Who's On First?

I am unsure what we are viewing for Tuesday since 6.6 is listed in the syllabus as "Bargaining Part Two," when in fact, it is "All The Way." I am also unsure what was shown since "Once More With Feeling" was moved to Tuesday class time. So I will write about "Bargaining Part One and Two," "All The Way," and "Once More With Feeling" in this blog. I will cover the next three on the syllabus in my next blog. They may be out of order, but I will cover everything I'm supposed to (I hope.)

I was especially intrigued by something that was in the Kaveney Chapter 5 reading. In the section on politics, Playdon suggests that political structure of the Scooby Gang is participative rather than hierarchial, and that only the evil organizations of the Buffyverse follow a hierarchial structure. This was demonstrated quite clearly in the two part episode, "Bargaining." Though Playdon argues that the "leader" of the Scooby Gang is a fluid position, the Scoobies themselves seem to see Buffy as their fearless leader. With her death, there is a shift in power. Though Willow is named by Xander as the "boss of us," the power shifts from member to member as they conspire to resurrect Buffy. In times of conscience, Xander leads. When they need a level head, Tara steps up to the plate. Willow is the decisive one, which is probably why she is seen as the leader by the Scoobies. Anya rarely serves as leader except possibly in the area of organization/planning, a skill which she possess when she is not panicking. Interestingly, Giles is rarely seen as the leader in the later seasons. He serves more of a consultant's role.

As the Scoobies put their plan into action, Willow leads them through the ritual, until she goes all snaky, that is. Then Tara steps in to stop Xander and Anya from stopping the ritual. When the demon gang interrupts and the Gang is forced to separate and flee, it is Anya and Tara who are able to find their way to the Magic Box unaided. Apparently, organized and clear-headed are a better combination than emotional and decisive.

With the return of Buffy in "All The Way" and "Once More With Feeling," one might expect Buffy to resume her role as Chief-Slayer-In-Charge. Traumatized by her return from Heaven, however, she takes a bit of a backseat and allows the others to fill in the gaps in her leadership. When Dawn sneaks out and gets into trouble "necking" with a vampire (pardon my pun), Buffy allows (nay, relies on) Giles to talk with Dawn and show her the error of her ways. Buffy's backseat role is revisited in "Once More With Feeling," as she laments the distance she has felt from her feelings and her life. When she offers herself up to Sweet, the nattily dressed demon who has taken Dawn captive, Spike, a Scoobie-come-lately, steps up to the leadership plate and rescues Buffy from her own apathy.

While these three episodes certainly support Playdon's idea of participative structure, they don't really address the idea of hierarchial structure as the structure of choice for Buffyverse Bads. Fortunately, I have whole blogs dedicated to this very topic. How convenient!