Willow in season 10. Also, Spike and Buffy but mostly Willow.

[EVIL UU]

Let's get this straight - she's *awesome*! Willow had a very nice arc in season 9 - she got her powers back, gave birth (?) to a new seed or something it's not like I understand it ( yeah...is Will a mom now? ) brought back magic to the world, fixed the scythe, saved Dawn and also, she finally got over her issues. No longer afraid of her power, she accepts who she is ( Dark Willow was my repressed side coming out. I'm not repressed anymore - aww yeah! ) Wow. Now, obviously Buffy and the gang, they are her family and she loves them a whole lot. Willow and Buffy make a fantastic duo too, might and magic, slayer and a witch and that's how it's supposed to be, damn it! Tearing shit up, back-to-back with your best friend you love very much. Girl power! BtVS is about women kicking ass so if you want woman-and-her-special-vampire find a different franchise, there's only like nineteen million of them. So yeah, I love it but at the same time I feel like, I don't know, on some level Willow has outgrown this story. She proved that she can work independently and succeed, save the world and that basically, she's willing to die for it. Her love interest is completely disconnected from Buffy's world 'cause...'cause she's a snake. I'm sorry, I can't get over it and...and how does that even work? I understand how a snake can make love to a human but how does a human um...make love to a snake? Any herpetologists here? No, I mean, the snake's pretty OK, sure, a walking, I mean slithering mass of tropes with not much of a personality, kinda hot though if you're into things like that, I guess, I just wish she'd would interact with the scoobies too like Oz and Tara. Think about all the puns! That Will's girlfriend, such a snake in the grass...wait, would that be politically correct? Or a harmful snake stereotype? Anyway, where was I? Right! Kinda grown, independent, capable of heroism, snake lady, unique enemies - well, look at that, Willow's got everything a proper hero needs. Shouldn't she, like, I don't know, get her own comic as well? Her stuff in season 9 already feels like pseudo-series - from BtVS to A&F to Wonderland, it's practically a separate story. I get that Buffy needs Willow - as a friend and as a witch but I'm not sure whether Willow needs Buffy. You know what I mean? Sure, on a personal level, Buffy the friend but as far as the story is concerned? Willow's been fixing Buffy's mess since season two and maybe she's too big to keep on doing that? Too old? Maybe Buffy's too old to not fix her own numerous messes? I don't know, Willow's finally cool again and maybe I need to just get over it and enjoy the ride.

It's not just Willow though. Spike, of all the characters, is like that too. He's grown a lot and for the first time in seasons, he's not obnoxious. I like the guy. Seriously. He's OK and I don't think that he needs Buffy any more. He's a vampire and he's outgrown her. Isn't that against the rules? I think that there's this growing rift between the Wills, Willow and William, and Buffy. They got to progress, grow and deal with their shit while Buffy still seems lost, stuck in her teenager-y ways. Not just Wills - Xander and Dawn have their problems and issues obviously but they're dealing. It's like, everybody's growing up except the protagonist. What will it take for Buffy to grow up? How many more people have to die?

 

[thetopher]

I agree with you in general.
I have to say that there must be a reason there's been so little focus on Willow during S10. This is the birth of 'New Magic' which SHE made possible but so far we've not really gotten any solid Willow character development.
I mean, the Willow stuff we've gotten has been great and she was easily the star of the past issue- and I totally agree that she had the best character arc of S9- but she does seem to be outgrowing Buffy by quite a bit.
I could see Willow getting her own series (I understand that her Mini-series sold way better than Spike's) and developing her 'super-witch' status. She and Faith are about the only characters at the end of S7 that I thought had new, fresh stories to tell and I haven't been shown anything to change that view.
Plus, her relationship with snake-woman needs to be explored (they can keep the...practicalities of their relationship vague for all I care) because snake-demon woman is mysterious and kinda intriguing as love interests go...even if I can't remember her name right now.
But...snake puns! I'm with you there. 🙂

Anyway I agree that Willow will probably need her own series after the end of the season the way that she's been developing- maybe Buffy can get some replacement Scoobies?

I can't see Spike getting his own series...but only because the Spuffy fans would NEVER allow it and currently the writers seem to be focused on pandering to them to a large degree. And it's really hurting his character (and Buffy's by association- see last issue) because he isn't allowed to get clear of the 'Buffy's ex' zone. If he has interesting storeis to tell, and a large-ish fan base then let him go and go tell them already.

But really, imagine if Angel had hung around Buffy for 4 Seasons? Of course his character (and Buffy's) would've suffered as a result because unless they can pull the trigger on the relationship they can't develop it in any meaningful/interesting way.

So yeah, Spike needs his own book if the writers want to take him anywhere interesting/new. He did have his own IDW book. It really sucked but that wasn't the fault of Spike's character- it's just the fact that most of the IDW stuff was terrible. If he could handle his own comic once, he could handle it again- let him move on from Spuffy the way Angel was allowed to develop and grow on his own.

I would probably buy a Willow comic, hell I might even buy a Spike comic just to see if the writers CAN do anything new with him.

 

[EVIL UU]

I could see Willow getting her own series (I understand that her Mini-series sold way better than Spike's) and developing her 'super-witch' status.

I've been thinking about something else. Basically, if the new seed is anything like the previous one it's going to have guardian(s) and Willow already has, how shall I put it, a close relationship with it. Smash the face of everything that tries to mess with the seed, research magic 'n shit in the free time. Seems like an OK job.

But really, imagine if Angel had hung around Buffy for 4 Seasons? Of course his character (and Buffy's) would've suffered as a result because unless they can pull the trigger on the relationship they can't develop it in any meaningful/interesting way.

Well, Xander had hots for Buffy, got over it and we got a pretty beautiful and layered friendship. It's certainly possible with Spike, he just needs to get over Buffy, like you said, get clear of the 'Buffy's ex' zone, and fall in love with another person like Xander did. Yeah, right. You know what, at this point I almost want Buffy and Spike to get together already so their relationship can promptly go down in flames. Then we might get something new. Jesus, previous experiences aside, Buffy is too old to even consider dating a vampire, it's called young adult paranormal romance for a reason. She doesn't fit the age group!