Joss's work, at its best, is strong thematically. But in terms of crafting a story arc for an entire season or a universe that has coherent rules -- not so much.
I really liked the S1-S2-S3-S5 themes. (I ignore S4 because it's a mess)
First it's about Buffy understanding and accepting her calling and the mortality implied in that calling. Just when she does that -- WHAM -- she has to sacrifice the thing she loves most in the world in S2 (I tend to think of S2 being more about what Buffy has to be willing to sacrifice than about the inappropriate choice angle). I think S3 is best understood by treating Faith as a metaphor more than a person (because I totally agree about the rather unpleasant aspect of privilege that defines how Buffy is treated vs. how Faith is treated). Faith is about Buffy dealing with her own inner bad girl who is unleashed as a result of what Buffy suffered in S2. Skipping over S4, we come to S5 where Buffy has to again sacrifice the thing she loves best but where she manages to come up with a different, more acceptable answer (sacrifice herself).
How I wish it had all ended there. I too can see the temptation of the girl power message but the execution was just so terribly poor and basically overwhelmed by bad storylines and horrible characterization choices.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-12-03 11:21 pm (UTC)I really liked the S1-S2-S3-S5 themes. (I ignore S4 because it's a mess)
First it's about Buffy understanding and accepting her calling and the mortality implied in that calling. Just when she does that -- WHAM -- she has to sacrifice the thing she loves most in the world in S2 (I tend to think of S2 being more about what Buffy has to be willing to sacrifice than about the inappropriate choice angle). I think S3 is best understood by treating Faith as a metaphor more than a person (because I totally agree about the rather unpleasant aspect of privilege that defines how Buffy is treated vs. how Faith is treated). Faith is about Buffy dealing with her own inner bad girl who is unleashed as a result of what Buffy suffered in S2. Skipping over S4, we come to S5 where Buffy has to again sacrifice the thing she loves best but where she manages to come up with a different, more acceptable answer (sacrifice herself).
How I wish it had all ended there. I too can see the temptation of the girl power message but the execution was just so terribly poor and basically overwhelmed by bad storylines and horrible characterization choices.