Entropy: Not just the second law of thermodynamics
I'm writing (incredibly slowly) a post-Chosen Riley fic, and watched Dead Things again for reference. Of course, watching a single episode of Buffy is almost impossible, so I ended up watching through to Entropy. I always remember Entropy as a series of plot points; mini-explosions throwing some things together and blowing others apart, but there
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There's so much to explore and yet it either gets swept under a run or tossed aside or never be mentioned again. They start something with him and then never finish it or deal with it properly.
Word. Although I wonder if they really knew what they were doing with Anya and Xander's breakup? I understand the dramatic motivation for breaking up established couples, but it just seems so unsatisfactory after the wedding build-up and Anya's epiphany about weddings vs marriages, (which seemed a little bit patronising to her character to me, because she's been a keen observer of relationships for a millennium) that there was no real reason for the split.
I don't think Xander would've reacted as hostile if the guy Anya and Buffy slept with was a human. Actually, I don't think he'll be hostile at all, just upset with Anya.
You could be right, and I get that he doesn't like Spike. It's just that perceiving an insult in an enemy sleeping with a woman you are friends with is totally mediaeval, and I like to think Xander has moved a bit beyond the knee-jerk misogynistic impulse by S6.
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You're so right about the difference in reactions between Entropy and Intervention, and it's really interesting to compare the two. (And even to compare the reactions to Buffy and Spike in Something Blue.)
I do agree that Xander is in a much better space in S5, and that seeing your ex sleeping with one of your enemies isn't likely to be pleasant. I can even (just about) imagine a kind of "et tu, Brutus!" reaction to Buffy, while they're all standing outside the Magic Shop.
All that being said, though, I think that there's something really inappropriate about the language he uses, and I don't think it's completely in character. You can't say that someone is too disgusting to have sex with, without implying that it's disgusting to have sex with them and Xander slut-shaming isn't where he is in S6. I think the writers did him a disservice.
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Yes, I guess this is my point. It strikes me as incongruous in S6 Xander. However, it's a very subtle and subjective objection I have to the way he was written in those few scenes, and the mileage of others may vary!
It was very good to get your thoughts on it. :)
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