Restless

Season four ends not with vanquishing Big Bad, but with an artful, experimental show of dream sequences. Much has been written about this episode, and the dvd includes Joss' detailed commentary on the episode--I really don't have much to say that's not been said before, probably by people who have said it better.

In a sense, the Big Bad of season four is as much finding their own identity--their "true names," as comes up in a couple of the dreams. Adam, as the "am I human, or demon, or andriod--and what does that mean anyway" Big Bad they can physically fight is one manifestation of that, but this episode ties up the search in ways that killing Adam doesn't. Willow, Giles and Xander go on dream quests that end in them naming their quandaries or fears: Cool, Quirky Wicca Willow is a disguise, and nerd Willow quails beneath that disguise, fearful of discovery; as hard as Xander searches, he'll never leave his basement, never overcome the taint and heritage of his upbringing; and Giles' crossroads--am I father? watcher? should I move on?--peppers his journey with options, ones he is too stymied to grab.

Then finally, Buffy's dream-journey takes her face to face with the first Slayer, who tells her she cannot have friends, she must only kill. Buffy rejects that, ultimately saving her friends and herself.

Rife with foreshadowing of Dawn's arrival next season, sexual imagery, and commentary on various plot threads (including Joyce's death--and Buffy ignoring when her mom asks for help), it's clear that Tara is integrating herself into their lives, and that Buffy is aware that Riley may become someone she can't be with. According to Whedon's commentary, the odd cheeseman who appears in each dream really is a random motif, just as dreaming includes random imagery.

There's a lot of interesting symbolism in the episode, but honestly--it's been talked about by people who have devoted a whole lot more energy to being insightful than I'm willing to give. Note though that creative camera angles, odd dissolves, unusual depth of field, and frequent use of color and negatives give this an exceedingly dream-like feel, making it clear that Joss' at least this season was going for an artsy auteur approach to his direction.

A New Man

This seems like another monster-of-the-week shows with a twist: Giles is the monster, transformed by Ethan Raines (of course). But even though it is essentially a stand-alone, not an integral part of the Big Bad plot this season, this episode more clearly introduces the philosophical question at the core of this season, and, in ways, the series.

What does it mean to be a man? Put in a less (potentially) sexist manner, what does it take to be human? Even though he looks like a Fyarl demon (note how close the word is to "feral"--it's pronounced Furr-ral; as Jung said, there are no coincidences), Giles retains his intellect, his human emotions, and his soul. Ultimately, Buffy doesn't kill him because she recognizes him when she looks into his eyes as she's about to stake him--the saying "the eyes are the windows to the soul" seem especially appropriate.

Spike, who just happens to speak Fyarl, agrees to help Giles...for a price, of course--which comes into play in the next episode. Spike is an interesting counterpart to Giles in this episode. Is Spike a man? That question may be unvoiced, but it resonants loudly from this season until the end of the series. He has no soul, hence the Scoobies and the Initiative quickly deem Spike as "other"--"Hostile 17," in fact. Spike's insight, emotions, and intellect are not in question; he's only one soul (and one beating heart) away from being a real boy--in the Buffy spin-off Angel, that issue is explicitly addressed as it applies to both Spike and Angel (who, because he has a soul, is closer to human and worthy of Buffy's affection). In this episode, also, Spike declares himself off-limits for the Slayer and her "Slayerettes." Giles, who was obviously assuming Spike would want to work with them since he can fight demons, was taken aback by Spike's strident insistance that he is evil, that he's a Big Bad they should beware of. (Point of Fact: Spike is never the Big Bad. Season Two, when it looks as if he will be, Angel emerges as the threat--and Spike partners with Buffy to quell him.) Spike looks like a human, thinks and acts like a human in most ways...and in this episode, he again protects and helps humans.

It's worth noting that Giles starts off the episode feeling lost and out of place, at a birthday party for Buffy at the college. He discovers that Buffy has a boyfriend--which everyone else obviously knew--and Riley inadvertantly rubs in Giles' displacement when making small talk. Giles is a man, no question about that...but old, worn, out of place. This episode is the first clear marker that eventually, he will have to leave--that Buffy is outgrowing her need for him, and that he is becoming redundant.

Then....Maggie makes it worse, telling Giles that Buffy needs a stronger father figure, more discipline and focus. Those are Giles' jobs, ones that he defined himself by, yet both the Watcher's Council and now Maggie (unknowingly) question his ability to do this job. Giles is ripe for a crisis, for a re-definition of himself--thanks to Ethan, his crisis is a doozy, blatantly leading to question who he is, how he fits in, and if he is, in fact, human. Giles' totally out-of-character terrorizing of Maggie while he is Fyarl is an interesting peek both at his latent "Ripper" persona, and at the emotion he swallows when Maggie insulted him; as a soulless demon, he was free to react. As a reasonable man, he wasn't.

That Buffy and the gang do not question Giles' humanity once they realize he the "demon," magicked by Ethan, is interesting. Their definition of "human" is fluid; it will be tested by the creation of Adam, the person/demon/cyborg Maggie has created that will be unveiled in the next episode--and the question will echo next season as Buffy refuses to kill "Ben" because he is human, even thought he's a conduit for the evil Goddess Glory. But I'll talk more about that later, I'm sure!

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.

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.

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.

Homecoming

Simple plot: Cordy and Buffy vie against each other for Homecoming Queen. Neither wins, but they reveal more of their characters in the process. Subplot--Xander and Willow kiss. Boy, do they kiss. Which wouldn't be a problem a season ago at this time, but now...Oz and Cordy? Somehow, the whole topic of polyamory is not raised. Curious.

Anyways, isolation is key here. Buffy wants to get in touch with her inner homecoming queen because of what's she's lost as the Slayer. If she were at her old school, if she weren't the Slayer, she would have been Queen. She would have been popular, had friends, been in the yearbook (the yearbook is a recurring theme. In Angel, Cordy goes through the yearbook to try to remember who she is, and realizes it's the story of her life) Buffy has monsters, death, and weapons as her life; high school is an afterthought.

Her friends abandon her in her quest to be Queen. Out of guilt for kissing, both Willow and Xander have committed to working for Cordelia, and the scene where Buffy is excitedly organizing them to help her only to have Cordelia sweep in, assign tasks, then everyone leave (making excuses of course) is understated but poignant--Buffy is isolated and alone. Giles, who obviously doesn't care about homecoming queen but cares deeply about Buffy, quietly sympathesizes.

Buffy's approach to winning is characterized by Cordelia as sensitive, she, deep, caring--some words like that. The picture Buffy uses is not typical, either. Not glamourous, not cheerful, friendly--more Princess Di looking up from under her bangs.

Ultimately, I suspect that part of the point of this episode is to begin morphing Cordy into the character we get on Angel--still the diva, but able to deal with any thing that goes bump in the night. And juxtoposing her with Buffy is good. Buffy could be Cordy (and initially, that's the role Gellar was trying for), and Cordy needs to find her inner Buffy--the snarkiness and sniping in their relationship stems from them knowing each other too well; they recognize themselves, both strengths and weaknesses, from looking in the mirror of the other.

The Dark Age

Eureka! I know why this episode follows "Lie To Me." It's the counterpoint, the answer, to Giles' closing speech--where he tells Buffy (at her request), that life is very simple, the men stalwart and true, good & evil easily identified, etc. He is the wise one, but in doing what Buffy wants--what they both know isn't true--he is still the mage, the Merlin. Ironically, Buffy scoffingly but fondly says "liar," as they walk out of the frame and the credits roll. We know she's right; life isn't black & white, and Giles is lying about the big picture. But the lies he tells there are only the shiny white snow covered tip--and they don't really count because we do see them.

However, "The Dark Age" reveals a Giles whose entire idenity is called into question. Ethan shows up again, and places everyone in danger. That's what he does. No big. But one snitch of dialogue is crucial: Ethan says something along the line of "They (the kids) have no idea who you are, do they? They believe the tweed covered librarian act. They don't have a clue.." And Giles is terse and powerful, making big, strong, definative movements. Ethan calls Giles "Ripper," a symbolic name--especially for a Briton. And Ethan seems to honestly believe that Giles can kill him, will kill him. Ethan, who's known Giles longer than anyone thus far, sees a morally ambigous person capable of unremorsedly killing.

Hmmmm....and Buffy and Willow and Xander see a harmless Dewey Decimal disciple, a font of wisdom and teaching who can handle weapons maybe, but....not the front line unless an obscure language needs translated.

We know Giles can kill--or we will know it, in season 5 when he barehandedly kills Ben after Buffy doesn't. Buffy claims to get confused when things get ethically complex. To a large extent, that's her modus operandi throughout the series. For all the whining and emotional hermit-y stuff she does at various times, her resolutions tend to be simplistic. At first glance, Giles is the barometer for what is good. So far, he is stalwart and true, and the Scoobies count on that. He's choosing that, though--having apparently walked through the fire earlier in his life. Until season 7 when he supports Robin's attempt to kill Spike, Giles consistently chooses good--I think. I'm going to have to watch for that. (Well, and Band Candy...but what's a little B&E?)

While I'm thinking about it: is it possible that Willow wants things black and white, but can't manuvor that; she is essentially gray, living in the moral ambiguities, with the goofy naive reactions as her default? That with the exception of his feelings about Spike, Xander ultimately is the stalwart and true one? And that Spike, who wants to see the world as black & white as Buffy, really understands the gray and sees what the others are---I know, I'm not there yet. And Cordelia, she almost unerringly speaks the truth, not sugar coating; she knows black & white in the deeper ethical sense, but her reality checks are undercut by her overt superficially.

I think there are some undercurrents about what manhood is, but I've gotten sidetracked with other topics this time. But sometime, I should think about what Giles and Ethan are modeling about manhood. Later, though.

Lie To Me

I fell asleep near the end, so I probably should rewatch that, but I'd seen it recently, so....

This has what's one of the sadder scenes in the early seasons: Buffy is losing her innocence, and she tells Giles to lie to her about life (I forget the exact context). He basically says that good and evil are clearly labeled, and good will always triumph, all the men are stalwart and the women beautiful--or something close. She doesn't believe him, he doesn't believe it. But it's a bittersweet father-daughter-y moment, and one of the scenes I clearly recalled long after I watched it.

Alo, Buffy won't kill a human, but she lets her friend from LA die. She's taking baby steps towards situational ethics, but she has more lines that she won't cross than many people, even at the end. She is created to be a hero at least 3 ways: in the superhero-y tradition; in the literary tradition; and in a more mythological sense...I think. Gonna pull out my Joseph Campbell and see if I can defend that, but not tonight. I'm tired.

Interesting: Willow, Xander and Angel go check out the vamp-wanna-be club. Considering the degree of antipathy Xander and Angel have towards each other, they are quietly teamed up very often. Another topic for pondering.

But not tonight. I'm tired.

Episode 8: I Robot, You Jane

Finally, a Willow-centric episode. Her computer-geekiness is highlighted, and she gets to play "infatuated girl" very cutely. The show's take on technology is interesting. Willow is the uber-techie, and her skills are often the deus ex machina of the plot. She's essential in that capacity. However, she and Jenny Calendar are just about the only people who touch computers in the show. I can't remember very many times that Xander or Buffy do, and Giles is blatantly anti-tech, although he's willing to have Willow use them.

For all Willow's savvy, though, it's Xander who understands that anyone can be anything on the internet. While Buffy is worrying that Willow's online boyfriend might "have a hairy back," Xander points out that Malcolm could be creepy and dangerous. Makes me wonder what Xander spent his evenings doing...

Even though he's definitely not interested in Willow romantically, Xander's speed at discounting Malcolm leads Buffy to conclude he's jealous, or at least missing his status as "belle of the ball." That's an interesting phrase; as the male of the triad, he's less masculine than the jocks and typical boys; he apparently has no male friends at this point--except possibly Giles. As we find out later, Xander's home life sucks and he's terrified of turning into his father, an overbearing boor, possibly abusive, possibly alcoholic. Just as Giles becomes Buffy's father figure, he may be Xander's model of manhood--and at this point, Giles is slight effete, bookish, and, well....old-maidish. That evolves, too. Calling Xander the "belle of the ball" because he's the male of the trio underlines his less-than-studly position in the group.

Giles gets a few moments to shine, finally having an adult to verbally spar with. Jenny Calendar is apparently his intellectual equal, but with a different enough viewpoint that sparks fly. He's incredulous about neo-paganism, she believes he's stuck in the Middle Ages.

And Willow, well, I'd like to say that she's at risk to turn into the female stereotype that Whedon wanted to overthrow by having Buffy fight back--Willow's needed rescuing a couple times now. However, this time she grabs the fire extinguisher and whales on Malcolm/Moloch as she banters--"I think we need to break up, but I hope we can still be friends..."

Thus far, her low self-esteem and puppy dog gratefullness at being chosen as Buffy's BBF have been defining characteristics (Hyena-Xander even commented on this: "You're doing what you're told," not thinking for yourself, he tells her). I suspect the writers struggled more with finding Willow's voice; she's the girl they had as a friend as they looked longingly at the Buffy-type girls in the school. I need to check, but I think the writers for the first season are almost entirely male. They understand Xander--maybe, like Whedon, some of them were Xander; Buffy is their linchpin, and they know what she wants and how she thinks. Joyce is still a fairly typical, clueless mom, and Giles has barely grown past the stereotype of stuffy British teacher--the evolution of Willow is perhaps one of the most compelling parts of the series. They don't know her yet...but they will!