Buffy 5x11-5x13

[oyceter]

I ventured into a new corner of the store that I hadn't paid much attention to before, and now I have about ten more books on my to-read list ;). Lit crit! Whoo! And the store actually has some good, meaty academic stuff, unlike the Borders I keep checking out. I think it's because a good deal of Stanford students sell back their books here or something. But I found Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mother's Gardens and another book by her, along with quite a few by Carolyn Heilbrun. And something called Virginal Sexuality and Textuality in Victorian Literature. The boss sort of laughed at my geektitude when I mentioned my excitement about lit crit. I also came across this cool book called Mathematics Elsewhere by Marcia Ascher, basically about math across cultures and different concepts of math.

I now have no more "new" Buffy episodes to watch =(. Checkpoint was the final Buffy ep I haven't seen, and I watched it today. And since yhlee is watching completely unspoiled, cut for S5 spoilers. It's strange how watching Into the Woods completely changed my thoughts about Riley and the Buffy/Riley relationship. And I did like Riley. But watching Triangle right after that grated, especially after the wrongness of Xander's ITW speech, and seeing the writers (and Buffy) continue to hold up the Xander/Anya couple as the ultimate goodness while everyone mourned the departure of the perfect guy for Buffy annoyed me to no end. I understand that Buffy's supposed to feel horrible pain after the breakup, I do. But the show takes on a tone now and then that feels like they're indicating that Buffy was the one completely at fault and that Riley was the completely wronged party. And I just want to bash them over the head and yell that Buffy had enough on her mind, thankyouverymuch, and that Riley, while nice, was, you know, going to vampire whores. Ugh. But now I know where the phrase "insane troll logic" comes from! I always kind of used to think that it just described the logic of trolls (i.e. people who deliberately stirred up trouble on mailing lists and stuff). Although those trolls do have insane troll logic as well. It's always fun coming across a well-used fandom phrase and finally realizing where it came from.

And it's like ITW is this giant divide in S5 -- because suddenly, Spike is likeable again. Really awkward and embarrassing, but likeable, whereas before, he was nothing but a pain. And I can't tell if it's because we're treading into the territory in which I first started watching Buffy or because there has been a slight shift in the writing with Riley's departure. I think perhaps the writers have started slipping in some more serious moments for Spike, as opposed to the horrifyingly embarrassing longing for Buffy moments, which made me wince when Buffy winced.

I liked Checkpoint and cheered while Buffy gave her ultimatum to the Watcher's Council, yet I can't help but think that Joss doesn't do a very good job at portraying any sort of institution in anything but black and white terms.

Then I watched Blood Ties in the first time in nearly forever and sniffled mightily. It's so hard not to feel for Dawn in this ep, and I overemphasized very much when she was tearing down her room and wondering what she was -- it feels too much like job searching and wondering if there is any substance to you at all when company after company just ignores your resume. Haha, I did say I overemphasized.

I love watching S5 unfold and watching the writers continually break Buffy down piece by piece, knowing where it's going. So I wince at Willow's teleportation spell and Xander and Anya's googly eyes at each other, because I know what happens in S6. And I just want to sit down and hug Buffy, because I can see all the leaden weights of responsibility fall on her shoulders and watch her continue to be consumed by the mission to protect Dawn. She just comes down harder and harder on herself. Every single time Buffy comes through the door of her house and calls out, "Mom?" I cringe because I know what's to come.

Comments

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

And I liked Riley a good bit more than most seem to, at least, I thought the character made sense conceptually, and I never understood the negativity he seemed to evoke. (I mean I understood it theorectically, I just couldn't feel it.)

I actually liked Riley in Into The Woods more than I ever had before, maybe because it struck me that he was failing so spectacularly. Even watching it the first time it didn't seem to me to be about one person being wrong or right, just two people being really wrong for each other.

*nod* And how you can rebound into the opposite, not seeing the person, and realize that still all wrong...it made a lot of sense to me in terms of having gone through one thing and thinking then that you wanted something different. I always felt for Riley as someone who was just way out of his depth, and I think if I had any disappointment it was in the Season 6 ep, as I would have liked the idea that as painful as the Buffy years ended up there might have been a change after that. And I did enjoy some of the early circling around each other dialogue too. Very apt.

Oh yes! There's that moment after Spike shows Buffy where Riley has been and he follows her, clearly with a speech he'd been planning and then just stops when he sees the look on her face. A moment where it's not just about his obsession but he actually thinks about her feelings. Very neat.

Mmm. And Spike on the other hand was someone that I came to actually like and care about as a character (unlike Riley or Angel who I understood as characters but didn't really care about..*grin* well, I was pretty fond of Angelus and the whole gruesome foursome for that matter.)

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

Mmm. And Spike on the other hand was someone that I came to actually like and care about as a character (unlike Riley or Angel who I understood as characters but didn't really care about..*grin* well, I was pretty fond of Angelus and the whole gruesome foursome for that matter.)

Very well put. There are some characters I can appreciate the construction of completely but just not like them very much. Riley as the right guy who has it all together isn't someone I'd want to spend a lot of time on - Riley as the guy struggling to define himself and finding his inner life lacking, now that's interesting. The scene between Spike and Riley in ITW is probably my pinnacle of Riley-like. It was a moment of connection over seeing your own limitations. Part of the reason I disliked AYW so much is that it seemed to celebrate Riley's decision not to stretch his limits and ideas of self.

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

*nod* Riley as plot device.

[oyceter]

And I liked Riley a good bit more than most seem to, at least, I thought the character made sense conceptually, and I never understood the negativity he seemed to evoke. (I mean I understood it theorectically, I just couldn't feel it.)

Yeah, that's how I generally feel about Riley. I like him, and I think that if he had hung around more and gotten more emotional arcs, I'd probably pretty fond of him by now.

And how you can rebound into the opposite, not seeing the person, and realize that still all wrong...it made a lot of sense to me in terms of having gone through one thing and thinking then that you wanted something different.

I think that's what irks me most about the ITW fallout (I did actually like most of the episode until the ending, which yelled at me to blame Buffy for Riley leaving). To me, the relationship sort of fell apart because while both Buffy and Riley were trying, it just didn't click. And several scenes in latter episodes seem to try to rub in that it was Buffy's fault entirely for not noticing Riley's growing distance (or her own), as opposed to it being a sort of mutual thing.

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

One of the things I really like about the show is how it almost seems to invite multiple readings, and then generate discussion off of that. I really felt that Joss was always less about answers, than compelling the question, making you really think about things. Still. Even a year after the show is over. :-)

[oyceter]

I adore that about ME shows ^_^. And about ME fans as well!