Wesley In Sunnydale

[white avenger]

Why would the Watchers' Council assign Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, who is quite obviously inexperienced, if not straight out of the Watchers' Academy, to Sunnydale to be Faith's watcher? I got the impression that the Watchers was a large organization, with personnel assigned to duties in England and throughout the world, which would mean that there are innumerable others with both more experience and seniority to Wes, and handling the Slayer is obviously one of, if not the, most important jobs within the entire organization.

I realize that Giles is there available to help and advise him, but there would have been a definite chance that Faith might be needed elsewhere at any moment. Shouldn't someone more experienced have been chosen to be Faith;s Watcher? Looking back on Season 3 now, it seems to me that a more mature Watcher, who Faith would have been more likely to respect, if not like, would have been better able to have handled the problems that developed and maybe even have kept Faith from teaming with Wilks and his plot to take over the world.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I have often wondered about this, myself... You would think the Watchers' Council would know how dangerous Sunnydale is, with the Hellmouth and everything, and assign a Watcher with more experience, or at least someone who isn't quite such a scaredy cat.

I'm glad we got Wesley, though... He ended up being my absolute favorite character on "Angel".

 

[YummySushiPJs]

^I wonder if he was just assigned or if the post was up for application. If so, then it's possible he just slipped through, as sometimes in all walks of life, people who are wrong for a job manage to get it anyway.

Another possibility is that he annoyed everybody and they sent him to Sunnydale in the hope that he would be killed! 😛

I agree with HisMrs, I loved Wesley. He is one of the reasons I will eventually get round to watching Angel (god knows it won't be for Angel or Cordelia!)

 

[VisionGirl]

I think it's a plot hole. But technically he comes as a replacement for Giles who is Buffy's watcher. Did Giles ever actually take on the role of Faith's Watcher? Was the Council aware that Faith was in Sunnydale before Travers came there in Helpless? (I can't recall) I mean, Gwendolyn Post was a ruse, she didn't come on the Council's authority. So, Wesley comes to take the place as Watcher for Faith & Buffy. Obviously they must have had some kind of faith that he could handle Buffy. But I wonder about Faith. I wonder if their plan for her all along was to capture her. Maybe none of the Watchers could handle a rogue Slayer and they knew that.

 

[KellGreen]

I always assumed they didn't take too kindly to Buffy's way of doing things, and even less to Faith's, and would rather have a new, more easily controlled slayer called. So, they just sent out who they thought would be unable to keep them alive.

 

[Robb Stark]

Plain and simple, it comes right down to the fact that the Watcher's Council is stunningly incompetent.

I mean, if going with Wesley as Faith's new Watcher was bad (and it was bad. You'd think that they would have some sort of emotional and psychological profile on whoever the Slayer is), it's amazing that they didn't have some sort of contingency or back-up plan for what to do if a Slayer rebelled against them. I mean, Buffy effectively fires them after "Helpless" in S3 and they were just totally flummoxed. They had no idea what to do at all and made zero effort to help her and repair things when she and Giles did call on them.

Then there's the larger tactical problem of sending one girl, alone, into never-ending life and death situations to fight the forces of evil. I mean, there's evidence, over literally thousands of years, that if a Slayer lives for more than a year or two it's a shock. You'd think, just from a strategic perspective, they'd try to improve on that.

So them deploying Wesley to Sunnydale shouldn't come as a great shock, useless as he was. Maybe they saw how capable he would eventually become later on Angel? I doubt that though. Even their vaunted "special ops" unit which they sent to kill Faith (twice) and Angel was useless.

 

[white avenger]

Plain and simple, it comes right down to the fact that the Watcher's Council is stunningly incompetent.

I mean, if going with Wesley as Faith's new Watcher was bad (and it was bad. You'd think that they would have some sort of emotional and psychological profile on whoever the Slayer is), it's amazing that they didn't have some sort of contingency or back-up plan for what to do if a Slayer rebelled against them. I mean, Buffy effectively fires them after "Helpless" in S3 and they were just totally flummoxed. They had no idea what to do at all and made zero effort to help her and repair things when she and Giles did call on them.

Then there's the larger tactical problem of sending one girl, alone, into never-ending life and death situations to fight the forces of evil. I mean, there's evidence, over literally thousands of years, that if a Slayer lives for more than a year or two it's a shock. You'd think, just from a strategic perspective, they'd try to improve on that.

So them deploying Wesley to Sunnydale shouldn't come as a great shock, useless as he was. Maybe they saw how capable he would eventually become later on Angel? I doubt that though. Even their vaunted "special ops" unit which they sent to kill Faith (twice) and Angel was useless.

The Council knew almost as soon as Faith came to Sunnydale that she was there, or, at least, they knew by the time that the final credits were playing in "Faith, Hope, and Trick." Giles was assigned to handle both girls until a replacement for Faith's dead Watcher could be found.

As for any sort of psychological profile on Buffy, if you recall, her being called was pretty much a surprise to everyone. They only managed to get Merrick there at the last minute, so, in one sense, Buffy was actually more of a rogue Slayer than Faith ever was. At least, Faith apparently had an active Watcher for awhile before she was Called, so she was better prepared for what was happening that Buffy was

Also, remember, the Slayers were seen by the Council as an expendable resource. If one dies, so what? They've got a brand new one waiting to take her place, and, apparently, it's almost always some girl who has been tracked down and trained years prior to being Called.

Wesley MIGHT have been sent to Sunnydale, as opposed to a more experienced agent, because his father used his influence to get the job, in the hopes that a job with such responsibility would both make a man out of him and gain him some recognition within the Council's political structure.

 

[Aimee]

Wesley may have been appointed Watcher because his father was a high ranking member of the Watchers Council, also he was a good student so he must have at least looked good on paper...

 

[FaithsFollower]

It's possible that he wanted to come, to prove that he was an able Watcher [which he completely sucked at]. It's possible that he thought he could handle it, and so he possibly begged the Council to let him go.

At least, that's what I think. 🙂

 

[The Thirst Evil]

I think Aimee is right about Wesley looking good on paper having come from that particular family, and having gone to the watcher's academy. But Wesley himself said that he'd only faced a handful of vampires in his life (under controlled circumstances) so it's possible the council had no idea how Wesley would handle being part of the fight, because up until that point he'd kind of just been watching from a distance.

 

[RipperGilesFan]

I always had the feeling the council send Wesley in there solely to be their eyes and ears.

In their eyes Buffy was (I suspect) difficult/ out of control, and already suspected she would never accept another watcher, while Giles was getting out of control by choosing his slayer over them(council tradition) in the end.

Giles said he wasn't going anywhere when Travers told him he was fired, and Travers said he didn't expect him to do so which he probably reported back to the council.

So, be sending Wesley there they knew they had a loyal servant who would report to them what the duo in Sunnydale was up to, which he proved with the Faith fiasco, while at the same time they knew the slayer still had an experienced watcher at hand.

I guess i always considered Wesley the Council's 'spy', until he, too broke with them 😀

 

[tkts]

Maybe none of them especially wanted to give up their comfortable lives in England and ship off to southern California, and Wesley either was young enough not to care or drew the short straw. Sort of like giving the new guy in the office all the jobs nobody else wants.

 

[white avenger]

Something else that would have to be considered is that the Council actually WANTED Wesley to fail, and in doing so, lose his Slayer. Buffy, as has been mentioned, wasn't taking orders from them anymore, and neither, fo that matter, was Faith. To have someone totally mismanage the goings on around the hellmouth, resulting in the death of one or both Slayers, wouldn't have really bothered the Watchers' Council very much. They basically saw the Slayers as disposable resources anyhow, and whoever was then Called would probably be more manageable than either of their current two girls.

Also, it must be remembered that replacing Giles with a rookie, fresh out of the Academy, would be a total insult.

 

[ashleigh]

I get the impression that a lot of the watchers had no more experience than Wesley anyway. Since there was only ever one slayer at a time, it can be assumed that not many watchers actually had their own slayer to mentor, and spent most of their time on 'retreats'. Certainly the members of the council that we see in S5 seem like they have more academic learning than 'field time'.

I also get the impression that the watchers council didn't really give a damn. They just enjoyed having power and money. 😛

 

[white avenger]

I get the impression that a lot of the watchers had no more experience than Wesley anyway. Since there was only ever one slayer at a time, it can be assumed that not many watchers actually had their own slayer to mentor, and spent most of their time on 'retreats'. Certainly the members of the council that we see in S5 seem like they have more academic learning than 'field time'.

I also get the impression that the watchers council didn't really give a damn. They just enjoyed having power and money. 😛

Granted, there was only one Slayer at a time, but over the 7 years of the series we saw that there wre quite a few known Potentials who were to some degree in the care of and being trained by a Watcher (the fact that Buffy never had a Watcher prior to being Called was explained as an oversight on Merrick's, or more likely the Council's, part). That being the case, there should have been someone more qualified to take over the job in Sunnydale, especially considering the fact that there were, for what almost certainly was the first time in Watchers' history, not one, but TWO active Slayers there to supervise and train.

 

[itssmiletime]

"I have seen two vampires in my life"

My theory about Wesley is that the writers wanted to prove that the Watchers Council was out of date and their methods had no relevance, as they lack in experience. The council might have chosen for him is for one of these two reasons, as part of my theory

1) They wanted someone to be the opposite Giles. Perhaps someone more younger, stern and unfamiliar with Sunnydale completely. I can recall it implied that Wesley got great marks (feel free to correct me on this) so perhaps this

2) No one wanted to be Buffy's watcher. She is a defiant young woman who patrols with friends, had a sexual relationship with a vampire. Three things you can imagine a watcher looking down on her.

anyway, just my thoughts. I personally love Wesley, both in his brief appearance in Buffy and as a main character in Angel.

 

[BuffyElevated]

"I have seen two vampires in my life"

My theory about Wesley is that the writers wanted to prove that the Watchers Council was out of date and their methods had no relevance, as they lack in experience. The council might have chosen for him is for one of these two reasons, as part of my theory

1) They wanted someone to be the opposite Giles. Perhaps someone more younger, stern and unfamiliar with Sunnydale completely. I can recall it implied that Wesley got great marks (feel free to correct me on this) so perhaps this

2) No one wanted to be Buffy's watcher. She is a defiant young woman who patrols with friends, had a sexual relationship with a vampire. Three things you can imagine a watcher looking down on her.

anyway, just my thoughts. I personally love Wesley, both in his brief appearance in Buffy and as a main character in Angel.

You raise some good points, especially about no one wanting to be Buffy's Watcher. She was well-known for her attitude and defiance, and I think the other Watchers were intimidated by her.
I also agree with loving Wes on both shows. ♥

 

[Bly]

Maybe the Council just wanted to spy on Buffy, for testing wheter she was in control or not (but this includes also Faith). Wesley could fit perfectly in this plan: you can't really be suspicious of him, because of his total inexperience, which you can take advantage of, switching to the manipulating thing.

 

[Lyri]

Wesley MIGHT have been sent to Sunnydale, as opposed to a more experienced agent, because his father used his influence to get the job, in the hopes that a job with such responsibility would both make a man out of him and gain him some recognition within the Council's political structure.

This was always my theory. His father seemed to be quite high up in the Council, so it would make sense that he was able to pull some strings and get his son to the top of the list of candidates.

Wesley's father didn't really have much affection for his son - in fact, it seems likely that he abused Wesley for most of his life, if not physically, then certainly emotionally. It could be that he just wanted rid of him. If he considered Wesley an embarrassment, then he would probably do whatever he possibly could to ship him off someplace he wouldn't have to be reminded of him every hour of the day.

And then, of course, he was actually sending Wesley to the Hellmouth, so maybe he was hoping that he'd be so incompetent that Wesley would get himself killed before his first month was out.

Granted, there was only one Slayer at a time, but over the 7 years of the series we saw that there wre quite a few known Potentials who were to some degree in the care of and being trained by a Watcher (the fact that Buffy never had a Watcher prior to being Called was explained as an oversight on Merrick's, or more likely the Council's, part). That being the case, there should have been someone more qualified to take over the job in Sunnydale, especially considering the fact that there were, for what almost certainly was the first time in Watchers' history, not one, but TWO active Slayers there to supervise and train.

And maybe, because of all those other girls who were in training, all the decent Watchers were already busy. We know from Kendra and Kennedy that girls are often given to their Watchers when they're young children - Kendra was so young she doesn't remember her parents, and Kennedy was at least with her Watcher from she was eight.

Maybe Wesley was the best they had left - or at least, the best that they could spare.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

*shrus*

Maybe they were low on Watchers at the time?