I think one of the strongest underlying currents of S5 was always the inner struggle- the struggle to try to balance parts of your personality and emotions.
I'd say that's definitely true. Which is, I guess, why Wes's downfall drove me so crazy... it's like they were saying love destroyed this man. I kept wondering if Wes's reaction would have been the same if he'd never hooked up with Fred, or if the implication was that it was that he'd had her and then lost her that drove him crazy. That felt... a little too close to saying "love kills" for my taste, not that I wasn't already getting that image from BtVS.
I never saw Spike as having to try to work on that balance- he'd already given up on Buffy, and was just there to fight the good fight. Sure, he wants the shanshu, and maybe, given more time with the series, that desire for the shanshu may have undone him, just as his love for Buffy nearly destroyed him on Buffy.
Well... it kind did destroy him, didn't it? It's actually a stronger parallel to the Wes plot than I realized - I always saw Spike as somewhat giving up on Buffy in "Chosen," walking into the Hellmouth expecting to die, just as Wes expected to die in "Not Fade Away," no matter what he says to Illyria. But it's true that once Spike comes back, he starts getting his equilibrium back, and in that light, I think it's significant that he's shown staying away from Buffy. It plays that he's just afraid to go back to her, that he's not really certain whether or not she loves him... but there's also an element of suggestion that going back to her would mean losing that balance again, losing himself again. What those women'll do to ya, huh?
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Date: 2004-09-22 04:21 pm (UTC)I'd say that's definitely true. Which is, I guess, why Wes's downfall drove me so crazy... it's like they were saying love destroyed this man. I kept wondering if Wes's reaction would have been the same if he'd never hooked up with Fred, or if the implication was that it was that he'd had her and then lost her that drove him crazy. That felt... a little too close to saying "love kills" for my taste, not that I wasn't already getting that image from BtVS.
I never saw Spike as having to try to work on that balance- he'd already given up on Buffy, and was just there to fight the good fight. Sure, he wants the shanshu, and maybe, given more time with the series, that desire for the shanshu may have undone him, just as his love for Buffy nearly destroyed him on Buffy.
Well... it kind did destroy him, didn't it? It's actually a stronger parallel to the Wes plot than I realized - I always saw Spike as somewhat giving up on Buffy in "Chosen," walking into the Hellmouth expecting to die, just as Wes expected to die in "Not Fade Away," no matter what he says to Illyria. But it's true that once Spike comes back, he starts getting his equilibrium back, and in that light, I think it's significant that he's shown staying away from Buffy. It plays that he's just afraid to go back to her, that he's not really certain whether or not she loves him... but there's also an element of suggestion that going back to her would mean losing that balance again, losing himself again. What those women'll do to ya, huh?