You know, S6 is an odd mix. It has some of the most brilliant episodes in the series (After Life, OMWF, Dead Things, Normal Again, Villains) and then it has some absolute duds (Wrecked, AYW).
At least the high points are really high.
I'll refrain from my Buffy-gushing because I'll get into what's going on with her whenever I do the BCBW on NA. But I actually wanna talk about Spike. Cause...wow...
We have one of my favorite Spuffy scenes in Hells Bells. Buffy and Spike are just sweet and genuine and thoughtful and pretty together there. And NA starts well, but then Spike takes a turn for the douchebag when he pulls an ultimatum on Buffy: Tell the Scoobies about them or he will.
Where did this come from? No, really. Why is it suddenly important to Spike that everybody knows about the past Buffy/Spike affair?
As I said, NA starts well. Buffy and Spike meet in the cemetery, and they have an actual conversation. It actually seems reminiscent of the "confidant" relationship Spike had with her pre-OMWF.
But things take a turn for the bad. Because Xander and Willow show up, and Buffy immediately, and blatantly, disavows any friendly overtures. In fact, suddenly she's on mid-S5 terms with him. What's more, Xander follows Buffy's lead and dismisses Spike.
That's when Spike lashes out against Xander, and then he's grumpy for the rest of the episode, culminating in his ultimatum to Buffy.
I suddenly feel the need to point you guys towards
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jen_nsync_landl's ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
seasonal_spuffy contribution, In the Living Season.Let me present my theory. Feel free to share yours. We see in Bargaining that when Buffy was dead, Spike had become a pretty fully-fledged member of the Scooby gang. He'd integrated.
However, things shifted when Buffy returned. Spike isolated himself from the rest of the group because of them pulling Buffy out of heaven. He focused his attentions on Buffy. All his reiterations that she's alone in the dark with him means that he's also alone in the dark with her.
But that all ends. Buffy breaks up with him, and Spike's adrift again. Much like he was in early to mid-S5, just he doesn't even have Harmony. His connection to his former social group is now broken. In NA, Buffy's denial of him in front of her friends ostracizes him fully. It makes him an outcast from his former comrades.
A lot of Spike's development deals with his wanting to belong. To be accepted. And he's losing all the acceptance he had had with the Scoobies. So he lashes out. He wants Buffy to acknowledge to her friends that there had been something between them. He thinks this will reform the ties. He thinks that this will, at least, recognize him as being something other than an outsider.
This is illustrated in NA in the scene in Buffy's room. Spike tries to approach her but is impeded by a sunbeam. He's isolated. There's obstacles between him and Buffy. In reality, those obstacles are due to his nature: a soulless vampire (hence the sunbeam). However, Spike doesn't realize this. He attributes it to Buffy's stubbornness. Her addiction to being miserable. Admitting to her pals that she had an affair with him will solve things, in Spike's mind.
Oh, Spike...
peaceful
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I once wrote a fic set between Hell's Bells and Normal Again where I managed to make Spike's behaviour to towards Buffy from NA on indirectly poor old Angel's fault.
ETA: Sorry. You're probably wondering who the hell I am. It's Shapinglight. Forgot I was logged in on my other LJ.
Edited at 2009-11-08 07:07 pm (UTC)
I once wrote a fic set between Hell's Bells and Normal Again where I managed to make Spike's behaviour to towards Buffy from NA on indirectly poor old Angel's fault.
lol! I can buy that. :)
Um - yep. Didn't realise you didn't know. Glad you enjoyed it.
Yes, poor old Angel. In this other story, Spike goes to him complaining he's been dumped but Angel thinks he's talking about Dru (because it doesn't occur to him it could ever have been Buffy), and since he's feeling cross with himself for letting Cordy go away with Groo, he advises Spike to try again and not take no for an answer.
Um, I feel vaguely guilty about it now, if that helps.
Its a deft portrayal, in tiny slices, of Spike fracturing.
In NA, it's clear that he's feeling a mounting sense of frustration as to his position, how others treat him, how Buffy's acting. I think Buffy's behavior towards him in front of her friends just exacerbates this and makes him more bitter.
It's that conflict that he faced way back in S4. Which world does he belong in? The demon world? Well, he's an outcast from his fellow demons. And Buffy, who'd taken a spin in the dark with him, is now gone. The human world? Now the Scoobies have turned their backs on him, and Buffy doesn't want to acknowledge him in any way. How can he fit in anywhere?
This does all eventually lead to the AR (which is a scene I'm so not looking forward to rewatching).
Re the Austin thing - more power for you and the awesome wall of I aint takin no shit from messing me around boy. Loves on you!
Re the Austin thing - more power for you and the awesome wall of I aint takin no shit from messing me around boy. Loves on you!
Thanks. :)
Spike always needed validation from her, and not getting it, he fell deeper and deeper into the downward spiral that made him get his soul... for her.
Lack of validation or recognition is a significant factor in later events.
I think therefore, the AR is REALLY Spike's peak of self-delusion. It's not about what he thinks Buffy feels, it's about what he needs her to feel. It has almost as little to do with Buffy herself than Buffy's beating of him in the alley has to do with Spike. Deep, deep down I think Spike knows that he's not worthy of love (his assessment, not mine). The soul didn't give him new information, it just illuminated what he was able to deny without one. Well, that's my take anyway.
I don't blame Spike, either, because I can see where he's coming from. He's reaching the end of his rope. When that happens, he lashes out.
I think therefore, the AR is REALLY Spike's peak of self-delusion. It's not about what he thinks Buffy feels, it's about what he needs her to feel. It has almost as little to do with Buffy herself than Buffy's beating of him in the alley has to do with Spike. Deep, deep down I think Spike knows that he's not worthy of love (his assessment, not mine). The soul didn't give him new information, it just illuminated what he was able to deny without one.
Yes! Yes, yes, yes. The last part of S6 is all about Spike trying to get Buffy to recognize him. Hell, her reaction to his tryst with Anya is also a huge part of what leads up to the AR. Spike takes her jealousy as an opportunity. He's grasping at what he perceives as "proof" of her feelings, and the AR has him trying to explicitly draw that out of her in violent fashion.
OMIGOD STOP BLOWING MY MIND IT CAN'T TAKE NO MOAR.
And he's so wrong. He has no concept of why they value a soul - from his perspective Xander has a soul and look what he did to Anya. He sees himself as rejected and as deserving of sympathy as Anya - yet both of them are reminded of their outsider status as the Scoobies close ranks. It's so unfair from his POV. Buffy's an outsider too, with the superpowers and the repeat dying, which almost makes her an honorary vampire. But he and Anya are the ones who suffer. No wonder he wants an acknowledgement - it would make him real, like the others. And that's not going to happen.
yet both of them are reminded of their outsider status as the Scoobies close ranks.
So agreed. And I like that you mention the Scoobies closing ranks, because it's especially obvious in NA that they do so. Buffy, Xander, and Willow share a hug. Willow and Buffy bond. Buffy's getting back into her place in the group, and the Scoobies are restrengthening their close-knit friendship. This means that the peripheral Scoobies - Anya and Spike - get cast to the side.
Um...WHOA.
It...all makes sense now! *boggles*
I have had so many Big Epiphanies reading your journal, it's ridiculous.
Where did this come from? No, really. Why is it suddenly important to Spike that everybody knows about the past Buffy/Spike affair? I always wondered about that, they were over already, why would he want for her to tell them now? Never made sense to me.
And now to the business at hand (as my wretched blue books and Crusades papers are at last graded):
Oh, Spike...
Well, exactly. So much confusion and despair here in this episode and in this part of the season in general that it's rather painful to take. I like the idea that part of what is happening with Spike's internal dynamic in this arc is related to his integration (or lack of thereof) in the group as a whole. The situation in the cemetary does become fantastically reductionist once Xander and Willow arrive; as you note, we seem almost thrust back into early S5, save Spike's comment about how Buffy likes ice on her neck, which is a telling reminder how much more he knows about her than even her beloved friends, so eager to dismiss him. And yet funny that they take their cues from Buffy as far as Spike is concerned...
I agree with some of the comments below that Spike's desire for recognition/validation is a powerful force in this episode, much more so than I thought on my initial viewings. I'm struck by the parallel here with what we see of William in the Cecily episode. His major plea there is for her to "see" him. She claims to, retorting with the cutting remark that he's beneath her. The "seeing" metaphor is also of course a theme of his encounter afterward with Dru; he's won over when she sees what he wants, what he is (or wants to be - a man of vision, surrounded by fools who can't see him strength, etc.). I think Spike is desperate for Buffy to see, feel him, to stop staring through him as she punishes herself. That's what is motivating his demand that she tell the Scoobies about their relationship; without that he feels unseen again.
And dammit, I can't articulate any useful thoughts here. Apparently the exams and papers ate my brain. I swear, I used to have thinky thoughts. *grumble*
Spike: I've tried to make it clear to you, but you won't see it. (pauses) Something happened to me. The way I feel ... about you ... it's different. And no matter how hard you try to convince yourself it isn't, it's real.
It's her final disavowal that his feelings are real "for him" that pisses him off and sends him to the Magic Box for something to dull the pain.
At this point, it's not so much about Buffy not returning his feelings. It's about Buffy not even acknowledging the feelings he has. He becomes more and more desperate to make her see what he feels.
Which has me wondering about his line during the AR about how he'll "make [her] feel it" is more about making her feel his love rather than making her feel some love for him. Dunno. Will have to keep an eye on that when I watch that episode.
as you note, we seem almost thrust back into early S5, save Spike's comment about how Buffy likes ice on her neck, which is a telling reminder how much more he knows about her than even her beloved friends, so eager to dismiss him.
Yep. The ice comment is telling. It's showing Spike's dejection in the dismissal. The fact that he does know how to help Buffy, at least in this instance, and about how the group is turning his back on him.
Because that knowledge is all he has. It's as if what happened between them didn't exist. Not only to anyone else, cause they (her friends) were always in the dark (no pun, I swear) on that, but now it exists nowhere, if that makes any sense. So he wasn't just saying, "Tell them about you and me," but he was also saying, "Tell them that it happened--that it was real."
Also, no one seems to notice the, "Did you cry" line, and Buffy's back is to him, and she makes this deer in the headlights face. She cried about him/their non-relationship ending, which is inconsistent with well, everything else, but still. That, and she was hanging around pretty close to his un-living quarters, even if she vehemently said otherwise (the lady doth protest too much, yada yada yada).
His connection to his former social group is now broken.
Actually, the connection was fractured somewhat upon her return. But the dismissive thing we see in the cemetery in NA is bizarre, considering A, that's where he lives and B, if they wanted him gone from their sight, wouldn't the wedding have been a good place to start? I think the dismissive attitude was born from the whole demon eggs business ("Oh yeah--Spike's up to no good again. Banish him!" and so forth), but again, that makes no sense since he was allowed to be at the wedding...so why hate on him in the cemetery where his crypt is?
...
Nope, I've got bupkiss. That line really confused me. "Hate" is a very strong word. Gets on her nerves sometimes, annnoys her--sure. But hate? Srsly?
I'm just still not getting it. I get what you are saying, I just don't see the sense in why that is so. That, and even when she should have hated him in times past, I don't think she really did. To hate him at that point...no, that I don't understand, and I suppose I never will.
And even then, does she really hate vampires? I thought she saw it as more of a duty to eliminate them when necessary, but there is never any indication that she flat out hated them as a whole by default. Even as Joan, she didn't hate them. There was fear, enjoyment at being able to kick their asses...but no hatred present.
But I digress.
In conclusion, I understand your explanation as to why she said that--but it still lacks sense to me.
With TB, the whole point is that as Joan, she didn't hate him. She didn't know. She didn't have the background and history, so she just took him as a good vampire on the road to redemption. When her memories come back, she remembers what he actually is (wonderfully illustrated with Spike in vamp-face offering to help her up, which she refuses). All that baggage comes into play about what she's supposed to be as the Slayer and how Spike interferes with that.
Dead Things and AYW plays with this idea further. How she has become so wrapped up with Spike, she's neglecting her duty as the Slayer. Not because of Spike, as an individual. But because of what he stands for.
It's one of the main running themes of Buffy's depression arc.
Very true. But something acted as the catalyst for this. Spike and Buffy were on friendly terms in HB and the very beginning of NA. It's not until Willow and Xander show up and that whole altercation that Spike changes his tune and decides it's important for Buffy to tell her friends. I think that's an important factor.
so why hate on him in the cemetery where his crypt is?
Well, part of that is Buffy. She's feeling defensive, especially with regards to Spike. A lot of NA is about her being afraid of how her friends will react to her depressive behavior (In Entropy, she's over this because, hey, she tried to kill all her friends and they're still all cool). But in NA, she has an immediate defensive reaction to being with Spike, and she impulsively distances herself from him when Willow and Xander show up. Xander's, of course, stressed from the wedding, and he just follows Buffy's lead.
I don't think it's because of how Willow and Xander (more so Xander) were behaving, but probably because of Buffy's whole, "Just talking to Spike only to see if he has any dangerous contraband" line. That isn't why--he isn't just the job, and he's tired of being falsely viewed in that manner. To say more or less that he's only good enough for the dark, enough. He's tired of being the dirty little secret, I think, as well (in addition to the Buffy saying it aloud makes it real thing). Spike is pretty much repeatedly told or shown that he is inconsequential--that he isn't real. NA is the beginning of when he becomes fed up with it all.
And for your second part, I meant why was Xander all "mosey along" when they were in his neck of the woods? Spike's lived there for nearly three years, so he's the one who should be there--not Buffy and not her friends. So yeah, that whole deal always rubbed me the wrong way...
Truth is, Spike didn't act much as the smart guy in that episode, but Buffy wasn't The Holy of Holies either. I have never liked the fact that she treated him like nobody and i don't like that by the Scoobies either.Superiority complex?- Buffy, come on...
I guess, it's fair to say, they both were pretty confused, lol/
With Buffy, however, he's spent the entire season not being sure how he stands with her. In Dead Things, he asks if she even likes him. By the end of the season, we see that he has a palpable desperation to just know how she feels. And to know that she knows how he feels. That desperation overrides his better judgment in NA. He's become bitter.