"Casualties...it just sounds so casual."
So I posted a poll on Empty Places without really spelling out my thoughts on it. Now that I've finished rewatching Touched, I'm gonna just blurt out my random thinky-thoughts on the two episodes.
- I made a comment on my poll post that I wanna post here:
"I've kinda got the inkling of an idea that the conflict in Empty Places is equal parts Buffy needing to learn about not isolating herself and everybody needing to learn that there will be casualties in war. This is something Buffy learned in Help. She won't be able to save everyone. But everybody else seems to be under the impression that Buffy will (or should) keep them all safe and unharmed. So when Buffy's plan leads to some deaths, they rebel against her. However, when there are deaths even under Faith's leadership, that drives the lesson home that they can't rely on their leader to protect them. They have to step up, as well."
I've kinda sold myself on this now.
I'm sure that my position, as a Buffy-fangirl, is pretty predictable, but I don't think Buffy was too out of line with her plan in Empty Places. She worked it out. It made tactical sense. And Buffy's hunches have, in the past, almost always been right. So everybody rejecting her plan outright seems like an instinctual wounded animal reaction in light of their recent demoralizing defeat.
Doesn't mean her plan was a bad one, though.
However, the bigger question is Buffy's leadership ability and her tendency to isolate herself and cut herself off. We do see this a lot in S7, but I think that some of the characters make her out to be much worse than she actually is. In Empty Places, we see Buffy being distant from Willow and Xander. That is a problem. That is a problem between friends, though. Her not being buddies with the potentials? Something else entirely.
As the saying goes, it's lonely at the top. Buffy's isolation stems from her duties as the Slayer. As the leader of an army, yes, she's going to be distant from the rest. And no, her decisions aren't gonna be open to a round-table discussion. Is it fun? Obviously not. Buffy even says in Touched that she "doesn't want to be the one" because the necessary isolation takes a toll on her.
However, and this will lead directly to Buffy's decision to empower the potentials in Chosen, what we see in Empty Places are the recruits unhappy with Buffy, the one with power, being in charge. They want a piece of the power. They want to have a say in whether they live or die (This is completely understandable). However, things being as they are, that's just not possible at this point (as they find out in Touched). That is an important factor in the Slayer spell in Chosen. No girl will have to be "the one". They all get to decide their own destiny.
I'm getting all wander-y. In short, I don't think Buffy was off the mark in Empty Places. Though I think everybody needed a break from each other so they could all learn their respective lessons (I'll get to Buffy's in a moment).
- Giles puzzles me (and I'm kinda hoping molly_may will swoop in here). In First Date, he threw a fit when Buffy and Xander went out on dates. In Empty Places, though, when the situation is much more dire, he's perfectly fine with Faith taking the girls out to the Bronze. What's more, the town is nearly abandoned, so a bunch of girls partying at the Bronze is sure to draw attention.
The only sense I can make of this is that Giles is still reeling from Buffy's rejection of him in LMPTM.
In any case, Buffy has to play the Bad Guy by telling everyone how dumb they were being (and...yeah, it was dumb). It reminds me of Tough Love when Buffy has to start being harder on Dawn. Willow rails against this at first, but that's because she doesn't understand the position Buffy's in and the responsibility that comes with it. Likewise with the girls in Empty Places.
- Touched is such, such an important episode. Buffy's feeling numb and withdrawn and rejected and mopey and just ready to give up. She's lost all connection. She got rejected by everybody. Literally. Without that connection, she has no reason to fight. The Slayer's full of love, after all. It's what drives her to fight. When Buffy loses hold of that feeling, she forgets why she's even supposed to be trying.
Spike, though, is able to turn that around. Very appropriately, Spike is the person that Buffy has had one of the largest effects on. Turned from evil to good, getting a soul...all as a result of Buffy. He's the perfect candidate to remind her of why she's fighting. And to remind her that, yeah, she kinda rocks.
Also, I'm a wuss and Spike's speech always makes me cry. Go on. Laugh.
So Buffy has a night in Spike's arms. Physical touch. Human contact. Reforging that connection that drives her.
This is contrasted with Caleb and The First. Caleb thinks all the flesh-on-flesh is squicky. He gets his power direct from The First. No need for touching other people. The First is a little envious, though. Why? Cause The First recognizes the power that can be had from human contact.
Course, all this leads to a Buffy-epiphany, and she runs off to get scythe-y. But here's the key part of her strategy: She doesn't try to engage Caleb hand-to-hand. Instead, she never lets him touch her. Her power is from within herself, strengthened by her connection to people she loves. She doesn't need to touch Caleb, who's infested with the power of pure evil (This is similar to Buffy's reasons for rejecting the Shadow Men's power boost in Get It Done).
Then she wins and gets the scythe thingy. Yay!
- And because I am a hardcore Buffy sympathizer, I'm gonna end with Spike's speech because I think it's lovely and it sums up the reasons why I love Buffy.
"I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You are a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy."
- I made a comment on my poll post that I wanna post here:
"I've kinda got the inkling of an idea that the conflict in Empty Places is equal parts Buffy needing to learn about not isolating herself and everybody needing to learn that there will be casualties in war. This is something Buffy learned in Help. She won't be able to save everyone. But everybody else seems to be under the impression that Buffy will (or should) keep them all safe and unharmed. So when Buffy's plan leads to some deaths, they rebel against her. However, when there are deaths even under Faith's leadership, that drives the lesson home that they can't rely on their leader to protect them. They have to step up, as well."
I've kinda sold myself on this now.
I'm sure that my position, as a Buffy-fangirl, is pretty predictable, but I don't think Buffy was too out of line with her plan in Empty Places. She worked it out. It made tactical sense. And Buffy's hunches have, in the past, almost always been right. So everybody rejecting her plan outright seems like an instinctual wounded animal reaction in light of their recent demoralizing defeat.
Doesn't mean her plan was a bad one, though.
However, the bigger question is Buffy's leadership ability and her tendency to isolate herself and cut herself off. We do see this a lot in S7, but I think that some of the characters make her out to be much worse than she actually is. In Empty Places, we see Buffy being distant from Willow and Xander. That is a problem. That is a problem between friends, though. Her not being buddies with the potentials? Something else entirely.
As the saying goes, it's lonely at the top. Buffy's isolation stems from her duties as the Slayer. As the leader of an army, yes, she's going to be distant from the rest. And no, her decisions aren't gonna be open to a round-table discussion. Is it fun? Obviously not. Buffy even says in Touched that she "doesn't want to be the one" because the necessary isolation takes a toll on her.
However, and this will lead directly to Buffy's decision to empower the potentials in Chosen, what we see in Empty Places are the recruits unhappy with Buffy, the one with power, being in charge. They want a piece of the power. They want to have a say in whether they live or die (This is completely understandable). However, things being as they are, that's just not possible at this point (as they find out in Touched). That is an important factor in the Slayer spell in Chosen. No girl will have to be "the one". They all get to decide their own destiny.
I'm getting all wander-y. In short, I don't think Buffy was off the mark in Empty Places. Though I think everybody needed a break from each other so they could all learn their respective lessons (I'll get to Buffy's in a moment).
- Giles puzzles me (and I'm kinda hoping molly_may will swoop in here). In First Date, he threw a fit when Buffy and Xander went out on dates. In Empty Places, though, when the situation is much more dire, he's perfectly fine with Faith taking the girls out to the Bronze. What's more, the town is nearly abandoned, so a bunch of girls partying at the Bronze is sure to draw attention.
The only sense I can make of this is that Giles is still reeling from Buffy's rejection of him in LMPTM.
In any case, Buffy has to play the Bad Guy by telling everyone how dumb they were being (and...yeah, it was dumb). It reminds me of Tough Love when Buffy has to start being harder on Dawn. Willow rails against this at first, but that's because she doesn't understand the position Buffy's in and the responsibility that comes with it. Likewise with the girls in Empty Places.
- Touched is such, such an important episode. Buffy's feeling numb and withdrawn and rejected and mopey and just ready to give up. She's lost all connection. She got rejected by everybody. Literally. Without that connection, she has no reason to fight. The Slayer's full of love, after all. It's what drives her to fight. When Buffy loses hold of that feeling, she forgets why she's even supposed to be trying.
Spike, though, is able to turn that around. Very appropriately, Spike is the person that Buffy has had one of the largest effects on. Turned from evil to good, getting a soul...all as a result of Buffy. He's the perfect candidate to remind her of why she's fighting. And to remind her that, yeah, she kinda rocks.
Also, I'm a wuss and Spike's speech always makes me cry. Go on. Laugh.
So Buffy has a night in Spike's arms. Physical touch. Human contact. Reforging that connection that drives her.
This is contrasted with Caleb and The First. Caleb thinks all the flesh-on-flesh is squicky. He gets his power direct from The First. No need for touching other people. The First is a little envious, though. Why? Cause The First recognizes the power that can be had from human contact.
Course, all this leads to a Buffy-epiphany, and she runs off to get scythe-y. But here's the key part of her strategy: She doesn't try to engage Caleb hand-to-hand. Instead, she never lets him touch her. Her power is from within herself, strengthened by her connection to people she loves. She doesn't need to touch Caleb, who's infested with the power of pure evil (This is similar to Buffy's reasons for rejecting the Shadow Men's power boost in Get It Done).
Then she wins and gets the scythe thingy. Yay!
- And because I am a hardcore Buffy sympathizer, I'm gonna end with Spike's speech because I think it's lovely and it sums up the reasons why I love Buffy.
"I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You are a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy."