Is this thing on?chuckles1188June 4 2013, 17:44:37 UTC
Having been namechecked several times on Livejournal, I feel honour-bound to respond (for clarity: I am Bart).
I should start by clarifying a couple of points: first of all, the Trio are certainly not the Buffy villain/s which I like the least, which dubious honour would probably have to go to Adam, with a dishonourable mention going to the First. However, I do have some problems with them, which I will try to enumerate briefly below. This will be a bit rambling because I've never tried to sit down and marshal my feelings on the Trio before, and I think best while typing.
The first problem may well be both the most significant, and the least defensible; they were the villains who were most like me. Out of the entire show cast, only Xander and I had more in common, and that largely due to my attitudes to women. They were closest to me in age, they and I share many geeky passions, and at the time I was watching the show they and I certainly had a lot in common when it came to self-confidence in general, and romantically in particular.
It's hard to watch a character with whom you can relate so easily do the things the Trio did over the course of Season 6, and it's entirely plausible that much of my dislike for them was created from discomfort over seeing somebody I felt such kinship with do things which I objected to so strongly. On one level this is probably fair enough- as a character in a webcomic I enjoy has said many times, "you shouldn't apologise for how you feel". But in terms of trying for an objective consideration of the Trio and whether they were well written, it falls rather short.
At first I thought that my problem with the Trio was that they are inconsistent, but having puzzled it out (and by writing several paragraphs in here which will never see the light of day), I think it's more basic than that- there's too many of them. With Warren, you have a great villain. He's smart, goofy and likeable on the surface, but lurking below that is a vindictive, mean and selfish personality who resents women and blames them for his own failings. That's great shit, and I'd eat it up all day. I think my problem with the Trio is that shackled to this great character are two minor characters who detract from the threat he poses. Now don't get me wrong, as individual entities, I think both Jonathan and Andrew are great, and their presence certainly allowed for some great comic banter (is it me or has that word been ruined by the Hoorah Henries?), but in terms of constructing a credible villainous entity, they served only to make Warren seem both less unpleasant and less threatening.
This reduced threat is a big issue for me with the Trio, because by the end of the series they manage to upset things in a way that no other Buffy villain has ever managed, by turning one of the Core Trio into a serious threat to the world's safety. And by "they" I really mean Warren, because Andrew and Jonathan are completely incidental to all of the Trio's major accomplishments. And maybe that's the problem. Maybe I shouldn't be thinking of them as the Trio.
The more I think about this and the more I write, the more convinced I am that Warren is the actual villain of Season 6, and Andrew and Jonathan are there to provide comedy and pathos when Dark Willow enters the mix. In terms of their contributions to the actual villainy, they are essentially superfluous. Gillo mentioned in the facebook exchange that started this whole thing that the Trio represent the banality of evil. Well for me, Andrew and Jonathan are mostly banal, while Warren successfully incorporates banality with evil, and is the better character for it.
All in all the main lesson I'm learning here is that I need to go back and watch Buffy again and see if this new perspective (that Warren is the main villain, and Andrew and Jonathan are essentially there for the comic dialogue and the contrast when things go bad) improves my enjoyment of the season.
Apologies for the length and rambliness of this, and hopefully it's fleshed things out for others as much as it has for me. Probably not though :P
I should start by clarifying a couple of points: first of all, the Trio are certainly not the Buffy villain/s which I like the least, which dubious honour would probably have to go to Adam, with a dishonourable mention going to the First. However, I do have some problems with them, which I will try to enumerate briefly below. This will be a bit rambling because I've never tried to sit down and marshal my feelings on the Trio before, and I think best while typing.
The first problem may well be both the most significant, and the least defensible; they were the villains who were most like me. Out of the entire show cast, only Xander and I had more in common, and that largely due to my attitudes to women. They were closest to me in age, they and I share many geeky passions, and at the time I was watching the show they and I certainly had a lot in common when it came to self-confidence in general, and romantically in particular.
It's hard to watch a character with whom you can relate so easily do the things the Trio did over the course of Season 6, and it's entirely plausible that much of my dislike for them was created from discomfort over seeing somebody I felt such kinship with do things which I objected to so strongly. On one level this is probably fair enough- as a character in a webcomic I enjoy has said many times, "you shouldn't apologise for how you feel". But in terms of trying for an objective consideration of the Trio and whether they were well written, it falls rather short.
At first I thought that my problem with the Trio was that they are inconsistent, but having puzzled it out (and by writing several paragraphs in here which will never see the light of day), I think it's more basic than that- there's too many of them. With Warren, you have a great villain. He's smart, goofy and likeable on the surface, but lurking below that is a vindictive, mean and selfish personality who resents women and blames them for his own failings. That's great shit, and I'd eat it up all day. I think my problem with the Trio is that shackled to this great character are two minor characters who detract from the threat he poses. Now don't get me wrong, as individual entities, I think both Jonathan and Andrew are great, and their presence certainly allowed for some great comic banter (is it me or has that word been ruined by the Hoorah Henries?), but in terms of constructing a credible villainous entity, they served only to make Warren seem both less unpleasant and less threatening.
This reduced threat is a big issue for me with the Trio, because by the end of the series they manage to upset things in a way that no other Buffy villain has ever managed, by turning one of the Core Trio into a serious threat to the world's safety. And by "they" I really mean Warren, because Andrew and Jonathan are completely incidental to all of the Trio's major accomplishments. And maybe that's the problem. Maybe I shouldn't be thinking of them as the Trio.
The more I think about this and the more I write, the more convinced I am that Warren is the actual villain of Season 6, and Andrew and Jonathan are there to provide comedy and pathos when Dark Willow enters the mix. In terms of their contributions to the actual villainy, they are essentially superfluous. Gillo mentioned in the facebook exchange that started this whole thing that the Trio represent the banality of evil. Well for me, Andrew and Jonathan are mostly banal, while Warren successfully incorporates banality with evil, and is the better character for it.
All in all the main lesson I'm learning here is that I need to go back and watch Buffy again and see if this new perspective (that Warren is the main villain, and Andrew and Jonathan are essentially there for the comic dialogue and the contrast when things go bad) improves my enjoyment of the season.
Apologies for the length and rambliness of this, and hopefully it's fleshed things out for others as much as it has for me. Probably not though :P
Reply
Leave a comment