I agree a lot with your thoughts on the amulet ! I wasn't a big fan of this twist, which came at the last moment. But I realize that I'm more attached to the symbolism. In a way, it was just a tool, which was there for serving the story/the bigger picture. What's important to me is more how it affects the story and the characters journey.
But from a 'material' point of view, I agree that it was too much easy...
But still,
Chosen is one of my favorites episodes
🙂
I also wanted to react to the Buffy/Angel scene. Just in order to put a different perspective on the scene (I also react to what's been said previously ^^).
I don't think it was out of characters (out of context, yes, but not necessarily out of characters). Buffy and Angel are stuck in a relationship they lived together at the beginning of their love life, and the way it ended didn't allow them to say definitely goodbye to their relationship. In a way, that's something that is idealized and which remains stuck in the past. We always love passionately the first times we fall in love, more particularly when we're teenagers, because we don't have a full complete and constructed life, our priorities are different (even if Angel wasn't a teenager, he was at the same point than her in his emotional journey, that's why their relationship worked pretty well by this time). When Angel left, he got friends on his own, he found his own vocation, he fell in love with Cordelia, he became a dad... Buffy, for her part, grew in responsabilities with the death of her mother, the fact that she had to look after her little sister, take the lead of an army of young girls, all the difficulties she had been through after her resurrection... She became more responsible, more severe (in a way) and redefine her priorities... She simply put a different look on the World, and her way of loving became different (which is totally natural and healthy). Those 'experiences' changed them, they both became different persons, and I think that, in a long term, they would both expect something different from a relationship. Being in a relationship when you're 16 is a lot different than being in a relationship when you're an adult. And... you know, in my opinion, I think the only way for considering Buffy and Angel as a viable romantic option in the present is if they work on their issues and get to know each other in a complete different perspective. They have to move on from that idealized first relationship if they want to create a new one. But (it's a matter of personal opinion), I don't think their characters would work well together as adult lovers and I'm not even sure they would be able to make it. But again, it's my own perspective, I understand if people disagree.
I think Buffy and Angel will always have a deep affection for each other, in a way, they'll always love those memories they have of each other, but I don't believe they're still in love with each other. That's what the
Chosen scene tells us (in my interpretation). When they're together, they come back to that period of time, without consideration for their respective evolutions, or how much they grew and changed. They come back in that bubble in which they were years ago, when their lives were differents, and when their expectations were differents (that's why this scene can be interpreted as out of characters : because it didn't fit with who they were at this point of their evolution). It doesn't change the fact that they don't know each other anymore. They sure love a memory they have of each other, and a memory they have of their relationship, but I don't think it would fit with who they are *now*. It works when you see the person for few minutes, or even few days, but when you come back to your life, it simply doesn't fit.
When Angel left at the end of season 3, she told him that she wanted her future to be with him. In
Chosen, this affirmation became a "maybe". I'm sure she believed it, both times, but she still sees their relationship through her teenager glasses, without realizing how much everything that happened in her life after he left changed her. Or even how much HE changed. She can't be proven wrong in her beliefs, because she saw him three times in three years, for less than an hour. The absent/missing persons are always right. They can't change your vision of them, simply because they're not there. And the fact here is : Buffy and Angel know very little about their present lives, and their present ways of being.
To me, the whole point of the cookie dough speech was to show that. She doesn't know what she wants. She doesn't know what to expect from her life (and her love life). She still has to find herself. To get to know Buffy, for knowing, after that, what a 'Buffy adult and in love' would need in her love life. It makes sense that she says to Angel that she sometimes sees a future with him, because that's the only way she thought of them by the past, when her life was different (and simpler, in a way). And in a way, she's still stuck in this way of thinking, she didn't get the opportunity to fully think about her love life (season 5 was full of new responsabilities, season 6 added a depression to those, and season 7 was about her being the leader of an army). But she started to realize that she doesn't know what she wants now. What she needs now (side note : I think the comics are doing a really good job for that), because she didn't get the chance yet to fully think about it. And she knows even less what the 'future Buffy' would want or need.
Anyway, from this perspective, I found that scene interesting.
Now, concerning Spuffy, they get to know each other during a different period of time. Things were more difficult for Buffy, and looking for a love life probably was the last thing she was able to do. But Spike, in a way or another, always was the person she relied on the most. They saw each other in their darkest moments and their most beautiful moments, which finally offered a really complete vision of each other, because they remained true to who they were. They didn't lie about who they were, whatever flaws they had. But finally, in despite of the fact that she didn't meant to fall in love with him, she absolutely ended up there. She wasn't looking for love, but it just happened, which is something I find even more interesting. This is something they live on the moment, something they need, but not something they're necessarily looking for.
What I find the most striking in this episode, concerning their relationship, is how beautiful the symbolism was. I don't only talk about their firing hands, which is a nice call to OMWF, when Buffy was singing "
I want the fire back", but also the moment she chose to spend her possible last night on Earth in his arms. She could have chose her sister, her long time best friends or her father figure... But she chose him, which tells us a lot about her feelings. If you had the opportunity to spend your last hours with someone, who would you choose ? Spuffy is all about those symbolisms and details, which are telling on the bottom line.
I think the last scene in the Hellmouth was beautiful. Her declaration comes to the worst moment possible, but it was her last chance to say it (and I think she fully realized how much he meant to her the moment she was about to loose him), even if she possibly wasn't ready to say it out loud. During the last seasons, Buffy questionned a lot herself and her capacity to feel love, while, like the First Slayer said, her love is "brighter than the fire" (heh !
😛 ). I think she was scared, she's been hurt a lot by the past and the more time passes, the more 'I love you' is not something she says easily. But here, it only came to confirm what we saw during all the season. Buffy is a person who expresses a lot her feelings through her actions and ways of caring for people.
[Side note : I also liked a lot that Buffy's last words on the show were "
I love you... Spike". Beautiful homage.]
And, personally, I know it's not a popular opinion, but I sometimes tend to think that Spike believed her, but wanted to make her leave. Spike told her several times to go, to leave the Hellmouth, but Buffy didn't want to. There is an interesting bit in the shooting script, which finally wasn't in the episode, but which corroborates this interpretation ; just after saying "No, you don't", Spike was supposed to say this :
SPIKE
No you don't. But thanks for saying it.
A big quake rocks them. Spike pushes her away.
SPIKE (cont'd)
It's your world up there. Now GO!
I don't know if we really can consider this as canon, but it's a part of my personal canon. To me, he simply wanted to offer to her the life she wanted. He wanted her to live (and to leave), be sure she was safe. It would also fit with Joss commentary, "
What I basically told [Sarah and James] was: "Play the romance. Be proud of him. Love him when you say you love him. Love her when you say she doesn't love you."
But what confirms the most that he possibly believed her (still in my interpretation), is his way of reacting when he comes back in
Angel. He told Angel that he had "
no idea of what they [him and Buffy] had". Which was an instantaneous reaction to what happened in the Hellmouth (for him, it probably last only few seconds between
Chosen and his return in AtS). But time and being around Angel during all season 5 made him more insecure and fearful.
And even if he didn't believed her, it doesn't remove the fact that... he's not her. He can't speak truth for her. And when it comes to Buffy and her feelings, he's the most insecure guy ever. He's not the person which has the most clear vision on the situation, since he's a part of it.
Sorry for the rant, I hope I wasn't too much out of topic
😱
