Date Posted:18:29:14 04/30/02 Tue Author: Liz Subject: The confusion of Spike--discussion from one who can't wait
Spoilers abound--but I guess I don't have to say that here.
I've just seen "Entropy" and I've skimmed the wildfeed of "Seeing Red". And I have to say that this is not resolving well.
In some interview with Marti she mentioned how people are getting too attatched to Buffy&Spike and they have forgotten what Spike really is like. I can't recall the exact quote but it was some terribly oversimplified thing that offended many people. I don't blame her for oversimplifying--maybe she's just better at writing it than analyzing it--but she did seriously imply that Spike was incapable of redemption and was not even on a redemptive path. Again, that might just be what she says, not what she thinks. But I do recall one quote, (not the exact words but the idea): we have to show everyone again why he is not good for her.
Is this how they plan to show us? Sleeping with Anya and an incoherent rape attempt? Now I don't think that Spike and Buffy are or ever were terribly healthy, but these two events are not a part of that. They're new. They have nothing to do with the previous confusing relationship. I know that Spike did not intend to hurt Buffy, but I just don't see the point of the scene. I don't see it in terms of what the character would be likely to do, I don't see it in terms of the story arc, and I don't see it in terms of what the writers want to convey to the audience. This is not what it has all been leading to. This is not what it has all been about.
And as for sleeping with Anya, well I have to say that the conversation between the two of them was one of the more touching things that has happened on the show in a while. Yeah, the parting afterwards was not happy, and probably it was overall a mistake, but for a moment there was a genuine connection and tenderness. And for Xander to then show up and talk as if it was all about him... I really did not like him in that moment.
I was surprised at Spike's line, "I don't hurt you. I never hurt you." And Buffy sighed and agreed. I was surprised they would say that. Considering what they're about to say next. Were those lines just lies? Is Spike really just an evil mess no matter what he thinks he is?
I'm not necessarily looking for Spike be redeemed--I don't even quite know what that means. But I want them to at least make sense. I want them to not just use a character as a complicated tool to further the plot and say that it's more than that.
