The Great Buffyverse Rewatch 2015

[gillo]

Thanks to everyone who commented on last week's posts. This week we plan to do roughly the same - today's post reminds you of the episodes in question, and on Thursday and Friday there will be fuller recaps with some possibly leading questions.

So, this week we move on into Season One with:

Teacher's Pet

Comments

[diebirchen]

Xander never seems accountable for much of anything. And his reaction in "Seeing Red"? Hyena boy's a hypocrite!

[gillo]

I find it more difficult to watch how Xander and Giles agree to remain silent on his threatened rape now than I did then. I may have become more aware of the issues involved. It still doesn't excuse their collusion.

[shapinglight]

As usual, my thoughts are pretty shallow, but re the three questions - worst dressed Scooby is Xander (though I may think this because I can't remember what Willow was wearing. Also, I just...don't understand Buffy's weird hat in The Pack. I also don't understand Joyce letting her go out in those mini skirts).

Angel is 10 on the annoyance scale, and that's just for the ridiculous scene where he suddenly takes off his leather jacket and gives it to Buffy.

I don't think Xander should be held accountable for his actions. On the other hand, I think, since he does remember what he did, he should be a lot more upset about it.

[gillo]

It's very close - none of the Scoobies look very good in this ep.

Angel is very annoying, I agree. But I do think Xander should be held accountable for his pretence that he has no memory of what he did and tried to do. And Giles colludes with him, which shows neither of them take it very seriously. Of course in S1 a lot of things are handled more lightly than they are later, but even so. Xander shows he is ready to do more or less anything to save his own skin.

[shapinglight]

When you say Giles colludes with Xander, we don't actually know what Xander told Giles, do we? I think it's highly unlikely that Xander flat out said to Giles, "While I was under the hyena's influence, I tried to rape Buffy."

Xander shows he is ready to do more or less anything to save his own skin.

I think that's a little harsh. NB may not look it, but Xander is only sixteen. It's not surprising if he can't cope with what he's done and prefers to repress it - especially when Buffy seems prepared to just let it go.

I'm not saying it's acceptable, of course, just that it's understandable.

[gillo]

Hmm.

GILES: I've been reading up on my, uh, animal possession, and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterwards.

XANDER: Did you tell them that?

GILES: Your secret dies with me.

Is definitely "blokes must stick together", and he knows Xander was feral. He may not know there was an AR, but Xander does. OTOH, Buffy is prepared to accept it wasn't "really" him.

[snogged]

I do wish Xander had been held more accountable for his actions in "The Pack." Hyena possession or not, he still attempted to rape Buffy and he made Willow cry.

"Teacher's Pet" makes me miss Dr. Gregory. I always liked him and his support of Buffy as a student. It also makes me wonder what ever happened to the She-mantis eggs that started hatching.

[gillo]

I rather wish more faculty than Giles survived high school...

[diebirchen]

Absolutely right!

[rebcake]

the lunch provided for the students proves inadequate

*snerk* Oh you mistress of understatement!

I haven't rewatched these yet (this round, anyway) but I do know that I have conflicting thoughts on the Xander of it all. On the one hand, he's more-or-less possessed in The Pack. On the other, he acts like someone with his moral brakes off. So, does he act the way he'd like to if he could get away with it? Or are those actions coming from a place totally outside himself? There is no firm answer to this, of course. But it sure seems like he's doing what he'd like to, deep down. It's disturbing, but is having disturbing impulses, which we keep in check, the sign of a bad person? (Example: Spike.) I'd like to think not, but if I were Buffy I'd have to do some fairly strenuous mental gymnastics to keep him around

[shapinglight]

I would say the answer is that both are true. To some extent.

Xander has those impulses, no doubt. They're not coming from a place totally outside himself, any more than Wesley's horrible misogynistic attack on Fred in Billy did. It's just that the spell or whatever brought out something nasty and dark that both men have no trouble (or not much) in the normal way of things keeping completely repressed.

But without the spell, Xander is the person who didn't take advantage of Buffy in BB&B. And I don't think that's anything to do with Cordelia. It's just the sort of boy he is. Which does not at all mean he's perfect.

Boy, I can't believe I'm defending Xander. I don't even like him that much. I do think his assault on Buffy was handled badly by the writers (they obviously don't think it was anything much), but I don't think it equivalent to the attempted rape in Seeing Red (which, okay, may be down to the way the two scenes were filmed).

[rebcake]

I don't think it equivalent to the attempted rape in Seeing Red

It's certainly true that Hyena!Xander doesn't get very far, whatever his motivations. That's actually why I loved that scene when I first saw it: for Buffy it's like brushing of a fly. Just a silly annoyance. That's textbook female power fantasy, right there.

But the motivations of Hyena!Xander and SR!Spike seem pretty equivalent to me. They both want her to be their mate, and don't think a bottle of Chianti will to do the trick.

Oh, and in looking at the shooting script - which may be different from what made it to screen - it looks like Giles does know about the AR:

WILLOW: Ohmigod, Xander -- is he alright?
BUFFY: Oh fine. He's just enjoying a little brick-induced coma designed to prevent felony sexual assault.
GILES: Oh Buffy, the Hyena in him didn't --

[shapinglight]

Well, the Buffyverse Dialogue Database has that Giles comment being spoken by Willow. I can't actually remember. It's a few weeks since I watched this episode.

I'm now half way through season three.