Note to newsletters or linky folks: I'd prefer not to share this one with fandom-at-large, so please please don't link to it. Thanks!

Okay, okay. I know that As You Were is the oft-mocked and hated upon episode of S6, especially for Spuffy fans. Indeed, I've taken part in such mockage myself. However, rewatching it has changed my view substantially, and I'm gonna attempt to defend it here by pointing out the good parts of the episode.



1. Riley

The guy was a regular for over a season. We'd grown to love him over that time, and then he just leaves. Leaves! We need to see him return. For closure. I mean, picture Oz leaving in Wild at Heart without returning in New Moon Rising. His story would be incomplete. We needed to see him come back and pass approval (or not) on his sweetie's new relationship. We also needed to see if he could resolve his own issues.

Same thing with Riley. Last we saw, he was in bad shape. Visiting vamp whores, being a complete douchebag, having fits of hypermanliness just to prove he still had balls. Not pretty. But in AYW, we see that in a little over a year, he's gotten completely over it. Completely. He's moved on, is a success in the army, has fallen in love and married a fantastic new girl, and there's no sign of any of his former issues. In fact, nobody even mentions them (Well, except Dawn and Spike, but who listens to them anyway?). You know what? This is brilliant. Because it just confirms that Riley's problems in S5 were all because of Buffy. Once he gets away from Buffy, he bounces back. As you can imagine, I'm overjoyed to see Riley absolved of all responsibility for his part in the Buffy/Riley fiasco.

What's more, we see that, again, Buffy's been the problem. After all, his return highlights how very fucked up she is. Does Riley rub it in? No. He's a complete prince and even reminds her of how awesome she used to be before she started sleeping with Spike. Even more, he tells her that the filthy ickiness from fucking a vampire doesn't even touch her because she's so awesome. His generous affirmation of her is heartwarming. I love to see men validating women's self-worth for them.

And then his triumphant departure, having given Buffy such motivating words of wisdom. It's so good to see Riley, who had been portrayed as so fucked up in S5, finally get his due and become the Savior of Buffy in S6's depression arc. Who better to rescue her from emotional fucked-upedness than the guy that she had monstrously and callously emotionally neglected last season to the point where he had to run away to escape from her?

The final shot of him leaving with the helicopter...well, that's just a fitting exit for such a swell guy.

2. Sam

I know she gets a lot of flak. Usually, the word "cardboard" or "pod person" gets used. And, yes, she is a bit on the perfect side. But I really felt for her character. It's subtle, but there's so much more to this gem of a character than meets the eye.

And I suppose I get a bit discouraged when I see a strong, intelligent, commanding, and confident woman so hated on in fandom. I mean, really, this is what we want in a female hero. Not the overly-whiny, self-absorbed Buffy. But Sam, who little girls can look up to and admire. Instead of fucking vampires, Sam is fucking Riley. Who's the obvious pick for role model here?

And yet, everybody hates her. Why do nearly-perfect women threaten us so much?

Sam has seen tragedy. When she was in the Peace Corps, her entire infirmary was killed by demons. Instead of moping about it, like Buffy would, she tries to use that experience to learn and grow. Personally, I think Sam would be a much better hero than Buffy.

Some people call her a Mary Sue. I beg to differ. She's not flawless. In fact, I noticed she stuttered a bit during the scene in Buffy's living room.

But the best thing about Sam is that she proves that Buffy was the defective one in S5, not Riley.

3. Somebody besides Buffy...

Frankly, the season had been too much Buffy. Buffy whining. Buffy moping. Buffy being a bitch. Just get over it, honey!

And then all the sex. Just too much. It's good that Buffy's sordid entanglement with Spike finally ended, and I'm so glad that the episode that ends it chooses to divert the focus onto Riley and his new beau rather than delving into the twisted and unappealing Buffy/Spike dynamics. We've had enough of that nonsense already. Bring in Riley to remind Buffy's what's what and then get the Buffy/Spike sex over with already!

4. The plot

Okay, so people like to poke holes in the "Spike as an international underground demonic arms dealer" plot. But it's not that bad.

I mean, so you would think that Spike would be averse to taking on the codename of "The Doctor" given its similarity to "Doc". But I think it was an intentional allusion on Spike's part. He's reclaiming the name. Taking away its power. So Doc represents Spike's failure to save Buffy last year? Well so what? The Doctor will represent Spike's failure to help Buffy this year!

Quite genius actually.

And we all know Spike is still evil with the chip. Even though he's an outcast from the demon community, he's also fully capable of coming up with evil conspiracies using minions or third parties as his hands. After all, we see it time and time again once he becomes chipped.

...okay, so we see it twice. Once at the end of S4 and then at the beginning of S5 with Harmony, both pre-Buffy love.

But he totally could have! We see that he often wanted to really badly. So it seems logical that he has actually been masterminding underground demonic criminal acts under the Scoobies' noses. His best friend in S6, and his main contact with the demon world, is Clem! We know how shifty and dangerous Clem is. It's wholly probable that Spike would have had the resources and contacts to work his little international demonic arms scheme.

5. Drawbacks

I gotta say, though, the initial premise of this episode is trite. I mean, Buffy's ex-boyfriend returns to remind her of who she used to be and still is, and this then motivates her to take an important step towards recovery? Absolute horse-hooey. Fortunately, the brilliant execution saved what would otherwise be another unbearable Dead Things-like episode.

Still, it's not entirely perfect (and it doesn't quite edge out Wrecked as the best of the season, though it comes close). The one major drawback is that we're forced to watch another naked Spike scene. Good gosh. I think I've seen enough of Spike's nude body to last me twelve lifetimes. Enough please!