DeadlyDuo
Scooby
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2016
- Messages
- 9,005
- Age
- 30
So essentially Spike committed an act of self-harm in order to make himself more "acceptable" to Buffy, despite him not having a problem being soulless in the preceding seasons and ultimately is rewarded for said act of self-harm. This is the rub of it, they can't have it be a terrible punishment for Angelus and then treat it like a romantic gesture for Spike.The narrative was that it was meant as a punishment to Angelus to make Angelus suffer.
Angelus and Spike are completely different and happen upon their souls under completely different circumstances. Nevertheless, Spike admits in both Beneath You ("Angel.. he should have warned me") and Never Leave Me ("It's been so long since I had one") that he sought out his soul largely underestimating the impact it would have on him or what having a soul even meant. Having a soul did make Spike suffer.
I disagree. Vampires and souls are not supposed to mix. It's why the gypsies gave Angelus a soul because it is the worst punishment they could think of. They don't want to make him a better man, they want him to suffer with torment. Angel just made the best of a bad situation but that doesn't negate the fact that the situation was designed to be bad.That aside, the soul was seen as a punishment for Angelus but that doesn't have to mean it's automatically a punishment for every other vampire.
The writers can't give one narrative for the soul eg it's a punishment, and then try and tell a contradictory narrative eg it's a romantic gesture, just because it suits them
It's similar to the narrative they tried to pull with magic. In Season 4, magic is a metaphor for Tillow's relationship. The stronger their relationship becomes, the more ambitious their spells get. In Season 6, magic is a metaphor for drugs but then that doesn't apply in the next season. If magic = drugs which is the narratve we were given in Season 6, then Tara was Willow's pusher all the way back in Season 4 as she was the one encouraging Willow to try harder spells.