BtVS: The Killer in Me

[mllelaurel]

I've been rewatching Buffy episodes from seasons 3, 6 and 7, in random order. This was today's pick.

Just a few comments.

I'm coming to the conclusion that I really like Willow/Kennedy. They have a fun dynamic that may not be all true love and soulmates, but is still filled with a great deal of caring.

Some claim Willow got over Tara too easily. Um. She killed people, tried to destroy the world, *spent almost a year in mourning* and if that wasn't enough, her guilt at finally kissing Kennedy made her take Warren's shape. If you can think of a worse self-punishment for this kind of situation, I...well, I applaud your efforts while backing away from you slowly.

Yes, I'm aware that the transformation was triggered by Amy's spell, but as Amy herself said, it was Willow's own subconscious that provided the material.

Honestly, I suspect that the fans that take issue at Willow's moving on would take issue no matter how long it's been. They're probably the 'one true love' types. At that, I roll my eyes. Yes, I believe Tara was the person Willow loved the most in her life up to that point. Maybe even her whole life. And yes, I like the Willow/Tara pairing. But if you think people are only capable of loving one person per lifetime, and everyone else is 'intruding', you frankly have more problems than I can fix. It's just not how love or life work.

As for me, I don't think Willow's relationship with Kennedy negates any of the love she's felt for Tara, just like I don't think her relationship with Tara negated her having loved Oz. And so on.

And if you think Kennedy doesn't care about Willow beyond a casual level, or have insight into who she really is? Just watch the end of this episode. Seriously. If you were only casually attracted to someone would you 1) stick around when they suddenly turned into a person of whichever gender you're *not* attracted to; 2) talk them down from the brink when they're pointing a gun at you; or 3) actually take the time to understand what's wrong with them? My bet's 'no'.

In non-ship news, I thought Alyson Hannigan and Adam Busch both did a stellar job of playing each other's characters and various blends of the two. Knowing Willow and Warren respectively, that's impressive!

Lastly, one of the guys doing the episode commentary (David Solomon or Drew Z. Greenberg, I'm not sure which of them was speaking here) said that one of the things he wanted to do in this episode was show that being gay wasn't all about the trauma, rejection and prejudice. It could also be about fun, seduction, and oh yeah, actually *being attracted to the same sex*. I could have *kissed* him when I heard that. Seriously, thank you, David-or-Drew!

Comments

[amet.livejournal.com]

You're seeing things I totally didn't in that ep. It did less for me personally to front the Willow/Kennedy relationship because the bits where Willow and Kennedy were actually interacting seemed so weirdly awkward, especially in that last kiss scene where Willow's flickering between Warren's body and her own... watch the kiss tone way the hell down whenever Ally Hannigan's in frame. The actress playing Kennedy just doesn't seem comfortable with what she's doing to me.

That aside, Kennedy as a character never really goes anywhere. She's Faith Lite, a pushy, militaristic slayer who would be cooler if she wasn't standing next to Eliza Dushku doing it with far more depth, or more importantly, had any kind of storyline in which we learn something about her other than the fact that she's not shy about hitting on chicks she digs. All I can think when I re-watch those eps is, 'Congrats, you're out of the closet. You want a cookie?' You'd think that one of the major characters' new shiny twu wuvs would be a little deeper, and in the end her character pales next to Willow's where Oz and Tara were fleshed out equals in their own rights. In the annals of Willow's relationships, it's the shallowest. And given everything she's had to go through to get to her season seven characterization, that just doesn't make any sense to me.

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

I agree on the awkwardness, but to be fair, relationship beginnings *are* awkward, generally. Awkwardness is their hallmark. And first kisses are very, very rarely the best of the lot. Shiny cause of the newness, but not actually all that good.

You'd think that one of the major characters' new shiny twu wuvs would be a little deeper

That's the thing. I don't think Kennedy *is* Willow's true love in any sense of the word, and I don't think the writers intended her as such either. Considering the (occasionally soap-operatic) intensity of most Buffyverse relationships, I found this refreshing. Not every relationhship needs to be till death do us part, and I think this was a good thing for Willow to learn. She and Kennedy were good for each other and supported each other in times of need, and that's really what they both needed at the time.

As for Kennedy being like Faith, that was more of a problem with the sheer size the cast had grown to. She would have had to be like *someone*, pretty much by default, and frankly, I'd have been more upset if she was anything like Tara, as that would have been cruel to Willow and fans alike.

This is also where I make a disclaimer: I discount pretty much *everyone's* characterization in "Empty Places," and that's where Kennedy's at her most Faith-like.

Going back to the cast size issue, there was only so much time given to Kennedy's development, what with everyone else there and the show ending. If she was given two and a half seasons, like Oz and Tara, we would definitely have seen more. Think about how much we got on *them*, in their first ten episodes or so. (Well... we got Oz's werewolfness, but other than that.)

While I agree that Kennedy's bold 'outness' is not that big a deal in real life, on TV it kind of is. Up till that point, I seem to remember almost every gay TV character (Willow included) having issues with it or being super private. The exceptions being if the whole cast was gay, or somesuch. The lack of taking issue was another thing I found refreshing.