In most speculative fiction, there’s a balance of elements: plot, character, world building, etc. Depending on what one is trying to accomplish, something might take the lead. In action, it will usually be led by plot; hard science fiction sometimes leans toward the world building, and when something is both speculative and “literary,” then it’s most often code for character. With most genre television it’s usually a careful balance of all three. And sometimes that balance is broken.
In Buffy The Vampire Slayer at some point each of these takes the lead, throwing the elements out of balance, for better or worse. During my re-watch I’ve just emerged from season 3 into the notorious season 4. This season introduces the ham-handed science fiction element that fails from 1999, when the season premiered, until 2012, when it was retooled for the successful Cabin In The Woods. This season also features the teutonic Riley Finn whose very presence is the cause for classical guitar solos, a character who can only be described as aggressively benign. But one of the worst offenders is how it highlights how utterly far behind the character of Buffy has fallen in relation to the plot and world building.
Buffy’s first personal story in this season is her dealing with classmate Parker. He’s a sensitive guy who quickly woo’s her to bed with a pre-written script and lack of any chemistry. He then considers his work done and moves on. Buffy does not. In a later episode he refers back to this incident and her subsequent emotional follow-up with the joke “What’s the difference between a freshman girl and a toilet? A toilet doesn’t follow you around when you’re done using it.” Charming, I know.
But follow him she does. She’s utterly confused by his lack of a phone call over the next few days. Her slaying suffers. She asks Willow constant advice on what happened. She repeatedly wonders out loud what she did wrong. She tries to justify his behaviour and questions her own. But she’s done nothing wrong. She was fooled by an asshole. End of story. And the storyline doesn’t even have her realize what she does at this juncture, either. Instead there’s a binge drinking metaphor episode where Buffy regresses to a caveman like mentality. In that episode Willow actually has the closure conversation and Buffy settles it by being put in a situation where she can physically deal with her issues. She pulls Parker from a burning building and, since she’s still in caveman mind, hits him with a stick. Physical strength substituting for emotional.
All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again. In the very special “sex is bad” episode in season 2 Buffy sleeps with Angel. This causes him to lose his soul and she wakes up next to an asshole. Her response then? She wonders if she was bad at sex and what did she do wrong. Now, this is perfectly fine in the context of the show’s second season, and of her first serious relationship and her first time. This occurence ends very similarly to the way things work out in season 4. She has trouble dealing and is put in a situation where it’s OK to physically attack for closure, stabbing Angel to send him to hell. His soul returning at the last moment makes it harder for her but
The problem is the show is now in season 4 and Buffy is still just as emotionally weak if not weaker. She’s learned about herself in her social circles. She lost her powers for a bit and came to some self discovery about how much she appreciates being different. She even had to face the opposite side of that at the end of season 3 and really discover where she draws the line on using her powers. But by Buffy: The College Years she should really have grown a bit in terms of who she is as an individual. She’s a strong person but a terribly weak woman. And the regression in her fallout with Parker is jarring and discomfiting.
As a side not I am also watching Angel in sync with Buffy. There is an episode just after the Parker incident in Angel where Buffy goes to LA to visit. She is furious at him for sneaking in during the Thanksgiving episode to help but not say hello. She says she doesn’t understand why he stayed hidden and that he should have asked her first. In essence she says that he should have asked her directly for permission to hide from her, and that she didn’t understand what he was avoiding and how dare he dredge up these feelings when she found out he had been there. Only towards the end of all this does she slowly see his point. Fine, it was a fun bit of confrontation (even if it was Sorkin-esque in its mirroring of a scene from season 1 of Buffy). But it was a terrible bit of character. Once again Buffy regresses to a foolish, emotionally incompetent child when faced with an emotional crises until it either passes on its own while she remains passive or it gets a metaphorical plot that lets her punch the representation of it.
That said, I’m beginning to wonder if season 4 might not be the ultimate failure that I remember it as. The arc is rubbish and even rewatching it the larger story points don’t go anywhere. At this point I’m just about halfway through the season and nothing has really happened. The dialogue is still great though so at least it’s a very enjoyable treading of the waters.
P.S. I’ll try to spread out the Buffy posts. New shows are starting up so hopefully something will grab my attention for better or worse.
