So we arrive at the ugliest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's Dead Things that pretty much encapsulates the sixth season, with a ton of ideas being thrown at us all at once and only some of them sticking. Like so many of these episodes, it's the Spike and Buffy relationship that is most problematic, as well as the most fascinating thing on offer. Here we have confirmation that it's somewhat mutually abusive, with both parties manipulating the other and both being unhappy with the results. It's troubling, and there are several moments here that are plain uncomfortable to watch.The episode opens with Buffy and Spike having their first post-coital conversation, and while they still don't understand what they're doing together, there's a flirtatious banter to their dialogue which showcases the real connection between them. But, being something so new and jarring for Buffy, she quickly becomes distressed by the entire thing. Like every other time they've slept together, she leaves feeling disgusted with herself. Not only because it's Spike, but because it's a whole new sexual wheelhouse that she's never experienced before, far removed from the romantic ideals of sex that she had with Angel and Riley, or even the traditional college 'bad sex' with Parker. Being with Spike is something dirty and irrational, and she can't wrap her head around it.
And that's all good. But where the story begins to unravel is when both Buffy and Spike display behavior which, personally, I find a little gross. The much-maligned 'balcony sex' scene, which Sarah Michelle Gellar herself hated, casts Spike as a huge creep, someone predatory and sinister -- like a molester of sorts -- as he fills Buffy's head with masochistic thoughts and gropes her in public. It feels entirely out-of-character, and I neither like nor particularly believe this latest incarnation of the character.
Similarly contrived is Buffy's end-of-episode smackdown of Spike, where she screams about how soulless and dead he is and pummels him in the face until he's bruised and battered. It's an overly violent and disturbing scene, something that comes off as yet another plot development that feels engineered to create a reaction, rather than something that stays true to the characters we've watched for the last five years.
It's not the only story in Dead Things that feels icky. The Trio's scheme to essentially rape women via a brainwashing device is reprehensibly gross, Warren disturbed and horrifying as he beats his ex-girlfriend to death, and Andrew and Jonathan just as sleazy with their 'little boy' fantasies. Sure, Jonathan appears guilty at the end, but it's a story that pushes him into territory that he just can't come back from. Their story is all about weak-minded boys with no understanding of human emotion and the difference between right and wrong, but throwing it into an already ugly episode felt gratuitous.
One wonderful moment is that final scene, with Buffy falling to pieces in Tara's lap. It's by far the show's greatest ever use of Tara (who is rapidly becoming the one character this season that isn't obnoxious, problematic or invisible), and spoke volumes about Buffy's mindset. Before Tara's revelation, Buffy was using her zombified state as an excuse for engaging in sex with Spike -- "I can do those things because there's something physically and mentally wrong with me". Discovering that there actually isn't anything wrong with her suddenly throws her for a loop, forcing her to face up to her own ill-treatment of Spike, her lack of self-respect when it comes to how Spike treats her, as well as the fact that she's clearly doing things that she thinks are wrong. It's a beautifully acted scene, and probably the highlight of late season six.
Dead Things is ugly and uncomfortable, but it's arguably the first season six episode that can provoke intense discussion on a moral level. It's by no means a total success, with the Katrina cover-up and subsequent guilt trip feeling half-baked with a cop-out ending, but the performances are strong and the imagery ridiculously powerful. This is as dark as it gets, and it's admirable that the show is exploring subject matter like abuse and early-twenties dysfunction at all. Sure, most of it isn't as well-realized as it could have been, but I'd rather have the show experimenting with things like this rather than sitting back and repeating the same stories over and over again. B+
Credits
Guest stars Danny Strong (Jonathan Levinson); Adam Busch (Warren Meers); Tom Lenk (Andrew Wells); Amelinda Embry (Katrina Silber); Amber Benson (Tara Maclay)
Writer Steven S. DeKnight Director James A. Contner
I agree with all that you said here, particularly praising that final scene with Tara. There's always been a strange unspoken connection between them after Joyce's death, but I like that it just sprung up so quickly, sort of echoing Buffy's volatility during the season.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I never got, and I'm pretty sure you mentioned it a few week's ago, was Jonathon's involvement in the Trio. He always expresses guilt, but surely if he felt so strongly he wouldn't be involved in the first place. He certainly seemed to learn his moral lesson in 'Superstar', it just doesn't make much sense.
Oops, bit of a rant. Great review.
Beautifully written review. I totally agree with your final worlds. Buffy deserves heaps of praise for tackling such issues while it could have just as easily gone through the motions (ahem, Charmed). It was brave, debatable, and utterly fascinating! There's a reason why the show is so fondly remembered and I think it's not in spite of seasons such as these, but BECAUSE of them! Yes it's not a cohesive season or my favorite, but it explored areas many shows wouldn't dare to. Eternally impressive!
ReplyDeletePanda Totally in agreement with you about Jonathan. It was something that really bothered me, and his and Andrew's actions here completely colored my judgment of them in future appearances, even when the writers seemed to go out of their way to make them seem adorably nerdy. No, show, they're hideous rapists. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteNadim Yeah, that was probably a not-so-subtle stab at Charmed. Heh. Agreed about the daring feel of season six. It touched areas that are complicated and challenging, and while it didn't all work I really appreciate them even trying.
"And that's all good. But where the story begins to unravel is when both Buffy and Spike display behavior which, personally, I find a little gross. The much-maligned 'balcony sex' scene, which Sarah Michelle Gellar herself hated, casts Spike as a huge creep, someone predatory and sinister -- like a molester of sorts -- as he fills Buffy's head with masochistic thoughts and gropes her in public. It feels entirely out-of-character, and I neither like nor particularly believe this latest incarnation of the character."
ReplyDeleteI actually love that scene because it shows her devolution. She's always been more on the side of high and mighty, yet here she's sliding down a slippery slope of dark seduction, all the while totally emotionally deadened to it, even if it IS the only thing that is making her feel anything at all. It reminds me of the protagonist of Lars von Trier's "Nymphomaniac" who continues to seek ever more destructive ways to act out in service of getting her fix, while so detached and vacant during the physical consummations. She's acting in a way those she knows would consider abhorrent, yet seems powerless to stop herself, not because she's physically powerless, but because she's so entirely apathetic and numb that she can't bring herself to truly give a damn. It's like she's letting herself do it just because - "going through the motions, losing all [her] drive," etc. She's emotionally removed, and that is what is so powerful about it, for me. She's in the shadows doing shadowy things, but where it's a rush for Spike, she's just empty of reaction and feeling.
"Similarly contrived is Buffy's end-of-episode smackdown of Spike, where she screams about how soulless and dead he is and pummels him in the face until he's bruised and battered. It's an overly violent and disturbing scene, something that comes off as yet another plot development that feels engineered to create a reaction, rather than something that stays true to the characters we've watched for the last five years."
This, to me, is Buffy in Faith's shoes back in the soul/body swap. Buffy isn't pummeling Spike because he's dead and soulless, but because SHE is. She is the disgusting one, the depraved monster...at least from her own self-hating perspective. She's lost and spiraling and dead inside, or perhaps so filled with pain and despair that she's moved beyond the ability to express it or truly feel it. It's like intense pain that leads to catatonia, except she's walking and talking and f***ing and flying recklessly by the seat of her pants, but with a flat affect led by the truly soulless yet smitten Spike who for once has power over her. I think it's very in character for someone who has been struggling with emotional deadness to break through and express such intense pain and rage, because expression has been her problem for so long. She hasn't been able to give voice to her inner turmoil in any kind of visceral way, this is one of those moments where true emotion breaks through the suffocating numbness.