Thoughts on Kennedy

Kennedy was probably the Riley of Willow's relationships (or Parker). She was not a well written character and the actress certainly did not help. As far as her being "too soon" for Willow, almost nobody takes more than a few months to move on in this show. On a positive note I dislike her less than Andrew.
 
SES SA said:
Kennedy was probably the Riley of Willow's relationships (or Parker). She was not a well written character and the actress certainly did not help. As far as her being "too soon" for Willow, almost nobody takes more than a few months to move on in this show. On a positive note I dislike her less than Andrew.
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don't get me started on Riley lol he was hot tho 😉
 
I don't get how so many people view Kennedy as this girl that was just using Willow when the comics have proven that she was completely dedicated to Willow and the slayer cause. Yes, she disagreed with Buffy, and Faith, at times. But at the end of the day, she was one of, if not their most trusted fighter. And that was with or without Willow, as shown in the comics.
 
Mrs Gordo
Mrs Gordo
I think the comics do help Kennedy out alot.
Blaze said:
I don't get how so many people view Kennedy as this girl that was just using Willow when the comics have proven that she was completely dedicated to Willow and the slayer cause. Yes, she disagreed with Buffy, and Faith, at times. But at the end of the day, she was one of, if not their most trusted fighter. And that was with or without Willow, as shown in the comics.
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The comics are only "canon" so long as Joss doesn't get another Buffy tv series otherwise he has said that he would ignore them. Personally, since I haven't read the comics, I don't consider them canon and given what some people have said about them around here, it seems like some of the storylines are diabolical. Therefore it is probably better to consider them a different beast from the tv series.

Back on topic, I'd hardly call Keenedy the "most trusted fighter" or "dedicated" to the slayer cause, especially considering the fact that she skived off going to the desert with the other potentials then when she was put in charge of a training session, she bullied and publically humiliated Chloe to the point that it helped contribute to Chloe's suicide. That's one less fighter on Buffy's team yet nobody calls Kennedy out on it and Kennedy herself doesn't even acknowledge how wrong her actions were.

All Kennedy was interested in was power. She thought she was the best of the potentials and was entitled to a higher position within the group. She didn't like that Buffy was treating her the same as the other potentials, She aggressively pursues Willow until Willow gives in then treats Willow horribly by shouting at her every time Willow disagrees or looks like she's about to. She initiates the mutiny against Buffy and admits to Faith that she thought she would get a bigger say with Faith in charge.

Having Killow be a power play on Kennedy's part makes more sense than trying to portray it as this wholesome relationship that Willow needed to move on from Tara's death.
 
Like the comics or not, at the moment they are considered cannon and should not be ignored for the sake of an argument. I made a fair argument based on what happens in the comics which supports what I've seen on the show. However, this whole power dynamic between Willow and Kennedy was disproven in the comics. Just one more reason that explains why I have the opinion that I have.
 
Blaze said:
Like the comics or not, at the moment they are considered cannon and should not be ignored for the sake of an argument.
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But should they be considered canon? After all this isn't the television show (which in itself had its own continuity issues such as whether Sunnydale had its own docks or was completely land locked). The comics are a different medium, one that isn't as easily accessible and also has to be paid for by the "viewer" in order to gain access to the story within. Consequently, not all Buffy fans have read the comics but have seen the tv show. Therefore should the comics be considered within the same continuity as the tv show when ,for all accounts and purposes , they're not only a different thing but Joss himself has also said he would disregard them if he ever got a chance to continue Buffy?
 
I don’t think her character was important to the show. Even Giles got frustrated with her and she was so annoying.
 
Show not shower
SES SA said:
Kennedy was probably the Riley of Willow's relationships (or Parker). She was not a well written character and the actress certainly did not help. As far as her being "too soon" for Willow, almost nobody takes more than a few months to move on in this show. On a positive note I dislike her less than Andrew.
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I liked Andrew. I found him funny
 
The thing where I start with Kennedy is that Willow staying single for season 7 was never going to happen. Joss has stated that he didn't want to leave Willow "stuck in typical gay celibacy on TV". I was around and watching TV at that time and that's a sadly accurate assessment of TV back then. I have a grudging respect for Joss for choosing to piss of the fans rather than perpetuate a damaging trope.

Unpopular opinion time: I think if avoiding typical TV gay celibacy was of primary importance, Joss should have kept Tara alive, dumped the Dark Willow storyline, and stopped Willow and Tara's relationship arc at Normal Again. Something else would happen in the S6 finale, and then s7 would be either Willow slowly rebuilding trust with Tara, or both of them moving on to relationships with other people.

That said, given the parameters that Joss imposed (Tara is dead, Willow cannot remain single), Kennedy makes a lot of sense to me.

Nobody sensitive and empathetic (like Willow's previous love interests) would pursue Willow in S7. And Willow wasn't going to chase after someone else. So it would have to be someone who was a bit dumb and full of herself, someone who was used to aggressively pursuing whatever she wanted. And I appreciate that they made that a consistent trait about her, rather than just having her be aggressive in her romantic pursuits, but laid-back about everything else.

I have a soft spot for Kennedy because she cared for and stuck by Willow, even though most sane people would run screaming from "the cute girl I kissed turned into a homicidal man" in The Killer in Me or the whole life-force sucking thing in Get It Done. I don't see the relationship as endgame for either one of them, because they have very little (aside from evil-fighting) in common, and because most people don't make lifetime commitments to the people they dated in their late teens and early twenties. I don't need an on-screen breakup to confirm it's a rebound relationship. It just feels that way to me. As a rebound relationship, I think it's fine. Not my OTP for either woman, but not my No!TP either.
 
I honestly liked Kennedy. She will never be my favorite character, but I never actively disliked her. A lot of it has to do with how Iyari played her, because even underneath her bossiness or pushiness, there was always so much vulnerability shining through. I didn't think she was a great fit for Willow though and I thought it was bit too early to introduce a new love interest, but it was the final season and I get the idea of people moving on with their lives after the death of a loved one.

I do also think, Kennedy might also have gotten more popular over time, if they had had more time to actually develop her character, but to introduce a new character replacing a former beloved character and make her popular and likeable in only ten episodes is already a lost cause.

punchkicker15 said:
Unpopular opinion time: I think if avoiding typical TV gay celibacy was of primary importance, Joss should have kept Tara alive, dumped the Dark Willow storyline, and stopped Willow and Tara's relationship arc at Normal Again. Something else would happen in the S6 finale, and then s7 would be either Willow slowly rebuilding trust with Tara, or both of them moving on to relationships with other people.
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I think they could have even done the Dark Willow storyline with Tara being alive. Willow was getting arrogant and reckless, as seen in her argument with Giles, she was losing control of her use of magic. They could have gone for a storyline where Willow loses control and the First Evil takes advantage of that and switches off her humanity in a way, with Tara then being the one who brings her back. It would have actually made it easier for them to bring back Willow as a series regular in season seven.

I was never a big fan of the way they handled Willow's transformation into Dark Willow as it always seemed more plot-driven than anything else. While they certainly did plant the seeds throughout the season, I just never felt like it happened organically.
 
punchkicker15 said:
The thing where I start with Kennedy is that Willow staying single for season 7 was never going to happen. Joss has stated that he didn't want to leave Willow "stuck in typical gay celibacy on TV". I was around and watching TV at that time and that's a sadly accurate assessment of TV back then. I have a grudging respect for Joss for choosing to piss of the fans rather than perpetuate a damaging trope.
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'Course he was willing to piss on his LGBT fans with the "kill your gays" trope, many who felt betrayed by this (and changing magic that once represented the love and intimacy of Willow and Tara into an addictive drug instead also didn't sit well with many, since it seemed to be making negative commentary about lesbian love). Even if it was originally meant for Oz to die, it's still a trope that is more damaging than gays can be celibate at times. At least to me (and I know I'm not alone), it seems Tara was thrown away for the convenience of a full on Dark Willow as it's cool and dramatic rather than to prove their love was real. Perhaps it's because it focused more on her addiction rather than her grief, with the death of Tara more of the trigger than the cause. (The grief was there, but it was her addiction driving her and dictating her actions. Even the grief at the end was more for the pain of the world.)

At least when some use the "kill your gays" trope do so to show that their love is real (because of how traumatizing it is) which is to contradict those who believe gay love isn't actually love, just some weird fetish or lust incapable of deeper sentiment. One doesn't show that by moving on quickly (with one token episode for Tillow before giving way to Killow), and Willow seemed to be struggling with addiction and having killed people more than losing Tara. The "gays are celibate" becomes more problematic if they don't have a reason to be celibate for a time as Wilow did in season 7 (though all things considered, that's so low on my complaints of the season that it barely registers).

Really, I think Joss decides to do something because it seems cool to him, will come up with (or have others come up with) any nonsense to make that scene or occurrence happen, and then invents a high minded reason to explain why he did it as it sounds better that way.
 
I always thought the great thing about Tara although a witch she was normal , she cared about people had a lovely Character , they cared nothing about this , kill the nice gay person to fuel what I think was a very poor ending to a horrid season , we see a horrid side of Willow ,no mourning , straight into the vengeance mode ...just walking away from Tara body , Willow gets all her magic but fails to go after the trio , Warren go's to a bar , go's to Rack , makes a robot of himself ? , gets it on a bus ? It had to be days as Spike got to Africa in the same time and he cant walk in daylight is that not the slowest ride to hospital in a Ambulance
We see Willow save Buffy whether the heart monitor conks out because of Willow like a lot of the equipment or Buffy dies it does not matter she is dead anyway the Doctors have no idea operating on Buffy with her clothes on !?
We never see Willow mourning for Tara , just trying to control her Magic
So Willow has nobody I know we will pries this horrible Character on her
I generally think the acting of the potentials was very poor , Spike sounds nothing like any British accent I have heard but the one playing the British potential..... unbelievable , non of the potentials apart from Kennedy had any real background and just like S6 she had to be a bitch just to add to Buffy problems ,
Kennedy was brave ,took control , thought she new when she did not , she gives no Impression that she is gay as people has already pointed out that she is arrogant , very much like Faith was when she arrived very not gay! she probably the only potential hired that could act a little so they shoe horned her into Willows lover , totally out of Character which makes her even worse
As I have said before its almost that nobody had not watched the first five seasons when they wrote S6 and 7
Would S1 Whedon have employed the person who played Kennedy for that role I guess probably not....
 
I don't think I have very much a problem with Kennedy when she start coming to Willow, I love Tillow but I'm indifferent about Killow plus if Willow can be happy after Tara's death so be it. This is mostly near the end of season 7 that I started to hate Kennedy, the moments I think about is Empty Places or Touched when in Buffy 's house she likely wants to be the chief and the look on her face when Faith tells her to shut up (Great moment), yeah Kennedy you are just a potential, you are new to the scoobies so back off.
 
I wished they did not kill off Tara in the first place. She was a very interesting character and after she left the series -- she has become so forgotten with the group. She moved back to Alabama, and she really is not accepted in the reunions. Even that person that had taken over as Willow's sex life -- Kennedy -- has become forgotten as well. Even with all the reunions, nobody talks about Willow was a lesbian. Even that show had three lesbian characters, the series has not embraced the LGBT community. Tara and Kennedy, have become the outcast of the community.
 
Kennedy isn't a bad character. My only issue with her is how she was used as Willow's love interest after Tara. Why couldn't they just been friends and nothing more? Maybe Kennedy tries to make a move on Willow. But Willow turns her down due to her loss and Kennedy respects that, maintaining their friendship.
 
Wesley Junior said:
Kennedy isn't a bad character. My only issue with her is how she was used as Willow's love interest after Tara. Why couldn't they just been friends and nothing more? Maybe Kennedy tries to make a move on Willow. But Willow turns her down due to her loss and Kennedy respects that, maintaining their friendship.
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I wished they did not kill off Tara. Still, with Willow having a new love interest other than being Tara made her final recovery from the lose of Tara.
 
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