Buffy the Vampire Slayer" may be very much of its time, but it still strikes a chord with those of us who grew up with it. Books have been written about it; you could even take college classes to analyze its themes. It was a part of the lives of viewers who waited each week to see Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) destroy evil, how she attempted to have a normal life while having an inborn compulsion to take down vampires, and how it affected those around her. We watched each week to see her fall in love and eventually move on from not one but two vampires with souls. First, of course, was Angel (David Boreanaz), who had that soul when he met her.
The second was Spike (James Marsters), who got a soul in the seventh season after sexually assaulting Buffy in season 6. (There is still no way to excuse that particular storyline. I will not try.) What followed was Spike trying to come to terms with all the evil things he'd done in the past. Back in 2017, Marsters was interviewed by AV Club, who asked him about his "fondest memory of filming." Marsters referenced the episode where he acquired a soul season 7, episode 2, entitled "Beneath You" and the reason why was creator Joss Whedon's direction of a scene that hadn't gone so well.
'You kind of overacted'
That might not sound like something an actor wants to hear, but when what you're doing is going to be seen by a giant chunk of TV viewers in the world, someone has to be the last line of defense. I don't know about you, but I remember when this episode aired very well. It was really, really difficult to still like a character I used to love after he did what he did. This episode at least allowed us to see him suffer for it, and Marsters did a fantastic job selling it.
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