On Apr 13, 10:35 pm, "One Bit Shy" <O...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
messagenews:20eb82a7-2734-4ff5-adeb-e97840938158@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
> > On Apr 12, 12:08 am, "One Bit Shy" <O...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
> >>
messagenews:a1bad5f4-8477-4684-9270-0262824a8fd4@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> >> > Season Seven, Episode 13: "The Killer In Me"
>
> >> Part of the problem with using that as a misdirect is that the issue
of
> >> Willow living with the power strikes me as more -er- powerful than
the
> >> issue
> >> of letting go of Tara. I know that there's a personal emotional
element
> >> to
> >> the Tara question that the more abstract power issue lacks. But come
on,
> >> even Willow understands (when she thinks about it) that she has to
let go
> >> some day - and the guilt along with it. Living with the power,
however,
> >> is
> >> a genuine mystery that never really does get effectively addressed.
> >> Unless
> >> you think that white eyes are better than black eyes is good enough.
>
> > It's not really an either-or question, since the show feels it needs
> > to address both topics, separately. Living without Tara gets covered
> > here. Living with what she can do is supposed to be this background
> > thing running through S7 as it weighs on her, and she slowly learns to
> > live with it, day by day. In theory. Actually, what happens is that
> > the series runs out of story for Willow around the time of "Bring On
> > The Night" and then slaps a few protentious lines in the last couple
> > episodes and gives her white eyes instead of black. But as much as I
> > jump at the chance to find another flaw in TKIM, I don't think it's
> > this episode's "fault" that the rest of the season skimps on Willow's
> > arc.
>
> I'm not so sure. As incomplete as it seems, she did learn from the
Coven
> and Giles early on and before the season. The power is part of her.
> Everything's connected. And so on. What the season seems to focus on
is
> how Willow is scared to use the power and is pushed to get back on that
> horse. Indeed, living with the power seems to center on actually using
it
> in order to be liberated. The Tara story isn't just about living
without
> her. I think it's about being released from her restraints - mainly the
> restraint from using magic. Remember that the First's primary ploy in
CWDP
> was to reinforce Willow's commitment to Tara not to use the magiks. And
> Kennedy's primary function with regard to Willow is to push her to use
her
> power.
>
> I think the show pretty much adopted the stance that Willow doesn't
really
> have a problem with power anymore. Maybe she learned her lesson. Maybe
the
> Coven's dose of humanizing magic really transformed her. Maybe the
> circumstances of Tara's death created an aberrant result. Maybe the
balance
> she had is who she is and shall always be - a balance that's actually
mainly
> good. Maybe some combination of that and other influences. I don't
know.
> But whatever it is, the problem they actually deal with this season is
> Willow's shyness from grasping her power. I'm not sure the story in S7
ever
> wanted to go further than that - and that the big reveal was always
going to
> be how Tara was holding her back.
Okay, that's not something I'm seeing at all. Partly because tying
the story of this particular episode with the power theme... well, it
can be done, but it jumps through more philosophical hoops than I
think it can support And partly because this isn't the turning point
of that part of the arc, and only someone watching for subtle nuances
would really say that things are any different, magically speaking,
pre and post TKIM. Willow still won't-a at the beginning of GID,
still worries about whether or not she can use her power without it
taking her over through to the end of the show, etc. Tara isn't so
much as mentioned again after TKIM either, so if the episode has an
effect on Willow's magic story that the writers wanted to clearly
establish for the viewer, it'd be something additive from being with
Kennedy rather than something subtractive.
> >> For Kennedy, I think she's first hit with a sense of responsibility.
> >> After
> >> all, her kiss seemed to have provoked all the trouble. And then
seeing
> >> everybody else just let her go off alone - well, that can't be right.
> >> And,
> >> then, when she effectively saves Willow, well, damn! I think Kennedy
> >> gets a
> >> little like Xander in the early years when he thought of himself as
> >> Buffy's
> >> protector. It becomes kind of Kennedy's job to be with Willow all
the
> >> time
> >> and stand up for her against any perceived slight.
>
> > I see Kennedy as more of a fit for the defender role, as seen mostly
> > in the big group argument scenes, than for the kite-string role, which
> > plays like a scene written for Tara.
>
> Kite-string. That's not ringing a bell for me. What are you referring
to?
One or another of their bedroom scenes toward the end of the series.
Possibly "Touched," but I don't care enough to look it up.
-AOQ
|
