Re: Humans, demons, and jurisdiction (DISCUSSION OF FINALE)

["blinviz" <debvii@xxxxxxxxx>]

well, now i've gone an added spoilers for the finale...

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--- In buffywantswillow@y..., Jason Rune <winter_herald@y...> wrote:
> Something's been bugging me lately. Actually, a lot
> of things have been bugging me lately, but this one
> gets its own post.

This has been bugging me a lot, too, but I've been thinking about it a 
little differently than you have. Consider: If Warren is not under 
Slayer jurisdiction, then why didn't Buffy report Warren et al as soon 
as she knew they were engaged in illegal activity? Why did she 
continue to pursue them on her own? Even if she was planning to turn 
them over to the police after capture, why not still alert the 
authorities beforehand and/or use them as "backup"? At least then 
there would have been a case file, police searching for evidence, 
etc. Ya know?

> Does Buffy have the
> authority (never mind whether she could actually get
> past their magic) to kill a human with granted powers
> used to disembowel, maim and torture?

I'm gonna leave Anya out of this cuz she IS a demon, no matter what 
that demon-ness looks like. In any case, I'd say, yes, she does have 
the authority to slay supernaturally-powered humans. Note, however 
that Buffy doesn't think so.

> Rack. If, theoretically, Buffy were in a position to
> kill Rack, would she have the justification?

Notice that Buffy never mentioned the (seeming) murder of Rack in Two 
To Go.

> The list could go on.

Werewolves. And it's in that case and in "accidental deaths" that I 
think has ME shown its hand. In the case of Oz, he somehow managed to 
not kill a single human being until Veruca, only maul them (as if 
that's nothing). Then he killed Veruca so, IMO, Buffy wouldn't have 
to. Also, in general, BtVS has gone out of its way to excuse Buffy of 
human deaths that take place in the line of duty. She hits the 
person, person slips, falls into the fishtank/hyena cage/line of 
magical energy and is **consumed by her/his own creation**. Zookeeper 
Bob, Katherine Madison, Coach Marin, and Ms Post all follow that 
pattern. And speaking of Ms Post, why is it okay to chop the woman's 
arm off, leaving her probably near death with all that blood splurting 
out from a major artery?

Notably, in all of these cases (incl. Rack & The Knights) -- except 
for the (IMO) cursory and not entirely logical arguments about 
werewolves -- Buffy shows little to no remorse about these deaths. 
IOW, ME dodges.

Ethan Rayne was another dodge: He convenieeeeently kept escaping 
until the Initiative was around to "detain" him.

> The way the show is going,
> humans and demons don't seem *quite* so far removed
> from each other as some would like to think. How well
> does Buffy's double standard really work?

The line may be moving (well, it started moving in Ep2), which could 
be a good thing (hero faces increasingly complex moral challenges), 
but I haven't yet seen much evidence that ME is gonna tackle the 
problem head-on. Mainly, I just shrug about these things and move on 
-- until Buffy starts spouting some claptrap about "the way".