Choked Up

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OFAWB

Spike's Pet
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Black Thorn
Does anyone else get teary-eyed and choked up when watching/listening to Xander's speech to Dawn in 'Potential'?

I'm more than halfway through the season and expect to finish it before Thanksgiving/Hanukkah (Thanksgivukkah!), but I wanted to dwell on that speech a bit here.

It spoke to me and made me weep.

Xander is one of my favorite characters on the show, and throughout BTVS he has been portratyed as a sidekick who rarely sees the spotlight. (I love 'The Zeppo' because it shows how strong he can be!) At the same time, Dawn knows she doesn't fit in, and needs to reminded of her special qualities.

When he told her that it could be a struggle being 'normal' around extraordinary people, I started to cry because I grew up having brilliant siblings and was used to people thinking I was "the dumb child" (even though I wasn't). Sometimes, the people around us are so unusual that our own uniqueness gets lost in the shuffle.

It was very meaningful to me. Any comments?
 
Yup. Love that one:

"They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary."

Xander stands, kisses her forehead, stands to walk out of the room.

It compares with Xander's speech to Anya after Riley leaves Sunnydale and Buffy behind in "Into the Woods":

XANDER: I've gotta say something.

Cut to: Anya's apartment. Anya is in her nightgown, sitting on the bed.

XANDER: 'Cause ... I don't think I've made it clear.

Anya stands up. Xander walks toward her.

XANDER: I'm in love with you.

He walks closer toward her, and she toward him.

XANDER: Powerfully, painfully in love. The things you do ... the way you think ... the way you move ... I get excited every time I'm about to see you.

They are up close now, looking at each other. Anya smiles slightly, looking a little teary.

XANDER: You make me feel like I've never felt before in my life. Like a man. (Pause. He shrugs uneasily) I just thought you might wanna know.

Anya moves up to him and they kiss.

It seems like Xander does get some good speeches, even if he is treated like a sidekick most of the time.
 
Xander has some great speeches throughout the series. like the one that he gave Buffy when Riley was leaving, and the yellow crayon speech to Willow, and, yeah, the "You're extraordinary," one for Dawn. Without spoiling anything too much for you, he has another good one to the Potentials yet to come.
 
Tome
Tome
[No message]
Oh, yeah? I hope he tells the Potentials - especially Kennedy - to shove it. When she mouthed off to Spike in the kitchen, saying she was a better fighter than he was because she had an entire month of "training", I uttered some impolite words at the TV screen. Ask Tome what I have to say about Kennedy...I'd be perfectly happy if she made a one-time, large-volume blood donation to Spike. For you Angel fans out there, she could help him out with some sustenance, too. As long as she's gotten rid of.
 
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Tome
Tome
;)
It's honestly one of the best moments in Season 7 (Which I think says something because I think the Season is utter trash...), so I do enjoy it. It's heartwarming to see a moment between the two of them.
 
Honestly, I quite enjoyed this speech. One of Buffy's big driving themes is how much it can suck to be "The Chosen One", the one with power- whether it's manifested through the risk to your life, the keeping of secrets, the chance of corruption. We see it with Buffy as the Slayer, with Willow's magic addiction, with Oz being a werewolf. It's nice to see it acknowledged that being part of that world (being aware of the supernatural, being part of the fight against evil), but not being special, not having those powers, not being able to make a difference as easily, is also hard. I think the show tried to do that with Riley, but not in such a way that made him particularly sympathetic- with Riley, it was tied up with his relationship with Buffy, and led to him making stupid choices. With Xander's speech to Dawn, it's someone saying "I know how much this can suck, and I know how hard it is for them to not really see you, but the way you act in spite of that is great, and I appreciate and understand you."

I think the main problem with this speech was that the episodes (and most of the season) around it were just too speech heavy. Practically everything Buffy says to the Potentials comes in the form of some sort of speech, be it inspirational/ angry. Later in the season, that seems to extend to the majority of her interactions. Pretty much ALL the characters end up giving speeches at one another throughout this season (Lies My Parents told me has Giles making speeches at Buffy, Spike and Wood making speeches at each other about Wood's mother and Buffy making a speech at Wood about how she would let Spike kill him, for example. Spike makes that big speech to Buffy about how great she is. Xander's speech to the Potentials about how awesome Buffy is. And so on). A well delivered inspirational speech/ rant/ monologue can be a powerful thing. But when it's overdone, all the speeches lose their impact. It felt like hardly anyone was talking TO each other, because they were all so busy making their speeches AT other people. And I think Xander's speech to Dawn, nice as it is, gets a little mired down in all the over-speechiness of the season.

So in other words, the content is good. But it would probably have stood out more in a different season.
 
I, too, got choked up over this scene....but in a different way. Nick's acting in this particular dialogue almost made me gag. Nick's was way off in this scene, and it shows. Not his finest moment, but then again, this season sucks so what can we expect. I've seen this scene so many times, and I always without fail cringe during the entire Xander/Dawn conversation. Dawn pulls it off flawlessly, but Xander just seems like he just had an enema or something and can't talk straight. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it is. I'm not alone in this, am I? Huh? Huh? I really like Xander, and Zeppo is one of my favorite episodes, but the particular scene in question is a real letdown (just like Season 7)......
 
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