Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Headscratchers/General: Difference between revisions

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*** Of course, being "a heck of a nasty thing to do" doesn't stop them from doing it again to ''Angel'', even though he'll have a whole lot of new atrocities to feel horrible about, and apparently expecting everybody to think they've done him (and Buffy) a favor. Originally the reason for the re-ensouling in Season 2 was as a backup in case Buffy didn't manage to kill Angel - it wasn't meant to be doing him a favour, just another option to contain him - but that seemed to be forgotten.

**** That was the stated reason, but there was still the underlying motive of, as Xander so eloquently put it, "You want to forget all about Ms. Calendar's murder so you can get your boyfriend back." This IS why Xander didn't tell Buffy about Willow reattempting the re-insouling after promising he would; he wanted her to fight and kill Angelus, rather than holding on and waiting for Willow to give Angel back to her.

** The soul curse did a number on Willow, it nearly killed her, hence why they don't just spam the spell all over the place every time they meet a vampire. Also, giving somebody a soul doesn't always give them instant remorse and cause them to immediately start doing the right thing. Angelus kept on killing even after he got his soul, and Darla was slow to react as well. Drusilla would indeed kill herself, after all look at the sane vampires who got souls. Angelus and Spike both temporarily went insane after getting their souls for the first time, imagine what it would do someone who was already insane. It's not a gift, it's a curse.

*** I'm a trifle fuzzy on why Drusilla killing herself would be a bad thing.

** It's also worth noting that the creators address this question directly in an episode where Buffy is deprived of her powers. She herself was shown at one point feeling as if without her powers she'd be nothing, but when they're actually removed, it's her resourcefulness, strategic planning ability and emotional strength and let her kick the bad guy's ass anyway.

** The fact that the two [[Badass Normal|Badass Normals]] are men but most of the female Scoobies have some kind of magic power makes it come off as "Men can fight supernatural evils just fine without special powers but the only way for a woman to be strong enough to fight evil is through supernatural intervention."

* Okay, here's one from [[The Movie]]: Lothos is Buffy's nemesis in the most literal sense of the word. She cannot defeat him (at least not at first) and he seems to be everywhere, including inside her own head. Not to nitpick or point out the obvious, but the ''whole damn point'' of the movie - the one question we all want answered - is whether Buffy will finally be able to put this old bastard out of her life once and for all. In a scene that's pretty much [[Sarcasm Mode|clear as mud]], {{spoiler|the dying}} Merrick tells Buffy that "when the music stops," everything will radically change and she'll know what to do. When the {{spoiler|penultimate}} confrontation in the school's boiler room comes, Buffy is confronted by Lothos just as she is killing {{spoiler|Amilyn}}. He [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|quotes Scripture to her for no real reason]], and she responds by letting on that she is no longer afraid and essentially tells him: "Let's do this." And then....I'm sorry, but ''what the bloody hell was supposed to happen next''? Buffy simply ''sits down'' and allows Lothos to slink up beside her. What the hell was ''that'' about? Buffy could certainly hear the heavy metal music off in the distance, and perhaps (if only subconsciously) sensed that that was the "music" Merrick had been referring to. She must have divined that as long as that music was going, she was screwed. But....But....''couldn't she have just stalled for time''? Tried to run, distracted Lothos, ''something''?! Even if this dumbfounding scene had not all but negated the "girl power" theme of the movie (Buffy needs {{spoiler|Pike}} to get her out of this jam), it's still a wall banger that desperately cries out for explanation.

 

== Totally Radical ==

 

 

* Why did Xander never consider a career in the military? "Innocence" makes it clear that there is a military base in the area, and while his military skills did fade, he still would have been better qualified than 90% of the US population. He could have done his training over the summer and gotten a posting to the base?

** While the regular military is out, as the odds of his being assigned to his hometown would beggar probability, you'd think he could still go for the National Guard. If nothing else, it would have made sneaking out the ''next'' rocket launcher from the local NG armory a ''lot'' easier. Not to mention periodic weapons refresher training, et al.

** Judging from his reaction to Spike's mocking claim in late season 4 that a military career was "all he was good for," it seems more than plausible that Xander ''really'' didn't want to join the army. Can't say I blame him.

** Joining the military makes it very difficult to control your own time, and there's a good chance he'd end up on active duty at some point. Xander's not cowardly but I don't think that being separated from Buffy and Willow for months on end would work for him.

 

* On a related note, why didn't Xander ever obtain a gun? His soldier period would have given him the knowledge to operate at least a couple of firearms. He lives in America, where guns are stupidly easy to legally obtain. While guns won't kill vampires, Darla shows that they do cause incredible pain, so a gun would still be useful on patrol to incapacitate a vampire from a distance before moving in for the staking. Also, as was shown when Buffy blew up The Judge and Wesley killed Skip, guns are entirely capable of killing various demons.

** Two quick things: A) Rocket launcher and gun are vastly different and B) Skip wasn't a demon. As to your point, yes guns are useful but within the context of Buffy the villains are mostly expected to be vampires and vampires aren't terribly affected by guns. A good example of this is the first episode of Angel where he is shot multiple times and jumps from the second floor of a building without sustaining any real damage. Yeah a gun could've killed some demons, but a crossbow makes far more sense given what he usually comes across.

*** Skip was entirely a demon.

** Another question is that while there are normally reasons to not use guns vs. demons, the latter part of season 7 is a giant WTF. Bringers entirely die when you shoot them, the First is sending them in in bunches, and the town is evacuated so nobody will notice the loud noises. Go over to the now-empty NG Armory and load up some vans full of shit, Xander!

 

== Seasonal Rot ==

**** Buffy was a terrible commander though! They where completely right in ousting her, she was obviously not able to handle the situation and many of her command decisions had gotten people killed. She was also so poor at keeping up morale that her troops where literally killing themselves because of the hopelessness of the situation. In a case like this she probably should have been replaced, although instead of Faith Willow would have probably been the best candidate because of the previous aptitude for tactical thinking she had shown at the start of season six.

**** Willow would be a horrible candidate as commander in season 7. One, she has no leadership skills at all and sucks at public speaking -- she could coordinate the Scooby Gang because they've already known her for years, but the idea of Willow rapidly convincing a bunch of teenaged strangers already suffering a morale crisis that yes, she can lead them to victory and they should trust her with their fates, is ludicrous. Second, Willow's in no fit mental state to command. People still in magic detox and less than six months off a world-destroying psychotic break should not be given command responsibility in life-or-death situations. Hell, they shouldn't be fighting ''at all'', but things have already reached the desperation stage so that much is at least understandable.

*** I found Season 6 and 7 got better as I got older. I came to Buffy late, and watched all the episodes when I was about 16-18, and much more enjoyed the high school seasons, when the characters were 16-18. Now that I'm approaching 20, I suddenly understand the later season much more. Having had a minor substance problem, I don't even see Willow's storyline as being Narmic anymore, because the experience is Narmic in reality, and I hated Willow's storyline originally. The schizophrenic nature of Season 4, the sense of lack of place of Season 5 and 6, now all make a lot more sense now I'm older, and I like them almost as much as the earlier season.

*** I also came to Buffy late (I was 20 by the time I started watching), and I found that season 6 was really very good. Maybe it also benefits from marathon viewing instead of waiting a week between episodes, I'm not sure. But I felt that the themes and ideas of season 6 really worked for me. No, it isn't the best season (an honor I would assign to season 5), but it was definitely not terrible, either. Season 7 was deeply flawed and there were a lot of times I felt the writers had just entirely forgotten what the characters were like (the mutiny being a massive wall banger for me), but I still don't think it was the worst season. I'd say the first season was the worst, not because it was bad, but because it hadn't yet found its footing or uncovered the depth the series would later develop.

* Enter season Six, and two of the three remaining male characters (Xander, Giles, Spike) completely jump the rails. Giles abandons her for a very weakly explained in-universe reason, and Xander leaves Anya at the altar. Spike, (usually evil anyway) crosses the Moral Event Horizon by attempting to rape Buffy. In season 6 the entire slate of hitherto "good guys" visit three of the worst traumas and betrayals on Buffy and her female friends that any women can get from men. Although it's true that Giles and Xander both redeem themselves at the tail end of S6, a lot of damage has already been done. Riley's innocent in season six, but ends up accidently hurting Buffy anyway with a fine new job, and fine new wife while Buffy's life is in the crapper. His visit equalls more pain for Buffy at the hands of them men in her life. ....

* ... and that's before we even discuss the Troika of Doom as the Big Bad.. Three nerds with massive chips on their shoulders because of their inabilities with women, who see females as commodities to be earned through the abuse of magic, technology, ... or the money one can steal through abusing magic and technology. There's probably nothing wrong with any of these individual story elements - but to heap them all in the same season very possibly prompted a lot of men to double check to see whether or not their favorite show had been hijacked by the Lifetime channel. It truly seemed for most of S6 that men-even men who had proven themselves as heroic in the past- were not capable of goodness.

 

== Angel and Angelus--Which When? ==

***** In Angel's case, he explicitly states that, even though he has his human soul back, the demon half of him is still inside of him and his current persona is an amalgam of the two. Liam may be the dominant half, but Angelus is still in there and still active. He DID do all the things he was blamed for and enjoyed every moment of it, but getting Liam back gave him back his guilt and inhibitions. As shown in the episode with the starlet that tried to [[It Makes Sense in Context|reverse vampire date rape him]], he's capable of cheerfully performing Angelus style acts if his inhibitions are removed, soul or no soul.

**** It's perhaps most clearly shown in S4 [[Angel]] when Faith is in Angel/Angelus' mind - after he got a soul, he still drank innocent blood at least once. Maybe, since people with souls can be evil too, Angel has an darker side, and simply assumes that that's Angelus - so when he feels like doing something wrong, he thinks it's because he's still part-Angelus and what Angelus did was because of the darker part of himself. Because vampires are basically the worst of us, Angel probably thinks that must mean he was (and is) a worse person than everybody else in order to do those things.

** Angel, at least, feels responsible for Angelus's actions because he remembers doing them. Worse, he remembers just how much fun Angelus had doing them. Those memories of the century he spent bringing pain and death to everyone he met? Those memories ''still'' bring a song to his lips. So yeah, he feels responsible for them.

 

*** Because she's a lesbian, not bisexual. Plenty of gay and lesbian people have been in relationships with people of the opposite sex before realising their true orientation, especially early in their life. Willow is a lesbian. End of story

*** Willow is not a lesbian, she is bisexual. In fact, she is one of the most prominent and popular bisexual characters seen on any TV show. As a character - and as others have noted - Willow is deeply insecure in herself, from "Welcome to the Hellmouth" through to "Chosen", constantly adopting new labels and identities: geek, Jewish, scooby, slayerette, Wiccan, lesbian - all are attempts by her to define herself, rather than herself doing the defining. With her insecurity, she desires others to accept her, she uses these various labels to do so and often brings it up an attempt to placate others; note, the only real times she actively defines herself as lesbian are when she's trying to reason with others: her fight with Buffy and Xander in season 4, her fight with Tara in season 5, her argument with Anya in season 6. And she didn't just 'experiment' with guys, she was actively in love with Xander for several years, from before the show started until late season 3. She was also deeply in love with Oz and in his last appearance in season 4 even stated that she always would be.

** This is a textbook example of [[No Bisexuals]]. My theory is that the writers are afraid of [[Viewers are Morons|accidentally implying that Willow's lesbianism was just a phase]] if they have her start dating men again.

** Willow also seemed insecure about identifying as a lesbian. Remember when she flipped at Tara, sarcastically apologizing for not having as much "lesbian cred" or something like that? (I think this was in season 5, but I'm not sure.) Willow seemed to identify as lesbian because the women she was involved with needed the assurance that she wouldn't leave them for a guy - bisexuals get that a LOT, as stupid as it sounds. So it was an image thing for her.

** The fact that she didn't go for guys after Tara's death doesn't necessarily mean anything. Perhaps Willow got in her head exactly what the writers were afraid of: that if she were with a man after Tara's death, it would look disrespectful or as if she were admitting her lesbian attractions were only a phase. Perhaps she was bisexual and in denial about the fact. She wouldn't be the first bisexual girl to convince herself she was a lesbian by far. Sometimes there has to be a whole new realization/coming out process because of it.

** Willow has a thing about labels. It's part of her insecurity; she grabs a label that only slightly applies to her, and then hangs onto it for dear life and will defend it to the death. She does this with "lesbian", she does this with "Wiccan", hell, even Dark Willow does this when she says, "Now I'm the Slayer." It's the teen insecurities that, as we see in Restless, she never actually got over; she just buried it under a mountain of labels saying "Hey, look at me, I'm in the Lesbian Crowd now, isn't that cool?"

 

== Occult Books in a Public, Vamp-Accessible Building ==

*** Except the raids happen at night, by definition. When the secret sessions also happen. Kids spend a lot of nighttime in the library with the weird English guy with his weird books (that he orders through the school system, apparently)? Nooot suspicious at all ;)

*** The kids aren't at the school ''that'' late at night. It's not like they're there at midnight or anything. They're there in the early evening, shortly after sundown. I've been at my high school at similar times in the evening for school functions like dances, basketball games, concerts, etc.

** Giles doesn't have a house, he has an apartment. That didn't look large enough to hold all the books. As for anybody noticing the timing of the sessions in the school library, the laxity and [[Selective Obliviousness]] of the Sunnydale authorities and school system is legendary. This only gets even more pronounced during season 3, after Giles has intimidated Principal Snyder into their arrangement of 'You give me what I want and pay no attention to what I'm doing, and I don't beat the living shit out of you.'

 

*** It's not. In "Tabula Rasa," when everyone loses their memories, Spike speaks in a British accent—in fact, it's a major plot point, since he discovers he's British, which leads him to believe he is Giles's son (and [[Hilarity Ensues]]). If he were consciously affecting his accent, he wouldn't have spoken with a British accent (since they all forgot ''everything'', including Spike/"Randy" not realizing he was a vampire). As for Angel's lack of accent, it makes sense. Angel is older then Spike, probably has been in America for longer, and possibly wanted to pick up a more American sounding accent to avoid attracting attention (whereas Spike loves attention, as shown in Season 2).

*** Spike speaks with ''a'' British accent. Specifically the one living William spoke with in "Fool for Love." It's a subtle but noticable difference.

** Maybe he's changed his pattern of speech so as not to attract attention to himself. Having an accent can be very inconvenient at times, so changing his manner of speech may have rid him of unwanted curiosity.

** Segregation of the story itself and the creation of said story. There's no real explanation. If the writers had gotten rid of Spike's accent, it would've been too much a change of the character. Angel started with an American accent when he first appeared, and then they added the Irish backstory. Also, Angel's Irish accent really, really sucked, so the less we hear, the better.

 

== No Protective Spells ==

** Cordelia's actually quite clever. She just hides it. Xander perhaps not, but I don't remember it being suggested that Buffy is necessarily cleverer than him - at least not until later, when they all get their SAT results.

*** Xander was always a slacker in school; he didn't have an untarnished academic reputation to start with. It's just that since the whole Buffy thing started, his actual slacking time was curtailed by various slay-related activities.

** Snyder seems, by the end, to be specifically under orders to persecute Buffy.

*** He seemed that way from the beginning. Which is funny when you think just slightly outside the box and realize that in season two for example Snyder should have been front and center defending Buffy from the police and making up an alibi and perhaps even I saw these strange people running away! I can't see how the world getting sucked into Hell would be a win for Mayor Wilkins. Fast forward to season 3 and you've got the Mayor's plans about to culminate and what's the genius plan? Expel Buffy. That'll keep her too busy to thwart my. . .you mean that'll give her a lot more spare time to maybe stumble onto my plan? Doh!

*** "Willow sleeping with Kennedy had no negative consequences ([[Take That|other than]] [[Creator's Pet|Kennedy]] being there)." Kennedy being there is a '''huge''' negative consequence.

*** Above troper is on the ball. Really, the show doesn't have a problem with sex. It sometimes explores problems (plural) that are ''related'' to sex, but those are specific: "Surprise" is about sleeping with someone and then realizing they weren't who you thought they were. "Smashed" and "Wrecked" use violent sex as visual metaphor for a mutually destructive relationship. "Seeing Red" includes the fallout from Anya and Spike's tryst, which is treated as an affair since both were emotionally commited elsewhere. "Where The Wild Things Are" is actually about the consequences of sexual ''repression''. The only general take the show seems to have on sex is that it can make easy things complicated, which makes perfect sense given that this is a series about coming of age. (Also, in Buffyland, it's impossible for anything to be shown as complicated or serious without a body count ensuing, so please keep this in mind and adjust the consequences of people's actions accordingly.)

 

== Ineffectual Villains ==

*** Because he didn't want to kill Buffy so much as he wanted to be a comic-book supervillain. That meant coming up with whacky schemes, and never repeating yourself. He'd done robots; he wasn't going to show such unoriginality as to try that again.

*** Just like Adam, he didn't actually WANT to kill her. His plan wasn't "Kill Buffy". The only times Warren targeted Buffy, it was either, "Long as the situation's optimal, might as well let her die," like the invisibility ray, or targeting Buffy was just part of a different objective, like sending the demon after her to get it out of his hair, or framing her for Katrina's murder so he wouldn't be a suspect. Until he walked into her yard with a gun out of anger and desperation, he wasn't explicitly TRYING to kill her.

** Darth Willow: Your lover's dead and you've become an [[Ax Crazy]] über-witch on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]. You want to kill everything and everyone and then, you don't, thanks to the [[Power of Friendship]]. Actually, this makes the most sense: rage can make people do stupid things, love too, so the love-induced wrath of a powerful witch oughta be devastating, and it's not uncommon to calm down and realise you can think things over.

*** Like you noted, rage makes people do stupid things. Love touched off Willow's rage, and love ended it. Like many, many things in this show, Darth Willow was a metaphor. In this case, for the pain of losing someone you love, and the stupid, reckless things people do to deal with that pain. And it took the intervention of the love of someone close to her, someone she HASN'T lost, to pull her back from rock bottom so that the healing could begin.

**** Basically this. Every villain had a motivation. Only a select few of those motivations were explicitly "Kill Buffy". The Master wanted to rise, The Mayor wanted to become a giant snake, Adam wanted his war, Glory wanted The Key, and Warren wanted to be Lex Luthor. The only one that explicitly wanted Buffy to die was Angelus, and he's never fought a Slayer before.

*** Exactly. Remember that killing Buffy would summon another Slayer, and so would have only temporary gain for each villain, if any. They all have their own motives and all of them very nearly succeed<ref>[[You Can't Thwart Stage One]], after all</ref>, except Warren, who is only dangerous when he completely changes his motivation (from "being a supervillain would be AWESOME" to "Grr!"). They all make mistakes because of established character flaws, they are not [[Villain Sue|Villain Sues]].

 

== Maintaining the Masquerade ==

 

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[[Category:Headscratchers]]

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[[Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Headscratchers]]