Entry tags:
Bring On The Night & Showtime.
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stormwreath, and very snaggable. 2 more icons here if you want one! (One by ibmiller and one by _jems_.)
Anyway, I am utterly incapable of doing 'short'. This thing just ballooned, but it couldn't be helped. I hope you find something interesting in amongst all my thoughts. 3 different parts btw, focussing on different aspects. Enjoy!
I don’t think I’ve actually watched ‘Bring On The Night’ since it first aired. Which was nice, because I could look at it with ‘fresh eyes’ so to speak. But it was something AOQ wrote at the beginning of his ‘Showtime’ review that made things click for me:
After thinking about "Showtime" a little. I've realized that I see it as something of a series of snapshot moments, attempts at iconic images of Buffy and the state of her series. This starts from the beginning, with the arrival of a new character (Rona) who's pretty much guaranteed to either die or be rescued at the last minute by Buffy from the moment the episode begins. This exists to show Buffy, veteran world-saver, taking a new kid under her wing and welcoming her to the Hellmouth. That's snapshot #1. The episode is like a string of attempts at memorable images loosely strung together by a plot.
Because it isn’t just ‘Showtime’ that’s constructed like this - it’s ‘Bring On The Night’ as well. It’s all of BtVS in a tiny 2 episode format. A way of reminding everyone just who and what Buffy is. See we have not seen Buffy fight a monster that could apparently beat her since Glory in S5. In S6 there was a run of vamps and other assorted nasties, but the main battles were internal, and it was Xander who saved the world. So now we get this little refresher - or maybe homage - of what it means to be a Slayer. Because this season is all about the Slayer.
First - in ‘Bring on the Night’ we get all of Buffy’s defeats - summarised by hayes62:
The episode includes several interesting visual quotes: Spike's baptism resembles Buffy's in Bad Girls; Buffy struggling out from the First's underground lair recalls the time she escaped from the Master's in The Harvest and, most striking of all, the Scoobies finding her broken body on a pile of rubble is similar to the ending of The Gift. Buffy's distant past coming back to haunt her along with the Vampire-that-time-forgot.
At the end of the episode, Buffy is more beaten and bruised than we have ever seen. Physically, mentally and emotionally she’s pretty much wiped. And then she reaches inside and finds that incredible power that has always kept her going. That’s what being a Slayer is - to never give up.
And then in Showtime she delivers. She meets the Turok-Han barehanded, relying on nothing but herself:
“It's about power. Who's got it. Who knows how to use it.”
And Buffy’s power shines out of her at that moment, just like it did when she made her speech:
“There is only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil, and that's us.”
They’re odd episodes, these two, at times awkwardly paced and with Potentials arriving and taking up time, and cutting back and forth to Spike-being-tortured... but - it makes perfect sense metaphorically!
Spike, who I guess represents Buffy’s emotional strength, her power to do good, is taken away to be tempted and tortured, and she has to fight to get him back. And at the same time we have Potentials crowding in, questioning her physical strength and her ability to protect.
Notice that we cut straight from Spike’s declaration of faith to *everyone* questioning Buffy’s power - and then she does her speech.
“I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing on the mouth of hell, and it is gonna swallow me whole. And it'll choke on me. “
As AOQ put it re. Buffy’s fight with the ubervamp:
Triumph not through outsmarting the enemy so much as out-determined-ing it.
That’s our Buffy.
But - I had some more specific thoughts on ‘Bring on the Night’ as well. I really wish I had more time, because it could do with some in-depth analysis. There are a lot of themes in it - a lot of connections.
This one is about Buffy - front and centre. And this is the episode when *everything* gets dropped in her lap:
- Get Spike back.
- No magic help (Willow freaks out).
- Keep Potentials safe.
- Fight ubervamp.
- Go to work.
- Plan a war.
There is a lot of talk about pressure, about tiredness and sleep and day and night and time’s relentless forward momentum. More mentions of sunset than anywhere else I think.
Thematically it’s wonderfully coherent, and I’m going to give in and do a huge amount of quoting:
JOYCE
You can't win against this thing. Not if you don't rest. I don't want to scare you. But I want you to take care. You need to wake up.
Is Joyce The First? Or Buffy’s subconscious? Or both?
PRINCIPAL WOOD
Buffy. If you are feeling better - I'd like you back at work. I've been wait-listing students who want to see you.
More work. And they all want to see Buffy. No one else can do her work.
GILES
To defeat it... (at a loss) Honestly, I don't know... (then) but we have to find a way. [...] It falls to you, Buffy. We'll do what we can - but only you have the strength to protect these girls - and the world - against what's coming.
XANDER
But no pressure.
...one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill etc. They sure re-enforce that point here!
GILES
Then until sunset, Buffy, you should rest. A few hours sleep will make a world of difference.
BUFFY
No sleep today. Can't.
GILES
But you're exhausted.
BUFFY
Comes with the gig. I don't think taking on prehistoric evil involves nap time.
Work, work, work, and no rest. She keeps her head held high, but... And here begin the mentions of sunset as the time of importance. In the night, the monster comes out. It ties in with very old and primal feelings about safety and fear.
Now this bit might be my favourite - Buffy’s second dream about Joyce. It’s so very, very well done and incredibly disturbing:
JOYCE
Buffy, you have to heal.
BUFFY
I don't have time.
JOYCE
Are you worried about the sun going down? Because some things you can't control. The sun always goes down. The sun always comes up.
BUFFY
Everyone's counting on me.
JOYCE
They do that. And I'm sorry, but these friends of yours put too much pressure on you. They always have.
BUFFY
Something Evil is coming.
JOYCE
Buffy, Evil isn't "coming." It's already here. Evil is always here. Don't you know? It's everywhere.
BUFFY
I have to stop it.
JOYCE
How are you going to do that?
BUFFY
I, I don't know. Yet, but...
JOYCE
Buffy. No matter what your friends expect of you, Evil is a part of us. All of us, it's natural. And no one can stop that. No one can stop nature. Not even...
Talk about trying to get someone to give up... why bother trying if you’ve lost already? Can I say again how much I love The First as a villain?
(Oh and there’s a extra bit in the shooting script:
JOYCE
Are you worried about the sun going down? Because some things you can't control. The sun always goes down. The sun always comes up.
(beat)
Except in L.A., just of late.
Heh.)
But - on with my quoting:
WILLOW
Um, Buffy, I just, I want you to know that I'm really sorry for letting you down. [...]
BUFFY
No one expects you to make everything right.
[No they don’t - they expect *Buffy* to make things right.]
WILLOW
But you need help, Buffy. I know you. And I know you'll never admit it. But you need help.
Willow searches Buffy's face as Buffy wonders how much to let Willow in, here and now. She settles for brave face.
BUFFY
I'll be okay. Okay or better. It's like my guarantee.
And right here begins (or rather continues) Buffy’s thing of cutting out her friends. This is all examined very well in CWDP - her fear of commitment, her superiority/inferiority complex. But there is a lot more to this in the script, and this bit here shows that it’s also fear of rejection that makes Buffy pull away:
BUFFY
The relationships, I know it's not their fault. I'm not really sure how they put up with me. The last guy I was with, it got really... I behaved like a monster. Treated him like... and at the same time I let him just take me over, do things to me that... if anyone knew what really went on between us, they'd never look at me again.
HOLDEN
I think they would.
BUFFY
You don't know.
HOLDEN
And you don't either... 'til you tell someone.
BUFFY
I couldn't...
The other thing is, that Buffy is actually struggling with the same issues that Angel is - is she doing good because she is the Slayer, or because she is a good person? Another bit that was cut:
BUFFY
I have friends, they do it [fight the good fight] with me -- sometimes they do it in spite of me, but they do it 'cause they're decent people. I do it 'cause I was chosen.
I think this is another reason Spike’s speech in ‘Touched’ is so important - he’s talking about *her*, all of her, not just the Slayer. And he is the person who knows her best, who has seen it all - and he still has faith in her. It’s an incredible moment, and something the show builds up to beautifully.
GILES
Sunset should be any minute now. We've done all we can. Don't worry, everyone here understands it's you calling the shots.
BUFFY
Just hope I'm calling the right ones.
GILES
You have all my faith. And they're depending on you.
Buffy looks down.
BUFFY
Oh, Giles. Not what I really needed to hear right...
I think as much as anything, Giles needs Buffy to be able to cope. Buffy sees this, but wants him to be the one for her to depend on. But he’s not - he’s the one who’ll send her out to fight, and possibly die. That’s the job of a Watcher.
GILES (O.S.)
We could make plans as we always do, but the truth is, Buffy was our plan. There is no back up.
This line I think more than any other is the key to Giles in S7. Buffy is the world’s only hope, and although he has great faith in her (as well as a lot of affection), he is also far too aware of her limits and (what he perceives as) her weaknesses. The thing is, he is pretty much useless, and he knows it. Which of course is something else that ties back to the beginning:
Buffy: Why don't you kill 'em?
Giles: I-I'm a Watcher, I-I haven't the skill...
Buffy: Oh, come on, stake through the heart, a little sunlight... It's like falling off a log.
Giles: A, a Slayer slays, a Watcher...
Buffy: ...watches?
Giles: Yes. No! He, he trains her, he, he, he prepares her...
He cannot research The First, because there is next to nothing written about it. He cannot train Buffy further, or prepare her more than she already is. He also knows that his love for her can be used as a weapon, and could be fatal if so employed. This is why I think he distances himself so very sharply, knowing that he might have to do anything, and that love might be a hindrance:
Quentin: Your affection for your charge has rendered you incapable of clear and impartial judgment. You have a father's love for the child, and that is useless to the cause.
Giles is The Council now, and although he might have disliked them intensely, and not trusted their judgment or methods, he believes in the cause. As mariposas said in one of the AOQ threads: The Council was made for war, and it has to be viewed in that light.
Wesley: You're the one who said take the fight to the Mayor. You were right. This is the town's best hope of survival. It's your chance to get out.
Buffy: You think I care about that? Are you made of human parts?
Giles: Alright! Let's deal with this rationally.
Buffy: Why are you taking his side?
Giles and Wesley came together here, briefly, in their shared belief of always doing what’s best for the majority. It was only a moment, but it came back in The Gift, and caused a huge rift between Buffy and Giles, one I think he’s more aware of than ever in S7:
GILES: If the ritual starts, then every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death ... including Dawn.
BUFFY: Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her.
GILES: You'll fail. You'll die. We all will.
BUFFY: I'm sorry.
[...]
GILES: But I've sworn to protect this sorry world, and sometimes that means saying and doing ... what other people can't. What they shouldn't have to.
S7 has that moment stretched out over most of a season. Giles is worried that Buffy will let her heart rule over her head - and that because of that she’ll fail. And die. And doom them all. It’s not nice, but it’s not out of character.
Having had these episodes stuck in my head for a couple of days now, something dawned on me. Sorry for repeating a few things from above, but I just wanted to elaborate a bit.
The showdown against the ubervamp is effectively Buffy repeating the lessons Spike taught her in FFL. Except instead of being ‘How a Slayer dies’, it’s ‘How a Slayer stays alive’. Follow me...
Lesson the first: A Slayer must always reach for her weapon.
Buffy arrives at the arena weaponless. This shows perfectly that it’s not weapons that make a Slayer effective or dangerous - it’s who she is. As she said to Dawn in ‘Lessons’:
“The stake is not the power.”
The Slayer is the power, and the Slayer has to use that power:
“I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about.”
She has strength and speed and resilience and she can kill things with her bare hands. The Slayer is a weapon.
Lesson the second: Every Slayer has a deathwish.
Buffy doesn’t give up. The ubervamp almost kills her, but the only way to guarantee its victory would be for her to stop fighting. Despairing is the sure way to defeat - and what Buffy shows them in the fight, what Buffy gives them as they watch, is hope:
“If we all do our parts, believe it, we'll be the ones left standing.”
Faith, self-reliance, the will to keep fighting even when everything seems hopeless, that’s what she knows how to do:
“No weapons, no friends - no hope. Take all that away... and what’s left?”
“Me!”
Buffy has learned the hard way what’s most important to a Slayer - herself. And now she can share that knowledge.
Here endeth the lesson.
stormwreath, and very snaggable. 2 more icons here if you want one! (One by ibmiller and one by _jems_.)Anyway, I am utterly incapable of doing 'short'. This thing just ballooned, but it couldn't be helped. I hope you find something interesting in amongst all my thoughts. 3 different parts btw, focussing on different aspects. Enjoy!
Bring on the Night and ‘Showtime’
I don’t think I’ve actually watched ‘Bring On The Night’ since it first aired. Which was nice, because I could look at it with ‘fresh eyes’ so to speak. But it was something AOQ wrote at the beginning of his ‘Showtime’ review that made things click for me:
After thinking about "Showtime" a little. I've realized that I see it as something of a series of snapshot moments, attempts at iconic images of Buffy and the state of her series. This starts from the beginning, with the arrival of a new character (Rona) who's pretty much guaranteed to either die or be rescued at the last minute by Buffy from the moment the episode begins. This exists to show Buffy, veteran world-saver, taking a new kid under her wing and welcoming her to the Hellmouth. That's snapshot #1. The episode is like a string of attempts at memorable images loosely strung together by a plot.
Because it isn’t just ‘Showtime’ that’s constructed like this - it’s ‘Bring On The Night’ as well. It’s all of BtVS in a tiny 2 episode format. A way of reminding everyone just who and what Buffy is. See we have not seen Buffy fight a monster that could apparently beat her since Glory in S5. In S6 there was a run of vamps and other assorted nasties, but the main battles were internal, and it was Xander who saved the world. So now we get this little refresher - or maybe homage - of what it means to be a Slayer. Because this season is all about the Slayer.
First - in ‘Bring on the Night’ we get all of Buffy’s defeats - summarised by hayes62:
The episode includes several interesting visual quotes: Spike's baptism resembles Buffy's in Bad Girls; Buffy struggling out from the First's underground lair recalls the time she escaped from the Master's in The Harvest and, most striking of all, the Scoobies finding her broken body on a pile of rubble is similar to the ending of The Gift. Buffy's distant past coming back to haunt her along with the Vampire-that-time-forgot.
At the end of the episode, Buffy is more beaten and bruised than we have ever seen. Physically, mentally and emotionally she’s pretty much wiped. And then she reaches inside and finds that incredible power that has always kept her going. That’s what being a Slayer is - to never give up.
And then in Showtime she delivers. She meets the Turok-Han barehanded, relying on nothing but herself:
“It's about power. Who's got it. Who knows how to use it.”
And Buffy’s power shines out of her at that moment, just like it did when she made her speech:
“There is only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil, and that's us.”
They’re odd episodes, these two, at times awkwardly paced and with Potentials arriving and taking up time, and cutting back and forth to Spike-being-tortured... but - it makes perfect sense metaphorically!
Spike, who I guess represents Buffy’s emotional strength, her power to do good, is taken away to be tempted and tortured, and she has to fight to get him back. And at the same time we have Potentials crowding in, questioning her physical strength and her ability to protect.
Notice that we cut straight from Spike’s declaration of faith to *everyone* questioning Buffy’s power - and then she does her speech.
“I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing on the mouth of hell, and it is gonna swallow me whole. And it'll choke on me. “
As AOQ put it re. Buffy’s fight with the ubervamp:
Triumph not through outsmarting the enemy so much as out-determined-ing it.
That’s our Buffy.
She, alone.
But - I had some more specific thoughts on ‘Bring on the Night’ as well. I really wish I had more time, because it could do with some in-depth analysis. There are a lot of themes in it - a lot of connections.
This one is about Buffy - front and centre. And this is the episode when *everything* gets dropped in her lap:
- Get Spike back.
- No magic help (Willow freaks out).
- Keep Potentials safe.
- Fight ubervamp.
- Go to work.
- Plan a war.
There is a lot of talk about pressure, about tiredness and sleep and day and night and time’s relentless forward momentum. More mentions of sunset than anywhere else I think.
Thematically it’s wonderfully coherent, and I’m going to give in and do a huge amount of quoting:
JOYCE
You can't win against this thing. Not if you don't rest. I don't want to scare you. But I want you to take care. You need to wake up.
Is Joyce The First? Or Buffy’s subconscious? Or both?
PRINCIPAL WOOD
Buffy. If you are feeling better - I'd like you back at work. I've been wait-listing students who want to see you.
More work. And they all want to see Buffy. No one else can do her work.
GILES
To defeat it... (at a loss) Honestly, I don't know... (then) but we have to find a way. [...] It falls to you, Buffy. We'll do what we can - but only you have the strength to protect these girls - and the world - against what's coming.
XANDER
But no pressure.
...one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill etc. They sure re-enforce that point here!
GILES
Then until sunset, Buffy, you should rest. A few hours sleep will make a world of difference.
BUFFY
No sleep today. Can't.
GILES
But you're exhausted.
BUFFY
Comes with the gig. I don't think taking on prehistoric evil involves nap time.
Work, work, work, and no rest. She keeps her head held high, but... And here begin the mentions of sunset as the time of importance. In the night, the monster comes out. It ties in with very old and primal feelings about safety and fear.
Now this bit might be my favourite - Buffy’s second dream about Joyce. It’s so very, very well done and incredibly disturbing:
JOYCE
Buffy, you have to heal.
BUFFY
I don't have time.
JOYCE
Are you worried about the sun going down? Because some things you can't control. The sun always goes down. The sun always comes up.
BUFFY
Everyone's counting on me.
JOYCE
They do that. And I'm sorry, but these friends of yours put too much pressure on you. They always have.
BUFFY
Something Evil is coming.
JOYCE
Buffy, Evil isn't "coming." It's already here. Evil is always here. Don't you know? It's everywhere.
BUFFY
I have to stop it.
JOYCE
How are you going to do that?
BUFFY
I, I don't know. Yet, but...
JOYCE
Buffy. No matter what your friends expect of you, Evil is a part of us. All of us, it's natural. And no one can stop that. No one can stop nature. Not even...
Talk about trying to get someone to give up... why bother trying if you’ve lost already? Can I say again how much I love The First as a villain?
(Oh and there’s a extra bit in the shooting script:
JOYCE
Are you worried about the sun going down? Because some things you can't control. The sun always goes down. The sun always comes up.
(beat)
Except in L.A., just of late.
Heh.)
But - on with my quoting:
WILLOW
Um, Buffy, I just, I want you to know that I'm really sorry for letting you down. [...]
BUFFY
No one expects you to make everything right.
[No they don’t - they expect *Buffy* to make things right.]
WILLOW
But you need help, Buffy. I know you. And I know you'll never admit it. But you need help.
Willow searches Buffy's face as Buffy wonders how much to let Willow in, here and now. She settles for brave face.
BUFFY
I'll be okay. Okay or better. It's like my guarantee.
And right here begins (or rather continues) Buffy’s thing of cutting out her friends. This is all examined very well in CWDP - her fear of commitment, her superiority/inferiority complex. But there is a lot more to this in the script, and this bit here shows that it’s also fear of rejection that makes Buffy pull away:
BUFFY
The relationships, I know it's not their fault. I'm not really sure how they put up with me. The last guy I was with, it got really... I behaved like a monster. Treated him like... and at the same time I let him just take me over, do things to me that... if anyone knew what really went on between us, they'd never look at me again.
HOLDEN
I think they would.
BUFFY
You don't know.
HOLDEN
And you don't either... 'til you tell someone.
BUFFY
I couldn't...
The other thing is, that Buffy is actually struggling with the same issues that Angel is - is she doing good because she is the Slayer, or because she is a good person? Another bit that was cut:
BUFFY
I have friends, they do it [fight the good fight] with me -- sometimes they do it in spite of me, but they do it 'cause they're decent people. I do it 'cause I was chosen.
I think this is another reason Spike’s speech in ‘Touched’ is so important - he’s talking about *her*, all of her, not just the Slayer. And he is the person who knows her best, who has seen it all - and he still has faith in her. It’s an incredible moment, and something the show builds up to beautifully.
GILES
Sunset should be any minute now. We've done all we can. Don't worry, everyone here understands it's you calling the shots.
BUFFY
Just hope I'm calling the right ones.
GILES
You have all my faith. And they're depending on you.
Buffy looks down.
BUFFY
Oh, Giles. Not what I really needed to hear right...
I think as much as anything, Giles needs Buffy to be able to cope. Buffy sees this, but wants him to be the one for her to depend on. But he’s not - he’s the one who’ll send her out to fight, and possibly die. That’s the job of a Watcher.
GILES (O.S.)
We could make plans as we always do, but the truth is, Buffy was our plan. There is no back up.
This line I think more than any other is the key to Giles in S7. Buffy is the world’s only hope, and although he has great faith in her (as well as a lot of affection), he is also far too aware of her limits and (what he perceives as) her weaknesses. The thing is, he is pretty much useless, and he knows it. Which of course is something else that ties back to the beginning:
Buffy: Why don't you kill 'em?
Giles: I-I'm a Watcher, I-I haven't the skill...
Buffy: Oh, come on, stake through the heart, a little sunlight... It's like falling off a log.
Giles: A, a Slayer slays, a Watcher...
Buffy: ...watches?
Giles: Yes. No! He, he trains her, he, he, he prepares her...
He cannot research The First, because there is next to nothing written about it. He cannot train Buffy further, or prepare her more than she already is. He also knows that his love for her can be used as a weapon, and could be fatal if so employed. This is why I think he distances himself so very sharply, knowing that he might have to do anything, and that love might be a hindrance:
Quentin: Your affection for your charge has rendered you incapable of clear and impartial judgment. You have a father's love for the child, and that is useless to the cause.
Giles is The Council now, and although he might have disliked them intensely, and not trusted their judgment or methods, he believes in the cause. As mariposas said in one of the AOQ threads: The Council was made for war, and it has to be viewed in that light.
Wesley: You're the one who said take the fight to the Mayor. You were right. This is the town's best hope of survival. It's your chance to get out.
Buffy: You think I care about that? Are you made of human parts?
Giles: Alright! Let's deal with this rationally.
Buffy: Why are you taking his side?
Giles and Wesley came together here, briefly, in their shared belief of always doing what’s best for the majority. It was only a moment, but it came back in The Gift, and caused a huge rift between Buffy and Giles, one I think he’s more aware of than ever in S7:
GILES: If the ritual starts, then every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death ... including Dawn.
BUFFY: Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her.
GILES: You'll fail. You'll die. We all will.
BUFFY: I'm sorry.
[...]
GILES: But I've sworn to protect this sorry world, and sometimes that means saying and doing ... what other people can't. What they shouldn't have to.
S7 has that moment stretched out over most of a season. Giles is worried that Buffy will let her heart rule over her head - and that because of that she’ll fail. And die. And doom them all. It’s not nice, but it’s not out of character.
Welcome to Thunderdome Fool For Love
Having had these episodes stuck in my head for a couple of days now, something dawned on me. Sorry for repeating a few things from above, but I just wanted to elaborate a bit.
The showdown against the ubervamp is effectively Buffy repeating the lessons Spike taught her in FFL. Except instead of being ‘How a Slayer dies’, it’s ‘How a Slayer stays alive’. Follow me...
Lesson the first: A Slayer must always reach for her weapon.
Buffy arrives at the arena weaponless. This shows perfectly that it’s not weapons that make a Slayer effective or dangerous - it’s who she is. As she said to Dawn in ‘Lessons’:
“The stake is not the power.”
The Slayer is the power, and the Slayer has to use that power:
“I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about.”
She has strength and speed and resilience and she can kill things with her bare hands. The Slayer is a weapon.
Lesson the second: Every Slayer has a deathwish.
Buffy doesn’t give up. The ubervamp almost kills her, but the only way to guarantee its victory would be for her to stop fighting. Despairing is the sure way to defeat - and what Buffy shows them in the fight, what Buffy gives them as they watch, is hope:
“If we all do our parts, believe it, we'll be the ones left standing.”
Faith, self-reliance, the will to keep fighting even when everything seems hopeless, that’s what she knows how to do:
“No weapons, no friends - no hope. Take all that away... and what’s left?”
“Me!”
Buffy has learned the hard way what’s most important to a Slayer - herself. And now she can share that knowledge.
Here endeth the lesson.
no subject
That's the secret to Buffy's success, she knows, deep down, that everything depends on her. She, and she alone, is the Chosen One; Giles, the Council, the Scoobies can offer help but at the end of the day she's the one who has to get the job done. And that's what she's trying to impart to the Potentials in those two episodes, you have to get the job done.
Of course, then she goes and makes them all Chosen Ones...
Very nice collection of thoughts you've got there. Much to ponder.
no subject
That's it. And it's a central theme in S7 moreso than ever before. Which is why the ending is so great! :)
Very nice collection of thoughts you've got there. Much to ponder.
Thank you - now I can hopefully concentrate on some fic writing...
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You think so? I never had any problems understanding her. The cut bits add more detail, but they're not really all that important (except of course for obsessives like us... *g*) Taking the two examples from above, the first is just an extension of Buffy's talk with Tara at the end of 'Dead Things', and the second bit (although interesting in the direct parallel-to-Angel way), is amply covered really in the whole 'I'm worse than any of them'.
The cut bits fill in a few little background details, but the main picture is the same. To me anyway. :)
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And then, like S6, that epiphany is taken away again. All that confidence she showed at the end of "Bring on the Night," and a few episodes later, we get "Empty Places." Sigh...
I almost feel like some of these episodes should've been rearranged somehow. They almost feel out of order to me, the way Buffy's emotions track.
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Um, not really, although there's been a lot of improvisation. And she usually carries a stake. The weaponless thing of Showtime, is (I think) partly because all the Potentials have weapons already (they're scared, they want to be able to defend themselves), so if need be there was a whole arsenal up in the galleries.
They almost feel out of order to me, the way Buffy's emotions track.
Hmmm, they've been OK to me so far, doing my re-watch. And did you mean 'Empty Places' or 'Get It Done'? (Since 'Get It Done' is usually the one that people hate. It's the next one up for me, so it'll be intersting to see how I like it - I've not seen it for years.) Or just the general mood between those two eps?
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I'm thinking more compared to earlier years, where there was a fair amount of emphasis on Buffy's weapons - crossbows, swords, etc. This may be intentional - Buffy's later lectures to the Potentials are all about attitude, with practically nothing about the actual process of slaying, of the sort Giles used to teach ("Plunge and move on!"). Maybe we were meant to see a major transition there, in Buffy's attitude about slaying, but if so, it wasn't very clearly signposted. She just stops using weapons. (This actually happened mid-Season 6 somewhere - I remember noticing that in the last few episodes, Buffy fought empty-handed for the most part, but you could argue that was dictated by circumstances.) It was unclear at times whether we were meant to see Buffy as resolute and confident (as in "Showtime") or just underprepared (I haven't seen it in awhile, but in "Bring on the Night," did she even bring anything with her to the cave where she expected to find The First, and encountered the Ubervamp? And if not, why not?).
And did you mean 'Empty Places' or 'Get It Done'?
I'm thinking mostly "Empty Places," for in "Get It Done" you could still see Buffy trying to lead a group by appealing to them directly, trying to motivate them to do more as individuals, harshly if need be. In "Empty Places," she seems completely unprepared for argument, unable to understand anyone else's attitude. Perhaps this too was intentional - Buffy' seeing leadership as something you do individually, with your force of will, e.g. "Showtime," and everyone just falls in line behind you.
But that's also where things feel out of joint to me, because you have your Buffy-as-leader story, and then your Buffy-and-Spike story, and they don't always match up. Buffy's vulnerabilities bounce all over the place - she's confident, then she isn't, and then she's confident again, but about something different this time, yadda yadda. It makes her human, but doesn't always make the story path all that clear.
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Buffy set out with a crossbow twice in S1. In Angel she missed, in Prophecy Girl she died. She’s always been most successful when she’s improvising, it’s the first thing Spike notices about her in Halloween. The rocket launcher is more the exception that proves the rule, it only worked because the Judge just stood there while Angel and Dru jumped out of the way so I don’t see it being much good against a mover like Ubie. It actually makes sense not to rely on the weapon you come with if most of them, swords for example, can kill you in more ways than they can your opponents.
It was unclear at times whether we were meant to see Buffy as resolute and confident (as in "Showtime") or just underprepared (I haven't seen it in awhile, but in "Bring on the Night," did she even bring anything with her to the cave where she expected to find The First, and encountered the Ubervamp? And if not, why not?).
She took a stake, the one weapon that can do more damage to a vampire than a human, but it didn’t work. Which is kind of the point in Showtime, they don’t know what can kill an Ubervamp so why not choose a fighting ground with plenty of improvisational material plus the assorted weapons the Potentials have with them and keep trying different things until you find a weak point. They made it explicit in the episode Potential when she said:
Know your environment. Know what's around you, and know how to use it. In the hands of a slayer, everything is a potential weapon. If you know how to see it.”
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(Anonymous) 2006-09-27 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)As to genre Buffy’s always mixed it up a little and although this season user Slasher motifs, in the end they’re there to be bisected. In any case, horror story or super hero story sounds like a false dichotomy. You mention the references to Terminator but that’s hardly a straight horror movie or a standard superhero one, it has elements of both and a little apocalyptic sci-fi to boot. I remember an article on Slayage a year or two ago making a very strong case that if anything S7 was a war movie (or a subversion of one given the ending) and I’d say that was definitely worth considering as well, given that one of the other big themes is leadership.
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And oh yes, I can see the war story. Although that kind of brings me back to my point about weapons again - are we talking about the preparation and planning of conducting a war campaign, or the power of positive thinking again?
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When she comes back she ‘s not giving orders and she doesn’t make the final decision alone. She has the final idea alone but it’s put to the group, it’s not something she can do by herself, she needs Willow, she needs Spike she needs Dawn and Giles to work out the details, she needs everyone to be on board who wants to be.
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What I’m seeing is that the *point* of a superhero is not that she needs or doesn’t need followers but that her being there changes them, she inspires them to go out and be heroes themselves.
Yes, I agree with this 100%. So maybe my upset is really with the Scoobies then, as in, why were they made so lame that year? I think that may have been the only season where they needed Buffy to think up the entire plan.
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See I come at it from the opposite direction - it's all about Buffy. The show revolves around her, and what we see is her story. Buffy, the girl and the Slayer. Trying to apply any sort of preconceived ideals won't work, because Buffy's to complex for that. Just like you can't apply any labels to the Buffy/Spike relationship, the way you can Buffy/Angel. S7 shows Buffy's struggle to find her way, to find out how to be a leader. It won't fit anyone else, because they aren't her. Faith, as we see, has a different approach, although she's in the same situation.
In the end of course, what Buffy discovers is that she doesn't have to be alone - she can share her power, and thus bypass the whole leadership problem entirely.
Now about weapons... I'm not sure why it's such a big deal for you, becauase weapons don't really matter here. Like S6 the important battles are internal. We see this esp. when Buffy gets the Scythe - it's the weapon to out-do all the others, but as it turns out, its power is not in its ability to kill things. As The Old lady tells Buffy:
Guardian: This is a powerful weapon. (hands the scythe back to Buffy)
Buffy: Yeah.
Guardian: But you already have weapons.
Weapons can't win the battle against The First. In the end, it's faith, hope and love that win the war. It's hope that Buffy gives her troops in her speech in Chosen, her faith in them - and Spike - that makes them able to rise to the occasion, and the love between Buffy and her friends (and of course Spike), that pulls them together and makes them able to forgive and fight together.
As someone said in one of the AOQ threads - Buffy is the anti-Anakin. His attachments were his downfall, Buffy's are her triumph.
Or to half-quote AOQ himself: 'She out-determines The First'. The moment she wins is when she gets up after being stabbed: "I want you to get out of my face!" she says. And The First leaves. Then it's up to Spike to 'do the clean up', to fight the last battle, but Buffy won the war.
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It's something I may do a longer post on at some point. But for the meantime, thanks for listening and responding!
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the point was here that she didn't need weapons?
It's all about power. The Scythe represents the Slayer power, and also has power tied up in it, but it doesn't get used for killing, which I think *is* the point! :)
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts - they're very interesting.
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As for the other aspects, then I'm I'll wait until I've finished my re-watch, because currently it's just been too long and it's not fresh in my mind.
Oh and one thing re. weapons - 'Selfless' has a lot of weapons, which is the episode where Buffy is most in her 'The Slayer is The Law' frame of mind.
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So I think why I'm stuck on the weapons thing is that by horror-movie rules - what they seem to have been operating on, based on any number of dead Potentials - is that Buffy is not acting particularly smart, or prepared, and neither are her friends. And in a horror film, you get punished for that - that's how you tell you're in the horror genre, when any mistakes lead directly to death. When anything short of constant vigilance leads directly to death. When sometimes even constant vigilance leads directly to death. And so by those rules, Buffy honestly should have died at the end of "Bring on the Night." She doesn't because... she doesn't. (Incidentally, the scene of her running through the construction site is an almost identical to Linda Hamilton running from the Terminator in the first Terminator film, in which Linda then has to make her last stand or be killed. In BtVS, that last stand was put off for another episode, but there still remains the puzzling question - why did the Ubervamp just leave her there?)
So what I think I was missing there, and why the weapons thing sticks for me, was the transition from one genre to the other - the superhero story as the flipside of the horror story. "Showtime," where your power can overcome the day, like in Labryrinth, "you have no power over me," is clearly in superhero land. And back in S2, we saw that transition point in "Becoming Part 2," where Buffy reacted to Angel's "take away everything, and what's left?" by rising up and kicking his ass, and I'm pretty sure that's what we were meant to see there... but to my eye, there was a gap in between those steps.
Good point on "Selfless": she goes to the Magic Box fully prepared for what she has to do. I guess I'm wondering, then, why that didn't seem to be a very consistent thing in the season. Other than, of course, the metaphorical message you've already drawn out, so that's probably enough on the subject from me. ; )
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Ah, now I really don't like horror films, so we obviously come at it from different sides. :)
Buffy honestly should have died at the end of "Bring on the Night." She doesn't because...
Oh but that's explained. The show cuts directly from the shot of the Scoobies finding Buffy almost dead, to First!Dru asking Spike: "Do you know why you are alive?" The answer being: "You're alive for one reason, and one reason only. Because I wish it. Do you know why I wish it? Because I'm not done with you.
The ubervamp left her because it was told to. But she could have been killed, and I think they're all well aware of this, which is why they're despairing.
but to my eye, there was a gap in between those steps.
It's late here, so I'm not really at my best thinking capacity, but it doesn't bother me. BotN/Showtime did the same thing that f.ex. 'The Freshman' did - undermine Buffy, and then let her snap back into it. It's all about self confidence, which is something that's been around since the beginning.
And now *I* need to go... ::is tired::
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Despairing is the sure way to defeat - and what Buffy shows them in the fight, what Buffy gives them as they watch, is hope
This also illuminates the final ending in 'Chosen' for me. There's been plenty of arguments already about how the Battle of the Hellmouth was a bad plan, and it was only the luck of having Spike and his amulet along that saved the day, etc etc ad nauseam.
But if you look at the big climactic moment of the episode - the moment The First admits defeat - it has nothing to do with tactics or fighting. It's the moment when Buffy, badly wounded and watching her friends dying around her, still finds the strength to spit defiance in her/The First's face and get up again. The First is unable to break her, unable to crush her hope - and so it gives up, and goes away, abandoning its army. (Which, like Sauron's in Return of the King after the destruction of the Ring, promptly falls apart).
It's not about tactics. It's not about strategy. It's about hope.
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::nods vigorously:: It's the key to the whole thing. I actually wrote an essay once, looking at the various apocalypses on BtVS and comparing The Gift and Chosen, because they are such vastly different episodes.
Buffy tries to give the Potentials (and her friends) hope, but come 'Get It Done' I think she loses the hope she herself had - it's the question from 'Help' again: 'What do you do when you know you can't help?' The fight looks impossible, and I think until 'Touched' she's going through the motions a lot of the time.
And that's enough waffling for one morning! *g*
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Oh and hayes62 is me if you hadn't guessed.
AOQ/OBS's response to Sleeper-Showtime is a little disappointing. That run's really grown on me with re-watching and I loved the conclusion of Showtime from the beginning. It is true the plot is basically the plot of pretty much every serious fight Buffy's ever been in, she loses ground initially then something happens to fire her up to come back and win but when it's spread over several episodes the change of scale makes it a whole different thing. Instead of being a fun spectacle you get to feel everything Buffy does minute by minute. Well I liked it.
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And oh how I know that feeling! Glad you liked my thoughts though. :)
hayes62 is me if you hadn't guessed.
I hadn't actually, but I was wondering who this balanced, insightful person was!
Instead of being a fun spectacle you get to feel everything Buffy does minute by minute. Well I liked it.
That's a very good way of putting it. Having just re-watched 'The Freshman' with Darcy the other day, it put it into perspective very well. And I have to say that I like slow stuff far more than 'ding dong the vamp is dead!' :)