Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Headscratchers/Season 6: Difference between revisions

** The accepted explanation is that Faith is the one holding the Slayer lineage, although Season 7 doesn't seem to recognize it. Buffy even makes a comment about how all of the potentials will be killed, and then Faith, and then her. She even comments later about how one of the potentials will become the next Slayer if she dies. It's one thing for her to think like this, but even the 1st Evil seems to act this way.

*** Right. The First kills all the potentials; with no potentials, when it kills Faith no new slayer is called. The slayer line would be extinguished forever (as opposed to whatever normally happens there are no potentials when the slayer dies) if the last slayer alive is one who isn't part of the line any longer.

** Buffy's first death and resurrection were natural, and while enough to cause a new slayer to be called, she was really only "mostly" dead, still having brain activity, and still the energies/power of the Slayer. As the power had never left her, she still had it when she was brought back. Separated from the Slayer line (and thus her death would not bring a new slayer), but still with the power. Her later death and resurrection were mystical however, and she was very, very, dead. With the slayer power likely gone from her body altogether, the ritual that brought he back had to draw from the Slayer power to restore her powers along with her life (likely part of the reason they had to use this particular ritual/spell, which sounded designed to bring special/magically-imbued warriors back, otherwise Buffy may be returned, but not her powers), thus reintegrating her with the Slayer line, meaning her death would again call another slayer.

 

== Dawns Vampy Classmates ==

* In "All the Way", how can Dawns classmates; who are vamps, attend school in the day.

** All Dawn ever says is that she recognizes the boys from a couple of (presumably evening) parties. She might assume that they go to her school, but it's never confirmed that they actually do. Alternately, they may have been turned recently enough that Dawn would remember seeing them around the school, even if they're not there anymore.

== Buffy and Dawn Don't Have Wallets ==

* This is probably the tiniest IJBM ever, but here we go: Season Six, "Tabula Rasa". The gang loses their memory, Willow gets the idea of looking in their wallets for ID. But Buffy and Dawn ''don't have wallets''. Seriously? I know it's to set up the Joan/Umad joke, but come on. Dawn maybe, but Buffy's an adult with photo ID and bank-cards.

** Which she didn't necessarily bring with her. She doesn't drive, so she doesn't need to make sure to have her license on her when out and about, and I doubt she was planning to buy anything at the magic shop.

** The real question we should ask ourselves is: If the gang bothered to look through their person for possible locations for a wallet, why did none of them find the black crystal thingie that gave them amnesia in the first place? Sure some of them might've stopped looking after finding their wallets, but I believe Giles' was '''right in his coat pocket'''. How could he miss that?

*** Willow probably did find the black crystal, but having no memory probably thought "Oh, a black cyrstal" and got on with things.

*** What? Willow was the only one carrying a crystal, the spell just got overpowered as too much Lithe's bramble got burned. What made you think they all had a crystal? The only crystal falls out of Willow's pocket and is stepped on by Xander ending the spell.

 

== Joyce's Life Insurance ==

* Part of the plot in the episodes where Buffy is resurrected is to use the Buffybot to pass off as Buffy so people wouldn't know she's dead. Otherwise Buffy's dad would take Dawn away. Yet later, they mention collecting her life insurance. How the hell did they collect the life insurance without letting people know she was dead?

 

== Willow's Name is Mud in Season Six ==

** Xander using the love spell to get back at Anya is also the point at which Giles stops trusting Xander around magic ''period'', remember. He's reluctant to let Xander have anything to do with magic - which is why Xander usually got relegated to snack detail; it's the one thing Giles trusted him not to screw up.

*** This really isn't true. After the love spell, Xander really didn't have much of an interest in magic. Xander using magic was pretty much a nonentity for Giles, except to eye roll when Xander accidentally set a magic book on fire.

**** I agree with some points and disagree with others. The decoration spell was a silly thing for Tara to get upset about, and she didn't really have a good reason against it besides "why do magic when you don't have to?", but Willow attempting to shift most of the Bronze into an alternate dimension for a second was definitely not a very good idea; Tara using a spell to find Willow and Xander was a far different circumstance when the town was under siege by vampires and Willow was drained from using exceptionally powerful magic. I also don't think that Giles should have reacted as he did; if it was any other resurrection, it would have been iffy, but she was resurrecting the Slayer, the girl who's saved the world more than a handful of times. She couldn't have known that Buffy was really at peace, and Giles didn't know that either; he called her stupid for "disrupting the natural cycle", but without Buffy, would the town have survived the ransacking that was taking place? Or any of the emergencies that come up later on? It wasn't just a matter of reviving Buffy, it was also a matter of bringing back the only person who can protect Sunnydale. So I'm siding against Giles on that one.

***** On the other hand, it wasn't like Buffy was the only person who could protect Sunnydale if it came down to it. Faith is a Vampire Slayer, too. At that point, she had more than a year to learn to control her behavior. Willow resurrecting Buffy had more to do with getting Buffy back than it did from protecting Sunnydale. That said, I agree that Willow had no way of knowing that Buffy was in heaven.

** ...The gang are also concerned since Willow is still relatively new to magic; she got very powerful very fast; contrast that with Giles (who knows first-hand how easy it can be to get in over your head from his Ripper days) and Tara who have been practising longer and are more experienced. Willow was fairly arrogant to disregard their warnings, she may have more power than them - but not neccesarily more wisdom or understanding; had she been willing to listen at that point, she could have learnt a lot. Though, likewise - Giles really should have taught her earlier on, when it was clear she was developing a strong interest to properly respect magic. He seemed to want to keep her away from it and protect her (because he knows its dangers), rather than enlighten her on them.

* Tara getting mad about the party does seem silly if taken in isolation, but it's less about the party and more about the bigger picture, especially so soon after the resurrection spell. Tara isn't mad that Willow cast the party spell, she's mad that Willow's abusing magic in general, and the party spell was just a small matchstick that set off the larger flame.

 

== Unsexy House-Smashing ==

**** If they weren't very effective in using guns, it was because they weren't using the /right/ guns. Just because a pistol or SMG doesn't do much, doesn't mean a sniper rifle, combat rifle, or shotgun loaded with incendiary slugs won't work.

**** I tend to think of the "never useful" to also mean that 1) Guns attract attention. Stakings are quieter than gunshots and leave less evidence. 2) Guns cost money. Training costs money. Bullets cost money. Accidentally shooting a bystander or friend (Buffy isn't always fighting vamps in cemeteries, after all) - DEFINITELY going to cost money. Money the Scooby Gang really doesn't have, especially in the earlier seasons. Sure, guns might have their uses against vamps and demons, but they usually aren't practical uses as far as Buffy is concerned.

 

== Anya's strength of convenience? ==

** Anya had only just returned to [[Buffy-Speak|vengeance-demon-ing]] very recently in "Two To Go" and it's possible that the strength of said demon was coming back to her very slowly. Alternatively, it's plausible that Willow is using some spell to hold her in place, like she had tried to do to Glory the previous season. [[Take a Third Option|Alternatively]] [[Rule of Three|again]], Anya's former fiancé's best friend is going on a murderous rampage, and Anya is simply not coping at all.

** [[Wild Mass Guessing|Perhaps Anya being a vengeance demon and Willow being full of vengeance prevented Anya from properly attacking Willow because of some demonic law. Maybe anya couldn't harm a potential "client."]]

 

== Anya's "I'll never tell" ==

** The meta reason is likely that having her there would've stolen the spotlight from Xander and Anya, it would have felt like a cheap gimmick once the wedding's derailment went through, plus Anya and Cordelia would have a really weird dynamic to write around (Anya kinda knows Cordelia thanks to "The Wish", but Cordelia wouldn't know her, and it'd just be an awkward situation to deal with). I can't remember if the Groo vacation thing was written for Charisma Carpenter, but if so, she might also have been unavailable for filming. But as for an in-universe reason: the moment Anya found out Cordelia was Xander's ex-girlfriend, she probably wouldn't let her within 50 miles of their wedding.

** Anya already knew about Xander and Cordy. The fact Willow broke them up was one of the reasons Anya and Willow didn't initially get along. That aside, Cordy wasn't invited for two reasons: 1) She is his ex and it would be weird. 2) As far as we know no one has even bothered talking to Cordy in over a year (in "Disharmony"). What would be the point in inviting her. On a related note, Angel wasn't invited because Xander hates him, and Wesley wasn't invited because ''everyone'' still hates him for the Faith incident.

** Has Cordelia ever forgiven Xander, anyway?

*** It's implied at the end of season three that she did. Or at least that they were capable of rebuilding their friendship; she more or less rejoined the Scoobies and they weren't too cruel to one another. Possibly they'd have had some kind of relationship if she'd stuck around in Sunnydale rather than running off to LA, but as it is, Xander left Sunnydale for the summer not long after they'd started being friends again and Cordelia was gone by the time he got back.

** Honestly, I never even realized that, but because of everything said above, I think the episode could have been a lot better if she'd been there. Maybe they'd have stayed together?

* Besides, Cordy was on vacation with Groo. She had other stuff on her mind at that point.

 

== Warren ==

** Warren murdered a [[Red Shirt]] security guard with the freeze ray + Trina + Tara + Buffy (she got better) on-screen in season 6. In season 7 he killed more men than women: as the First, he killed all of Sunnydale except Xander, Ripper and two dozen women.

*** Actually, they explicitly say that the security guard doesn't die. He's in critical condition at first, but he survives.

*** "Just one night when superbitch woudn't show up!" Pretty much everything Warren says during the fight in "Seeing Red" is sexist comments.

** As for not understanding how playing out his fantasies would hurt people, that's more Andrew and Jonathan, who were just in it for the fun. I don't think Warren had any illusions about what he was doing; he was pushing for killing Buffy right from the start, after all. The other two had to be eased into the idea of murdering someone, and only one of them (Andrew) ever accepted the prospect, and then, only because it happened and they got away with it; Warren was perfectly fine with it right from day one.

 

== Dark Willow, Gay Willow? ==

*** "I was in heaven... I [[Notice This|think]] I was in heaven..."

*** Buffy's description of "Heaven" always seemed like yet another drug metaphor to me. The "withdrawal symptoms" after her resurrection even more so. She was in a hell dimension, hopped up on demon crack?

** This troper always assumed that going to hell or heavenly dimensions in Buffy wasn't based on a reward thing - it was more just random where you got thrown into when you passed from the mortal dimension. I also assumed that to get into one of these dimensions you had to die a mystical death (via an opening between dimensions, like Buffy or Angel at the end of series two) so just killing her friends and/or herself wouldn't mean they all ended up in heaven.

** She sacrificed herself for the entire planet without being asked, when you do that you go to heaven.

** Because she was a traumatized, psychological wreck. Logic, reason, and rational behaviour should not be expected of someone who's just been through what she has. Wanting to die to make the hurting stop and get back to the happy place does not prevent her from having "Protect loved ones" hardwired into her basic behavioural patterns.

 

== Tara's Continued Use of Magic ==

** Anya is a woman scorned, not a neglected child. That's Anyankha's territory, the (first potential, then actual) irony of which was never lost on anyone involved in all three years that she was with Xander. Just as Anyankha's a stickler for only casting vengeance spells for scorned women, Halfrek's probably the same with neglected children.

*** Actually, in "Older and Far Away", Halfrek mentions that most vengeance demons "try to be a little more well-rounded", and that only Anya had a specific 'territory'. Although it's kinda vague, as when asked about it, she says "It's not a thing, the children need me". But it's not really a rule as such.

 

== Joyce, Buffy, and Natural vs. Supernatural Death ==

*** It should also be pointed out that the [[MacGuffin]] used to resurrect Buffy was destroyed during the resurrection spell because of the intervention of the biker demons, and was clearly stated repeatedly to be the last of its kind.

*** Of course, the main powering influence behind Buffy's resurrection was Willow, the new leader of the Scoobies. And this was while she was going through her "magic solves everything let me use more" approach to problem solving. When others in the show died, she wasn't an addict - and, in fact, when Joyce died close to the start of her serious magic addiction she did encourage Dawn by causing the book with the resurrection spell to slide out enough to become visible. What they did was shown as wrong, and the reason they didn't do it for others is a) they knew it was wrong and b) they didn't have the power needed until Willow went a bit crazy.

** Besides, Joyce got an episode about how bringing people back to life is wrong, but Buffy got a whole season for the same thing.

 

== Tara's Corpse's Footwear ==

****** The [[Moral Event Horizon]] was when Buffy betrayed Willow and supported rapist murderer Warren. Seeing as how this never came remotely close to happening, though, it's a non-issue.

***** It definitely would have mean a Moral Event Horizon and I suppose that's a decent answer. But up until Giles dosed her she had very specific targets with very specific reasons. We in the audience sympathize because we know these are a bunch of kids playing Super Villian. From Willow's point of view it's two thirds of the group that killed Tara and nearly killed Buffy. We already saw [[Kill Bill]]. As long as your not between the girl on the [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] and whoever she wants dead you're perfectly safe.

* The logic that's used in show is that the human world has human laws to deal with these things. But they don't. We have no idea what materials are needed to summon a demon or become a superstar. Warren is the only one of the Trio that we can safely assume jail could hold and even that's not clear. It's unclear how versed he was in magic or how hard he could [[Mac Guyver]] a cell phone and other electronics you might be able to get into a prison, particularly if you could all but garuantee that you'll get out.

** Jonathan and Andrew were being contained in prison very effectively until the Scoobies had to help bust them out in order to protect them from Willow. Warren, on the other hand, was an expert in robotics and had no qualms about going to demons for upgrades.

* Willow zapped Ripper and sucked out his magic. Ripper expected this and laced his magic with heroin and the Destroy the World spell so that if Willow destroyed the World, it would be HER fault, not HIS fault.

** Gotta disagree. Yes it does seem like he knew there was a strong chance that Willow would drain him but unless he also knew that Xander had this he basically walked into a room with a crazy person with a gun holding the codes for the world's nukes. Sure technically it's the fault of who ever launches the nukes but why would you creat the situation where they can do far far more damage than they currently can or even want to.

* "Buffy" tells Willow to let the Police deal with the Nerds and then she breaks the Nerds out of prison because in prison, Andrew might not be able to kill Jonathan.

** When did she say this?

* season 6 shows Joss' opinion of Sci Fi fans.

 

== Giles isn't standing in the way ==

**** It's the fine line between going to Giles for help, and using him as a crutch. Buffy was doing the latter; for example, in the aftermath of All the Way, when Giles tried to provide support for Buffy and direct her towards the talk she needed to have with Dawn, and Buffy left Giles to do it instead and took off. As long as she was shirking her responsibilities onto Giles, she would not be able to reintegrate herself in the world; she was becoming a 21-year-old basement dweller, metaphorically speaking, shutting out the world and trying to make her father figure take over all of her responsibilities, and if he let her go down that path, she would never stop. This is one of the hardest things a parent may have to face: knowing when it's time to kick your child out of the nest, because they refuse to grow up, and they have to. Note that after Giles left, Buffy got a job, Buffy stabilized her home, Buffy managed to create attachments to the people in her life again. Buffy started having sex for all the wrong reasons, but it was still more than she'd been able to do before. Being forced to be responsible for her own life was extremely hard for Buffy, but in the end, it allowed her to start living. And when she was capable of living her own life and stopped depending on other people to do it for her, Giles came back.

**** I still think it was cruel for Giles to leave her. Buffy got a job after Giles left, yeah, but she was trying to get one before he left too (see "Life Serial"). Buffy had only been alive for 7 episodes by the time he left (yes, an episode isn't a particularly good unit of time, but it couldn't have been more than a few weeks), there's no proof that she wouldn't have gotten better and more well-adjusted in the same time if he was still around. She was also worried about her friends' feelings and she was hiding the fact that she wasn't in a hell dimension, something that she didn't reveal until the same episode where Giles decided that he was standing in the way. And YMMV as to whether having sex with Spike was a good thing. She shouldn't have tried to push Dawn's welfare onto Giles, but again, she's still recently orphaned, and with everything else she was dealing with, being a mother to Dawn is way too much for people to expect of her so quickly. If felt like he had to leave, he could have at least offered to help financially by sending some money her way from England; money that, if memory serves, Buffy herself got for Giles by bullying the Watcher's Council into reinstating him and giving him his pay retroactively as well. Of course, it's a moot point since it all worked out in the end anyway, but in my opinion, Giles was wrong to leave and wrong about feeling that he was in her way.

 

 

** Warren may be a technological genius, but he's no surgeon. At least the guy he got in Season 4 worked at a hospital, and I wouldn't assume Warren was too competent at ''anything'' except mechanics. I mean, just look at him. Spike probably saw it the same way.

** I guess. To me that's just just stupid. Spike knows enough about electronics (at least they have on and off switches) that the idea that it didn't occur to him to have Warren disable, not remove but simply deactivate the chip he was looking at is messy. The only possible reason is he might have had to explain WHAT the chip did before Warren would or could and obviously he doesn't want anybody who doesn't already know to know.

*** EMP blasts aren't exactly easy to come by.

*** Besides, Spike really wouldn't want to take the chance of messing the chip up somehow and making things worse. Trying to remove it is one thing, but leaving it in his head while fiddling with the way it works is a much riskier plan. What if he accidentally switches it ''on'' all the time instead?

***** Along those same lines, even if the chip can be turned off remotely, the moment Spike reveals to Warren that he wants it turned off, Warren has leverage over him. Warren doesn't have to know what it does, just that Spike can't control it and he can. From there, all he has to do is hold onto the switch and tell Spike "now do what I say or I'll flip whatever that thing is back on again".

***** Especially when the chip's function is that it prevents Spike from hurting any humans. If Warren found that out, he loses all leverage he had. Sure, Spike could still break their possessions, but he couldn't hurt any of the Trio, even if they started attacking him. Even three klutzes like the Trio could do some damage when the person they're attacking can't hurt them back.

 

== Buffy's Financial Responsibility ==

* So basically, Willow and Tara were taking care of Dawn and living in Buffy's house the whole time Buffy was dead, and neither of them saw fit to get a job so that when the life insurance ran out they wouldn't be screwed? And then once Buffy comes back it's automatically her job to earn money AND save the world, and if she asks for help from Giles she's being immature? Like Buffy says, she was "all dead and frugal," she wasn't the one spending the money. Not that Willow or Tara were reckless with money, but it needs to be replaced when you spend it! Shouldn't they have taken a little responsibility for that?

** It should be Buffy's responsibility. It's her house, and Dawn is her sister. Buffy is trying to play mother with Dawn, and gets all that comes with it. Also, Giles may be a nice guy, help out financially, and play daddy sometimes, but he is of no relation to Buffy, and thus under no obligation to help her out. The only one under any obligation was maybe Willow and Tara for rent money, but still.

*** Giles isn't Buffy's relative, but he ''is'' for all thoughts and purposes her employer, directing her in a hard, dangerous and thankless job, performing a service that everybody needs but nobody wants to acknowledge. Getting a decent steady paycheck for it wouldn't be too much to ask, and Giles is independently wealthy shop owner, and gets a double-pay from the Council of Watcers, to boot.

== Bad Touching ==

* There is a scene in "Wrecked" where Willow is taking what is clearly a [[Shower of Angst]]. Question: Is it a [[Shower of Angst]] because of the dru... dark magic, or is it because Rack found himself lost beneath her Willow tree.

 

== Giles is (Not) Dying ==

 

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[[Category:Headscratchers]]

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