Re: OT: Buffy & EVW #22...

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Anne-Lise,

Now that's the Hanukah spirit! Complete with Tiny Jewish Evil Vampire
Santa!

I'm just sorry Buffy dusted him while he was wearing the coat. That's
quality leather, and it would be a nice memorial to Nikki the Disco
Slayer if it ended up back with another Chosen One.

As to those who thought Spike dusting seemed extreme, I guess, on show,
I wouldn't want him dusted because he used to be a quality character.
But, IMO, he's gone seriously downhill since the Buffy-lust started,
losing his trademark edge and insight. Sure, it was fun seeing him zing
Riley, but it's not like Spike's a step up, or anything.

'Shippy thoughts aside, I can never support B/S because I believe it
denigrates B/A and what (regardless of what we thought of it) that
relationship meant to the characters and the history of the show. It's
one thing if Angel was an unstoppable attraction between the dark and
the light, a deep passion that led Buffy to throw caution to the wind,
with memorably tragic consequences. It's fine if theirs was the Love of
the Ages, torn apart by destiny. Or alternatively, if it was an
immature, self-destructive spiral that Angel finally broke them out of,
for both Buffy's good and his own.

But if the only problem with the Buffy-Angel romance was that Buffy
jumped the wrong vampsicle, well, then, Jenny Calendar died for nothing,
and the masterpieces that are "Innocence", "Passion", and "Becoming" are
tainted. As are the emotions those eps evoked.

As to why there's a stronger anti-Spike pulse on this list, I would
guess (extrapolating from my own experiences) that we had a nervous
reaction to a season that seemed to be turning Willow irredeemably evil
(and maybe even killing her), just to facilitate a B/S romance for the
sake of ratings. Naturallty that wasn't going to go down well around
here, but "Smashed/Wrecked" seems to indicate that B/S is clearly a
mistake, which will be brief and best-forgotten, so I, for one, am much
calmer now.

Sorry if I've hijacked this letter from the much-deserved praise of the
strip, but the "why do folks hate Spike" question came up in regard to
the strip, so I thought I'd combine the two.

Once again, great work.

Dan