Episode Poll: 4.16 Who Are You?

[gabrielleabelle]

Hey, guys! We're gonna do that episode poll thing! For Who Are You? this time around!

Still no picture. My comp's all fixed, but I haven't gotten Photoshop set up yet. Alas.

Comments

[lycoris]

I don't think it's really fair to think Riley should have realised Buffy wasn't Buffy, although I do rather think that he ought to have talked to her a little more - she was behaving very oddly, noticably so and I think he ought to have checked that out more.

I've always felt that Faith's turnaround worked. She always rather wanted to be Buffy and she got very involved in the role. And even her Faith side would probably have enjoyed taking on the church of vampires - it's the kind of wild odds that she'd always liked.

Despite voting "not sure", the more I think about it, the more I think Buffy's powers are body based rather than spirit.

Love this episode. Love it very, very much. :)

[gabrielleabelle]

You know, on thinking about it more, I'm still okay with Riley not recognizing people's odd behavior. Buffy and Riley haven't been having sex long, and sometimes people's partners surprise them in the bedroom. For all Riley knew, Buffy had a bit of a kinky side that hadn't shown before. He expressed that he wasn't comfortable with it and went from there.

Riley's fault-free. Bad Faith!

I've always felt that Faith's turnaround worked.

Heh. I seem to be the odd duck out on that question. :)

It's a YMMV thing, I guess. Somehow, whenever watching the episode, I get a bit thrown by Faith ditching her flight to go save a church full of people.

[angearia]

Yeah, I was just thinking that Riley might've thought it was a surprising kinky side she was revealing.

[gabrielleabelle]

Oh, you beat me...

[angearia]

:P

Noooo, not the sad hat!

[gabrielleabelle]

'Salright. It's before 6 AM. The sad hat comes out very easily at this time. :)

[eowyn_315]

Somehow, whenever watching the episode, I get a bit thrown by Faith ditching her flight to go save a church full of people.

I think I buy it more because it doesn't stick. After this, she goes to L.A. and is up to her old tricks before basically self-destructing. So I take it as her sort of being caught up in the whole "being Buffy" thing. She really wishes she could be Buffy - always has, a little bit - and this is What Buffy Would Do, so that's what she does.

I also think it's the first sign that she doesn't really want to be bad anymore. When Forrest calls her a killer, she's visibly bothered by it. She wants to change, but she didn't see any way to do it when she was herself, because she has all that baggage. But in Buffy's body? It's a brand new day, a chance to start over and be someone different, someone better.

[beer_good_foamy]

Yeah. It's pretty clear, especially in that final fight against Buffy (pounding her own face while calling herself "nothing" and "murderous bitch") that Faith really doesn't like what she's become.

[gabrielleabelle]

Good point. Still feels "off" to me, but that's likely me being weird.

[stormwreath]

When Forrest calls her a killer, she's visibly bothered by it. She wants to change, but she didn't see any way to do it when she was herself

I think the fact that the exchange with Forrest happens immediately after the scene with Riley is important. Faith has always been jealous of Buffy, but it was for the surface things - the nice house, the loving mother, the circle of friends, the acclaim of her peers. She thought she could just do a Buffy impression and get all that. What she didn't realise, though, is what having genuine friends and lovers would really be likeThere's three moments early in the episode when Faith seems really disturbed - when Willow says harsh things about Faith because she's so protective of Buffy; when the girl she saves in the Bronze thanks her; and of course when Riley says 'I love you'. She tries to blow it off each time, but it gets harder and harder for her to ignore the fact: Buffy has something in her life that Faith has hardly ever experienced. People who love her. Faith always thought love was just a

[red_satin_doll]

She thought she could just do a Buffy impression and get all that. What she didn't realise, though, is what having genuine friends and lovers would really be like.

Faith always thought love was just a con-trick ("What do you want from her?"); now she knows differently. It's why when she goes to the church she's no longer just pretending to be Buffy: she's trying to be Buffy. The one and only.

I have nothing to add to any of this (except a lot of nodding in agreement.) Beautifully put.

[local_max]

*nods* It's in a church, too! It's such a visible "I want to be redeemed and to not be a bad person anymore! I'm Buffy!" moment. In fact, I think if Faith hadn't killed people (but was a pariah for some other, non-moral reason) she might actually be less tempted to save people in the church. (But, well, that's a pretty hard to conceive of scenario, so maybe not.)

[samsom]

Somehow, whenever watching the episode, I get a bit thrown by Faith ditching her flight to go save a church full of people.

I think that Faith was operating on "what would Buffy do?" rather than what Faith would do.

She doesn't want to be Faith anymore because she hates Faith. She wants to be good like Buffy, or she wants to be Buffy. So she does the opposite of what Faith would do (getting on the plane) and does what Buffy would do (saves the people). There's a large amount of disconnect going on with Faith from her identity as Faith. Such is the the amount of self-hate Faith is weighed down with.