Notes on Buffy 3.15: Consequences

[2maggie2]

Standard disclaimer: I'll often speak of foreshadowing, but that doesn't mean I'm at all committing to the idea that there was some fixed design from the word go -- it's a short hand for talking about the resonances that end up in the text as it unspools.

Standard spoiler warning: The notes are written for folks who have seen all of BtVS and AtS.

Comments

[angearia]

Woo! Notes!

Okay, so my reply to y'all's notes this time around is less in direct opposition to anything in particular (though one line does start off as a point to diverge and the rest follows from that starting off point). I'm more just trying to formulate and share my perspective. Hopefully it makes sense.

Indeed, Buffy will later defy the Council, without losing her sense of duty. So, Faith’s flirtation with the feeling of being above the law is not a sign that she has tipped over into evil. I don't see the two as the same actually. Faith feels she's above the law, that the law doesn't apply to her. Buffy feels she is the law ("I am the law") and as such, she feels an even greater burden to adhere to and uphold the law. Faith talking about being an UberSlayer is about breaking rules because they shouldn't apply to her -- Want. Take. Have. -- where as Buffy's "I am the law" duty-bound acts are more about self-denial in serving a greater good

[angearia]

Rather, I think Buffy's nature of bearing the weight of the world and shouldering the blame, the danger, the responsibility (until she snaps and runs away/leaves town) is why she thinks of herself as a killer and uses that word with Faith. Buffy in this instance is less about intentions and more about consequences -- because that's what it means to be a Slayer. If a Slayer fails, people die. And Buffy's gotten so used to even thinking that failing to save people = killing them that when Faith actually delivers the blow herself through recklessness -- well, it's a special form of Slayer manslaughter. And yes, it's an accident, but it's an accident that will happen again and again unless Faith changes her M.O (I'm also reminded of people being injured on construction sites and it being called "an accident" -- but there's different degrees of accidents, aren't there?). An extremely powerful martial artist who's also extremely reckless -- she's gonna get people killed. Those are the consequences Buffy is fixating on, the

[2maggie2]

Just two replies, since we see this all quite differently and have vetted the issue ad nauseum

[angearia]

My tendency is to write my own comments before going extensively through the comments, so I didn't read the vetting until after the fact. ;)

I thought I'd acknowledged that I wasn't seeking to re-open the epic debate again -- with good humor, no less. I didn't mean to make anyone defensive. I was just sharing thoughts and hoping to formulate and express my POV. I understand that it can feel like you're getting a lot of pushback. I was just trying to share my thoughts and perspective -- and sometimes a person wants to say what they think and feel, even if small aspects and points resemble another person's argument (essentially, I had thoughts and was hoping to talk about them with people in a non-accusatory, contemplative manner).

Obviously I disagree with the framing of the actions in Ted, the only reason I brought it up was because it was being used as a juxtaposition for the Buffy/Faith comparisons. I think we have different measures of control and what that means

[menomegirl]

Wonderful notes on this episode! I'm still in atgreement on nearly everything.

[local_max]

Thanks so much on behalf of the team!

guilt

[anonymous]

First, great job, as always, breaking things down

Re: guilt

[2maggie2]

I really like this point -- I do think the problem very much lies in the fact that our language isn't good at sorting out such nuances. But that would be particularly problematic in the case of the slayer for the reasons you suggest.