My deepest apologies to not replying to your entire post; I did like it. After I read the part about the un-aired Bangel meeting the rest went out of my head. I can't not stop thinking about what never was.
No need to apologize. I was kidding. I just found it funny that everyone zeroed in on that when I added it after I already hit the reply button and edited that post.
When your character has to arc so much to make a relationship fit them, I think that should be a clue something is wrong. When Buffy had to become dark and depressed and detached to let Spike screw her into depression, then become cold and distant so he could ....do whatever he did in Season 7, that to me indicates the relationship probably should not have been, it was a forced situation. When Angel had to turn into a smiling dork and Cordy had to turn into some mother hen mother Theresa to make the relationship believable, it means it should not have happened to begin with....
Oh absolutely. I can't stand when shows do this to get two people together. Either two people work as the characters they are or you get a dishonest story/relationship. This is true of both Spuffy and Cangel. Buffy had to be put through the ringer not because it was part of her journey (since Joss always hands her deus-ex-machinas to exempt her from making the choice post-Becoming), but just so she could be pawned off to Spike. The template of the early Seasons was completely inverted (along with canon and mythology but whatever). Angel had to show every day that he was a good guy and therefore it was ok for him to be with Buffy. Spike didn't have to do that, he was allowed to stay the same and Buffy was dragged down to his level to pull their ship off. She had to be turned inside out and upside down to make the story work. The Scoobies also had to be turned into absolute douchebags. All this just to get her onto Spike's penis. And people insist this show is feminist, pft. Buffy, the strong and admirable yet flawed person had to be turned into a depressive weakling and cold heart-ed megalomaniac with a superiority complex that spend most of her time whining. All for a guy/relationship. Urgh.
That being said, I liked the Season 5 arc, I liked Buffy exploring her darkness, but I would have liked to see her concur that darkness and she never does instead she just slips further and further into a hole with Season 6 and then in Season 7 she never recovers. She never finds her strength and to me she remains lost
My issue is the timing with it. The 'darkness' theme had been there since S1 (hello Master) and really came out in S2 with Angelus. Of course both Buffy the show and character were too young to explore it then. S3 tried to shift it to Faith except Faith's darkness was all about her human issues and nothing to do with some kind of slayer darkness. S4 really was too light and funny and bright for the topic. S5 felt like overkill, nvm what came after. From Dracula (URGH wtf you don't belong in this verse...stupid monks stop reading trash and insert it into this reality, morons), to death wish, to Riley letting himself be suck, to Spike...too much too sudden. As usual I just blame it on the monks.
By Season 7 Buffy is basically a cold hearted bitch. She doesn't smile. She is more slayer than woman. She has not found her balance. In EoD/Chosen when Angel comes we get just a small little glimpse of a smile and the old Buffy for a hot flash of a second then she shuts it all down and she is hardened again. I think if they got back together Angel would have to work hard to remind her that she isn't JUST a warrior, she isn't just a fighter, she is also a human, a woman.
Spike tries I think to get through to Buffy to let her guard down in touched. And again, I don't know if I'm biased, I don't know if its SMG's acting, or what but I don't see anywhere in that scene where his words (however sweet they were) got through to her. She still looked cold and distant. He may as well have been a stuffed animal she was cuddling with:
There was enough space between them that Dawn could have fit in, just saying.
I don't blame SMG for a) not being allowed to show more range when playing Buffy (she was fine as The First so it's not her acting) b) having become so disconnected from the character she might as well be playing a stranger. After all it took them forever to shoot that 'i love you, no you don't' scene because SMG had no clue as to Buffy's feelings anymore.
Or is she just a lost cause doomed to walk around all mopey and depressed.
If that was what Whedon, Marti & Co. were trying for then they succeeded. If not then they are terrible at what they do. And I don't think that was supposed to be Buffy in S7. But intention and execution are two different things.
God who would have thought Buffy would turn into such a brooder. She and Angel would at least have that in common now.
Buffy isn't a brooder. Never will be. To be one you have to be self-aware of your mistakes and self-reflective of your life and choices, none of which applies to Buffy.
