Notes on Buffy 3.03: Faith, Hope and Trick

[2maggie2]

Standard disclaimer: I'll often speak of foreshadowing, but that doesn't mean I'm at all committing to the idea that there was some fixed design from the word go -- it's a short hand for talking about the resonances that end up in the text as it unspools.

Standard spoiler warning: The notes are written for folks who have seen all of BtVS and AtS.

Comments

[norwie2010]

Buffy’s confession is actually a very revealing sequence for Willow as well.

It goes even deeper than that. This episode shows the fundamentally opposing trajectories of Buffy's and Willow's narrative: Buffy's greatest tragedy and loss is Willow's greatest triumph and win. While Willow gets the tragedy of Buffy in that scene, she gets confirmation that she is "all that", too. Magic, more precisely her magic, is powerful and able to change the story (in a very dark and tragic way: She changes a hard battle vs. Angelus into Buffy having to kill Angel).

And Willow gets off on it.

Strudel here

[norwie2010]

I agree that Willow -- on some level -- must be jazzed that her spell worked, even as she is mortified. I initially read this scene with that emotion in the ascendant, but Max convinced me that, even as she immediately moves towards Giles to help with the spell, she does it with a downcast, concerned look. For the moment, anyway, it looks like her genuine concern for Buffy trumps any pride she might feel in the realization that she can do more than just float a feather.

Re: Strudel here

[norwie2010]

Oh, certainly. I mean "opposing trajectories" in a more general sense, which is shown here.

[beer_good_foamy]

Faith’s example gives Buffy the courage to go and tell Giles what really happened with Angel and Acathla.

...and she does so by unceremoniously ramming something sharp through the heart of the source (or metaphorical representation) of her problems. At Buffy's insistance that she "not die." It's a pretty unsentimental but also spot-on commentary of "Becoming," though much like Angel returning at the end of the episode, it doesn't actually solve anything.

which led to Kendra’s death at the hands of Angel’s creation Drusilla because Buffy fell for Angel’s trap.

Yup. This is one of those things I kind of wish had been addressed more; Kendra is pretty much forgotten after "Becoming", it would have been nice to get some sort of conversation about her. (Come to think of it, I think I've ficced at least three variations on Faith learning more about Kendra.)

She thinks he’s hot! I would say it's more that Faith, at this point, has a very clear MO when it comes to making first impressions - especially where men are concerned. She

[2maggie2]

Fair point about Faith's flirtation with all men. But I still like the Faith/Giles vibe of NFFY!! Mostly I wanted the chance to just say how great that was.

See some of the commentary below about Scott Hope being not quite so hopeful. I still like the way he contrasts with Angel. I like your read of him as a precursor to Riley -- who Buffy will turn to in the wake of Angel/Parker.

Glad to have you back! I understand about getting burnt out on meta!

[beer_good_foamy]

Oh, I don't disagree that the ring thing is pretty creepy (not to mention shoddy writing waaaaaaaaay too big a coincidence for me to buy it, even if you can find claddagh rings in any trinket store. Couldn't they just have had him give her a rose and nod back to "Passion"?) In drama, the role of hope is always to be squashed, and things that look good at first sight inevitably end up... um, not good. These three remain, and the greatest of them is tricking both the audience and the characters... ;)

Glad to have you back!

Thanks!

[ceciliaj]

Willow's perspective is whacked indeed. Whoa.

I really enjoyed reading these thoughts on Faith -- it's true that she's used as a mirror throughout the season, but I like that you're also getting into her POV and acknowledging her often surprisingly rational perspective.

And THANK YOU for pointing out that it's totally creepy for Scott Hope to give Buffy a ring this early on. To me, the gay retcon totally works -- he's trying way too hard to present himself as a nice guy who no reasonable girl would turn down. He could tell that Buffy wasn't actually going to try to get to know him deeply / try to have sex with him, so she was a perfect candidate for his fake girlfriend.

[blackfrancine]

And THANK YOU for pointing out that it's totally creepy for Scott Hope to give Buffy a ring this early on. To me, the gay retcon totally works -- he's trying way too hard to present himself as a nice guy who no reasonable girl would turn down. He could tell that Buffy wasn't actually going to try to get to know him deeply / try to have sex with him, so she was a perfect candidate for his fake girlfriend.

Yes. That ring moment--so inappropriate. Way creepy.

And interesting point about the gay retcon--it makes sense that if he thought Buffy actually might be developing an interest in him, wanting to get to know him--that he'd dump her (as he does in Homecoming).

[2maggie2]

Even though I don't like Faith in the sense that the last thing I'd ever want to do is hang out with her -- for some reason, I read season 3 from her POV. So you'll be getting a lot of that! She's flawed and dark, for sure. But she's not random in her madness.

I'd never have read Hope as gay, but I totally see your point.

[local_max]

Scott came out a few years after he broke up with Buffy--Holden mentioned it in Conversations with Dead People. See, your lack of enthusiasm for CWDP has consequences! :)

Part 1 (I have no idea why I have so much to say)

[blackfrancine]

We get the single most telling shot of Faith when Buffy looks out from the kitchen to see Faith wolfing down food. It plays as evidence of Faiths’ ‘living large’ persona. But it should be read as what it is. Faith is starving. For love. For a place. For a sense of herself. And quite literally for food.

I also think this scene is interesting from Buffy's perspective--she sees Faith as eating her fries, dominating the conversation with her mother, etc. She's so consumed with fear that Faith wants to take away her identity--her calling, friends and family--that she's blind to Faith's obvious needs.

I wonder how we would fold in the information from Conversations with Dead People that Scott, post-breakup, went around spreading rumours that Buffy was gay. Probably it’s just a joke. But it does hurt the presentation in retrospect of Scott as unwilling to lie or play games. Probably, it was just a joke and we should continue to read Scott’s openness as generally the real deal.This is perhaps even more interesting when you

Re: Part 2 (I have no idea why I have so much to say)

[blackfrancine]

Maybe Giles just doesn’t want Buffy feeling like she owes him anything, and doesn’t want to damage the delicate professionalism of the Watcher/slayer relationship.

I think this is in some ways exactly what it is--but I also think Giles is unsure that his paternal feelings toward Buffy are appropriate (and we'll find out why in Helpless, I guess). He's struggling with these 2 opposing pulls--to be a father to Buffy and to be a member of the Council.

That Giles and Faith have the tiniest bit of UST might be why Giles doesn’t take much of a paternal role with her. She seems more grown up, so he doesn’t recognize Faith’s emotional needs as clearly as he recognizes Buffy’s.This may be true, but I also think that his paternal role with Buffy evolved naturally. They started with a working relationship, and over the course of time, seeing the trauma Buffy experienced and experiencing trauma along with her, they bonded--and his role as watcher and age and knowledge, etc all naturally lent itself to becoming a father figure. Faith and

Re: Part 2 (I have no idea why I have so much to say)

[ceciliaj]

If she broke the small rules as well, she'd have to consider herself a rule breaker and then think about the implications of that. But since she's a rule follower, she doesn't have to think about it. She can break the rules that allow her to prove that she can do anything she wants.

Ohhhhhh yes. So much good girl/bad girl stuff here.

Re: Part 2 (I have no idea why I have so much to say)

[local_max]

On Giles: good point on trying to make sure his feelings are appropriate ones. The shadow of the Council looms over his interactions, it's true. As far as Faith, I think you're right. What really bothers me, and I think I framed it badly by talking about "paternal" feelings, is that he generally has a lack of concern for Faith in these episodes. In season one, he was still training Buffy and devoting a lot of energy to her. It's his job. With Faith, he never seems to pay much attention to her except occasionally when he's training both Buffy and Faith together. It's not necessary to have mushy feelings for her. Which leads me back to the idea that he's a bit run down and can only really spare energy to be concerned about Buffy, or that he somehow thinks Faith can take care of herself, or both.

Perhaps. Actually, I think this might be how Willow would rationalize the schism in her rule breaking.

Yeah, I specifically was talking about how she rationalized it.

. But really, what I see is the challenge of it. She wants to see

[bluemage55]

Her lack of perspective is genuine though; Willow has no internal mechanism for distinguishing between arbitrary rules and important ones.

Hmm, that does explain a lot. With no moral compass, her tendency to do bad things later on when she has enough power seems almost appropriate. It makes her willingness to magically tamper with her friends' (and Tara's) minds represent not so much an extreme addiction, but simply the logical consequence of what happens if she's tempted in a situation where there she wasn't taught rules for (e.g. most questions of magical ethics).

Also, it puts an interesting spin on her friendship with Xander: growing up he probably acted as her conscience the way he does for the group later on, keeping her out of trouble (likely reciprocating for her brains looking out for him), possibly setting a house on fire notwithstanding. As they grow apart over the course of the series, Willow grows more and more out of control as his influence diminishes, until his cooldown hug in Grave brings her back from the brink.

[local_max]

Hmm, that does explain a lot. With no moral compass, her tendency to do bad things later on when she has enough power seems almost appropriate. It makes her willingness to magically tamper with her friends' (and Tara's) minds represent not so much an extreme addiction, but simply the logical consequence of what happens if she's tempted in a situation where there she wasn't taught rules for (e.g. most questions of magical ethics).

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think she does have some instincts as far as right and wrong, but mostly I think she has a desire to be good, not a lot of knowledge how and a big brain that tries to make sense of the world and often fails. Plus, a tendency to rationalize evil actions from her as being harmless.

Also, it puts an interesting spin on her friendship with Xander: growing up he probably acted as her conscience the way he does for the group later on, keeping her out of trouble (likely reciprocating for her brains looking out for him), possibly setting a house on fire notwithstanding. As they grow

[bluemage55]

Xander also always talks about Willow as she of the level head and doesn't seem to think she has a history of narrowly avoided delinquency.

Narrowly avoided delinquency, certainly not, since her academic mother would have laid down rules around school-related behavior that Willow would have blindly obeyed. As I eluded to earlier, I think the real problems for Willow would be areas where the rules aren't clearly established.

When we see her play the "Deliver" trick on Cordelia, for example, we can see that she has the capacity to be mean if desired, so I could certainly see her abusing her intellect to manipulate those around her in a borderline sociopathic manner. I kinda wish there were some published materials (e.g. novels, comics, etc.) that explored pre-Buffy Sunnydale. Seeing little!Willow alone would be worth it, let alone Xander, Cordy, or others.

Strudel here

[bluemage55]

I like your observation that there is a correlation between Xander's diminishing influence and Willow's increasing lack of control. That correlation is especially interesting because it begins to take hold right after Willow learns that she can move on after being rejected by Xander. She finds Oz, and she finds magic, right at that critical juncture. So, the girl who was rejected by Xander, and who was the nerdy sidekick to superhero Buffy, needs something else. Unfortunately, being a groupie apparently wasn't enough to establish her independent identity. She needed much, much more. Of course, she'll reserve her anger for Buffy (the perpetual outsider) but is she sublimating -- after all this time -- an anger at Xander?