#my respect for book's acting vs. my shipping goggles

[forcebookish]

If you don't answer, I'll take that as a yes.

[theclacks]

Buffy Thoughts - S6E20 (Villains) & S6E21 (Two to Go)

I’m just prefacing all my episode recaps with a single gif now.

So those were episodes that happened. Holy shit Willow flayed Warren alive that was NOT how I expected him to go.

Let’s see, what else...

I have EXTREMELY mixed feelings about Buffy x Spike right now because it’s all “Spike just tried to rape me but Dawn needs stay with someone safe and she wants to stay with Spike so fuck it, let’s go drop my sister off with Spike”. Like goddamn, this is the most tonally dissonant ship that’s ever existed. I don’t know whether or not the writers like it, whether or not they want the fans to like, or really where they’re going period. Because LET’S RECAP:

1. Extremely touching reunion + confiding secrets  =  PRO SPUFFY

2. More confiding + drinking buddies  =  PRO SPUFFY

3. Musical finale with epic first kiss + swelling violins and all that jazz  =  PRO SPUFFY

4. First time sex with meaningful eye gazing and intense emotional music  = PRO SPUFFY

5. Buffy hiding the relationship + having an emotional breakdown  =  ANTI SPUFFY

6. Tara being a bro about the relationship  =  PRO SPUFFY

7. Buffy ultimately breaking up with Spike  =  ANTI SPUFFY

8. Buffy and Spike having heart-to-hearts again  =  PRO SPUFFY

9. EVERYTHING IN SEEING RED  =  ANTI SPUFFY

And... it’s like, I’m fine with complex grey areas, but this is like beyond complex grey areas. It’s like “we don’t have an actual game plan” areas. It’s just extremely frustrating because it’s like this giant tug-of-rope with show vs tell, and everything that gets SHOWN in Season 6 is pro-Spuffy: Buffy confides secrets in Spike that she doesn’t with anyone else. He’s the perfect combo of respective silence + distracting snark. They have chemistry. They like being around each other. They make each other smile. Buffy trusts him to have her back in a fight. Buffy trusts him with her sister.

That’s all SHOWN.

And then the show goes around and TELLS us all these anti-Spuffy things: Buffy says she confides in Spike because she doesn’t see him as a person. She says she doesn’t love him. She says they can’t ever work together because they... can’t? Apparently?

And Seeing Red... I don’t know, I think it’s because for the longest time Spike’s attempted rape was the ONLY thing I knew about Buffy the show, but it feel like something that HAD to happen because I knew it did vs something that SHOULD’VE happened because it evolved naturally from the show?

And I don’t know how much of that is shipper goggles and how much of that is me analyzing fiction for so long, that I’ve started separating characters at times from authorial intent. (I don’t care what the book says, JK Rowling; there would’ve been AT LEAST one Slytherin student that stayed behind for the final battle.) But yeah.

If anyone wants me to continue rambling about my conflicted thoughts on the attempted rape scene, I will, but honestly I’m assuming there’s already been 13 years of back and forths and complete multi-page essays on the subject, so yeah. Moving on.

Buffy and Dawn went to Spike’s crypt and he wasn’t there and Clem was instead and I cheered because YAY CLEM. And Dawn stayed with him and then dragged him out to find Mr Magic Drug Dealer, and I was like nooooo. Nooooooo, Dawn. Don’t you dare get Clem killed. I can’t take another death. Not after Tara.

And I got REALLY worried when Dawn left Clem in the lobby of Mr. Magic Drug Dealer because I was sure he was about to snuff it via evil!Willow. And then she and Buffy showed up and the show kind of glossed over Clem being there and I was happy.

Which, brief aside, I love Alyson Hannigan, but I am not a fan of her “evil” acting. She just feels “boring” blank as opposed to “creepy” blank. But I do like her makeup... so yeah.

What else... oh, I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what Spike is doing over in magical quest land. I got spoiled for one thing that happens for Season 7. Well, two things... but I’m starting to think that the first thing isn’t going to happen in this season’s finale like I thought, but with the FINALE finale. And the other thing seems too small to be devoting this much time to mystical quest arc? IDK. Spike what are you doing? What are the writers having you do? I don’t know anything anymore.

And then SUDDEN CLIFFHANGER ENDING WITH GILES. I won’t lie, I knew Giles was coming back eventually, but I thought it’d be like this:

Not like this:

Although I still blame Giles for a lot of the shit that went down this season. Will get more into that with my full season recap. For now, I’ll end with stuff I think/want to happen in the final episode of season six.

1. Willow gets de-evil!Willow-fied

2. Clem lives

3. Anya lives

4. Spike comes back to Sunnydale because otherwise wtf is the point of his mystical quest thing

5. Jonathan lives

6. Giles gets chewed out for leaving ONE EPISODE AFTER BUFFY REVEALED SHE WAS SUICIDAL like come on wtf

7. Dawn and Spike have one more moment of being bros. I don’t even care about Spike and Buffy anymore. Just let me have Dawn and Spike being bros