Ms. Calendar in a nutshell:
AGE: I'd say around 30
STATUS: deceased
ORIGIN: Rumania, the Caldarash clan
PROFESSION: Computer Science teacher, technopagan
FIRST APPEARANCE: I Robot, you Jane
DEATH: Passion
INTERESTS: Downloading incantation, casting bones, occult festivals,
naked mud dancing, monster truck rallies, football.
Jenny Calendar is my second favorite character on Buffy, behind Willow.
And Willow only started to be my favorite since Jenny died and Willow kind
of took her place.
When Ms. Calendar and Giles meet at the first
day of school in When she was Bad, they pick up the flirting right
where they left off. She tells him that she did Burning Man in Black Rock,
which apparently is some sort of big occult orgy. "You should've been there,"
she says," They had drum rituals, mobile sculptures, raves, naked
mud dances, you would've just... hated it with a fiery passion!"
Giles responds in his usual stuffy way with
"I can't imagine finding any redeeming, uh..." but is sidetracked at the
naked mud dance part. I know I get sidetracked at the thought of
Ms. Calendar naked...hold on a minute...okay, I'm back.
Jenny's best line in that episode was at the
end, when she was talking to Cordelia about it. Cordelia was saying
that her clothes would never get clean, and Ms. Calendar's all like "Yeah
that's the worst part of being hung upside down by a vampire who
wants to slit your throat: the stains."
Some Assembly Required was my favorite Ms. Calendar
episode. She and Giles first date was so cool,
and I especially love that she likes football. Giles is all like
"No! No, I-I-I-I-I-I just assumed that you, you, you spent your evenings
downloading incantations and, and, and casting bones," and Jenny's all
like "On game night? Are you nuts?"
So they go to the football game (what a great
place for a first date) and Jenny and Giles have one of their best exchanges
on the show, discussing the merits of football. "I don't know
what it is about football that does it for me. I mean, it lacks the, the
grace of basketball, the poetry of baseball. At its best it's unadorned
aggression. It's such a rugged contest," Jenny says.
Giles: Rugged. American football.
(laughs)
Jenny: And that's funny
because?
Giles: No! (laughs) I just think
it's rather odd that a nation that prides itself on its virility
should feel compelled to strap on forty pounds of protective gear just
in order to play rugby.
Jenny: Is this your normal strategy
for a first date? Dissing my country's national pastime?
Giles: Did you just say 'date'?
Jenny: You noticed that, huh?
They're so perfect for each other, it's not
even funny. Actually it is pretty funny. Although I side with
Ms. Calendar on the football issue. Football is cool. Go Pittsburgh.
Anyway, Ms. Calendar helped Giles predict the night of St. Vigeous in School Hard. During the siege, when Giles was about to go into the halls to help Buffy, She expressed her concern, but didn't try to stop him, realizing that his duty was that important. She also elected, at the end of the episode, to stay with him despite the constant threats to their lives. It was pretty cool.
In Lie to Me, one of my all time favorite episodes, Ms. Calendar played no role in the storyline but still was awesome. We found out another one of Ms. Calendars pastimes: Monster truck rallies. She took Giles to one. That would have been a scene I'd like to see. Giles at the Monster truck rally. I've never been to a Monster Truck Rally, but being the white trash that I am I'd probably enjoy them. Also, she got a good dig on his clothes. "Well, I, I... Uh, how will I know what to wear?" "Do you own anything else?"
The Dark Age had to be a sucky episode for Ms. Calendar. It
starts out great, Giles and Jenny have a date lined up and everything (you know he's gonna get some),
and they have another exchange which exemplifies why she is one of my favorite
character. Giles had lent Ms. Calendar a book, and she's giving it
back to him.
Jenny: Yeah, y'know how you have to,
to dog-ear your favorite pages so you can go back to them?
Giles: Uh, uh, uh, what?
Jenny: Well, I mean, I-I practically
had to fold back every single page. So finally I just, I just started underlining
all the pages I really wanted to discuss.
Giles: U-u-underlined...?
Jenny: But then, of course, I
spilled coffee all over it, I can't even read it...
Giles: (can't believe it) It's
a first edition!
Jenny: I'm lying, Rupert. (smiles)
The book's fine. (holds it up) I just love to see you squirm.
Jenny is so serious, that Giles can't even
tell she's joking. I think she brings out a part of him he needs
to display more often. She tells him he's a fuddy duddy, which everyone
seems to say, but she then says he's a sexy fuddy duddy, the part which
"usually gets left out." Jenny brings that part out of him.
Of course, they aren't allowed to stay happy.
The demon that Giles called up in his past as ripper comes to life and
possesses Ms. Calendar, and she tries first to seduce and then kill Giles,
and also Buffy. In an ironic twist of fate, it is Angel that saves
her life. Ms. Calendar, however, can't deal with the trauma right
then, and pushes Giles away. Kinda sucks, because they were gonna
have sex. Giles asked if she wanted to go out, and Jenny said she'd
rather stay in. Damn it all.
In Ted, Jenny is still keeping her
distance. Giles comes to find out how she is, and she pretty much
tells him to leave her alone, she needs space, she feels guilty that she's
not better yet, but can't bring herself to forgive him. But later,
when he's patrolling for Buffy, she finds him to apologize, and when they
are attacked by a vampire she shoots Giles with a crossbow. Giles
still manages to kill the vampire. They make up then, I guess when
you've shot someone with a crossbow you kinda have to forgive them for
what they did, even if it was getting you possessed by an ancient demon.
Surprise was, in my opinion the worst
episode of Buffy to date. And Ms. Calendar was one of the worst parts.
I thought the gypsy thing went totally against Ms. Calendar's entire character.
The things that we learned about her just didn't mesh with what we already
knew. In Prophesy Girl, she didn't know about Buffy or anything.
Now they're trying to convince us it was all an act, and she was spying
the whole time. I didn't like it. Truthfully, I thought it
was the worst twist on the show. And in the wake of Becoming,
part 2 and the end of both Jenny's run and the Buffy/Angelus arc, I
still think it sucked. She didn't really even need to be a gypsy
to find the curse. She used her technopaganness.
Innocence was much better. Being
an 11/10 episode, it better have been. Joss seemed to be like "we
opened this gypsy thing, now lets try to fix it." She seemed to try
and choose her life as Jenny over Jaana, but Buffy wouldn't let her.
One thing I never figured out. Was Buffy mad at Jenny because her
job was to keep Buffy and Angel apart and make sure he suffered, or was
she mad because she didn't do it. I think Buffy just needed a scapegoat.
Anyway, the gypsy thing marked the seeming
death of Ms. Calendar's relationship with most of the gang. She makes
an attempt both at the end of Innocence and in
Bewitched,
Bothered, and Bewildered to get back in Buffy and
Giles' good graces, but is shot down both times. Actually, the second
time the apology is kind of interrupted since she's feeling up Xander.
I think it's hilarious when she bickers with Amy. Even better is
when Giles makes both Amy and Jenny stay to help break the spell, and while
Amy is able to put her cravings aside to help, Jenny gets bored of the
whole thing and goes to stalk Xander.
As much as it sucked to be Jenny in The
Dark Age, it must have sucked a whole lot more in Passion.
I thought Passion was Robia LaMorte's best work. I knew what
lay ahead, so it was really hard to watch the Giles/Jenny make up scene.
I so, so wanted to see them together, since they play so well. She
did such a good job, and really make the episode. But it wasn't my
favorite Jenny episode since she DIED. I still haven't gotten over
that one.
Anyway, everyone's pissed at her, but they're starting to come around.
Buffy spoke to her, Willow was going to help take her class so she could
run an errand, and Giles was willing to give her another chance.
On top of that, she found the spell and was all set to cure Angel.
Bang, no harm done, Angel said some mean things but truthfully, he didn't
do anything that bad. Happy endings all around. But noooo, Joss decides
we need even more angst. So "snap," break Jenny's neck. Drop
her in a heap.
What I liked about Passion is that
it showed Jenny is still devoted to Buffy and Giles, even if they have
alienated her. She gave her life for them.
Jenny's last appearance was in Becoming,
part 2, but only in a vision caused by Drusilla. She tricked
Giles into giving Angelus the secrets of the ritual. However, I believe
that Jenny reached out from beyond the grave to help Willow perform the
curse. Other people think it was the old gypsy woman, but I think
it was Jenny. Hopefully they'll address that in a future Ep.
Even more hopefully, they'll use that gypsyness I hated so much and bring
Jenny back. I know it's pretty damn unlikely, but hell, it's Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. They've brought dead people to life before (Daryl
Epps, SAR), who's to say they can't do it again. Or maybe
she could be a ghost. That would be cool, since the entire gang could
be dating creatures of the night. Buffy and Angel (vampire), Willow
and Oz (werewolf), Giles and Jenny (ghost), and Xander and Cordelia.
Or not...
The show suffers without Jenny because it's just Giles and a
bunch of teenagers. To anyone looking in, it's kinda creepy how much
time Giles and Buffy spend together. In Phases, Kain thought
they were lovers. What if, say, police chief Bob were to get suspicious?
Giles would wind up in jail. With Jenny, there, all of the sudden
it takes away any trace of that aspect. Jenny is the only woman for
Giles. I saw a hint of Giles/Joyce in Killed by Death, but
I hate Joyce and would never want a Giles/Joyce paring. Joyce/Spike, maybe, but not Joyce/Giles. Truthfully,
I'd trade Joyce for Jenny in a second. I miss Jenny. I want
more Jenny episodes. And I want Angel to stay in hell for killing
her. But I guess I don't always get what I want.
One last note about Ms. Calendar–she's damn
hot, and I bet she shags like a minx. I'd like to see what she could
do in bed. I really like her clothes, too. They'd look really
good crumpled on my floor...sorry, I suppose I should stop now. Farewell
to Jenny. 
people mourn the loss of Jenny Calendear.
.