For me, a combination of Bad acting, age difference heebie-jeebies, and an intense desire to see Willow happily ever after with Tara. In helping her out of the closet, and mothering her through her magic issues with both Tough Love and regular old Love, Tara was the best thing to ever happen to Willow. And in drawing her out of the shy, self-doubting shell that she herself had recenlty emerged from, Willow was the best thing to ever happen to Tara. It was a really beautifully written relationship, and felt like the most real connection on the show.
And I see where Joss & Co. were going with Kennedy, trying to help Willow “get over” Tara. But it just didn’t work for the reasons above. It felt forced, and her acting made it feel even more forced. And as a relationship, it was nothing more than a rebound. What did they have in common other than lesbianism and fighting evil?
I loved Tara, I liked the potentials, I liked most of Season 7. Heck, I even liked Riley Finn. But I too hated Kennedy.
(And as a straight guy, I didn’t find her remotely attractive. In a cast with Buffy, Faith, Willow, and Anya, and with Tara, Drusilla, Cordelia, Jenny, and Harmony in recent memory, she didn’t even register on the radar.)
I’ll shoot you an e-mail from my home address; I’m at work right now (don’t tell anyone!).
WhyNot: I got the “volumey text” reference, and funny it was, too. After all, that’s my favorite episode ever. It’s just that Bricker’s response made me snort audibly (embarrassing when at work).
And I never, ever even thought of Giles and Tara together. Hm.
I liked S1-6 a lot, all of them; I liked Tara, I liked Riley (esp. in moments like in the 5th season when he stakes Spike with a fake plastic stake and says something like, “in case you haven’t noticed, I left reasonable three exits back.”)
I can deal with Willow being gay, not bi. It’s fine.
Kennedy was a horrible waste of Scooby time. I thought all the “potentials” were beyond annoying, and Kennedy was the worst of the lot. Tara and Riley were never as cardboard cut-outy as Kennedy, and both of them showed much more sophisticated change and depth in their characters before the 4th season was out. Kennedy was poorly directed, poorly characterized, and like the other potentials distracted needlesly and pointlessly from the main characters, who deserved better. I even say the Principal Woods never got his due as a character; he had FAR more potential than fucking idiot Kennedy.
All of the potentials were bossy, irresponsible, horrifically immature, whiny little twits who were disrespectful toward Buffy–a heinous crime in my book, especially from slayer wannabes. When Faith led their little botched mission, I was SO hoping none of the lot of them would make it back (except Faith), but especially not Kennedy.
I was really hoping that Faith would be Willow’s rebound girl. That would be so hot…er, I mean, would make for really great drama and um…hotness.
There were a few clues that Faith at least experimented with women. Remember when Lilah picked her up in the bar on Angel? Faith didn’t know who Lilah was or what she wanted, and she followed her out of the bar anyway…
snortle There were a few clues that Faith at least experimented with anything, including summer sausages and Great Danes.
And yeah, Faith and Willow would be hot - I mean, contextually interesting. But Willow’s not the forgiving type, so I don’t think she’d ever let Faith get that close. She was a grudgey one, red hair or black.
Unfortunately, Faith’s comments in Season 7 seem to indicate her incarceration period was something of a drought for her - so it seemed like her all-female prison didn’t provide much of an outlet.
