#becomingbuffypodcast

According to the DVD commentary, the scene between Faith and Spike was meant to lay groundwork for a possible spin-off featuring the two. The scenes were written by Marti Noxon with the idea of "showing these two people off," according to Drew Goddard.

“Faith is my girl. She’s always been good to me, and she’s been a good friend to me. I love that character, this show, the places we’ve gone, and all the different emotions we’ve experimented with. I feel like she’s a part of me. It was good to be back on Buffy. Sarah is such a doll. We were like reunited high school friends. I’ve gotten letters from girls who have said, “I was being abused for six years. Your character came on, and I realized that if Faith could stand up to these guys trying to bring her down, so could I.” That stuff is really intense—cool success stories from people who just watch this character.” -Eliza Dushku

Listen to the episode wherever you stream your podcasts!

FINALLY, a podcast that actually gives Angel the appreciation and time he deserves 😭

Hi, thank you so much! ❤️ Of course, I'd love to talk about my thought process, because I really did put A LOT of thought into the shots I chose. I'm gonna break this down per character, but first I want to state that each mini gifset for each character (if it isn't obvious) is supposed to comprise of shots that represent the character in some shape or form. The large top gif is meant to represent which dynamic *I* find to be the most important to each character. Ok, now I'm gonna start! (for those curious, this is the set she’s referring to!)

S7. Ep19. "Empty Places"

The title of the episode contrasts the next one, “Touched” in emphasizing how connection is missing from Buffy’s life. “Empty Places” could refer to Xander’s missing eye, Buffy being kicked out of her house, and Sunnydale’s mass evacuation, but most importantly it refers to how leadership/power has led to Buffy being emotionally isolated from her friends and family.

In a series that can divide the opinions of fans, hatred for “Empty Places” is possibly one of the only things that unites us. While the Scoobies’ words and actions are certainly rage inducing, my main issue with the episode is not the extreme act of kicking Buffy out of the home she was dragged out of heaven to pay for, but in the writers' lazy and cheap approach to building up to and executing the Big Fight.

All season long, the show has flirted with Buffy becoming hardened by power, yet it never fully commits. In one episode, she's aloof and hardened, in the next, she's normal, and then in another, she's hardened again, but this time it’s 'justifiable’. It’s almost as if the writers were afraid to fully commit to Buffy being too messy, yet they still needed her to be messy enough for a dramatic fallout with her friends. Instead of a compelling conflict where the Scoobies raise valid concerns about Buffy's leadership decisions, particularly regarding Spike's proximity to the Potentials after being triggered, the situation devolves into a cheap drama. What could have been a moment for the characters to explore the burden of leadership, the fears of the powerless, and the cost of war, instead turns into a one-sided attack that lacks nuance. The worst part is seeing the writers turn our beloved characters into mouthpieces for plot convenience, ignoring the complexity they’ve spent years developing.

In the unedited version, Giles revealed to Buffy in the graveyard that he murdered Ben to stop Glory resurfacing, however this was cut just before broadcast. I so wish this had been kept in, as it adds credibility to Giles' motivations and makes him more than a figurehead grasping for power:

GILES

You want Spike here even after what

he's done to you in the past?

BUFFY

It's different. He has a soul now.

GILES

Yes, and The First seems to be

exploiting it to his advantage.

BUFFY

Exactly. The First's doing this.

Spike's innocent.

Giles pauses a moment, then:

GILES

So was Ben.

Buffy stops cold. The Vamp launches at her and she WHIP-STAKES him to DUST.

BUFFY

Ben?

GILES

(with difficulty)

He was a human being, after all.

Forced, his whole life, to share his

mortal form with a demi-god from a

hell-dimension.

BUFFY

Glory. I know. What does that have

to do--

GILES

Ben was oblivious to the atrocities

Glory committed. No more responsible

for her crimes than Spike is to his,

when triggered.

SLOW PUSH IN as he continues...

GILES (cont'd)

Glory was invincible, impossible to

kill... Ben was not. So after you

defeated her. After you left Ben

lying there. Alive. I made a

decision. One that you couldn't.

BUFFY

Giles...

GILES

I put my hand over his mouth. And as

he struggled, weakly... I smothered

him. Because it had to be done.

(looks at Buffy)

He was a liability.

Listen to the episode wherever you stream your podcasts!

'LMPTM' is a tough episode for many of us to watch, mostly due to the breakdown of Buffy and Giles' relationship. It's difficult for me because it's not necessarily out of character for Giles to lie to Buffy or go behind her back in extreme situations, however what is out of character is the coldness with which we see him execute it. The writers had a unique and compelling storyline, yet the execution falls flat because the emotion behind why Giles betrays Buffy is missing/not conveyed well enough. By making Giles appear only as a hardened authority figure who needs to be cut off, the show weakens the audience's connection to the characters/story, and turns Giles into simply another man wanting power.

I created this edit as a way to try and convey a more nuanced view of Giles' actions, and to bring a bit more warmth, compassion, and clarity to a complex character that deserved far more than this sad ending to his arc.

I think I succeeded, but I also just feel sadder. 😭

Listen to the episode wherever you stream your podcasts!

--ANGLE ON BUFFY as her face takes on a look of recognition. And just a faint smile, but the first smile we've seen in a long time.--

For fans of the comic series, the scythe Buffy finds looked very familiar when they saw it on screen for the first time. On February 20, 2002, over a year prior, Joss had written and published “Tales,” the eighth and final short story in the Tales of the Slayers comic anthology. Set in the 23rd century, it focused on a Slayer named Melaka Fray, a chosen one in a time when vampires (called “lurks”) are returning to the slums of New York City, and the rich-poor divide is even greater.

“In Fray, Melaka is depicted as the latest in the mystical line of vampire slayers, chosen ones born with the strength and skill to fight the forces of evil, over 200 years in the future. However, unlike other vampire slayers, Mel is unusual in that she was one of a pair of twins; her brother Harth somehow inherited the psychic aspects of a slayer's abilities, leaving her with only the strength, agility, and other physical attributes. Prior to Mel, a slayer had not been "called" to receive her powers for centuries.” -Wikipedia

Mel isn’t aware of the history of Slayers because they’ve all died out except for her. She is given the scythe by a demon and ends up finding a building filled with Watcher diaries and etchings of the scythe. She reads about 4 Slayers from the past, one of whom is Buffy Summers, and that’s how she learns about her heritage.

“It's Fray's SCYTHE... it's the scythe Fray will find in the Fray Comic books in the future. For people who are not aware of it... Joss Whedon created a comic book character named Fray, who is a Slayer in the future, who finds this weapon which is odd because we never saw Buffy wield it... and now we have (Jane Espenson, BtVS Writer, May 6th, 2003).”

Listen to the episode wherever you stream your podcasts!

S7. Ep18. "Dirty Girls"

While Drew Goddard is credited as the writer of “Dirty Girls”, according to the DVD commentary, Joss Whedon wrote 80% of the episode, including the cold open, while Marti Noxon wrote the popular Faith and Spike scene. The title is a nod to Faith’s return to the series, calling back to season 3’s “Bad Girls,” the episode where Faith seduces Buffy to the darker side of being a Slayer before ultimately beginning her descent toward evil. It also sums up the show’s feminist roots, which is the subversion of the blonde woman who is killed by the monster after she had sex and became “dirty.”

The introduction of Caleb as the stereotypical preacher-turned-villain and his belief that all women are innately dirty, solidifies the show’s redirection of focus back onto female empowerment. While Caleb is little more than a caricature, his presence serves both as a tangible opponent for Buffy to fight and a symbol of one of the oldest systems to oppress women: religion. As the embodiment of misogyny, Caleb believes women are beneath him yet fears and hates them because his sexual attraction towards them feels like a loss of power. Ironically, Caleb spends the entire episode condemning women as corrupt and calling them whores, yet he allows himself to be merged with a female-presenting First Evil to gain power, effectively becoming the very thing he despises. 

“Misogyny = hatred/fear of women, but more so of the power that women seem to have over men because sex/connection can break men out of their rational self-interest. Sex/connection can make a man do what his rational self tells him is not in his personal interest - care for another beyond caring for himself. Caleb's anger and fear of women is that of the man who thinks the sexual climax is the ultimate loss of power.... He thinks the girls who come to him, influenced by the power of his words, are there to take his power through sexual temptation.” -All Things Philosophical

(Shout out to @allbronzenobrains for the brilliant parallel between Caleb calling girls whores and basically becoming a whore himself!