"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsmtsm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news: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
cir***stances 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.
>> One of the defenses of Kennedy is that she's independent and won't
allow
>> Willow to dominate her like with Tara and - sort of - Oz. I'm actually
>> moving the opposite direction in my thinking now. By the end of the
>> season
>> Kennedy is practically wor****ping Willow. "You are a goddess."
>
> Gotta agree there. I'll add a reminder that someone like S4-Tara
> would let Willow dominate her, but late-S6-Tara, not so much. So I
> don't think it's an informative comparison to make when contrasting
> Willow's girlfriends. (Oz isn't really comparable, since Willow was
> only dabbling in the harder stuff when she was with him, and none of
> the characters had picked up on the destructive road she was
> skirting. More generally, he tended to know what to say to deflate
> Willow's attempts to wave her hand and fix things, but it's hard to
> say how things would have progressed and whether he would have let her
> lose control.)
>
>> 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?
>> The Giles part feels worse in retrospect than it did first time. Now I
>> know
>> what it's leading to. But it doesn't necessarily have to. His
outburst
>> really could stay as frustration at being on a different page and not
>> being
>> properly heard. There's a lot that could be done with that without
>> taking
>> it as far as they chose to do. At this point it's still largely the
same
>> type of conflict Giles and Buffy have had since the start. So I'm not
>> inclined to penalize this episode quite so much.
>
> As you say elsewhere, the end of S7 is, for whatever reason, all about
> getting everyone into fights and picking between two camps.
come all you good workers
good news to you I'll tell
of how the good old union
has come in here to dwell
which side are you on boys?
which side are you on?
my daddy was a miner
he's now in the air and sun
he'll be with you fellow workers
until the battle's won
which side are you on boys?
which side are you on?
they say in Harlan County
there are no neutrals there
you'll either be a union man
or a thug for J. H. Claire
which side are you on boys?
which side are you on?
oh workers can you stand it?
oh tell me how you can
will you be a lousy scab
or will you be a man?
which side are you on boys?
which side are you on?
don't scab for the bosses
don't listen to their lies
poor folks ain't got a chance
unless they organize
which side are you on boys?
which side are you on?
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