Buffy The Vampire Slayer

TEASER:

Just when I thought I knew what the hell was supposed to be going on, I remembered that some things are not always what they seem.

ARTICLE:

You’ll have to forgive me, but, quite suddenly, I’m a little confused as to how this whole Slayer thing actually works.

You would think that I would be immune to such things. That my own personal obsessive digestion of all things Buffy (which basically only allows me to even attempt to write this column) combined with you, the collective readers, diligently filling in any and all gaps that I might leave, doesn’t alleviate any question of this magnitude.well, frankly, I’m shocked.

In fact, I thought that those of us in the know had already agreed on this point, but there it was, live in Technicolor: If Buffy dies, a new slayer will be called.

I think I speak for all of us when I say, "huh?"

At first I thought it was just a throwaway line, more for the effect it would have on the potentials than the truth of it. But then, it was mentioned again. And again. So now, I’m guessing all of our posturing about Buffy no longer being the anchor of the slayer line is out the window. I’m not even sure how we became so convinced of this point’s veracity in the first place, but this now calls into question.what?

Everything.

The first question I have, of course, is where is this other slayer that’s running around. If Buffy died twice - and she did - then their should be two additional slayers out there. At least by this new MCI math Joss is spinning at us.

Faith is in jail.

So what about the other?

Worse still, with the gang so liberally throwing this notion around this evening, why hasn’t this been mentioned before? Why weren’t they wondering where this other slayer was? Even if they were content to let her do her own thing last year - a new slayer’s presence was far from necessary in dealing with the trio - wouldn’t a new slayer be their first priority now?

TFE is out there, hunting down everything connected to the Council, you would think our heroes would be concerned about the only other person in the world who could really help them. Not to mention the fact that she would be on hell of a target for the bringers, or worse.

And, for that matter, you would think they would at least check in with the California Penitentiary system to see how Faith is doing.

All this is, more or less, irrelevant because we have the more pressing matter of the new potential in town. We all thought the same thing, of course. The rumors and speculation of Dawn becoming the next slayer - as early as Season 8 - have been circulating long enough that Joss walked us right into his little trap without anyone suspecting a thing. I even commented to Jack that the episode seemed too obvious, until, of course, I turned out to be wrong.

Dawn showed both her trademark spunk and maddening stupidity, but we should cut her some slack. Living with the burden of a superhero sister, a past as an unintentional gateway to Armageddon, and a resume that includes Harriet the Spy is not an easy thing. Being given, temporarily at least, the knowledge that she, too, was part of a hero line, with both its inherent pride and fear, then having it taken away only toughens the blow. There is nothing quite as hard as being ordinary in the company of the extraordinary.

Even before his speech, I always gave Xander silent props for being able to soldier on in the face of his commonplace roots. In fact, as I only mentioned a few weeks ago, "The Zeppo" is one of my favorite eps because it deals with Xander’s loneliness and quiet contribution so well. But, it had never been clear to me whether Xander remembered the lessons he learned that night.

Until now.

I’m not convinced that Dawn isn’t still another potential, though this possibility is rapidly dwindling, but, already, there are signs that Buffy is choosing her new charges over her sister. Should Buffy find herself in a position where she could only choose, say, Kennedy or Dawn to save, I’m not sure who she would pick

But, again, like the revelation that Buffy, herself, is still part of the slayer line, I’m a bit confused by the development that Dawn is NOT a potential. It seems that since the final moments of Season 6, when Buffy tossed Lil’ Bit that sword and they fought side by side, that we were grooming Dawn for some kind of greatness. I thought this was something else we had agreed upon.

Casting Dawn’s fate with the mere mortals changes things a little, and, frankly, I’m not really sure what it will mean for the future. Joss wouldn’t make such a point of leading us to believe that Dawn was going to be a potential and then pull the rug out from under us without a good reason.

Bottom line, Dawn still has a big part to play in all of this. We just cannot yet see what it is to be. The good news is that she has a strong ally and confidante in Xander now. Their common bond is both a powerful and important one as the supernatural quotient of this season continues to up itself.

When you have a Slayer, numerous potentials, a high level witch, an ex-demon, and a vampire with a soul facing off against the most powerful evil in imagination, it isn’t easy being the one with nothing but a legacy.

Still, my bet is that Lil’ Bit is ultimately the one who saves the world.

The Other Side of Tuesday.it seems that Andrew has just about integrated himself in the gang, which has turned out to be a good thing. Frankly, the other guy is turning into the funniest addition to the gang since Anyanka.

Good to see Clem again, for no other reason than I’ve been wondering where he’s been all this time.

Early handicapping voted Kennedy as the Potential Most Likely toSucceed, but she has an obvious challenger after tonight. Amanda handled herself extremely well, even before Dawn put her on the spot, but her quick dispatch of the vampire was impressive, to say the least. It will also be interesting to see how she blossoms now that she has found acceptance amongst her peers. Given an opportunity to shine, she might shed her mousy exterior in no time.

The rekindling, or whatever it turns out to be, of the Spike-Buffy fireworks is proving to be a slow smolder. I like the dynamic this time around. Now that their relationship has such history - and some severely trying times behind them - their cautious and undeniably passionate flirtation, the very definition of the forbidden fruit, has so much more weight than before.

It’s also interesting how the newly focused Buffy is allowing this to play out in front of the potentials. It certainly doesn’t seem like Buffy is letting them in intentionally, but it does send an interesting signal to these potentials that they would not ordinarily see. I’ve always felt that Buffy’s strength and (relative) success came not only from her unique connection to friends and family, but also from her unorthodox approach to the job. Buffy plays the other side of the fence, readily using demons and questionable methods to achieve her goals, but it rarely gets the mention it deserves. Demons don’t play by any agreed upon set of rules. There is no Geneva Convention here. Buffy, and Giles, always understood that, and that is why they live while the Council burns.

This is an important lesson for the potentials, particularly in a battle with something like the First. If Buffy does die in this battle, most likely one of these girls is going to replace her. Whoever it turns out to be is going to need to understand all of her lessons right away.

Which makes me wonder.if they did have the balls to actually kill Buffy this season, wouldn’t it be interesting to see "the mantel" passed from one to potential to the next in quick succession (in one big battle, presumably) until it finally rested on the next true one.