by Field, Mark
Buffy’s reaction to her loss of power was also interesting. The injections made her truly “just a girl” and she didn’t like it. Her commitment to being the Slayer is complete; she’s reached the stage where she rejects the very idea of opting out.
Trivia notes: (1) The rather phallic crystals Giles used to hypnotize Buffy imply a patriarchal role for the Cruciamentum. The one Buffy was playing with suggests that her workout with Angel was less than completely, um, satisfying. (2) Buffy described Faith as on a “walkabout”. A “walkabout”, quoting Wikipedia, is “a rite of passage during which male Australian Aborigines would undergo a journey during adolescence and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months.” I don’t think this term was used accidentally. (3) Giles told Buffy to “look for the flaw at its [crystal] center”. That could be a metaphor for the flaw in the WC system. (4) Oz was correct about the various colors of kryptonite and their effect on Superman. So much for Xander’s geek cred. (5) Angel’s birthday gift was Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets From the Portuguese. They were love poems to her husband-to-be. (6) Buffy compared her pre-Slayer self to Cordelia, which is the passage I had in mind in discussing Cordy’s role as Buffy’s shadow self in my post on NKABOTFD. (7) Buffy’s concern that her calling might be a wrong number fits with the growing up theme. As highschoolers move towards graduation, they get secretly nervous that they’re not ready for the world outside.
The Zeppo
The Zeppo is probably the most obvious of the POV episodes I listed in my post on The Wish. If you weren’t persuaded that The Wish is best seen as Cordelia’s view of the world, then watch it again now that you’ve seen The Zeppo. Or maybe the Buffy/Angel relationship really is as overwrought, nay melodramatic, as it appears to Xander here. And maybe the apocalypse is pretty much a parody.
No, it seems clear to me that in this episode we’re seeing the world through Xander’s eyes. Sometimes we’re even seeing what he fantasizes: that he’s the real hero in the SG notwithstanding his role as Everyman.
I want to be sure that I’m not misunderstood on this. I’m NOT saying the actual events of The Zeppo didn’t happen. There really was an apocalypse to defeat; Xander really did have sex with Faith; Xander really did confront Jack in the school basement. So those events happened, it’s just that the way we see them has been filtered through the lens of Xander’s beliefs, attitudes, insecurities, and desires. That’s why Buffy and Angel seem melodramatic in the mansion – Xander sees them that way. That’s why Willow assures him she loves him and hugs him. And Faith probably is much as Xander sees her, but it’s still true that we’re seeing Faith through Xander’s eyes.
Point of view is a tricky thing. We want our own view of the world to be objective. Think about it, though, from the assumption that there is no God, no higher power. In that case, there’s no such thing as an “objective” view. There are only the views of each individual, interpreted in their own minds. The events are generally real; we all agree that 9/11 happened, we just see the events in slightly different ways and we draw conclusions about the consequences based on our own beliefs, etc.
As I said in the post on Revelations, this has important consequences for the show generally. We see the show through Buffy’s eyes, mostly, but we can always ask ourselves if others might see events or even her in a very different way. This will become a major issue for many fans in S6 and S7.
Xander’s had a long hard fall from his peak in Revelations. Back then he was feeling on top of things, fully justified in his hatred of Angel and self-righteous about Buffy. Then he very seriously overstepped all moral bounds by siccing Faith on Angel, and just one episode later got caught cheating on Cordy. He’s had a very hard time finding his place again. It’s not just that we see this in his desperate search for something that will make him cool, it’s that he gets rejected by pretty much everyone. Buffy wants him “fray adjacent”; Giles and Angel dismiss him; Faith uses him and kicks him out.
He ends up playing Clint Eastwood.
You will be shocked, shocked to learn that I think there’s an existentialist point to this. Xander’s search for what might make him “cool” ended up being a search for what was authentically him. He tried on other roles: car guy; criminal; sexual partner. None worked, but at the end he found something that he truly could do, namely save the lives of others through his courage (heart, you know). That’s how he can create his authentic self. There is a structural reason why we’re seeing this theme at this point in the season, just as there was a structural reason why Bad Eggs appeared when it did.
There’s probably a joke here as well. Remember that the creation of one’s authentic self comes only after one recognizes the world as absurd. That word had a technical meaning for Camus, of course, but it has a colloquial one too. Xander’s view of the world which we see here probably qualifies as “absurd” in the colloquial sense, so Joss may have been having some fun on this point.
Trivia notes: (1) The Zeppo of the title is Zeppo Marx. (2) The Michael Jackson song Xander mentioned to Jack is “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. (3) Xander’s car was a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. (4) Up With People is an international education organization known for its musical performances.
Bad Girls
Bad Girls begins the final run to the conclusion of S3, just as Surprise did in S2. It’s arguably the first episode of a two-parter with Consequences, but they aren’t formally treated as one and there’s plenty to discuss separately so I’ll make separate posts.
As I explained in discussing Homecoming, I think that Cordy stopped serving as Buffy’s shadow self at that point. Faith takes over that role in Bad Girls. We were given many clues to this in Faith Hope & Trick, a major one which I’ll discuss when I get to Graduation Day, and others including Buffy’s comments such as “at school today, she was making eyes at my not-boyfriend. This is creepy.”; “I'm not looking to go halfsies on [my life].”; “Which, by the way, is *my* life.”; “Yeah, and mine's the sane one.”; “She doesn't need a life. She has mine.” We got more clues to this season theme from the two episodes immediately following FH&T – BatB and Homecoming – both of which dealt with shadow selves. Faith is “definitely” Buffy’s “shadow self, her dark side” (quoting Marti Noxon), and in this episode she goads Buffy into exploring what it’s like to live on the wild side, to take things too far.
There’s one important difference, however, between the metaphorical roles of Cordy and Faith. Cordy was the shadow self for Buffy’s human side. Faith is the darker half of her Slayer side. We saw Buffy face the challenge of Helpless after reconciling her human dark side; now she faces a much more significant challenge from her Slayer-side shadow.
One big difference between Buffy and Faith as Slayers is that Faith is all action without taking time to think. Buffy wants to exercise some control. This is a balancing act we’ve seen before – in S2 Kendra played the other side of this dichotomy. Buffy needs both action and thought in order to succeed as the Slayer. The different characteristics of other Slayers help her find that balance.
Why are we only seeing this contrast now? Why not immediately after Homecoming? Because the shadow self isn’t something we struggle with every single minute. It only becomes relevant when life issues make it so. As I’ve argued from the beginning, Buffy’s journey is one that will take her to adulthood, and being the Slayer is a metaphor for that. Faith’s story explores one way many would-be adults get sidetracked at this particular stage of life.
Within the story Buffy is a high school senior in her last few months before graduation. There’s a strong temptation at that age to think that “being an adult” means “I get to do what I want now”: Want. Take. Have. The power of becoming an adult is, using Joss’s word to describe the power of the Slayer, intoxicating. It’s very common for seniors to think that this is the time when they can blow off all their responsibilities. They stop worrying about grades; they party (note Buffy’s description of the fight down the manhole: �
�Faith and I got into a serious party situation.”); they have a final fling before they leave all their friends behind and go off to college. This is all the more likely when faced with a new “teacher” who might not be evil in the strictest sense, but certainly isn’t anyone Buffy wants to impress. It’s a teenager’s form of rebellion, not an adult’s.
Also within the story, Buffy is nearly drowned again. This reminder of her mortality likely makes her see some merit in Faith’s “livin’ large” (FH&T) philosophy, and their behavior reminds us that Buffy has this within her as we saw in WSWB (wild dancing, blowing off her friends, etc.). Ultimately, of course, Faith represents the road not taken; Buffy flirts with Faith’s choices, in Jane Espenson’s words, but doesn’t make them.
Faith’s devil-may-care attitude may be partly an attempt to impress Buffy, but it’s also part of her personality. Over the course of the episode her behavior becomes increasingly reckless to the point of stabbing anything that moves, and the result is predictably tragic. The death of Allen Finch is the turning point of S3. It may be useful to re-watch Ted at this point, so you can compare the way all the relevant parties react.
From a legal standpoint, killing the Deputy Mayor wasn’t murder one – nobody thinks Faith premeditated it – but it was a homicide. Under CA law there are 3 plausible charges (I’m simplifying):
1. Second degree murder. This requires “malice aforethought” but is not premeditated. “Malice aforethought” includes a wanton disregard for human life. “Wanton” means, roughly, grossly negligent or reckless.
2. Voluntary manslaughter. This requires that the killing be with a conscious disregard for human life and it usually applies to cases of provocation.
3. Involuntary manslaughter. This requires failing to act with a proper degree of caution.
In his DVD commentary, writer Doug Petrie uses the term murder to describe what Faith did. He must have had second degree murder in mind, and Faith’s behavior certainly could be characterized “grossly negligent” or “reckless”. I think it’s also possible to see it as involuntary manslaughter, but even that is pretty serious.
We can see that Faith’s upset about the killing from her reaction when Buffy comes by at the end, and her initial reaction to run strongly suggests a sense of guilt (similar to Buffy’s concealment of Angel in Revelations). But guilt isn’t the same as taking responsibility or even showing remorse and Faith’s denial of both compares badly with Buffy’s reaction in Ted and with Buffy’s advice now. I’m not even sure Faith really believes herself when she says “I don’t care”, but she’s at least trying to convince herself that she doesn’t. That doesn’t bode well.
As I see it, a lot of Faith’s problem stems from insecurity, even an inferiority complex. She lost her first Watcher due to her own perceived fault. She fell for Gwendolyn Post. Taking responsibility now would require another admission of failure and she’s not able to handle that.
A few minor points:
Speaking of Watchers, the introduction of Wesley gives us a parallel case of a shadow self, this time for Giles. The scene where they simultaneously clean their glasses clues us in to their similarity. That and the British accent, the height, the stuffiness, etc.
Lots of viewers saw lesbian subtext in certain scenes in this episode (a lot of the dialogue, the heart on the window, all the pelvic thrusting, the dancing). That was definitely present. Doug Petrie says "… Faith was very attractive to Buffy in a lot of ways, so there was definitely this subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) lesbian subtext, where Faith is very seductive. She's like 'come play with me; let's be what we really are,' and Buffy has always been a lil bit uncomfortable with that….”
Usually the demon provides a metaphorical connection to the plot. The only things we really know about Balthazar are that (a) he lost his power and wants it back; and (b) his acolytes formed a duelist cult. I suppose we might see the duelling as a metaphor representing a struggle between Willow and Faith over Buffy. That’s pretty thin so if anyone else has a better suggestion, feel free to add it.
Bad Girls gives one plot detail which is a little cryptic and never clarified later so I’ll state what might be technically a minor spoiler: Balthazar was a demon who clashed with the Mayor. It was the Mayor who crippled him and whom Balthazar is referring to when he says “When he rises... you'll wish I'd killed you all.”
Trivia notes: (1) The name of the vampire cult, El Eliminati, is probably a play on the 18th Century secret society, the Illuminati. (2) As is widely known, Alexis Denisof, who plays Wesley, has been married to Alyson Hannigan since 2003. They’re one of at least 3 long-term Buffyverse couples (the others involve actors who haven’t appeared yet so I won’t mention them). (3) Buffy hates to be drowned because of Prophecy Girl, of course. (4) Buffy described the Eliminati as “out in Magnum Force”, which was a 1973 Clint Eastwood movie. (5) Giles described Wesley as “Captain Courageous”. Captains Courageous was a novel by Rudyard Kipling. (6) If you see a definite Lady Macbeth vibe to Faith scrubbing the blood from her shirt, that’s good. It was intended that way. (7) Here’s Joss’s stage direction for Wesley: “He thinks he’s Sean Connery but in fact he’s George Lazenby”. (8) The Gleaves mausoleum was named after writer Doug Petrie’s sister. (9) The inspiration for Balthazar came from the comic book villain Kingpin.
Consequences
Consequences reads like waking up with a hangover after a night of binge drinking. Maybe binge drinking that led to a hit and run accident.
The metaphor of Buffy’s dream in the teaser seems pretty obvious: she’s drowning morally, just as she did physically in Bad Girls, and it’s Faith who’s holding her under water by insisting that Buffy not “rat her out”. The metaphor ties in nicely to the fact that Faith dumped Finch’s body in the river. It’s also a prophecy: Finch’s body can still provide the clues which will “grab” the Slayers. In light of all this, you have to give “credit” to Faith for using the one argument that would successfully guilt Buffy into silence, namely mentioning Buffy’s concealment of Angel’s return.
Faith’s arguments justifying her behavior are as problematic as her unsuccessful attempted concealment of the crime. Take her first one for example:
“Faith: (steps closer) Buffy, I'm not gonna *see* anything. I missed the mark last night and I'm sorry about the guy. I really am! But it happens! Anyway, how many people do you think we've saved by now, thousands? And didn't you stop the world from ending? Because in my book, that puts you and me in the plus column.”
Faith wants to treat an individual human life as nothing more than an accounting chit, something to balance or trade as the case may be. For Buffy, each person is an end, not a means to achieve some greater goal. In contrast to Faith, she is “going to cry over some random guy who gets caught in the crossfire”. Buffy will consistently reject Faith’s argument throughout the series, no matter who makes it (and it will get made, repeatedly).
Faith next suggests an entitlement to special rules:
“Faith: You're still not seeing the big picture, B. Something made us different. We're warriors. We're built to kill.
Buffy: To kill demons! But it does *not* mean that we get to pass judgment on people like we're better than everybody else!
Faith: We *are* better!
Buffy is taken aback.
Faith: (exhilarated) That's right, better. People need us to survive. In the balance, nobody's gonna cry over some random bystander who got caught in the crossfire.”
Here’s writer Doug Petrie describing what he was trying to do in Buffy Magazine July 2004:
"Faith brings out a lot of stuff that, sooner or later, Buffy was going to have to deal with. What I like about Faith is that she's a character that forces you to take the whole premise seriously. That episode enabled us to get into the idea that, like it or not, whether they're good guys or bad guys, Buffy is a professional killer. We've gotten a lot of mileage out of the juxtaposition of Buffy being a blonde, southern California high school s
tudent who's also a professional killer of bad, non-human things. But she kills; that's her job, and what that episode got to do was take an unflinching look at this dark side of what it is they do. There's one scene in which Faith says, 'we're killers,' and Buffy says 'No, we're slayers' there's a difference.' But is there? So we got to really go pretty far with that…. Faith's idea of what they are isn't entirely accurate for Buffy. It's not wrong; that's what I love about Faith. She's not wrong; she's saying 'Let's call us what we are, we're killers,' and Buffy has a hard time with that."
And then later, but on the same theme, Faith again:
“Faith: (approaches Buffy) But that's not it. That's not what bothers you so much. What bugs you is you know I'm right. You know in your gut we don't need the law. We *are* the law.”
It’s pretty clear that Faith made this argument in order to evade her responsibility. It’s a way of saying “I have the power so I can do what I want.” You may remember this idea being mooted in Ted, that time by Buffy’s then-shadow figure, Cordelia:
“Cordelia: I don't get it. Buffy's the Slayer. Shouldn't she have...
Xander: What, a license to kill? (takes a bite of a cookie)
Cordelia: Well, not for fun. But she's like this superman. Shouldn't there be different rules for her?
Willow: Sure, in a fascist society.
Cordelia: Right! Why can't we have one of those?”
I’ve previously talked about the concept of responsibility in existentialist philosophy, but I don’t think I need to complicate matters here. Everyone can see that Faith’s refusal to accept responsibility for her actions was wrong. There are mitigating circumstances, there are “military” justifications for “collateral damage”. But none of them can possibly apply unless and until she owns her actions, as Buffy did immediately in Ted. “Giles: She's in denial. There *is* no help for her until she admits what happened.”
