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3.12 Helpless

Buffy: "I'm way off my game. My game's left the country. It's in Cuernavaca."

This was a dark one. A lot more serious and nasty than usual.

Coming of age/initiation stories usually tend to give the youth a ritual task or tasks to complete (killing a psycho vamp on her eighteenth birthday). The youth is often advised by a wise person who teaches him/her power over magic or whatever (Giles), and the youth in the process of coming of age and completing the task will often symbolically or literally defeat and/or leave behind their parent or parents (no more Daddy and the ice show).

This episode followed the pattern of classic coming of age stories -- except that Buffy didn't know what was happening, and Giles' part in it was a betrayal of their relationship. I was very uncomfortable with Giles doing anything to Buffy that Buffy didn't know about. Giles, of course, felt the same way.

Whatever we may think of the test (and I thought it was cruel and dangerous and it certainly did in some young acolytes, didn't it), it did accomplish what the Council intended it to do. Buffy was terrified and helpless when she initially lost her strength and agility, but was forced to use her wits to defeat the vamp and save herself and Joyce at the end. Doesn't change the fact that Giles participating in it without telling her was wrong.

The best part of this episode was the way it made Giles finally acknowledge his love for Buffy. That scene at the end where he is wiping the blood off her forehead got to me. The Buffy-Giles relationship is one of the things I like most about this series; the two complement each other so well (Giles' research supports Buffy's implementation, Giles' maturity balances out Buffy's extreme youth, and so on). They've always shown the utmost respect for, and responsibility for, each other, and now they have moved to another level. Buffy does indeed face the fact that she has an unsatisfactory relationship with her biological father -- but she can replace it with a better relationship with a man who has proven in every way that he is a much better father for her.

Bits and pieces:

-- Interesting future plot possibilities, Giles being fired. I'd like to see them force another Watcher on Buffy. It'll be fun.

-- I certainly don't see Slayer conferences in the library changing any time soon. Of course, Giles may not be able to afford spiffy three-piece suits and twelfth century manuscripts on the salary of a school librarian. Librarians don't make a lot, take it from me, and I know Sunnydale High isn't paying for those special books.

-- The Council Guy was Harris Yulin, who was utterly wonderful as the Cardassian in the (arguably) best DS9 episode, "Duet." I really enjoyed his exchange with Buffy at the end. "Bite me."

-- Convenient for Faith to be out of town. Too easy to ask Angel for help, I guess. And what about Faith? Has she already had the test, or is she younger than Buffy?

-- Cordelia was great. She's such a fun character. Angel was fun in this one, too. Although should they be wrestling when they're trying not to have sex?

Quotes:

Giles: "This one?"
Buffy: "Amethyst."
Giles: "Used for?"
Buffy: "Breath mints?"
Giles: "Charm bags, money spells, and for cleansing one's aura."
Buffy: "Okay, so how do you know if one's aura's dirty? Somebody come by with a finger and write 'wash me' on it?"

Willow: "I went to Snoopy On Ice when I was little. My dad took me backstage and I got so scared I threw up on Woodstock."

Angel: "You really like it?"
Buffy: "Of course I do. It's sweet and thoughtful and... full of neat words to learn and say like 'wilt' and 'henceforth'."
Angel: "Then why'd you seem more excited last year when you got a severed arm in a box?"

Angel: "I watched you, and I saw you called. It was a bright afternoon out in front of your school. You walked down the steps... and... and I loved you."
Buffy: "Why?"
Angel: "'Cause I could see your heart. You held it before you for everyone to see. And I worried that it would be bruised or torn. And more than anything in my life I wanted to keep it safe... to warm it with my own."
Buffy: "That's beautiful. (pause) Or taken literally, incredibly gross."
Angel: "I was just thinking that, too."

Cordelia: "Oh, God. Is the world ending? I have to research a paper on Bosnia for tomorrow, but if the world's ending, I'm not gonna bother."

Quentin: "Congratulations again."
Buffy: "Bite me."

Buffy: "You know, nothing's really gonna change. The important thing is that I kept up my special birthday tradition of gut-wrenching misery and horror."

Dan and I finally agreed on giving this one three out of four stakes,

Billie





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