Buffy The Vampire Slayer

[Please note: this column was written before "Chosen"]

This column is about some of my personal disappointments concerning S7 of "Buffy". Many people may object that it is not fair to criticize the season before the very end. How the season - and the series - is resolved may answer some of questions and complaints that I raise here. However, the things that have bothered me about this season - at least, the complaints I will focus on here - are questions of logic, consistency and character which cannot (as far as I can tell) be successfully addressed in the final show. Before I proceed, I want to emphasize that my opinions are entirely my opinions. I claim no special knowledge or authority, and I am well aware that many people view S7 as return to the "Buffy" form of old. I respect those views, and in being critical of S7 I am certainly not trying to undermine anyone else’s enjoyment of the past year.

A little while ago, a reader wrote in anticipation of this column and asked, in essence, how I could write such detailed analyses of a show I found "disappointing". I think this is a good question. The simple answer is this: there is a great deal about S7 that I think has been well done. The "Buffy" writers have broached provocative themes and issues which have provided considerable material for development, elaboration and speculation. My next column, for example, will be about Buffy as a political metaphor, and I think that S7 can function in this sense far more readily than past seasons. I think S7 has said interesting things about power, leadership, the burden of being an exceptional person, and maybe even friendship. "Buffy" continues as an epic narrative which displays very powerful connections to classical literature and mythology. However, this does not mean that there have not also been major disappointments associated with the past year.

My feeling is that S7 got off to a very promising start, reaching a peak with the extraordinary "Conversations With Dead People." After that, however, the show largely bogged down and never regained its momentum, despite some fits and starts along the way. Part of the reason for this was the introduction of the Potentials; another was the overemphasis on Spike, to the neglect of the other, much more central characters; a major problem was the pacing and the content of the stories themselves. For most of the year, I have had to fight the feeling that too many "Buffy" episodes were just filling time, doing very little to advance the core story, or offering interesting bits of information that never went anywhere, or seemed to be forgotten later. The overall effect was a lack of coherence, almost a sense that someone had a great idea for a start and finish, but not much idea of what to put in the middle. The fact that there was a good deal that could have gone in the middle - particularly mythology building that could have offset the present situation, where major developments have been introduced at the last minute - is particularly galling. Along the way, sloppiness with continuity and inconsistencies with such things as the capabilities of the characters have contributed to a general sense that the writers have become rather nonchalant in how they are approaching "Buffy". I’ll deal here with some of the major issues that have contributed to this impression.

Problems with the First:

I’ll begin my critique by looking at the First, a major villain that has failed dismally as the major villain. The First is the source of - or at least feeds upon - all the evil in the world. It "is sin". As such, it has a presence in every human being. It has all the knowledge of the dead; it can be anywhere that it wants to be. However, it is also incorporeal, so any evil that it commits must be done through minions or psychological manipulation. There is so much potential here for a storyline that revolves around a creature that challenges our heroes by playing with their deepest fears and insecurities, by getting at their hidden shame and guilt. Ultimately, confronting the First must mean confronting oneself; defying it should mean, in part, coming to terms with one’s own humanity. When the creature first appeared, my assumption was that this would be the route that "Buffy" would follow. We would be provided with the chance to see our heroes engaged in a struggle that was as much spiritual as physical. They would all be faced with the need to confront their own fears, individually and together; whether or not all would be able to do so would be part of the suspense and, possibly, tragedy of the season.

Unfortunately, this has not happened at all. Sure, the First has played a few mindgames with its opponents, attended a sleepover, talked a Potential into committing suicide, and pushed a few buttons for Spike, Wood and Faith. But it has not launched an all-out psychological war on Buffy and her allies, a failure that makes no sense. Surely, as a timeless, incorporeal being, the First must know the depths of the human heart better than anyone; surely, it must be a master at psychological manipulation. So, why has so little been done with this potential? Why, for example, has Willow not been visited by Warren or Rack? She must have some guilt over murdering them. Why has some stand-in for Tara not paid regular visits to her? Surely her new relationship with Kennedy, so soon after Tara’s death, is a goldmine of guilt? Perhaps Giles could have been visited by Jenny Calendar, or other figures out of his past. Buffy herself, as we have seen, carries an enormous weight of guilt, shame and superiority/inferiority complexes - all waiting to be exploited by a deft manipulator. To me, this failure to capitalize on the abilities of the First is a major failing on the part of Mutant Enemy, and rather inexplicable.

Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the First has also been deeply compromised by two other factors: one, it is not clear exactly what the powers of the First are; and, two, the First has proven to be almost egregiously stupid and inept as a villain. Let me deal with these points in turn.

What, exactly, can the First do? Specifically, what are the rules governing its awareness? There seems to be no consistent answer to this question, and that has led to enormous problems in the overall storyline. The First can take the form of anyone who has died. It possesses all of his/her knowledge, presumably up to the time of his/her death, though some of the things the First has said when in Buffy-form indicate that its knowledge of Buffy continues beyond her death in S5. The First is clearly connected to vampires, and it is present in every living human, perhaps indicating that it can see through the eyes of anyone. The First also has the ability to be anywhere that it wants, to hear anything that is said. Caleb repeated what Xander said to Dawn about "seeing things;" the First repeated Buffy’s line to Wood about the inevitability of some of the Potentials dying. During the grope-fest at the Summers’ residence in "Touched," the First was aware of everything going on as it happened. Yet, at the same time, there is so much that the First does not know. Despite its concern with Buffy getting the scythe, it has no knowledge of Spike and Andrew’s mission to the monastery, and it does not even know that Buffy is in the winery until she literally drops in on Caleb -despite the First being in Buffy’s form at the time when, presumably, its link with her would be strongest. It is caught by surprise when Andrew tries to record it (a nonsensical plan if there ever was one). So, what are the rules here? It seems that the First has a very limited awareness. It has access to virtually infinite information, but it can only access that information one person - or maybe a few people- at a time. But if it is really so limited, why isn’t it spying on Buffy and her friends with more diligence? Surely, an incorporeal being could take a few minutes every hour and just check up on its enemies? What else is it doing with its time? This question of how the First operates is fundamentally important to the logic of the story. As it is right now, the First appears to know things at random, and this simply adds to the general sense of confusion.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the First is amazingly inept as a villain. The First is, supposedly, the worst thing Buffy has ever faced. Compared to it, Satan is a "little man." So, why is the First so stupid? None of its plans go right, and when they do that seems more of an accident than by design. Let’s just consider the First’s collaboration with Caleb: Caleb comes to Sunnydale; he lets Buffy know that he is there by setting an obvious trap for her. But he springs it in the winery that is sitting over the superweapon that he does not want her to have. Now, if Caleb had to announce his presence in this way, why not lure Buffy to a different location, thereby protecting the site that he does not want her to find? Or consider his encounter with Buffy in the school. Afterwards, he tells the First that he has laid the groundwork; Buffy will soon be walking into their trap, she just needs another nudge. Now, it is possible that the First/Caleb’s plan has yet to come to fruition. But if their plan was the trap that Faith fell into - well, it just would not have worked with Buffy. Indeed, after meeting Caleb at the school, Buffy seems to draw exactly the opposite conclusion from what Caleb wanted - she wants to go right where he does not want her to go. The only plan that the First has made that does seem to be working out is its effort to cultivate Spike as a secret weapon, apparently by playing on his jealousy. Even here, however, I suspect that Spike will not act in the way that the First wants. Moreover, to add to the confusion, the only way the Spike plan would work (assuming what is happening now is a plan, and not just a seized opportunity) is if the First knew that Angel was coming. If so, does it have precognitive abilities? Again, there are some indications that this might be the case, but the evidence is inconclusive. But if it does, why has it not been much more effective?

A truly frightening villain is a truly competent one. Given all of the First’s advantages - its age, awareness, access to powerful creatures - it should have proven far more capable than it has. To me, "Buffy" would have been infinitely more suspenseful if we were confronted with a villain who was masterfully marching its enemies into trap after trap, wearing them down psychologically and physically, and always staying a few steps ahead. As it is, unless Caleb getting gutted is part of the First’s master plan, it looks like it is, once again, flying by the seat of its incorporeal pants, making things up as it goes along.

The ineptitude of the First, however, has been matched by the incompetence of our heroes. The Scoobies and their allies know that the First seems to have an ability to spy on them at its leisure. Obviously, this is a problem: how can you confidently plan any kind of attack if the enemy could be right there in your midst? Yet, Buffy and her friends have, apparently, chosen to deal with this fundamental strategic disadvantage by ignoring it. As far as we know, they have not made any effort to protect themselves from the First through mystical means. Even if they could not find any magical protection, we should at least know that they have acknowledged the problem. Or consider the trap the First springs on Faith and the Potentials- the Scoobies have interrogated a Bringer who has no tongue, as well as no eyes. It’s not unreasonable to conclude - given the First’s power - that it communicates with its Bringers telepathically. From there, one might start to wonder about the likelihood of the planned raid being a trap - particularly since the raid will be launched the next morning, giving the First and its minions plenty of time to get ready. Apparently, this occurs to no one. But, of course - in keeping with the First’s general inability to do anything right - even its trap for Faith and the others falls apart. The explosion kills far fewer Potentials than seems probable (or, quite frankly, desirable) and the Ubervamps are killed by Buffy and her new toy -which she never would have found without help from Caleb/the First.

The Dangling Storylines:

Another major problem that I have had with this year are the many dangling storylines that have been introduced then been dropped and, apparently, forgotten. Some examples: Anya and Giles discover that the vulnerability in the Slayers’ line has occurred because of Buffy’s return to life. But this knowledge goes nowhere. Have they shared this information with anyone? Is there any indication that the Scoobies have tried to figure out what this might mean and, again, if there is any mystical way to correct the balance?

The First says to Willow that it is no longer concerned about "balancing the scales" between good and evil, that it is "done with the mortal coil," and that it is going for the "big finish". What does this all mean? It seems to indicate that the First has played a role in the balance, and that it plans to leave the world. But how can it, if it is part of everyone? And why is destroying the Slayer line important to achieving these goals?

Early on, we are told that there is an order in which the Slayer/Potentials must be killed, and it is clear that Buffy is near the bottom of that list. Yet, it is never clear why there is an order at all. As I’ve discussed before, the argument that Buffy is being kept alive because her death will bring about a new Slayer makes absolutely no sense, so that cannot be it. The attempt on Faith’s life in prison also appears inexplicable, if the First’s concern is preventing the emergence of another Slayer. Moreover, in "End of Days", Caleb clearly tries to kill Buffy with her own weapon. Does this mean that the order of death no longer matters? If so, what has changed?

Dawn’s visit from Joyce - was it Joyce or the First? And why have we seen so little of the effect that this visit had? What did Joyce’s words mean? Was Buffy visited by the real Joyce and, if so, what was the significance of her words then? The question of Joyce’s visitations may well be resolved in the series finale, but my main objection to all of these dangling storylines is that they have simply been left hanging.

Recently, a friend suggested to me that many of these stories may be setting the groundwork for the "Buffy" spinoff series, whenever it appears. Even so, these various plotlines could have been fleshed out, we could have seen the effects of these factors (particularly how Dawn’s suspicions of Buffy may have affected their relationship) during the course of the past season. The issues raised by these questions would not have to be resolved, but an indication that they had not simply been forgotten would have added immeasurably to the sense that the story was building towards some real conclusion. One of the qualities that worked very well for Buffy in the past was the sense that the show is underpinned by a real, self-contained mythology. In past years, the writers have used precognitive dreams, visions and prophecies to create the impression of connectedness - a sense that Buffy and her friends are part of something much larger and more mysterious. Remember that the signs and portents pointing to Buffy’s death in S5 began appearing two years before the actual event. These touches were invaluable in creating an awareness of Fate and Destiny. Now, at the end, when Buffy is facing her "greatest" threat, anything connected to Fate and Destiny is either being thrown at us at the last minute, or has been left to languish, forgotten and undeveloped, in the depths of the season.

The most recent additions to the "Buffy" mythological mix have been the scythe, the women Guardians, and the necklace given to Angel by Lilah, which is supposed to play some pivotal role in the coming battle. All of these mechanisms have the feel of deus ex machina - devices pulled out in the end to bring about a favorable conclusion from a seemingly hopeless situation. The fact that these critical factors have been introduced so late in the game feels like cheating - particularly given how thin the storylines have been this season, up to this point. Wasn’t it possible to at least drop some clues before now? For example, when Buffy met the Shadowmen, couldn’t we have seen a woman up in the hills watching, just to give us a sense of what was coming up? The show has tried to explain the conspicuous lack of prophecy regarding these developments by saying that the Guardians hid. But, as far as we know, Buffy and her friends have simply been lucky -and Caleb and the First careless - in finding the clues that led to Buffy’s discovery of the scythe and her encounter with the Guardian. Why hasn’t the Guardian been more active in attracting Buffy’s attention - at least during this season, if not before?

During the course of S7, the mythology of the Buffyverse has been significantly revised. I have no objection to this, in principle. I think that the writers have the right to reshape their universe to fit new realities. Thus, we are given a revised idea of what the Slayers are. They are no longer just "vampire slayers"; according to the Shadowmen, they are the "guardians of the Hellmouth". The Hellmouth itself has gone from being A hellmouth - one of many around the world - to THE Hellmouth - apparently, the only one. Now, there is a logical problem here. If the Slayers are the guardians of the Hellmouth, then all of them should have made the trek to Sunnydale. Sunnydale should have a long history of Slayer settlement. This is obviously not the case, and I am wary of where this may be leading. Revising the mythology is one thing; throwing away logic and everything that has been established to this point is something else.

Problems with the Characters:

Another key area in which S7 has fallen down has been in its character development. Buffy herself has been given an interesting and compelling development as we have witnessed her coming to terms with the responsibilities of power and leadership and the problems created by her emotional detachment. The issues surrounding Buffy’s emotional and moral evolution are fascinating and provide considerable material for discussion. Unfortunately, they are also being rushed to a final conclusion as the series ends. Spike has also been afforded a great degree of air time, though the extent of his character development is more questionable. In his case, I expect that the real test has yet to come: can he put aside his jealousy of Angel and his anger at Buffy to really love her, or will he become the weapon that the First has (presumably) been programming him to be? I don’t think that there is much suspense here - Spike will discover his humanity and act to help Buffy. It would be infinitely more interesting if he did not - if he demonstrated that having a soul (obviously) is no guarantee against evil - but I don’t think the writers want to explore that possibility. Unfortunately, besides Buffy and Spike, the other main characters have been sadly and inexplicably neglected, and this has worked to the vast detriment of the season as a whole.

A recent article in Salon.com (Why Spike ruined "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") makes a number of interesting points, but one of its key arguments is that too much attention has been focused upon Spike for the past season, taking the show away from its primary characters. I think this evaluation is dead-on. The heart of "Buffy" - what has always made it work in the past, and what provides its true emotional resonance - has been the relationship between Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles. Yet, three of these primary characters have been all but ignored for most of the year. What little development has occurred has been awkward and uneven.

Xander has been virtually forgotten for the last two-thirds of the season. In "Never Leave Me", we learned that he is deeply depressed over his breakup with Anya. Yet, this information went nowhere. How does he feel now about his new connections with Anya? Other than having his eye gouged out and occasionally popping up to offer encouraging speeches, Xander has been a virtual nonentity this year. Yet, he is supposed to be the heart of the group.

Giles - well, what exactly is going on with Giles? Ever since his return in "Bring on the Night,"Giles has been - off. He has been cold and unsupportive; he has had almost no presence. The few times that he has had an effect, it has been to act in ways that alienated Buffy from him and that, arguably, were very out of character. Over the past few episodes, we have been getting hints of the old Giles - in his supportive words for Faith, for example - but it has been far too little, far too late. Giles provided the balance and maturity for the group. Even allowing for the need for children to grow up and away from their parents, Giles has been handled in a terribly perfunctory way. Obviously, the writers know what they are doing - Giles’ non-presence upon his initial return was part of the trick of making us think that he might be the First - but why was Giles so uncommunicative and why has this continued throughout the year?

Willow is the biggest disappointment of all, at many different levels. Whereas Giles and Xander have been all but ignored, Willow has received a few shows of her own, though not much has been done with her since "The Killer In Me". Unfortunately, what has been done with Willow has served to undermine her more than build her up. Let me deal first with the question of Willow and her power. The theme of S7 is "power," and I had hoped that Willow recognizing and coming to terms with her power would be an important part of the season. That has not happened. While Willow may still pull a surprise out of her bag of tricks in the series finale, at this point such an expression of power would be out of step with what has been established so far. As late as "End of Days," Willow is still refusing to use her power. Her fear and lack of self-confidence are paralyzing her. On the one hand, this portrayal of Willow is believable - with one very big caveat, which I will get to in a moment. On the other hand, Willow’s refusal to use magic underlines something that Amy said about Willow in "The Killer in Me." She said "Willow is weak" - and, it turns out, she was absolutely right. I am saying this without derision or contempt for Willow. Indeed, Willow’s cowardice adds another complex dimension to her character, and it is certainly understandable. However, it is also hard to admire someone who is so weak. All around her, people are dying, her friends are being maimed, and Buffy is nearly collapsing under the burden of leadership. Willow has the power to make a significant difference in all this - but she is too afraid to do anything. Indeed, we have not even seen any evidence that Willow is really trying to conquer her fear. She came back from England with some basic instruction from the coven, but we have seen little evidence that she has kept up her studies, or has even tried to practice exercises that might give her a greater degree of control over her magic. As Willow will probably be the focus of any spin-off (indeed, I suspect that she might become a Guardian) dealing with these issues may be a major concern of the future series. It’s just a shame that she has proven so useless right now. (Particularly since she is the one weapon Buffy has that can make a difference against thousands of Ubervamps - remember Willow’s idea of creating artificial sunlight in "Triangle"? That might work well against an army of super-vampires).

The caveat that I mentioned above is that the Willow who appeared just a few weeks ago in "Angel" is the polar opposite of the Willow we have seen all season in "Buffy". When Willow restored Angel’s soul, she was confident and powerful. She called up enough power to rock the Hyperion to its foundations; she fought an elder god to a standstill. Where is that Willow, and why was she left behind in Los Angeles? Is Willow afraid of using her power in Sunnydale because of her geographical proximity to the Hellmouth? If so, can’t we just be told that? Even so, this kind of excuse would make little sense. If Willow can control powerful magic in Los Angeles, why can’t she do so in Sunnydale? This inconsistency in the portrayal of Willow is maddening.

The other area in which the portrayal of Willow has fallen down is in her relationship with Kennedy. In my earlier discussion of Willow/Kennedy, I argued that this relationship could be believable, but only if it was recognized as a rebound relationship, based upon Willow’s extreme dependence and her need for outside emotional validation. What I was most concerned about was that the writers would make it seem as though Willow was "over" Tara, especially after "The Killer In Me," without paying proper respect for the Willow/Tara relationship or the natural process of grieving. Unfortunately, I think the writers have done exactly this. In the process, they have deeply damaged the integrity of the Willow/Tara relationship. Willow has (apparently) her first all-round sexual experience with Kennedy ("Touched"). Her reluctance concerning this encounter revolves entirely around her fear of losing control of her magic. In no way is it indicated that some kind of residual guilt over the speed with which she has gotten over Tara could be affecting her. In short, Tara is completely forgotten by Willow. Tara simply doesn’t register in the consciousness of the woman who was willing to destroy the world out of her grief over losing her lover. And Willow’s encounter with Kennedy is happening around the time of the first anniversary of Tara’s murder. In portraying the aftermath of Willow’s relationship with Tara in this way, Willow comes off looking as a person who is self-absorbed to a frightening degree. It becomes possible to argue that Willow’s grief over Tara’s death was entirely self-centered, and that all she needed was another person to allay her insecurities and flatter her in order to get over her grief. At the end of this season, in my opinion, Willow comes out looking like an emotionally-crippled coward. This is a very unfortunate - even if academically interesting - way in which to develop the character.

The neglect of Xander, Giles and Willow makes one of the most momentous events in "Buffy" history difficult to understand: i.e., the gang turning against Buffy in "Empty Places." In just the previous episode, Xander was telling the Potentials how much Buffy has earned their trust. A day later, he is joining the rebellion against her leadership. Admittedly, in the interim he has lost his eye, but does this really change the basic truth of his speech to the Potentials? Buffy did a great deal to bring the rebellion on herself, but her old friends turning against her would have been much more believable if, throughout the course of the season, we had seen the development of Xander, Willow and Giles’ questions and concerns about Buffy’s conduct. We get a little of this - mostly from Giles - but it is not enough to account for what seems to be a radical move on the part of Buffy’s loyal friends. Similarly, the fact that her friends don’t seem to care what has happened to her or how she is doing in the immediate aftermath of her ouster seems wildly out of character. Only Dawn shows any guilt and uncertainty; Willow and Xander don’t even bother to go looking for Buffy.. It is only later, when Faith asks them to find Buffy that they even make the effort to locate her. And, finally, this massive rift between the core gang seems to be healed - or at least put aside - much too quickly. It’s been tragic that the family relationship which has sustained "Buffy" throughout its run has been given such short-shrift in the final season.

(As an aside, I have thoroughly enjoyed the return of Faith. Watching Faith try so hard to be a good person and a good leader has been great; here’s hoping that the character becomes a regular part of whatever spin-off develops).

A Final Note on Buffy-Spike:

In my last article, I noted that I was not clear on why Buffy showed such preferential treatment to Spike even as she was isolating herself from her friends. Dawn Fries, from Denver, Colorado, wrote in with the following response to this question:

"In Buffy’s life the men that she loves have repeatedly left her. First her father, then Angel, Riley, and Giles (Parker and Scott also broke up with her). She talks in ’Conversations with Dead People’ about how much this pains her. This is part of her whole complex of feeling isolated, like no one really understands her because she is the Slayer and she can never truly connect with a man in a deep, permanent way. She feels unlovable. But I think she senses that Spike, in his own co-dependent selfish way, needs her, ’loves’ her, and therefore won’t leave her. That’s why she wants him around and favors him more than even her own friends. He fills her longing for unconditional, permanent love. But this connection that Spike and Buffy have isn’t healthy, because it’s fueled by their mutual insecurities. Buffy would have to resolve her feelings of being isolated and unlovable because she is the Slayer before she could have a healthy relationship."

I think that Dawn has hit the nail on the head here, and her speculation is borne out, to some extent, by the events of "Touched," where Buffy turns to Spike for unconditional support. To Spike’s credit, however, I must point out that his speech to Buffy in "Touched" is the first indication we have that Spike may love her for what she is, for qualities that she possesses and that he admires, rather than just for his own selfish purposes. Before, as a vampire, it would make no sense for Spike to tell Buffy that he admires her for her "kindness". Now, as a vampire with a soul, it is plausible that this is a quality in her that he can genuinely respect. As I have already indicated, however, the real test of Spike’s love for Buffy is probably coming up.