Chemistry Class

[palabravampiress]

Season 2 had some great chemistry going on. And by chemistry, I mean the way two actors play convincingly off of one another. This is often sexy, but it doesn't have to be sexy.

Spike and Dru come to mind. So do Xander and Cordy. Xander and Willow. Willow and Oz. Buffy and Angel. Giles and Jenny. Buffy and Joyce played off of one another really well this season, I thought. Buffy and Giles. Angelus and, like, everyone.

Which characters/actors do you think had the most chemistry? Which looked the most natural and believable together?




I've always been partial to well-crafted villains. Iago, for instance, gives me the chills. Hannibal Lector rocks my socks off. The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont send shivers down my spine. And I like it. So, for me, it's got to be Spike and Dru. I mean, they were incredibly charismatic villains. From one-shot filler minor bads, they were written into the entire season and, eventually, into both shows because they just worked so well together. Even in later seasons, I got excited every time Dru would make an appearance. Why? Because I loved her chemistry with Spike. They didn't have a ton of scenes. A lot of their history and even their "present" on the show is left to the imagination, but with their bodies, their facial expressions, and the inflections of their voices, the actors do a great job of allowing us a glimpse of the connection that the show mostly only hints at. Every time they were on the screen together, their strong, nuanced performances knocked the scene right out of the park. During their scenes in season 2, I always got the sense that I was watching the mating ritual of two rare and endangered predators. I knew at any minute that they would jump through the screen and eat me, but they were just so beautiful that I couldn't look away. When Angelus was added to that mix... I almost died and went to fabulous villain Heaven. Cuz, apparently, they have one of those for freaks like me who prefer the villains to the good guys.

[Keanoite]

Cordy and Xander came to the fore her for me. They were just great Tv. Buffy and Angel were golden as always:) but I have to say for me its Angelus and pretty much everyone he cme in contac with...he was just SOOOOO entertaining! Any scene he was in he made it better. Him, Spike and Dru were great to see.

[Jules]

I think Cordy and Xander as well for me. They carried off that hate/affection tension perfectly. You could see it in Season 1 but they were great in Season 2.

[VisionGuy]

I think Cordelia and Buffy have great chemistry. The way they play off each other when they argue. Spike and Drusilla had good chemistry too. Not sure about Buffy and Angel though. :p

[GATEGOD]

I always loved and thought that Spike/Drucilla and Willow/Oz had the greatest chemistry.

[Joyce Summers]

I think it was the chemistry between Spike, Dru and Angelus for me. That was just spectacular.

The chemistry between Spike and Dru had already been set up and essentially played through- it was still fantastic but I think we and the writers had gone as far as we could with it, there was no where else for it progress, but when Angelus came onto the scene it created this entirely new dynamic. And the raw feeling, chemistry, tension between the three of them was just palpable.

You know there's something there between Angelus and Drusilla from the off but as it continues to grow, with more implications to their sexual actions, you feel the increasing negative chemistry between Spike and Angelus and it's contrasted against the seemingly decreasing feeling between Spike and Drusilla. I mean by the end of the season Dru's full attention is on Angel while Spike can only watch on the sidelines.

I could go further into this dynamic and ramble on for a VERY long time, haha, so I'm going to come to close, but yes, I definitely thought the three way chemistry there was the best of the season.

However, I loved the chemistry that was everywhere else. Season 2 was defintely a season about love and relationships- be it romantic, platonic, selfiish, selfless- which meant, well, there was chemistry abounds. I don't think there was any interaction that you couldn't read into. You can even see the first moments of Spuffy in School Hard, Halloween (Spike has more attention on Buffy than Dru, and seems in awe of her), Becoming Pat Two....

[nerd4hire]

Does this necessarily refer to sexual chemistry? Because if not it's common to overlook what in season two, for me at least, was the most magical chemistry between two actors in the whole run of BTVS. Referring of course to Buffy and Giles.

Here's a case of "How soon they forget".

Buffy: But this is all my fault.

Giles: No. I don't believe it is. Do you want me to wag my finger at
you and tell you that you acted rashly? You did. A-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 what would happen. The coming months a-are gonna, are gonna be hard... I, I suspect on all of us, but... if it's guilt you're looking for, Buffy, I'm, I'm not your man. All you will get from me is, is my support. And my respect.

Buffy smiles at him through her tears.

or how about this...

Buffy wakes Giles and gets him to his feet, and she
supports him as they make their way from the building also. Cut outside. They both come out coughing from the smoke. He pushes her away from him.

Giles: Why did you come here?! This wasn't your fight!

She punches him in the jaw, and he spins and falls to the pavement.

Buffy: Are you trying to get yourself killed?!

She begins to cry and crouches down to hug him. He cries and hugs her back.

Buffy: You can't leave me. I can't do this alone.

[Joyce Summers]

No, I don't think this thread refers to just romantic chemistry. Palabra mentioned both Buffy and Giles, and Buffy and Joyce which last time I checked were distinctly non-romantic.

And I completely agree about the Buffy and Giles chemistry. So many of their scenes together in season 2 were utterly moving. And the ones that weren't were perfectly comical. The looks shared between the two of them when they weregoing through a 'no, I'm right' fight always got me. And I think it was in this scene that the fatherly role Giles plays in her life was really reaffirmed.

A scene that sticks out in my mind is Innocence where Jenny offers to help as the group are assembling the rocket launcher (there's a sentence I though I'd never say) and Buffy tells her to leave and Giles repeats Buffy's command though it is clearly breaking his heart to tell the love of his life to go away. But he stands by Buffy; he chooses his surrogate daughter's side. And that scene, no matter how small it is, always moves me