Family

Variations on the theme: this season, identity and family have been explored, now the theme reaches out to include Tara (and by extension, Willow, who has been underutilized so far this season). Tara has, understandably, been aware that she's not really a Scoobie. Even though she's been around for a season, Buffy and Xander can't think of a thing to get her for her birthday; they claim to not know her well enough.

By the end of the episode, we've found that Tara's own family is awful, and that she believed she was part demon. It's been established that she is officially part of the group, with everyone bonding together to save her from her father--even though she cast a spell that could have caused them to be killed by demons. She is forgiven and accepted, claimed as family.

Things to note: Spike had come to see Buffy killed, but helped save her (gee, imagine that), AND he is part of the process of "claiming" Tara--he's not a Scoobie, but he is. His intervention not only saved Buffy but also established that Tara's father was lying and she was not part demon. His integration from punch line to essential side man has started.

Also, Tara has misused magic, casting a spell for her benefit that impacts others. She is contrite that she did so, accepting that it was wrong. Willow--foreshadowing next season's issues--excuses and defends the use of magic to make Tara's pain less and life better. Tara has learned from her experience; Willow hasn't.

And, very importantly, Riley helps Buffy move in, then feels shut out and leaves, heading to Willy's bar to drink with vampires--looking for darkness? Leading into something? AND, equally importantly, the big love fest at the end that solidifies Tara (and Spike and Anya) as part of the expanded group--Riley's not there. He's on borrowed time. He knows it, too.

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)

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.

Episode Six: The Pack

Wow, was this one a surprise. I'd only seen it once before, and I didn't like it then. It's Xander-centric, but he's mean and rude and I thought it interrupted the flow of the season. I was considering skimming the scenes, whipping out a paragraph, then going to the next episode, "Angel," which is where I'd been waiting to get--it's where the love story picks up, and Angel's so... Anyway, I turned on The Pack and--taken in the context of the series, it's the most interesting episode yet.

First, what's BtVS really about? Girl Power? Sure. The existence of evil, and the fact that good people have to fight the good fight? Ok. That everybody needs people, who need people, are the luckiest...you know? Of course. That High school and life in general can be hellish, with metaphorical monsters stalking you? Umm...yeah. That redemption is difficult, but essential? Definitely. AND, that everyone has a dark side, that we are yin/yang, and need to seek balance, not letting the darkness take us? YES--and that's introduced in this episode.

This is the first episode with a dark tinge, foreshadowing the tone that is more prevalent in later seasons. While on a school field trip, Xander has been possessed by the spirit of a hyena and is now running with the pack of Sunnydale bullies--he quickly becomes the Alpha, of course. Whedon's trademark quick wit and fast lines abound, but not in every scene, and Giles' dry wit is more on display in this episode than previously.

There's one specific aspect of the show that strikes me: Xander turns predatory, mean, aggressive--and at the end, the girls explicitly allow him to take no responsibility for his actions because they know he was under the influence of the evil hyena and--importantly--they believe he has no memory of what happened. In their minds, none of it was Xander's fault, so they don't even tell him what he did, much less discuss the dynamics underlying Xander's actions. However, Giles outs him to the audience: Xander is well aware of what he did; amnesia isn't part of the animal spirit possession package. And Giles literally pats him on the shoulder, blessing Xander's sins of omission.

So what did Xander do? The less damning actions were against Willow. First, to the amusement of his Pack, he says that because he's going to drop geometry, he'll "never have to look at her pasty face again." He's well aware that she's got a crush on him, as proven by dialogue with Buffy later in the episode, and Willow has been his best friend since before kindergarten, as every Buffy fan knows. But hurting her in public, then later (after Buffy has caged him) wheedling and appealing to her as his best friend, claiming they were happy before Buffy : "Weren't things much simpler when it was just me and you," he asks, knowing how much Willow wants the "me & you" aspect of their relationship to blossom. At the end, although he doesn't apologize to Willow or acknowledge what he said hurt her, he saves her from the crazed zookeeper the second he is rid of the hyena-spirit, and he later hugs her as he says, "nobody messes with my Willow." For a love-struck 16 year old girl, that qualifies as affirmation, I'm sure.

But that wasn't all Xander did. In a very intense, fairly lengthy scene, Xander tries to rape Buffy. He is aggressive and mean, claiming that "We both know what you really want. You want danger, don't you? You like your men dangerous...dangerous and mean, right? Like Angel, your mystery guy. Well guess who just got mean." The transformation from goofy, harmless Xander to threatening, predatory Alpha is complete--and surprising, especially given Nicholas Bredon's scant resume at the time he started playing Xander. Later in the scene, he slams Buffy into a vending machine, saying "C'mon, Slayer, I like it when you're scared. The more I scare you, the better you smell." Then--instead of forcing a kiss--he goes for her neck, vamp-style.

Fast forward to season six and seven. Xander is overtly rude to Spike, especially after Spike attempts to rape Buffy. Xander repeatedly ridicules Spike's feelings, and rarely relates to Spike without that subtext. Is it because Xander knows that he is Spike? That when the guise of humanity was stripped away, he did exactly what Spike did--only with less justification? Spike and Buffy had been aggressively sexual; Spike's attempted rape didn't look that much different than the beginning of some of their consensual activities. And once Buffy kicked Spike away, he realized what he'd tried to do and was immediately upset.

Xander, however, gets kicked away and comes back for more--and that's without ever having any encouragement from Buffy that would imply interest. (Interestingly, I didn't time it, but I'm sure that the Xander attempted rape scene is significantly longer than the one with Spike) Without a soul, Xander is less human than Spike before he earns back his soul. Popular theory is that Xander's dislike of Buffy's boyfriends (except possibly Riley) is that he's jealous that Buffy doesn't ever respond to him romantically. And in the first season or two, that's an ongoing subtext. Later, though, I'm not as sure. It may be there somewhat, and Anya implies it a time or two, but as Xander matures, I think there's a chance he's more aware of the yin/yang within himself and how easily he crossed it. His evolution into the person who sees others, as is made explicit in season seven, comes because he has seen himself.

But in this episode, he's teflon. Any possible guilt slides off him, and the girls see only Xander's goofy, friendly demeanor at the end. After his conversation with Giles, though, he walks away with his head hanging. He knows what he did, and presumably is at least embarrassed, maybe appalled--and the girls don't even really have a clue about what's going on inside of Xander. Throughout the series, neither of them is gifted with emotional insight; in another gender twist, Xander evolves into the emotional savant of the Scoobies (another trait he shares with Spike, who without fail has more insight into people--especially Buffy--than they have themselves. Spike even echos Xander's speech about danger, claiming that Buffy "likes a little monster in her men.")

It's worth noting that because Xander never acknowledges what he did, he can't seek forgiveness or redemption; in contrast, although Spike doesn't exactly apologize for attempting to rape Buffy (saying that it's beyond simple words, or something like that), they do talk about it and is forgiven, even redeemed. Perhaps it is logical that Xander, young and inexperienced, doesn't find the way to broach the subject with Buffy. It's hard to imagine the more mature Xander of season six or seven not seeking resolution after letting his id loose. But still, it's possible that Xander's reactions to Spike says as much about Xander's own baggage as it does about Spike.

So Xander and Spike in a yin/yang do-si-do? Before this episode, I wouldn't have seen them as the negative image of each other, but now I'm thinking. Could be.

Three other quick points:

1. This is the first mention of "soul" in the series. Giles mentions it in connection with animal possession, saying "Humanity, the soul, is a perversion, a dilution of spirit The animal state is holy (to the Maori, who worship animal spirits)." The concept of soul is so crucial later in the series--and I suspect in the next episode about Angel, but I don't remember!
2. Buffy pulls a Simba at the end; the crazed zookeeper is killed by his hyena when he flies into the cage, meaning Buffy doesn't kill a human. In "The Lion King," Simba indirectly caused Scar (his uncle and King) to die by letting him fall to the hyena pack--so both Simba and Buffy are innocent.
3. Again, Xander is key in an early story. Whedon claims that he was Xander in high school, and it seems evident that in early episodes, they know the character better than they seem to know the other characters. At this point, Willow is still the brainy computer nerd who finds information and needs saved--little sense of her as a character.
   

Now, to watch "Angel!"