Buffy rewatch: 2.21. Becoming, part 1

[boot_the_grime]

So there it is, finally, the season 2 two-part finale. This season has been really amazing, especially its second part, or more precisely the arc about Angel losing his soul and going bad; and Becoming is a near-perfect finale.

There is a big theme of Destiny vs Free will running through this two-parter. As the title says, it is all about

Comments

[boot_the_grime]

I think it's more of an issue of the type of evil.

Vengeance demons believe that they are the righteous ones, punishing people who deserve it in ways that they deserve it. That's why there was never a question about whether they have souls. It stands to reason that they have, because they don't lack anything metaphysically or physiologically compared to humans. The only difference between them as demons and humans is in powers and mortality. And the only way to reform them is to change their opinions.

Vampires, on the other hand, are beings metaphysically inclined to be evil and devoid of the capacity to fully experience what is conscience for humans. Yes, they have their own tradition and views, but they think of themselves as evil and most of them want to be evil or at least don't care about not being evil. If they want to be good, which happens very, very rare and even then because aren't able to do evil (Spike because of the chip, Harmony because she just sucks as doing evil things), it's a real uphill battle that goes against their instincts. They didn't chose to become that way (at least most of them didn't), but once they do, they are naturally inclined to evil. If they manage to be good (like Spike choosing to get his soul back), it's a particularly amazing feat. It's like a disabled person climbing Mount Everest.

The closest comparison I can think of is, a vengeance demon is like a person joining Inqusition to find and punish infidels, or Terror to punish the anti-revolutionary elements, because they really believe what they do is right; while a soulless vampire is more like a psychopath who kills people because they enjoy killing, and have no qualms about it. Which one is worse is a matter of perspective.