Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Myth, Metaphor & Morality

by Field, Mark

  Noel’s comment references the passage in the episode which garnered the most attention, namely, the fight between Willow and Giles. I want to talk about it in detail, so I’ll quote the bulk of it here:

  GILES: (over his shoulder) You're a very stupid girl.

  Willow pauses chewing, slowly stops smiling and frowns.

  WILLOW: What? Giles...

  GILES: (turns to face her) Do you have any idea what you've done? The forces you've harnessed, the lines you've crossed?

  WILLOW: I thought you'd be ... impressed, or, or something.

  GILES: Oh, don't worry, you've ... made a very deep impression. Of everyone here ... you were the one I trusted most to respect the forces of nature.

  WILLOW: Are you saying you don't trust me?

  GILES: (intensely) Think what you've done to Buffy.

  WILLOW: I brought her back!

  GILES: At incredible risk!

  WILLOW: Risk? Of what? Making her deader?

  GILES: Of killing us all. Unleashing hell on Earth, I mean, shall I go on?

  WILLOW: No! (stands) Giles, I did what I had to do. I did what nobody else could do.

  GILES: Oh, there are others in this world who can do what you did. You just don't want to meet them. (turns away again)

  WILLOW: No, probably not, but ... well, they're the bad guys. I'm not a bad guy. (upset) I brought Buffy back into this world, a-and maybe the word you should be looking for is "congratulations."

  GILES: Having Buffy back in the world makes me feel ... indescribably wonderful, but I wouldn't congratulate you if you jumped off a cliff and happened to survive.

  WILLOW: That's not what I did, Giles.

  GILES: (angry) You were lucky.

  WILLOW: I wasn't lucky. I was amazing. And how would you know? You weren't even there.

  GILES: If I had been, I'd have bloody well stopped you. The magicks you channeled are more ferocious and primal than anything you can hope to understand, (even more angry) and you are lucky to be alive, you rank, arrogant amateur!

  Let’s look at this from both sides. Willow had to have been shocked by Giles’s reaction. She was very proud of what she’d accomplished. Moreover, she could reasonably have expected Giles to understand how extraordinary her accomplishment was and had no reason to think he would disapprove. While others have expressed doubts about her magic in the past (notably Oz in Fear, Itself), Giles never has since Willow volunteered to restore Angel’s soul in Becoming. During that time he often encouraged her to do spells (Something Blue; Primeval; The Replacement) or said nothing when she performed one which was obviously useful (Choices; Blood Ties; The Weight of the World). Giles strongly implied in the Bargaining 1 teaser that Sunnydale needed a Slayer, and he admits that he’s happy that Buffy is back. Willow could reasonably believe that Giles would be forgiving of her actions now that she was successful, even if he presumably wouldn’t have given her permission beforehand.

  I think Willow came to see Giles as a surrogate father. Her affection for him, and his for her, was obvious in Buffy v. Dracula and when he left in Bargaining. Instead of the praise she expected, he lashed out at her. He didn’t discuss it, he didn’t insist on the details of the spell, he didn’t ask her for her reasons. He didn’t really have the factual basis for his accusations (even if he was probably right). I see Willow as feeling hurt by the violence of his reaction, so her anger was pretty natural, though threatening Giles was over the top.

  But from Giles’s perspective, he’s not Willow’s “surrogate father”. He’s Buffy’s, and his duty is to her. Willow is so pleased with herself that she isn’t seeing the real problems Buffy’s having, but Giles can. Willow’s boastful pride to the contrary, the spell was far from perfect. She resurrected Buffy in her own coffin, from which she had to claw her way out. No one was there to greet her (not Willow’s fault, but still); she wandered all over town dazed and confused; and, while still suffering the trauma of resurrection, had to rescue her friends from demon hellions. Willow doesn’t know it yet, but her spell actually yanked Buffy out of heaven, a fact which Buffy is concealing in order to spare Willow’s own feelings. And those are just the consequences we know of to this point; there may be more later.

  One more point about Willow. She is, as I’ve suggested repeatedly, Buffy’s metaphorical spirit. In my reading of S6, Willow’s story will parallel Buffy’s thematically precisely because Buffy’s crisis in S6 is largely a crisis of the spirit. You should pay particular attention to Willow’s storyline in S6 with this idea in mind.

  Xander’s continuing refusal to tell anyone about the marriage suggests a fear of commitment which appears similar to Buffy’s reluctance to commit to adulthood (“No job? I wish.”). It also will parallel another story line which I’ll discuss beginning in episode 9, with Xander’s metaphorical role prominent in that. For now, the way Xander keeps dodging Anya might bring back memories of this dialogue from The Gift:

  Anya stares at him a moment, then slaps him across the face.

  XANDER: Can I take that as a "maybe"?

  ANYA: You're proposing to me!

  XANDER: Yes...

  ANYA: You're proposing to me 'cause we're gonna die! And you think it's romantic and sexy and, and you know you're not gonna have to go through with it 'cause the world's gonna end!

  Like Willow and Xander, Dawn’s metaphorical role is important to S6. There’s a hint of that in her dialogue with Tara:

  DAWN: Oh come on, Tara. I am so old enough to do research. Do you really think I'm not mature enough?

  TARA: I think you're very mature for your age ... but you're still only fifteen.

  DAWN: Right, fifteen. As in *teen*ager. You know, if you don't let me look at the pictures, I'm gonna learn everything I know about demons on the street.

  Tara sighs, hands her a book.

  TARA: Knock yourself out.

  DAWN: Thank you. See? (sits) No biggie. I can totally handle it.

  Season 6 often gets accused of dropping the metaphors, and it does at some crucial times, but they are present and the metaphorical roles of Willow, Xander, and Dawn are critical to the season.

  I found Flooded frustrating on first watch because it was so obvious that Buffy’s friends aren’t helping her adjust: “I just, I feel like I'm spending all of my time trying to be okay, so they don't worry. It's exhausting.” They don’t laugh at her jokes, they offer no solutions to her problems, they harp on her emotional withdrawal, almost everything they say is awkward or wrong, and they fight about her where she can hear them. What they’re doing is expecting her to behave as if nothing had happened to her, which is precisely the source of her concern. At the same time, they aren’t necessarily behaving very much like adults themselves. What I now realize is that Flooded fits right in with the season.

  Two final points:

  I’ve seen lots of debate regarding the role of the 3 nerds (above and beyond being arrested adolescents and a warning to Buffy). Viewers usually fall into one of two camps: they represent the audience, and the writers are making fun of us; they represent the writers. I go with the second interpretation. I see them as little kids telling stories to each other – just what the writers are doing when they hash out the show. There’s a lot of meta-commentary in S6 and even more in S7, and I’ll mention it from time to time.

  For purposes of the seasonal arc, it’s worth taking some time to satisfy yourself on the identity of the real scary monster(s) in this episode.

  Trivia notes: (1) Xander’s “we should start gathering up two of every animal” refers, of course, to Noah’s Ark. (2) Xander claims to be supportive like a flying buttress, which is a term from architecture. (3) The use of a gun (by the bank guard) is rare on the show and will be meaningful later in the season. (4) Warren’s “back things up a parsec” uses a term from astronomy. It’s a measure of distance equal to 3.26 light years (a bit over 19 trillion miles). (5) The original plan for the nerd trio was to use Brad Kane (Tucker Wells in The Prom; the voice of Jonathan
singing in Superstar) as the third member. Brad was unavailable, so Tom Lenk (previously one of Harmony’s minions in Real Me) was substituted as “Tucker’s brother”, Andrew. (6) The nerds make so many Star Wars and Star Trek references that I’m not going to even try to annotate them all. I assume they’re familiar to most viewers. (7) Willow’s mention of the Blair Witch refers to the movie of that title. (8) Giles’ argument with Willow about magic reminds me of what he told her in Becoming 1: “Giles: (very concerned) W-Willow... channeling... such potent magicks through yourself, it could open a door that you may not be able to close.” (9) Buffy calls the demon a “mook” which is a slang term for an unpleasant person. (10) Buffy’s “no…more…full…copper…re-pipe” is a reference to the movie Mommie Dearest. (11) Giles’s reference to getting knocked unconscious brings to mind Cordelia’s comment in Gingerbread: “Cordelia: Things are way out of control, Giles. First the thing at school, and then my mom confiscates all of my black clothes and scented candles. I came over here to tell Buffy to stop this craziness and found you all unconscious... again. How many times have you been knocked out, anyway?” (12) Angel learned that Buffy was alive in the AtS episode Carpe Noctem.

  Life Serial

  Without straying into spoilers, I can say that I think Life Serial foreshadows some very important themes for S6, including what some of the characters will do later on. Note particularly in each of the first 3 vignettes what the nerd is trying to accomplish with Buffy and how he goes about it. As we get to later episodes I’ll come back to this; for now, avoiding spoilers limits what I can say about the episode. As this promise of future relevance suggests, Life Serial is an important episode. The additional fact that I think it’s hilarious makes it one of the highlights of the season for me.

  As usual, the classroom lesson relates to the theme of the episode. Note that the teacher’s name is Mike and see trivia note 1. Here’s the dialogue from that scene:

  “MIKE: Social Construction of Reality. Who can tell me what that is? (many students raise their hands including Willow) Rachel.

  RACHEL: A concept involving a couple of opposing theories, one stressing the externality and independence of social reality from individuals. (Buffy looks confused) MIKE: And the flip side? (many hands raised) Steve?

  STEVE: That each individual participates fully in the construction of his or her own life….

  WILLOW: (lowers hand, speaks to Mike) Because social phenomena don't have unproblematic objective existences. They have to be interpreted and given meanings by those who encounter them.”

  Cutting through the jargon, what they’re collectively saying is that there are competing theories about the extent to which people have control over their own lives. The question is whether individuals (1) live their lives under the influence of external events over which they have no control (remember my post on Goodbye Iowa about Foucault and the extent to which society tries to mold us into conformity); or (2) can actually play a role in creating their own lives, at least in part by interpreting what others are doing, namely by deciding on their own what meaning to attribute to the actions of others and thus how they themselves will respond to those actions. See more here.

  The remainder of the episode then consists of Buffy searching for alternative ways of living her life – trying them out serially, to emphasize the pun – as she faces challenges which require her to interpret and give meaning to the actions of others. Buffy’s unable to do that; she fails to understand what the Trio are doing and therefore isn’t able to discover how their actions are affecting her life. As of now, Buffy is acting as if Rachel’s definition was correct: the world exists external to her and she’s simply buffeted (heh) by those events. Or, to use Spike’s wording, “So you, uh, just what? Gonna let this whoever play you till it figures out what kills you?” And Buffy gives her own answer: “I let the demon set the rules.”

  The nerds don’t do anything to Buffy in the 4th vignette, but it still follows the same principles I mentioned above. I’ll discuss this when we get to episode 10.

  Trivia notes: (1) The title, as usual, has multiple meanings, but one of them seems to be a reference to the old commercials for Life Cereal. (2) Warren’s “Francis 7, this is Logan 5” is from the 1976 movie Logan’s Run. (3) The picture Buffy looks at in Tara’s art book is Bernini’s Ecstasy of St. Theresa. I’m not certain, but I suspect the message is that Buffy appears lost in ecstasy while time passes. (4) Tony’s phrase “out on the DL” uses a baseball term meaning “disabled list” and used for players unable to play because of injury. IOW, he’s got men out sick or injured. (5) Tony’s reference to Buffy as “Gidget” refers to the 1960s TV show of that name. (6) J-boxes, which Danny was supposed to put in, are junction boxes for electrical connections. (7) The petrified hamsters are apparently in the basement because Giles said in Tough Love that nobody was ever satisfied with them. (8) The Star Trek:TNG episode where the Enterprise kept blowing up was Cause and Effect. (9) The X-Files episode where the bank kept exploding was Monday. (10) Warren’s “the mummy hand has ceased to be” and Andrew’s “it is an ex-mummy hand” both play off the Monty Python routine of the Dead Parrot. (11) Presumably Spike’s motorcycle is the one he took from the demons in Bargaining 2. (12) Final Jeopardy is the last round on the TV show Jeopardy. (13) Dr. No was the first James Bond film. Sean Connery starred as Bond. (14) Warren’s “don’t make me pull over” is what parents stereotypically say to children in the car when they’re misbehaving. (15) The check Giles gave to Buffy was for $10,000. The prop was auctioned on eBay in August 2004 and sold for $990.

  All The Way

  All the Way is a very light episode, though with some disturbing incidents along the way leading up to an ending that should be very disturbing indeed. Still, the main plot seems like fluff, but I don’t think it is. IMO, this episode serves a structural purpose similar to that in Bad Eggs. As I pointed out then, Bad Eggs had a strong sexual theme because Buffy was about to have sex with Angel in the very next episode (Surprise). The events of All the Way are setting up some events which will take place in the next three episodes. Of course those future events are All About Buffy.

  The episode seems Dawn-centric, but there’s an important point about Buffy as well. She’s not failing in her adult responsibilities just because she needs money (Flooded) or lacks a career path (Life Serial). At the end of All the Way she outright shirks her parental role, forcing Giles to discipline Dawn. We might excuse her lack of money as not her fault at all, and we might cut her some slack on the life path because, after all, she’s not even 21 yet. But for her to fail Dawn after the events of S5 is a sign that something is very wrong. You can see that from the look on Giles’s face.

  There’s plenty of metaphor too, though we won’t see the payoff for a while. Xander (Buffy’s heart) represses his obvious doubts and announces the engagement to Anya. Again I don’t want to spoil things, but this seems important to me for understanding Buffy’s path. I’ll discuss this in connection with episode 10.

  Willow (Buffy’s spirit) very seriously abuses Tara. This will turn out to be extremely important for Buffy’s journey in S6, both in plot and in metaphor. The cause of their fight was Willow’s use of magic: unnecessary at first, downright crazy later on. This is an important point of departure for S6. Where magic was a metaphor for the love between Willow and Tara in S4 (e.g., Who Are You?) and S5 (e.g., Family), it’s now become a source of friction. The metaphor is shifting, though this is more obvious in hindsight than it was at the time, and this shift resulted in some confusion in the audience.

  On its own terms, erasing Tara’s memory of their fight is easily the worst thing Willow has done thus far. It’s a violation of Tara’s mind and integrity, one which is particularly offensive in light of what Glory did to Tara last season. Willow isn’t treating Tara as an equal, as a subject (to use the existentialist term), but as an object to be manipulated for her own convenience. She’s treating Tara no better than Warren treated April.

/>   I’ve seen viewers compare the forget spell to Willow’s spell in Something Blue, but I see that previous spell as intrinsically different. In Something Blue, Willow cast the spell to control herself. That was unwise, and it backfired so that it ended up affecting others, but she didn’t intend that. Here, for the first time, her intent was solely and exclusively to harm another person (I don’t count Glory). Willow is using Tara, and that’s inexcusable.

  Willow’s proposed spell to shift the patrons at the Bronze into an alternate dimension can safely be described as insane. Her success in resurrecting Buffy has obviously given her an arrogance which is incompatible with the prudent use of the power she possesses.

  The one thing I can say on Willow’s behalf is that underlying her arrogance, she’s still fundamentally insecure, just as she has been from the beginning. What self-confidence she has is completely tied up in her ability with magic. Thus, when anyone challenges her use of magic, she interprets that as questioning the very source of her self-confidence. For this reason, the way Giles confronted her in Flooded seems to have had the opposite of its intended effect, and set the stage for Willow to resist even Tara’s much gentler criticisms here. Then Tara innocently mentioned Giles, and that’s what set Willow off. The consequences will reverberate throughout the remainder of the series.

  Trivia notes: (1) For non-English speakers, to “go all the way” is American slang for having sexual intercourse. When Zack and Justin use it to talk about Dawn and Janice, the dialogue makes full use of the “biting = sex” metaphor. (2) Xander is geographically challenged. Katmandu is a city (in Nepal), not a country, and it’s landlocked. (3) Giles is a bit confused too – Ahab was not a pirate. (4) Anya’s joke about angels named Charlie refers to the TV series Charlie’s Angels. Anya’s hair is like that of Farrah Fawcett, who starred on that show. (5) Xander’s promise to teach Anya to play “Shiver Me Timbers” is a pun. It’s a stereotypical pirate expression as well as a euphemism for the penis (hence Tara’s response that she’s not much for the timber). (6) Dawn taking the coin involves a plot point which began in Intervention and will come to fruition later in the season. (7) Spike’s reference to The Great Pumpkin is to the annual Charlie Brown Halloween special on TV. (8) Buffy refers to previous Halloween episodes when she reminds Giles about costumes which take over your personality (Halloween) and Irish fear demons (Fear, Itself). (9) Kaltenbach is humming the song “Pop Goes the Weasel” when we first see him. (9) Buffy’s “you caught us with our parties down” plays off the phrase “caught with his pants down”, meaning surprised. (10) Janice and Dawn use the same device to fool their parents/guardians as the SG used in Surprise. (11) Janice’s reference to her mother as “the Mominator” plays off the Terminator. (12) Zack’s reference to Kaltenbach as “looney tunes” is an American slang expression meaning he’s crazy. (13) Zack’s “Pumpkins. Very dangerous. You go first.” plays off a similar line in Raiders of the Lost Ark. (14) Xander’s “once more into the breach” paraphrases Henry V’s speech at Harfleur in Henry V, Act III. (15) Dawn’s claim that she never pays for lipstick recalls Buffy’s words in Becoming 1: “You're not from Bullock's, are you? Cause I-I meant to pay for that lipstick.” (16) Willow silenced the crowd at the Bronze using the Arabic word “sukut” (silence). She returned the room to normal with “tukulum” (talk). (17) Buffy refers to Dawn “parking” which is American slang for finding a private spot to park the car and make out. (18) Justin’s “trick or treat” is what American kids say when they go door to door on Halloween.