Graduation Day, Pt 2

Maybe the most significant part about this is that almost everyone "graduates" in some way. (Giles is the exception)

Buffy forces Angel to drink her blood (in a scene that's at least as sensuous as their lovemaking way back), then watches him walk away, leaving her in a heartbreaking "graduation." And she's again embraced her slayerhood, marshaling the forces to fight against the Mayor. Significantly, she doesn't do it alone. As someone (Spike?) will observe in another season, her strength comes from those around her. She's faced the darkness--trying to kill Faith, trying to BE Faith, nearly dying to save Angel--and she's come through stronger than ever.

The flip side of that, Willow and Oz finally consummate their relationship, beginning with a cute dialogue where she's freaking out and wishes he'd show that he's concerned too. In an understated comic moment, they are late to graduation, presumably because they are at it again. Their relationship has graduated to a new level.

Wesley's graduation takes the form of deciding to do the right thing, stay and take orders from Buffy even though she has fired him. His usefulness is questionable, as he is on the ground flailing at the graduation attack, but for someone who has been a tool of the Council, it's a step in the right direction--and possibly causes the self-reflection leading him to become a "rogue demon hunter" at the beginning of Angel. His transformation from tool of the system to morally ambiguous, which heightens as his character develops in Angel , is another thing I want to explore sometime. Basically, he goes from externally driven definitions of "right" to internally driven.

Cordy never says what she's doing next, and it's clear from The Kiss with Wesley that their infatuation has ended. Significantly, she is hanging out with the Scoobies at the end, part of the money shot closing the season and that phase of their lives. We also know she can't go to college and has no resources because of her father's legal/financial trouble. Cordy has graduated from pampered princess to real girl, in a sense.

Xander is perhaps the least obvious one. His role in the last part of the season is understated, and the last two episodes he's lucky to speak if he's in a scene. The writers began the show, 3 years ago, identifying with Xander more strongly than anyone. Look at season one, and even some of season two. The number of Xander-centric plots where notable, and is buffoon traits muted. It feels as if they hadn't quite hit on Xander's EveryMan qualities yet, or his "seeing" ability--in fact, Oz is the one who "sees" at the end of this episode, and makes everyone else see, too. In retrospect, it feels as if that should have been Xander. But Oz was good, too. He's got his Zen Master moments.

So how does Xander graduate? In the graduation battle scene, he's the commander. He has authority, knowledge and judgement. Buffy has the crucial job--getting the Mayor in the school--but Xander controls the battle. For the guy who was reviled as Cordy's boyfriend and marginalized as a social force, that's important. He found his strength there at the end, and even though his character takes a while in season 4 to find his place...well, maybe all of season 4...there's a clear sense of his importance to the team. He's been deliberately taunted, as the Zeppo, by Anya--being the field commander helps redefine his position, somewhat.

The Mayor's speech, which is cut short due to his ascension happening a bit ahead of schedule, follows Whedon's pattern of having the truth spoken by the unexpected character:Cordelia, Anya, the Mayor, Spike...probably more that I will have to watch for. He acknowledges that the kids don't care that this day is the 100th anniversary of Sunnydale, knowing that they have more immediate concerns. He acknowledges that everything will be different after today, as well--dramatic irony, knowing the Mayor's plans, but exceedingly valid for a graduation speech. Just as he chose to attack Buffy in the school cafeteria with the truth about her relationship with Angel, now he confronts the graduates with the truth about their ritual.

Human weakness, by the way, is another theme: the Mayor's feelings for Faith are how Buffy gets to him, which Faith in a dream sequence told Buffy (another human weakness, Faith and Buffy feeling connected despite all the baggage).

And it all ends with a tableau, the Scoobies looking at their high school, taking a moment before this phase of the series--and their fictional lives--change.

Oz: "Guys, take a moment to deal with this. We survived.
Buffy: "It was a hell of a battle."
Oz: "Not the battle. High School. We're taking a moment. And we're done."

Graduation Day, Pt 1

Lots happening, but the focus is on the Buffy/Faith story line. Faith distracts Buffy from the Mayor's plans by poisoning Angel; he's dying and the only cure is--guess what we've feared, yearned for from the the beginning--the blood of a Slayer. To "drain" a Slayer, the book says. Yep, that's been the unspoken boogie man since the beginning, Angel deciding that Buffy-snacks would slake his thirst. (In fairness, Xander may have said that once, but he was jealous so it was ignored)

Their relationship is ending; it has to because the Scoobies are transitioning to a new phase of the series, and Buffy can't grow with him there. Plot-wise, it makes sense, although I'm sure Joss et al could have made it work if they'd wanted (Boy Meets World? Joanie Loves Chaci?). That's without even considering that Angel and Cordy (and a bit later, Wesley) have a new show to make.

We've known for a while that Faith couldn't be redeemed, at least not now, at least not by Buffy. Faith's death seems likely, but the idea that Buffy would be the one to do it turns our understanding of Buffy's values in their side. If she'd succeeded, would she have turned dark earlier? A new Slayer would have emerged--think about it, Buffy's already been replaced. In a sense, she's not the "real" Slayer now. Plot possibilities there; it'd be interesting to know if Joss's band of merry wordsmiths played with those possibilities.

But Buffy and Faith, the Remus and Romulas of Sunnydale. Both look at the other and see what they might have been. To save her lover--which is what Buffy calls him when standing up to Wesley--she will kill her shadow. Powerful Freud stuff there, and the fact that she breaks from the Council to save a vampire is even more overtly significant. Since Giles is no longer her Watcher from the Council, it's not a break from her real father-figure, but in a more formal sense, it is a leave-taking from her parent. This time, though, Giles is on her side. (Sometime, I want to look at the Giles/Angel relationship more, especially in light of the Spike/Giles relationship)

Faith doesn't die, but Buffy comes close. Willow is freaking, Anya tries to get Xander to leave with her (in a touching but comic scene, which foreshadows many Anya scenes to come). The episode ends with the audience knowing that Faith got away, the Mayor is unchecked, andBuffy is desperate---even though she knows that Angel will leave her if he's well.

Bad Girls

...And the season heats up. Faith and Buffy's problematic relationship takes a turn. Inexplicably, they are best buds, slaying and talking about the personal lives (translation: sex). Faith' bad girl persona is finally articulated as a life-philosophy, pretty Ayn Rand-esque, essentially, "we are better than other people, therefore, we're not bound by the same rules and expectations other people are held to." Buffy, of course, takes a nearly opposite view, feeling the weight of all the responsibility and none of the fun of slaying. Faith emphasizes the physicality of life as a slayer--all the energy and power that needs an outlet, and for the first time (I think), the theme of slaying as sexual foreplay is broached. Later, Spike--another "bad" character--will again force Buffy to admit that is true.

Together, Faith and Buffy ransack and break in, notably stealing the knife that later, Buffy will stab Faith with. Buffy seems to having fun as she tries out life as a bad girl, until completely by accident, Faith kills a human.

Considering all the bad things that have happened in the series, it might be possible that an accidental killing would be dealt with pro forma. Had Buffy been the one who did it, if she'd been alone--there's almost no doubt that she would have immediately told Giles and council protocol would have been followed, with Buffy exonerated and, althought feeling guilty, accepting of what happened. But Faith isn't Buffy, and crisis of faith and trust ensues.

This is Wesley's first episode. Against the backdrop of a true moral crisis calling for wisdom and leadership, the bumbling watcher flails around trying to inforce his authority.

The fact is, I need to think about this one more, and rewatch it later. The metaplot for this season is heating up, and I think this episode and the next are ones that bear re-watching.

Band Candy

A favorite episode! It seems like a stand-alone comic relief episode that ties in somewhat with the meta-plot, but that dismisses it too quickly. The beginning seems as if it's going to be heavy, drama-laden: Angel and Buffy still trying to find a balance, Joyce and Giles both overscheduling and distrusting Buffy--who is lying to them and playing them off each other. Then, barely a blip on the plot, the sexual tension between Willow and Xander is continuing, Cordy and Oz oblivious.

This is an onion episode, though; meanings, symbolism and foreshadowing abounding. Buffy keeps insisting she can handle life, that both Joyce and Giles need to back off, however...she almost yells "I need grown-ups" when faced with teen-age, libido-driven "adults" who can't help her save the babies that will be devoured as tribute. Buffy can deal with a lot, but she's not ready to solo. (Considering this against Giles' musical number about needing to let her stand on her own could be an interesting study.) And again, Buffy comments on how alone she feels because her adults have abandoned her.

Likewise, for a while, Giles and Joyce have almost competed against each other for Buffy's time and, in a sense, her affection. The right to be Buffy's boss and influence her has been a sticking point. In this episode, Buffy gets a hint of what it would be like to have a mother and father on the same page, working together. Interestingly, the episode begins and ends with Giles and Buffy in father-daughter like situations, both involving the SAT, which goes beyond Watcher duties and, as Kendra implies, violated what a Watcher should be doing. Slaying is number one, number only; SAT's presume a life beyond slaying, one that Giles should not be supporting. He's sliding into father role seemlessly once accepted by Joyce. Interestingly, when Giles and Joyce are under the thrall of the band candy, Buffy tries to reason with Giles, assuming she can reach him; she orders her mom around. Different dynamic, says something about the relationships? Maybe.

Hmmm....after Joyce dies, she orders Dawn around--she doesn't really treat most people that way. Is it a consistent decision on the writer's part to have her emotionally not-connected with family members, and the lack of dialogue and insistence on taking charge symptons of it? Hmmm.

And Giles....wow. Giles. We've gotten hints that he wasn't Mr. Uptight librarian all of his life, always preparing to be a Watcher (contrasting that with Wesley). Most of the "adults" simply act like teens while keeping their grown-up clothes on; Giles' transformation is complete: beat up jeans, rumpled hair, cigarettes rolled up in t shirt sleeve--we see the Ripper within. His accent reverts, and his body language completely changes, even. He's dangerous, amoral, sexy. And instead of young, hot Buffy being the object of his passion, it's Joyce, completing the mother/father imagery of the early part of the episode.

One bit of symbolism: at risk are babies. The adults aren't fit to mother, so Buffy does. She's having mother issues, and part of the resolution of them is to become a mother symbolically, doing what the adults can't. Furthermore, the demon is awfully freudian, a huge snake emerging from a tunnel to get the babies--and Buffy, who is terribly gun-shy about sex (seeing as how the one time she did that her boyfriend turned into a demon....), saves the babies by setting the snake of fire as it goes through the tunnel? Then the episode ends with Buffy remarking how glad she is that she stopped her mom and Giles before "anything" happened. From the embarrassed looks Giles and Joyce share, the viewer suspects Buffy's innocence is misplaced. So will Giles and Joyce in fact begin a relationship, giving Buffy the father figure in earnest? Stay tuned....

Notes: candy as "forbidden fruit" leading to evil; "young" Joyce showing that she remembers adulthood, but feels as if she's just woke up. Images of adulthood vs responsibility--and the nearly invisible Xander, who is usually cited as the irresponsible one.