Question As You Were: Observation...

[SlayerFae]

So... Has anyone else ever wondered if Buffy purposely dressed and made herself look ABSOLUTELY beautiful on purpose when she broke up with Spike?

I kind of get that the difference (visually for the audience) was that she looked more together, was dressed in softer, more positive colors (instead of dark or dusty colors that would indicate that her depression and her issues with Spike made her part of the darkness, whereas now in a lavender top, brighter blonde highlights, now she's got hope for the future and can be out in the day without being in pain or fear of getting dragged down again) But colors aside, the outfit she wore, the way her hair and make up were done... I think that image of Buffy is one of the most beautiful I can remember in the show, and the only episodes that would come close would be The Prom, Something Blue... Okay I think that's all I can think of right now, but still. I think This and the way she looked at Prom were two of the most beautiful, glamorous images of her that I can remember. Even in Something Blue, where she looked beautiful, even in a casual dressy way, This episode bumps that up a couple of notches.

So.... Other than the writers, hair/make up, etc giving audience visual, do you actually think it was written into the script as though it was Buffy's decision to dress and look her best for the scene?

 

[StarSlayer]

Buffy always looks beautiful IMO 😀 (except for her crazy bangs in s3, lol). But, anyways, in the scene where Buffy breaks-up with Spike, I do think her clothing choices and make-up matter. Like you said, she realized she needed to stop using Spike. She needed to come back out of the darkness and into the light sort of speak. And I think her clothing and make-up were subtle ways to emphasize that idea. I swear, a lot of the clothing choices in s6 are brilliant with color contrasts, little details based the context of the scene, etc. 🙂

 

[SlayerFae]

I completely agree. And yes, other than the s3 bang mishap, she does always look beautiful. This time especially though 🙂

 

[brinkster130]

So.... Other than the writers, hair/make up, etc giving audience visual, do you actually think it was written into the script as though it was Buffy's decision to dress and look her best for the scene?

Yes, I think they were trying to stress the point that Buffy was starting to feel like her old self again so the wanted to make sure that was visibly clear as well. I don't think she was doing it to taunt Spike at all, but more to prove to herself that she was ok.

I think Buffy always looks beautiful, but she does have bad hair episodes.

 

[white avenger]

Am I missing something here? Because I remember Buffy breaking up with Spike in "As You Were," with the "I can't love you, and it's killing me..." line only repeated in the "Previously on Buffy The Vampire Slayer..." section at the beginning of the episode.

"Normal Again" was the episode with the parallel universe normal but crazy Buffy who was only dreaming about Sunnydale and vampires.

 

[SlayerFae]

Okay, just letting everyone know that it was brought to my attention that I named the wrong episode. I meant As You Were, NOT Normal Again. Unfortunately, since the post has been up for a while, it won't let me edit the title of it. But I did want to clear up my mistake. Sorry for the confusion, guys!!!

---------- Post added at 10:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 AM ----------

LOL you're right. I was uncontionably witty

 

[Lyri]

I think that whole scene was purposefully set up to be like that. Buffy in her beautiful, pastel colors, Spike in black as usual.

But it's the end of that scene that gets me the most, makes me choke up.

Buffy walking away into the light, the sunshine bright on her face, and Spike left behind in the dark, where she doesn't want to be anymore. It's Buffy coming back to that person she was and leaving behind the darkness that claimed her. I think it's a very beautiful scene.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Scene that gets me the most, makes me choke up. It's Buffy coming back to that person she was and leaving behind the darkness that claimed her.

Oh yeah, that made me choke as well.

 

[Doppelgang]

I like the way SMG acted in this episode, she really emphasized in it in the first part how she had let herself become a victim of circumstance, letting her job take over her mentally and draining her so she couldn't even come up with witty comments other than " we have find the nest fast before sunnydale turns into the trouble meat palace", and when Rileys explaining the demon he's hunting all Buffy can say is, "My hat has a cow". This then contrasts with her at the end of the episode when she has realised what she'd become and that she needed to start taking control of her life again, and so to answer the question, her looking really beautiful when she dumped Spike at the end of the episode was all part of highlighting the contrast between a person who has become a victim of circumstance and a person who is taking control of their life.