arc is far more comedy-driven, as they mostly just cause general mayhem compared to The Master's attempts at destroying the world. It's still a fun batch of episodes, and Spike is a very likable and charismatic villain, but it doesn't hold a candle to the "Angelus" arc. Once Angel turns evil, Buffy undergoes a massive jump in quality. Angel hadn't been a super exciting character until this point, but David Boreanaz plays his evil counterpart pretty much flawlessly. Even more, having a character that Buffy has a personal connection to be the villain allows for a strong character-driven conflict, along with a stronger emphasis on drama throughout this second half.
While the overall story and drama is much better this season, the general episode quality is still a bit hit or miss. At this point, Buffy had started to include some fun and clever standalone episodes like the Die Hard parody, the Halloween episode, and frantic love potion episode. However, not all of these standalones are great, and there are several points in this season where the cheesiness from Season 1 carries over. This is especially frustrating during the second half, where despite the general moodiness caused by Angelus, the show still has time for an episode about an mutant fish swim team. Thankfully, the general dialogue and character writing is still an overall improvement from the first season, with Cordelia getting more involved, the welcome additions of Kendra and Oz, and the overall increase in dramatic moments. And whenever an episode focuses on the general plot or myth arc, more often than not, it ends up being pretty excellent.
This is the first season of Buffy with a lot of high points, but these are some of the highest:
School Hard: This is that Die Hard episode I mentioned earlier, signaling Spike's first appearance as he traps the whole cast in the school with a bunch of vampires. At this point of the season, it seems like the villain would be The Master's "Anointed One", only for Spike to brutally kill the kid and take the role of bad guy for himself.
What's My Line: In case you thought that Buffy's death at the end of Season 1 didn't amount to anything, this episode reveals that it caused the awakening of another slayer named Kendra. It also has the climactic final battle with Spike and Drusilla which results in them leaving the show, at least until the finale.
Surprise/Innocence: This is well-known as the turning point for Buffy, the point at which the show becomes one of the greatest of all time. Angel turning into a bad guy was such an excellent plot twist, and the second half of this episode Innocence is especially one of the finest in the show. Sure, Angelus's Joker-esque personality is both terrifying and a joy to watch, but Innocence also manages to weave in a scene where Buffy blows up a demon with a goddamn rocket launcher.
Passion: In case Innocence still wasn't good enough for you, Passion solidifies Buffy as a legendary series for the heartbreaking death of Jenny Calendar at the hands of Angelus. You can't help but feel bad for Giles when he finds out what had just happened.
Becoming: Continuing Buffy's amazing season-ending streak, Becoming is absolutely jam-packed with big moments, from Spike's return, to Buffy's iconic final battle with Angelus, to Joyce learning about Buffy being a slayer, to Willow's first usage of Dark Arts which would become increasingly important later on. It's a shame only Buffy gets the brunt of the focus here, but the finale manages to pack in so much, it's hard to really get mad about it.
Overall, Season 2 of Buffy is the point at which the series becomes truly great, from the improved story, increased drama, and stronger writing, even if the standalone episodes are still fairly hit or miss.
4/5 Stars
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