Jenny Calendar

Jenny Calendar is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Played by Robia LaMorte, Jenny is the computer teacher at Sunnydale High School. Unbeknownst to Buffy or anyone else, Jenny has been sent to Sunnydale to keep an eye on Angel.

In the first two seasons of the series, Jenny Calendar is Rupert Giles' primary romantic interest. She serves to counter his technophobia and is a rare adult female role model for the young women in Buffy's circle. During the second season her true identity is revealed: she is Janna of the Kalderash, a member of the Romani group that cursed Angel. In response to an elder's visions that Angel is suffering less due to his growing romance with Buffy, Jenny is instructed to impede their relationship. As a result of events during the second season storyline (specifically in Season 2, Episode 14, "Innocence") Angel loses his soul and reverts to Angelus, his evil alter ego, eventually making Jenny his victim. Among the main cast, she is the series' first recurring character to die, and the manner of her death is noted for its disturbing effect on audiences.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was first created by Joss Whedon as a feature film in 1992. Unhappy with the film, Whedon later revived for television the concept of an adolescent girl who is given superhuman powers by mystical forces to defeat evil. The film only touches on the adult world surrounding Buffy Summers, while the series explores it in greater depth.

Originally trained as a dancer who toured and appeared in music videos with Prince, Robia LaMorte won the part of Jenny Calendar. LaMorte had appeared in contemporary television series such as Beverly Hills, 90210, but remarked specifically that she knew at once the material given to her to read in the audition for Buffy was different: "Sometimes you get scripts, and you just know. The words just fit in your mouth a different way when you know you're supposed to speak them. And I kind of knew I was going to get it." Anthony Head, who plays Giles on the series, had already been cast and was scheduled to read with LaMorte so the casting department could gauge their chemistry—which Head acknowledged, later saying, "She's gorgeous, like a David Bailey picture." LaMorte spent a few minutes before the audition speaking and joking with Head, assuming he was a producer. When it came time for them to enter the audition room together, she handed him the chewing gum from her mouth only to learn that he was the actor cast to play opposite her.

Jenny Calendar's first appearance is in the episode "I Robot, You Jane", which deals with the risks of online romance. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), one of Buffy's friends, is spending time online with someone she knows as Malcolm, who turns out to be a demon named Moloch the Corrupter. The series regularly employs monsters and elements of dark fantasy to represent real-life problems. As a Watcher, Giles is extremely knowledgeable about the creatures that Buffy must face. He has a large collection of books detailing the demon realms, upon which he relies as the main tool of research and problem-solving. Jenny challenges his traditional approach and helps him to solve the problem of how to find and kill the demon when Giles reveals himself to be a technophobe; she both frustrates and flirts with him in the process. Jenny's character was not intended to be recurring, but the chemistry exhibited between LaMorte and Head encouraged the writers to make her a regular member of the cast.

Jenny's role as a recurring character was cemented in "Prophecy Girl", where she acknowledges that she is aware of the many evil forces in Sunnydale and indicates she is willing to join the Scoobies in their fight against them. Jenny frequently helps through her access to, and knowledge of, technology; she and the related role of Willow represent the marriage of science and magic on the series. Jenny refers to herself as a techno-pagan, not a witch. She says she does not have the necessary power to be a witch, but is adept at researching demons and other occult topics to assist Giles and Buffy. Jenny introduces viewers to the series' expression of magic. In contrast to the more clichéd portrayals of magic in the media as an evil force akin to Satan-worshiping tinged with sexploitation, magic in Buffy instead represents a more earth-bound force that can be harnessed for a physical price. Jenny tells Giles that email and bone-casting are equally valid forms of receiving information. The combination of technology and magic represent the joining of masculine and feminine fields, which Jenny Calendar embodies.

Furthermore, many of Jenny's qualities demonstrate a closer kinship with the adolescent characters than the adult ones. In the first season, the female adolescents—Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter)—establish their identities in contrast to older women, usually parents or teachers. Jenny's youthful style and her rejection of a staid way of life indicate that she is a role model for the young female characters. They do not see her as an adversarial adult.

The conflicts in the second season broaden to explore the difficulties faced by Buffy as she becomes torn between love and duty—a theme which is also reflected in Jenny's storyline. Jenny and Giles begin dating in the episode "Some Assembly Required", and his attempts to ask her out force him into facing issues far more frightening than the monsters and demons with which he is familiar, and bring her into direct conflict with her secret reason for being in Sunnydale. Their romance is at the center of "The Dark Age", where it is revealed that Giles' past includes a youthful exploration into dark magic, when he was known to his friends as "Ripper". The result of this experimentation 20 years ago calls a demon named "Eyghon" to Sunnydale; the demon temporarily possesses Jenny, prompting her to halt their relationship. At the end of the episode, she tells Giles she needs some time away from him. Although the make-up requirement for LaMorte's appearance as Eyghon nearly gave her an anxiety attack, she considered this the most fun episode she filmed. She was called upon to throw Giles across the room and slam his head onto a table.