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bespangeled · 7 years

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Buffy and the SITs - lead up to Empty Places

I’ve been reading some more Empty Places meta, and I want to examine the statement by Faith that gets echoed as truth - that Buffy didn’t even know the girls’ names. That is a freakin weird interpretation of what we actually see - So - here is how Buffy and the potentials interacted:

Bring On The Night - So - the potentials show up in episode 10 - Spike has already been taken by the First, and the house is in shambles. Buffy drops everything to bring the girls into her home. Annabelle runs off while Buffy is at work - Buffy goes off to find her body. She gets beaten to a bloody pulp by an uber-vamp twice - and Giles tells everyone that he has no idea what to do because his only plan was Buffy. At the end of the episode she tells everyone that they are going to go after the first and give them an apocalypse.

Showtime - a new potential arrives at night and Buffy is there to greet her and protect her. Buffy is concerned about finding a way to make sure the First can’t attack potentials as they arrive. In this episode they discuss the trigger in front of the potentials when Andrew bring up rescuing Spike. First/Eve does everything possible to ruin morale until Willow gets word from the coven that leads to the discovery the real Eve is dead. To imporve morale Buffy puts on a Thunder dome performance, killing an Uber-vamp. She then rescues Spike.

Potential - Buffy and Spike are in the graveyard training potentials in trusting their instincts. Next scene is Buffy in the basement listening to the potentials worry until she gets their attention. Long scene - while Dawn watches - Buffy gets their attention, gives a short speech, answers questions (calling each girl by name) and then gives an even longer speech trying to quell their fears but also give them a realistic view of what they are up against. Willow does a spell to find the new slayer, and hey think it is Dawn. Meanwhile Spike and Buffy take the potentials to the demon bar, then they take the potentials to a crypt - Buffy gives them a long lesson on vampires, and then fights a vampire in front of them giving them tips. Finally they lock them in a crypt with weapons while monitoring from outside. After the whole Amanda reveal Buffy call the potentials down to the basement to work with them some more.

The Killer In Me - Potentials go walk-about with Giles

First Date - Buffy and Giles walk through the graveyard with potentials until Spike jumps Giles. Buffy goes to work - Woods invites her out. Xander meets a girl and invites her out.. Giles brings in a new potential who doesn’t speak English - shows the new girl torture porn ubervamp drawings which Anya take from him - gets upset that Buffy and Xander are both going out on dates. A group that includes Amanda and Kennedy decides to record Andrew talking to the First. No other potentials - at the end of the episode Giles goes ballistic that Buffy and Xander are joking about their dates. No other potentials shown.

Get It Done - Buffy is in the backyard overseeing a training session, watching Kennedy lead the girls through their paces when Wood arrives. Kennedy gets upset at Chloe, calls her a maggot and orders her to fall and do push ups, then gets excited at her new power saying “Did you see me - I love this job!”. Chloe commits suicide - the First/Chloe reveals that Buffy was worried some of the girls would die and she had no way to protect them. Buffy buries Chloe next to Eve - then calls a meeting. She says that Chloe was stupid and weak, and asks if anyone else wants to be the next body. She tells the girls the the First is fucking with their minds and it’s winning, and that they need to fight it to survive. Kennedy yells at Buffy saying Willow has more power - but Buffy replies Willow is afraid to use her power. She also yells at Xander, Anya, and Spike. After that, the only potential who is there is Kennedy, and that’s more as Willow’s girlfriend.

Buffy gets a lot of flak over her attitude toward Chloe and the girls, but the fact is that she has to build them into an army. She can’t have an encounter group session because she has no reassurance to give once the potential have all expressed their fears and doubts. The fact is that the potentials can stay and fight, or run off and be killed like all the others who have died.

Story Teller - episode built with unreliable narrator

LMPTM - Giles attempts to break Spike’s trigger - when it doe not happen in less than 10 minutes he gives up and agrees to take Buffy out to divert her while Wood kills Spike. Potentials are limited to a handful surprised that Spike has a trigger (even though they were told about it shortly after they arrived) Buffy realizes what Giles did even though she trusted him, and closes the door on him.

Dirty Girls - Caleb and Faith arrive. Caleb nearly kills a fleeing potential. Buffy goes to work again - hey someone has to feed that horde of girls. The potentials interact with Andrew. Buffy tells Wood that she’s worried about going into battle with the potentials - he suggests it is time to test them. Buffy goes to the hospital to talk to Shannon. She is told about Caleb, and that he claims to have something of hers. Buffy decides to go after it - time to stop reacting and act. Giles, Spike and Willow express reservations but Buffy stands firm. She selects a group of potentials who are the strongest to go to battle - leaves Willow to protect the rest - and leaves Giles behind to help the girls who still need a teacher. Buffy and Faith do recon - and come in to hear Xander praising Buffy and telling the girls she has earned their trust. They go into battle - Caleb and the bringers defeat them easily, killing to potentials and half blinding Xander. With the background of Caleb’s narration, Buffy walks among the injured and then goes out alone, completely devestated.

Empty Places - Anya gives a lecture to the Potentials. Xander and Willow are at the hospital - Faith Dawn and Giles do research. At the hospital, Buffy talks with Willow and xander but says she can’t stay. She goes to school and gets a severe beating by Caleb, leaving her unconscious. Giles sends Spike on a mission and then tells Faith she can take the girls out to the Bronze to party. Giles uses his time alone with Buffy to feel her out - but she is still not receptive to his wisdom and he gets angry at her. At the bar, the girls drink and dance with Faith, then fight some First powered-cops who try to arrest Faith for being a fugitive. Buffy comes in as the confrontation ends and sends the girls home. She and Faith argue. Buffy says the girls need to be kept safe - Faith replies that the girls need to get down and dirty because how else will they ever learn. When Buffy walks away, Faith taunts Buffy about not keeping the girls at the vineyard safe, about letting Molly and Amanda be killed. Buffy punches her.

Buffy tries to talk the SIT's into going back to the vineyard. She tells them that if there wasn't something important there, they wouldn't be guarding it. Faith asks why they should go in without proof. Faith says she's not going back without proof. Buffy asks Faith who's side she's on. Wood says he believes Faith had the floor. Giles says Faith has a point. It's a big risk to take. Buffy says that's what she does, she makes big decisions. Buffy asks if they don't trust her. Giles says that's not the issue, and she doesn't trust them. Everyone starts to turn on Buffy. Even Willow. Anya asks Buffy if she thinks she's better than all of them. If because she came into the world with all these powers she thinks she's better than them. But what if she isn't. She has the powers but she never earned them. The SIT's accuse her of being reckless. Xander says he doesn't want to go back, the price he paid was too high. Buffy says this isn't a democracy, she's the boss. Kennedy says that Faith is a slayer too, maybe they should take a vote and see if Faith should lead for awhile. Faith says this isn't what she wanted. Buffy verbally attacks Faith for taking the SIT's out and winning them over by getting them drunk and baking cookies with them. Faith counters with, and doing unimportant things like learning their names. Faith says she doesn't want to lead but she's not so sure Buffy's thinking the right way anymore. Buffy says Faith just wants to take over her job. Faith says she just wants to beat the bad guys. Dawn comes over and tells Buffy she loves her, and they have to be together on this, and Buffy has to leave (taken from Buffyworld summary)

So virtually every time the SITs and Buffy are together she is working with them, training them, encouraging them. Yet I read arguments that Buffy really didn’t know their names and that she should not have been so harsh and demanding (while she tried to save their lives).

Giles throws away Buffy’s trust by taking her out and stalling her - pretending they are patrolling in order to give Wood time to kill Spike. Buffy no longer trusts him. Wood encourages Buffy to take the girls into battle - Giles, Spike and Willow object. Buffy goes anyway, clearly showing she can’t trust Giles. Then Giles objects that Buffy no longer trusts anyone. Faith is voted in as the new leader and Giles gets a slayer who looks up to him and wants his advice.

Faith comes into a new situation knowing nothing, works well with Buffy at first - and then gets upset when Buffy objects to Faith taking the girls out and brawling - taunting Buffy with not protecting girls that dies. She is voted into leadership by SITs who are either traumatized by the battle, or entranced by the Slayer who doesn’t try to train them, and lets them party instead. Wood - who tried to kill Spike and was told by Buffy she wouldn’t protect hi if he tried again - adds fuel to the fire by rebuffing Buffy (okay - bad word choice) whe she tries to speak.

Willow and Xander turn against her because they no longer trust her. Dawn tells her she has to leave.

I just needed to get this one out of my system because I keep reading that Buffy never interacted with the slayers, was always harsh with them and didn’t even know their names. I needed to actually look up, and then list their interactions.

I still can’t wrap my mind around any reason why kicking Buffy out was deserved or a smart tactic. I wrote this for me but i would love to read specific instances where Buffy did things that were wrong, showing why they had to boot her out of her role as General, and then kick her out when she got hurt, and angry.

This freakin thing took me hours to write...someone? Anyone?

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