The Replacement

Xander-angst! Last season, Xander was a misfit. He wasn't in college, he couldn't keep a job, he was at loose ends and stagnating. This episode, right at the beginning of season 5, is a logical counterpart to Dawn's "Real Me." In both, the core issue is one of identity. "Real Me" introduces Dawn's search for identity; "The Replacement" makes Xander's struggle with finding his groove as an adult into an explicit theme.

So he's twins--grown-up, responsible Xander and goofy, unreliable Xander. The twist is they are both Xander, and the clearest evidence of that is that the reliable one is doing things--getting a promotion, getting a nice apartment--based on the actions of season 4 Xander, who must have quietly been doing some of the right things in order to have the opportunities he takes advantage of in this episode.

As happens in other places, most notably the yellow crayon speech, Xander calls on his history and relationship with Willow. Despite Oz, Tara, Anya, and Dark Willow--Xander and Willow's bond is deep...arguably deeper than his bond with Buffy despite his loyalty and infatuation with her (Note, I'm excluding the last couple episodes of the series when I say that--but it's worth mentioning that he takes the side Willow is on when they throw Buffy out). True Xander, deep down, Willow knows him.

Two bits of foreshadowing occur: first, somewhat jokingly, Joyce complains about a headache. Yep, that's going nowhere good. secondly, Riley has a revealing talk with "responsible" Xander explaining that he knows Buffy doesn't really love him. The clock is ticking on that relationship, we suspect, AND we see Xander doing something that he does even more once he embraces his grown up side: he is the confidante who sees more than most people, and who is willing to say the hard things.

The resolution is simple, and Xander is restored. The Scoobies reaffirm their partnership by working together to solve the problem, and the Magic Box is established as a home base. Season continues to build from here.

SEASON FIVE: Buffy vs. Dracula

Sure, it's a cute episode. Snappy dialogue, good characterization. And it makes sense that sooner or later, the Count himself would show up.

Here's what I noticed: First, when Dracula is trying to enthrall Buffy, to get her to consider joining his side, he says almost exactly the same thing Dream-Tara said in Restless: "You think you know what you are--what's to come--but you haven't even begun." In significant ways, that's the theme of the second half of the show, and very tied in with it is that Buffy's power is steeped in darkness; that is mentioned in Restless, and Spike (and others) comment on how drawn Buffy is to men who are more dark than light--she comments herself on it as she's beginning to be interested in Riley, that "something is missing." In season 7, she finds out in one episode that the Slayer's original power stemmed from harassing demons, and she rejects getting more demon-fueled-power. Her insistence on right/wrong (as noted by Faith when they switch bodies, and Willow and Xander when they call her "judgmental" during Yoko Factor)--does that stem from a fight within herself to not go to the dark side....? maybe.

Three other things that build throughout season five--because even though this is a light episode, it does establish the season's subtext: Dawn comes, literally. I can't imagine how confused the audience was as they waited week by week to understand how a new character shows up, accepted as canon in-world.

And, just as Giles was preparing to tell Buffy that he's leaving, she decides she needs a Watcher. She's going to accept the official (well, minus the council, so far) responsibilities and structure of Slayer-hood, training, listening, etc. The whole "should I stay or should I go" dance is static this season....he's needed.

Last..Xander, after being in thrall to Dracula, announces he's done being "everyone's butt-monkey." He decides it's time to grow up, to find a place in the adult world for himself. If I remember right, in just a couple episodes he has a defining moment, and is not the poor-little-victim...as often.

That's what I see, and more is coming. (Oh, and Riley was sure he was going to lose Buffy to Dracula, and Anya and Spike both have met him before--Anya seems quite smitten with the memory, too)

The Yoko Factor

Pivotal episode, in the "things that can't be unsaid" realm. The basic premise is simple: Adam will take care of Spike's chip if Spike helps deal with the Slayer. Getting her friends out of the way--and her distracted by the drama--is Spike's idea. In an insightful explanation, Spike explains that Yoko Ono didn't break up the Beatles, but they broke themselves up under the pressure of fame and time; that's his plan--plant a few seeds, and let them do the dirty work themselves.

It's been clear since season 2 that Spike understands psychology much more intuitively than the Scoobies realize; they discredit him because of his chosen image. But in the process of supplying them info about the Initiative--info which I think does turn out to be important, next episode, making him a double agent--he drops side comments to Giles, Xander and Willow that feed their basic insecurities and lead to a huge argument at the end of the episode, with Buffy walking out, implying that she can't count on Willow and Xander. Who is left? well...Riley--who ends the episode at Adam's lair, for purposes unclear (although avenging his friend Forrest's death seems likely).

Spike tweaks Giles by commenting on his uselessness and lack of control of Buffy--and, appropriately, Giles is singing Freebird when Spike finds him, foreshadowing not just what Spike talks about, but the season 6 song Standing and his ultimate leaving as Buffy's watcher. Giles spends the rest of the episode drunk, even giggling uproariously at the words "Fort Dix." Season four has been rough for Giles--no job, no standing, less than Batman's Alfred, he implies during the argument scene. Spike capitalizes on that.

In a masterful bit of triple-entrendre, Spike hints to Willow that her computer skills are weakening, that being a witch is laughable, and that being with Tara just a phase--because. like Faith, Spike realizes with only small hints that Willow and Tara are involved; something Buffy barely believes even when Willow told her, and Xander and Giles don't realize til the argument at the end of the episode. Willow falls for every one of the lines Spike throws, showing how vunerable to needing Buffy's approval she is. Again, the dialogue where Spike casually throws out those issues is intermixed with other content, making this just throw-away banter that hits home--amazing dialogue writing.

And Xander, who has been as much adrift as Giles this season, quickly believes that his friends think he should enlist. It's curious that no one asks why Spike was in conversations like that with other people--since when does Spike sit and chat? But he is integrated enough with the gang that they do all accept without question that Spike would know; his plan only works because they trust him. Again, they've forgotten that he's "evil." a point he's made repeatedly this season.

There's the whole Angel comes back, and Riley freaks because he thinks Buffy's leaving him for Angel subplot--important in the Riley/Buffy arc, maybe, because he now knows everything about Buffy and Angel (tying in well with Yoko, Xander spilled that by accident, thinking Buffy explained why Angel turned evil). That's as much finishing an arc from Angel as impacting this show, though--Buffy fans who also watched Angel had to see a semi-reconciliation after the serious break that happened on Angel when Angel gave Faith a second chance.

So what's it all about? Simple: in high school, they were without question a gang, committed to each other. Are they going to recommit, or are they going to float apart without regret as they grow up? Thus far in season 4, it seems that they are on a floating apart track--Riley doesn't really become a Scooby, Willow and Buffy don't like Anya, Xander feels like the others don't respect what he'd doing...which, in fairness, is nothing except hanging with Anya., and Willow is hiding her new relationship. Yep, they are going separate ways, to all appearances. All Spike did was tear the band-aid off the wounds.

And....to be continued....

Superstar

The season four metaplot, which had been heating up before the Faith/Buffy interruption, is still on the back burner with this quirky show. Jonathon--the would-be shooter during season 3--is back. In fact, it's Jonathon's world. He's Superman, James Bond, Dr. Phil, Frank Sinatra, and Gary Kasparov all in one suave, hot little package. Giles owns the Jonathon swimsuit calendar, Xander has the comics and trading cards, and Anya is entranced by Jonathon's autobiography.

This episode does reveal one crucial piece of info: to destroy Adam, his power source must be destroyed. Because of the military's consistent secrecy, it's possible that Riley and Co. would not have known what they had to do to get rid of this season's Big Bad. So...plotwise, "Superstar" may have had a point. Also, Jonathon talked with both Riley and Buffy about the whole "Riley had sex with Faith, kinda" brooding that Buffy was falling into--and instead of the audience having to listen to Buffy's angsty-whining about it the rest of the season, she is fine.( That alone is a reason for this episode.)

And, obviously, Jonathon's slightly short-sighted moral ambiguity is clear in this, as is the fact that ultimately, he will do the right thing...after events have spiraled out of control. More interesting, though, is the counterpoint that Jonathon provides to Buffy, big picture. For all of Buffy's "I'm different, I'm alone, Poor me"--some of which is valid, but it's hit very hard at times in the series--Buffy really isn't alone. She's different, but it's a difference that is strong and celebrated, and she has a support system that most kids that age would envy. But no, Buffy is amazingly good at seeing what she's lost.

Jonathon, though--he is alone. He is different. Buffy's small and strong, sexy and wanted. Jonathon, though...small(er) and weak, ridiculed and ignored. Even Buffy refused to go out with him. Regardless of the context (she was pining over Angel), Jonathon still saw it as rejection. And when Jonathon needs to hear words of encouragement and affirmation, Buffy plays Dr. Phil for him, saying the things to him that she often disbelieves about herself and her situation. He's an interesting mirror for her to be reflected in.

The transition to adulthood is tricky for these characters. Xander is floundering, and Giles is barely adult--no status, no job, some episodes this season, he's Xander's sidekick. Jonathon's magic spell turned him into instant adult. That's worth noting, I think.

And I don't remember the next episode at all. Could be fun!

The Prom

A break from the Big Bad, with mentions of the Mayor and the Ascension, but early in the episode, Buffy sets the tone when she tells Giles that for once in their high school career, they were going to have a normal, fun event. That's especially crucial because they expect graduation to be a typical Sunnydale event: totally atypical, in other words.

As someone who has gone through more senior years and more prom seasons than should be legally allowed (my own while in high school, then 23 as a teacher), I am very struck by what Whedon, etc got right. Prom is romanticized and glamorized by Hollywood, but in truth, it's bittersweet. Very bittersweet. For all the excitement of dressing up and having a "grown up" night out, a significant portion of the kids realize this is their swan song, and probably the last social event they will have with these people who have been a huge part of their daily life.

So we know that Willow is staying, and Xander is planning to travel a la Kerouac for a while, Oz has been quiet about his plans, and Cordy has secrets but no plans--as far as we know now. Giles is staying put, and at this point, Wesley is too--but again, just as we know that Cordy is leaving for LA, we know Wesley ends up there too, rouge Demon Hunter persona blazing into Angel Investigations.

Which brings us to the point of the episode: the 3 season meta-plot, the Angel loves Buffy loves Angel story. They've fallen in love, he's turned evil , she's killed him, he's come back, they're back in love---and Angel knows it can't work. Even the Mayor and Joyce talk to Angel about it. For all Joss' feminism, notice that the man (well, the male vamp) controls the relationship in this instance. By the time Buffy knows what he's thinking, he's decided--and it's because it's her best interest.

This is tricky, really. The audience has loved the Angel/Buffy pairing, and it has to be broken off in such a way that the audience feels the pain of both sides while retaining affection for both--that's crucial if Angel's new show is going to work, of course. Pissed off Buffy fans couldn't be counted on to watch the new show, or to continue watching Buffy.

And prom is the perfect setting to be in love, and know it's ending. How many teen couples have prom as one of their last memories together, before college and jobs and grownup life separates them? More than you might think. So Angel showing up at the last minute, gorgeous in a tux, clarifying that he isn't changing his mind, but....Buffy snuggles and they dance, sometimes staring in each other's eyes exactly as Buffy and Spike will do in one of the last shows of the series.

There's also another person worth noting: Xander. He's been snarky and hateful to Cordy, he's been obsessed with her, and denying it because he knows he caused the problem, but in a series of actions foreshadowing the insightful, mature Xander of later seasons (after 4, for sure--they flounder with him then), he pays for Cordy's dress and lies to help hide her secret. That's especially poignant given how often she derided him for his lack of money. He took the high road, and redeemed himself in the process.

And replacing Cordy as the truth-teller, Xander has Anya by his side, beginning the transition from high school romance to adult relationship. We don't know this yet, but in retrospect, the scene is being set to let the characters evolve.

Tucker and the Hellhounds are symbolic, and the Class Protector award a nice touch, tying up her high school experience nicely, but the main lasting benefit is when Andrew is introduced, he's always "Tucker's brother."

And now, to the Ascension.

Helpless

Ohhhhh....now I get it. Last episode, Joyce turns on Buffy, and leaving Buffy without a supportive parent figure...now---Helpless. Daddy turns on her, in essence. We are seeing the creation/growth of Buffy's fatal flaw, her sense of isolation.

It's Buffy's birthday, 18. She's excited about the Ice Capades; going each year with her Dad (a conspicuously absent character) is a ritual that she cherishes. She admits that it's childish--cotton candy, sparkly costumes--even as she tries to defend the artistry of the skaters. He cancels. She sucks it up, but in a touching scene, she tries to get Giles to offer to take her. The Giles-as-father-figure is in full bloom, with Buffy articulating it as clearly as she ever does. If Giles would offer, it would complete the transition into Buffy's dad, symbolically.

However, he's completely distracted. She's so wrapped up in her scheming that--childlike--she pays no attention to his mood. We find out why. He's shooting her up with a substance that, we realize in a bit, is sapping her strength. He seems distraught about doing it, but--ever the good soldier--he does.

A lot is written about this episode and Buffy's loss of strength: the men leering at her, her inability to save Cordelia from a bully, her clever dealing with the vampire test--but there's a bigger loss: a loss of trust in the adults around her. It's not a total loss, and they do redeem themselves, still having loving relationships, but her father, Joyce, and now Giles have revealed that they are human; they may have their own agendas, they may even knowingly hurt her. The most important rite of passage in this episode may not be the Counsel's Vampire test; it may be Buffy's realization that she is alone in a fundamental way.

In counterpoint, when Quentin fires Giles, he claims Giles loves Buffy with a father's love, and that renders him unfit to be a Watcher. He wants to protect and preserve her, to help instead of watch and guide. At that moment, Buffy probably doesn't believe that, but her subtle reactions to Giles' firing implies that she's considering what that means.

As is common in the Buffy-verse, love triumphs and Joyce, Buffy and Giles are pretty much fine post-Helpless,....but--as always in Sunnydale--the history is remembered and the lessons learned. When Giles conspires with Robin against Spike, he betrays Buffy again, nearly leaving her even more helpless than in this episode; again, he does it for what he believes are important reasons, and not easily. Giles is a more morally ambiguous character than I had realized--which isn't to say he is, but he's not the total background white hat I'd remembered.

Gingerbread

I didn't like this episode the first time I saw it. I know why--it is the darkest one yet, and the first time I watched the series, I didn't know how dark it would go. Joyce and Mrs. Rosenberg--first and only appearance of Willow's mom--join ranks with other parents to "take back Sunnydale from the monsters and the witches and the Slayers" and let the grownups run things. That means taking all Giles' books from the library for a mass book burning, providing fuel for burning Willow, Amy and Buffy.

The opening has Joyce wanting to see Buffy slay, to accept what Buffy is. Instead, between the reality of that and finding two dead children, she mobilizes to protect Buffy and Sunnydale by getting rid of the evil--which, ironically, includes Buffy. Before the end, we find out that the adults are influenced by a Hansel and Gretel type demon, which is dealt with and the parents are back to their willfully ignorant selves by the end.

Joyce is upset seeing the dead bodies, and Buffy holds her and comforts her--a counterpart to Buffy finding Joyce's body in season 5. Buffy is the adult in the scene, and does for her mother what she will not allow anyone to do for her when her mother's body is found.

The contrast between Willow's mom and Buffy's is overt; Joyce is trying hard and is aware of Buffy's life; Willow's mom can't even talk to her--didn't even realize she'd gotten her hair cut months before.

Darkness: the parents are attacking their children, Giles is essentially powerless, Oz and Xander work together--an important step in healing their Willow-rift, but ultimately not aiding Willow or Buffy. And although Willow plays at calling forth dark magic to try to get her mom's attention, Amy really does call on dark magic to save herself, turning into Amy the rat who will wrek havoc in season 6.

So what's it about? Still thinking, but we see the Mayor and Principal working together, which is not a good thing. And we get a hint that the good v evil can include humans on either side--and that even the kids can be morally ambiguous. Ultimately, I don't think this is an important episode, but I may revise that--and it does start working darker themes and real death in the mix. Even though the kids' were real....Joyce's reaction was. Big picture, that matters more.

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.