Helpless - should Buffy have gone alone?

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

What do you make of Buffy's decision to go alone to find Joyce after she is kidnapped by that vampire? Surely Buffy knew how dangerous it'd be, without her Slayer powers. She'd previously told Angel of her predicament, why not solicit his help? I get why she wouldn't ask Giles, but why not ask Xander or Willow to come with and back her up?

Thoughts? Why would Buffy do something so stupid?

 

[white avenger]

Well, obviously, it was more dramatic to have non-Slayer powered Buffy go in alone to rescue her mother, no matter how irresponsible such a thing would be in real life. But, within the scope of the show, this would probably be the Buffy version of the old, "a man' gotta do what a man's gotta do" scenario. Basically, protecting her mother was Buffy's responsibility, and she just never even considered taking the time to hunt down anyone more qualified to face the vampire.

But no. In a more realistic sense, Buffy was actually putting her mother more at risk by goig in alone than if she actually had have taken the time to find better qualified help.

 

[Ripper666]

Well imagine you would have been in Buffys position! What would hve you done? Who would you asked for help? Giles? Sure he would have created a plan. But this needed time! Time which she hadn't. May Joyce would have been killed in this time! And after all, she was about 16 years old and didn't had such an farsightedness.
I don't think that she handled it the best way, it was dangerous and silly from her that she didn't even phoned Willow or Giles. But I still can understand why she acted the way she did.

 

[Dagenspear]

I don't know. Buffy's an idiot? That's the only logical explanation.

 

[Professor Walsh]

I don't know. Buffy's an idiot? That's the only logical explanation.

I, for one, am no idiot. Still, I did quite a few things when I was about eighteen - as Buffy is in "Helpless" - that spoke more of a burning need to act than of a calm, rational mind. That's not too uncommon for eighteen-year-olds.

 

[Andrew2080]

I think at the end of the episode Buffy forgives Giles a bit too easy. When Giles tells Buffy he has been needling her she clearly says to Giles "don't come near me" , but at the end of the episode she let Giles dry her with a towel. But did a Giles really redeem himself enough? He should at least have promised Buffy he would never dope her again, councel or not 🙂

 

[Jules]

I think logically she should have asked Angel for help, but like others have said that would have made it less dramatic to watch.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think Buffy felt so betrayed by Giles that she wasn't really thinking clearly about asking for help from anyone else. I think she felt so betrayed that she had a me-against-the-world mentality at that point, and wasn't sure who she could really trust. It's understandable, but yes, going alone to that house to fight Kralik without any super powers was a very bad idea.

 

[EvilWillow]

I always wondered why she never asked Angel to help her...

 

[Rack]

That was Buffy Summers, not the Vampire Slayer, who went after the crazy vamp. She was ready to fight to the death for her mom even if it meant she would lose. And Giles is a jerk for putting her through it.