Buffy the Vampire Slayer Article: How circumstance affected the onyesha

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posted by candrani

This is about how the course of the onyesha was changed kwa things the writers didn't plan, like the actors needing time of au wanting to leave.

This was inspired kwa me watching the end of s6 and being as bugged as i always am kwa the conversation between Buffy and Giles when Giles returns. Don't get me wrong, the part when they're both laughing hysterically cracks me up, the bit i hate is when they're talking aout Giles leaving and Buffy says it was the right thing to do. It wasnt. I heard (im not 100% this is accurate) they wrote Giles out for a while because Tony Head wanted to spend some time in England. The problem they then had to face is that Giles leaving at a time like that was out of character and a little callous. Buffy had just gone through arguably the most traumatic experience of her life and he left because, after a few months, she wasnt coping well enough? I was never satisfied with that explination and i think the fact that they needed a quick excuse for him to leave showed.

On the other hand it was circumstance that led to Angel leaving Buffy. He had become maarufu enough for his own show, and i think that was great for not only the mashabiki who got Angel, but for BTVS. Staying would have made no sense for him, the way he left and the reasons he gave seemed exactly what the character would do. If he hadn't been aliyopewa his own onyesha would he have stayed, keeping Buffy in a relationship were they could never sleep together incase he Lost his soul? the way he viewed their relationship and the fact he felt he was keeping Buffy from having a normal boyfriend, it would've been odd if he'd stayed despite of that. So circumstance worked in the shows favour then.

My final example is one i have mixed feelings on. Oz leaving. I loved Oz as a character, but prefered the willow/tara relationship so it's hard for me to say if i think his leaving was a good thing. Still Oz left because Seth Green wanted to go. Again i wasn't completely satisfied with the first reason he gave for leaving, basically because being a werewolf made him dangerous even though he had been a werewolf for ages before then (i know he put willow in danger in that episode which prompted him to go but i still dont think that was a good enough excuse since that was an isolated incident and usually he had an easy time controlling the situation) but the sekunde reason, after he comes back and his jealousy over tara makes him attack her, i could accept as a valid reason for him to go.

So that's three ways circumstance affected the show, one for the worse one for the better and one im torn over. What do wewe think about how it changed Buffy? was circumstance good au bad for the show?

Nimhsay, adwbuffy and 6 others like this

Asvini Giles leaving in s6 always annoyed me too. It was definetly out of character, he abandons Buffy because its taking her to long to get over dying and to get used to raising her sister after her mothers death. I wish they had come up with a better way to explain his absence because that one made no sense.

fanfly I don't know. Although it makes me sad that Giles left, I found his reasons for leaving valid. Painful but valid. He didn't leave because Buffy wasn't recovering quickly enough, he left because he was enabling her. He knew that if he stayed, he would continue to enable her; taking on her burdens and allowing her to use him as a buffer between her and the real world. She would never recover. I really think his song in OMWF said it all. It's a very real life reason for leaving and fit perfectly in the context of Season 6. I don't think it was out of character, because I think Giles was forced to change by the circumstances. Forced to grow up a little himself and realize that he had to let Buffy grow up. As for Oz leaving, I accepted his original reason, because I got the impression that his condition was worsening. Plus Veruca forced him to confront the fact that he wasn't just a werewolf for certain days of the month- the wolf was inside of him all the time. He was living in denial of his true self. It fit for him to leave, not just to protect Willow, but to come to terms with his condition.

Asvini About giles, there is a certain period after someone has been through a trauma that, if you care, you should enable them. Not forever, but to give them the time to heal. In my opinion he didnt give her nearly long enough to get over it before throwing her in the deep end. I also think he might have helped reign in Willow's magic addiction (before taras death of course) as he was the gruops authority figure

fanfly I agree, Asvini, that they could have given it more time before he left but in the end the result is the same. Also, just from a story-line perspective, he really didn't belong in Season 6. It was about the Scoobies all growing up and not having an authority figure who would step in and tell them what they were doing was wrong. It's true Giles could have reined Willow's magic abuse in but that would change the whole story. So he had to leave.

Asvini yeah it would have changed the story, and he didn't really fit from a writer's perspective, but from a character perspective him leaving the time he did and the way he didn't fit. And i disagree that the result is the same because the timing changes the effects of him leaving and changes wether it was justified. If after more time Buffy still wasn't coping him taking a step back wouldve been fine, but leaving when he did seemed unfair and more than a little heartless.

fanfly It did seem heartless, but oftentimes you have to hurt someone you love in order to help them. And I have to say, from a writer's perspective, they couldn't afford to waste time by having him stick around longer. They had a big story to tell and his absence was necessary to tell that story. So, I think he left at the right time for the big picture. I reiterate what I said before, I don't think it was out of character, so much as a character development. And maybe Giles was afraid that if he stuck around longer that he wouldn't be able to leave later. Sometimes you just have to make a clean cut. If you drag things out, you get dragged down. You lose your will, you get sucked into a rut. I think he was afraid of that happening. In fact, he could see it happening; the way he gave her money and the way she left Dawn's discipline up to him. He let that happen. And I think he realized if he stuck around, he would continue to let it happen and he wouldn't be able to extricate himself.

Asvini Hmm, guess well just have to agree to disagree on this one. From a writers perspective I do agree Giles left at the right time to enable the overall story arc, but given what Buffy was going through, as a character I think it was wrong of Giles to do, and in some ways selfishly motivated (I feel like he had wanted to leave Sunnydale for a while by then). Its not that i wish he hadn't left because it had to happen, and the scene where he returns to fight dark willow was great. Im not sorry he left when he did I just wish they had either explained it differently or had buffy be at least a little pissed at him when he came back.

amazondebs hmmm interesting article and points the thing that bugs me about the giles story is that he left to england and came back when she was alive and then he left again so it was almost like he really did want to leave and maybe a selfish part of him was urgin him on to do so I thought it would have been nice to maybe have a few scenes with giles in england showing him working the witches and stuff because of his concern about willow, we know he must have been in contact with the covern in some way because of him coming back, it would be nice to have seen that and nice to have areason why they picked a watcher to do this rather than one of their brethren as for the angel storyline i have a much bigger isssue with that than anything to do with giles story infact it's probably the only storyline in the whole entire buffyverse i have major issues against, I loved the whole angel/angelus and angel going to hell but as soon he dropped down in to the mansion, it was just like "huh?" he from that moment on served no real purpose in the storyline and to me it did not make any sense, if the powers that be brought him back for a greater reason surly they would have put him in L.A. where he was needed Also his reason for leaving was the worst thing ever, I'm not a bangel fan and i was almost screaming at the telly "you love her you twit you can't decide what's best for her you **** just stay" ahem lol I just really didn't like the way he left, it didn't make sense to the bangel storyline to me and why did he go to L.A.? it seems to have no clear significance of anything......I don't know why but maybe going to Ireland or somewhere really far away to find peace....not the next city over I agree with you on the Oz storyline completely though anyways 5 stars on the article and props to all three of you for getting me good and riled lol

jighooligan101 Personally i think Giles was from a characters and writers perspective left at the right time. As has already been said season 6 was about the Scoobies growing up Joyce was dead, Buffy left with Dawn (and the whole agony of being torn out of heaven) and no sense of direction. Had Giles not abrubtly left she would have forever been dependent of him. She could never have grown to become her own person. How Giles as a character executed his departure and return was poor which was one of the leading factors to the rift seen between them late season 7 and season 8 (no it wasnt just the Spike thing). The Bangel storyline is really down to ship in my opinion. If your a Bangel supporter the answer is that he loved her and he wanted the best for her. More then anything Buffy wanted a normal life and no matter how much Angel loved her he couldnt give that to her. Even when he became a man over on Angel he knew that the Powers had brought him back for a reason that was bigger then both of them. From a writers point of view Angel had become to big of a character with to big a following to be confined to a supporting role. Debs Id assume the reason he was only moved to LA was to make cross-overs as easy as possible and plus Buffy once lived in LA and we knew there was a fair bit of demon action going on there. Also thats where Doyle was and the Powers sent Angel to Doyle. As for why he didnt return to Irelan well its become pretty boring in the last 100 or so years!

fanfly I'm cool with agreeing to disagree, Asvini! I also agree with debs about wishing we'd seen something of what Giles was up to in England. It would have made his return (which I think was a tad cheesy) a little less abrupt. I also thought Angel's return in 3rd season was pointless, but I've never been a fan of Angel(him or the show), so I don't waste time thinking about him. ;D And I agree with jig too(guess I'm just in an agreeable mood! lol) I think he stated what I was trying to say much better.