Re: 'Villians' Thoughts *Spoilers for Ep*

["wizathogwarts" <mcronin24@xxxxxxxxx>]

I don't have a spoiler, just a hope.  
That this entire setup is a way for Buffy and Willow to finally come 
together, which of course would mean season 7 would be the last.  
But if it is the last season, maybe they'll do it. 
Yea, I know I'm dreaming.

--- In buffywantswillow@y..., danspector@w... wrote:
> Some for DEM, Some for Cas, and some 
> 
> j
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> s
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> f
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> t
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>  
> h
> e
> c
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>  
> o
> f
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> 
> Well, I still think Willow's **bitterest** irony is that if Tara 
hadn't
> made her give up the mojo, she could have had that bullet out of 
her
> before she had time to hit the floor, but I agree the locator spell
> thing is a keeper. All I'm saying is cut from "We are not going 
to let
> Willow destroy herself" to Willow with the map and the blood and 
then
> cut back to B/X/D about to leave and Xander's "where do we go" 
(from
> here?) line. Breaks up the long scene, and adds some insulating
> distance between "Buffy cares deeply for Willow" and "Buffy thinks 
Spike
> would make a great babysitter", which would stifle the bad taste a
> little, anyway.
> 
> This whole "Buffy misses Spike" deal has got to be enormously 
offensive
> for anyone who's been sexually assaulted, right? Hell of a 
message to
> put out there. I know we thought the anti-drug message 
in "Wrecked" was
> over the top, but I doubt anyone wanted Marti to pull this far 
back on
> the morality meter.
> 
> I'm just trying to conceive it: your ex-boyfriend tries to rape 
you,
> and 24 hours later you think he's the guy you want watching your
> 15-year-old kid sister. Not on this planet. No one is actually 
after
> Dawn, and Warren doesn't know Janice exists, much less where she 
lives.
> Send the kid anywhere but Spike's. Even mainstream reviewers have
> mentioned this.
> 
> On the Buffy-as-focus issue: I don't mind seeing Buffy's p.o.v. on
> Willow-related events, but I agree, we don't need Buffy's subplots 
at
> all. If we need the Spike scene (won't really know until we see 
what's
> up with him next week) then my best guess is to find a reason to 
keep
> either the Warren/bar or Warren/Rack scene (actually, I think 
they're
> both superfluous) and work a cut like this:
> 
> Rack: You're going to need a lot of help, kid. You don't know 
what
> you're messing with.
> 
> Warren: Hey, I'm no rookie, okay? I'm the guy behind the Trio, 
and we
> damn near ran this town!
> 
> (Rack looks at him like he's from Mars)
> 
> Warren (cont.): Well, we would have if it wasn't for that Slayer 
bitch.
> I'm telling you, we were evil!
> 
> SMASH CUT TO:  
> 
> Spike in the demon's cave (skip the crap with the villagers and the
> paintings, and get to the point).
> 
> Demon:--you were a great dark warrior, but now you are nothing. You
> dare come to me after the way you let the Slayer toy with you?
> 
> Spike: Look, mate, I didn't come all the way to bleeding Africa 
to be
> insulted! Get this sodding chip out of my head and I'll show you a
> warrior.
> 
> Demon: You are unworthy.
> 
> Spike: I'm the worthiest man you'll ever meet, Glow-Eyes. Give 
me your
> tests, whatever you've got, and I'll tear them into pieces. And 
then,
> once you take care of that stinking chip, I'll do the same thing 
to the
> Slayer. (quieter) Bitch is gonna suffer.
> 
> CUT TO:  
> 
> Buffy in the operating room, her life slipping away.
> 
> Something like that, get Spike over and done with quickly.  
Normally,
> I'm against cramming the subplot scenes into Act 1 at the expense 
of the
> main plot, but here there's no real way to justify cutting to 
Spike once
> Will's on the warpath, so get it out of the way asap.
> 
> Likewise, I was thinking about the slowness of Act 3, and I 
couldn't
> help imagining how much faster and tenser the scenes used to play.
> Here's how I'd rewrite the Act, roughly:
> 
> Buffy and Xander find Dawn sitting with Tara's corpse, that's a 
keeper.
> 
> Sofa scene, up to "we are not going to let Willow destroy 
herself". Cut
> to:
> 
> Willow in the dorm (no intervening establishing shot) doing the 
spell on
> the shirt.
> 
> Buffy, Dawn and Xander heading out the door (gives a little more 
urgency
> if they're actually going somewhere). Magic Box, what to do with 
Dawn,
> I want to go to Spike's, Okay, Are you nuts, get your stuff, B/X 
argue,
> she wins, Dawn's back, they go.
> 
> Warren driving like hell, on a lonely road near a forest.
> 
> Back to Willow. She's now levitating the sweater with the bloody 
map on
> it. Spooky music plays and the flashing spot on the sweater 
begins to
> grow and peel back, opening a portal to that same lonely road (a 
fairly
> simple dissolve, tricked up a little). She steps through the 
portal
> onto the road, perhaps gets run over by Warren's car (although that
> kills the effect of the axing, so I'm ambivalent). In any event, 
by the
> end of the scene, Willow has pyrokinetically blown up the car and 
Warren
> is fleeing into the woods.
> 
> Magic Box. Buffy sweeps in, in full slayer mode, and the camera 
tracks
> with her as pulsing Chris Beck music plays on the score, 
throughout this
> scene. (See, get some urgency here. We don't need the Horns of 
Doom
> [from "Innocence" and "Earshot"], maybe just some staccato strings 
and
> an occasional tympani or something.)
> 
> Xander (as Buffy comes towards him and Anya; really bitter, we 
don't
> know why yet): So, how's Spike?
> 
> Buffy: Out of town. I left Dawn with Clem. (Xander starts to say
> something, but Buffy cuts him off) Not now. (To Anya) Can you 
do the
> spell?
> 
> Anya starts to answer, but Xander cuts her off, and now we see 
it's ANYA
> he's really pissed at.
> 
> Xander (coldly furious): Oh, Anya doesn't need any spells. Tell 
her.
> 
> Anya (embarassed): I can track Willow myself. I, I can feel her 
need
> for Vengeance calling me.
> 
> Buffy: Even though you're no longer-- (gets it) Oh.
> 
> Xander: Seems D'Hoffryn gave Ahn an un-wedding present she forgot 
to
> mention.
> 
> Anya, her embarrasment being overwhelmed by anger, would answer, 
but
> Buffy doesn't have time for this, either.
> 
> Buffy: Then let's go. (she starts to do that)
> 
> Xander: Uh, Buffy?
> 
> Buffy stops, turns back to him. He cocks his head toward the 
counter.
> 
> Xander: Tranq gun?
> 
> Buffy (to Anya): Would it stop her?
> 
> Anya: No.
> 
> Buffy: There's your answer.  
> 
> She turns again and heads out the door, the others hurrying after.
> Score bulids as we--
> 
> CUT TO: Warren hurrying through the woods, and probably some extra
> action to fill the time we've saved. I'm for him glamering up a 
few
> duplicates and sending them in different directions, and Willow 
burning
> them all, or something like that.
> 
> Anyway, I know this could still be improved on, but the main thing 
is to
> get a sense of movement, get the Spike scene out of the way 
earlier on,
> lose the Clem scene (saving James Leary's salary, btw), skip the 
Xanya
> chat, since we have to tell Buffy about Anya being a demon anyway 
and we
> don't need to see that twice in two minutes, and add some action.
> 
> On the blocking in the B/D/X scene, that's not really surprising, 
since
> a lot of the time Xander is blocked so as to keep him away from the
> women. Early on, this was great, since it put Buffy and Willow
> together, but sometimes it's annoying, like when Joss moved him 
onto the
> floor (the floor!) to give the "you're my hero" speech in "The
> Freshman", just so there wouldn't be a hug, much less a possible 
kiss...
> 
> Also, the "Into the Woods" showdown was much the same, although 
they did
> get fairly close to each other by the end of that. And, likewise, 
the
> Willow/Xander scenes in "Wild at Heart" and "Something Blue" put a 
lot
> of unnecessary space between them. I don't know, put Nick close to
> Sarah or Aly ("Phases" for Buffy, "Homecoming" et. seq. for Willow,
> "BB&B" for both of them), and I see plenty of chem. And, yes, I'm 
aware
> all the examples are 3+ years gone. "People are taking Xander too
> seriously, he's just supposed to be comic relief." Fuck you, Joss.
> 
> Speaking of people not being together, did you notice 
that "Villains"
> was the THIRD FUCKING EP IN A ROW without B/W being alone for ONE 
LOUSY
> SECOND? I mean, yes, some nice stuff, and I can't complain about
> getting 3 (!) big Three Musketeers scenes, but if the finale is all
> about "Buffy vs. Willow" and "I have to fight the person I'm 
closest to
> in the world", wouldn't it behoove the arc to have them together 
for
> just a few seconds out of the previous 130 minutes of show (not 
counting
> ads)?
> 
> I think Marti just makes way too many assumptions about the 
audiencee:
> 
> She assumes that we all remember that Spike is soulless and 
absolutely
> should never be with Buffy, so she feeds us the Noble Spike scenes 
from
> "Tough Love" through "Flooded", with nary a hint of evil, because 
she
> thinks she has to work real hard for us to believe Buffy would even
> consider it--and then she's shocked when a huge chunk of the 
audience
> thinks Spike's the hero and doesn't understand why Buffy's mean to 
him.
> 
> She assumes we will all always love Willow, so she sticks her with 
Tara
> the Perfect Lesbian Mouse (because character flaws would make Tara 
too
> interesting)-- and then she's shocked when people take Tara's side 
and
> so she has to do the Magic=Drugs thing to regain some sympathy for
> Willow and make this current arc painful.
> 
> She assumes that we all remember that Willow is the most important
> person in Buffy's life (except maybe Dawn) and so she skimps on 
(hell,
> omits) the B/W in these last few eps--and I bet she'll be shocked 
when
> a lot of the audience doesn't feel Buffy's pain at all, and thinks
> Willow should die or stay evil.
> 
> Basically, Marti thinks the whole audience thinks like us, and 
while
> that's a nice compliment, it's very unrealistic. Marti of all 
people
> should know that sometimes the fans don't react the way you want 
them
> to; remember Riley, honey?
> 
> (And if Marti is writing for us, how come we haven't had any 
smoochies?
> Grumble, bitch, moan.)
> 
> Lastly, is it just me, or does this arc not really seem to fit 
with the
> Magic=Drugs thing? If Willow is making these poor choices because 
the
> Willow-haters were right all along and she's a horrible person, 
then how
> come she's been so good at staying clean and being good 
since "Wrecked"?
> OTOH, if she's the Willow we love and admire and this is just a
> momentary relapse into an evil addiction that makes her do things 
she
> would never do, that's a little pointless for an end-of-season 
arc, no?
> Not to mention Warren had ZERO chance of getting acquitted (two
> eyewitness that know him personally saw him do it) and California 
has
> the death penalty (alas, IMO), so where was the real need for 
Willow to
> take revenge herself? These people know where the line is: Giles
> didn't dust Angel in "Amends", Willow didn't curse Oz, and no one
> smothered Faith while she was in her coma.  
> 
> Hell, the average murder victim's relatives don't go mowing down 
their
> loved ones' killers, and it's not like they can't buy a gun and 
only
> Willow has the power to do this, or anything like that. For the 
girl
> who resouled Angel to take such an unnecessary revenge...the more I
> think of it, the more contrived this seems. Ah, well....
> 
> Dan
> 
> off to bed