This episode makes a crucial turning point from all the Buffy's other 6 seasons storyline. Why? because it's about rebellion. Not a "stab in the back", but as a logical and necessary rupture from a fallen hero's mantle.
Buffy was my idol, I loved her, so did all the Buffy fans. But what this episode reveals is the imperfect nature of every hero that fans don't want to see. I am sorry to say, but Buffy as a character is not absolute.
Starting with her "incomplete" return after a brutal resurrection in season 6, and throughout the misery of feeling out of place in this final season, Buffy makes a series of judgement mistakes and wrong choices that lead to this sad but likely denouement.
The first one was Spike. After fate tore her away from Angel, she reconciled in the arms of a normal, plain guy (Riley) but just wasn't enough, so she searched for the opposite in a typical "bad boy" (Spike). Their relationship, if you can call it that, is a physical and mental abuse, a type of punishment for not being to hold on to true love (Angel) or true friendship (Riley). Although Spike declares his love out in the open, his connection with Buffy is mostly an obsession. For Buffy, Spike is off and on both a torturer and a shoulder to cry on. She never separates from these extremes so as to find a balance in her persona in order to feel any sort good emotion towards him.
The other mistake is her relationship with the people surrounding her. She treats Willow and Xander as puppets in her one-woman show. The two feel neglected and slowly drift away from her. Buffy treats them as conveniences, takes them for granted. She no longer appreciates or respects them, but considers them somewhat "handy" in times of need. From adored friends they become tolerated elements gravitating around her. You can see it in the way she always tells them "I need you to..."(Willow search the web, Xander go scouting). Giles has it even worse. If once it was "Giles, I cannot succeed without you", now it's "I can perfectly succeed without you". Despite his coming all the way from England to help her, Buffy treats him like a decrepit old man, stuck in his ways of thinking. She publicly denounces his authority and rejects all his advice. She feels she has long surpassed her former mentor and that there it nothing left to learn from him. The Slayerettes are tolerated but maintained at a low-threat level. Buffy is the only REAL slayer and wastes no chance to remind them of that. She bores them with speeches and paints them a dire painting of their future in revenge that fate is not fair and she could not have a bright one.
It used to be a gang-show...I guess it was only a matter of time until repeatedly saving the world would make Buffy feel like a demi-god. She causes and uses her loneliness as a reason of superiority (I suffer more than all of you, so I am obviously better than all of you). It's the curse that comes with being a Slayer or any other type of superhero. Buffy is gradually turning into Glory.
The recently installed autocracy is sustained by Spike, who quickly rejoices the role of her only loyal subject and advised counselor. Buffy begins to take risks that she would have never taken in the past and let opportunities pass her. A huge mistake was rejecting her legacy - despite her visions, despite the desperate cry of the first Slayer saying "It isn't enough!"- Buffy resolutely declines the extra-powers offered by the three shamans saying they were dark magics involved. She never considered that it may take evil to defeat evil. Maybe the first Slayer knew what she was talking about...
The next in this line of mistakes is sending the unprepared girls (potential Slayers) into the beast's lair (the vineyard), regardless of all the voices prohibiting her to do so, which proves to be the last drop in a already-full glass. The trap becomes obvious and the massacre inevitable. The most important casualty, Xander, is treated like a light loss (Buffy would not even stay with him in the hospital). Instead of assuming the blame and the wrong call, Buffy installs a silence drill and continues as planned. The wake-up call later in the evening, when all gather to oppose Buffy is dramatic but foreseeable. It's also a brave step on behalf of the screenwriters - it's not easy to discredit your main character when he/she is wrong.
Faith assumes command and everybody is happy. (The kicking out of the house by Dawn is the only awkward act that makes no point in this episode). It's ironic how Faith becomes Buffy in the end (natural born leader, careful and sensible) and Buffy becomes Faith (outcast, extremist, ready to jump the gun)...
The tyrant (Buffy) is deprived of her people and only then realizes how important they are to her. I'd say it takes some pretty dire times to ally yourself with a scoundrel like Spike...
For me, everything in this episode makes sense. We've seen Buffy at her highest and lowest throughout the series. She may lose her saintly aura created throughout 4-5 seasons, but in doing so becomes more human and tangible. I await the very end of the series and still think Buffy rocks:)
Buffy was my idol, I loved her, so did all the Buffy fans. But what this episode reveals is the imperfect nature of every hero that fans don't want to see. I am sorry to say, but Buffy as a character is not absolute.
Starting with her "incomplete" return after a brutal resurrection in season 6, and throughout the misery of feeling out of place in this final season, Buffy makes a series of judgement mistakes and wrong choices that lead to this sad but likely denouement.
The first one was Spike. After fate tore her away from Angel, she reconciled in the arms of a normal, plain guy (Riley) but just wasn't enough, so she searched for the opposite in a typical "bad boy" (Spike). Their relationship, if you can call it that, is a physical and mental abuse, a type of punishment for not being to hold on to true love (Angel) or true friendship (Riley). Although Spike declares his love out in the open, his connection with Buffy is mostly an obsession. For Buffy, Spike is off and on both a torturer and a shoulder to cry on. She never separates from these extremes so as to find a balance in her persona in order to feel any sort good emotion towards him.
The other mistake is her relationship with the people surrounding her. She treats Willow and Xander as puppets in her one-woman show. The two feel neglected and slowly drift away from her. Buffy treats them as conveniences, takes them for granted. She no longer appreciates or respects them, but considers them somewhat "handy" in times of need. From adored friends they become tolerated elements gravitating around her. You can see it in the way she always tells them "I need you to..."(Willow search the web, Xander go scouting). Giles has it even worse. If once it was "Giles, I cannot succeed without you", now it's "I can perfectly succeed without you". Despite his coming all the way from England to help her, Buffy treats him like a decrepit old man, stuck in his ways of thinking. She publicly denounces his authority and rejects all his advice. She feels she has long surpassed her former mentor and that there it nothing left to learn from him. The Slayerettes are tolerated but maintained at a low-threat level. Buffy is the only REAL slayer and wastes no chance to remind them of that. She bores them with speeches and paints them a dire painting of their future in revenge that fate is not fair and she could not have a bright one.
It used to be a gang-show...I guess it was only a matter of time until repeatedly saving the world would make Buffy feel like a demi-god. She causes and uses her loneliness as a reason of superiority (I suffer more than all of you, so I am obviously better than all of you). It's the curse that comes with being a Slayer or any other type of superhero. Buffy is gradually turning into Glory.
The recently installed autocracy is sustained by Spike, who quickly rejoices the role of her only loyal subject and advised counselor. Buffy begins to take risks that she would have never taken in the past and let opportunities pass her. A huge mistake was rejecting her legacy - despite her visions, despite the desperate cry of the first Slayer saying "It isn't enough!"- Buffy resolutely declines the extra-powers offered by the three shamans saying they were dark magics involved. She never considered that it may take evil to defeat evil. Maybe the first Slayer knew what she was talking about...
The next in this line of mistakes is sending the unprepared girls (potential Slayers) into the beast's lair (the vineyard), regardless of all the voices prohibiting her to do so, which proves to be the last drop in a already-full glass. The trap becomes obvious and the massacre inevitable. The most important casualty, Xander, is treated like a light loss (Buffy would not even stay with him in the hospital). Instead of assuming the blame and the wrong call, Buffy installs a silence drill and continues as planned. The wake-up call later in the evening, when all gather to oppose Buffy is dramatic but foreseeable. It's also a brave step on behalf of the screenwriters - it's not easy to discredit your main character when he/she is wrong.
Faith assumes command and everybody is happy. (The kicking out of the house by Dawn is the only awkward act that makes no point in this episode). It's ironic how Faith becomes Buffy in the end (natural born leader, careful and sensible) and Buffy becomes Faith (outcast, extremist, ready to jump the gun)...
The tyrant (Buffy) is deprived of her people and only then realizes how important they are to her. I'd say it takes some pretty dire times to ally yourself with a scoundrel like Spike...
For me, everything in this episode makes sense. We've seen Buffy at her highest and lowest throughout the series. She may lose her saintly aura created throughout 4-5 seasons, but in doing so becomes more human and tangible. I await the very end of the series and still think Buffy rocks:)