I'm not saying that Riley should have let Buffy use him the way she was, but he left because she didn't make him feel a certain way:
Riley misunderstands here there. She is NOT talking about physical strength.
No, I think he gets that. It's much simpler. He's in love with her, and he wants her to love him as much as he loves her. He wants someone he can have a long term with. Buffy doesn't love him like that, and she doesn't want that long term. And he leaves because he doesn't want to settle.
There's lots of pointless and possibly unecessary drama, because Buffy maybe doesn't realize this, or if she does - doesn't want to tell him that. Doesn't want to have to end what is a good short term deal for her - but keeping that going would have required her investing more in him than she could given her own stresses.
At the end of the day, they break down because she's not just that into him. They should. And they both do some dumb/insentive things, Riley more than Buffy, but there's no real villain.
Which, I think, makes it interesting and relatable.
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Riley misunderstands here there. She is NOT talking about physical strength.
No, I think he gets that. It's much simpler. He's in love with her, and he wants her to love him as much as he loves her. He wants someone he can have a long term with. Buffy doesn't love him like that, and she doesn't want that long term. And he leaves because he doesn't want to settle.
There's lots of pointless and possibly unecessary drama, because Buffy maybe doesn't realize this, or if she does - doesn't want to tell him that. Doesn't want to have to end what is a good short term deal for her - but keeping that going would have required her investing more in him than she could given her own stresses.
At the end of the day, they break down because she's not just that into him. They should. And they both do some dumb/insentive things, Riley more than Buffy, but there's no real villain.
Which, I think, makes it interesting and relatable.