(Review) BtVS 8.14 'Wolves at the Gate' Part 3

[stormwreath]

Joss, you bastard.

Or possibly, Drew, you bastard.

Whoever thought this plot twist up, they're making a pretty good job of turning Toru and his gang into the sort of villains you really, really hate. So even though I urgently want to see them receiving a righteous smackdown in the next episode, I'm also kind of hoping they escape to return again in

Comments

[stormwreath]

Thanks! (And I've just caught up with the other reviews, including yours).

I like the idea of Buffy trying to mould Satsu into her sucessor; I'd not thought of it that way. But like you've said, for Buffy to hand over the responsibility of burying one of 'her' Slayers is actually a big deal in terms of trust and delegation.

Although they actually cremate people in Japan, not bury them. But perhaps she doesn't know that. :-)

As for Renee's death; I'e been thinking about how Xander will take it, but there's also the question of Willow's reaction given that she remembers all too clearly what happened last time this sort of thing occured. Will she freeze up? Will there be a big fight between her and Xander?

While it can get boring if the writers just repeat the same story too often, I think it's compeltely different if they knowingly repeat elements of that story and then use them to contrast the characters' reactions, draw parallels, or what have you. Given Drew Goddard's record as the inventor of continuity porn I'm hoping for the latter. (I bet it was his idea to show the blood splash too).

[novin_ha]

I love your icon!

I can't wait for the next issue.

[stormwreath]

It's specially designed to annoy the sort of people who are themselves annoyed by those who get 'canon' and 'cannon' mixed up. ;-)

Thanks!

[beer_good_foamy]

there's also the question of Willow's reaction given that she remembers all too clearly what happened last time this sort of thing occured. Will she freeze up? Will there be a big fight between her and Xander?

Xander's reaction, Willow's reaction, Buffy's reaction, the other Slayers' reaction... you could draw any number of possible outcomes of this (though they still tend to reduce Renee to a plot device).

- Given Buffy's reaction to Aiko's death - a girl she'd never met before - how is she going to handle this? Will she get even broodier and more insecure, or even more ruthless and pissed-off?
- Maybe Satsu really does start to lead - rallying the other Slayers around her and effectively deposing (at least temporarily) Buffy. After all, Buffy's authority only holds as long as the others have respect for her.
- Maybe Xander blames both Buffy (for getting Renee in this situation) and Willow (for not being able to save her) and goes off on his own somewhere for a while, like Giles and Faith. He's done it before. Which would be bad news for everyone involved.
- Maybe both of the above, leaving Buffy alone as a rogue Slayer (heh) except for Willow and those Slayers whose loyalty is to Buffy Summers rather than to THE Legendary Buffy (Kennedy and Vi, for instance).
- Maybe Buffy handles it fine; maybe it strengthens her position.
- Maybe it won't be a huge deal at all outside of this arc. After all, not to be harsh on Renee, but she and Xander weren't exactly planning to grow old together just yet; if he were to go as apeshit as Willow or Wesley did in the same situation, it would be a bit... weird. (Much like I never bought that Willow would have gone back to full Dark!Willow if Kennedy had been killed in s7.) At the same time, it looks like a big plot development, so...

A lot depends on how they handle it in the next issue, basically. But there's definitely some intriguing possibilities - especially if that robotics division is indeed producing cyborg ninjas...

[elisi]

goes off on his own somewhere for a while, like Giles and Faith. He's done it before. Which would be bad news for everyone involved.
Well maybe he goes off to have Dracula comfort him (again) and then ends up betraying Buffy because of something Dracula does or plans or... something. I am *so* much too tired to think about this.

[stormwreath]

Will she get even broodier and more insecure, or even more ruthless and pissed-off?

Both. Ruthless now, broody afterwards.

Maybe Satsu really does start to lead - rallying the other Slayers around her and effectively deposing (at least temporarily) Buffy.

Well, I've predicted she takes charge of the Japanese/East Asian Slayer squad. I'm not sure that what's happened so far will be enough to shake the loyalty of the mass of Slayers, only those who are affected personally. To lead 100 or so Slayers against over a thousand vampires on their home turf - vampires with special abilities, and supported by god knows what other tricks and traps - and only lose two Slayers (so far) is actually a pretty impressive achievement.

Maybe Xander blames both Buffy (for getting Renee in this situation) and Willow (for not being able to save her)

When I talked about a big fight, I was actually thinking of Xander insisting Willow save Renee and her saying she can't (or won't, for whatever reason) and him not accepting that.

[beer_good_foamy]

Well, I've predicted she takes charge of the Japanese/East Asian Slayer squad.

The problem with that is that a) like you say, it would pretty much take her out of the story and they've built her up far too much for that to happen, and b) right now the Japanese squad is sidelined for grief reasons. It's the Scottish crew that's watching Buffy walk straight into a trap and getting one of their (presumably) best Slayers (presumably) killed. That's a prime situation for someone else to step in and take over if Buffy - for whatever reason - fails to take charge.

[stormwreath]

Although saying that Buffy has "walk(ed) straight into a trap" is unfair: she's concentrated her forces at the point of decision (always a sound military strategy, just ask Napoleon), performed reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering, attempted to have a secret weapon up her sleeve to counter the enemy's own secrets (Dracula), staged a diversion to divide the enemy (Dawn) then struck straight for the enemy's centre of command. She's done everything perfectly. Unfortunately, in war even perfect plans can go wrong (just ask Clauswitz).

Though of course if she breaks under pressure or neglects the morale of her forces after this reverse, then yes, she'll be in trouble.

[beer_good_foamy]

I wouldn't say it's unfair at all. Yes, Buffy does a lot of things right, but when they get to Toru's office she falls for the oldest trick in the book. That doesn't mean Buffy alone is to blame - nobody else seemed to be keeping lookout either, and you might even argue that Renee was holding up the rear and should have been looking behind her - but still: they walk straight up to the decoy and get attacked from the rear by an enemy who had planned his, quote, "trap" that way. Unless that was part of Buffy's plan, then yes, she fell for the trap.

[aycheb]

Aren't holograms a bit techno to be the oldest tricks in the books? Renee and Xander actually were checking behind them from the way their weapons are orientated as they approached but then Xander (and maybe Renee too) was distracted by Willow's freakout.

[beer_good_foamy]

Holograms as a method of creating a decoy, yes. But decoys as a concept have been used since we were hunter-gatherers. Ducks usually fall for it.

[aycheb]

And you can't really fault the ducks the first time they see one. Holograms are an obvious trap if you're playing a videogame assuming even basic knowledge about how the things work. Buffy on the other hand had no reason to assume Toru et al had access to the kind of technology that could fool Willow. If they fall for it again that would be dumb.

[beer_good_foamy]

And Buffy should weigh less than be smarter than a duck (though she's fallen for many a trap in the past). If you've made your way past thousands of enemies to recapture something someone travelled all over the world to get and obviously has very big plans for, and you see one lone vampire standing there just holding it with no attempts to defend himself, then even if you have no reason to believe he's a hologram (or a glamour - which is more Buffyversesque, and they know Toru has a powerful witch) your spider sense should still be tingling, IMO. But even if there were no way they could have expected it, fact remains it was a trap and Buffy (and all the others) fell for it.

[aycheb]

More of a trick than a trap. I mean so far Toru's cunning plan has had the brilliant effect of bringing him and the Scythe face to face with three Slayers, the most powerful Wicca in the Western hemisphere, the most famous vampire in same, Xander and well Andrew in a fashion that going to make them all exceptionally cranky with him.

[beer_good_foamy]

Dictionary.com:

Trap
Noun: any device, stratagem, trick, or the like for catching a person unawares.
Verb: to catch by stratagem, artifice, or trickery.

I'd say it fits.

And considering how well Toru's played this from the beginning, I'd be very surprised if he doesn't know that. After all, he's got both the most powerful witch of the Eastern hemisphere and a robotics division - not to mention that he can turn into fog. :-)

[aycheb]

I'm just saying, he hasn't *caught* Buffy yet. From what we can see it looks more as if she's caught him and like stormwreath pointed out she's also played things pretty well so far. Next month. Showtime!