Episode Discussion Jonathon in the school's clock tower

[ILLYRIAN]

How thick was that situation?

Jonathon had taken a high powered long rifle to kill himself, really?

Could he have pressed the trigger while trying to shoot himself with it?

The episode was put back due to the school shooting in a school even though Jonathon only had one bullet and Jonathon stated he wanted to kill himself.

Should Buffy have set the rifle against a wall and given Jonathon a stick to pull the trigger so that he could kill himself, call his bluff so to speak.

 

[NotASlayer]

I think the choice of the weapon and the choice of the location was done deliberately to give the impression that Jonathan planned to kill a bunch of people. If it had been done with a more sensible weapon for suicide and in a more sensible location for such, it would have been easy to tell Jonathan was not the one planning to kill a chunk of the school.

In-universe, that may have been the only gun he could get his hands on.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Agreed. That part is a great misdirect, but it doesn't hold up under any scrutiny. It's a great episode, it more than makes up for it, and we get the best Buffy speech from it, but the idea that Jonathan had access to a several thousand dollar sniper rifle, which he dragged up a bell tower, and then was going to off himself with it? Any Saturday Night Special could do the job. Heck, going to a cemetery after 10 would probably work. Plus, isn't he graduating in a week? C'mon man, hold it together, you will get to second base with Cordelia.

 

[nightshade]

I think it would have been more interesting Jonathan had used the excuse that he had it to kill himself when he was actually planning a school shooting, it would explain his later behaviour better.