Just Some Thoughts--SPOILERS!! (for "Bargaining" and "After Life")

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Just thought I'd do some reflecting on Season 6 before I see "Flooded"
tonight. So:

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--because it isn't quite yet a week since "After Life".

1) When I mentioned the negative perceptions of Willow (selfish,
power-crazed), I wasn't endorsing them, I was just stating the subtext
that we're supposed to take in viewing Buffy's separation from the
Scoobs and her clinging to Dawn and Spike. Even on the show, Willow and
the gang believe they did what they did for the right reasons, but we're
just supposed to compare and contrast these blind fools with Spike, her
true love.

Pardon me while I go vomit.

2) A lot of the "wonderful things" Spike does that show how he cares are
stupid. A big deal is made about Sopike knowing it was 147 days that
Buffy had been dead. Like Willow WASN'T counting the days?? Or that
Spike spent every night reliving Buffy's death, except in his dreams he
saves her. Like WILLOW doesn't spend every night reliving what
happened, imagining how she could have saved Buffy?

I guess Willow's being punished for having Tara; she can't really love
Buffy because she's not alone like Spike is (and Dawn is). Well,
someone ought to tell Aly, because she's playing her scenes so full of
"I love Buffy", her emotions re: Buffy 3 times more intense than
Xander's (thus pointing up the difference between loving Buffy as a
friend and loving her as a soulmate ). Look at "Bargaining, Part 2",
when she thinks the spell failed--that's a girl who has just lost the
only girl she will ever truly love, nothing else. Look at the "thank
you" scene at the end of "After Life"--Anya, Tara and Xander are all
cautious, uncertain about what Buffy is saying, and Willow is the
picture of rhapsodic, beatific joy. Oh, but that's supposed to be
ironic, she can't tell that Buffy's lying, unlike the sensitive vampire
outside.

Of course, in the Buffy/Spike scene, it is pretty easy for Spike to see
that she's upset, since Buffy's not pretending to be happy any more.
And he does get her problem completely wrong, but I guess that doesn't
matter?

3) As to Willow not being as devoted as Spike to Buffy, er, which one
of them risked everything to bring Buffy back, and which one was moping
in his crypt? Oh, but that's supposed to be a BAD thing?

4) And yet, Spike criticizes Willow when he's speaking to Xander, saying
that Willow would have called off the spell if Buffy came back a zombie
and Spike wouldn't have let her. So let me see if I've got this right:

Spike is better than Willow because he doesn't have a girlfriend, but
also because he doesn't use dark magic to bring Buffy back, and yet also
because he's more willing to accept the evil consequences of Buffy's
return.

Well, that's consistent. You were wrong to use black magic and I'm
better than you because I'd keep Zombie Buffy alive.

All together now: HUH???

5) We're supposed to dislike Willow for not telling Tara or Xander
about the fawn. Of course we notice that Willow hasn't lied to BUFFY
about anything. Also, I didn't notice Spike telling her the chip was
out of juice.

Well, maybe that's a good thing. That could be what ends the B/S
"romance" BS. You know how in "Bargaining, Part 2" Spike sees the
demons tearing everything up and gets this wistful look for a moment?
We all thought that meant he wished he could still do that, but can't
because of the chip. Now that we think we know the chip's on the fritz,
we're thinking it meant that Spike wished he could rampage, but he can't
for Dawn's sake.

But what I'm actually thinking is that Spike may have actually BEEN
rampaging and was just regretting he couldn't do it at the moment,
because he was guarding Dawn. Wouldn't it be great if we found out that
Spike has been killing people all summer, then he comes over and plays
"nice vamp" with the gang? Perhaps that's why he's out in the daytime
at the end of "After Life"--he does his murdering indoors or in shadows
during the day (while the gang thinks he's watching soaps in his crypt)
and then plays at being Honorary Scoob in the evenings. It's worth
noting that Spike still doesn't do good deeds, he just does good things
for the sake of a Summers woman.

6) It's kind of weird, but now that Tara has been lumped in with the
"bad, stupid friends" I'm almost defending her more. They have made her
a little more colorful this year (sort of from bone to beige). In
"Bargaining" she fights on her own, does magic on her own, and even
saves Willow. They still won't give her any funny lines, but they did
let her join in on Anya's zingers when Xander asks who made Willow boss.
And that bit with "maybe the vampire was taking prescription medication"
was sort of a counterpart to her (unseen) explanation to Dawn in
"Intervention" that Spike built Buffybot to play checkers with. See,
that's a distinguishing trait--Tara's the one who comes up with the
lame theories. Not exactly charismatic, but at least distinctive.

Of course, as I say, they're probably just trying to make her nice so
Willow can hurt her and we can hate Willow. Grrrrr?

7) On Carla Ortiz's theory that the title "Bargaining" means Willow
actually sold her soul to bring Buffy back, I didn't take it that
literally (I sort of think it means that Willow just got them in trouble
by dealing with Osiris), but It's worth thinking about.

8) The whole plot for the season, if it's what we fear it is, just
doesn't work. Willow is on the show to be the person Buffy saves, the
archetype of human decency. If humanity/Willow isn't fundamentally
good, then why should Buffy break a sweat over it? Likewise, if death
was so great for Buffy, why slay vamps? Let the vamps kill people and
the people can go to the heaven Buffy misses so much.

The major problem I see is how to get Buffy out of this "I was in heaven
and I loved it" crap without her having been under hypnosis or some such
cheap trick. How can you get her truly dedicated to the cause of life
if death is no longer to be feared? How do you disavow Buffy's version
of the afterlife without showing "heaven" to us (and wouldn't THAT end
up looking really cheesy) ?

9) More specifically, and I guess this is good news, Buffy's
determination to keep her emotional state a secret from her friends is
Wrong-with-a-capital-W. So this gives me hope that Buffy will realize
the error of her ways, let it out and let the true healing begin. For
if there is one thing the Buffyverse has taught us, it is that keeping
things to yourself and trying to be a lone wolf NEVER works and is
always wrong. Some examples:

Buffy in "Prophecy Girl", "When She Was Bad", "Becoming, Part 2", "Dead
Man's Party", "Beauty and the Beasts", "Consequences", "The Freshman",
"Fear, Itself", "The Yoko Factor", "Forever" and probably many others

Willow in "Doppelgangland", "Something Blue", "Tough Love" (and I
suppose "New Moon Rising" also qualifies)

Oz in "Wild at Heart"

Giles in "Passion"

Jenny in "Surprise" and "Passion"

Tara in "Goodbye Iowa" and "Family"

Angel in "Lie to Me", "Amends", "Reunion", "Heartthrob" and probably
others

Faith in "Faith, Hope and Trick", "Consequences" and "Five by Five"

(and doubtless many more?)

All of the above are cases of people keeping secrets from their friends
or bottling up their emotions or attacking a menace on their own and it
is ALWAYS a bad idea. I guess the only thing that could be a
counter-example is Xander working solo in "The Zeppo", but he had to
learn self-reliance, and even he is ultimately saved by Oz-wolf. Plus
the gang must have found out, because we never see "oh, stay behind,
Xander, you need to be safe" again, so I guess they learned that
including him out was wrong.

So Buffy can't shut her friends, especially her best friend (true love,
soulmate, etc.), out forever, right? Well, I hope not. I swear, if
they try and redo this show with Spike as Angel's replacement and Dawn
as the emotional heart, I will be very unhappy.

After all, Buffy may have memories of all those years with Dawn, but we
don't, so we don't feel invested in her. And since Aly could out-act
Michelle Trachtenberg in her sleep, the emotional resonance won't be
anywhere near as powerful.

Wishing bright blessings to righteous redheads,.

Dan