UNEDITED: Buffy the Vampire Slayer 7x19 Reaction
Added 2024-01-23 19:35:30 +0000 UTC
Comments
Arguing that Buffy "didn't have time" to learn the Potentials names is a huge reach. Like, c'mon, she absolutely had time to learn their names. It takes literally seconds. And nobody actually suggested that Buffy should spend time "baking cookies" with the Potentials, that was Buffy's hyperbolic statement when she starts verbally attacking Faith. Leadership is not a popularity contest but if you want to inspire confidence and trust in those you lead you need to form some kind of connection with them and show an interest, even if it's performative. I can't say too much more on this because it will spoil the following episode but I think it's a mistake to excuse Buffy cutting herself off from the Potentials when she herself will stand up and be more honest and accountable. As we see throughout this episode, she closed herself off from everyone. She avoided Xander and Willow at the hospital, she was distant, abrupt and cold to Dawn throughout the episode, she's been estranged from the Potentials all season, she's not on speaking terms with Giles (mostly his fault), and she was cold to Wood in LMPTM. As a result, these relationships have broken down and people have lost a connection/trust in her. When it comes to the Potentials this is much worse of a problem because unlike the Scoobies they didn't know her before this and don't have any good will towards Buffy based on years of friendship. All they see is the hardened, emotionally detached general who doesn't know all their names, who holds them at a distance, who is abrasive and rude etc.
tvaddict
2024-01-26 01:37:38 +0000 UTCThis episode pisses me off and I need to get a few things off my chest. I think something that a lot of people miss is that Buffy literally said she's willing to talk strategy. She was NOT going to go back there head first or not listen. Could she have waited to get some kind of evidence first? I guess. But time's not on their side. Also, a lot of people miss that Buffy didn't want to go there with the girls the first time, it was Wood who told her it might be time to test them (funny how he didn't mention that to the others, he just let them tear her apart for what happened because of his "advice"). When you go through the season, you can literally see the signs that things are heading toward this moment. The Scoobies turning against Buffy was personal and that's the most painful part. It's not the first time or even the second they all gang up on her. This one's the worst, as they completely broke her when she was close to her breaking point already. I despise this scene. While the others had a point, Buffy does have a superiority complex, she was not in the wrong here. I think a lot of people don't get how a war works. How an army works. It's not a democracy. It's not a popularity contest. Buffy is the one with the track record, she did earn her leadership (ie what she did with the power she was lucky to be handed with). But the others wanted Faith to be the leader despite the fact that she doesn't have anywhere near the experience or knowledge Buffy has, despite the fact that she spent years in prison for multiple murders, despite her past of working for evil and being one herself, despite the fact that they had just met her... It's insane. There's always casualties in war. There are accidents and mistakes made. Buffy can't follow, by why the hell should she? She's the most qualified one, despite the mistake she's made. There's no time to "learn names and bake cookies," the First is not going to wait for them to get their shit together. Whether you side with Buffy or the others, no one has the right to kick her out of her own house. No one. I'm not as mad at Willow and Xander, or Faith (who was the only one to run out after Buffy), it's mostly Anya (who admitted she's not Buffy's friend but still takes advantage of her), Dawn (Buffy literally sacrificed her own life for her), and Giles (who's supposed to be Buffy's father figure, he just betrayed her for the 3rd time) who make my blood boil. I need to calm down now so I'll end it with a lighter topic: Do you think Spike learned how to make blooming onions himself after The Bronze took it off the menu back in season 5?
SkySpirit
2024-01-25 04:24:28 +0000 UTCI will say while the scoobies all had points that weren't entirely wrong, they went about it the worst way possible. Also, regarding what Anya said, yes buffy may have been gifted power, but with that gift came an incredible burden too of having to save the world time and time again, so I wouldnt say she was lucky. Whether buffy was gifted power or not, I think seven seasons of this show has showed us, she has earned her role as leader.
mary smith
2024-01-24 00:19:22 +0000 UTC
