Showing up for the last couple episodes of season one, while having a small part Jenny plays a pretty major role in the unfolding of season two.
At first glance she is just the new (temporary) computer science teacher. She admits to dabbling in witchcraft, is very accepting of demons and vampires existing, and sometimes uses magic to help the Scoobies out. She is also a serious love interest for Giles - the only one he will ever get in the show. And their relationship is very rocky. When things finally start to get serious between them she is possessed by a demon from Giles's youth. While things are resolved safely (actually though Angel saving her), she pulls away for a little bit citing the need for space to figure things out.
However, halfway through season two, it is revealed that she is so much more then all of this. She is actually Janna of Kalderash, gypsy of the clan that cursed Angel - and she is in Sunnydale to spy on Angel because her clan senses that his torment is waning and he might be in danger of losing his soul.
The revelation of her true purpose, however, does not show a villain sent to spy on the Scoobies. It shows a conflicted soul. Her uncle's arrival to remind her of her true purpose causes her to question everything. She might have initially come to spy on Angel, but she has grown to love Giles and care for Buffy and her friends. She even argues that Angel loving Buffy - and Buffy loving him in return - might not be a bad thing. And don't forget that Angel even saved her life from the demon possessing her.
Her uncle, who represents her clan, disagrees. For him the matter is simple. Angel was cursed for his crime of killing a beloved member of their clan. For this Angel must suffer for all eternity. He cannot fall in love, he cannot find happiness. Not only because he does not deserve it for his sins, but because finding that happiness means that he will lose his soul and the demon will take over once again. It is interesting to note, that immediately upon becoming Angelus, Angel seeks out and murders Jenny's uncle implying that he knew just who Jenny was all along.
But Jenny is torn between her duty to her clan and continually lying to her friends. Ultimately her deceit is discovered when Angel loses his soul. Buffy casts her from their group. Jenny applies to Giles, but he turns her away reminding her that Buffy asked her to leave. As time goes by Jenny strives to make things better between her and Giles, but finally he tells her that it is not him that she needs to make things better between. After talking to Buffy - in which Buffy is torn between being angry and wanting what is best for Giles - Jenny decides she needs to restore Angel's soul.
She works on translating the ancient ritual used so she can replicate it. Drusilla finds out what she is doing, however, and Angel destroys her work and murders her in cold blood - by snapping her neck, not feeding on her making it truly murder.
Jenny was a tragic character torn between duty and love - duty to her clan and love for Giles along with the desire to pursue her own life with the people she wanted to live with. In the end she made the choice of love and her own life by trying to make amends with Buffy so that she could go back to being with Giles, but that choice would inadvertently cost her her life. Trying to do the right thing and restore Angel's soul would cause Angel to murder her. Her death also showed just how callous Angel was - and also showed just how unsafe the world could be.
While Jenny's story is done, the actress does appear again later on as The First Evil. However, that is only an impersonation, not the real Jenny.
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