Some Reflections on #39
Some random thoughts.
Giles. When I read about Giles dying I didn't get it. Largely because I'd been sure since forever that Dawn and/or Xander were going to play a big role in the finale, and instead they were peripheral, while Giles who'd been peripheral had suddenly become central. But the key in making that make sense is to remember what Willow told us in Time of Your Life. It's not so much who dies as it is who kills them. The dramatic key was that Angel was going to kill someone major. In a season all about fantasy, Buffy's choice to relapse into her fantasy about Angel had to prove costly. Choosing Giles as the victim then follows. The last time Buffy got swept up in her romantic fog about Angel, he brutally snapped Jenny's neck. That was the first signal that the 'verse was going to play for real stakes. But it wasn't uber-tragic. Jenny was most important to Giles. Buffy, on the other hand, had used Jenny as a bit of a scapegoat in the whole Surprise/Innocence fiasco. This time, Buffy's romantic fog about Angel cost her directly. There's a huge poignance to that. Giles was deeply hurt and angry when he learned Angel was back in season 3 and that Buffy had kept than information from him. He pointed to the fact that Angel had tortured him. He didn't mention the real cost Angel had exacted, but it was there lurking right below. Angel had cost Giles the one romantic relationship he was to ever have for the run of the series. (Olivia seems to be more a sexual companion than a romantic interest). Buffy's love life destroyed Giles' love life. Now Buffy's love life has destroyed Giles. The first time Buffy was truly innocent about what would happen if she slept with Angel. The second time she had all sorts of reasons to think it was a bad idea, but she did it anyway. I'm guessing those romantic blinders are pretty well smashed at this point, right along with the seed of wonder. No more.
Giles also makes sense because he is the father figure. A lot of people want to know why the Master was there. The Master has always been the dark father figure. Buffy killed him without Angel's help back in Prophecy Girl. This time she cheers as Angel kills him for her. Only to have Angel turn around and kill her benign father figure as well. You can't divide the world between good and evil, and just kill the evil and keep the good. You can't kill human evil without also killing human good. The evil father dies and the good father follows in quick succession. Buffy is now truly an orphan. In one fell swoop she loses her romantic illusions and her paternal support. She's felt isolated and unable to make connections all season long. She's going to have to tackle that problem head on, instead of keeping a safe space in her heart where she can find comfort and connection with these protective male figures.
The Seed of Wonder. aycheb sums it up nicely by referring to Buffy as the story slayer. On one level the seed is the creative source of the 'verse (i.e. Joss's artistic vision). In story, it's the role of story-telling in making sense of our lives, and shielding ourselves from harsh reality. The world this season has been all skew, all exagerrated. Too many of the characters were clinging too hard to their fantasies and illusions. Dawn smashed through hers in #25. Buffy doesn't manage it until the bitter end. It adds another layer of resonance to Giles as the sacrificial lamb of the story. He's the one Buffy had begged to lie to her back in season 2. Now those lies have killed him and Buffy has declared "no more". Now she's going to have to grow up. (Though to go another step, we never escape our need for narrative. The question is whether Buffy can find a better set of stories to make sense of herself and her world).
Willow. Even more than Buffy, Willow has been absorbed in seeking to manipulate reality and bend things to her. Magic isn't just power for Willow. It's her way of telling herself she's not the nerdy loser from high school. The irony is that she's not that nerdy loser either. Willow has never known who she is, she's been so busy spinning stories and wearing costumes. She is in a world of hurt right now. It's not impossible that stormwreath is right in his speculation that she lies there on the ground literally crippled.
Angel. Twilight played all the right notes in Angel's own web of self-deceit. "Reward", "destiny", "Buffy". That's why he was the one who had to play this role. Allie has confirmed that Spike could not have been seduced as Angel was. Lots of folks see this Angel as being tremendously out of character. I don't. Angel has always struggled with his enormous self-concept of himself as a champion seeking redemption. His entire series is an epic tragedy built around that self-concept. What kept Angel from being completely lost to it were his human connections. But at the end of NFA virtually all of them were gone. If we assume Angel got pulled in from a distant future, his last human connection, Connor, would also have been gone. Angel needs people around him if he is to have a prayer of staying on track. AtS showed us that even with those people, Angel would keep falling. This Angel doesn't even have that bit of restraint. He's desperate to make sense of things. That's always been his problem. He wants someone to offer him a grand narrative, and that makes him manipulable. His story going forward should also be fascinating. The seed of wonder is smashed. He'll have to make his own narrative.
Faith and Spike. A while back Joss said that Faith and Spike were more evolved than Buffy and Angel. I've always understood that as referring to the fact that both of their projects to aggrandize themselves with their respective stories had failed catastrophically. Faith became a murderer, and realized that she couldn't tell a story about herself as someone who didn't care. Spike tried to rape Buffy and realized that he couldn't keep using the Big Bad persona as a shield against the vulnerabilities of William. They've both grown up. This season, they are the heroes. The 'b' versions of Buffy and Angel turn out to be the real deal. Faith labored in obscurity to do her mission, and then decided for herself that she wanted to take up a vocation to help other slayers lost in their own power. Spike comes in just to help. He offers what help he can. And while everyone else is licking their wounds, he flies off to take care of one last monster. Giles may have thought that Buffy and Angel are the best of their kind -- but what he meant was that Buffy and Angel are the protagonists. We've just smashed the illusion that the protagonists are 'better' than the side kicks. It's the slayer and the vampire who don't think of themselves as the big heroes who are doing the yoemen like work of just trying to help.
Xander and Dawn. They didn't have much to do in the finale. But like Spike (and Faith) this isn't their story. Dawn smashed her illusions back in #25. Xander has obviously spanked his inner moppet and gone about the business of becoming a responsible adult. It'll be interesting what role they play in helping to pick up the pieces.
Buffy. She had her own web of illusions, notably the fantasy about Angel. She also had a story thrust on her -- the 'celebrity' of being *the* slayer. She's in a story where literally everything is about her. So she's at the heart of the epic tragedy that now surrounds her. She's had her fall. I don't think I've ever been more eager to find out what happens next in her story.
We're set up for an amazing story in season 9. How do you carry on without the illusions in a way that is still engaged in caring about the world and fighting the good fight? Expect Faith, Spike, Xander and Dawn to play important roles. In the brave new world, they are the ones who are already veterans in the battle of making meaning in a hard world in an adult way.
Giles. When I read about Giles dying I didn't get it. Largely because I'd been sure since forever that Dawn and/or Xander were going to play a big role in the finale, and instead they were peripheral, while Giles who'd been peripheral had suddenly become central. But the key in making that make sense is to remember what Willow told us in Time of Your Life. It's not so much who dies as it is who kills them. The dramatic key was that Angel was going to kill someone major. In a season all about fantasy, Buffy's choice to relapse into her fantasy about Angel had to prove costly. Choosing Giles as the victim then follows. The last time Buffy got swept up in her romantic fog about Angel, he brutally snapped Jenny's neck. That was the first signal that the 'verse was going to play for real stakes. But it wasn't uber-tragic. Jenny was most important to Giles. Buffy, on the other hand, had used Jenny as a bit of a scapegoat in the whole Surprise/Innocence fiasco. This time, Buffy's romantic fog about Angel cost her directly. There's a huge poignance to that. Giles was deeply hurt and angry when he learned Angel was back in season 3 and that Buffy had kept than information from him. He pointed to the fact that Angel had tortured him. He didn't mention the real cost Angel had exacted, but it was there lurking right below. Angel had cost Giles the one romantic relationship he was to ever have for the run of the series. (Olivia seems to be more a sexual companion than a romantic interest). Buffy's love life destroyed Giles' love life. Now Buffy's love life has destroyed Giles. The first time Buffy was truly innocent about what would happen if she slept with Angel. The second time she had all sorts of reasons to think it was a bad idea, but she did it anyway. I'm guessing those romantic blinders are pretty well smashed at this point, right along with the seed of wonder. No more.
Giles also makes sense because he is the father figure. A lot of people want to know why the Master was there. The Master has always been the dark father figure. Buffy killed him without Angel's help back in Prophecy Girl. This time she cheers as Angel kills him for her. Only to have Angel turn around and kill her benign father figure as well. You can't divide the world between good and evil, and just kill the evil and keep the good. You can't kill human evil without also killing human good. The evil father dies and the good father follows in quick succession. Buffy is now truly an orphan. In one fell swoop she loses her romantic illusions and her paternal support. She's felt isolated and unable to make connections all season long. She's going to have to tackle that problem head on, instead of keeping a safe space in her heart where she can find comfort and connection with these protective male figures.
The Seed of Wonder. aycheb sums it up nicely by referring to Buffy as the story slayer. On one level the seed is the creative source of the 'verse (i.e. Joss's artistic vision). In story, it's the role of story-telling in making sense of our lives, and shielding ourselves from harsh reality. The world this season has been all skew, all exagerrated. Too many of the characters were clinging too hard to their fantasies and illusions. Dawn smashed through hers in #25. Buffy doesn't manage it until the bitter end. It adds another layer of resonance to Giles as the sacrificial lamb of the story. He's the one Buffy had begged to lie to her back in season 2. Now those lies have killed him and Buffy has declared "no more". Now she's going to have to grow up. (Though to go another step, we never escape our need for narrative. The question is whether Buffy can find a better set of stories to make sense of herself and her world).
Willow. Even more than Buffy, Willow has been absorbed in seeking to manipulate reality and bend things to her. Magic isn't just power for Willow. It's her way of telling herself she's not the nerdy loser from high school. The irony is that she's not that nerdy loser either. Willow has never known who she is, she's been so busy spinning stories and wearing costumes. She is in a world of hurt right now. It's not impossible that stormwreath is right in his speculation that she lies there on the ground literally crippled.
Angel. Twilight played all the right notes in Angel's own web of self-deceit. "Reward", "destiny", "Buffy". That's why he was the one who had to play this role. Allie has confirmed that Spike could not have been seduced as Angel was. Lots of folks see this Angel as being tremendously out of character. I don't. Angel has always struggled with his enormous self-concept of himself as a champion seeking redemption. His entire series is an epic tragedy built around that self-concept. What kept Angel from being completely lost to it were his human connections. But at the end of NFA virtually all of them were gone. If we assume Angel got pulled in from a distant future, his last human connection, Connor, would also have been gone. Angel needs people around him if he is to have a prayer of staying on track. AtS showed us that even with those people, Angel would keep falling. This Angel doesn't even have that bit of restraint. He's desperate to make sense of things. That's always been his problem. He wants someone to offer him a grand narrative, and that makes him manipulable. His story going forward should also be fascinating. The seed of wonder is smashed. He'll have to make his own narrative.
Faith and Spike. A while back Joss said that Faith and Spike were more evolved than Buffy and Angel. I've always understood that as referring to the fact that both of their projects to aggrandize themselves with their respective stories had failed catastrophically. Faith became a murderer, and realized that she couldn't tell a story about herself as someone who didn't care. Spike tried to rape Buffy and realized that he couldn't keep using the Big Bad persona as a shield against the vulnerabilities of William. They've both grown up. This season, they are the heroes. The 'b' versions of Buffy and Angel turn out to be the real deal. Faith labored in obscurity to do her mission, and then decided for herself that she wanted to take up a vocation to help other slayers lost in their own power. Spike comes in just to help. He offers what help he can. And while everyone else is licking their wounds, he flies off to take care of one last monster. Giles may have thought that Buffy and Angel are the best of their kind -- but what he meant was that Buffy and Angel are the protagonists. We've just smashed the illusion that the protagonists are 'better' than the side kicks. It's the slayer and the vampire who don't think of themselves as the big heroes who are doing the yoemen like work of just trying to help.
Xander and Dawn. They didn't have much to do in the finale. But like Spike (and Faith) this isn't their story. Dawn smashed her illusions back in #25. Xander has obviously spanked his inner moppet and gone about the business of becoming a responsible adult. It'll be interesting what role they play in helping to pick up the pieces.
Buffy. She had her own web of illusions, notably the fantasy about Angel. She also had a story thrust on her -- the 'celebrity' of being *the* slayer. She's in a story where literally everything is about her. So she's at the heart of the epic tragedy that now surrounds her. She's had her fall. I don't think I've ever been more eager to find out what happens next in her story.
We're set up for an amazing story in season 9. How do you carry on without the illusions in a way that is still engaged in caring about the world and fighting the good fight? Expect Faith, Spike, Xander and Dawn to play important roles. In the brave new world, they are the ones who are already veterans in the battle of making meaning in a hard world in an adult way.