B/W in "Bring on the Night"--quote from TelevisionWithoutPity review

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Warning: bitterness ahoy! If you don't like the bitter, don't bother.

The twist is, it isn't my bile this time. Over on the anti_buffyspike
list, we've been reprinting things from TWoP that accurately reflect our
own feelings. And since the summary of the B/W scenelet in Act 3 of
"Bring on the Night" pretty much mirrors my own feelings, and since it's
B/W, I've decided to bring it over to two lists for the price of one.

And now, Anne "Ace" Hansen, take it away!

"...Willow launches into a really longwinded apology to Buffy for not
being able to do magic without being possessed by evil. Buffy stares at
her, stony-faced, and I wish she'd just say something, anything, because
her lack of response just seems to make Willow ramble on more and more.  

"Willow finally concludes, 'I wish I could help out', and all Buffy can
manage in reply is 'Nobody expects you to make everything right', in the
saddest little tone of voice, clearly telegraphing her ever-so-crushing
awareness that everybody does expect BUFFY to make everything right.
I'm not quite sure at what point in this season I started disliking
Buffy so much, but this scene isn't really helping any.

"Willow is oblivious (despite Buffy's hostile, folded-arms posture) to
the fact that **Buffy has no interest in, or compassion for, her
distress** [emphasis mine], and continues to wish she could help.
Buffy's basically all 'butt out, whiny witch bitch; it's not like
you're the Chosen One' and turns to leave. Willow stops her, saying
that she knows Buffy won't ask for help even though she needs it, but
Buffy just shrugs and says, 'I'll be okay'.

"Is that supposed to be stoic? Am I supposed to feel sorry for her that
she won't discuss anything with anyone or ask for help, despite all the
times she's learned that her friends make her stronger? Blah."

Amen, Ace, amen.

This makes twice this season that Buffy has responded to Willow's
physical pain ("Same Time, Same Place" and Act 1 of this ep), twice that
she's immediately shut down on learning that Willow is "letting Buffy
down" by not using the magic properly (in "STSP" when Willow says she
did the spell by accident, and in this ep when she begs Buffy not to
make her do magic any more) because Willow does magic, that's what
Willow does and Willow has no purpose on this show except magic and
Buffy doesn't give a shit about her if she can't do magic...and I know
I'm repeating myself, but gods, this grates on me. And it makes twice
that Buffy has completely ignored Willow's emotional pain, the other
time being in "Sleeper" when Willow told her about how the First
**attacked her by playing on her grief over TARA'S MURDER** and Buffy
didn't bother to blink or even spare a thought for the subject.

I don't know if this inconsistency is crappy writing, or crappy acting
from SMG. Given the fact that this season has offered a deluxe combo
plate of both (I don't think Sarah has sold an emotion since "Seeing
Red"...not that they let Buffy have many), I'd put my money on some
mixture.

Wasn't this season supposed to be about going "back to the beginning"?
Then why, in a show that used to be all about friendship, is the most
prominent one now deader than Spike's body, his ethics, and my interest
in ever seeing him and/or James Marsters ever again should I live a
hundred years? Didn't Joss say that this season would be about the
female power and the joy of having it? Then why is Buffy CONSTANTLY
hapless and joyless? Why the hell has she not gotten off ONE QUIP
during a fight THIS ENTIRE YEAR?? (Okay, she told Anya she was "just
getting started" while she was letting Anya have a 45-second rest break
so Anya could flashback, wake up, wince in pain, pull out the sword, and
arm herself in "Selfless", but cliches surrounded by stupidity don't cut
it for me.)

The only part of Ace's recap I slightly differ on is the dislike of
Willow being longwinded at the beginning. Yes, boring, but I'll take
any Aly screen time I can get (even with trite, "cutesy" onomatopoeic
words thrown in there). Besides, every moment Willow's on screen is a
moment we don't have to look at Spike. Or Andrew. Or Dawn. Or Anya.
Or Principal Useless. Or...

Vented now,

Dan

"I've always been amazed with how Buffy fought, but in a way, I feel
like we took her punning for granted."

--Xander, "Anne"

PS--Standard TWoP recap practice is one paragraph per scene, no matter
how long, so the paragraph breaks were inserted at my discretion. Yeah,
I know you were all wondering about **that** :p