Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 3x19 – Choices
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tori_reviewsHappy New Year all. Now for the blog to go back into hibernation until I build the backlog back up. Hopefully just a couple weeks, I would like to do better at this in 2024, but I make no promises.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 3x19 – Choices
(After another unintended break in reviewing, though mostly owing to other shows I was working on…some of the time.)
I like this episode a lot. I wish I loved it, but this at least manages not to fall into the annoying gap between liking and loving and manages to make it to the like a lot level. It also gave me a fair number of thoughts to work through, although they’re pretty scattered.
I continue to have a problem that I don’t understand Faith’s motivations. It doesn’t help that this episode takes time to reference the Faith/Angel angle which came out of nowhere but seems to be treated like it was a real sticking point. Down the road I will probably still get something out of their relationship, but not at this stage. Did they even share a scene before Consequences, when he was trying to tempt her back to the light side?
The other thing this episode seems to be using as Faith’s motivation has to do with wanting someone and something that’s hers. But I don’t like this as a motivation for her throwing all in the with Mayor. It’s something that makes sense for why she stays and is so committed to him (sort of, but we’ll double back to that), but not why she joined up in the first place. That part still doesn’t make sense, especially since, when she joined up, it was the Mayor showing that he doesn’t care that much about his lackeys (Allan or Trick).
It seems like a lot of the reasons I don’t get for Faith sticking with the Mayor *can* be countered, but my own ways of countering them paint a pretty disturbing picture of Faith’s psyche. I would think Faith is the sort of person who wouldn’t want to be on team ending-the-world if only the basis that she has to live there…but maybe she does want to burn the world down even if she isn’t alive in it. I want to argue that didn’t she always like hunting vampires and being the Slayer…but maybe she just likes killing, and vamps stopped being enough. Even barring the goal of ending the world, I find the Mayor’s treatment of her creepy…but Faith is kind of the type who’s vulnerable to falling into a borderline to full on abusive relationship; while thinking she isn’t because of how strong she thinks she is.
And yeah, I want to talk about the Mayor and Faith a bit. While we’ve had scenes between them over the last few episodes, this is the most detailed look we’ve had of their relationship. I know this dynamic has been analyzed over the last 20+ years, so I’m not sure if I’m bringing anything new to the table, but these are my reactions.
One thing I do remember seeing is paralleling Faith and the Mayor with Buffy and Giles, but those are usually done by people who default to a father-daughter reading of both relationships, and I’m not going to apply it to either. I think it’s more fitting with Faith and the Mayor, but to me that’s more down to the Mayor’s personality (both how he generally comes off and how he as a character chooses to relate to a lot of people) than being quite the right word to apply to how he and Faith relate to each other.
I’m inclined to think that if you asked him, he would be most willing to call it a father’s love, and claim that he really does love her. Problem is that he’s, well, something of a sociopath; even barring his intent to literally become the most powerful god being on the Earth. There’s also a noticeable Pretty Woman vibe, a bit of evil mentor, commander and henchman, she’s a bit of a pet/attack dog for him as the master, and definitely an abuser and victim. Even Faith sometimes seems concerned about his mood swings, which makes her claiming that he’s the person who is ‘hers’ all the more tragic.
So I guess it is fair to compare Faith-Mayor and Buffy-Giles if one is more or less saying that both relationships are complicated and not so easily defined as all that.
However, if one does want to do some comparing, I think the more telling comparison is with Wesley. Faith is subordinate to the Mayor, and Wes *thinks* Buffy is meant to be subordinate to him. He sees the role of Watcher as a superior position, a paternalistic role, the commander, the master of the Slayer as attack dog. But Buffy alternates between partner and commander, not subordinate.
It stands out now how much the show is ramping up to Buffy being the General in the Graduation battle. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about it in later seasons, because I know I didn’t like Buffy as military general in s7 back in the day, but I might see something to it; we’ll see. Right now it’s about her assuming the rights and responsibilities of being an adult. Which I know is going to stumble somewhat after this season, but I’m waiting to see if it ends up working for me more than it did long ago.
That’s really kind of a theme in this episode with all the younger characters. They’re all settling into the people they want to be/will continue to grow as. Except maybe Xander, and that maybe feels a little intentional; I’m not sure, but he is set to go on a different path from the others next season, so it could be setup, or if could be him getting lost with the show having one or two too many characters. While Buffy, Willow, even Oz, and somewhat even Cordy, are asserting that they are making choices toward their futures, Xander is…kind of not. He’s latching onto other people having and making choices. He’ll brag on Willow’s options, but he’s clearly floundering for his own place in things going forward. As much as I appreciate the Scoobies working as a well-oiled machine, Xander does end up in the role of errand guy and backup to other people’s plans. They do need that guy, but it does have a bit of a vibe of him getting lost in the shuffle of other things going on.
As far as justifying why characters who could and maybe should be going somewhere grand for college, they do about as well as they can with Willow here. There is a higher calling to her staying in Sunnydale and fighting demons and such, and there are things she does have better access to in this town than she would at prestigious colleges. Though, again, I’m not sure how well this is carried over into s4. As I recall she gets kind of distracted from the passion for the fight that kept her there initially.
Ever so briefly, the show flirts with the idea of giving Cordy some actual plot and development, but it kind of serves to highlight how little she’s had to do for a long time now. The show didn’t show us her having to deal with problems at home, nor hinted at what’s been going on with her, it just popped something in for a couple episodes near the end here. Her initial scene of walking past just to mock the Scoobies is a lot of she’s been doing for episodes now; and the fact that she keeps doing it is the only thing that makes Xander not look like a complete asshole. They’re both going out of their way to antagonize the other; only Cordy spreads it out to the whole gang while Xander’s attacks are more pointed. But if Cordy’s been having stuff going on at home, it makes all of them look a little terrible for not being there for her. She was their friend; even if they would take Xander’s side, she was the wronged party in their breakup. Of course, they don’t know how close they all got to being wished to death, because the show didn’t let any lessons be learned, but that’s not the problem on the table right now.
I suspect I’m going to have a lot to say on the Buffy and Angel breakup next episode, including how unnecessary Joyce’s interference was, but I also have stuff to address here. Because even before the Mayor inserts himself with an opinion, the episode is already showing that the writing was already on the wall for Buffy and Angel to breakup. There’s no variety to their relationship, they fight demons, protect the world, and declare their undying love for each other; they don’t actually like each other all that much though, nor do they actually live in each other’s worlds.
And then then the Mayor does air out the hard truths of their relationship. It’s pretty clear that they both know he has a point, and that neither of them has an answer for it beyond ‘nah-uh.’ They weren’t ready to admit that this relationship couldn’t work, but their relationship literally can’t go anywhere; and I don’t mean their inability to do the sex, the number of new things they can try is seriously limited. Which actually would have been something to explore between Angel and Faith, they’d have room to grow and build new connections and ways of being with each other, which Buffy and Angel don’t have at this point.
Which does lead into thoughts on next episode I suppose.
What am I shipping?
I had a lot of shipping thoughts this episode, though little of it was fully baked. Willow and Oz remain cute. I kind of want Willow and Faith to make out and have some hate-sex. While not much in focus, my Buffy/Giles senses like what we get. The ending is super Buffy/Willow cute including them going on a date at the end (and the line about ‘thinking things are one way but then they’re not’ makes an easy read as ‘you think they’re friends but they’re falling in love’). Some Scooby quad-ple would be fine too.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 3x19 – Choices
(After another unintended break in reviewing, though mostly owing to other shows I was working on…some of the time.)
I like this episode a lot. I wish I loved it, but this at least manages not to fall into the annoying gap between liking and loving and manages to make it to the like a lot level. It also gave me a fair number of thoughts to work through, although they’re pretty scattered.
I continue to have a problem that I don’t understand Faith’s motivations. It doesn’t help that this episode takes time to reference the Faith/Angel angle which came out of nowhere but seems to be treated like it was a real sticking point. Down the road I will probably still get something out of their relationship, but not at this stage. Did they even share a scene before Consequences, when he was trying to tempt her back to the light side?
The other thing this episode seems to be using as Faith’s motivation has to do with wanting someone and something that’s hers. But I don’t like this as a motivation for her throwing all in the with Mayor. It’s something that makes sense for why she stays and is so committed to him (sort of, but we’ll double back to that), but not why she joined up in the first place. That part still doesn’t make sense, especially since, when she joined up, it was the Mayor showing that he doesn’t care that much about his lackeys (Allan or Trick).
It seems like a lot of the reasons I don’t get for Faith sticking with the Mayor *can* be countered, but my own ways of countering them paint a pretty disturbing picture of Faith’s psyche. I would think Faith is the sort of person who wouldn’t want to be on team ending-the-world if only the basis that she has to live there…but maybe she does want to burn the world down even if she isn’t alive in it. I want to argue that didn’t she always like hunting vampires and being the Slayer…but maybe she just likes killing, and vamps stopped being enough. Even barring the goal of ending the world, I find the Mayor’s treatment of her creepy…but Faith is kind of the type who’s vulnerable to falling into a borderline to full on abusive relationship; while thinking she isn’t because of how strong she thinks she is.
And yeah, I want to talk about the Mayor and Faith a bit. While we’ve had scenes between them over the last few episodes, this is the most detailed look we’ve had of their relationship. I know this dynamic has been analyzed over the last 20+ years, so I’m not sure if I’m bringing anything new to the table, but these are my reactions.
One thing I do remember seeing is paralleling Faith and the Mayor with Buffy and Giles, but those are usually done by people who default to a father-daughter reading of both relationships, and I’m not going to apply it to either. I think it’s more fitting with Faith and the Mayor, but to me that’s more down to the Mayor’s personality (both how he generally comes off and how he as a character chooses to relate to a lot of people) than being quite the right word to apply to how he and Faith relate to each other.
I’m inclined to think that if you asked him, he would be most willing to call it a father’s love, and claim that he really does love her. Problem is that he’s, well, something of a sociopath; even barring his intent to literally become the most powerful god being on the Earth. There’s also a noticeable Pretty Woman vibe, a bit of evil mentor, commander and henchman, she’s a bit of a pet/attack dog for him as the master, and definitely an abuser and victim. Even Faith sometimes seems concerned about his mood swings, which makes her claiming that he’s the person who is ‘hers’ all the more tragic.
So I guess it is fair to compare Faith-Mayor and Buffy-Giles if one is more or less saying that both relationships are complicated and not so easily defined as all that.
However, if one does want to do some comparing, I think the more telling comparison is with Wesley. Faith is subordinate to the Mayor, and Wes *thinks* Buffy is meant to be subordinate to him. He sees the role of Watcher as a superior position, a paternalistic role, the commander, the master of the Slayer as attack dog. But Buffy alternates between partner and commander, not subordinate.
It stands out now how much the show is ramping up to Buffy being the General in the Graduation battle. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about it in later seasons, because I know I didn’t like Buffy as military general in s7 back in the day, but I might see something to it; we’ll see. Right now it’s about her assuming the rights and responsibilities of being an adult. Which I know is going to stumble somewhat after this season, but I’m waiting to see if it ends up working for me more than it did long ago.
That’s really kind of a theme in this episode with all the younger characters. They’re all settling into the people they want to be/will continue to grow as. Except maybe Xander, and that maybe feels a little intentional; I’m not sure, but he is set to go on a different path from the others next season, so it could be setup, or if could be him getting lost with the show having one or two too many characters. While Buffy, Willow, even Oz, and somewhat even Cordy, are asserting that they are making choices toward their futures, Xander is…kind of not. He’s latching onto other people having and making choices. He’ll brag on Willow’s options, but he’s clearly floundering for his own place in things going forward. As much as I appreciate the Scoobies working as a well-oiled machine, Xander does end up in the role of errand guy and backup to other people’s plans. They do need that guy, but it does have a bit of a vibe of him getting lost in the shuffle of other things going on.
As far as justifying why characters who could and maybe should be going somewhere grand for college, they do about as well as they can with Willow here. There is a higher calling to her staying in Sunnydale and fighting demons and such, and there are things she does have better access to in this town than she would at prestigious colleges. Though, again, I’m not sure how well this is carried over into s4. As I recall she gets kind of distracted from the passion for the fight that kept her there initially.
Ever so briefly, the show flirts with the idea of giving Cordy some actual plot and development, but it kind of serves to highlight how little she’s had to do for a long time now. The show didn’t show us her having to deal with problems at home, nor hinted at what’s been going on with her, it just popped something in for a couple episodes near the end here. Her initial scene of walking past just to mock the Scoobies is a lot of she’s been doing for episodes now; and the fact that she keeps doing it is the only thing that makes Xander not look like a complete asshole. They’re both going out of their way to antagonize the other; only Cordy spreads it out to the whole gang while Xander’s attacks are more pointed. But if Cordy’s been having stuff going on at home, it makes all of them look a little terrible for not being there for her. She was their friend; even if they would take Xander’s side, she was the wronged party in their breakup. Of course, they don’t know how close they all got to being wished to death, because the show didn’t let any lessons be learned, but that’s not the problem on the table right now.
I suspect I’m going to have a lot to say on the Buffy and Angel breakup next episode, including how unnecessary Joyce’s interference was, but I also have stuff to address here. Because even before the Mayor inserts himself with an opinion, the episode is already showing that the writing was already on the wall for Buffy and Angel to breakup. There’s no variety to their relationship, they fight demons, protect the world, and declare their undying love for each other; they don’t actually like each other all that much though, nor do they actually live in each other’s worlds.
And then then the Mayor does air out the hard truths of their relationship. It’s pretty clear that they both know he has a point, and that neither of them has an answer for it beyond ‘nah-uh.’ They weren’t ready to admit that this relationship couldn’t work, but their relationship literally can’t go anywhere; and I don’t mean their inability to do the sex, the number of new things they can try is seriously limited. Which actually would have been something to explore between Angel and Faith, they’d have room to grow and build new connections and ways of being with each other, which Buffy and Angel don’t have at this point.
Which does lead into thoughts on next episode I suppose.
What am I shipping?
I had a lot of shipping thoughts this episode, though little of it was fully baked. Willow and Oz remain cute. I kind of want Willow and Faith to make out and have some hate-sex. While not much in focus, my Buffy/Giles senses like what we get. The ending is super Buffy/Willow cute including them going on a date at the end (and the line about ‘thinking things are one way but then they’re not’ makes an easy read as ‘you think they’re friends but they’re falling in love’). Some Scooby quad-ple would be fine too.
