"Helpless"
Pivot has been re-airing Buffy for a while now, and I half-watch (since I know most of the eps almost by heart) when I can. Right now, S3Ep12, "Helpless," is on - an episode where the Watchers Council takes away Buffy's physical strength for a test to see if she'll still prevail over a foe without it.
Buffy is a show that never really gets old, because you keep discovering new things every time you watch. Pretty much everyone knows that Joss Whedon is a feminist, and wanted to turn high school and horror tropes about girls on their ears, while still dealing with real issues and rites of passage.
So for the first few viewings of Helpless, you know you're supposed watching an allegory for the ways that adults/parents let kids down, and for the ways kids become adults. But that's not all. Watching today, I found myself thinking about the Watcher's Council, and how they set up this test for slayers that reach the age of 18. And what I found myself thinking was, who cares if Buffy passes or not? What can the Council do if she doesn't? It's not like they control who becomes the slayer, it's not like they can pick another one (yes, other ones rise later, but not by the Council's choice). So the whole exercise is a desperate attempt to be relevant by an archaic group that really has no power at all. And, well, we've all dealt with groups like that in real life, right? And of course, most likely Joss intended that allegory just as much as the others, because he's pretty smart like that. It's too bad that Buffy doesn't realize until later in the series (S5E12, "Checkpoint") that the Council has literally no power over her. (Though when she does realize it, and tells them so, it's a cheer-worthy moment.)
Buffy is a show that never really gets old, because you keep discovering new things every time you watch. Pretty much everyone knows that Joss Whedon is a feminist, and wanted to turn high school and horror tropes about girls on their ears, while still dealing with real issues and rites of passage.
So for the first few viewings of Helpless, you know you're supposed watching an allegory for the ways that adults/parents let kids down, and for the ways kids become adults. But that's not all. Watching today, I found myself thinking about the Watcher's Council, and how they set up this test for slayers that reach the age of 18. And what I found myself thinking was, who cares if Buffy passes or not? What can the Council do if she doesn't? It's not like they control who becomes the slayer, it's not like they can pick another one (yes, other ones rise later, but not by the Council's choice). So the whole exercise is a desperate attempt to be relevant by an archaic group that really has no power at all. And, well, we've all dealt with groups like that in real life, right? And of course, most likely Joss intended that allegory just as much as the others, because he's pretty smart like that. It's too bad that Buffy doesn't realize until later in the series (S5E12, "Checkpoint") that the Council has literally no power over her. (Though when she does realize it, and tells them so, it's a cheer-worthy moment.)