I often like to reevaluate my thoughts on the show...

[gabrielleabelle]

I'm using this icon because it has Sandy. See what I did there?

I've been rewatching S5 and just finished Into the Woods. Predictably, I have some disconnected Buffy/Riley thoughts for you guys

Comments

[snickfic]

Buffy seems perfectly content with their relationship - and with Riley. It's Riley who can't handle being Joe Normal.

Exactly.

Riley was looking for a feverishly crazed, out of control romance

I hadn't thought of it quite that way before, but yeah. He wants to be her all-the-time, everything boyfriend, the center of her existence (which suggests this is his first romance, maybe? I can't remember - does he mention ever having a previous girlfriend?).

[gabrielleabelle]

Hard to say. In S4, Forrest tells Buffy that she's not the first girlfriend Riley's had. On the other hand, Riley tells Buffy in AYW that she was his first love. So I think Riley probably had girlfriends before, but they weren't as special to him as Buffy ended up being.

I guess that means Riley was looking for a B/A First Love deal while Buffy had moved on to a quieter, So Past That Crap relationship. That will never match up. However, Riley knew that Buffy had had that previously with Angel. And he concludes that it's because of the vampire thing. That's what fuels his desire to explore the darkness by visiting vamps to get suck-jobs. He wants to see what he thinks Buffy's into.

[eilowyn]

I guess that means Riley was looking for a B/A First Love deal while Buffy had moved on to a quieter, So Past That Crap relationship

I feel like quoting something from a comment makes me look like this post was tl;dr, but I DID READ! This comment just resonated with me. I was just going to make some dismissive, inane and pithy remark about Riley wanting a Bella Swann, but this comment did make me reread the essay and see the point you're trying to make. Go you!

[penny_lane_42]

That icon never fails to make me ridiculously happy.

[penny_lane_42]

I feel like I should be more sympathetic to the guy but A) I really don't think Marc Blucas works for me as an actor, and B) the Douche Move bothers me so much that I just turn bitter and hate-y. So I'm going to approve of all of your insights and otherwise keep my mouth closed. *zips lips*

[gabrielleabelle]

I tend towards sympathetic towards him until the end. Also, Xander's "He's so awesome!" speech fails to ingratiate me towards him in any way.

[deird1]

I like your thoughts.

[gabrielleabelle]

:)

[2maggie2]

Great! I really like the point that Buffy and Riley are looking for different things here. The irony is that Buffy wants the normal relationship and Riley wants the Bangel histrionics.

I'm pretty sure a couple that gets together in an episode called "Doomed" is doomed. It'd be worth going back to that episode with your observations here in mind -- cause a lot of the baggage coming into the relationship gets well-vetted there.

[rebcake]

I'm pretty sure a couple that gets together in an episode called "Doomed" is doomed.

Hee! Foreshawdowing FTW! You know I agree 100% about this.

[gabrielleabelle]

*nods*

I think Riley's dangerous passion for excitement and adventure are especially notable in Doomed. That makes him very Owen-esque and foreshadows his adrenaline-junkie escapades in S5.

[spygrrl76]

Riley was looking for a feverishly crazed, out of control romance, and Buffy had moved past that need after Angel.

I never thought of it that way, but I think you summed it up perfectly. I agree that Buffy and Riley were doomed from the start. After rewatching the seasons on DVD that became clear to me. And I think you got it here why that was - they were in two totally different places for the kind of relationship they each wanted.

[gabrielleabelle]

Very much so. *nods*