Is Riley's Reason good enough?

[Medusa]

Do you think Riley was right to let the vampire bite him? If you don't remember his reason for it, her is the dialogue between him and Buffy in Into The Woods.

Riley: I think, when this thing started, it was just some stupid, immature game. I wanted to even the score after you let Dracula bite you.
Buffy: I did not *let* Dracula-
Riley: I know. On some level I know that. But I was still spun. (pause) I don't know, I - I wanted to know what you felt. I wanted to know why Dracula and Angel have so much power over you.
Buffy: (shakes her head) You so don't get it.
Riley: I wanted to get it, Buffy. I wanted to get you.
Buffy: So this is my fault? Hey, gee, Buffy's so mysterious, I think I'll go out and almost die. I think I'll go and let some other w... (She stops and looks down.)
Riley: This isn't your fault. It's mine. I feel like hell for what I've put you through. (Buffy still doesn't look at him) It's just... (sighs) these girls-
Buffy: Vampires. Killers.
Riley: They made me feel something, Buffy. Something I didn't even know I was missing until-
Buffy: I can't. I can't hear this.

She turns away again and Riley grabs her arm again.
Riley: You *need* to hear this.

Buffy pulls her arm away, walks a few steps away.

Buffy: Fine. Fine! Tell me about your whores! Tell me what on earth they were giving you that I can't.
Riley: They needed me.
Buffy: They needed your money. It wasn't about you.
Riley: (walks closer to her) No. On some basic level it *was* about me. My blood, my body. (sighs) When they bit me ... it was beyond passion. They wanted to devour me, all of me.
Buffy: (teary) Why are you telling me this?
Riley: It wasn't real. I know, it was just physical. But the fact that I craved it ... that, that I kept going back ... even if it was fleeting, they made me feel like they had such... hunger for me.
Buffy: And I don't ... make you feel that way? (Riley looks away) How on earth can you compare me to that? How can you tell me you understand what those vampires are feeling? You aren't a passion to them, you are a snack! A willing, idiotic snack.
Riley: (angrily) No, I know exactly what they feel when they bite me, because I feel it every time we're together. It's like the whole world falls away. And all there is is you.
Buffy: And you think that I don't feel the same way about you? How dare you tell me what I feel?
Riley: You keep me at a distance, Buffy. You didn't even call me when your mum went into the hospital.
Buffy: (incredulously) Oh, I'm sorry. You know, um, I'm sorry that I couldn't take care of you when I thought that my mother was dying.
Riley: It's about me taking care of you! It's about letting me in. So you don't have to be on top of everything all the time.
Buffy: But I do. That's part of what being a slayer is. (shakes her head) And that's what this is really about, isn't it? You can't handle the fact that I'm stronger than you.
Riley: It's hard sometimes, yeah. But that's not it.
Buffy: Then what? What else do you want from me, Riley? I've given you everything that I have, I've given you my heart, my body and soul!
Riley: You say that, but I don't feel it. I just don't feel it.
Buffy: Well, whose fault its that? Because I'm telling you, this is it, this is me. This is the package. And if it's so deficient that you need to get your kicks elsewhere ... then we really have a problem.

I don't think he was right, I mean BUffy was being kinda y'know, mean to him, but her mother was almost dying, she had a reason. Bit I don't think any excuse was a good enough for what he did. I mean, for as mad as he was when he found out that Buffy and the gang had Spike at Giles', then for him to go out and LET a vampire bite him? That, I think is SO wrong of him, but thats my opinion.

Whats yours?

 

[eponinethen]

The thing about letting a vampire bute you is so strange. I don't know how to think when it comes to this... Am I supposed to compare being bit by a vampire to rape, then letting a vampire bite you would be like sex and cheating..? Which is still weird. But I could also compare it to using drugs, cause for Riley it's like an addiction, and that would be way easier to forgive.
Um, I guess there a lot of smart things you could say about this but I have a hard time relating to this thing. I usually don't, the vampire thing and the biting thing, it's usually clear what it means.. But this is, weird, to me. I'd say that it was "wrong" in some ways, but we can't know what Riley was feeling. Obviously he must have felt really bad, he must have been really depressed, otherwise I don't see why he would even consider this.. eh.. thing..

 

[Wicca]

what riley did was wrong. there is no way this could be justified, no way this could be explained. whatever was going through his head - i have no idea. he was in the probably lowest place in his life, everything he'd believed in had turned out to be a lie, his girlfriend didn't love him and not only did he no longer belong in her world (that's something very big that they shared) he was subconsciously competing the vampire she still did love. you could argue rather successfully all of the above combined could have driven him to what he did. what i say though? no excuses. at least not that i can see.
but buffy wasn't a saint. she was still in love with angel and although she tried to fall in love with riley, she never could. she just wasn't made for normal and normal was not made for her. while riley was the a commando and they shared a mutual mission (in the initiative's twisted sense), there was something to bind them, something to fill the holes left in that relationship. but once that was gone, the pretence was gone as well. and then the hardest time for his girlfriend came and he - worse of all - wasn't needed. dracula bit her. but the really important part was that *angel* had bitten her too and she had let him. before angel, she cried, angel she needed, angel she loved. *angel* was still a part of her world. angel seemed to be everything riley wished he could be with the exception that riley had her by his side - but that wasn't enough for him anymore, he wanted all the package or he wanted nothing, no half-ways. so he left.
did he make the right decision? hell, yeah. for *both* of them.

 

[AngelicSlayer00]

I agree Wicca, There was def no excuse for his actions but looking at all that we can see why he might have, I mean no way he could ever live up to Angel in Buffy's eyes.

 

[Wicca]

no, he never could. riley got himself regularly bitten by vampires, spike took it one step further and went to get himself a soul. but neither could.
it is possible to put some of it on buffy saying she had to draw a line at some point, she had to stop ignoring the facts. riley saw what she wouldn't, that's why he left. and in the long run, it turned out for the best for them both.

 

[berkeled]

I think his reasons are well, I understand the guy... he got curios cant blame em' ---- I know buffy was having a hard time but she did not let him in on it hell he heard some of it(most of it) from spike! So I can totally see what the guy was going thru ... and when he left he did it for himself in the end cause buffy did not love em' she used him thats my honest opinion!

 

[eponinethen]

Eh, I still don't get it. I can see many reasons why Riley felt really bad and wanted to do somthing to .. hurt (?) himself, and Buffy. Not saying that was the reason but.. I can also see how he had no "right" to do this, just cause it's an absurd thing to do.. But I still don't get it, really, what it means... But it sure is a strange thing to do..

 

[phoenixrising]

I might get killed for this, but its the way I see it...

Buffy treated Riley like crap. She was the whole world to him, he would have done everything up to and including die for her and she cut him out of nearly everything that was happening in her life. She was treating him like a convenience, to be there when she wanted and to go away when she didn't. The only other boyfriend of Buffy's that got worse treatment from her was Spike, but at least she was honest with him and never said she loved him (until the end when she truly did). With treatment like this, even the most devoted guy would stray.

Was Riley right? No, he should have talked with Buffy about how he felt. But Buffy was far from right in this situation.

 

[eponinethen]

Hehe, at least I won't kill you phoenixrising. I agree with you. I think Riley had "reasons", but not excuses. He had reasonsto feel like he did, Buffy was treating him really bad, and he had really tried... What he did wasn't right but I "understand" him.. sort of.

 

[Pauly00001]

I'm sorry if I'm essentially repeating what others have said, but it's what I feel.

I think Riley's actions is more of a metaphor for hiring a prostitute than a drug addiction. While I disagree with what he did, I think he definatly was treated like crap by Buffy. She went off with everyone else and was keeping him back. He was the rebound guy. She felt like she needed to be in a relationship, so she stayed with him. Buffy told Spike about Joyce going into the hospital, but she didn't call Riley and he had to find out from Spike. She was willing to give him up at first when he gave her an ultimatum. She had to be reminded of any feelings she had from Xander.