Really? I think Buffy gets called out more than any main character in the Buffyverse, certainly more than any BTVS main. It feels different from Kennedy because she’s so self serving and the stuff she’s calling out she has no real understanding aboutI definitely get why people have issues with her, I personally like that she calls Buffy out for reasons I’ve stated, the show was built on questioning authority figures now Buffy is the authority figure. The story is told through Buffy’s perspective but honestly by the time some of this stuff goes down from the perspective of the potentials they would almost seem to be stupid for not questioning Buffy. She’s a brat but she serves a purpose and to be honest almost nobody else calls Buffy on her crap so I respect her for that.
While I find her behavior cringy I do agree that Willow herself is an extremely toxic partner, maybe that’s why I never cared enough to get angry on Willow’s behalf, although I was somewhat uncomfortable watching that but I can apply that to most Buffyverse relationships.
Like we don’t even see Kennedy considering maybes she ought to be a bit nicer to people following Chloe’s death.
Compare Kennedy trying to suck up to Buffy in End of days by trying to throw Faith under the bus compared to Faith taking all the blame and clearly struggling when Buffy tells her she did nothing wrong. Buffy is right that Faith isn’t to blame for the bomb attack, it was a plan that went wrong - a shame but it happens but Faith still has that ability to reflect and consider if she could have done things differently.
Kennedy doesn’t have that, even in the next episode she’s bragging about being ‘the first to call Buffy out’ and the lack of humility she has is kind of shocking. Her entire arc is just her being ‘lol I’m a brat’. She’s not awful to people because of any insecurities or vulnerabilities. There’s no depth there, she’s just awful because she’s an awful person
I would in an odd kind of way like her and Willow to stay together because I think Willow is a pretty toxic partner and I wouldn’t like her to drag down a nicer person with her schtick
I didn’t say that she didn’t not need calling out. Just that she’s kind of consistently called out and she’s pretty much the only one who does. Buffy learning she’s not always right wasn’t the problem though, the thing with Empty Places/Touched is that she IS right. Buffy does what she always does after a confrontation, entirely blames herself and how wrong she is. Acknowledging fault has never been Buffy’s issue. I don’t disagree about not listening in LMPTM, it’s one of Buffy’s most stupid moments and I definitely acknowledge that.In Season Seven, she needs called out and she just shuts anyone down who questions her like Giles when he brings up the issue of having a triggered Spike without a chip running around, she’s so convinced she can do no wrong and that she’s always right. I love her character but I don’t like her very much in Season 7. I feel like the growth we finally get from her at the end is so minimal and it still feels like she never learns that she isn’t always right and can do no wrong. We did get some reflection on her self isolation but I didn’t think it was enough. Through out the series other characters should have been called out far more though….looking at you Willow.
Most of what I said is for Season 7 only not the whole series.
Buffy told her it wasn’t Faiths fault, because Kennedy wanted to throw her under the bus. I agree the recon did seem pretty lax. I think the problem was that as we know it was the scythe that was there they were never going to get evidence of it. They probably could have reconned all night and never saw anythingKennedy did feel guilty, Buffy told her that it wasn’t her fault. To be fair almost every character warned Buffy that the vineyard was likely a trap but honestly Buffy and Faith should have done a better recon mission, they turned around and left the second they saw where the bringers were going they both know better than that.
but she listens to Wood and does it anyway.
I do not blame any character for questioning Buffy in thinking the Caleb would helpfully tell her where the scythe is. It’s why Season 7 is a hard one for me. If I was a character I would absolutely think she was crazy at that point. It also absolutely felt like the writers did punish the the characters who had the audacity to question Buffy’s instincts from Giles in Lies My Parents Told Me to the Potentials in Empty Places/Touched. Spike didn’t kill again but it had nothing to do with Buffy’s instincts as the scythe being in the vineyard was some of the worst writing in the show. She always thought she was right before that she didn’t learn anything of value.
The Slayer though is a metaphor for growing up defeating the obstacles of being an adult and questioning authority, such as Giles, the Counsel, Snyder, Wesley, the Mayor, Walsh, the Initiative…some are strait forward but most are metaphors the Slayer questions and challenges which is why the next generation of Slayers need to be the ones calling Buffy out and not just falling in line, it wouldn’t be true to what the show is as Buffy has NEVER been a solder and as never allowed herself to be treated as such.
Edit to add that her behavior post Empty Places seemed more self pitying than anything else…..kicking a guy out of his own home in the middle of the night in a demon infested town because “that’s what all the cool kids are doing.”
Well that not much considering how much people hate her you have to admint.I do not hate her as much as others do 😀
Let’s say I’m more sympathetic toward her than most people are.Well that not much considering how much people hate her you have to admint.