Re: "As You Were" (Nathan Campbell)

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Nathan,

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are you?

As I say, I hope it's Miss I-Blame-Myself-for-Everything being tentative
as she reaches a conclusion a difficult part of her life. I just really
didn't like it when I saw it, because I'd been unfortunately spoiled
about the impending breakup, and was waiting to see how real it was, and
when it turned out to be the gentlest breakup in the history of the
show, with the "William" seeming to portend a more intimate relationship
(maybe a change from lust to friendship, but also maybe one from lust to
romance), I was not convinced. Indeed, I was convinced it was just a
bump on the road to true B/S love, which would be "turn off the series"
time for me.

And I'm still worried because:

a) Buffy doesn't have the fire back. I don't think I can believe
there's been a final word on this until Buffy's "sane" again. (And
until it's no longer a secret, so we can lose the "she's afraid to admit
she loves him, even to herself, because she's terrified of what her
friends will say" argument.)

b) Buffy hasn't made a right call on this relationship all year. Every
time she's said it was nothing or it was over or she'd never wear
handcuffs, she's been wrong so far. As I wrote, I was almost rooting
for her to profess "love", so I would know that the climactic turn still
to come would be "oops, I was wrong".  

I mean, it didn't feel like a climax, did it? Bad acting, maybe. Bad
directing, maybe. Bad news for the future, a definite possiblity.

c) Given all the hoopla they've given this affair, and the way they've
dragged it out, I certainly did not expect an ending in ep 15. There's
room for a twist or two still, and from "polite breakup" the twist is
either "make up" or "total war". I'm hoping for war, but not convinced.

d) She's still cutting him way too many breaks. The Suvolte demon eggs
would have killed thousands of people, maybe even wiped out the human
race. That's not a "stupid scheme', that's attempted mass murder. Why
isn't she at least trying to stake him? (He can survive, he can fight
her now, remember?)

Reducing his evil to a near-triviality does not bode well for that being
the ultimate barrier to a relationship. She also admits she desires him
(so it's no longer just that he's "convenient") and tacitly acknowledges
his "love" (a soulless creature can never truly love, IMO, but that
looks to be swept under the rug, now).  

So she wants him, he loves her, she thinks his evilness is mostly just
silly, and their big break up was extremely quiet and polite. None of
that bodes well for permanent estrangement.

I'll be hopeful. If there's a reconciliation to come, Petrie didn't clue
it in the script notes, which is good. And while I didn't read
Kirayoshi's ep 17 spoilers, he seemed happy, so I'm encouraged.

But this was a scratch on the shoulder, not a stake throught the heart
of the B/S and its 'shippers. And until B/S is dust, I'm not turning my
back on it--it's a bloodsucking show-killer, IMO. DIe, B/S, die!
(pardon me, just had to say it)

Fingers crossed, breath held, cynicism holding firm,

Dan

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Just hoping that the ep 17 title ("Normal Again"), while describing the
main plot of the ep (yep, also got minor spoiled on that--totally
against my will) , will also prove to be a description of Buffy's mental
state by the end of the ep. Come on, Sarah, isn't 17 frickin' eps long
enough to wait before going back to playing Buffy? (I'm partially
convinced the reason for this year is that SMG would only re-up if she
could play a dramatically different character. Hence MopeyLoserBuffy
was born. That's this week's theory, anyway,)

The whole year without the main character--oy! What are they going to
do for new Sarah shots in the credits next year? There hasn't been a
Buffy moment all year. No smiles, no hugs, no anger, no resolute
fighting. What, are they going to add shots of her submitting to Spike,
scraping the Doublemeat grill, whimpering about how pathetic she is?
(As Xander said in "Lie to Me", you're not wrong)

Need. Buffy. Now.

Dan
(who just realized that the more he thinks about the show, the angrier
he gets)