"That guy's been in stuff..." Yeah, Jeff Kober has been in tons of movies and tv shows...including this one. He was the psychotic vampire in 3.12 "Helpless." He also played a vampire in the mid 90's in the tv show "KIndred: The Embrace."
No, fellow Floridian, I couldn't wear eyeshadow until I left Florida because my eyelids were sweaty and greasy. Now that I am back I put primer/foundation and powder on my lids just to keep them from getting gross and messing with my contacts. Also, my hair was/is always a mess.
“It’s OOC for Willow to be doing this.” 3x18 *Interrogation with Jonathan takes place* WILLOW: "Fantasy's are fun, aren't they Jonathan?" JONATHAN: "Uh... I guess." WILLOW: "We all have fantasies that we’re powerful, more respected. Where people pay attention to us.” JONATHAN: "Uh... maybe." WILLOW: "But sometimes the fantasy isn't enough, is it Jonathan? Sometimes we have to make it so people don't ignore us. Make them pay attention. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" JONATHAN: "Erm, you... Want me to pay attention?" They may be overdoing it a bit with the magic addiction metaphor but it’s not OOC because it’s not about the magic. People need to understand this. It’s never been about the magic. The only reason why it’s magic is because that’s the channel to which to have power and control. It’s what Willow is best at so of course it’s magic that would be the substance to abuse. But the whole point is to have that power and control to make people pay attention to her. To not regard her as worthless. We, of course, know that that isn’t the truth of who she is. People do not view Willow that way anymore. But she still believes that they do deep down. Her mindset is still that of somebody who is just faking their confident persona and people will see right through it to the nerd within. Even as powerful as she is here, she still feels like she’s a fraud, an imposter, and if she doesn’t keep up with this overcompensated dangerous identity she’s taken on, they’ll get tired of her. They’ll leave her behind because she’s nothing more than a wannabe and not a true hero to the cause of the greater good. Not a true witch. Not a true lesbian. Not a true anything except a hapless, loveless, useless loser. That’s why she does all this chaotic, violating, destructive shit with her magic. She believes that if she doesn’t show her immense power as often as she can and to as much extent as possible, she will be exposed for being fake. It’s got nothing to do with magic. It’s a severe insecurity issue brought on by unchecked emotional complex trauma of bullying and abuse from both her school and home life. Why the writers depict all of this as if it’s only to do with magic addiction is maybe something they shouldn’t have done. I will agree with that. But it’s not out of character. It can’t be because Willow has been power hungry for a long fucking time in the show. We just didn’t want to see it. We didn’t want to think of Willow as going down a destructive path with her magic usage. We didn’t view it as corruption that she was quickly accumulating power. We viewed it as ‘Uber Witch’ heroism. But now in this season it’s revealed to us for what it really is. Villainy. This is something Willow herself doesn’t realize and it’s part of what makes it so real and relatable. So what if it’s through magic? That’s not the point. And it has never been the point. That’s just an effective tool through which to use and explore the themes of power corruption and addiction with. And maybe I’m giving the writers too much credit here but I feel like it’s purposeful for it to seem mixed signal-y because the majority of people watching this arc are looking at it through the perspective of all the other characters. Not through Willow. But this is what is going on in Willow’s head. This is her paranoia hitting her full force. Maybe she does feel out of character. Maybe she’s doing the most to not feel that way. Maybe it all still is just a fantasy for her and she will never truly achieve what she wants. She will never achieve true love. She will never be a hero equal to Buffy. She’ll always be a loser no matter how hard she tries not to be. Again, we as the audience see that that is not the truth. But it’s true to her. It’s her reality. Because that’s just how mentally ill she is. And they do not tell you this until it’s way too late. Willow does not confess this until she has to. We never really see just how bad it is for her until now so it does seem like it comes out of left-field and just made up for the sake of the story this season. But mental illness is like that. People on the outside-looking in do not see it because the one going through it keeps it well hidden until something awful happens. Dawn could have died and so Willow is like “Okay. Enough is enough. Time to come clean.” And it’s the most heroic thing she does in the whole show as far as I’m concerned. This is what makes her a hero amidst an arc where she is the villain. That she fesses up and then tries really hard to get back on track again and what happens next is not her fault.
Season 4 College. Season 3, High School through Graduation Day. Buffy Senior Season 2, Buffy Junior, kills Angel. Season 1, Buffy Sophomore, dies, kills the Master.
Buffy post getting ripped out of heaven reminds me of a Warren Zevon Lyric from "Ain't that pretty at all", namely " 'Cause I'd rather feel bad than not feel anything at all".
Good call you noticing that Buffy and Willow don't hang out much any more. They used to be very close in the first three seasons, and then I feel like the show stopped focusing on their friendship, except for some rare moments.
Some people don't like this storyline with Willow because they think the addiction metaphor is too in your face and not subtle enough, but I personally really like this arc. One of my favorite things about it is that it didn't just come out of nowhere. There were clues going back seasons that show Willow's misuse of magic and the gradual buildup to where we are now. It's not like other shows where a character experiences a drug for the first time and then suddenly in the next episode they are in full addiction. Like I said, this has been building for seasons now.
Thank you. Precisely. Few people are aware of and understand the relationship between the mind (the internal) and the body (the external). Don’t realize that they’re one in the same. Anything that starts in the mind will eventually effect the body and vice versa. And this is why it makes sense that the metaphor becomes literal. It’s not about making it “heavy handed” for the story to be more “adult” or “darker”. It’s the understanding that internal destruction does lead to external destruction when not directly dealt with. Emotional addiction, however non-serious it starts off, quickly evolves into very serious. It’s not about the magic. This needs to be understood about Willow’s arc more. Like all substance abuse, the reason to abuse is not for the substance, but rather what the substance compensates for. A perceived lack-of something. An insecurity, anxiety or emotion. Willow does not want to face what she really feels. She wants to avoid it, mask it or overpower it. Thus - magic. So it’s not about having or using magic. It’s about having or using the power she can get from it to offset something she perceives she lacks or she is missing. But there isn’t anything lacking or missing except belief. Therefore, as I keep saying, the only thing that’s wrong with Willow is that she believes that there’s something wrong with her. Insecurities are rarely, if at all, ever the truth. This is why Willow Rosenberg is such an important character in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and why she’s so relatable and resonatable. Imposter syndrome may not be the only mental condition she has but it is arguably the first one she has - which means that every other stems from it and is manifested because of it. Power corruption, addiction, repressed sadism, consent issues, OCD, anxiety disorders,… the lot. All of it is informed by her simply believing like she doesn’t belong and doesn’t deserve and isn’t worthy. This condition is a problem for her right from the start of the show. In her very first interaction with Buffy she is already in that state of mind where her extremely poor self esteem is informing everything she does and says about herself, about other people, about the world and her involvement in it. She doesn’t have any friends besides Xander and the soon-to-be-dead Jesse. Xander is also someone who is viewed as a geek and a loser and so she feels comfortable with him. She knows that she belongs in his friend group. But as soon as Buffy comes along - it’s a different story because she comes along with Cordelia. The most popular girl at Sunnydale High and her bully. Before Willow knows anything about Buffy being the Slayer she already automatically understands that Buffy is off-limits and she has no right to be around her. Internalizing her geek and loser status as “wrong” for her. And so when Buffy comes up to her and asks her for help later, Willow just thinks she wants her to move. That she wants her to disappear so she can sit in her space. She already and immediately thinks that Buffy is “someone” and she isn’t. She is just nothing. When they become friends at the end of the episode and she is now following her around and being her “Slayerette” she makes herself useful to her however way she can. But the feelings of doubt that she actually cares about her and wants to be her friend still linger. And they linger all the way up until we get a proper look-in to her mind in Season 4 with ‘Restless’. In her dream we are privy to things we wouldn’t ever be otherwise. The way she truly thinks and feels about herself and everyone else. The way she perceives of herself and everyone else. She’s not the heroine that saves the day. She’s the damsel in distress. She’s the helpless victim. She’s not the one everybody relies on. She’s the one everybody stares and laughs at. She’s the one exposed for being nothing at all. She’s just a sham, a fraud, an imposter. She’s just playing a role. And here - for what seems the first time - she admits that she’s always thought of herself as nothing at all. Just “plain old Willow”, just “some girl”. And that it’s only because she can do magic why she’s anything more than that. Magic is not necessarily the addiction but because it’s an emotional crutch for her insecurities/anxieties/emotions - her perceived shortcomings, she still becomes dependent on it to the point of literal physical addiction. If anything the real addiction is power. And not having it makes her feel scared that she will lose and fail at everything. Up until this confession to Buffy the only way we knew this to be true is because we’ve been privy to her internal self - her psyche. She hasn’t. None of her loved ones have. Not even Tara. Tara just knew it because she’s a very perceptive person and she loves Willow enough to realize that something was very wrong - off with her. And obviously because she’s aware of the risks and consequences of using so much magic - especially dark magic - she picks it up faster than the rest does and instead of just sits down and keeps her mouth shut - speaks up. And Willow didn’t like it. Willow didn’t being called out for using too much magic. For being power hungry because it’s her coat of arms. It’s what distinguishes her from being like all the other average girls in Sunnydale. That and being gay.
Like many an addict with their addictions, Willow's situation DID start out subtle before becoming "too in your face." It was highlighted as a potential issue from every season since she got into magic and even before that, we saw signs of her more negative traits in S1. Her S6 arc is a culmination of all of that.
@@cajah88 precisely. It’s just exacerbated the more and more she uses magic. Maybe it wouldn’t be an issue for her to use it if she didn’t have that mindset of being unworthy. If her self-esteem wasn’t so low. Because it is - it’s more much of a concern for her to use magic than anyone else.
The addiction which Willow has had since she restored Angel's soul has reached the breaking point. I'm convinced what she did to Dawn would've happened to Tara, if Tara didn't break up with Willow.
Right?! Absolutely, Tara would have bared the brunt of Willow’s destructive behaviour. Even accidentally. And she wouldn’t have come out alive. Dawn was lucky it was just an injury.
Yes he has been in stuff. He was the insane vampire Kralik in the episode Helpless. That is the one where Giles made Buffy helpless on her 18th birthday.
BTW Kassidy it was actually S3 episode Gingerbread when Amy turned herself into a rat when they were about to be burned alive, not S2. However In S2 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered Amy turned Buffy into a rat when they were fighting over Xander under the love spell
You nailed it on the spike/Buffy relationship at the beginning of this video. I understand they have violence in their relationship, BUT they both have super powers….
Posting my BUFFY REWATCH recap for ‘Wrecked’. May contain spoilers. ‘Wrecked’ is all about what can happen when the magical power Willow accumulates throughout the show becomes so corruptible mentally that she loses all rational thinking and informational processing cerebral capacity, and she is responsible for causing serious damage to both herself and others because of it. Due to the events of this episode she finally has to come to terms with her selfish choices and actions and get a handle on the addiction nobody other than Tara noticed that she has till now. Something to keep in mind about Willow in understanding why she gets to this low point in going through all her sudden tumultuous changes in her negative character development in Season 6 is all her insecurities and anxieties that she doesn’t express herself on unless asked. Honestly, the character is really quite paranoid when it comes to how she thinks or feels or believes other people perceive of her. Her paranoia is something she doesn’t really address with anyone, if at all. Not even Tara. Those internal and intimate thoughts and emotions stay suppressed inside of her so that every time she voices her opinion on something when she develops the bravery to do so later in the show, she often comes across as arrogant and entitled. But if she could better communicate her thoughts and emotions with people, those people would understand her point of view better and realize that her intention is not to be that. She just doesn’t understand - and her way of understanding isn’t to ask questions, like it is for Anya. But it’s to automatically assume that she does understand. That’s because she lacks self-awareness on the most flawed and negative traits of her personality. So for example: when she has a fight with Tara in ‘All The Way’ - instead of communicating with her on how she feels about Tara’s expressing of her overusing magic, she goes for the attack instead and automatically assumes her and Giles are talking about her behind her back when Tara asks her to consider what Giles would say. It makes her come across as arrogant and entitled. But really, she deeply worries how both Tara and Giles perceive of her and can’t effectively communicate that. That’s her constant paranoia. Her fears of how people, especially her loved ones, perceive of her, and that she may lose them because of her belief of their perception of her. I have said several times now that the character most likely has an undiagnosed variant of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) because she exhibits the same or similar behavioural patterns in the effort to control her experience: the situation, the environment, the people. Sometimes those behavioural patterns can manifest themselves physically, like in ‘The Body’ where she’s constantly changing her clothes because she’s so anxious and she can’t deal with her emotions, and so projects that by trying to control her appearance to others. Other times they remain entirely emotional and mental and she will project her thoughts and feelings on to people. Twisting their words and manipulating the context of whatever concept she and them are talking about in effort to control the situation and her involvement in that situation. Once again, that comes across as arrogance and entitlement, but really, it’s just lack of self-awareness or self-enquiry. She doesn’t know herself very well and so the way she processes information is in a very unhealthy way. She doesn’t ask questions. She doesn’t talk through her emotions with anyone. She just goes for the attack every time she’s called out and reprimanded for something she does in the need to control something or someone. It is honestly all about control for Willow. And if she can’t control it, she doesn’t know what to do about it and falls into a pit of self-doubt. What she has to learn is that not everything is within her control and accept that things just happen the way they happen. It’s better to express and communicate her thoughts and emotions with not having that control than to actively try to control it more. She’s not a bad person. Not really,… she just doesn’t know how to handle bad experiences. And like I said, that comes from not knowing herself very well. Not understanding her subconscious thought/feeling patterns. Why she thinks and feels a certain way. What the root cause for thinking/feeling that way is. How to deal with her insecurities and anxieties in healthy and non-judgemental ways so that those experiences are better for her. So that she can be happy and be a hero in her own right as that is really all she wants out of life. That’s Willow’s absolutely profound character arc and I adore it. And therefore I adore her character because of it. The fact she is so flawed and frustrating is why she is such a beloved character for me. As I said - negative character development is a good thing to me. It’s something I don’t run or shy away from in interacting with art/entertainment because it helps me learn things about myself and the world around me. I look for characters that struggle psychologically because understanding the human condition is so very important to me. I just think her character is incredible representation for that. For helping people to acknowledge, address and deal with all their internal shit and realize that they might be in the wrong sometimes because it happens. And thus, growing and expanding in their consciousness evolution. Learning their mental well-being. I think that is so very important to be represented in art/entertainment because we only learn from either what we personally experience ourselves or what we vicariously experience through reflections of ourselves that we may not recognize. For me, this is what Willow Rosenberg represents in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. A human being that experiences and interacts with the supernatural to the point where she becomes less and less human, and yet, at the same time because of her flaws, shows herself to be as human as they come. Because humans are flawed and it’s important to understand that that’s okay. We can only do the best we can in the moment. We must allow ourselves the space and time to work through our issues and struggles any way we can. That’s why Willow’s arc is so profound to me. There is very few characters in TV like her with such immense written character development. It really is a shame. Furthermore, Alyson Hannigan’s portrayal and performance in this episode especially is remarkable to me. She absolutely nails the wreckage of Willow and makes you really feel for her character despite the fact it’s entirely her fault what happens. Watching Willow fall to the floor in the climatic scene brings me to tears every time I watch it. The way the actress was able to stay in control of her performance and clearly and concisely deliver her lines while falling to pieces. It’s award-winning level acting skill and talent. Alyson Hannigan deserved an Emmy for this scene right here.
Willows reached the part of admitting she has a problem now. Note that before she was in denial and claimed that Tara left her for no good reason. Now she admits the abuse/addiction of magic is Why Tara left.
Yep. A huge change. Also in ‘Tabula Rasa’ she immediately admitted that she was so selfish for bringing Buffy back yet doubles down on the “magic is the fix” because of it almost as if she didn’t realize the reason it was selfish.
My eyelids sweat, too. Mostly when on stage with my Honky Tonk band. And since I'm wearing glasses it's a real annoyance, because I have to take them off when I want to wipe the sweat away, or else it gets in my eyes. Try removing your glasses while playing bass guitar. Oh, well.
A lot of people who never encountered an addict in their life think this episode is bunk. It is a bit heavy-handed and seems a bit sudden, but actually you can look over most of the earlier episodes, even from season 5 where she attacks Glory in retribution for stealing Tara' sanity -- " I Owe You Pain!" that there is dark in Willow. Even back in high school when she had the chance to get with Xander she took it, giving in to her desires. Now with her crushing guilt over resurrecting Buffy, and her embrace of Witchcraft as a coping mechanism, it takes over. Most addicts maintain a low alcohol or drug (or sex) usage rate for a long while, justifying that they can "regulate" it, until Big Bad Life smashes them in the face one too many times, then regulation time is over and its full on escape into the depths in a steep downward spiral until they crash. In this case a literal crash. Riley's addiction to getting vamp sucked (yuck!) was almost the end for him, I thought they let him off easy, by having the Calvary come in and take him back. Whatever happened to him anyway? It is long and deep lore that magic always has a price. Often the price for a small mistake in a magic rite is for the damage to return back on the spellcaster seven-fold! Willows' price? stay tuned.
Because anxiety and specifically worry and compulsive overthinking seem to affect Willow the most and plague her throughout her entire appearance in ‘BtVS’, the thing she really needed to do to deal with that was work through her emotions. Self-acceptance is a tricky thing to do but it almost always requires you to process your thoughts and emotions rather than ram-rush through them or avoid, escape and distract yourself from them because that only tends to make them build up over time and attack you even harder in the end. Like a balloon popping at any seemingly random moment. But it’s because you never notice it filling up with any helium. You never notice that there’s an emotional wound there that’s only getting quick fixes and band aids and not a lengthy treatment or therapy to work through it. The whole thing with Willow is that she doesn’t want to address anything going on in her head directly. She just wants to make whatever negative thoughts or feelings she’s having in the moment disappear. She doesn’t want to do the hard work to work through them and she certainly doesn’t want to do that alone. She wants to immediately break free from all of it and just fly off. Move on to something new without doing what she needs to do to resolve what’s bothering her. Enter Tara: Tara establishes very early on in her appearance and relationship with Willow and with the rest of the Scooby Gang that she will be this person. Will be the rock to keep them stable or the glue that holds them together. And every single time she’s like “I’m with you”. She not like “I’ll help you” or “I’ll support you” or “I sympathise with you”. She’s like “I’ll be with you.” This is especially true and most important when it comes to Willow as her girlfriend. In the episode ‘Who Are You’, Tara uses a very appropriate term for something she always is for and does with Willow: “Anchor”. At the time she means it literally when they perform the Nether Realm spell. But metaphorically Tara is always Willow’s anchor. She is always the weight that holds Willow down and that keeps her in place when it comes to her anxiety. That steadies her, reassures her and validates her. And when Willow goes through intense anxiety spells, she’s there grounding and guiding her through them. Neither allowing her to ignore her emotions nor forcing her to face them alone. It’s not until Willow’s coping mechanisms for her anxieties and insecurities become unhealthy and destructive and start affecting and harming Tara personally does she sever herself from Willow. At that point Willow’s insistence to do the unhealthy or destructive thing in dealing with situations and her emotional turmoil because of it is something that can’t be resolved with Tara being her anchor because she’s inadvertently part of the problem in that Willow instead just always relies on magic, and specifically performing magic where she chooses to drop her anchor instead and go at it alone. I’ve talked a lot about co-dependency when it comes to Willow with her being co-dependent to Tara so what I’ve said above might sound contradicting since I’ve said that Willow chooses to “drop her anchor” in dangerous situations such as performing complicated magicks - showing her independence. But the reason why being co-dependent to your partner is unhealthy and destructive is because it’s not about your partner. It’s about either how you can use your partner or control them to do something. It’s not about love. Take for example Riley’s response after Buffy asks him “Why all the crazy?” in ‘The Yoko Factor’ - referring to his jealousy and the assumption that Buffy might cheat on him with Angel if he allows her alone time with him. He says “because I’m so in love with you I can’t think straight” immediately putting his inability to cope with his thoughts and emotions about Buffy and Angel on Buffy. Using his “love” for her as an excuse to absolve himself from his own destructive actions and choices. That’s not love even if the person is actually in love with their partner. It’s emotional abuse. It’s putting all of the baggage and damage that you yourself have to sort through and heal on them. And while said partner might offer that dependence, it’s actually wrong to expect them to be around so that you can depend on them. So that you can use them to excuse the destructive shit that you’re doing. And when the person turns around and says “actually, it’s about me taking care of you”… that’s not the case. They might believe that but because they have no self-awareness of their own destructive behaviour, it actually means that their partner has to deal with it. That’s why co-dependence is not a good thing at all. So Willow’s co-dependence to Tara is not about loving her even though she does love her. It’s a way to absolve herself from her own destructive behaviour. It’s using her. And with using magic on Tara in wiping her memories it’s also about controlling her to do what she wants her to do or to think how she wants her to think. Taking Tara’s autonomy away from the situation. Changing or altering her emotional state. Tara offers to be her anchor any and at all times and Willow gets so comfortable with that that she ends up taking advantage of Tara for her own selfish reasons. Which is the addict’s way as well as an abuser’s way. And so Tara has to do the hardest thing. Stop being it. Because she knows that at that point it’s not helping. And it wouldn’t unless Willow could first acknowledge and then accept that her own destructive behaviour is actually destructive. Only then could Tara be there for her and offer to be her anchor once again. Only then would Willow’s dependence on Tara be healthy again and be about mutual love and reassurance and validation instead of abuse and power and control.
In my opinion, the three stooges, as you call them, just feel like their bigger villains than they actually are. In a way, it's like cosplay in my opinion. While not dressed up, they are just playing at being villains.
My eyelids only sweat when I use lots of Wasabi, Chinese Mustard or Hot Sauces.🌶🥵 "The primary function of eccrine sweat glands on the eyelid is thermoregulation by secreting sweat."
I can never back Spike and Buffy, the whole thing makes me feel sick. This isn't just toxic, this is taking advantage of someone that's in a mentally vulnerable state, and once he gets his foot in the door, he is relentless and "no" is not an answer he'll accept. He's a stalker, a predator. And he's dangerous. Just because she is too, and she's super strong and can fight, this is horrifying to go through. s6 is like an exploration of depression, and the unhealthy and risky things people do as things are spiralling and they're struggling with how they feel, or what to feel. Substance abuse, self harm, promiscuous behaviours are all things people do to try and feel something other than the whirlwind or apathy or whatever is breaking their mind apart.
When did he not accept the no? In the three seconds before she resumed kissing him? Like, I don't think he exerted coercive pressure by following her around graveyards, he just annoyed her. He was there, and she was in whatever mental state, and he was around for her to lose herself in, but that's it. It doesn't seem especially taking advantage, since her actions aren't just from promiscuity, I think she must like him despite being being enemies.
...Your eyelids sweat? EDIT: Eyelids don't have sweat glands., as far as I know. However, the area immediately above it, right under your brow, does. But no, I'm fairly sure that eyelids don't sweat. It just feels that way.
In real life I would never cheer on such a toxic relationship as Spike and Buffy. But in the show they are both very powerful people with extremely fast healing abilities. They started off as enemies and mix violence with passion. They have some good things to their relationship, like Spike being someone she can talk to, and some really toxic parts. So it’s hard to know how to feel about it. But they do look hot together.
Thеу just hаvе lоt of chеmistry. They light things uр оn the scrееn. Seriоuslу. Pеоple like it bеcаusе it wоrks. Dеspitе the рlоt's соnstаnt attеmpts tо ruin it. Lоt of us still wаnt tо sее thеm. Аnd this оnlу shоws hоw muсh strоngеr it is thаn thеsе аttеmрts. Thе рlоt shоuldn't blаmе реорlе fоr liking smth thаt wоrks аnd hаs роtеntiаl. Аnd реорlе dоn’t nееd tо соnstаntlу mаke exсusеs whу thеу likе it. Sо it's just а рitу thаt thе shоw mоstlу wаstеd аll it's timе whilе it cоuld bе usеd muсh bеttеr. Bесаusе thеу hаd lоt оf pоtеntiаl.
I personally think all of Buffy's main ships carry some pretty big issues one way or another, but the most toxicity is definitely within those ships that feature the vampires, lol.
I just recently, very recently after watching Sarah Z's video on season 6 (don't watch if you haven't seen all of season 6), figured out that I can like spuffy without liking spuffy. I realized that it is okay for me (I have my issues and every one is different) to be against that kind of relationship in real life while permitting myself to enjoying it in fiction.
I get finding the Spike/Buffy relationship interesting, but I will never get people that "ship" this or squeal with delight over it. "I knew the only thing better than killing a slayer would be fucking one." Jfc, that is absolutely hideous.
Wrecked is of course a pivotal episode, where we see addiction to magic overcoming Willow, and to some extent Buffy as well with her addiction to sex with Spike, even though she hates herself for doing it. S6 is such a departure from the earlier Seasons, as due to the network change we can really see how more adult the show is in tone. Dawn becomes collateral damage in Willow's addiction, and when Willow says to Buffy in the bedroom 'it will never happen again' we just know it wont be the end of this. Great acting by Alyson Hannigan, it's hard to believe the innocent Willow from S1 could end up like this, but that is the nature of addiction. Great writing from Marti Noxon who also wrote some of the best episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Mad Men.
I believe Willow has some real issues with co-dependency. Imagine wrapping yourself around a lover so much that you lose your identity in them and what you think/believe you need to or must be for them. Willow was co-dependent to Tara. And Willow was just lucky Tara was having none of it and wouldn’t take advantage of her the way she did with her. Tara got out of dodge because there’d be no chance Willow would let go of her. She was hooked much the same way as she was with magic. That’s why I say her addiction wasn’t just to magic. It was also to Tara. And as healthy as that relationship was from the outside-looking in. From the inside-looking out,… it was hella destructive because she was obsessed. She wanted to own Tara. Not love her. Tara was an unintended trigger and enabler for Willow and as soon as she recognized this.. she severed ties. She left more so for everybody else’s sake than her own. It’s difficult to see it this way because again… we’re watching the arc play out from the outside-looking in. From people who just don’t understand. To truly get this arc you have to look at it through from the inside-looking out. You have to see it through the eyes of someone who knows of emotional addiction. I actually read something about this on Twitter written by a psychologist. It was about people who are co-dependent fully believing that their behaviour is selfless. They don’t realize that their need to control and manage people’s perception of them is a selfish act. Their tendency to manipulate conversations and gaslight is grounded in this belief that they have to meet expectations of others but in reality is only just expectations of themselves. And any attempt to control or dominate in romantic relationships is all about fearing being abandoned by their lover. It’s like a type of self-corruption and sabotaging. That of which they’re trying so hard to avoid ends up happening anyway because their methods of avoiding it are what inevitably end up causing it. And it was fascinating. All throughout reading it I was thinking about Willow and her behaviour in romantic relationships or even just friendships. Her coping mechanisms to avoid or escape from her insecurities/anxieties/emotions make her manifest co-dependency. And that in itself is also a form of emotional addiction. So it’s not just about magic at all. It’s about power and control and co-dependency.
Thank you for giving your thoughts on the Buffy spike relationship. I agree. We are watching dramatic television. Buffy in real life might be better off with a Riley. But no one wants to watch more of that 😂plus there is so much intrigue now on where this goes
@@sirmoonslosthismind yes season 4 is the exception as far as we know to this point of Buffy not having Angel or Spike as a love interest and he was really boring honestly
@@sirmoonslosthismind i don’t know if Riley was toxic or not in season 5. He was pushed away and pissy. Buffy didn’t really seem that affected until Xander gave his speech to her then she suddenly cared.
Notice that as commenters we are trying our best to NOT spoil. But you are far enough into the series that we can point out things like the foreshadowing that has come before without spoiling. Now, without spoiling, I'll point out that Willow is addicted to magic like a crack user is addicted to crack. Joss kind of hits you in the head with this metaphor. That said, nothing can possibly get darker in this season, right? S6 - this is as dark as it gets. Until S7?
Willow’s magic/drug addiction conflation Question: What kind of drug does the writers relate magic to in ‘Wrecked’? Is it Heroin or some other high-level drug? I just noticed that Willow goes through a powerful physical withdrawal after she swears off doing spells to Buffy. And considering the writers literally conflate the use of magic with use of drugs for her in this episode, I just want to know what kind of drug magic is meant to be simulating? I would say it’s Heroin because of the extreme similarities to a Heroin withdrawal but it could be Crack or even prescription Opioids. I just find it interesting to know. It’s a fascinating storyline to me and she’s a fascinating character.
It's weird how people cheer on the other gratuitous violence in the show, but once they get a whiff of any ship, suddenly the gratuitous fight scenes are serious and signal abuse in the relationship. Like guys, we know that in real life abusive partners don't swing from chandeliers, right? They're mortal enemies, mystical warriors, and this is a day off for them. That was all symbolic of their emotional state, but it was also fight choreography, that someone was really proud of. This is fiction, which not only means you get to focus on the parts that you like, but also it's an imperfectly told story. Sometimes there's different ways to interpret something, and they're both as accurate as can be, and that's okay.
Thank you for pointing out the two-way abuse between Buffy and Spike. Fans will often gloss over that Buffy will punch Spike, knowing he's unable to retaliate because of the chip. But that being said, thank you for also pointing out that this is a TV show and not real life, so it's okay to enjoy "problematic" relationships and characters. This show would be so boring if it was drama-free.
The plot started Buffy and Spike relationship in s6 only to sabotage it. And everything they wrote for these eps was about it. Everything they say and do here is about it. So there is no point in analyzing them right now based on what we see here. Because it will have only one idea. They need to make it look bad from both sides. They had different options. But they chose this. Despite them developing a connection, despite Spike's progress. Now everything serves the idea of destroying it. But it means that the plot wasted all that time for nothing. Because all recent story means nothing now. Now they just returned everything back to the beginning, she is a slayer, he is a vampire. They can't cooperate. He is a thing for her again. But what was the point of what we've seen before then? When she already treated him like a man and so on. They just erased part of plot. Because they wanted to sabotage it that much. And they needed things to be dirty that much. That's a bit... it's not about telling a story anymore. That's about forcing viewers to think what they need them to think. Yes, people like B&S and so what? If the plot have a problem with it they can blame themselves for this. And actors that they were good enough and had chemistry. So good actors and the story are the problem now? Again, they had a choice. And they chose it. In my opinion the story didn't get better from that.
Willow doesn't feel "violated" after using dark magic. She SLAMMED to the floor, coming DOWN from her HIGH on the ceiling with her dilated pupils. She's sweaty and panting and shaky taking a shower. She feels maybe more out of control and... addicted. It's a metaphor, see?
@@colleenmarin8907yeah, that crying in the shower scene was quite suggestive that it was more than just simply taking magical power from her. I mean how would she pay for the magical power he gives her in return if he doesn’t want money? I think it’s obvious.
😂😂 It isn't the abuse issue that puts me off the Spike/Buffy relationship. I think it's because James Masters was only 6 years younger than Tony Head, and to me seemed weird tha they'd put someone Buffy's age (21ish) with someone in his 40's lol. I know I'm muddling up their rl ages and their character ages 😂 my brain is a strange place 🤷♀️
I would have to say I don't like Spike and Buffy together for Buffy. I just don't like Spike, never have. For me her best relationship with a man on the show is Giles followed by Riley. She has got some real poor taste in men.
Buffy, "You're bent!!"
Spike, "Yeah and it made you scream, didn't it?!"
😶My gawd.
The fact Dawn is more safe with Spike than Willow.
God what a wreck that woman is this episode.
Don’t do magic, kids.
"That guy's been in stuff..."
Yeah, Jeff Kober has been in tons of movies and tv shows...including this one. He was the psychotic vampire in 3.12 "Helpless." He also played a vampire in the mid 90's in the tv show "KIndred: The Embrace."
The actor that played Rack (the sorcerer) also played the crazy vampire in "Helpless", where Buffy lost her powers.
Jeff Kober.
Really?
This might be th darkest season of the whole series, the acting is so on point it's heartbreaking.
No, fellow Floridian, I couldn't wear eyeshadow until I left Florida because my eyelids were sweaty and greasy. Now that I am back I put primer/foundation and powder on my lids just to keep them from getting gross and messing with my contacts. Also, my hair was/is always a mess.
Amy turned herself into a rat in season 3. The first 3 seasons were highschool (the mayor/faith were the villians). College started season 4.
“It’s OOC for Willow to be doing this.”
3x18
*Interrogation with Jonathan takes place*
WILLOW: "Fantasy's are fun, aren't they Jonathan?"
JONATHAN: "Uh... I guess."
WILLOW: "We all have fantasies that we’re powerful, more respected. Where people pay attention to us.”
JONATHAN: "Uh... maybe."
WILLOW: "But sometimes the fantasy isn't enough, is it Jonathan? Sometimes we have to make it so people don't ignore us. Make them pay attention. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
JONATHAN: "Erm, you... Want me to pay attention?"
They may be overdoing it a bit with the magic addiction metaphor but it’s not OOC because it’s not about the magic. People need to understand this. It’s never been about the magic. The only reason why it’s magic is because that’s the channel to which to have power and control. It’s what Willow is best at so of course it’s magic that would be the substance to abuse. But the whole point is to have that power and control to make people pay attention to her. To not regard her as worthless. We, of course, know that that isn’t the truth of who she is. People do not view Willow that way anymore. But she still believes that they do deep down. Her mindset is still that of somebody who is just faking their confident persona and people will see right through it to the nerd within. Even as powerful as she is here, she still feels like she’s a fraud, an imposter, and if she doesn’t keep up with this overcompensated dangerous identity she’s taken on, they’ll get tired of her. They’ll leave her behind because she’s nothing more than a wannabe and not a true hero to the cause of the greater good. Not a true witch. Not a true lesbian. Not a true anything except a hapless, loveless, useless loser. That’s why she does all this chaotic, violating, destructive shit with her magic. She believes that if she doesn’t show her immense power as often as she can and to as much extent as possible, she will be exposed for being fake.
It’s got nothing to do with magic. It’s a severe insecurity issue brought on by unchecked emotional complex trauma of bullying and abuse from both her school and home life. Why the writers depict all of this as if it’s only to do with magic addiction is maybe something they shouldn’t have done. I will agree with that. But it’s not out of character. It can’t be because Willow has been power hungry for a long fucking time in the show. We just didn’t want to see it. We didn’t want to think of Willow as going down a destructive path with her magic usage. We didn’t view it as corruption that she was quickly accumulating power. We viewed it as ‘Uber Witch’ heroism. But now in this season it’s revealed to us for what it really is. Villainy. This is something Willow herself doesn’t realize and it’s part of what makes it so real and relatable.
So what if it’s through magic? That’s not the point. And it has never been the point. That’s just an effective tool through which to use and explore the themes of power corruption and addiction with. And maybe I’m giving the writers too much credit here but I feel like it’s purposeful for it to seem mixed signal-y because the majority of people watching this arc are looking at it through the perspective of all the other characters. Not through Willow. But this is what is going on in Willow’s head. This is her paranoia hitting her full force. Maybe she does feel out of character. Maybe she’s doing the most to not feel that way. Maybe it all still is just a fantasy for her and she will never truly achieve what she wants. She will never achieve true love. She will never be a hero equal to Buffy. She’ll always be a loser no matter how hard she tries not to be.
Again, we as the audience see that that is not the truth. But it’s true to her. It’s her reality. Because that’s just how mentally ill she is. And they do not tell you this until it’s way too late. Willow does not confess this until she has to. We never really see just how bad it is for her until now so it does seem like it comes out of left-field and just made up for the sake of the story this season. But mental illness is like that. People on the outside-looking in do not see it because the one going through it keeps it well hidden until something awful happens. Dawn could have died and so Willow is like “Okay. Enough is enough. Time to come clean.” And it’s the most heroic thing she does in the whole show as far as I’m concerned. This is what makes her a hero amidst an arc where she is the villain. That she fesses up and then tries really hard to get back on track again and what happens next is not her fault.
Season 4 College.
Season 3, High School through Graduation Day. Buffy Senior
Season 2, Buffy Junior, kills Angel.
Season 1, Buffy Sophomore, dies, kills the Master.
Buffy post getting ripped out of heaven reminds me of a Warren Zevon Lyric from "Ain't that pretty at all", namely " 'Cause I'd rather feel bad than not feel anything at all".
Good call you noticing that Buffy and Willow don't hang out much any more. They used to be very close in the first three seasons, and then I feel like the show stopped focusing on their friendship, except for some rare moments.
My eyelids don’t sweat so much, but under my eyes sweats a lot in summer.
The dark magic guy was the vampire with the pills in the Watchers Council test episode, I believe.
Some people don't like this storyline with Willow because they think the addiction metaphor is too in your face and not subtle enough, but I personally really like this arc. One of my favorite things about it is that it didn't just come out of nowhere. There were clues going back seasons that show Willow's misuse of magic and the gradual buildup to where we are now. It's not like other shows where a character experiences a drug for the first time and then suddenly in the next episode they are in full addiction. Like I said, this has been building for seasons now.
Thank you. Precisely. Few people are aware of and understand the relationship between the mind (the internal) and the body (the external). Don’t realize that they’re one in the same. Anything that starts in the mind will eventually effect the body and vice versa. And this is why it makes sense that the metaphor becomes literal. It’s not about making it “heavy handed” for the story to be more “adult” or “darker”. It’s the understanding that internal destruction does lead to external destruction when not directly dealt with. Emotional addiction, however non-serious it starts off, quickly evolves into very serious.
It’s not about the magic. This needs to be understood about Willow’s arc more. Like all substance abuse, the reason to abuse is not for the substance, but rather what the substance compensates for. A perceived lack-of something.
An insecurity, anxiety or emotion. Willow does not want to face what she really feels. She wants to avoid it, mask it or overpower it. Thus - magic. So it’s not about having or using magic. It’s about having or using the power she can get from it to offset something she perceives she lacks or she is missing. But there isn’t anything lacking or missing except belief. Therefore, as I keep saying, the only thing that’s wrong with Willow is that she believes that there’s something wrong with her.
Insecurities are rarely, if at all, ever the truth.
This is why Willow Rosenberg is such an important character in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and why she’s so relatable and resonatable. Imposter syndrome may not be the only mental condition she has but it is arguably the first one she has - which means that every other stems from it and is manifested because of it. Power corruption, addiction, repressed sadism, consent issues, OCD, anxiety disorders,… the lot.
All of it is informed by her simply believing like she doesn’t belong and doesn’t deserve and isn’t worthy. This condition is a problem for her right from the start of the show. In her very first interaction with Buffy she is already in that state of mind where her extremely poor self esteem is informing everything she does and says about herself, about other people, about the world and her involvement in it. She doesn’t have any friends besides Xander and the soon-to-be-dead Jesse. Xander is also someone who is viewed as a geek and a loser and so she feels comfortable with him. She knows that she belongs in his friend group. But as soon as Buffy comes along - it’s a different story because she comes along with Cordelia. The most popular girl at Sunnydale High and her bully. Before Willow knows anything about Buffy being the Slayer she already automatically understands that Buffy is off-limits and she has no right to be around her. Internalizing her geek and loser status as “wrong” for her. And so when Buffy comes up to her and asks her for help later, Willow just thinks she wants her to move. That she wants her to disappear so she can sit in her space. She already and immediately thinks that Buffy is “someone” and she isn’t. She is just nothing.
When they become friends at the end of the episode and she is now following her around and being her “Slayerette” she makes herself useful to her however way she can. But the feelings of doubt that she actually cares about her and wants to be her friend still linger. And they linger all the way up until we get a proper look-in to her mind in Season 4 with ‘Restless’. In her dream we are privy to things we wouldn’t ever be otherwise. The way she truly thinks and feels about herself and everyone else. The way she perceives of herself and everyone else. She’s not the heroine that saves the day. She’s the damsel in distress. She’s the helpless victim. She’s not the one everybody relies on. She’s the one everybody stares and laughs at. She’s the one exposed for being nothing at all. She’s just a sham, a fraud, an imposter. She’s just playing a role.
And here - for what seems the first time - she admits that she’s always thought of herself as nothing at all. Just “plain old Willow”, just “some girl”. And that it’s only because she can do magic why she’s anything more than that. Magic is not necessarily the addiction but because it’s an emotional crutch for her insecurities/anxieties/emotions - her perceived shortcomings, she still becomes dependent on it to the point of literal physical addiction. If anything the real addiction is power. And not having it makes her feel scared that she will lose and fail at everything. Up until this confession to Buffy the only way we knew this to be true is because we’ve been privy to her internal self - her psyche. She hasn’t. None of her loved ones have. Not even Tara. Tara just knew it because she’s a very perceptive person and she loves Willow enough to realize that something was very wrong - off with her. And obviously because she’s aware of the risks and consequences of using so much magic - especially dark magic - she picks it up faster than the rest does and instead of just sits down and keeps her mouth shut - speaks up. And Willow didn’t like it. Willow didn’t being called out for using too much magic. For being power hungry because it’s her coat of arms. It’s what distinguishes her from being like all the other average girls in Sunnydale. That and being gay.
Like many an addict with their addictions, Willow's situation DID start out subtle before becoming "too in your face." It was highlighted as a potential issue from every season since she got into magic and even before that, we saw signs of her more negative traits in S1. Her S6 arc is a culmination of all of that.
@@cajah88 precisely. It’s just exacerbated the more and more she uses magic. Maybe it wouldn’t be an issue for her to use it if she didn’t have that mindset of being unworthy. If her self-esteem wasn’t so low. Because it is - it’s more much of a concern for her to use magic than anyone else.
The addiction which Willow has had since she restored Angel's soul has reached the breaking point. I'm convinced what she did to Dawn would've happened to Tara, if Tara didn't break up with Willow.
Right?! Absolutely, Tara would have bared the brunt of Willow’s destructive behaviour. Even accidentally. And she wouldn’t have come out alive. Dawn was lucky it was just an injury.
Willow's abuse of magic, is pretty much equivalent to anyones abuse of any substance. They become addicted and can't find a way to stop.
Season 3 was senior year in HS, with the mayor as the "big bad". Amy was turned into a rat in Season 3, episode 11.
Yes he has been in stuff. He was the insane vampire Kralik in the episode Helpless. That is the one where Giles made Buffy helpless on her 18th birthday.
BTW Kassidy it was actually S3 episode Gingerbread when Amy turned herself into a rat when they were about to be burned alive, not S2. However In S2 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered Amy turned Buffy into a rat when they were fighting over Xander under the love spell
One of my favorite episodes of S6. My heart breaks seeing Willow like this💔
I don't. She's evil.
You nailed it on the spike/Buffy relationship at the beginning of this video. I understand they have violence in their relationship, BUT they both have super powers….
magic and knowledge and intelligence is what makes willow feel needed and powerful...without she feels like she has no purpose...and that scares her.
Posting my BUFFY REWATCH recap for ‘Wrecked’. May contain spoilers.
‘Wrecked’ is all about what can happen when the magical power Willow accumulates throughout the show becomes so corruptible mentally that she loses all rational thinking and informational processing cerebral capacity, and she is responsible for causing serious damage to both herself and others because of it. Due to the events of this episode she finally has to come to terms with her selfish choices and actions and get a handle on the addiction nobody other than Tara noticed that she has till now.
Something to keep in mind about Willow in understanding why she gets to this low point in going through all her sudden tumultuous changes in her negative character development in Season 6 is all her insecurities and anxieties that she doesn’t express herself on unless asked. Honestly, the character is really quite paranoid when it comes to how she thinks or feels or believes other people perceive of her. Her paranoia is something she doesn’t really address with anyone, if at all. Not even Tara. Those internal and intimate thoughts and emotions stay suppressed inside of her so that every time she voices her opinion on something when she develops the bravery to do so later in the show, she often comes across as arrogant and entitled. But if she could better communicate her thoughts and emotions with people, those people would understand her point of view better and realize that her intention is not to be that. She just doesn’t understand - and her way of understanding isn’t to ask questions, like it is for Anya. But it’s to automatically assume that she does understand. That’s because she lacks self-awareness on the most flawed and negative traits of her personality. So for example: when she has a fight with Tara in ‘All The Way’ - instead of communicating with her on how she feels about Tara’s expressing of her overusing magic, she goes for the attack instead and automatically assumes her and Giles are talking about her behind her back when Tara asks her to consider what Giles would say. It makes her come across as arrogant and entitled. But really, she deeply worries how both Tara and Giles perceive of her and can’t effectively communicate that. That’s her constant paranoia. Her fears of how people, especially her loved ones, perceive of her, and that she may lose them because of her belief of their perception of her.
I have said several times now that the character most likely has an undiagnosed variant of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) because she exhibits the same or similar behavioural patterns in the effort to control her experience: the situation, the environment, the people. Sometimes those behavioural patterns can manifest themselves physically, like in ‘The Body’ where she’s constantly changing her clothes because she’s so anxious and she can’t deal with her emotions, and so projects that by trying to control her appearance to others. Other times they remain entirely emotional and mental and she will project her thoughts and feelings on to people. Twisting their words and manipulating the context of whatever concept she and them are talking about in effort to control the situation and her involvement in that situation. Once again, that comes across as arrogance and entitlement, but really, it’s just lack of self-awareness or self-enquiry. She doesn’t know herself very well and so the way she processes information is in a very unhealthy way. She doesn’t ask questions. She doesn’t talk through her emotions with anyone. She just goes for the attack every time she’s called out and reprimanded for something she does in the need to control something or someone. It is honestly all about control for Willow. And if she can’t control it, she doesn’t know what to do about it and falls into a pit of self-doubt. What she has to learn is that not everything is within her control and accept that things just happen the way they happen. It’s better to express and communicate her thoughts and emotions with not having that control than to actively try to control it more. She’s not a bad person. Not really,… she just doesn’t know how to handle bad experiences. And like I said, that comes from not knowing herself very well. Not understanding her subconscious thought/feeling patterns. Why she thinks and feels a certain way. What the root cause for thinking/feeling that way is. How to deal with her insecurities and anxieties in healthy and non-judgemental ways so that those experiences are better for her. So that she can be happy and be a hero in her own right as that is really all she wants out of life.
That’s Willow’s absolutely profound character arc and I adore it. And therefore I adore her character because of it. The fact she is so flawed and frustrating is why she is such a beloved character for me. As I said - negative character development is a good thing to me. It’s something I don’t run or shy away from in interacting with art/entertainment because it helps me learn things about myself and the world around me. I look for characters that struggle psychologically because understanding the human condition is so very important to me. I just think her character is incredible representation for that. For helping people to acknowledge, address and deal with all their internal shit and realize that they might be in the wrong sometimes because it happens. And thus, growing and expanding in their consciousness evolution. Learning their mental well-being. I think that is so very important to be represented in art/entertainment because we only learn from either what we personally experience ourselves or what we vicariously experience through reflections of ourselves that we may not recognize. For me, this is what Willow Rosenberg represents in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. A human being that experiences and interacts with the supernatural to the point where she becomes less and less human, and yet, at the same time because of her flaws, shows herself to be as human as they come. Because humans are flawed and it’s important to understand that that’s okay. We can only do the best we can in the moment. We must allow ourselves the space and time to work through our issues and struggles any way we can. That’s why Willow’s arc is so profound to me. There is very few characters in TV like her with such immense written character development. It really is a shame.
Furthermore, Alyson Hannigan’s portrayal and performance in this episode especially is remarkable to me. She absolutely nails the wreckage of Willow and makes you really feel for her character despite the fact it’s entirely her fault what happens. Watching Willow fall to the floor in the climatic scene brings me to tears every time I watch it. The way the actress was able to stay in control of her performance and clearly and concisely deliver her lines while falling to pieces. It’s award-winning level acting skill and talent. Alyson Hannigan deserved an Emmy for this scene right here.
Great analysis, and you're TOO right about Alyson should have gotten an Emmy for this episode.
@@Madbandit77 honestly, her acting in Season 6 is on a whole other level. No wonder she demanded that “also starring” final credit.
Willows reached the part of admitting she has a problem now. Note that before she was in denial and claimed that Tara left her for no good reason. Now she admits the abuse/addiction of magic is Why Tara left.
Yep. A huge change. Also in ‘Tabula Rasa’ she immediately admitted that she was so selfish for bringing Buffy back yet doubles down on the “magic is the fix” because of it almost as if she didn’t realize the reason it was selfish.
My eyelids sweat, too. Mostly when on stage with my Honky Tonk band. And since I'm wearing glasses it's a real annoyance, because I have to take them off when I want to wipe the sweat away, or else it gets in my eyes. Try removing your glasses while playing bass guitar. Oh, well.
"Amy the rat". - I cackled. 😂
Alyson is a tour de force this season
The magic dealer played Craylic the vampire buffy had to fight in season 3 when she was powerless
Amy turned herself onto a rat in " Gingerbread" Season 3
Haven't seen this episode in years.... til now but wow it hits so much harder as an adult
My eye lids have never sweated and I grew up in MS.
Your love of spike ❤️
Yes, my eyelids sweat.
my eyelids don't sweat, but sweat will travel to my eyelids from my forehead and it SUCKS
Magic crack is whack! Yes- Will had to have a breaking point to get her straightened out. And I never knew of anyone having sweaty eyelids!
season 4 was college season 3 was when amy turned into a rat, the hansel gretel episode i believe
hey, i know lesbain witches in florida! how big can the scene be? _JC
Truthfully yes my eyelids sweat. It really sucks when I have to wear safety goggles.
🤨 No, you’re just crazy. Even for Florida.🤣🤣🤣
Willow needs an MA meeting.
Magicks Anonymous?
Yep Magic Anonymous.
she got turned into a rat in season 3. They went to college at the start of S4
"That guy does not scream 'good'."
Actually, he might scream it while
he's sucking your magickal essence from you.
“Goooood.”
*has an orgasm*
A lot of people who never encountered an addict in their life think this episode is bunk. It is a bit heavy-handed and seems a bit sudden, but actually you can look over most of the earlier episodes, even from season 5 where she attacks Glory in retribution for stealing Tara' sanity -- " I Owe You Pain!" that there is dark in Willow. Even back in high school when she had the chance to get with Xander she took it, giving in to her desires. Now with her crushing guilt over resurrecting Buffy, and her embrace of Witchcraft as a coping mechanism, it takes over. Most addicts maintain a low alcohol or drug (or sex) usage rate for a long while, justifying that they can "regulate" it, until Big Bad Life smashes them in the face one too many times, then regulation time is over and its full on escape into the depths in a steep downward spiral until they crash. In this case a literal crash. Riley's addiction to getting vamp sucked (yuck!) was almost the end for him, I thought they let him off easy, by having the Calvary come in and take him back. Whatever happened to him anyway?
It is long and deep lore that magic always has a price. Often the price for a small mistake in a magic rite is for the damage to return back on the spellcaster seven-fold! Willows' price? stay tuned.
Calvary was a location of execution, cavalry are mounted soldiers. Easy mistake and spell checks won't fix it.
@@lawrencewestby9229 Buffy sure is mounting soldiers
Because anxiety and specifically worry and compulsive overthinking seem to affect Willow the most and plague her throughout her entire appearance in ‘BtVS’, the thing she really needed to do to deal with that was work through her emotions. Self-acceptance is a tricky thing to do but it almost always requires you to process your thoughts and emotions rather than ram-rush through them or avoid, escape and distract yourself from them because that only tends to make them build up over time and attack you even harder in the end. Like a balloon popping at any seemingly random moment. But it’s because you never notice it filling up with any helium. You never notice that there’s an emotional wound there that’s only getting quick fixes and band aids and not a lengthy treatment or therapy to work through it.
The whole thing with Willow is that she doesn’t want to address anything going on in her head directly. She just wants to make whatever negative thoughts or feelings she’s having in the moment disappear. She doesn’t want to do the hard work to work through them and she certainly doesn’t want to do that alone. She wants to immediately break free from all of it and just fly off. Move on to something new without doing what she needs to do to resolve what’s bothering her.
Enter Tara: Tara establishes very early on in her appearance and relationship with Willow and with the rest of the Scooby Gang that she will be this person. Will be the rock to keep them stable or the glue that holds them together. And every single time she’s like “I’m with you”. She not like “I’ll help you” or “I’ll support you” or “I sympathise with you”. She’s like “I’ll be with you.” This is especially true and most important when it comes to Willow as her girlfriend. In the episode ‘Who Are You’, Tara uses a very appropriate term for something she always is for and does with Willow: “Anchor”. At the time she means it literally when they perform the Nether Realm spell. But metaphorically Tara is always Willow’s anchor. She is always the weight that holds Willow down and that keeps her in place when it comes to her anxiety. That steadies her, reassures her and validates her. And when Willow goes through intense anxiety spells, she’s there grounding and guiding her through them. Neither allowing her to ignore her emotions nor forcing her to face them alone. It’s not until Willow’s coping mechanisms for her anxieties and insecurities become unhealthy and destructive and start affecting and harming Tara personally does she sever herself from Willow. At that point Willow’s insistence to do the unhealthy or destructive thing in dealing with situations and her emotional turmoil because of it is something that can’t be resolved with Tara being her anchor because she’s inadvertently part of the problem in that Willow instead just always relies on magic, and specifically performing magic where she chooses to drop her anchor instead and go at it alone.
I’ve talked a lot about co-dependency when it comes to Willow with her being co-dependent to Tara so what I’ve said above might sound contradicting since I’ve said that Willow chooses to “drop her anchor” in dangerous situations such as performing complicated magicks - showing her independence. But the reason why being co-dependent to your partner is unhealthy and destructive is because it’s not about your partner. It’s about either how you can use your partner or control them to do something. It’s not about love.
Take for example Riley’s response after Buffy asks him “Why all the crazy?” in ‘The Yoko Factor’ - referring to his jealousy and the assumption that Buffy might cheat on him with Angel if he allows her alone time with him. He says “because I’m so in love with you I can’t think straight” immediately putting his inability to cope with his thoughts and emotions about Buffy and Angel on Buffy. Using his “love” for her as an excuse to absolve himself from his own destructive actions and choices. That’s not love even if the person is actually in love with their partner. It’s emotional abuse. It’s putting all of the baggage and damage that you yourself have to sort through and heal on them. And while said partner might offer that dependence, it’s actually wrong to expect them to be around so that you can depend on them. So that you can use them to excuse the destructive shit that you’re doing. And when the person turns around and says “actually, it’s about me taking care of you”… that’s not the case. They might believe that but because they have no self-awareness of their own destructive behaviour, it actually means that their partner has to deal with it. That’s why co-dependence is not a good thing at all.
So Willow’s co-dependence to Tara is not about loving her even though she does love her. It’s a way to absolve herself from her own destructive behaviour. It’s using her. And with using magic on Tara in wiping her memories it’s also about controlling her to do what she wants her to do or to think how she wants her to think. Taking Tara’s autonomy away from the situation. Changing or altering her emotional state. Tara offers to be her anchor any and at all times and Willow gets so comfortable with that that she ends up taking advantage of Tara for her own selfish reasons. Which is the addict’s way as well as an abuser’s way. And so Tara has to do the hardest thing. Stop being it. Because she knows that at that point it’s not helping. And it wouldn’t unless Willow could first acknowledge and then accept that her own destructive behaviour is actually destructive. Only then could Tara be there for her and offer to be her anchor once again. Only then would Willow’s dependence on Tara be healthy again and be about mutual love and reassurance and validation instead of abuse and power and control.
In my opinion, the three stooges, as you call them, just feel like their bigger villains than they actually are.
In a way, it's like cosplay in my opinion. While not dressed up, they are just playing at being villains.
Like they’re living their own Comic Con in their head.
My eyelids only sweat when I use lots of Wasabi, Chinese Mustard or Hot Sauces.🌶🥵 "The primary function of eccrine sweat glands on the eyelid is thermoregulation by secreting sweat."
I can never back Spike and Buffy, the whole thing makes me feel sick. This isn't just toxic, this is taking advantage of someone that's in a mentally vulnerable state, and once he gets his foot in the door, he is relentless and "no" is not an answer he'll accept. He's a stalker, a predator. And he's dangerous. Just because she is too, and she's super strong and can fight, this is horrifying to go through.
s6 is like an exploration of depression, and the unhealthy and risky things people do as things are spiralling and they're struggling with how they feel, or what to feel. Substance abuse, self harm, promiscuous behaviours are all things people do to try and feel something other than the whirlwind or apathy or whatever is breaking their mind apart.
When did he not accept the no? In the three seconds before she resumed kissing him? Like, I don't think he exerted coercive pressure by following her around graveyards, he just annoyed her.
He was there, and she was in whatever mental state, and he was around for her to lose herself in, but that's it. It doesn't seem especially taking advantage, since her actions aren't just from promiscuity, I think she must like him despite being being enemies.
Yep, you're crazy (in a good way)😉
...Your eyelids sweat?
EDIT: Eyelids don't have sweat glands., as far as I know. However, the area immediately above it, right under your brow, does. But no, I'm fairly sure that eyelids don't sweat. It just feels that way.
In real life I would never cheer on such a toxic relationship as Spike and Buffy. But in the show they are both very powerful people with extremely fast healing abilities. They started off as enemies and mix violence with passion. They have some good things to their relationship, like Spike being someone she can talk to, and some really toxic parts. So it’s hard to know how to feel about it. But they do look hot together.
Well we’ve seen in this very show that you need that complexity for a drama. Otherwise the relationship is mundane like Riley.
Thеу just hаvе lоt of chеmistry. They light things uр оn the scrееn. Seriоuslу. Pеоple like it bеcаusе it wоrks. Dеspitе the рlоt's соnstаnt attеmpts tо ruin it. Lоt of us still wаnt tо sее thеm. Аnd this оnlу shоws hоw muсh strоngеr it is thаn thеsе аttеmрts. Thе рlоt shоuldn't blаmе реорlе fоr liking smth thаt wоrks аnd hаs роtеntiаl. Аnd реорlе dоn’t nееd tо соnstаntlу mаke exсusеs whу thеу likе it. Sо it's just а рitу thаt thе shоw mоstlу wаstеd аll it's timе whilе it cоuld bе usеd muсh bеttеr. Bесаusе thеу hаd lоt оf pоtеntiаl.
@@JuneJanee It's just sad that they had to wait to do the comic books to actually do the "ship" justice.
@@Shadowman4710 Was it done "justice" in the comics? I think those comics opened up a ton of other worms while dealing with the various ships.
I personally think all of Buffy's main ships carry some pretty big issues one way or another, but the most toxicity is definitely within those ships that feature the vampires, lol.
Florida! You and Alley box. could be friends!
I just recently, very recently after watching Sarah Z's video on season 6 (don't watch if you haven't seen all of season 6), figured out that I can like spuffy without liking spuffy. I realized that it is okay for me (I have my issues and every one is different) to be against that kind of relationship in real life while permitting myself to enjoying it in fiction.
My eyelids sweat too. You're not alone
I get finding the Spike/Buffy relationship interesting, but I will never get people that "ship" this or squeal with delight over it.
"I knew the only thing better than killing a slayer would be fucking one."
Jfc, that is absolutely hideous.
Wrecked is of course a pivotal episode, where we see addiction to magic overcoming Willow, and to some extent Buffy as well with her addiction to sex with Spike, even though she hates herself for doing it. S6 is such a departure from the earlier Seasons, as due to the network change we can really see how more adult the show is in tone. Dawn becomes collateral damage in Willow's addiction, and when Willow says to Buffy in the bedroom 'it will never happen again' we just know it wont be the end of this. Great acting by Alyson Hannigan, it's hard to believe the innocent Willow from S1 could end up like this, but that is the nature of addiction. Great writing from Marti Noxon who also wrote some of the best episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Mad Men.
Smashed and Wrecked are an unofficial two-parter, IMO.
@@Madbandit77Yes, very much so
Wow another buffy episode ❤ review
Florida?!? My condolances.
I believe Willow has some real issues with co-dependency. Imagine wrapping yourself around a lover so much that you lose your identity in them and what you think/believe you need to or must be for them. Willow was co-dependent to Tara.
And Willow was just lucky Tara was having none of it and wouldn’t take advantage of her the way she did with her. Tara got out of dodge because there’d be no chance Willow would let go of her. She was hooked much the same way as she was with magic. That’s why I say her addiction wasn’t just to magic. It was also to Tara. And as healthy as that relationship was from the outside-looking in. From the inside-looking out,… it was hella destructive because she was obsessed. She wanted to own Tara. Not love her.
Tara was an unintended trigger and enabler for Willow and as soon as she recognized this.. she severed ties. She left more so for everybody else’s sake than her own. It’s difficult to see it this way because again… we’re watching the arc play out from the outside-looking in. From people who just don’t understand. To truly get this arc you have to look at it through from the inside-looking out. You have to see it through the eyes of someone who knows of emotional addiction.
I actually read something about this on Twitter written by a psychologist. It was about people who are co-dependent fully believing that their behaviour is selfless. They don’t realize that their need to control and manage people’s perception of them is a selfish act. Their tendency to manipulate conversations and gaslight is grounded in this belief that they have to meet expectations of others but in reality is only just expectations of themselves. And any attempt to control or dominate in romantic relationships is all about fearing being abandoned by their lover. It’s like a type of self-corruption and sabotaging. That of which they’re trying so hard to avoid ends up happening anyway because their methods of avoiding it are what inevitably end up causing it. And it was fascinating. All throughout reading it I was thinking about Willow and her behaviour in romantic relationships or even just friendships. Her coping mechanisms to avoid or escape from her insecurities/anxieties/emotions make her manifest co-dependency. And that in itself is also a form of emotional addiction. So it’s not just about magic at all. It’s about power and control and co-dependency.
Thank you for giving your thoughts on the Buffy spike relationship. I agree. We are watching dramatic television. Buffy in real life might be better off with a Riley. But no one wants to watch more of that 😂plus there is so much intrigue now on where this goes
a season four riley, sure, but in season five that relationship didn't go such a healthy way either.
@@sirmoonslosthismind yes season 4 is the exception as far as we know to this point of Buffy not having Angel or Spike as a love interest and he was really boring honestly
@@sirmoonslosthismind i don’t know if Riley was toxic or not in season 5. He was pushed away and pissy. Buffy didn’t really seem that affected until Xander gave his speech to her then she suddenly cared.
In real life none of these people would exist anyway, so who knows.
@@alicequinn505 yes but i believe the personalities reflect real life people
Notice that as commenters we are trying our best to NOT spoil. But you are far enough into the series that we can point out things like the foreshadowing that has come before without spoiling. Now, without spoiling, I'll point out that Willow is addicted to magic like a crack user is addicted to crack. Joss kind of hits you in the head with this metaphor.
That said, nothing can possibly get darker in this season, right? S6 - this is as dark as it gets. Until S7?
Willow’s magic/drug addiction conflation
Question: What kind of drug does the writers relate magic to in ‘Wrecked’? Is it Heroin or some other high-level drug? I just noticed that Willow goes through a powerful physical withdrawal after she swears off doing spells to Buffy. And considering the writers literally conflate the use of magic with use of drugs for her in this episode, I just want to know what kind of drug magic is meant to be simulating? I would say it’s Heroin because of the extreme similarities to a Heroin withdrawal but it could be Crack or even prescription Opioids. I just find it interesting to know. It’s a fascinating storyline to me and she’s a fascinating character.
It's weird how people cheer on the other gratuitous violence in the show, but once they get a whiff of any ship, suddenly the gratuitous fight scenes are serious and signal abuse in the relationship. Like guys, we know that in real life abusive partners don't swing from chandeliers, right? They're mortal enemies, mystical warriors, and this is a day off for them. That was all symbolic of their emotional state, but it was also fight choreography, that someone was really proud of. This is fiction, which not only means you get to focus on the parts that you like, but also it's an imperfectly told story. Sometimes there's different ways to interpret something, and they're both as accurate as can be, and that's okay.
Thank you for pointing out the two-way abuse between Buffy and Spike. Fans will often gloss over that Buffy will punch Spike, knowing he's unable to retaliate because of the chip. But that being said, thank you for also pointing out that this is a TV show and not real life, so it's okay to enjoy "problematic" relationships and characters. This show would be so boring if it was drama-free.
The plot started Buffy and Spike relationship in s6 only to sabotage it. And everything they wrote for these eps was about it. Everything they say and do here is about it. So there is no point in analyzing them right now based on what we see here. Because it will have only one idea. They need to make it look bad from both sides. They had different options. But they chose this.
Despite them developing a connection, despite Spike's progress. Now everything serves the idea of destroying it. But it means that the plot wasted all that time for nothing. Because all recent story means nothing now. Now they just returned everything back to the beginning, she is a slayer, he is a vampire. They can't cooperate. He is a thing for her again. But what was the point of what we've seen before then? When she already treated him like a man and so on. They just erased part of plot. Because they wanted to sabotage it that much. And they needed things to be dirty that much. That's a bit... it's not about telling a story anymore. That's about forcing viewers to think what they need them to think. Yes, people like B&S and so what? If the plot have a problem with it they can blame themselves for this. And actors that they were good enough and had chemistry. So good actors and the story are the problem now? Again, they had a choice. And they chose it. In my opinion the story didn't get better from that.
this is weird but i really like this version of Willow, also love how Willow dresses in season 6
Yeah they're not subtle with the symbolism here of drug/magic addiction
You live in florida?? So do i, in palm beach
❤❤❤❤
Are your okay?
Do you... like this show? I've watched a few of your videos and I honestly can't tell - not meant as a disrespectful comment.
Just remember everyone its just a show its a fantasy its just fun and games. Remember this for episode 19 of the season we'll see how fun it is then.
First ❤❤❤
Willow doesn't feel "violated" after using dark magic. She SLAMMED to the floor, coming DOWN from her HIGH on the ceiling with her dilated pupils. She's sweaty and panting and shaky taking a shower. She feels maybe more out of control and... addicted. It's a metaphor, see?
What do you think the warlock took from Willow in payment? He didn't use the word 'strawberry' for the heck of it
@@colleenmarin8907yeah, that crying in the shower scene was quite suggestive that it was more than just simply taking magical power from her. I mean how would she pay for the magical power he gives her in return if he doesn’t want money? I think it’s obvious.
You're not going to like Spike for much longer. At least I think not.
My lids totally sweat too.😅
😂😂 It isn't the abuse issue that puts me off the Spike/Buffy relationship. I think it's because James Masters was only 6 years younger than Tony Head, and to me seemed weird tha they'd put someone Buffy's age (21ish) with someone in his 40's lol. I know I'm muddling up their rl ages and their character ages 😂 my brain is a strange place 🤷♀️
One of the many reasons I can't stand Spuffy.
I would have to say I don't like Spike and Buffy together for Buffy. I just don't like Spike, never have. For me her best relationship with a man on the show is Giles followed by Riley. She has got some real poor taste in men.