WATCH ALONG: Buffy S6 E6
Added 2025-08-06 20:06:21 +0000 UTC
Comments
Overall a good episode, but with a couple of issues that bug me. First, the scope of Tara's issue with Willow's use of magic. There's a definite issue with lack of ethics in the way Willow uses magic, but Tara's (and Giles') indiscriminate disapproval of her use of magic undermines the problem. I actually hate that Tara gets upset with Willow for using magic to create the decorations. It's not like she had to sacrifice a virgin to do it. Although on the other hand if she had, then at least Dawn wouldn't have been able to run around with Janice... The point though is, that should have been a non issue. It was a harmless use of magic, who gives a fuck? It's when Willow wants to zap people at the Bronze to another dimension without their knowledge or consent or when she actually mindwipes Tara that her use of magic crosses an ethical line. In both cases she's taking for granted that performing the spells violates the affected people's autonomy or consent. Willow also fails to consider that something might go wrong or have unintended circumstances - which has happened with some of her past spells, but Willow's ego can't comprehend this as a possibility, which has been a character flaw from very early on. For her it's not a question of fallibility, but rather if something were to go wrong, it's a matter of correcting some logistical error; and once she's done that, nothing wrong will ever happen again the next time. One good example of this is when Dawn wanted to bring Joyce back. Willow did not think about it from an ethical perspective, but pure analytical. She says things probably went wrong when others attempted it, which is her assessment of whether or not something is worth doing. If she doesn't think it can be done successfully, she won't attempt it, as the case was in season 5. But by season 6 she had become confident enough to try it with Buffy, no matter the cost. All of which is to say, if Giles and Tara can't make the distinction between the reckless and harmless uses of magic, how is Willow supposed to know the difference? My other issue with the episode is Giles' unwilling to stop Buffy at the end and tell her that she has to be the one to deal with Dawn. Just last season in "Tough Love," Buffy tries pawning off the hard discussions with Dawn on Giles and in that episode he actually put his foot down and told her in no uncertain terms that Buffy had to be the authority figure with Dawn. There's no reason for him to struggle so much setting those boundaries now.
Stargazer1682
2025-08-10 17:00:29 +0000 UTCJust realized, Ashleign posted her first reaction to Buffy exactly 1 year ago today. Happy anniversary, everybody! lol.
Justin Falcon
2025-08-07 01:44:23 +0000 UTC
