Does Oz deserve a free pass?

[Tillow4ever]

Yeah I do, Oz noticed the attraction in human form. Even if it was an overwhelming animalistic feeling, he should have been man enough to stay the hell away from her.

By the way, in my opinion Willow did cheat. A kiss is cheating in my book, and repeated fumbles definitely constitute as cheating in my book.

I agree with everything in this post. He should have stayed the hell away from Veruca. And as much as I love Willow (to death) that was totally cheating.

I loved Oz and Willow together, they were cute, and Oz was good to her. But what he did was WRONG. He slept with another woman. He does NOT deserve a freaking "free pass". Even if he did what he did for the "greater good" he could have told somebody about her. He could have put her in a different cage, but no, I bet he thought he could get away with it because of 1, what Willow did, and 2, his inner wolf.

 

[Abby27]

I need to go back and rewatch this ep but as I recall, Oz and Veruca hooked up the first time without him knowing when she was wolf, yes? I think with that, Oz gets a "free pass." Like he said, when the wolf takes over, it's not him, it's an animal, that's what being a werewolf is. And yes, Oz had noticed Veruca on a very animalistic level (he "sensed" her, but we don't know if he knew that mean she was a wolf, or if he was just attracted to her) before that, but that didn't need to be brought up to Willow, I truly believe he had no intention of hooking up with Veruca. I mean, if my boyfriend saw a hot girl, I'd be fine with him thinking she is good looking, but if he was constantly thinking about how hot she was with intentions to cheat, I'd be a pretty upset. So, maybe Oz could have done a little "prevention" care and told Willow and the gang he thought Veruca was a wolf, but I don't think Oz had any idea anything really bad was going to happen.

What else could he have done? Let Veruca leave and therefore put other people in danger? Instead he took a selfless decision and i have the utmost respect for what he did.

Of course he knew what he was doing but i don't think he thought he had any other option. He had to act quickly, had no time to think about things and made a decision thinking of others.

Now, I think the biggest mistake Oz made is the second all that happened, he should have told Willow. Yes, that conversation would have sucked, but Willow deserved to know. If he had told her, I think a lot of this could have been prevented. And with that, Oz made a bad decision trying to "solve" the problem on his own. And his intentions were mostly good the second time around with Veruca, there just were so many other ways he could've handled it. Just because you are trying to do what's best for the greater good with good intentions, it doesn't mean you are not responsible for your actions and how they affect your loved ones. I think that's a long running theme in the show.

 

[Icarium]

Now, I think the biggest mistake Oz made is the second all that happened, he should have told Willow.

And Buffy. Veruca was a danger to innocent people. By not telling Buffy Oz basically became Veruca's accomplice. His plan to divert her attention by having sex with her was never going to work in the long run.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

I keep chuckling to myself while reading this thread simply because I know that if Seth hadn't left, Oz would still be around and this would probably be very different.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

Yes, he cheated on her, but he deserves a free pass.

Why?

He saved God know how many lives. He saved them for Veruca. Imagine how not selfish and good you have to be to cheat the most important person in your life, just to keep others safe. I see Oz as a hero. Yes, he knew how being cheated feels like.. and even after that, imagine the strenght you have to have to hurt one person you care about, for lives of few persons. Oz had his best intention. He knew Veruca will go out there, and she will kill. He didn't have any time, time to think, time to react.. he did what was right in front of him. If even one of them stayed out, they would kill..

And I don't agree with you that she didn't cheated on Oz. She did. She had feelings for another guy and she expressed them with kiss. With touching. With looking. She cheated on him. With her mind, and with her body.

 

[Gotham]

If anything, I'd say what Willow did was worse. Not only did she cheat, but she cheated with someone she always held a torch for. When you're the victim of that, such as Oz was, there's not many feelings that are worse than that.

 

[Abby27]

He saved God know how many lives. He saved them for Veruca. Imagine how not selfish and good you have to be to cheat the most important person in your life, just to keep others safe. I see Oz as a hero. Yes, he knew how being cheated feels like.. and even after that, imagine the strenght you have to have to hurt one person you care about, for lives of few persons. Oz had his best intention. He knew Veruca will go out there, and she will kill. He didn't have any time, time to think, time to react.. he did what was right in front of him. If even one of them stayed out, they would kill.

I think Oz's overall intentions were good, yes. But he still could've told Willow (and Buffy - as Icarium pointed out) after their first night together, thereby preventing all of this. I don't think this is as cut and dry as he hurt the one he loved for the greater good. His fault lies with the fact that even though he was trying to save everyone, he could've handled the whole thing better. So even at that point where Oz made the decision to keep Veruca in his cage as a good guy wanting to protect people, he still is responsible for how that hurts Willow as her boyfriend. I don't think that gets him a free pass. Whether or not it was for a greater good, in that moment, he cheated on her.

 

[NY State of Mind]

Yes Willow cheated!!!! Oz with a soul or no soul still doesn't control his werewolf self and yes he had good intentions trying to lock Veruca in the cage...did he cheat? Yes but he deserves a break for that...and I think he left so that he wouldn't become that beast again that he can't control not because he just cheated.

Yeah sure he could of told Willow or Buffy...but c'mon which one of them didn't ever hold out on info from the group? Human characteristic...Let him live!

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

I think Oz's overall intentions were good, yes. But he still could've told Willow (and Buffy - as Icarium pointed out) after their first night together, thereby preventing all of this. I don't think this is as cut and dry as he hurt the one he loved for the greater good. His fault lies with the fact that even though he was trying to save everyone, he could've handled the whole thing better. So even at that point where Oz made the decision to keep Veruca in his cage as a good guy wanting to protect people, he still is responsible for how that hurts Willow as her boyfriend. I don't think that gets him a free pass. Whether or not it was for a greater good, in that moment, he cheated on her.

Probably he could've handle the situation better, but he handled it the best he knew. I don't see how his actions are worse than Willow's. He had no feelings for Veruca, Willow did for Xander. Willow managed to hurt Cordelia and Oz, things were tense for a while between her and Xander, and she got nothing for it. Oz have hurted only Willow, and menaged to save people.

 

[zobothehobo]

I was going to respond to this but then I fell asleep. I'm not going to say anything that hasn't already been said. Yes Oz cheated. He was attracted to Veruca in human form. After they slept together the first time he knew good an well what would happen if they got in that cage together. And he did it anyway. And like Icarium said, he should have told Buffy. Both Buffy and Willow needed to know what was going on.

And I do think Willow cheated on Oz but it was a different severity of cheating. Oz slept with Veruca. Willow kissed Xander.

 

[NY State of Mind]

So should of Oz let Veruca stay out the cage and kill rather than leaving her in...so what if they were going to have werewolf sex...he was trying to save people and her from being that beast. He left because he wanted to learn how he could control that beast because he had no control over it no matter what ya'll think. It's obvious he had no control over it...sure he pulled her in but he was already changing into the beast.

And no he's not conscience of what's going on once he's a werewolf...the werewolf just reacts as an animal like any other wolf or dog...he has no control once it goes to that point.

 

[Gotham]

So should of Oz let Veruca stay out the cage and kill rather than leaving her in...so what if they were going to have werewolf sex...he was trying to save people and her from being that beast. He left because he wanted to learn how he could control that beast because he had no control over it no matter what ya'll think. It's obvious he had no control over it...sure he pulled her in but he was already changing into the beast.

And no he's not conscience of what's going on once he's a werewolf...the werewolf just reacts as an animal like any other wolf or dog...he has no control once it goes to that point.

Good argument. 🙂 He could have shared his problems with someone else though, and told them to help him find her so they could tranq her.

This seems to be a pattern in the Buffyverse, people tend to throw common sense out the window! 😛

 

[Icarium]

So should of Oz let Veruca stay out the cage and kill rather than leaving her in...so what if they were going to have werewolf sex...he was trying to save people and her from being that beast.

The point is Oz shouldn't have allowed things to get to that point. He should have told Buffy and gone looking for Veruca long before sunset. Or even better, tried to restrain her after she made it clear she enjoyed being a werewolf during their "morning after" scene.

 

[msfantastico87]

The point is Oz shouldn't have allowed things to get to that point. He should have told Buffy and gone looking for Veruca long before sunset. Or even better, tried to restrain her after she made it clear she enjoyed being a werewolf during their "morning after" scene.

Couldn't give you rep again. But I wanted to say I agree with ya here 🙂

 

[dan k]

The point is Oz shouldn't have allowed things to get to that point. He should have told Buffy and gone looking for Veruca long before sunset. Or even better, tried to restrain her after she made it clear she enjoyed being a werewolf during their "morning after" scene.

I agree he made a mistake in not telling anyone but that was understandable considering he didn't want to hurt anyone. This thread is about if Oz deserves a free pass and for me he does because during the moment he found himself in he only had two choices.

To let Veruca free and risk people getting hurt or too drag Veruca in and give her what she wanted to ensure everyone else was safe. I can't criticize someone for doing that, its a selfless act made out of caring for others. It wasn't about him dragging Veruca in for selfish means.

 

[Tillow4ever]

My mom thinks that he didn't cheat. She's only seen it once like over a year ago. But still. She says he wasn't in his "right mind" but she says she doesn't know if he deserves a free pass, she'd have to see it again. Just thought I'd say what my mommy thought 🙂

 

[dan k]

The animal feelings he felt for Veruca left him in a dilemma. I agree he should have told Buffy but he had this connection with Veruca which clouded his judgement. He was in a difficult head space.

 

[Firefly]

Do you think Oz cheated? No
If you don't, why do you think he didn't? Oz said the Wolf inside of his was out of his control. The primal urges of the beast lured him to Veruca, Oz knew what would happen when they both changed and in doing so he sacrificed his relationship with Willow to save many denizens of Sunnydale.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

Wait, question. Are we counting both encounters or just the second one? Because the first one, Oz might as well have been asleep.

 

[GrrArghx]

Wow... no one ever discusses Oz much so I didn't know anyone thought this stuff. 😛

To me, yes, Oz cheated. They were already making out before they had the werewolf sex, but I don't think that they would've done anything at all, had Oz locked Veruca up in a separate cage.

Yes, he should've told someone. But, just like when he first found out he was a werewolf, he freaked.

I don't want to say he deserves a "free pass" or anything, but he was able to forgive Willow for cheating on him - which, yes, I believe she cheated too - then I think the same should be done for him. Had Oz not decided to leave, I truly believe he and Willow would've worked things out. 🙂