My feelings on Jesse demise were sadly not much of a big whoop. I would have likely missed him more if I knew him better.
For me, it wasn't so much of a cast killing, no one is safe sort of thing; Jesse was just bait that was a friend of Xanders, and a way to further flesh out Xanders character.
Most interesting to me was how Xander dealt with it all. That negativity and anger toward vampires was a trait that stuck with him long after the accidental staking. (I do sort of wish the writers would have worked alittle bit more of that angle in, but the shows called Buffy, not Dead Jesse 😉 )
One other thing I wish was explored more was how Buffy felt over Jesse being lost. Granted, she can't stop all deaths, but this one happened in part, due to her overconfidence with Luke and Darla and the feeling the I have that she was unprepaired for the hellmouth. (can't blame her, season one and all.) Unlike the pokemon, she could not catch them all in the graveyard. I would think that would weigh heavely on her. maybe it did and she, as a slayer, has a different way of grieving.
You know, untill I got involved in this discussion I did not realize that the scoobies never mention Jesse again. I guess thats kind of weird, but he does represent a loss and thats something difficult to talk about. There is an old wartime saying about never mentioning the dead in a fox hole; perhaps thats what Buffy and co. are doing. They are constantly putting their lives on the line and sometimes losing. Maybe Jesse is a writers oversight or maybe he's too hard to talk about. I dunno.
A very interesting side thread has started in this thread about vampire rehab. There has been some very interesting ideas thrown around. I'll add my two cents.
I remember Whistler telling Angel not all demons are bad. I wonder how this might play into a Buffy styled vampire? Vampires are born out of a predatory act and have to assume the role of predator to survive, but I wonder if all are inheirantly evil?
Angelus was certainly nasty, but I remember what the Judge mentioned to Spike and Dru in season two "You two reek of humanity" or something to that effect. Then there is the poor vampire with the glasses that loves knowledge, remeber what the judge does to him?
Latter on in that episode or close there to, Angelus shows up at vamp camp and Spike sicks the giant smurf on what he believes is Angel, the results get "There is no humanity left in this one, he can not be burned."
This leads me to believe that the demon side of the vampires themselves are not just straight lace bad guys, but very from individual to individual. (most probably bad.)
If Spikes bad side was to posses someone of higher self esteem and stronger character, perhaps he would not have become such a big Big Bad. It seemed to me like the vampire in him took alook around and said, 'Your a wuss'. and from that moment on it was full throttle over the top naughty in an attempt to wash away the weakness.
But the vampire side does posses the humans memories and i think over time that kind of acts as a subconcious to influence behavior....well at least untill it is totally forgotten, or in Angelus case, despised.
Long story short, I don't think it necessarily has to be a good person working away within a bad vampire, or at the very least having their memories/tendancies/traits surface. Just maybe...rehab might not be needed in all cases.
And just another side thought....I don't think a chip would have worked on Angelus.
