Re: Rewrite Season 6 - Dan and Spoilers

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Hunter,

I wish I had great quotes at my fingertips

you

know,

like

DEM

always 

seems 

to.

Where's

my 

Bartlett's (now that I need it?)


Well, if it was "Wrecked", it was "Wrecked", my bad. Just sounded
differently to me, coming the week of "Seeing Red". (If you'd made the
question "Should Willow be addicted", I never would have misunderstood,
but I probably wasn't as perceptive as I could be.)

Oh, and this is a clear indication that we need a threaded board, and
soon, because this is a JAABAW-worthy discussion growing here. Like
Will's ideas (save that for later, though), but I particularly like your
comment that the cast have been turned into props. 

Take the Giles/Willow scene in "Flooded" (the scene I hate the most in
the ep I think is the worst ever). I'm going to let Espenson take the
rap for the godawful Buffy/Brad scene that follows right afterwards on
the porch (where Brad jokes about killing Buffy's family, and Buffy
laughs, because she knows that Brad would never do it, unlike his evil
twin, Spike), but blame Doug Petrie for this one.

Doug wants to make the audience realize that Willow is an evil
egomaniac, and have Giles worry about Buffy, to give Buffy and Brad
something to overhear and start the next scene by talking about.

But Dougie is so busy moving his chesspieces around, he doesn't bother
with a simple question, namely, "If Giles is worried about Willow's
magic, what would he say?" Giles's entire behavior in the scene
(turning his back to her, calling her names, yelling at her) is
SPECTACULARLY off-key. Of all of them, she's the one he's known the
longest, and he knows that's not how to deal with her. It's utterly
ridiculous that after that beautiful airport farewell scene in
"Bargaining, Part 1", this is their next interaction. (You can see Jane
E's Buffy/Giles 'shipping all over the ep, with Rupert only being
concerned about Buffy [and Dawn]).

Anyway, in a normal scene, Giles would be gentle but firm, and
emphasize how worried he is about Willow. That bit about how there are
other people who can do that sort of magic but she doesn't want to meet
them wouldn't inspire an (ironic plot anvil!) "I'm not a bad guy", but
she'd read his concern and try to reassure him that she'll be careful.
When he sticks to his point that it was dangerous, and he doesn't know
how Buffy is and she really shouldn't have done it, she could:

a) break down and admit she didn't know what else she could do, she
couldn't go on without Buffy.

b) shut down and retreat into denial, putting on her happy face (in a
nervous, Willow-y) way and leaving him even more worried

c) get angry and tell him to mind his own business, either harshly, or
with an "I don't want to deal with it, please, let me go, okay" panic
(akin to Buffy at the end of the "I Quit" scene in "Prophecy Girl")

Any of this would have been truer to form and given us far greater
insight into Willow's turmoil than "Giles screams at her and she gives
him a supervillain 'maybe it's not such a good idea to piss me off'
line."

BTW, if Giles is so freaked by Willow's magic, and convinced she's about
to go psycho as this scene suggests by the end, why does he leave?
Okay, Buffy needs space, but according to his reaction here, he seems to
think Willow's on the edge of cracking and needs a tight rein. Instead
he leaves, right after she blows another spell...oh, who needs character
consistency, right?

One example of about a thousand, the most recent being Tara coming back
to Willow but not actually dealing with the relationship or their trust
issues or Willow's recovery and what it means to be with a practicing
witch again. Nah, the W/T reunion is there for "Tara dies, Willow
cries, Willow goes evil" (and a lot of sex for the 'shippers). Not one
inch deeper than that.

Dan