Whoops, almost forgot the spoiler forum. This is where you can talk openly about Buffy and Angel without fear of spoilage. We're seeing the beginnings of Dark Willow in these episodes, for sure. For me, her being the Big Bad (if that's how you see it, and I've seen many interpretations of the season) is SO dark the Troika were almost necessary to keep from the season being dragged down into some depressive place.
But I'm still not a fan of how they'll treat it as a drug addiction.
9 comments:
Notice Warren is already the one advocating murder.
The three didn`t actually do anything on the to do list. They did build jet packs, though.
I love it when Spike and Buffy sit on `their` porch.
The trio do try and make Katerina their willing sex bunny.
Spike was changing - how much better a person would he have been with some encouragement from Buffy? But I guess that doesn`t fit in with Joss` vampire theology? Philosophy? Still, he was proactive in the end at trying to be better. That conflicts too.
Xander better get used to that eyepatch.
Xander is more likely to marry Dawn than Anya.
I, too, have noticed that Warren already proves to be evil, while the other two at this point seem to be just misguided geeks.
And Buffy saying that guns are never a good thing... I never ceases to surprise me how far ahead everything is planned on this show!
And I just wanted to say, Clem! =D
I was shocked to notice that I actually like Warren this time (my third) around - of course he's evil, but kind of.. interesting to watch.
We have a decent week of episodes this week, but nothing as spectacular as what is still to come this season (starting with next week).
I think it's a little unfair to blame Willow for all the financial problems that Buffy's experiencing. While Buffy was dead she took over Buffy's Slayer duties, looked after Dawn, tried to bring Buffy back (all out of the goodness of her heart, at the same time as grieving for the death of one of her best friends), as well as living her own life, and she should have also got a job to manage Buffy's finances? It has also only been a few months since Buffy died, and the Scoobies were intending for that to be temporary. Had it been permanent, they probably would have considered moving into an apartment and getting a job to pay for everything. Plus, I imagine that Willow and Tara probably were using some of their own money for food etc. as it seems as though all the money from Joyce's insurance went of medical bills.
We also meet the Trio this week, who at this point seem fairly non-threatening and comic. Yet, when I watch 'Life Serial' I can't help but see the similarities between the tests they pull on Buffy and the tricks they employ in 'Dead Things' to make Buffy think she killed Katrina.
In some ways, the Big Bad for this season is human nature. The two main contestants for Big Bad are the Trio and Dark Willow, who are all humans. They may employ magicks to solve their problems, but they are certainly more human than any of the other Big Bads we see in the show. And it's interesting to note that it is the human Big Bads who deal perhaps the biggest blow to the Scoobies: killing Tara. They are certainly the first Big Bad to kill a fully-fledged Scooby. Yes, Angelus killed Jenny, but she wasn't really ever an actual Scooby, just an ally.
Furthermore, the motivations for the Big Bads' actions in this season are very human. The Trio act out of greed, jealousy and revenge (in Warren's case), while Willow acts out of grief, suffering and also revenge.
I think that the main reason Giles says what he says to Willow is because his past as Ripper. He can probably see that Willow is starting down the same path he did, and because he cares for her so much he wants to stop her before she goes all the way and ends up like him, constantly trying to atone for the mistakes he made in his past. Unfortunately, he doesn't get through to her and Willow does end up on the same path that Ripper was. Here is an excerpt from 'The Dark Age' where the similarities between what happened to Giles and what is happening to Willow are clear:
Giles: I was twenty-one, studying history at Oxford. And, of course,
the occult by night. I hated it. The tedious grind of study, the...
overwhelming pressure of my destiny. I dropped out, I went to London... I fell in with the worst crowd that would have me. We
practiced magicks. Small stuff for pleasure or gain. And Ethan and I
discovered something... bigger.
Buffy: Eyghon.
Giles: Yes. One of us would, um... go into a deep sleep, and the others would, uh, summon him. It was an extraordinary high! God, we were fools.
Buffy: You couldn't control it.
Giles: One of us, Randall, he lost control. Eyghon took him whole. We
tried to exorcise the demon from Randall, but it killed him. No. We
killed him. We thought we were free of the demon after that. But now
he's back. And one by one, he will kill us all.
This is probably why Giles takes Willow back to England with him after Season 6. He knows how he felt after what happened to him as Ripper, so he knows what Willow needs.
Overall, an enjoyable week of episodes which start to set up the main plotlines for this season. Next week, we have one of the best episodes of 'Buffy', and probably the one I've watched (or listened to) the most. I can't wait.
@ Quarks :
I totally agree with your point of view on S6. I think the same reasons are to invoque in why Xander will be the one saving the world in thr season finale : in terms of power, he is the weakest of the gang (but the strongest one doesn't just really wants to beat the villains during most the season), but in terms of human nature, he's always been the heart. And see how he'll save the world : not fighting but offering himself as Willow's victim.
I've noticed that after Season 4, their isn't so many random demons coming to town anymore. I think this is because Glory's reputation would have scared them off, and most demons would fall for the Buffybot cover, so they wouldn't want to mess with someone who could take down Glory and (to them,) walk away.
This let the Trio last as long asthey did. Any of the other 5 (or 6 depending on how you count Angelus and Dru), Big Bads would have killed them in under a minute. Dark Willow lasted less then two days.
And in Season 7 the First would probably scare off most baddies, even W & H wanted it's plan to fail, the First would just kill them, it's doesn't play those deal games.
Also, watching "Fredless," "A Hole In the World," "Shells," and the sub-plot of "The Girl In Question" close together, shows one of the best evoulutions ever.
I'm not sure if this is really worth mentioning, but I remembered the Dawn/vamp necking scene in "All the Way" as belonging to Season 7. [I haven't done a comprehensive rewatch before and in fact I haven't seen some episodes more than once, much as I love the show.] I think that's because of the elements of 7 that echo Season 1, with Dawn entering the new Sunnydale High as a sophomore at the same age Buffy moved to town.
Is sophomore like second year?
@Colleen, yes, sophomore is 2nd year.
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