1, 2: Complicated. Buffy's decision makes sense, but on the other hand it's one of those things she keeps doing - shutting others out and taking it upon herself - which is understandable, but kind of not necessarily the only way she could have done it. Whatever she could have done, though, I tend to give her a pass on account of the shock of finding out that her closest family member next to Joyce is fictional.
3. I think it's pretty clear from Donnie's comment that they have no problem shifting from emotional to physical. Plus, Amber Benson plays her like someone expecting to get hit every time she opens her mouth.
4. Her father's comment about stopping her "living God knows what kind of lifestyle" is pretty telling, I think. Not that he would actually say it.
5. Bad. Not horrible, and pretty thoughtless, but bad. (I once had a long discussion with someone who claimed Tara's actions here make Willow's decision to brainwash her in s6 perfectly justifiable since Tara "brought it on herself" for not "knowing her place". Which... Huh?)
6. In my headcanon, Buffy visits Willy's for information a lot more often than we get to see, so obviously Riley has been there in the line of duty before. At some point in early s5, as his issues start sinking in, he starts staying a little longer or showing up a little earlier. And so on.
Ditto on #4. That's how I took that comment. And it is very easy to see how that comment could apply to witchcraft alone if Tara was heterosexual, so I didn't take it as necessarily bringing up her sexuality.
The episode seemed to use "magic" as a very weak metaphor for "lesbian" all through.
True, and not just in this episode. But it's a pretty thin sheet of metaphor, and I'm not sure it works as just being about witchcraft when it's been used to mean both ever since mid-s4. It is definitely open to interpretation, though.
Yeah. And that line has always been the one to break the metaphor for me. I mean, "lifestyle" is pretty strongly associated with the gay stuff in my mind. So I can see how it could be taken that way.
I think I put "not sure" because I am indecisive. :)
5. Bad. Not horrible, and pretty thoughtless, but bad. (I once had a long discussion with someone who claimed Tara's actions here make Willow's decision to brainwash her in s6 perfectly justifiable since Tara "brought it on herself" for not "knowing her place". Which... Huh?)
I hope it's super-clear that I don't think this justifies Willow's behaviour at all (and the person in question was WRONG), but I did think there was a connection between the two events -- Tara's spell here and Willow's spell. Because Willow builds her morality from the ground up based on other people's behaviours, I think that there is a part of her that figured that, since Tara was willing to do a spell on her friends to protect what they have, that it was okay for Willow to do the same. Willow doesn't seem mad at Tara at all at the end of the episode, and I think that's not actually forgiveness: I think Willow doesn't really think Tara did anything wrong at all. (What Willow does is worse than what Tara does, but I think there's a parallel deliberately drawn, the way the gang is similarly unprepared for a demon attack in both Tabula Rasa and Family.)
CLARIFICATION: I think Willow believes that if you have a family/group and a good relationship, all steps, including doing spells to avoid arguments, are legitimate. I think some part of her knows that's wrong, but her default position is to believe it. I think as a result, Tara's example here -- "it is best for everyone if I hide my demon-ness" -- really feeds into that belief of Willow's. That's not to say Tara deserved Willow's mindwipe, obviously. I think Tara knows that it's not okay to do spells on people because she has a fuller understanding of morality (is a better person, ultimately) than Willow is.
This is going to sound ridiculous, but...I was just looking at this post and I realized I replied to you when I meant to reply to BGF. I'm sorry for that because I hate it when people reply to me for agreeing to what people say, so, I'm sorry I did that!
No problem! I'd been meaning to reply to it. I had never thought of the connection between those two spells before. I'll keep a close eye on them when I get to them in my current rewatch (just finished S2!)
3. I think it's pretty clear from Donnie's comment that they have no problem shifting from emotional to physical. Plus, Amber Benson plays her like someone expecting to get hit every time she opens her mouth.
4. Her father's comment about stopping her "living God knows what kind of lifestyle" is pretty telling, I think. Not that he would actually say it.
5. Bad. Not horrible, and pretty thoughtless, but bad. (I once had a long discussion with someone who claimed Tara's actions here make Willow's decision to brainwash her in s6 perfectly justifiable since Tara "brought it on herself" for not "knowing her place". Which... Huh?)
6. In my headcanon, Buffy visits Willy's for information a lot more often than we get to see, so obviously Riley has been there in the line of duty before. At some point in early s5, as his issues start sinking in, he starts staying a little longer or showing up a little earlier. And so on.
7. Solid 4.
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4. Ah, I thought he was making a reference to the witch stuff. The episode seemed to use "magic" as a very weak metaphor for "lesbian" all through.
5. o.0 Yeah...no. Ick.
6. I can definitely see that.
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True, and not just in this episode. But it's a pretty thin sheet of metaphor, and I'm not sure it works as just being about witchcraft when it's been used to mean both ever since mid-s4. It is definitely open to interpretation, though.
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I think I put "not sure" because I am indecisive. :)
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Seriously? What the hell?!?!
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Sometimes I forget there are people like that in fandom. Ugh.
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CLARIFICATION: I think Willow believes that if you have a family/group and a good relationship, all steps, including doing spells to avoid arguments, are legitimate. I think some part of her knows that's wrong, but her default position is to believe it. I think as a result, Tara's example here -- "it is best for everyone if I hide my demon-ness" -- really feeds into that belief of Willow's. That's not to say Tara deserved Willow's mindwipe, obviously. I think Tara knows that it's not okay to do spells on people because she has a fuller understanding of morality (is a better person, ultimately) than Willow is.
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