Leaving me is BAD
Okay, so I'm sick (upper respiratory infection FTW!), but I can't help but have thoughts about Never Leave Me, which I watched last night.
It's a weird episode. It has no narrative climax and resolution. Stuff just...happens. Though I guess it's supposed to be taken along with Bring on the Night and Showtime, but it still makes for an odd episode to watch as a one-off.
I was struck by the recurrent theme of overtures of or allusions to power. It starts with Principal Wood bluffing to the two boys about what he could do to them with his authority as principal. We additionally get Andrew alluding to his special power when faced with Willow. In turn, Willow makes reference to her dark power to intimidate Andrew. Then Xander expounds at length about Anya's powers to intimidate Andrew. Finally, Spike shares stories with Buffy in an attempt to paint a picture of his potentially dangerous power.
I can only take this in the context of the wider "power" theme of S7, because Never Leave Me doesn't do much more than present this. Though, again, maybe I'll pick up something in the next two episodes.
I also found the conversation between Buffy and Spike in the basement to be interesting. I'm rethinking my thoughts that Buffy had reconsidered her worldview on vampires post-BY.
When Spike goes on about torturing and killing girls in his past, Buffy refutes him with: "It's not your fault. You're not the one doing this."
Later she says, "Be easier, wouldn't it, it if were an act, but it's not. You faced the monster inside of you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man."
I'm not sure what to make of her statements. It seems she and Spike are speaking at two different angles, and they don't really line up until Buffy just tells him she believes in him.
But before that? When she says she "saw [him] change", is she talking about getting the soul? Or things he did before getting the soul? After all, she also notes, "You fought by my side. You've saved lives. You've helped - "
She has to be referring to pre-soul Spike there, as post-soul Spike really hasn't done much of that (yet).
So what are we seeing here with Buffy's views? Is she rethinking her Angelus-influenced ideology that soulless vampires are distinct from their souled counterparts? Or is she rationalizing Spike as an exception? Or is she only taking notice because of the soul?
I don't know. I find Buffy hard to read in this episode. She's very shut down. Even when her actions are tender, her expression is cold. I know this is part of the NLM/BotN/ST arc because, well, compare this closed offedness with HER FACE OF LOVE when she rescues Spike in Showtime. But at this point, I'm not sure what to take away from her.
I think Spike feels the same way, as he gets increasingly frustrated through the episode until she tells him she believes in him. That cuts through all the ambiguity, and he gets that. Hell, he holds it with him for the next two episodes as The First tortures him so it obviously made an impact.
Regardless of all that, Spike is obviously her sole focus. Well, he had been in Sleeper, too. Here it's even more apparent, though, given how little attention she pays to Andrew's arrival. Buffy is never not talking about or dealing with Spike in this episode. He's a big deal for her.
Eh. We'll see if I pick up on anything in the next couple episodes. Y'all discuss. I'm feeling woozy and in need of a lie-down.
It's a weird episode. It has no narrative climax and resolution. Stuff just...happens. Though I guess it's supposed to be taken along with Bring on the Night and Showtime, but it still makes for an odd episode to watch as a one-off.
I was struck by the recurrent theme of overtures of or allusions to power. It starts with Principal Wood bluffing to the two boys about what he could do to them with his authority as principal. We additionally get Andrew alluding to his special power when faced with Willow. In turn, Willow makes reference to her dark power to intimidate Andrew. Then Xander expounds at length about Anya's powers to intimidate Andrew. Finally, Spike shares stories with Buffy in an attempt to paint a picture of his potentially dangerous power.
I can only take this in the context of the wider "power" theme of S7, because Never Leave Me doesn't do much more than present this. Though, again, maybe I'll pick up something in the next two episodes.
I also found the conversation between Buffy and Spike in the basement to be interesting. I'm rethinking my thoughts that Buffy had reconsidered her worldview on vampires post-BY.
When Spike goes on about torturing and killing girls in his past, Buffy refutes him with: "It's not your fault. You're not the one doing this."
Later she says, "Be easier, wouldn't it, it if were an act, but it's not. You faced the monster inside of you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man."
I'm not sure what to make of her statements. It seems she and Spike are speaking at two different angles, and they don't really line up until Buffy just tells him she believes in him.
But before that? When she says she "saw [him] change", is she talking about getting the soul? Or things he did before getting the soul? After all, she also notes, "You fought by my side. You've saved lives. You've helped - "
She has to be referring to pre-soul Spike there, as post-soul Spike really hasn't done much of that (yet).
So what are we seeing here with Buffy's views? Is she rethinking her Angelus-influenced ideology that soulless vampires are distinct from their souled counterparts? Or is she rationalizing Spike as an exception? Or is she only taking notice because of the soul?
I don't know. I find Buffy hard to read in this episode. She's very shut down. Even when her actions are tender, her expression is cold. I know this is part of the NLM/BotN/ST arc because, well, compare this closed offedness with HER FACE OF LOVE when she rescues Spike in Showtime. But at this point, I'm not sure what to take away from her.
I think Spike feels the same way, as he gets increasingly frustrated through the episode until she tells him she believes in him. That cuts through all the ambiguity, and he gets that. Hell, he holds it with him for the next two episodes as The First tortures him so it obviously made an impact.
Regardless of all that, Spike is obviously her sole focus. Well, he had been in Sleeper, too. Here it's even more apparent, though, given how little attention she pays to Andrew's arrival. Buffy is never not talking about or dealing with Spike in this episode. He's a big deal for her.
Eh. We'll see if I pick up on anything in the next couple episodes. Y'all discuss. I'm feeling woozy and in need of a lie-down.