If Buffy had actually told her friends...

[dexeded]

...that she'd been in Heaven, do you think she would've had a much easier time of it? I think one of the main problems the Scoobies have in S6 is that rather than sharing their problems with each other, they get so wrapped up in their own feuds that they have no one to support them through it. A much tougher, darker S4 theme of drifting apart and not coping well. Of course, even when they did find out in OMWF, which was really early on, the hard times didn't really let up that much...

 

[SlayerFest]

I doubt it would have changed things. They all would have reacted the same way if she had told them in the Magic Box as opposed to when she was flailing around. Maybe if they had sat down with her and talked about it, it would have helped.

I mean the way that she dealt with her depression wasn't healthy and letting it all out and telling them exactly how she felt would have been good for her, probably. However, they didn't seem to want to hear it.

 

[Astral]

I think it would have made things worse. I don't think Buffy would have felt any better and telling the Scoobies would have only made them feel just as bad. I think Willow acknowledges it in a later episode by saying how selfish it was of her to bring Buffy back.

 

[Jodast]

I think it would have helped immensely had everyone just talked to each other sooner. Yes the initial shock is exactly the same but there is more time for them all to process their thoughts and feelings, talk about them and work through them together. That's the whole point of season 6, they all have issues going on but no-one wants to get the help and support they need. Even though the help and support they need is each other.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think that overall it might have made things easier for them all to cope and heal together, but initially the response was probably going to be the same. Buffy was very bitter and upset about being pulled from Heaven, as she had every right to be, even as much as she tried to understand that they did it because they loved her and thought they were "saving" her. This was definitely going to cause some rifts in how she dealt with her friends and family.

 

[brinkster130]

I don't think it would have made much difference. There really wasn't anything they could have said or done that would have made Buffy feel better about/come to terms with it. Had they known I could see them being overly nice and cautious with her; which would have drove her crazy and made her push them away even more.

I really don't think her depression over being ripped from a happy place was something that a little venting and a heart to heart was going to fix.

 

[AmelRIOT]

I think nothing would of changed, Buffy would still of slept with Spike or someone else. I think it would of dragged them more apart to be honset, Buffy would be sick of people saying sorry and I didn't know. Plus it would of killed Dawn inside I think, Giles was still going to move, Willow would of felt bad and used her powers to heal, Xander would still be scared of the future. So no I don't think it would of changed anything.

 

[funsmiley]

i don't think it would have changed anything. i mean, she was at peace and it was taken away from her, it doesn't really matter who by or why, her duty as a slayer had been fulfilled. it was her time.

of course, the guys didn't know she was in heaven and the way she died led them to believe she was in a hell dimension. I think what upset buffy the most was that her friends had never considered themselves that it had been her time and that she was at peace, they just wanted buffy back, and in that sense they were being selfish.

 

[kittenpoker]

I think the whole reason OMWF is such a great and important episode (besides the songs which I freaking LOVE) is that it shows that secrets HAVE to come out. I think - what I'm trying to say - is that YES she should have told her friends. Everyone - up to that point - is more or less in their own world. Buffy's so conditioned to be the protector. Which, she is.... and I think she's used to having the weight of the world on her shoulders. I think she felt she needed to protect her friends from the truth - to protect their feelings. But if the end of season 4 taught her (and us) nothing it's that she's not an island. They NEED each other. They function best as a team and she doesn't have to go it alone. But, like all of us, we learn and we forget. Now, what it would have changed....I'm not sure, but she would not have felt so isolated and that - I believe - would have huge ripple effects.

 

[Kean]

I don't think the actual knowledge of Buffy being in Heaven would have changed much, in fact, we see in the show that when they do find out, it changes absolutely nothing. They continue to heap more and more troubles and responsibilities on her shoulders, and I don't feel they ever made any effort to aid Buffy through her depression. Even when they did talk about what they did, they did so without Buffy. In trying to find how they all felt about taking Buffy from Heaven, they failed to speak to Buffy about how she felt about being taken from Heaven. This was clearly not a group of people capable of handling a friend's emotional and existential crisis, let alone a full blown depressive episode.

For me, it wasn't the fact that she had been pulled from Heaven that Buffy needed to express to the people around her, it was that she was struggling, pretty much every second, to just exist. How she was feeling is what needed to be known, not where she had come from.

Given the nature of Willow, Tara and Xander's story lines I don't know if any of them could have helped Buffy, or even themselves. But Giles. Giles should have been there. In fact, he was duty bound to be there for Buffy. He was also wise enough to know that what Buffy was facing was not just a "bad patch" or a shirking of her responsibilities; she was ill and she needed looking after. She needed her watcher.