Season 7 essays
So, umm, hi. To start things off in the community, I thought I'd repost something that those of you from my friends list will probably recognize. It's my attempt at defending Season 7, because I really do love it to pieces. But unlike before, when I just had notes, it's now in a coherent format thanks to the fabulous elisi. She did a terrific job in putting all my random stuff together and enhanced it with some of her own additions, so I think of it as being as much her work now as it is mine. :)
Essay
So, finally, here it is. My attempt at defending Season 7. I have to admit that this isn't all that much like an essay - it's more just a collection of my thoughts and why I like the things I do. I think that some of the criticisms of Season 7 are valid. There are things that could have been done better, and the pacing was a bit slow at times, but I honestly don't believe that these problems are any worse than they have been in the other seasons. I had a lot of ups and downs when I first watched it, since I was completely spoiler-free and had no idea what would happen from one episode to the next. And when it was finally over, I looked back and realized that I was quite happy with the way things had gone. Now I'm going to try and explain the reason why.
Final Season:
First, I've always thought it's interesting how Season 7 is a combination of elements from all the rest of the seasons. For example, "Him" and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" are both about wacky love spells gone wrong, the cult in "Help" is quite similar to the cult in "Reptile Boy" and Spike is yet again Xander's 'roomie' like in S4. So I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise when I say that the plot of Season 7 is kind of like a combination of Seasons 2 and 5. Like Season 5, there's a powerful Big Bad looming, something even worse than a hellgod. The Slayer mythology comes back into play, too. And like in Season 2, the true story is the one between Buffy and her vampire. Only this time, the vampire in question is Spike, not Angel. There's plenty of other stuff going on in Season 7, but I think it's all mostly a backdrop for S/B. But we'll get back to that later.
Themes:
Back to the beginning:
Back to the beginning is probably the easiest of the themes to spot. The return of Sunnydale High makes it rather blindingly obvious, after all. And it's very fitting that the show should end where it began, in high school. But that's not the only meaning here. In a way, the characters too go back to the beginning, and in doing that you can see how far they have truly come.
Giles takes Willow back to England so she can learn about magic properly, instead of on her own as she had been doing for years. Willow is finally starting to understand what having magic truly means and how it should be used responsibly, but she still has far more power than anyone else.
Xander can look back on his High School years with nostalgia, and Buffy trains Dawn (and later the potentials) how to fight - something that has become routine for Buffy herself, is suddenly a challenge.
And we have the Turok-Han - vampires that are a serious threat, which they haven't really been since S2! Speaking of vampires, we have a very neat parallel between S1 and S7, in the form of newly-risen vampires:
XANDER: Jesse, man. I'm sorry.
JESSE: Sorry? I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything!
(The Harvest)
BUFFY: Sorry.
HOLDEN: No, no. Feels great. Strong. Like I'm connected to a powerful all-consuming evil that's gonna suck the world into a firey oblivion.
(Conversations With Dead People)
How ironic that all the vampires feel connected, and the Slayer is alone. But of course by seasons end it's all change!
Power and forgiveness:
So, what exactly is this season about? I think Buffy said it best in "Lessons", it's about power. It's about the power of a group of friends who have been together since the beginning and are still there, fighting the good fight, even though they're no longer as close as they once were. It's about the power of forgiveness and redemption, of being given the chance to come back from a crime you thought was unforgivable and make something better of your life. It's about bringing out the power inside yourself and not being afraid of it. It's also a season of healing, about picking up the pieces of your life left when everything's gone wrong and putting them back together. Season 6 dealt with a lot of real world problems that young people often face when they're finally out on their own in the world, without any parental guidance. In a way, Season 7 presents the next logical step after that.
"To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It's... it's not done because people deserve it. It's done because they need it."
('I Only Have Eyes For You', S2, ep. 19)
I love this quote because I think that it's very important and true. It's also one of the hardest things in the world to do, so most people just tend to forget about it. As I said before, forgiveness is one of the themes at the heart of this season, and all of the characters have done something that they need to be forgiven for. It doesn't mean that their misdeeds should simply be overlooked, or that forgiving them somehow makes their past actions okay. But without forgiveness, you can never get part your failings and move on with life.
Isolation:
Another strong theme of the year is isolation. This is an old issue, one Buffy has been struggling with for a long time. Way back in "Restless", the First Slayer insisted that the Slayer was meant to be alone, an idea which Buffy rejected without hesitation. Even though she's always had the tendency to pull away from others and become uber self-reliant during a crisis, she still had her ties to the world, her family and friends, to keep her grounded. But eventually that all started to change. Joyce died, and that was the real turning point for Buffy's attitude. She was under so much pressure, trying to protect Dawn from Glory and taking over as surrogate parent, that she shut down even more than usual, and in fact quite literally in "The Weight of the World". It's no wonder that she went to her death with a sense of relief at being able to give up the fight at last. But then, of course, came the resurrection and a whole year of being depressed and disconnected from life. Buffy clearly still loved her friends, but even after the heaven revelation they still couldn't really see or understand the kind of pain she was going through. And Buffy was so wrapped up in her own problems that she couldn't deal with anyone else's either. But bit by bit, Buffy did start to climb out of the hole she was in, started to realize that she did still want to live in the world, and by the end of Season 6 it looked like she was on he road to recovery.
The damage has already been done, though, and can't easily be reversed. Her conversation with Holden Webster in ep. 7 reveals that Buffy still isn't feeling connected. The issues she talks about though aren't with her friends or family, but her relationships. In fact, this is the setup here for Buffy's cookie dough speech at the end of the season. Holden even points out that she's still young and can hardly be expected to have a handle on the relationship thing yet.
Buffy has no trouble giving of herself to other people, though. Like how she offered to lend her strength to Willow at the end of "Same Time, Same Place" to help with the healing process or how she's willing to listen to student's problems and tries her best to save Cassie in "Help". But when it comes to opening up emotionally to anyone or telling them important things that they should know, she still pulls away. And it gets even worse once the Potentials arrive. Even though Buffy cares about what happens to them, she keeps herself apart and doesn't really try to get to know them better. Everyone is looking to her to be the leader, to protect them from The First Evil, but even though she tries, I think Buffy knows that she can't be there to protect all of them all the time (much like in S5 when she was trying to protect Dawn, only magnified). Essentially, even with the support of her friends, she's still alone in this, just as the First Slayer said. Holden says it too: "But Buffy, everyone feels alone. Everyone is. Until you die." And even Faith mentions it, in her talk with Buffy in EoD. She says how she had always been by herself but never felt so alone until everyone was looking to her to lead.
All of this build throughout the season, aided by the First's efforts to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of the Potentials and the Scoobs, until it finally comes to a head and Buffy is kicked out of the house. It is leading up to Buffy's decision that no Slayer will ever have to be alone again. And it is The First, repeating Holden's words, that gives her the idea:
The First: ... One girl in all the world. She alone will have the strength and skill to- There's that word again. What you are. How you'll die. Alone. Where's your snappy comeback?
Buffy: You're right.
The First Evil:
I admit that I think the First should have been a bit more aggressive and consistant with its psychological scare tactics, but overall I think it worked rather well. Because when the First does use its scare tactics, it does so very effectively. I also like how it kind of paralled the Master's situation from the first season, a big bad entity who can't do the dirty work itself and so has to rely on others instead.
I thought Caleb's relationship with the First was rather interesting, too, although a bit on the creepy side. Caleb himself was quite reminiscent of psychopaths on cop-shows, using a belief-system to justify his perversions, only Caleb was also a megalomaniac. I know he was introduced quite late on, but then looking at S5 f.ex. Doc is only introduced once and then suddenly turns up in the finale.
Moreover Caleb was a human who'd turned himself into a monster (what Warren was busy working on) - Buffy's opposite in every way.
A lot of people say that the First Evil isn't fleshed out enough, that it doesn't really have a personality of it's own. That's not precisely true. It takes on the surface personality of anyone that it morphs into, but the First's own traits are always what's lying underneath. We know that it likes to talk a lot, that it's arrogant and supremely confidant in itself and it's minions. The First likes to taunt and tease it's victims and enjoy their fear. It loves death, destruction, and mayhem. It does tend to be a bit on the talky side, but I think it's quite interesting to watch it work at sowing seeds of doubt amongst the good guys. The First is also perhaps the most adaptable villain. If one strategy fails, it quickly moves on to the next one, without ever losing sight of it's main objective: to destroy the Slayer line and tip the scales in the favor of evil in order to acquire enough power to become corporeal. As for why it waited until this season to make it's move, instead of right after Buffy was brought back, well, I have a theory about that.
When Giles and Anya talk to Beljoxa's Eye in "Showtime", it tells them that the Slayer line has become imbalanced and vulnerable to the First's attack because of Buffy's resurrection. Anya rightly points out that Buffy has died and been brought back before this. And of course we all know that her first death caused an aberration in the line that resulted in two Slayers existing simultaneously. This wasn't enough to throw the line out of whack, though, because there was still only one Slayer whose death would call another one. Season 7 confirms this as fact because Buffy and Faith are still the only two Slayers, so obviously Buffy's death can't activate another anymore. When Buffy died the second time, the order was restored, once again there was only one Slayer. But after Willow brought Buffy back though, she still had all of her Slayer powers, even though she had been dead for at least four months. This is a very unnatural circumstance and thus a much bigger break in the balance of things.
That explains why the First was able to make it's move, but I think that it was actually another event that finally pushed it into action: The creation of another souled vampire, one that the side of light could turn into a champion. That's why it targeted Spike, trying to either bring him back into the darkness, or failing that, make sure he was out of the picture entirely. Remember how very hard it tried to make Angel kill Buffy? It is the same situation, only magnified, since now it can reach for actual power. In 'Amends' btw, we saw another strenght - even something that might be seen as a win (Angel deciding to commit suicide), The First can enjoy since it will cause pain.
As for the old lady in the temple in "End of Days" and the Scythe, I can see how people can think that it wasn't really fair for Joss to drop a gigantic piece of Slayer history on us like that without any warning or much explanation. But it's not the first time he's done something like that either. Remember Acathla? That came out of absolutely nowhere in the last two episodes of the season, too. And wasn't it convenient how Kendra's Watcher just so happened to have a special sword for Buffy to use? None of that really matters though, of course, because Acathla was only a means to an end. The real point was the culmination of Buffy and Angel's story in the big fight and her sending him to hell even with his soul.
In BtVS it is always the characters and their emotions that are most important - here's Joss talking in 'Buffy - Television with a bite':
"I never took any science; I don't know how things work, I can barely tie my shoes - but I understand emotions. So if we can get past that by going, 'well these things happen when you're on a Hellmouth' , um, then we can get to what's important."
This way of storytelling underpins the entire show from beginning to end, and holds true for the end of Season 7, too. Why Buffy's return made the First Evil able to rise is not as important as the results. Just the same way, the origins of the Scythe and the old woman don't really matter. They're only a means to an end, a way for Buffy to change fate.
The Characters:
There are many complaints about how unlikable the Scoobies became in the later seasons. It is definitely a valid criticism, but that doesn't mean that they behaved out of character. The flaws that are displayed in the later seasons have been there all along. And quite frankly I'm inclined to admire the writers for daring to go to such dark places with their stories - and also for accepting that going through the experiences that our main characters have to endure, is likely to have adverse effects. I'm not sure I would have found Buffy so endearing if all her pain and heartache had rolled off her back and by Season 7 she'd been as perky as she was back in Season one. The show might have been difficult viewing at times, but honestly I prefer that to something that's relentlessly cheerful. I like my heroes flawed and human - if not it'd be 'The Harmony Show'!
Xander and Anya:
People often talk about how Xander hasn't had a story in years and how he did nothing at all in Season 7. Interestingly enough, it's usually these same people who complain about all the wedding stuff in Season 6 being boring. This always baffles me because Xander has never had any kind of big, dramatic storyline, not even in the early seasons. His story has always been about life itself and how even the most ordinary of people can make a difference, even if it's only in a small way - that is pretty much the entire point of 'the Zeppo'. It's not his connection, or lack thereof, to the main plot of the season that matters, but rather the series of events that have had an impact on his life and the way he sees things. This has been continuous from Season 1 all the way through 7, and I think Xander has definitely changed because of it. He is often stupid, but he usually realises and tries to make amends somehow - it's particularly poignant in S7 when he actually lets Spike stay in his flat; Spike that he couldn't stand 3 years previously, but who now has a whole lot more 'crimes' to his name - this time a lot more personal. And yet he lets him stay and barely says a word against him.
Now one of the biggest parts of Xander's story is his relationship with Anya. Their relationship in Season 6 ended almost as badly as Spike and Buffy's did, so for me it was wonderful to watch them slowly begin to warm up to each other again throughout the last season. Xander's fears were still standing in the way, and he never did really resolve them, true, but that's not the sort of thing you can suddenly just get over in one year, in my opinion. What mattered most to me is that they were both eventually able to put aside their anger and resentment over the breakup and perhaps became a bit closer and wiser for it. And even though I would have been much happier to see Anya live, her death was not meaningless. She made the choice to fight for something she believed in and knew full well what the consequences could be. To me, that can never be a meaningless death. If you want to talk meaningless, then look at Tara who died simply because she happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can't get much more meaningless than that.
Giles:
I wasn't really bothered too much by his behavior in Season 7, but I can certainly see how it could be annoying. I wonder though, if maybe the point in having him back was to show that it really wasn't necessary for him to be the "adult" of the group anymore, as a contrast to season 6 where the group suffered from a lack of adult guidance. Buffy's gotten to the point where there really isn't anything left he can teach her, and she's now become the teacher herself.
And I think maybe Giles regressed a bit in his behavior too because of his fear of the situation they're all in. I mean, the entire Council gets blown up after all, and even though he didn't like them much that still must have shaken him to the core. I can't really blame him for being rather harsh and defeatist about the whole thing.
Willow (& Kennedy):
Willow through the seasons became someone always wanting more - wanting to be better, to have more power and distance herself from her early self. Also she has an inbuilt image of herself as 'a good girl' ("I'm very seldom naughty." Selfless, S4, ep22) and has a tendency to avoid taking responsibility for her actions (Tara leaving 'for no good reason', turning The Bronze into a freak show with Amy without a pang of guilt). In S6 she tries to turn her back on magic, but I think it was very much an intellectual decision. She could see that she was going wrong, but only treated the symptoms, not the underlying cause. In S7 she knows that there is only herself to blame - that she is NOT a 'good girl' with a few little problems. She now has more power than she has ever wanted, but is incredibly cautious with it, and has come to realise that cautious, sensible Willow might have been onto something. And she never lets herself forget what she did.
avrelia recently had a very interesting interpretation of Willow's dream in 'Restless': That it's all about her going dark and committing murder. From 'Two To Go':
JONATHAN: "I still can't believe that was Willow. I mean, I've known her almost as long as you guys. Willow was ... you know. She packed her own lunches and wore floods and was always... just Willow."
And now, this is what she's become:
ANDREW: "...You think your little witch buddy's gonna stop with us? You saw her! She's a truck-driving Magic Mama! And we've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa-burgers, and not one of you bunch has the midichlorians to stop her."
I don't have the time to go into this, but from 'Restless':
TARA: (offscreen) Everyone's starting to wonder about you. The real you. If they find out, they'll punish you, I ... I can't help you with that.
There is enough here for a whole essay on its own, so if anyone feels up to it, I would love to read it! For now, all I'll say is, that WIllow was always Willow - her early sweetness was what made her friends so forgiving, but her later darkness made her doubt herself very much, only finding herself at the very end of the season - and (to her great relief I'm sure) that the light is stronger than the darkness.
V. briefly: Her relationship with Kennedy is generally disliked and I think it was probably a decent idea gone wrong in the execution. Kennedy's attitude got on my nerves a lot during the season, but she did have a lot of courage and I could admire that, so I didn't really end up hating her exactly. She's still a brat, though. :)
The Potentials:
Okay, so there really were way too many people in that house by the end of the show and it probably would have been better if they had just stuck to having a couple of new potentials instead. But still, I do like the whole concept and how Buffy tried her best to teach the girls how to stay alive and give them the ability to protect themselves when she couldn't be there to do it for them. And even though they may not have had much respect for her most of the time, you could see quite clearly that they did learn from her and put what they knew into practice. And I think the whole point of the empowering spell is that the old shamans got it wrong, it doesn't have to be just one girl in all the world. The Slayers can now make that choice for themselves instead of just being the sacrificial lamb.
Chosen vs The Gift
Not going into Buffy and Spike much, except to talk about how similar their sacrifices are in The Gift and Chosen. One of the many, many reasons why I love them so much is because of all the parallels that the show draws between them, whether it be all the various hand scenes, digging their way out of their own graves, their mutual need to be loved and accepted, or whatever. Their deaths at the end of seasons 5 and 7 are just another wonderful example of this.
The circumstances aren't exactly the same, of course. Even though Spike had a lot to deal with in Season 7, with the weight of the soul dragging him down and the First messing with his head and all, I never really got the sense that he was depressed and completely worn down the way Buffy was in The Gift. But they both made the decision to sacrifice themselves and they made it for the same reason, out of love. Buffy loved Dawn enough to take her place and jump into the portal. She did it so Dawn could have a chance at a real life, a normal life. Or, you know, as normal as one can hope for in Sunnydale. :) And Spike loved Buffy enough to stay behind and close the Hellmouth, making the sacrifice so she wouldn't have to. He wanted for her the same thing that she wanted for Dawn, for Buffy to go on living and be able to live her life however she wanted to now that she was free of being the Chosen One. I think that's part of the reason why he asked her to give him the amulet in the first place, too. He was determined that if anyone was going to take a risk with the thing, it would be him and not her.
I think that this parallel is the reason why Buffy lets him go in the end, too. The moment she took hold of his hand in the cavern was when she understood why he was doing this, why he was willing to die. I think that's why she becomes so calm even as everything around them is falling apart, just like she was at the end of The Gift. She remembers those feelings she had forgotten after she was resurrected, how it feels to know you're doing the right thing and to love someone enough to give them the gift of life. She's feeling them along with Spike, and she's proud of him, and she loves him for it. And even though Spike might or might not believe that she has romantic feelings for him, I think he does know that she truly cares about him and he appreciates it.
In conclusion, I'll go back to my earlier point about forgiveness. The characters were all able to forgive (and to some extent forget) and move on. They had understood Giles' lesson. Maybe Willow or Buffy or Spike or Andrew or any of the others didn't deserve to be forgiven, but they were. And because of that they grew - became bolder and stronger and when it mattered they were able to stand up and defeat the enemy.
I find it strange that such a large part of fandom was unable to do the same, and I hope that in time they will.
And actually, there are two essays for the price of one! Elisi was inspired by my mention of how Seasons 2 and 7 were quite similar and wrote up her own comparison of the two. She gave me permission to include it here, because I think the two essays really complement each other well.
A quick look at Buffy and Spike in S7, episode by episode.
"They were always so funny. I've been interested in Principal Wood this year. But my number one has got to be the Buffy and Spike love story. I think that is just a gorgeous story." - Jane Espenson
Buffy and Spike's relationship in S6 was (most of the time) violent and destructive - they hurt each other and themselves. But Season 7 is immediately different. What is Buffy's reaction when she first sees Spike? Does she punch him? Yell at him that he's evil? No - she's shocked and worried. Of course he looks wildly different and nothing he says makes sense, but even so she lets him caress her cheek without flinching. Next time they meet ('Beneath You') he looks and acts much more like the Spike of old, and only then does she begin to take issue with him - but she accepts his help anyway. And then we have this very interesting conversation:
BUFFY: Skittish? That's not a word I would use for it. You tried to rape me. I don't have the words.
SPIKE: Neither do I. I can't say sorry. Can't use forgive me. All I can say is: Buffy, I've changed.
BUFFY: I believe you.
SPIKE: Well, that's something.
BUFFY: I just don't know what you've changed into.
Now if we look at 'Crush' we find this little chat:
SPIKE: And I can be too. I've changed, Buffy.
BUFFY: What, that chip in your head? That's not change. Tha-that's just ... holding you back. You're like a serial killer in prison!
They have come a long way from 'Crush' - she expects him to know that what he did was wrong and she believes his word when he says he has changed. She is cautious and proceeds very carefully, but she wants to know what has happened. Of course at the end off the episode he tells her about the soul (in one of the most amazing and touching scenes on BtVS ever!) And she panics, which might not be the best response, but certainly an understandable one.
After that I think she doesn't really know what to do with him - or herself - but she clings onto his 'I just want to help' which might be why she gets him to help out when Willow is lost and when trying to save Cassie.
Now why does she 'take so long' to get him out of the basement? Partly it wasn't all that long - we're talking 3 weeks or less - and partly I think she was still very vary of him. But in 'Selfless' we have this talk:
BUFFY: You have a soul? Fine. Show me.
SPIKE: Scream montresor all you like, pet.
BUFFY: Get up and get out of this basement.
SPIKE: I don't have anywhere else to go.
Next episode she's moving him in with Xander! And he's helping out just like before...
In CWDP she manages to get some things off her chest during her chat with Holden:
BUFFY: "The last guy I was with, it got really - I behaved like a monster, treated him like - But at the same time, I-I let him completely take me over. Do things to me that -"
She is trying to understand what happened, wondering who she is, what she's become. She is still rather stand-offish, until 'Sleeper' when it seems as though Spike is killing again. And they have that wonderful argument-within-an-argument:
SPIKE: As daft a notion as "Soulful Spike the Killer" is, it is nothing compared to the idea that another girl could mean anything to me. This chip-they did to me. I couldn't help it. But the soul, I got on my own-for you.
BUFFY: I know.
There is more talking in 'Never Leave Me' - both being straightforward, culminating in Buffy's wonderful "I believe in you, Spike." Which I think (to him) is worth more than 'I love you'. And then he is taken by the Bringers.
Buffy's words give him something to cling to, and The First never manages to break him, like it broke Angel in 'Amends' (where all of Buffy's love wasn't enough to stop him from attempting suicide). And watch how focussed Buffy is on getting Spike back - he is obviously very, very important to her. (To the confusion of the newly arrived potentials.)
Then we get 'Potential' with the freudian slips, the UST and the working-together, before 'The Killer in Me', where Buffy is all wrapped up in the fact that the chip is apparently killing Spike. (My best friend magically turned into the man she murdered, but hey - she says she's sorting it out, so I'll just leave her to it!).
By now Spike is also the person she leans on, the person she turns to first and the only one she lets in - in 'First Date' she ignores Xander (who's been stabbed!) and runs straight to Spike's side. Yes Buffy is mean in 'Get It Done', but not without reason - I'm sure she likes the quiet and sensitive Souled!Spike a lot more than the old model, but she needs a fighter. She must get him to use everything, because he's pretty much all she's got. 'Storyteller' of course has Andrew's wonderful view of the two of them (and he's a perceptive guy!). In LMPTM she states simply that she's willing to let Spike get away with murder, because she needs him.
In 'Dirty Girls' Spike and Faith have their wonderful flirty little talk that Buffy walks in on. And anyone who can't see that she's jealous is blind! Then we get 'Empty Places':
BUFFY: You sent away the one person that's been watching my back-again.
GILES(quickly, indignant): We're all watching your back.
BUFFY: Funny... that's not really what it feels like.
This is apt, particularly considering how the episode ends.
Of course that brings us to 'Touched' and Spike's wonderful speech, that is actually an echo of Buffy's speech in 'Never Leave Me' ( http://awmp.livejournal.com/38274.html) - he gives her back hope and purpose. In 'End of Days' she actually wants to talk about what happened, and she's the one reassuring him that it mattered, that she was there - he's the one who says to 'leave it' ("Lets go be heroes!").
I'll skip the B/A kiss since I've dealt with it in this post: http://elisi.livejournal.com/28551.html, but in a nut shell I think Buffy just wanted some time out - and Angel was safe. He didn't know all anything about the mess she'd made of her life, or the problems she'd had. Kissing Angel was a fond look back - but if she kissed Spike it would mean all kinds of things for the future.
Also - if only for a few days - she actually 'lives with' Spike. Granted it's only in her basement, but they're sharing a bed, being intimate in a way neither could have envisaged just a year previously. And trusting him - with her heart, her body and the fate of the whole world.
What we have to remember with Buffy is that actions always speak louder than words - so when she finally says "I love you" it is only a confirmation of what we already know. (Also see the_royal_anna's post: http://the-royal-anna.livejournal.com/1340.html)
How B/A and S/B are a mirror of each other.
How do you follow-up her romance with Angel? I like the romance with Spike better. I'm more interested in the heat between those two characters because I felt Buffy and Angel had romantic love. Spike and Buffy have something so much more complicated that it's got that romance and all this other stuff on top of it which makes it so interesting for me." - Jane Espenson
I always thought that the differences between Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike were interesting, but until buttersideup mentioned how S7 is like S2, I could never put my finger on how it worked - they were opposites in so many ways, but still so different (esp. in how they began and ended) that I couldn't get a good picture. But then something fell into place. If we only take the B/A relationship in S2 (which is when all the important stuff happens) and then compare it to S/B in S6 and S7 (since the two seasons are so connected) you get a very interesting mirror effect. Let me explain:
If we take the first half of S2 and contrast it with all of S6, in the beginning Buffy has come back from death and isn't dealing very well. In S2 she is snippy with Angel, trying to hide from the person she was closest to before. In S6 she is opening herself up to Spike, the one person she was never really close to previously.
Then of course things change.
In S2 Buffy starts 'dating' Angel, and they have a very sweet and innocent relationship - plenty of cuddles and kisses, mutual 'I love you's and both are obviously head-over-heels. It can be hard to remember that Angel is not a young man, but a very old vampire with centuries of crimes to his name. Of course it pops up now and again, but mostly they're all lovey-dovey.
In S6 Buffy' relationship with Spike is practically the opposite - it's about lust and violence and has as little to do with love as Buffy can make it. And, although Spike is very good at playing the Big Bad, he often displays much tenderness and care.
Interestingly enough, in both relationships we have a discussion of love and trust.
BUFFY: I love you. I don't know if I trust you.
ANGEL: Maybe you shouldn't do either.
(Lie To Me)
BUFFY: I have feelings for you. I do. But it's not love. I could never trust you enough for it to be love.
(Seeing Red)
In S6 Buffy has learned her lesson.
Now we get to one of the main points - the souls!
In S2 Buffy and Angel share a beautiful night of lovemaking, giving themselves to each other completely. Only this has the catastrophic result of wrenching Angel's soul away.
In S6 we have a near-opposite, an almost-rape - a horrible perversion of lovemaking. But it has the incredible effect of making Spike so determined to change that he goes off on a quest to get his soul back.
We begin the second half of S2 and the start of S7 with the reveal to Buffy of how her lover has changed. We even have 'outside' witnesses to confirm what we know, in the shape of The Judge and Anyanka. If we contrast the ending of 'Innocence' (in Angel terms) and 'Beneath You', in the former we have Buffy kicking Angelus firmly in the balls, showing how their 'relationship' has moved from love to violence. In 'Beneath You' we have the still figure of Spike, speaking of love and forgiveness, wrapped on a cross. Opposites indeed.
As the second half of S2 progresses, we see how Buffy slowly tries to detach herself from Angel and her feelings, readying herself for killing him. She hopes that maybe the soul-curse might work, but this is a frail hope indeed.
In S7 Buffy slowly lets herself get closer and closer to Spike, worrying that maybe The First will turn him against her, but in the end this does not come to pass. Her trust and belief in him is more than repaid
Finally we have the apocalypses.
In S2, Buffy has to fight alone against her love, the weight of the world on her shoulders. And of course at the very last moment his soul is returned. He is confused, worried and helpless and after saying she loves him, she has to kill him. She leaves town by herself, no friends or family joining her on the bus.
ANGEL: (confused) What's happening?
BUFFY: (whispers reassuringly) Shh. Don't worry about it.
(...)
BUFFY: (whispers) I love you.
ANGEL: (whispers) I love you.
BUFFY: Close your eyes.
ANGEL: Buffy...
(Becoming II)
In S7 Spike is at Buffy's side (as are all the new Slayers), fighting the good fight. Not even the last minute attempt to sway him to the dark side (which would have made the mirroring perfect) works. And this time there is no need for a sacrifice. Spike is a willing champion, glorying in his victory. And when she says she loves him, he gives her back her love and sends her away to live - with friends and family by her side, ready to start all over.
SPIKE: I mean it! I gotta do this.
BUFFY: (softly, looks into his eyes) I love you.
SPIKE: No, you don't. But thanks for saying it. (...) Now go! (...) I wanna see how it ends.
(Chosen)
Two vampires, two vastly different stories - one a fairy tale turned tragedy, the other an example of how love and forgiveness can overcome even the greatest obstacles.
To finish with a quote from the_royal_anna: "I've seen so many discussions of which of the two Buffy loved more, but I don't know that we love in amounts. We love in ways."
Buffy loved her vampires in different ways, because they were different people. She was different, when she fell for Spike. People who prefer Spike/Buffy over Buffy/Angel just like a different sort of love story.
Remember how much worry there was that Souled!Spike would be ‘just like Angel’? (Not to say that Angel’s story wasn’t excellent - where would we be without Season 2?).
To be honest the mirroring could be stretched further: In S3 Angel stayed with Buffy, when probably he shouldn’t (post-’Lover’s Walk’), in AtS S5 Spike didn’t go to Buffy when probably he should have (post-’Destiny’). And in both cases we can only blame the network!
I know that was a complete waste of time, but at least now it will stop bugging me. :)
Essay
So, finally, here it is. My attempt at defending Season 7. I have to admit that this isn't all that much like an essay - it's more just a collection of my thoughts and why I like the things I do. I think that some of the criticisms of Season 7 are valid. There are things that could have been done better, and the pacing was a bit slow at times, but I honestly don't believe that these problems are any worse than they have been in the other seasons. I had a lot of ups and downs when I first watched it, since I was completely spoiler-free and had no idea what would happen from one episode to the next. And when it was finally over, I looked back and realized that I was quite happy with the way things had gone. Now I'm going to try and explain the reason why.
Final Season:
First, I've always thought it's interesting how Season 7 is a combination of elements from all the rest of the seasons. For example, "Him" and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" are both about wacky love spells gone wrong, the cult in "Help" is quite similar to the cult in "Reptile Boy" and Spike is yet again Xander's 'roomie' like in S4. So I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise when I say that the plot of Season 7 is kind of like a combination of Seasons 2 and 5. Like Season 5, there's a powerful Big Bad looming, something even worse than a hellgod. The Slayer mythology comes back into play, too. And like in Season 2, the true story is the one between Buffy and her vampire. Only this time, the vampire in question is Spike, not Angel. There's plenty of other stuff going on in Season 7, but I think it's all mostly a backdrop for S/B. But we'll get back to that later.
Themes:
Back to the beginning:
Back to the beginning is probably the easiest of the themes to spot. The return of Sunnydale High makes it rather blindingly obvious, after all. And it's very fitting that the show should end where it began, in high school. But that's not the only meaning here. In a way, the characters too go back to the beginning, and in doing that you can see how far they have truly come.
Giles takes Willow back to England so she can learn about magic properly, instead of on her own as she had been doing for years. Willow is finally starting to understand what having magic truly means and how it should be used responsibly, but she still has far more power than anyone else.
Xander can look back on his High School years with nostalgia, and Buffy trains Dawn (and later the potentials) how to fight - something that has become routine for Buffy herself, is suddenly a challenge.
And we have the Turok-Han - vampires that are a serious threat, which they haven't really been since S2! Speaking of vampires, we have a very neat parallel between S1 and S7, in the form of newly-risen vampires:
XANDER: Jesse, man. I'm sorry.
JESSE: Sorry? I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything!
(The Harvest)
BUFFY: Sorry.
HOLDEN: No, no. Feels great. Strong. Like I'm connected to a powerful all-consuming evil that's gonna suck the world into a firey oblivion.
(Conversations With Dead People)
How ironic that all the vampires feel connected, and the Slayer is alone. But of course by seasons end it's all change!
Power and forgiveness:
So, what exactly is this season about? I think Buffy said it best in "Lessons", it's about power. It's about the power of a group of friends who have been together since the beginning and are still there, fighting the good fight, even though they're no longer as close as they once were. It's about the power of forgiveness and redemption, of being given the chance to come back from a crime you thought was unforgivable and make something better of your life. It's about bringing out the power inside yourself and not being afraid of it. It's also a season of healing, about picking up the pieces of your life left when everything's gone wrong and putting them back together. Season 6 dealt with a lot of real world problems that young people often face when they're finally out on their own in the world, without any parental guidance. In a way, Season 7 presents the next logical step after that.
"To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It's... it's not done because people deserve it. It's done because they need it."
('I Only Have Eyes For You', S2, ep. 19)
I love this quote because I think that it's very important and true. It's also one of the hardest things in the world to do, so most people just tend to forget about it. As I said before, forgiveness is one of the themes at the heart of this season, and all of the characters have done something that they need to be forgiven for. It doesn't mean that their misdeeds should simply be overlooked, or that forgiving them somehow makes their past actions okay. But without forgiveness, you can never get part your failings and move on with life.
Isolation:
Another strong theme of the year is isolation. This is an old issue, one Buffy has been struggling with for a long time. Way back in "Restless", the First Slayer insisted that the Slayer was meant to be alone, an idea which Buffy rejected without hesitation. Even though she's always had the tendency to pull away from others and become uber self-reliant during a crisis, she still had her ties to the world, her family and friends, to keep her grounded. But eventually that all started to change. Joyce died, and that was the real turning point for Buffy's attitude. She was under so much pressure, trying to protect Dawn from Glory and taking over as surrogate parent, that she shut down even more than usual, and in fact quite literally in "The Weight of the World". It's no wonder that she went to her death with a sense of relief at being able to give up the fight at last. But then, of course, came the resurrection and a whole year of being depressed and disconnected from life. Buffy clearly still loved her friends, but even after the heaven revelation they still couldn't really see or understand the kind of pain she was going through. And Buffy was so wrapped up in her own problems that she couldn't deal with anyone else's either. But bit by bit, Buffy did start to climb out of the hole she was in, started to realize that she did still want to live in the world, and by the end of Season 6 it looked like she was on he road to recovery.
The damage has already been done, though, and can't easily be reversed. Her conversation with Holden Webster in ep. 7 reveals that Buffy still isn't feeling connected. The issues she talks about though aren't with her friends or family, but her relationships. In fact, this is the setup here for Buffy's cookie dough speech at the end of the season. Holden even points out that she's still young and can hardly be expected to have a handle on the relationship thing yet.
Buffy has no trouble giving of herself to other people, though. Like how she offered to lend her strength to Willow at the end of "Same Time, Same Place" to help with the healing process or how she's willing to listen to student's problems and tries her best to save Cassie in "Help". But when it comes to opening up emotionally to anyone or telling them important things that they should know, she still pulls away. And it gets even worse once the Potentials arrive. Even though Buffy cares about what happens to them, she keeps herself apart and doesn't really try to get to know them better. Everyone is looking to her to be the leader, to protect them from The First Evil, but even though she tries, I think Buffy knows that she can't be there to protect all of them all the time (much like in S5 when she was trying to protect Dawn, only magnified). Essentially, even with the support of her friends, she's still alone in this, just as the First Slayer said. Holden says it too: "But Buffy, everyone feels alone. Everyone is. Until you die." And even Faith mentions it, in her talk with Buffy in EoD. She says how she had always been by herself but never felt so alone until everyone was looking to her to lead.
All of this build throughout the season, aided by the First's efforts to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of the Potentials and the Scoobs, until it finally comes to a head and Buffy is kicked out of the house. It is leading up to Buffy's decision that no Slayer will ever have to be alone again. And it is The First, repeating Holden's words, that gives her the idea:
The First: ... One girl in all the world. She alone will have the strength and skill to- There's that word again. What you are. How you'll die. Alone. Where's your snappy comeback?
Buffy: You're right.
The First Evil:
I admit that I think the First should have been a bit more aggressive and consistant with its psychological scare tactics, but overall I think it worked rather well. Because when the First does use its scare tactics, it does so very effectively. I also like how it kind of paralled the Master's situation from the first season, a big bad entity who can't do the dirty work itself and so has to rely on others instead.
I thought Caleb's relationship with the First was rather interesting, too, although a bit on the creepy side. Caleb himself was quite reminiscent of psychopaths on cop-shows, using a belief-system to justify his perversions, only Caleb was also a megalomaniac. I know he was introduced quite late on, but then looking at S5 f.ex. Doc is only introduced once and then suddenly turns up in the finale.
Moreover Caleb was a human who'd turned himself into a monster (what Warren was busy working on) - Buffy's opposite in every way.
A lot of people say that the First Evil isn't fleshed out enough, that it doesn't really have a personality of it's own. That's not precisely true. It takes on the surface personality of anyone that it morphs into, but the First's own traits are always what's lying underneath. We know that it likes to talk a lot, that it's arrogant and supremely confidant in itself and it's minions. The First likes to taunt and tease it's victims and enjoy their fear. It loves death, destruction, and mayhem. It does tend to be a bit on the talky side, but I think it's quite interesting to watch it work at sowing seeds of doubt amongst the good guys. The First is also perhaps the most adaptable villain. If one strategy fails, it quickly moves on to the next one, without ever losing sight of it's main objective: to destroy the Slayer line and tip the scales in the favor of evil in order to acquire enough power to become corporeal. As for why it waited until this season to make it's move, instead of right after Buffy was brought back, well, I have a theory about that.
When Giles and Anya talk to Beljoxa's Eye in "Showtime", it tells them that the Slayer line has become imbalanced and vulnerable to the First's attack because of Buffy's resurrection. Anya rightly points out that Buffy has died and been brought back before this. And of course we all know that her first death caused an aberration in the line that resulted in two Slayers existing simultaneously. This wasn't enough to throw the line out of whack, though, because there was still only one Slayer whose death would call another one. Season 7 confirms this as fact because Buffy and Faith are still the only two Slayers, so obviously Buffy's death can't activate another anymore. When Buffy died the second time, the order was restored, once again there was only one Slayer. But after Willow brought Buffy back though, she still had all of her Slayer powers, even though she had been dead for at least four months. This is a very unnatural circumstance and thus a much bigger break in the balance of things.
That explains why the First was able to make it's move, but I think that it was actually another event that finally pushed it into action: The creation of another souled vampire, one that the side of light could turn into a champion. That's why it targeted Spike, trying to either bring him back into the darkness, or failing that, make sure he was out of the picture entirely. Remember how very hard it tried to make Angel kill Buffy? It is the same situation, only magnified, since now it can reach for actual power. In 'Amends' btw, we saw another strenght - even something that might be seen as a win (Angel deciding to commit suicide), The First can enjoy since it will cause pain.
As for the old lady in the temple in "End of Days" and the Scythe, I can see how people can think that it wasn't really fair for Joss to drop a gigantic piece of Slayer history on us like that without any warning or much explanation. But it's not the first time he's done something like that either. Remember Acathla? That came out of absolutely nowhere in the last two episodes of the season, too. And wasn't it convenient how Kendra's Watcher just so happened to have a special sword for Buffy to use? None of that really matters though, of course, because Acathla was only a means to an end. The real point was the culmination of Buffy and Angel's story in the big fight and her sending him to hell even with his soul.
In BtVS it is always the characters and their emotions that are most important - here's Joss talking in 'Buffy - Television with a bite':
"I never took any science; I don't know how things work, I can barely tie my shoes - but I understand emotions. So if we can get past that by going, 'well these things happen when you're on a Hellmouth' , um, then we can get to what's important."
This way of storytelling underpins the entire show from beginning to end, and holds true for the end of Season 7, too. Why Buffy's return made the First Evil able to rise is not as important as the results. Just the same way, the origins of the Scythe and the old woman don't really matter. They're only a means to an end, a way for Buffy to change fate.
The Characters:
There are many complaints about how unlikable the Scoobies became in the later seasons. It is definitely a valid criticism, but that doesn't mean that they behaved out of character. The flaws that are displayed in the later seasons have been there all along. And quite frankly I'm inclined to admire the writers for daring to go to such dark places with their stories - and also for accepting that going through the experiences that our main characters have to endure, is likely to have adverse effects. I'm not sure I would have found Buffy so endearing if all her pain and heartache had rolled off her back and by Season 7 she'd been as perky as she was back in Season one. The show might have been difficult viewing at times, but honestly I prefer that to something that's relentlessly cheerful. I like my heroes flawed and human - if not it'd be 'The Harmony Show'!
Xander and Anya:
People often talk about how Xander hasn't had a story in years and how he did nothing at all in Season 7. Interestingly enough, it's usually these same people who complain about all the wedding stuff in Season 6 being boring. This always baffles me because Xander has never had any kind of big, dramatic storyline, not even in the early seasons. His story has always been about life itself and how even the most ordinary of people can make a difference, even if it's only in a small way - that is pretty much the entire point of 'the Zeppo'. It's not his connection, or lack thereof, to the main plot of the season that matters, but rather the series of events that have had an impact on his life and the way he sees things. This has been continuous from Season 1 all the way through 7, and I think Xander has definitely changed because of it. He is often stupid, but he usually realises and tries to make amends somehow - it's particularly poignant in S7 when he actually lets Spike stay in his flat; Spike that he couldn't stand 3 years previously, but who now has a whole lot more 'crimes' to his name - this time a lot more personal. And yet he lets him stay and barely says a word against him.
Now one of the biggest parts of Xander's story is his relationship with Anya. Their relationship in Season 6 ended almost as badly as Spike and Buffy's did, so for me it was wonderful to watch them slowly begin to warm up to each other again throughout the last season. Xander's fears were still standing in the way, and he never did really resolve them, true, but that's not the sort of thing you can suddenly just get over in one year, in my opinion. What mattered most to me is that they were both eventually able to put aside their anger and resentment over the breakup and perhaps became a bit closer and wiser for it. And even though I would have been much happier to see Anya live, her death was not meaningless. She made the choice to fight for something she believed in and knew full well what the consequences could be. To me, that can never be a meaningless death. If you want to talk meaningless, then look at Tara who died simply because she happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can't get much more meaningless than that.
Giles:
I wasn't really bothered too much by his behavior in Season 7, but I can certainly see how it could be annoying. I wonder though, if maybe the point in having him back was to show that it really wasn't necessary for him to be the "adult" of the group anymore, as a contrast to season 6 where the group suffered from a lack of adult guidance. Buffy's gotten to the point where there really isn't anything left he can teach her, and she's now become the teacher herself.
And I think maybe Giles regressed a bit in his behavior too because of his fear of the situation they're all in. I mean, the entire Council gets blown up after all, and even though he didn't like them much that still must have shaken him to the core. I can't really blame him for being rather harsh and defeatist about the whole thing.
Willow (& Kennedy):
Willow through the seasons became someone always wanting more - wanting to be better, to have more power and distance herself from her early self. Also she has an inbuilt image of herself as 'a good girl' ("I'm very seldom naughty." Selfless, S4, ep22) and has a tendency to avoid taking responsibility for her actions (Tara leaving 'for no good reason', turning The Bronze into a freak show with Amy without a pang of guilt). In S6 she tries to turn her back on magic, but I think it was very much an intellectual decision. She could see that she was going wrong, but only treated the symptoms, not the underlying cause. In S7 she knows that there is only herself to blame - that she is NOT a 'good girl' with a few little problems. She now has more power than she has ever wanted, but is incredibly cautious with it, and has come to realise that cautious, sensible Willow might have been onto something. And she never lets herself forget what she did.
avrelia recently had a very interesting interpretation of Willow's dream in 'Restless': That it's all about her going dark and committing murder. From 'Two To Go':
JONATHAN: "I still can't believe that was Willow. I mean, I've known her almost as long as you guys. Willow was ... you know. She packed her own lunches and wore floods and was always... just Willow."
And now, this is what she's become:
ANDREW: "...You think your little witch buddy's gonna stop with us? You saw her! She's a truck-driving Magic Mama! And we've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa-burgers, and not one of you bunch has the midichlorians to stop her."
I don't have the time to go into this, but from 'Restless':
TARA: (offscreen) Everyone's starting to wonder about you. The real you. If they find out, they'll punish you, I ... I can't help you with that.
There is enough here for a whole essay on its own, so if anyone feels up to it, I would love to read it! For now, all I'll say is, that WIllow was always Willow - her early sweetness was what made her friends so forgiving, but her later darkness made her doubt herself very much, only finding herself at the very end of the season - and (to her great relief I'm sure) that the light is stronger than the darkness.
V. briefly: Her relationship with Kennedy is generally disliked and I think it was probably a decent idea gone wrong in the execution. Kennedy's attitude got on my nerves a lot during the season, but she did have a lot of courage and I could admire that, so I didn't really end up hating her exactly. She's still a brat, though. :)
The Potentials:
Okay, so there really were way too many people in that house by the end of the show and it probably would have been better if they had just stuck to having a couple of new potentials instead. But still, I do like the whole concept and how Buffy tried her best to teach the girls how to stay alive and give them the ability to protect themselves when she couldn't be there to do it for them. And even though they may not have had much respect for her most of the time, you could see quite clearly that they did learn from her and put what they knew into practice. And I think the whole point of the empowering spell is that the old shamans got it wrong, it doesn't have to be just one girl in all the world. The Slayers can now make that choice for themselves instead of just being the sacrificial lamb.
Chosen vs The Gift
Not going into Buffy and Spike much, except to talk about how similar their sacrifices are in The Gift and Chosen. One of the many, many reasons why I love them so much is because of all the parallels that the show draws between them, whether it be all the various hand scenes, digging their way out of their own graves, their mutual need to be loved and accepted, or whatever. Their deaths at the end of seasons 5 and 7 are just another wonderful example of this.
The circumstances aren't exactly the same, of course. Even though Spike had a lot to deal with in Season 7, with the weight of the soul dragging him down and the First messing with his head and all, I never really got the sense that he was depressed and completely worn down the way Buffy was in The Gift. But they both made the decision to sacrifice themselves and they made it for the same reason, out of love. Buffy loved Dawn enough to take her place and jump into the portal. She did it so Dawn could have a chance at a real life, a normal life. Or, you know, as normal as one can hope for in Sunnydale. :) And Spike loved Buffy enough to stay behind and close the Hellmouth, making the sacrifice so she wouldn't have to. He wanted for her the same thing that she wanted for Dawn, for Buffy to go on living and be able to live her life however she wanted to now that she was free of being the Chosen One. I think that's part of the reason why he asked her to give him the amulet in the first place, too. He was determined that if anyone was going to take a risk with the thing, it would be him and not her.
I think that this parallel is the reason why Buffy lets him go in the end, too. The moment she took hold of his hand in the cavern was when she understood why he was doing this, why he was willing to die. I think that's why she becomes so calm even as everything around them is falling apart, just like she was at the end of The Gift. She remembers those feelings she had forgotten after she was resurrected, how it feels to know you're doing the right thing and to love someone enough to give them the gift of life. She's feeling them along with Spike, and she's proud of him, and she loves him for it. And even though Spike might or might not believe that she has romantic feelings for him, I think he does know that she truly cares about him and he appreciates it.
In conclusion, I'll go back to my earlier point about forgiveness. The characters were all able to forgive (and to some extent forget) and move on. They had understood Giles' lesson. Maybe Willow or Buffy or Spike or Andrew or any of the others didn't deserve to be forgiven, but they were. And because of that they grew - became bolder and stronger and when it mattered they were able to stand up and defeat the enemy.
I find it strange that such a large part of fandom was unable to do the same, and I hope that in time they will.
And actually, there are two essays for the price of one! Elisi was inspired by my mention of how Seasons 2 and 7 were quite similar and wrote up her own comparison of the two. She gave me permission to include it here, because I think the two essays really complement each other well.
A quick look at Buffy and Spike in S7, episode by episode.
"They were always so funny. I've been interested in Principal Wood this year. But my number one has got to be the Buffy and Spike love story. I think that is just a gorgeous story." - Jane Espenson
Buffy and Spike's relationship in S6 was (most of the time) violent and destructive - they hurt each other and themselves. But Season 7 is immediately different. What is Buffy's reaction when she first sees Spike? Does she punch him? Yell at him that he's evil? No - she's shocked and worried. Of course he looks wildly different and nothing he says makes sense, but even so she lets him caress her cheek without flinching. Next time they meet ('Beneath You') he looks and acts much more like the Spike of old, and only then does she begin to take issue with him - but she accepts his help anyway. And then we have this very interesting conversation:
BUFFY: Skittish? That's not a word I would use for it. You tried to rape me. I don't have the words.
SPIKE: Neither do I. I can't say sorry. Can't use forgive me. All I can say is: Buffy, I've changed.
BUFFY: I believe you.
SPIKE: Well, that's something.
BUFFY: I just don't know what you've changed into.
Now if we look at 'Crush' we find this little chat:
SPIKE: And I can be too. I've changed, Buffy.
BUFFY: What, that chip in your head? That's not change. Tha-that's just ... holding you back. You're like a serial killer in prison!
They have come a long way from 'Crush' - she expects him to know that what he did was wrong and she believes his word when he says he has changed. She is cautious and proceeds very carefully, but she wants to know what has happened. Of course at the end off the episode he tells her about the soul (in one of the most amazing and touching scenes on BtVS ever!) And she panics, which might not be the best response, but certainly an understandable one.
After that I think she doesn't really know what to do with him - or herself - but she clings onto his 'I just want to help' which might be why she gets him to help out when Willow is lost and when trying to save Cassie.
Now why does she 'take so long' to get him out of the basement? Partly it wasn't all that long - we're talking 3 weeks or less - and partly I think she was still very vary of him. But in 'Selfless' we have this talk:
BUFFY: You have a soul? Fine. Show me.
SPIKE: Scream montresor all you like, pet.
BUFFY: Get up and get out of this basement.
SPIKE: I don't have anywhere else to go.
Next episode she's moving him in with Xander! And he's helping out just like before...
In CWDP she manages to get some things off her chest during her chat with Holden:
BUFFY: "The last guy I was with, it got really - I behaved like a monster, treated him like - But at the same time, I-I let him completely take me over. Do things to me that -"
She is trying to understand what happened, wondering who she is, what she's become. She is still rather stand-offish, until 'Sleeper' when it seems as though Spike is killing again. And they have that wonderful argument-within-an-argument:
SPIKE: As daft a notion as "Soulful Spike the Killer" is, it is nothing compared to the idea that another girl could mean anything to me. This chip-they did to me. I couldn't help it. But the soul, I got on my own-for you.
BUFFY: I know.
There is more talking in 'Never Leave Me' - both being straightforward, culminating in Buffy's wonderful "I believe in you, Spike." Which I think (to him) is worth more than 'I love you'. And then he is taken by the Bringers.
Buffy's words give him something to cling to, and The First never manages to break him, like it broke Angel in 'Amends' (where all of Buffy's love wasn't enough to stop him from attempting suicide). And watch how focussed Buffy is on getting Spike back - he is obviously very, very important to her. (To the confusion of the newly arrived potentials.)
Then we get 'Potential' with the freudian slips, the UST and the working-together, before 'The Killer in Me', where Buffy is all wrapped up in the fact that the chip is apparently killing Spike. (My best friend magically turned into the man she murdered, but hey - she says she's sorting it out, so I'll just leave her to it!).
By now Spike is also the person she leans on, the person she turns to first and the only one she lets in - in 'First Date' she ignores Xander (who's been stabbed!) and runs straight to Spike's side. Yes Buffy is mean in 'Get It Done', but not without reason - I'm sure she likes the quiet and sensitive Souled!Spike a lot more than the old model, but she needs a fighter. She must get him to use everything, because he's pretty much all she's got. 'Storyteller' of course has Andrew's wonderful view of the two of them (and he's a perceptive guy!). In LMPTM she states simply that she's willing to let Spike get away with murder, because she needs him.
In 'Dirty Girls' Spike and Faith have their wonderful flirty little talk that Buffy walks in on. And anyone who can't see that she's jealous is blind! Then we get 'Empty Places':
BUFFY: You sent away the one person that's been watching my back-again.
GILES(quickly, indignant): We're all watching your back.
BUFFY: Funny... that's not really what it feels like.
This is apt, particularly considering how the episode ends.
Of course that brings us to 'Touched' and Spike's wonderful speech, that is actually an echo of Buffy's speech in 'Never Leave Me' ( http://awmp.livejournal.com/38274.html) - he gives her back hope and purpose. In 'End of Days' she actually wants to talk about what happened, and she's the one reassuring him that it mattered, that she was there - he's the one who says to 'leave it' ("Lets go be heroes!").
I'll skip the B/A kiss since I've dealt with it in this post: http://elisi.livejournal.com/28551.html, but in a nut shell I think Buffy just wanted some time out - and Angel was safe. He didn't know all anything about the mess she'd made of her life, or the problems she'd had. Kissing Angel was a fond look back - but if she kissed Spike it would mean all kinds of things for the future.
Also - if only for a few days - she actually 'lives with' Spike. Granted it's only in her basement, but they're sharing a bed, being intimate in a way neither could have envisaged just a year previously. And trusting him - with her heart, her body and the fate of the whole world.
What we have to remember with Buffy is that actions always speak louder than words - so when she finally says "I love you" it is only a confirmation of what we already know. (Also see the_royal_anna's post: http://the-royal-anna.livejournal.com/1340.html)
How B/A and S/B are a mirror of each other.
How do you follow-up her romance with Angel? I like the romance with Spike better. I'm more interested in the heat between those two characters because I felt Buffy and Angel had romantic love. Spike and Buffy have something so much more complicated that it's got that romance and all this other stuff on top of it which makes it so interesting for me." - Jane Espenson
I always thought that the differences between Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike were interesting, but until buttersideup mentioned how S7 is like S2, I could never put my finger on how it worked - they were opposites in so many ways, but still so different (esp. in how they began and ended) that I couldn't get a good picture. But then something fell into place. If we only take the B/A relationship in S2 (which is when all the important stuff happens) and then compare it to S/B in S6 and S7 (since the two seasons are so connected) you get a very interesting mirror effect. Let me explain:
If we take the first half of S2 and contrast it with all of S6, in the beginning Buffy has come back from death and isn't dealing very well. In S2 she is snippy with Angel, trying to hide from the person she was closest to before. In S6 she is opening herself up to Spike, the one person she was never really close to previously.
Then of course things change.
In S2 Buffy starts 'dating' Angel, and they have a very sweet and innocent relationship - plenty of cuddles and kisses, mutual 'I love you's and both are obviously head-over-heels. It can be hard to remember that Angel is not a young man, but a very old vampire with centuries of crimes to his name. Of course it pops up now and again, but mostly they're all lovey-dovey.
In S6 Buffy' relationship with Spike is practically the opposite - it's about lust and violence and has as little to do with love as Buffy can make it. And, although Spike is very good at playing the Big Bad, he often displays much tenderness and care.
Interestingly enough, in both relationships we have a discussion of love and trust.
BUFFY: I love you. I don't know if I trust you.
ANGEL: Maybe you shouldn't do either.
(Lie To Me)
BUFFY: I have feelings for you. I do. But it's not love. I could never trust you enough for it to be love.
(Seeing Red)
In S6 Buffy has learned her lesson.
Now we get to one of the main points - the souls!
In S2 Buffy and Angel share a beautiful night of lovemaking, giving themselves to each other completely. Only this has the catastrophic result of wrenching Angel's soul away.
In S6 we have a near-opposite, an almost-rape - a horrible perversion of lovemaking. But it has the incredible effect of making Spike so determined to change that he goes off on a quest to get his soul back.
We begin the second half of S2 and the start of S7 with the reveal to Buffy of how her lover has changed. We even have 'outside' witnesses to confirm what we know, in the shape of The Judge and Anyanka. If we contrast the ending of 'Innocence' (in Angel terms) and 'Beneath You', in the former we have Buffy kicking Angelus firmly in the balls, showing how their 'relationship' has moved from love to violence. In 'Beneath You' we have the still figure of Spike, speaking of love and forgiveness, wrapped on a cross. Opposites indeed.
As the second half of S2 progresses, we see how Buffy slowly tries to detach herself from Angel and her feelings, readying herself for killing him. She hopes that maybe the soul-curse might work, but this is a frail hope indeed.
In S7 Buffy slowly lets herself get closer and closer to Spike, worrying that maybe The First will turn him against her, but in the end this does not come to pass. Her trust and belief in him is more than repaid
Finally we have the apocalypses.
In S2, Buffy has to fight alone against her love, the weight of the world on her shoulders. And of course at the very last moment his soul is returned. He is confused, worried and helpless and after saying she loves him, she has to kill him. She leaves town by herself, no friends or family joining her on the bus.
ANGEL: (confused) What's happening?
BUFFY: (whispers reassuringly) Shh. Don't worry about it.
(...)
BUFFY: (whispers) I love you.
ANGEL: (whispers) I love you.
BUFFY: Close your eyes.
ANGEL: Buffy...
(Becoming II)
In S7 Spike is at Buffy's side (as are all the new Slayers), fighting the good fight. Not even the last minute attempt to sway him to the dark side (which would have made the mirroring perfect) works. And this time there is no need for a sacrifice. Spike is a willing champion, glorying in his victory. And when she says she loves him, he gives her back her love and sends her away to live - with friends and family by her side, ready to start all over.
SPIKE: I mean it! I gotta do this.
BUFFY: (softly, looks into his eyes) I love you.
SPIKE: No, you don't. But thanks for saying it. (...) Now go! (...) I wanna see how it ends.
(Chosen)
Two vampires, two vastly different stories - one a fairy tale turned tragedy, the other an example of how love and forgiveness can overcome even the greatest obstacles.
To finish with a quote from the_royal_anna: "I've seen so many discussions of which of the two Buffy loved more, but I don't know that we love in amounts. We love in ways."
Buffy loved her vampires in different ways, because they were different people. She was different, when she fell for Spike. People who prefer Spike/Buffy over Buffy/Angel just like a different sort of love story.
Remember how much worry there was that Souled!Spike would be ‘just like Angel’? (Not to say that Angel’s story wasn’t excellent - where would we be without Season 2?).
To be honest the mirroring could be stretched further: In S3 Angel stayed with Buffy, when probably he shouldn’t (post-’Lover’s Walk’), in AtS S5 Spike didn’t go to Buffy when probably he should have (post-’Destiny’). And in both cases we can only blame the network!
I know that was a complete waste of time, but at least now it will stop bugging me. :)