No, Riley's problems with the relationship are null and void after he does that. He doesn't get to impose any demands on Buffy. And Xander, as a friend, shouldn't have tried to place the responsibility for the survival of the relationship on Buffy. BDM, yes. ADM, HELL NO!
AMEN TO THAT. OMG, I think you hit on the exact reason that I hated Xander's speech. Riley was a douche, no question, but he was a guy caught with his pants around his ankles. His actions were not excusable, but I do understand them. I expected him to respond like a douche (although I would have preferred him to be a stand-up guy about it). But Xander! Xander was her friend. I just didn't understand his response AT ALL.
I think Xander was more working out his own issues than anything else. He'd heard Riley's side early on, and he couldn't believe that Buffy hadn't noticed that Riley was feeling neglected. When Buffy let him know what Riley had ended up doing, he just blipped right past it to tell Buffy what he'd been wanting to tell her since Riley had confided in him.
How is Buffy at fault for Riley visiting vamp whores?
On a narrative level, I actually do like how Riley got written out. I think it's an interesting display of a person who can't handle the darkness that comes with being the Slayer's boyfriend. He attempted to understand it via the vamp whores, but he just ended up making a mess of things. Intentional or not, Buffy's lifestyle did cause Riley to self-destruct, and I think that's necessary in the larger narrative context.
Though I'm not incredibly happy with the follow-up in AYW, where no mention at all is made of what Riley went through (which was substantial).
Do I think Buffy's responsible for Riley's actions? No. He did what he did on his own. He was trying to understand her, understand her attraction to Angel; understand how Dracula could have held her in thrall, perhaps even try to understand why she didn't kill Spike.
I've always felt that Buffy never took the time to explain these things to him. It's obvious in "The Yoko Factor" that he needed to know the things she omitted. At the time, there *wasn't* time to give those details but later on? She should have. It's more than plain that she didn't.
I don't fault her for much else that went wrong between them but I do for that.
This is a betrayal of Buffy not unlike if Riley had been fucking prostitutes (which is pretty much the metaphor they had going).
And I can't wrap my head around a break-up where the guy is cheating on his girlfriend with hookers, and then we're supposed to say "Pshaw! She was ignoring him!" What? Really?
Comments 128
Reply
Reply
Reply
AMEN TO THAT. OMG, I think you hit on the exact reason that I hated Xander's speech. Riley was a douche, no question, but he was a guy caught with his pants around his ankles. His actions were not excusable, but I do understand them. I expected him to respond like a douche (although I would have preferred him to be a stand-up guy about it). But Xander! Xander was her friend. I just didn't understand his response AT ALL.
Reply
Also a douche move, of course.
Reply
Word.
Reply
Reply
And I loathe the "cheating on his girlfriend with hookers" analogy; hated it when it aired and still hate it.
I really don't like the way the writers wrote Riley out. It sucked, period.
Reply
On a narrative level, I actually do like how Riley got written out. I think it's an interesting display of a person who can't handle the darkness that comes with being the Slayer's boyfriend. He attempted to understand it via the vamp whores, but he just ended up making a mess of things. Intentional or not, Buffy's lifestyle did cause Riley to self-destruct, and I think that's necessary in the larger narrative context.
Though I'm not incredibly happy with the follow-up in AYW, where no mention at all is made of what Riley went through (which was substantial).
Reply
I've always felt that Buffy never took the time to explain these things to him. It's obvious in "The Yoko Factor" that he needed to know the things she omitted. At the time, there *wasn't* time to give those details but later on? She should have. It's more than plain that she didn't.
I don't fault her for much else that went wrong between them but I do for that.
I'm not much fond of AYW either.
Reply
Reply
And I can't wrap my head around a break-up where the guy is cheating on his girlfriend with hookers, and then we're supposed to say "Pshaw! She was ignoring him!" What? Really?
Yeah, this. A lot.
[/has nothing else coherent to say]
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment