In different ways, ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ helps to set up the third season of Buffy, the basic concept of Angel and push the ongoing story arc of this season towards its conclusion. In between all that, it squeezes in a sad little tale about forgiveness and the value of walking a mile in somebody’s shoes before you condemn them. After ‘Killed By Death’, which really could have fitted into any season of Buffy at any point, we’re firmly back in the continuing story of this season; it’s natural given recent events that Giles should initially believe that the spectral activity is Jenny attempting to contact him, and the presence of Angelus is actually crucial to the resolution of the episode. And the final shot of Spike rising from his wheelchair after Angelus and Drusilla have left the garden hints at his shifting allegiance, which again impacts on the season’s conclusion.

It’s one of those episodes where the title has multiple meanings- not only does it refer to the song used in the flashbacks to 1955, but the student/teacher relationship, Buffy’s residual feelings for Angel and obsessive love in general. Indeed, the episode has the potential to become something much darker and nihilistic, because in the end there’s nobody for Buffy to save, just a cycle to break. As far as the episode has a heart, it’s in Buffy’s coming to understand James Stanley and see his predicament through his eyes rather than her own. It’s suggested rather than stated that following the events of ‘Passion’, Buffy is particularly sensitive to the strength and violent consequences of James’s love for his teacher and finds it easier to condemn rather than understand where his spirit finds itself. The crucial and most powerful scene comes at the end where, as Buffy and Angel are possessed by James and his teacher Grace respectively, Grace’s spirit finally has the opportunity to forgive James and the cycle is broken. It takes Angel’s presence for this to work, and it’s made all the more powerful by the fact that a second later Angelus is in full possession of himself and repelled by the fact that he’s kissing Buffy again.

Joss Whedon is on record as saying that it was Davd Boreanaz’s performance as Grace in this episode which sowed the seed of Angel , and it’s true that it’s one of his best episodes in the second half of the season. He plays two characters, neither of which are Angel, and considering that he was originally cast to play a dark, moody type, this clearly convinced Whedon that Boreanaz had sufficient range to play the lead in an ongoing series. For which we should all be thankful. The short scene between Principal Snyder and the police chief is brilliant in retrospect, setting up as it does the presence of the Mayor in the background and thus one of the central premises of the following season; there’s a confidence in laying that kind of groundwork for the next year which can easily be discarded if things don’t work out. It’s also, for the record, the beginning of Willow’s involvement with magic through working with Jenny’s lesson plans and files- the heart of the character’s development over the next five seasons.

So in the end, as the climax of the season draws into view, we have an episode which propels events further on towards the final confrontation and looks even further forward than that. It’s proof of the increasing confidence with which Buffy was being made at this point that so much preparation was being done. The story itself fits in perfectly with this, and if it doesn’t go to particularly dark places for an episode dealing with difficult subject material, it’s because the resolution is perhaps a little too neat. Surprisingly deep and complex for an episode with so much to do, it’s a strong link at this stage in the season.