Buffy 5/14

I though Vengeance Willow was wicked scary. I actually wished she had caught up to Warren earlier in the episode so she could have more time to play with the bullet.

the “Bored now” Warren peel came just at the time she realized Buffy, Xander and Anya were on her heels.

Evil Willow was comical, in an extremely black humorous kind of way. Vengeance Willow isn’t funny at all. She still has that Wilow sweetness about her, motivated by a desire to kill pain of a lost love, more than a desire to kill the person who caused it. But, true believers, no matter how many people she kills, in how many horrible ways, she will never be able to kill the pain by killing. Assuming that the rest of the Soobie Gang manages to bring her back to humanity, her vengeance spree will leave her empty.

That was the idea: to make Willow’s vengeance and pain naked and to the core, and almost unwatchable to bear. It was said that her cry can be heard by all in the universe who are able to listen. After this spree, she will have to deal with her pain and her unfortunate ability to absorb others’ pain head on.

Her acting in that episode is, as usual, top notch. Ok, there are some, including here, who thinks that Alyson Hanigan cannot play vengeance evil. I think it was the fault of that damn CGI which, in parts, has again ruined any sense of horror or wonder that we need to feel to make the episode work. Let’s do away with CGI in a media production if it can’t be done right (and I am a software major).

Un, capacitor? What does “CGI” stand for?

First, I hope Willow does not kill the remaining 2/3 of the Geek Trio. Don’t see why she’d want to – it was Warren, and Warren alone, who killed Tara. Don’t see that the other two deserve death. Jonathon definitely has redeeming features. And Andrew is a child, when you come right down to it.

It has not been stated, but seems plain: Andrew is Tucker’s younger brother. Chronological age unlikely to be younger then 18, but social/emotional age is what? Ten or twelve?

As for Jonathan, what did he do when he re-designed reality to suit himself? He did not set himself up as a cruel, evil sort of guy, but, rather, as a suave, sexy, benevolent leader that everyone admired. And recently, he’s been increasingly disenchanted with and suspicious of Warren, and seemed to be planning to either make a break or throw in a monkey wrench.

And at least once, both Jonathan and Andrew were shocked / raised objections when they realized that Warren wanted to kill the Slayer: “But…she’s saved my life lots of times!”

Second, I’m asking myself, just how evil is Vengence Willow? She’s been brushing aside anyone who stood in the way of her vengence, but without seriously harming them. When she caught up with Warren, she tortured him. For about five minutes. Then killed him. Not a quick death, but… it was a very short torture session. Remember when Angel tortured Giles? The actual torture happened offstage, but was stated to have continued for hours. And Angel’s goal was to destroy the world. Willow’s goal is to punish an evil murderer.

Third, I’m still annoyed by the whole “magic addiction” thing. Willow didn’t need to become a teetotaller. She needed to learn to use magic responsibly. She needed to learn to confine herself to using it for worthy purposes, not to manipulate other people, and not for casual fun.

And four, as someone else mentioned, I’m puzzled as to where Willow’s power comes from. Was she born with it? Did she acquire it? Has she learned to tap into something that she can be cut off from?

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Computer Generated Imaging

Thanks, Telemark!

Here’s my WAG - the way Buffy will fight Willow is that she will put herself in the way of anyone Willow is trying to hurt - a “You’ll have to go through me to get to them” kinda ploy.

I just have to say here that Vengeance Willow’s look was completely spoiled for me because she looked so much like Darlene (Sara Gilbert?) from the Roseanne sitcom. Put a baggy grey sweater on her, and she’s Darlene. I also found the “Bored now” comment completely inappropriate. Willow wasn’t torturing Warren for fun; it was for revenge. Maybe it was a foreshadowing of how things are going to go for Willow, but it still sounded off to me.

OK, I thought the “bored now” comment was an indicator that Willow isn’t in control of herself but is in fact in thrall to some dark power that she either absorbed or let in when she absorbed the texts. Since “bored now” was Vampire Willow’s catch phrase, I think it was just convenient shorthand to clue people in to this.

As for the source of Willow’s powers, I don’t think she has any innate power. She has learned how to manipulate naturally occuring elements (mis-quoting from memory: “I can control the four elements…well, two of the four elements but four soon” and “I can conjure fire from ice…but next time I won’t do that on my bedspread.”). She can also manipulate the energy known as “magic” but she’s not imbued with magic or supernatural powers or abilities the way Buffy or a demon is. Maybe the ability to wield magic is an inborn ability, but given the number of people in the Buffyverse who do it, it must be a fairly common ability. Perhaps akin to artistic or musical talent. Everybody can doodle or hum, so too can just about everybody do low-level magic (hell, even Xander can all on his own summon demons), but only a relative few can really draw well or sing beautifully or do high-level spells. Willow seems somewhat anomolous in that she can do pretty complex spells but they tend not to go well except when she’s channeling something as represented previously by the big black contacts (restoring Angel’s soul, battling Glory, resurrecting Buffy and of course last week).

I predict we’re going to learn for sure in the finale that Willow’s possessed and that, in freeing her from that possession, her ability to do magic is going to be “burned out.” This would be in keeping with the stated theme of next season, “return to year one,” when Willow wasn’t doing magic at all.

I am sooooo mad. I live near Detroit and for the past TWO weeks Buffy hasn’t been on because they were showing Basketball playoffs. Didn’t reschedule either, as far as I could tell. Not only have I been going through major withdrawl (esp. considering the past month and a half have been reruns) but is sounds like I’ve missed two of the best ep.s of the season! Ugh. I hate Basketball.

BTW
Willow may only say, “one down”
but “Two to Go” is the title of the first part of next week’s episode.

Just a side note. In an interview, Joss Whedon stated that “a return to year one” actually meant that they were going back to the fun, high-spirited BtVS series, as opposed to how grim and depressing it’s become. Which I’m glad for, because this season has been a complete downer. Really good, mind you, but blue!