What if Oz never left?

Primal Slayer

Primal Slayer

Did I Fall Asleep?
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Going along with the many what-ifs we ask around here, here is one that would have changed things a lot due to one charecter staying.

Seth Green was originally suppose to stay on Buffy through his entire contract but wanted and Joss let him go. Thus creating a storyline change (what it sounds like) for Willow and giving Tara more screen time to make a relationship with Willow.

Here is what Joss says about Seth Green leaving (taken from Bite Me the unofficaly guide to BTVS)

Not only did Joss fel it was time to take Willows charecter in a new direction, but Seth Green had announced he was leaving, putting Joss in an awkward position. "I was like, "doesnt he have a contract!"" Joss remembers. "But he left, and we sort of screambled to fix that. And when he said, "I'll do a couple more episodes," and we said he should come back at the end of the year and we can do a thing, and he's like, "Actually, I just wanna come back for one, I dont wanna do more than that". So I said, "Okay, so that one's gonna be abouw how Willow Loves Tara and not YOU! I reliazed I only had him for the one, so I had to resolve that plot. And I was pissed. But he showed up for his spot in the dream episode, Restless, which was nice. You know the thing is, If Seth had wanted to do the show we'd have used him. He's a wonderful actor and a fascinating charecter. But he bailed on our asses, he really did, and we had to scramble. And out of the heavens came Amber Benson."
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So what if Seth Green decieded to stay on the show and not leave? Joss said that he would have kept him on the show. And it seems as if Willow and Oz would have stayed together for the duration of S4 thus making Willow and Taras relationship go on the back burner.
 
this is an intressting point!

i do think had oz stayed then him and willow would have stayed together for possibley the remainder of s4,how ever i do think willow would have turned gay sooner or later so i think s4 would have ended in such away that willow started to realise her gayness and oz would have left that way.to be honest i think either way poor old oz would have lost his gal to tara.it would just have been later rather than sooner lol.it's a shame i always liked oz he was cool calm and collected but had he and willow stayed together til the end it would have been intressting to see how the rest of the show would have been

***storylines ....... evolving...... in my mind.......***
 
I like Oz's character but I like Tara even more. So I'm glad he left. It would have been interesting to see the love triangle that could have developed but what we got is fine.
 
Washburne
Washburne
Sums up my feelings pretty good. So now I don´t need to post. :)
If Seth Green stayed I think he could have kept Oz and Willow in a relationship and made Xander's character gay. Since he was playing around with that idea. I think it was better that he left but I'm sure I read somewhere that Joss wanted the Oz/Veruca storyline to span most of the season, but because of Seth bailing they did it in one episode instead, I feel that would have made a better exit for him if he had chance to work on that plot line.
 
M
MichelleBFT
just about what I was thinking, re: Xander being gay.
hmmmmm intressting i never heard that before i thought oz and veruca was just a one time thing any way so thats intresting to no thanks.

sad to say i don't think he could have kept them together i do think willow would have realised her gayness and gone or cheated on him with tara which i dont think he could have forgave her for as he already had to fogive her for kissing xander in season 3 twice i think would have been too much for him
 
I also read that the Veruca storyline was gonna go one for a lot longer than just the single ep. It was supposed to be this big thing where Oz's wolf was attacked to Veruca, but the man wanted to stay with Willow. It might have been cool to see him split like that, almost a double persona coming out, driving Oz around the bend or something.

Willow's attraction to Tara might have taken a really big turn, too. If Oz had stayed, and Tara was introduced, I can see Willow struggling with that, and over compensating with Oz, like she and Xander did in S3. Add into that the factor of Veruca, and we could have seen some pretty explosive scenes.
 
I always felt like the whole Veruca thing should have been more on-going. Of course, if Seth Green wanted to leave, there wasn't much they could do.

It's interesting to think about what would happen if Oz had stayed. It's probable that Willow would have ended up leaving him instead of the other way around, once she fell for Tara/realized she was gay. We probably would have had a lot less Tara/Willow though, and as much as I love Oz, I'm glad he left when he did because I love Tara/Willow even more.
 
That quote about having to end Oz's story line suggests that Tara would have been in the picture had Oz stayed or left. Which implies they would have played around more with Willow's struggle of 'gay vs. not gay' and the guilt and whatnot.

You guys have already mentioned the Oz/Veruca story arc would have progressed further and contributed in ways to Willow's straying over to Tara.

Personally, even with a Veruca/Oz story arc, I kind of felt that Oz's character had kind of hit a dead end. I'm sure if he had stayed Joss would have made something great out of it, but his leaving when he did felt RIGHT for what Oz was about. (Which is a credit to the writers and Joss for making something great out a bad situation for them.)

I love Oz and loved Oz/Willow, but I'm kind of glad Seth left the way he did. It made for his character to be a great one, and to leave on that note, without falling into mediocrity and us not loving him as much!
 
MozYa said:
If Seth Green stayed I think he could have kept Oz and Willow in a relationship and made Xander's character gay. Since he was playing around with that idea. I think it was better that he left but I'm sure I read somewhere that Joss wanted the Oz/Veruca storyline to span most of the season, but because of Seth bailing they did it in one episode instead, I feel that would have made a better exit for him if he had chance to work on that plot line.
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I'll have to agree with this one, since I've heard from multiple sources Xander was originally the one to turn gay. However, I think it turned out the best way, because we had Anya and Tara for multiple seasons. And if anything Tara was probably my favorite character in the sixth season (and I STILL hate Joss for killing Tara off in such a teasing way. I saw the opening credits with Amber and I got all excited that she was FINALLY and TRULY back, and then he goes off and shoots her!), and one of the best characters on the show, IMO. Anya was good for comic relief. So, there you have it.
 
Am i the only one who wouldve NOT wantedto see the Oz/Veruca thing continue? Just cuz I hated Veruca (both the character and the actress) and was glad she was out of the picture pretty quick.
 
D
DarkAvenger
[No message]
^ I hated Veruca too. I didn't want the Oz/Veruca thing to be longer because I liked her...I just felt that it was too rushed, being only the one episode.



edit: Heh, I said "Ox/Veruca" at first. :tongue2:
 
i don't know what would have happened if he'd of stayed. probably they'd still be together, i loved oz in his time but he really messed up with veruca, and she was a big b*tchwolf anyway. she purposely tried to lure him away from willow because shes just a <_< messed up wolf.

and why did he leave the show anyway? did he just not want to do anymore or was it another show/movie that he had to do.
 
I think it would have made things interesting but how would Tara fit into this , am glad she was in the show there would be no Tillow 🙁 .
 
i was absolutley gutted when Oz left, but in a way i'm kinda glad that he did as Joss Whedon has stated since that regardless of whther willow was with Tara or with Oz he would have killed her/him off, and when it comes down to tara or oz, oz wins by a country mile for me.
 
Xander would've been gay. That was the original idea in the first place, and would've been a lot better. Lesbians aren't that stigmatised any more (don't take this as me saying that they're not, but it's certainly more acceptable, and seems the backbone of the male heterosexual pornography market), Joss was still making an important point, but it was feeble in comparison to the statement than Xander being openly gay would've been.
 
I would have hated to see the Veruca/Oz relationship continue throughout the entire of season 4, cheating makes me feel so uncomfortable and a long term cheat like that would have ruined Oz's memory even more to me. I'm glad Oz left when he did, even though Joss obviously wasn't! On the other hand, how dodgy of Seth Green to just bail like that! I wonder if he would have been killed off in season 6, whether the story line would have been the same with willows magicks. I wonder how it would have affected Xander being able to forge a long term friendship with another male. I wonder if Oz would have gotten along well with Dawn as well as Tara did. Ooooh it's all so interesting.
 
I just thought the whole "Willow suddenly goes gay" thing was a very cheap ratings ploy so typical for TV, esp. during sweeps week. And is there any info on WHY Seth had to leave??? It surely wasn't Robot Chicken! Some actors just can't take the day-to-day grind of TV shoots and yearn for the relatively leisurely pace of movie schedules, IMHO. Maybe that's it.
 
There wouldn't be as much of a character development and exploration for the character Willow if Oz had never left. They would've made a good couple, but I loved seeing how much Willow grew and came out of her shell as the seasons went on.
 
I'm glad Willow was gay in the end [even though Xander gay would be my ultimate dream]. There wouldn't really be room for any female characters like Tara or Anya would there if the three main characters were all driving stick so to speak. As for Oz/Willow - I felt that their relationship had sort of hit a dead end towards the end of Season Three and it felt right at the time for him to leave though I do think they could've got more out of the Veruca thing later on in the season instead of that boring Iniative stuff.
 
Grami said:
I'm glad Willow was gay in the end [even though Xander gay would be my ultimate dream]. There wouldn't really be room for any female characters like Tara or Anya would there if the three main characters were all driving stick so to speak. As for Oz/Willow - I felt that their relationship had sort of hit a dead end towards the end of Season Three and it felt right at the time for him to leave though I do think they could've got more out of the Veruca thing later on in the season instead of that boring Iniative stuff.
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A dead end.. haha sort of like they were in love, happy and content and could have been with each other forever dead end?
 
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