Below is a look into (5.02) “Just Rewards”, a Season Five episode from ”ANGEL”:
”ANGEL” RETROSPECTIVE: (5.02) "Just Rewards"Co-written by David Fury and Ben Edlund and directed by James A. Contner, the Season Five episode, (5.02) “Just Rewards”, was an immediate follow-up to the conclusion of the season premiere, (5.01) “Conviction”. The latter ended with Angel receiving a mysterious package that contained the amulet he had given to Buffy Summers in the ”BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER” finale, (7.22) “Chosen”. When the amulet activated, it released Spike’s non-corporeal body. At the beginning of ”Just Rewards”, Spike explains that he was killed in Sunnydale during the final battle featured in ”Chosen”, while wearing the amulet. He also explains that the amulet he wore brought his non-corporeal spirit to Wolfram & Hart. When Angel learns that a necromancer named Hainsley is buying corpses from Wolfram & Hart to reanimate with demonic essences, he decides to pay him a visit to tell him that they will no longer supply him with bodies. Spike decides to tag along and is offered a body by Hainsley.First of all, I have to say that the interaction between Angel and Spike were dead on. When the episode had first aired, someone stated that Spike's character seemed to have regressed. Of course, you have to understand from his point of view that a) he is dealing with Angel; b) his death did not go off as expected, hence his anger and frustration at The Powers to Be; c) despite his "regression" and dislike of Angel, he helped his grandsire overcome the necromancer anyway. James Marsters' performance was fantastic, although there were moments when he seemed to overdo it a little. However, his last scene with Amy Ackers was superb, as he effectively brought out Spike's pathos and fear of being permanently stuck in a hell dimension. I am not surprised that a Spike/Fred romance never materialized. They never really struck me as a couple with a potential for romance. However, I was not surprised that they became close friends.David Boreneanz also gave a great performance. It seemed as if working with Marsters has brought out the best in him. I had no idea that Angel had so many issues regarding Spike. I guess it would have been a lot easier for him to believe that the Bleached Wonder had not changed. It is interesting that he had failed to inform the Angel Investigations team about Spike and Buffy's relationship, Spike's soul and the fact that the latter had saved the world. Resentment perhaps? It seemed as if both Angel and Spike had major issues that need to be resolved between them around that time. And the first issue they both had to get over their “rivalry” over Buffy, just as Drusilla had been an issue in the past.I had also heard people complain that Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Fred Burkle and Lorne were not seen that much in this episode. I believe they were right. With the exception of the establishment of Spike’s friendship with Fred, she – along with Wes and Lorne – barely made an impact in this episode. However, Charles Gunn did not suffer from a lack of scenes. In fact, I suspect that he was slowly assuming Wes' role as Angel's "Prime Minister" around this time.As for Harmony, she did not bother me one bit. I have always enjoyed Mercedes McNab’s portrayal of Harmony. Quite frankly, she has always been a lot of fun to watch. And I really enjoyed her jealous reaction to the news about Spike's relationship with Buffy. Poor Harmony. Even after shooting Spike in the back with an arrow and declaring her emotional independence in the ”BUFFY”episode, (5.14) “Crush”, she remained infatuated with him. Victor Raider-Wexler (from AMC-TV’s ”THE LOT”) gave a deliciously creepy performance as the necromancer, Magnus Hainsley. The character seemed to be a powerful magic practioner. I wonder how he would have done against Willow? I also wonder how many of his previous clients continued to walk the streets of Los Angeles. All in all, ”Just Rewards” was an entertaining episode. It reminded me of how much I had enjoyed that early period of Season Five.
While watching my DVD set box for Season Four of "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER", I came across this Thanksgiving episode called (4.08) "Pangs" and wrote the following article about it: "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" RETROSPECT: (4.08) "Pangs"Season Four has never been that popular with fans of "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER". It was the first season that did not feature the vampire Angel as a regular character. And it marked the beginning of Buffy Summer's romance with university teaching assistant/Army demon hunter Riley Finn. And many fans were not that thrilled by the Initiative storyline. I have never had a problem with Season Four. Mind you, I would not count it as among my top four out of seven seasons. But it featured at least two of my favorite "BUFFY"episodes of all time. And one of them is the holiday-themed "Pangs".While preparing a Thanksgiving feast for her close friends in the absence of her mother, University of California Sunnydale student and vampire slayer Buffy Summers encounters the restless and vengeful spirit of a Native American, called Hus, whose people - the Chumash tribe - were wiped out by Spanish and American settlers. Hus's spirit was released during a groundbreaking ceremony for U.C. Sunnydale's new Anthropology building. Hus managed to murder the Curator for the building's museum and a local priest who had attending the ceremony. During her frantic efforts to prepare Thanksgiving and deal with Hus, Buffy is unaware that former boyfriend Angel has returned to Sunnydale to keep an eye on her, after a friend of his (former regular character Cordelia Chase) has received a vision of her being in danger. She is also unaware that soon-to-be boyfriend Riley Finn is part of an U.S. Army program called the Initiative, which hunts down and experiments on demons. One of the Initiative's victims turned out to be Buffy's current nemesis, vampire Spike, who had managed to escape from his Initiative prison in the previous episode, (4.07) "The Initiative". Due to his inability to feed upon or commit violence against humans, Spike is slowly starving. He first seeks help and refuge from fellow vampire Harmony, who refuses to have anything to do with him. Desperate, he turns to Buffy and the other Scoobies for refuge in exchange for information about the Initiative."Pangs" did provide a few problems for me. One, the episode's writer, Jane Espenson, erroneously stated that the Chumash had been wiped out. Despite the Spanish, Mexican and American governments; the band still exists. Two, Buffy informed her friends that her mother Joyce left Sunnydale to spend Thanksgiving with an aunt. Why did Buffy, who was eighteen at the time, stay in Sunnydale? Why did she fail to accompany her mother for what was obviously a family gathering? Did Buffy have something against this particular "Aunt Pauline"? Three, during her last fight with Hus and the Chumash spirits he had summoned, Buffy unsuccessfully used her knife on Hus and claimed that he and his fellow spirits do not die. Yet, in a scene later, Angel managed to break the neck of one Chumash spirit and impale another with a knife. Hmmmm . . . I smell inconsistency in the air. And four, Angel's visit to Sunnydale led to the "ANGEL" Season One episode, (1.08) "I Will Remember You", which I loathe with every fiber of my being.Aside from these narrative hiccups, "Pangs" remains a personal favorite of mine. At first glance, it seemed like a stand-alone episode that had nothing to do with the season and series' plot arc. As it turned out, it did."Pangs" marked the first time Spike would hang out with the Scoobies. It led to another setback in Buffy and Angel's relationship. It marked the first time that the Scoobies became aware of the Initiative, thanks to Spike. And it provided another chapter in Buffy's growing relationship with Riley Finn. This seems like an awful lot, considering that this episode mainly focused on Buffy dealing with a Thanksgiving feast and a vengeance spirit - two topics that were quickly resolved by the end. But Espenson and director Michael Lange. But the best things I can say about "Pangs" is that it featured superb performances and some incredibly funny dialogue and camera visuals. I tried to think of some of the best dialogue found in the episode and came across several lines. Among my favorites featured Buffy's ability to remain focused . . . or obssessed with her feast, while discussing their problems with Hus. However, one should not be surprised that Spike was responsible for the funniest moment in the episode in a scene that featured both Buffy and her friend Willow Rosenberg's reluctance to destroy Hus, due to their guilt over the country's past with Native Americans:BUFFY: Will, you know how bad I feel. This is eating me up -- (to Anya, who holds up the bottle of brandy) -- a quarter cup, and let it simmer -- (to Willow, as Anya goes back) -- but even though it's hard, we
have to end this. Yes, he's been wronged, and I personally would be ready to apologize...
SPIKE: Oh, someone put a stake in me!
XANDER: You got a lot of volunteers in here...
SPIKE: I just can't take this mamby-pamby boo-hooing over the bloody Indians!
WILLOW: The preferred term is --
SPIKE: You won! All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do! That's what Caesar did, he's not going around saying "I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it!" The history of the world is not people making friends. You had better weapons, you massacred them, end of story!
BUFFY: Well, I think the Spaniards actually did a lot of... not that I don't like Spaniards...
SPIKE: Listen to you! How are you gonna fight anybody with that attitude?
WILLOW: We don't want to fight anybody.
BUFFY: I just want to have Thanksgiving.
SPIKE: Yeah, good luck.
WILLOW: If we could talk to him --
SPIKE: You exterminated his race. What could you possibly say that would make him feel better? It's kill or be killed here. Take your bloody pick.James Marsters really acted the hell out of that scene. And I am not surprised. To this day, I believe that his portrayal of Spike was one of the best television performances I have ever seen . . . period. And he was really marvelous in this episode. So were Anthony Stewart Head, who did a top-notch job in giving a comic twist to a Rupert Giles who found himself manipulated by Buffy into holding the Scoobies' Thanksgiving feast at his apartment; Alyson Hannigan, who was also superb as best friend/witch Willow Rosenberg, who did not hesitate to express her conflict between dealing with Hus and her guilt over the region's ugly past in dealing with the Chumash people. Nicholas Brandon and Emma Caufield gave fine support as Buffy's two other friends, Xander Harris and former vengeance demon Anya Jenkins. Marc Blucas was charming as Buffy's soon-to-be boyfriend, Riley Finn. And he was ably supported by an exuberant Leonard Roberts. Mercedes McNab displayed excellent comic timing in scenes that featured recently sired vampire Harmony Kendall's encounters with Spike and Xander. David Boreanaz took a break from his new series at the time, "ANGEL" to give an intense, yet at times funny performance as Buffy's ex-vampire squeeze, Angel. But the real star of this episode was Sarah Michelle Gellar. She gave both a hilarious, yet poignant performance, revealing Buffy's somewhat obssessive determination to make her Thanksgiving a success. In fact, I believe I enjoyed her performance even more than Marsters. And that is quite an accomplishment, considering that Marsters is a natural-born scene stealer.Yes, "Pangs" had a few problems. And its main narrative surrounding the dangers of a Native American vengeance spirit did not exactly strike me as memorable. However, I do believe that the narrative made an interesting comment on how conflicted Americans have become in viewing our county's history. More importantly, Spike's comments on the cirumstances that led to Hus' path of vengeance is a brutal reminder of how monstrous human beings can be - a foreshadow of the Scoobies' future behavior later in the series. Thanks to Jane Espenson's hilarious script, Michael Lange's direction and a superb cast led by Sarah Michelle Geller, "Pangs" remains one of my favorite "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" episodes to this day.
"WHY RHONDA WILCOX DOES NOT MATTER"
I am feeling very emotional right now. I have managed to read nine out of twelve chapters of "WHY BUFFY MATTERS: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer". After reading the latest chapter called, Fear: The Princess Screamed Once - Power, Silence and Fear in "Hush", I decided not to finish the book. Why? The last chapter really pissed me off.
What I am about to say will probably not generate any sympathy toward my views. It has a lot to do with Rhonda Wilcox's opinion on the character, Riley Finn. And Riley, bless his heart, is probably one of the more hated characters in Buffyverse. But you know what? Regardless of how other fans may view Riley, what Wilcox had to say about him in her book pissed me off. It was the last straw.
The first straw - at least for me - had nothing to do with Riley. It had to do what Wilcox had to say about a character created for another fictional universe. Earlier in the book, Wilcox compared the characters of Buffy Summers and Harry Potter in a chapter titled, When Harry Met Buffy: Buffy Summers, Harry Potter and Heroism. Not only did Wilcox compared Buffy and Harry in this chapter, but their friends as well. This idiot woman had the nerve to compare the characters of Xander Harris (BUFFY) and Ron Weasley (HARRY POTTER) in the following manner:
"Their (Xander and Ron) lack of special gifts accentuates the loyalty and bravery that Ron and Xander each offers as a friend to a character frequently placed in abnormal danger.
Thus, in each world, there is a triumvirate of friends: Harry and Buffy each have a modest, normal male and an unusually intelligent female as friends."
Ron Weasely lacked special gifts? Ron? He was a wizard. He did not lack any supernatural powers like Xander. Nor was he a less gifted magic practitioner than Harry or Hermioine. Ron lacked Harry's special gift for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Quidditch. But he was still proficient in both skills. He lacked Hermioine's intelligence. But so did Harry. And Ron was better at Defense Against the Dark Arts magic than Hermioine. Most importantly, Ron was a very skillful chess player - something that neither Harry or Hermioine could boast. Apparently, Ms. Wilcox has forgotten this and decided to judge Ron's character based on his "Idiot at Hogswarts" portrayal in the movies. Not a very good researcher, is she?
But her comparison of Ron Weasley and Xander Harris was nothing in compare to what she had to say about Riley in the chapter about "Hush". In one passage, Wilcox described Riley in this manner:
"It connects Riley with the myth of Virgil's Aeneas, the hero of 'Aeneid', one of the three great Greco-Roman epics. (And I refer you to C.W. Marshall's article on Giles and Aeneas in 'Slayage' to suggest the further applicability of this particular source.) Aeneas is perhaps the most purely patriarchal of the classic heroes. This (to me) dull and duty-bound hero is an excellent parallel for Riley, the least liminal of Buffy's significant others.
This woman is a moron. Okay, perhaps I may have been a little too harsh. But Wilcox actually have the nerve to label Riley as "purely patriarchal". Riley Finn? Had Wilcox been so blinded by her dislike of him that she failed to notice that he was hardly patriarchal? For me, Riley's problem - at least in early and mid Season Four - seemed to be his willingness to blindly adhere to authority figures, whether they were patriarchal or in the case of Maggie Walsh, matriarchal. If one good thing that came out of Riley's relationship with Buffy was that he learned to stop following authority figures in such a mindless manner. Yes, he had rejoined the Army. But post-Season Five Riley was open-minded enough to allow Buffy to make a decision on what to do about Spike when they learned he was smuggling demon eggs in Season Six's "As You Were". It was the same Riley who helped Buffy get rid of the chip in Spike's brain in Season 7's "The Killer in Me", despite his dislike of the vampire.
She also claimed that following the end of Riley's relationship with Buffy, he decided to invest his identity in being a fighter and not a lover:
"Those familiar with the Bufy story beyond the standalone "Hush" episode can see further parallels: after Aeneas and Queen Dido's love affair, he leaves to fight for his (future) country and she kills herself. Just so, Riley eventually decides to invest his identity in being a fighter, not a lover; he rejoins the Army and departs the Hellmouth, leaving Buffy to kill herself during the battle against Glory (and consider the military implications of that phrase: the battle 'against' Glory)."
Apparently, Wilcox forgot that not only did Riley rejoin the Army, he GOT MARRIED! She forgot or had decided to dismiss that one little tidbit.
Later, she accused Riley of fearfulness:
"But to return to the fearfulness of Riley. That phrasing ambiguously allows two implications: that Riley is fearful, and that Riley is to be feared. And I would argue that this episode suggests the same - and applies the fear to all that Riley stands for."
If Wilcox was referring to Riley's inability to communicate to Buffy his fears about their relationship in Season Five - I could understand this. But . . . as usual, she overlooked something else. Namely Buffy's inability to communicate her own fears to Riley. She also failed to mention that Buffy's fear of being emotional damaged in a relationship after her experiences with Angel led her to get involved with Riley in the hopes of having a "normal" relationship. I suspect that by Season Five, Riley began to fear this. And this is where Riley's fearfulness came in. He failed to communicate his fears to Buffy before it was too late.
Had Wilcox been so willing overlook Riley's more complex nature in order to paint Riley in such a one-dimensional manner? It seemed like it. In fact, she seemed so driven by her dislike of the character that she dumped the blame of their break-up solely upon his shoulders. And as I had stated earlier, she literally viewed Riley as some human version of the Gentlemen from "Hush":
"Riley is both Aeneas and the Gentlemen. Heroic self-denial and repression - with all the attendant miseries."
And;
"Consider the closing scene. This episode presents patriarchy as horror in the form of the Gentlemen, and patriarchy with its best face on as the kindly, brave Riley. Riley can help Buffy defeat that worst side of patriarchy, but is he, its best incarnation, enough for Buffy?"
Riley Finn is a symbol of the patriarchy of the Gentlemen? Riley Finn was the series' best incarnation of patriarchy? Wilcox was speaking of a character who had allowed his view points and his life to revolve around women - whether it was Maggie Walsh in Season Four or Buffy in early Season Five. I only hoped that he had managed to break this habit with his marriage between Seasons Five and Six.
Right now, I am desperately trying to maintain my temper . . . and remember that I am discussing fictional characters. I realize that Ms. Wilcox, like many Buffyverse fans disliked Riley. I understand. I dislike Angel. I have for a long time. But I have always felt that Angel had the capacity to grow as a character. I have also experienced moments when I have either sympathized or even liked him. But I hope and pray that I would never devolve into the kind of characterizations of Angel or any other fictional character I may dislike in the same way that Wilcox has characterized Riley Finn. Her portrait of Riley in her book only makes me realize that I had wasted my time reading her book.
"THE POWERS TO BE IN WHEDONVERSE"
While perusing one of the many ”BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER” message boards on the Internet, I came across a passage from an article titled, ”Classic CJL: Spike and the Whedonverse”:
”In order to battle the new enemy (vampires), the Powers have called upon Slayers, Champions (welcome, Cordy!), Seers and Mystics, all dedicated to protecting the human race from the vampires and half-breed demons who feed upon and ravage the populace.”
Like many other "BUFFY" fans, I had believed in this nonsense . . . until I saw the Season 7 episode, ”Get It Done” (7.15). Thanks to this particular episode, I finally came to the conclusion that the above comment about the so-called “Powers to Be” featured in both"BUFFY" and its spin-off, ”ANGEL just might not be true
Following the suicide of one of the Potential Slayers and a dream of the First Slayer, in ”Get It Done”, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Geller) receives a bag from Principal Robin Wood (D.B. Woodside). The bag had once belonged to his mother – a former Slayer in the 1970s named Nikki Wood. This bag eventually leads Buffy to discover the true origins of a long line of vampire slayers. .
In ”Get It Done”, Buffy finally learns the real truth about the Slayer line’s origins. It was not Powers to Be who had created the line. Instead, a trio of ancient African shamans had committed the dead, in order to create a weapon (one of flesh) to fight vampires and other demons for them. And to insure that this weapon would remain in their control – and under the controls of those that followed them – they made sure that the Slayer line would continue through countless young females throughout the ages. Why? Because they had believed that adolescent girls and young women would be easily controlled, due to their ages and gender.
So, one has to wonder. Did the First Slayer, Buffy, Faith, Kendra, Nikki Wood, Xin Rong and all of the Slayers before and after really have a sacred duty to defend humans against vampires and other demons, because of the Powers to Be? Or had they merely been reluctant conscripts in a never ending war waged against demons by these shamans and their descendants – the Watcher’s Council?
Speaking of vampires, here is another passage from the article . . . this time, about Angel (David Boreanaz) – the vampire with a soul, who had formed his own gang to fight demonic evil on his own show in Los Angeles:
”Of course, the biggest exception to the rule, the vamp who broke the mold, is Angel. The Powers and our Lord Joss have spent a great deal of time and effort guiding his path from Chaos, prepping him for his pivotal and unique role in the upcoming ‘End of Days’ we’ve been waiting for since BtVS, Season 1.”
I am curious. Exactly how did the vaunted Powers to Be guide Angel toward his actions in one of the late "BUFFY" episodes, ”End of Days”? I will admit that the Powers to Be were responsible for placing him in Buffy’s path back in 1996. A demon named Whistler had introduced Angel to the future Slayer and within less than a year, he would follow her to Sunnydale and his own future in demon slaying.
But the Powers to Be had not been responsible for giving him his soul back in 1898. A group of Kalderash gypsies from Romania had restored his human soul in an act of revenge for his murder of one of their children. This soul would afflict him with a conscience and condemn him to an eternity of remorse for the crimes he has committed. After Angel lost his soul one hundred years later in 1998, it was Buffy’s friend, Willow Rosenberg, who had restored his soul. Come to think of it, Willow performed this act again, five years later, on the behest of Angel’s L.A. associates. If the Powers to Be were not responsible for the restoration of his soul, who would have become their “Champion” if Angel had not killed that Kalderash gypsy child?
As for his role in the so-called ‘End of Days’ – the only task he ended up performing was to hand Buffy the amulet that would help her defeat the First Evil’s plans to upset the balance of good and evil. Come to think of it, the heads of Wolfram and Hart – the Powers to Be’s opposite number – had given Angel that amulet. And it was Spike who eventually wore the amulet in the "BUFFY" series finale,"Chosen" (7.15) that led to the First Evil’s defeat.
From what I have surmised, the Powers to Be only committed one major act in the so-called ”war against evil” - they had used Whistler to guide Angel into making his aquaintance with Buffy, before she became a Slayer. They certainly were not responsible for the creation of the Slayer line. And they certainly were not responsible for Angel receiving his human soul. Come to think of it, they were not responsible for Spike retrieving his soul. Apparently, William the Bloody had made the choice to regain his soul. No one made it for him. Which only leads me to wonder just how relevant were the Powers to Be in the Whedonverse.
I have something of a problem with Buffy's relationship with the Scoobies:
"BUFFY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SCOOBIES"
I am watching the Season 3 episode, (3.07) "Revelations" right now. I am watching the scene in which the Scoobies reveal to Buffy that they know that Angel is still alive and she had been keeping his presence a secret from them. Apparently, Xander had decided to spy on Buffy, due to her secretive nature and found her kissing Angel.
Now, I realize that they had a right to be angry that she failed to tell them about Angel being alive. But . . . God, this scene pissed me off! If there is one thing about Buffy's relationship with Giles and the Scoobies that has burned me is that she has allowed them to dictate her behavior and moral compass, due to her own fear of losing their friendship. Has Buffy ever put such pressure on Xander, Willow or Giles? I wonder. For years, they put her on this pedestal called "THE SLAYER" and rarely allow Buffy to be herself or have her own life.
Xander is the worst offender of them all. I do not know how this character came to be so beloved by the series' fans. Granted, Xander can be entertaining. But of all the characters, he is probably the most self-righteous of the bunch. And he has allowed his self-righteousness, along with his jealousy toward Buffy's relationships with both Angel and Spike to compromise his morals without any remorse. Good examples would be his lie to Willow about Buffy's wishes regarding Angel in (2.22) "Becoming - Part II"and his attempt to murder a chipped Spike in (6.18) "Entropy" for having sex with the fiancee he had dumped at the altar. Even in"Revelations", he was behaving in the most self-righteous manner about Buffy's lie regarding Angel . . . yet, at the same time, was kissing Willow behind Cordelia's back. Some would say that at least his infidelity with Willow was not a threat to anyone. But his and Willow's actions ended up hurting Cordelia in more ways than one.
The Scoobies' attitude toward Buffy reached its pennacle in Season 6. In (6.01)"Bargaining - Part I", Willow, with Xander, Anya and Tara's assistance, brought Buffy back from the dead . . . without her consent or anything. An act that led to a year long depression for for the Slayer. And they did this, because they needed "THE SLAYER". They believed that Sunnydale needed a Slayer. Despite the fact that Sunnydale had managed to exist without a Slayer for nearly a century before Buffy's arrival.
Is it any wonder why Buffy began to emotionally distance herself from her friends" in Season 7?
“BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER” – WHO IS TO BLAME IN (7.19) “EMPTY PLACES”?
Nearly five years ago, an episode viewed by many ”BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER” fans as controversial, aired during the show’s final season. The name of that episode was (7.19) ”Empty Places”.
In this episode, the citizens of Sunnydale finally desert the town in masse after realizing that their chances of surviving the upcoming apocalypse might be non-existent. Even demons like Clem desert. Buffy, the Scoobies, Spike, Faith and the Potentials are still smarting from their defeat at the hands of Caleb in the previous episode, (7.18) ”Dirty Girls”. To relieve the Potentials of their gloomy moods, Faith took them for one last night of fun at the Bronze, a local nightclub. The fun ended in near disaster, after an encounter with police. But when Buffy suggested that Caleb may be hiding something of great value in the vineyard – the scene of their last defeat – the Scoobies, the Potentials, Giles, Wood and Dawn finally turned their backs on her . . . and kicked her out of her own home.
I have found the general reaction to the characters’ actions in ”Empty Places” rather interesting. I realize that I should not be amazed, considering human nature. Yet, I am. There have been fans that came to the conclusion that all of the characters had reacted badly to the situation. These fans even managed to pinpoint on the characters’ fears and flaws that led to their individual decisions. But the majority of fans seem determined to place the blame of what happened on either Buffy or those who had rejected her. And especially in regard to the latter, many fans seemed to have vented their ire on a handful of characters.
Personally, I believe they were all at fault. To be honest, Buffy was not a good leader throughout Season Seven. This became painfully clear when she assumed leadership over the Potentials. Instead of resorting to the usual methods she had utilized when leading the Scoobies against the Big Bad at the end of the previous seasons – listening to her friends and considering their suggestions – Buffy resorted to acting like General von Summers by insisting that her views are correct, ignoring any advice given by others and viewing herself as the law, whose word should not be questioned. She painfully reminded me of the Watchers’ Council at their worst. Which should not surprise me, considering that her only guide on how to be a leader came from a Watcher. Her Watcher . . . namely one Rupert Giles.
Giles’ own actions before this episode had contributed a great deal to the schism between himself and Buffy. He was the one who had insisted that Buffy lead the Potentials. He was the one who had taught her to be a killer, instead of a leader. And when she failed to become an effective leader - no surprise there - he was the one who constantly complained about her ineffectiveness. And then to make matters worse, he betrayed her by trying to get Spike killed behind her back . . . and never expressed any remorse for his actions. Naturally this pissed off Buffy. But when she finally rejected his role as her authority figure, he became resentful and even more critical . . . and stabbed her in the back, again. And yet, the fans ended up expressing more hostility toward characters like the Potentials (especially Kennedy and Rona), Robin Wood, Dawn and the Scoobies than toward Giles. I guess as a long established authority figure, Giles was exempt from their hostility. Well, from the hostility of most fans. There are those who keep claiming that Giles had changed during Season 7. And there were those who condemned him as much as they condemned the others. By the way, I don't think that Giles had changed. I think that Buffy's view of him had.
The actions of others did not serve them very well. Both Willow and Xander seemed resentful of Buffy’s growing distance from them. Despite enjoying their friendship with her, both have demanded that she live up to her role as ”the Slayer” They wanted to put her on a pedestal, yet at the same time, they demanded that she stays as close to them as possible. Dawn’s own insecurites spawned by her encounter with the First in (7.07) ”Conversations With Dead People” has led her to wonder if Buffy cared more about being a Slayer than her. This insecurity has apparently led Dawn to finally reject Buffy’s role as authority figure in this episode. I am not saying that Dawn was wrong. She had every right to reject Buffy’s authority. Only, she did it by insisting that Buffy move out of the house . . . her sister’s house. I would not be surprised that Robin Wood still maintained a resentment against Buffy for choosing Spike – the vampire who had killed his mother in 1977 – over him. As for Faith . . . well, she never really rejected Buffy’s authority. She only questioned it.
But the characters who have received the greatest ire from many fans over what happened in this episode were the Potentials – especially Kennedy and Rona. A good number of them seemed to resent Rona for openly expressing doubt toward Buffy’s skills as a leader. And even more of them resented Kennedy for not being another Tara or Oz – in other words, another introvert for the already introverted Willow. But the single biggest criticism that the fans had laid at the Potentials’ feet was their decision to reject Buffy as their leader. For some reason, many seemed to harbor the view that they had no right to reject Buffy, let alone question her decisions. They seemed to believe that the Potentials should have blindly followed Buffy, regardless of how they had felt about her.
You know, I never fail to be amazed at how hypocritical people can be. Honestly. Take the relationship between Buffy and the Potentials in Season Seven for example. In the past seasons, Buffy continuous attempts to maintain a personal life and resist Giles' attempts to turn her into a single-minded Slayer drew cheers from the viewers. When she resisted and finally rejected the Watchers Council’s authority over her in Season Three’s (3.12) ”Helpless”, the fans cheered. When she continuously questioned Maggie Walsh and the Initiative’s actions and encouraged boyfriend Riley Finn to do the same in Season Four, the fans cheered. When Buffy made it clear to the visiting members of the Watchers Council in Season Five’s (5.12) ”Checkpoint” that they no longer have any power over her, the audiences cheered.
Then in Season Seven, Buffy became an authority figure. Actually, she became one following her mother’s death in late Season Five, when she became Dawn’s only guardian. But her interactions with the Potentials led her to become an authority figure on the same scale as Giles, Maggie Walsh and the Initiative and the Watchers Council. And like those before her, Buffy made some very questionable judgment calls – including her decision to attack Caleb at the local vineyard without any real reconnaissance. And like Buffy had in the past, the Potentials rejected their own authority figure in this particular episode. But since their authority figure happened to be Buffy . . . many fans had condemned them for not blindly following her.
Apparently, it was okay for Buffy to resist or reject the authority figures she had faced. But when she became an authority figure - and not a very good one at that, many fans decided that ”no one” - especially the hated Potentials - had the right to resist or reject her. I hate to say this, but this could easily be construed as a bad case of double standards by those fans. That they would excuse or approve of Buffy rejecting authority figures, yet condemn those who would do the same to Buffy after she became an authority figure, reeks of hypocrisy to me. And this is something I simply cannot agree with.
Below is a list of my ten favorite episodes of "ANGEL" (1999-2004), which starred David Boreanaz:
TOP TEN (10) FAVORITE EPISODES OF “ANGEL”
1. (1.19) “Sanctuary” - The second of a two-part episode about a burnt out Faith’s appearance in Los Angeles. Following her breakdown, Angel discovers that the Watchers Council and Buffy are after her.
2. (2.07) “Darla” - Angel tries to find a way to save a human Darla from the clutches of Wolfram and Hart, while she remembers her past as a vampire.
3. (5.11) “Damage” - Angel and Spike hunt down a psychotic Slayer who has escaped from an institution and believes that Spike is the man who drove her insane.
4. (2.02) "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" - In this send-up on the post-World War II Communist witch hunts, Angel recalls a traumatic experience during the 1950s at the Hyperion Hotel.
5. (1.18) “Five by Five” - The first half of Faith’s appearance in Los Angeles has the rogue Slayer being recruited by Wolfram and Hart to assassinate Angel.
6. (3.09) “Lullaby” – Holtz, a demon hunter from the past, hunts down Angel, while Darla endures a difficult labor.
7. (4.10) “Awakening” - In an attempt to bring down The Beast and restore the sun, Wesley brings in a dark mystic to extract Angel's soul.
8. (5.08) “Destiny” - Spike is recorporealized, and the two souled vampires battle it out to drink from the "Cup of Perpetual Torment" to settle the renewed conflict of the Shanshu Prophecy.
9. (4.16) “Players” - Gwen Raiden enlists Gunn's help to steal a device to control her electrical abilities while Lorne attempts a ritual to restore his empathic powers.
10. (4.04) “Slouching Toward Bethlehem” - Cordelia inexplicably returns from her higher dimension, but she has no memory of who she is and who her friends are; and Lilah Morgan develops an interest in her reappearance, as well.
