6/13: Dead Things

[Techno-bot]

Written by Steven S. DeKnight
Directed by James A. Contner
Air date: 2/5/02

When Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew accidentally kill Warren's ex-girlfriend, they use their new cerebral dampener on Buffy so that she'll think she committed the murder.

[LadyDi]

Trying a little experiment here. Please bear with me (or get out now while you can, either way). This post is not about the ep in particular, but this ep is a good jumping off point for me to express what I think is 'wrong' with s6.
There are many lines I love from the Buffyverse, but a few I really hate. One of those lines is spoken in Dead Things.
B: Why do I let [Spike] do those things to me?

IMO, one of the central tenets of the Buffyverse, the bedrock on which all else rests, is this: Buffy isn't a victim. She's suffered heartache before, but hasn't come across as victimized. Only now, Buffy perceives herself as a victim for most of the season. She can't/shouldn't be enjoying the things she does with Spike, so it must be that he's coercing/manipulating her into doing them, right?
Some have argued that due to Buffy's mindset, Spike was raping her every time they had sex. I scoffed at this when I first saw it; I doubt any woman would willing give her rapist a blow job or nibble on his ear. But, if you look at it a certain way, there's a grain of truth in it. Buffy's mindset ("woe is me") turns a big plus into a nasty negative.
The theme of victimization carries over into Willow's arc as well. Thru most of s6, she's PatheticJunkieWillow. I really didn't like PatheticJunkieWillow. As I have stated elsewhere, an addiction to magic makes about as much sense to me as an addiction to electricity.
You could say that Anya's a victim in s6. Tara certainly is; Katrina, too. I didn't/don't watch BtVS to see women being victimized. I can watch pretty much anything for that.
Well, guess that's all for now. If you've gotten this far, thanks for playing along. ;D

[Spaced Out Looney]

ladydi said:

Trying a little experiment here. Please bear with me (or get out now while you can, either way). This post is not about the ep in particular, but this ep is a good jumping off point for me to express what I think is 'wrong' with s6.
There are many lines I love from the Buffyverse, but a few I really hate. One of those lines is spoken in Dead Things.
B: Why do I let [Spike] do those things to me?

IMO, one of the central tenets of the Buffyverse, the bedrock on which all else rests, is this: Buffy isn't a victim. She's suffered heartache before, but hasn't come across as victimized. Only now, Buffy perceives herself as a victim for most of the season. She can't/shouldn't be enjoying the things she does with Spike, so it must be that he's coercing/manipulating her into doing them, right?
Some have argued that due to Buffy's mindset, Spike was raping her every time they had sex. I scoffed at this when I first saw it; I doubt any woman would willing give her rapist a blow job or nibble on his ear. But, if you look at it a certain way, there's a grain of truth in it. Buffy's mindset ("woe is me") turns a big plus into a nasty negative.
The theme of victimization carries over into Willow's arc as well. Thru most of s6, she's PatheticJunkieWillow. I really didn't like PatheticJunkieWillow. As I have stated elsewhere, an addiction to magic makes about as much sense to me as an addiction to electricity.
You could say that Anya's a victim in s6. Tara certainly is; Katrina, too. I didn't/don't watch BtVS to see women being victimized. I can watch pretty much anything for that.
Well, guess that's all for now. If you've gotten this far, thanks for playing along. ;D

I think you've got a good point here. Interesting too that in Sanctuary she says that Faith the only one (at that point) who made her feel like a victim. To that I said, huh? Faith, but not "Angelus?" Seems like this is something that really needs to be teased out. This is one part of Buffy that I am completely confused about.

Barb (not our Barb, but rahirah in lj land) wrote a really good essay on this subject. You may enjoy reading it if you haven't already.

rahirah.livejournal.com/112692.html

[Kerrie]

ehills said:

ladydi said:

Trying a little experiment here. Please bear with me (or get out now while you can, either way). This post is not about the ep in particular, but this ep is a good jumping off point for me to express what I think is 'wrong' with s6.
There are many lines I love from the Buffyverse, but a few I really hate. One of those lines is spoken in Dead Things.
B: Why do I let [Spike] do those things to me?

IMO, one of the central tenets of the Buffyverse, the bedrock on which all else rests, is this: Buffy isn't a victim. She's suffered heartache before, but hasn't come across as victimized. Only now, Buffy perceives herself as a victim for most of the season. She can't/shouldn't be enjoying the things she does with Spike, so it must be that he's coercing/manipulating her into doing them, right?
Some have argued that due to Buffy's mindset, Spike was raping her every time they had sex. I scoffed at this when I first saw it; I doubt any woman would willing give her rapist a blow job or nibble on his ear. But, if you look at it a certain way, there's a grain of truth in it. Buffy's mindset ("woe is me") turns a big plus into a nasty negative.
The theme of victimization carries over into Willow's arc as well. Thru most of s6, she's PatheticJunkieWillow. I really didn't like PatheticJunkieWillow. As I have stated elsewhere, an addiction to magic makes about as much sense to me as an addiction to electricity.
You could say that Anya's a victim in s6. Tara certainly is; Katrina, too. I didn't/don't watch BtVS to see women being victimized. I can watch pretty much anything for that.
Well, guess that's all for now. If you've gotten this far, thanks for playing along. ;D

I think you've got a good point here. Interesting too that in Sanctuary she says that Faith the only one (at that point) who made her feel like a victim. To that I said, huh? Faith, but not "Angelus?" Seems like this is something that really needs to be teased out. This is one part of Buffy that I am completely confused about.

Barb (not our Barb, but rahirah in lj land) wrote a really good essay on this subject. You may enjoy reading it if you haven't already.

rahirah.livejournal.com/112692.html

Thanks Di for telling the Spikecentricity groupies that you had come here to post. I would have been very disappointed to have missed it. I agree that Buffy was acting like a victim for most of season 6. I had never really thought about it, but now that I have I can see that this is a fair call and I can see why it would irk people.

Thankyou, Liz, for including the link to the essay. I found it fascinating. I also read some of the reponses. I must admit that I agree with most of the responses which say that Buffy was clinically depressed. Her capacity to slip in and out of her victim role stems from this. I like season 6 because Buffy is clinically depressed and I can identify with that. Buffy's ability to be a victim over a prolonged period is something I can relate to. I like the fact that in season 6 Buffy always seems to be taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Clinical depression has physical, cognitive and emotional roots therefore it makes sense that Buffy needs to have a grip on all components or she will get pulled back into her depressed way of thinking and dealing (i.e. not dealing with things). I admit that it is possible that people who do not have any mental health problems may struggle with the dark side of season 6, but I selfishly think that there should be more shows that realistically portray the depressing cycle of depression.

[Kerrie]

ladydi said:

Trying a little experiment here. Please bear with me (or get out now while you can, either way). This post is not about the ep in particular, but this ep is a good jumping off point for me to express what I think is 'wrong' with s6.
There are many lines I love from the Buffyverse, but a few I really hate. One of those lines is spoken in Dead Things.
B: Why do I let [Spike] do those things to me?

IMO, one of the central tenets of the Buffyverse, the bedrock on which all else rests, is this: Buffy isn't a victim. She's suffered heartache before, but hasn't come across as victimized. Only now, Buffy perceives herself as a victim for most of the season. She can't/shouldn't be enjoying the things she does with Spike, so it must be that he's coercing/manipulating her into doing them, right?
Some have argued that due to Buffy's mindset, Spike was raping her every time they had sex. I scoffed at this when I first saw it; I doubt any woman would willing give her rapist a blow job or nibble on his ear. But, if you look at it a certain way, there's a grain of truth in it. Buffy's mindset ("woe is me") turns a big plus into a nasty negative.
The theme of victimization carries over into Willow's arc as well. Thru most of s6, she's PatheticJunkieWillow. I really didn't like PatheticJunkieWillow. As I have stated elsewhere, an addiction to magic makes about as much sense to me as an addiction to electricity.
You could say that Anya's a victim in s6. Tara certainly is; Katrina, too. I didn't/don't watch BtVS to see women being victimized. I can watch pretty much anything for that.
Well, guess that's all for now. If you've gotten this far, thanks for playing along. ;D

Upon even further reflection I agree that Willow's addiction to magic makes as much sense as someone being addicted to electricity. However, the intense heat in SA is currently producing rolling blackouts as people crank up their air conditioners. I am beginning to think that whilst I would not say that I am addicted to electricity, but I am heavily dependent on electricity for the comfort and control that it provides. Ditto for Willow: she is not addicted to magic but she is heavily dependent on the feelings of control and comfort that it provides. Being stripped of magic or even being asked to cut back would be like asking people to cut back on their electricity usage: difficult in the extreme.

Kerrie,

the pathetic electricity junkie.

[Lola m]

kerrie said:

ehills said:

I think you've got a good point here. Interesting too that in Sanctuary she says that Faith the only one (at that point) who made her feel like a victim. To that I said, huh? Faith, but not "Angelus?" Seems like this is something that really needs to be teased out. This is one part of Buffy that I am completely confused about.

Barb (not our Barb, but rahirah in lj land) wrote a really good essay on this subject. You may enjoy reading it if you haven't already.

rahirah.livejournal.com/112692.html

Thanks Di for telling the Spikecentricity groupies that you had come here to post. I would have been very disappointed to have missed it. I agree that Buffy was acting like a victim for most of season 6. I had never really thought about it, but now that I have I can see that this is a fair call and I can see why it would irk people.

Thankyou, Liz, for including the link to the essay. I found it fascinating. I also read some of the reponses. I must admit that I agree with most of the responses which say that Buffy was clinically depressed. Her capacity to slip in and out of her victim role stems from this. I like season 6 because Buffy is clinically depressed and I can identify with that. Buffy's ability to be a victim over a prolonged period is something I can relate to. I like the fact that in season 6 Buffy always seems to be taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Clinical depression has physical, cognitive and emotional roots therefore it makes sense that Buffy needs to have a grip on all components or she will get pulled back into her depressed way of thinking and dealing (i.e. not dealing with things). I admit that it is possible that people who do not have any mental health problems may struggle with the dark side of season 6, but I selfishly think that there should be more shows that realistically portray the depressing cycle of depression.

**nods to the comments about depression**

I've also always thought that the depression was exacerbated by Buffy's own ambivalence about being the Slayer and her tendency (somewhat naturally due to her "chosen" status) to take everything on her own shoulders (a tendency she shares with Angel). In season 6, she keeps alternating between trying to take care of everything and not dealing with anything.

Also, there's the whole non-acknowledgment by her (mostly) of how much anger she is holding inside. Anger at the friends who brought her back.

[LadyDi]

ehills said:

ladydi said:

Trying a little experiment here. Please bear with me (or get out now while you can, either way). This post is not about the ep in particular, but this ep is a good jumping off point for me to express what I think is 'wrong' with s6.
There are many lines I love from the Buffyverse, but a few I really hate. One of those lines is spoken in Dead Things.
B: Why do I let [Spike] do those things to me?

IMO, one of the central tenets of the Buffyverse, the bedrock on which all else rests, is this: Buffy isn't a victim. She's suffered heartache before, but hasn't come across as victimized. Only now, Buffy perceives herself as a victim for most of the season. She can't/shouldn't be enjoying the things she does with Spike, so it must be that he's coercing/manipulating her into doing them, right?
Some have argued that due to Buffy's mindset, Spike was raping her every time they had sex. I scoffed at this when I first saw it; I doubt any woman would willing give her rapist a blow job or nibble on his ear. But, if you look at it a certain way, there's a grain of truth in it. Buffy's mindset ("woe is me") turns a big plus into a nasty negative.
The theme of victimization carries over into Willow's arc as well. Thru most of s6, she's PatheticJunkieWillow. I really didn't like PatheticJunkieWillow. As I have stated elsewhere, an addiction to magic makes about as much sense to me as an addiction to electricity.
You could say that Anya's a victim in s6. Tara certainly is; Katrina, too. I didn't/don't watch BtVS to see women being victimized. I can watch pretty much anything for that.
Well, guess that's all for now. If you've gotten this far, thanks for playing along. ;D

I think you've got a good point here. Interesting too that in Sanctuary she says that Faith the only one (at that point) who made her feel like a victim. To that I said, huh? Faith, but not "Angelus?" Seems like this is something that really needs to be teased out. This is one part of Buffy that I am completely confused about.

Barb (not our Barb, but rahirah in lj land) wrote a really good essay on this subject. You may enjoy reading it if you haven't already.

rahirah.livejournal.com/112692.html

Thank you for including this link. I only started reading Barb's LJ over the last six months or so. Once again I find many similarities btwn her views and mine. Guess that's why I love her writing so much.

[LadyDi]

kerrie said:

ladydi said:

Trying a little experiment here. Please bear with me (or get out now while you can, either way). This post is not about the ep in particular, but this ep is a good jumping off point for me to express what I think is 'wrong' with s6.
There are many lines I love from the Buffyverse, but a few I really hate. One of those lines is spoken in Dead Things.
B: Why do I let [Spike] do those things to me?

IMO, one of the central tenets of the Buffyverse, the bedrock on which all else rests, is this: Buffy isn't a victim. She's suffered heartache before, but hasn't come across as victimized. Only now, Buffy perceives herself as a victim for most of the season. She can't/shouldn't be enjoying the things she does with Spike, so it must be that he's coercing/manipulating her into doing them, right?
Some have argued that due to Buffy's mindset, Spike was raping her every time they had sex. I scoffed at this when I first saw it; I doubt any woman would willing give her rapist a blow job or nibble on his ear. But, if you look at it a certain way, there's a grain of truth in it. Buffy's mindset ("woe is me") turns a big plus into a nasty negative.
The theme of victimization carries over into Willow's arc as well. Thru most of s6, she's PatheticJunkieWillow. I really didn't like PatheticJunkieWillow. As I have stated elsewhere, an addiction to magic makes about as much sense to me as an addiction to electricity.
You could say that Anya's a victim in s6. Tara certainly is; Katrina, too. I didn't/don't watch BtVS to see women being victimized. I can watch pretty much anything for that.
Well, guess that's all for now. If you've gotten this far, thanks for playing along. ;D

Upon even further reflection I agree that Willow's addiction to magic makes as much sense as someone being addicted to electricity. However, the intense heat in SA is currently producing rolling blackouts as people crank up their air conditioners. I am beginning to think that whilst I would not say that I am addicted to electricity, but I am heavily dependent on electricity for the comfort and control that it provides. Ditto for Willow: she is not addicted to magic but she is heavily dependent on the feelings of control and comfort that it provides. Being stripped of magic or even being asked to cut back would be like asking people to cut back on their electricity usage: difficult in the extreme.

Kerrie,

the pathetic electricity junkie.

Since I'm an American (and we're selfishly hogging most of the planet's resources while our criminally insane and buffoonish Prez denies anything's actually wrong with that), I can understand this very well.
But here's the thing, if ME wanted to show Willow hooked on the feelings magick gave her (as Buffy was hooked on the feelings Spike gave her), they didn't make a very good show of it. Instead, they were simply (and simplistically) hooked on the thing/person.
Personally, I chalk this up to a lack of communication btwn Joss and his minions.
As for depression, I've been a sufferer for some time now. Ironically, it came to a head after Chosen. I'm still embarassed by the depths of dispair I was thrown into. Believing as I did at the time that Buffy still didn't love Spike after everything they'd been thru and everything he'd done to atone for the AR just about killed me.
Fortunately, I was able to get help thru the Health Center at Cal Poly (where I was a student at the time). While it was difficult for me to talk about what was really going on, I was able to talk about some other stuff I needed to deal with, and get the medication I needed to function. While I'm still not entirely over it, and I no longer have access to the Health Center, I'm glad I went to get help.
It made sense for ME to explore depression, as it effects women about twice as much as men, but Buffy never sought treatment. All she did was wallow (very unattractive), until she had to climb out of her grave again, and then it all just 'magically' went away. There was so much she could've done and didn't even try, and what was presented by ME as this huge, crushing burden didn't have to be.
Interesting aside...physical activity is recognized as a good way to combat depression. I think btwn rough sex with Spike and the demands of her slaying, she'd have been riding the endorphine high of all time.

[LadyDi]

Forgot to thank those of you who have played along. Since initial results are promising, I may extend the experiment to other eps.
What do you think: Smashed or Seeing Red for thoughts on Buffy and Spike's all too literal battle of the sexes?

[William the Bloody]

ladydi said:

Since I'm an American (and we're selfishly hogging most of the planet's resources while our criminally insane and buffoonish Prez denies anything's actually wrong with that), I can understand this very well.
But here's the thing, if ME wanted to show Willow hooked on the feelings magick gave her (as Buffy was hooked on the feelings Spike gave her), they didn't make a very good show of it. Instead, they were simply (and simplistically) hooked on the thing/person.
Personally, I chalk this up to a lack of communication btwn Joss and his minions.
As for depression, I've been a sufferer for some time now. Ironically, it came to a head after Chosen. I'm still embarassed by the depths of dispair I was thrown into. Believing as I did at the time that Buffy still didn't love Spike after everything they'd been thru and everything he'd done to atone for the AR just about killed me.
Fortunately, I was able to get help thru the Health Center at Cal Poly (where I was a student at the time). While it was difficult for me to talk about what was really going on, I was able to talk about some other stuff I needed to deal with, and get the medication I needed to function. While I'm still not entirely over it, and I no longer have access to the Health Center, I'm glad I went to get help.
It made sense for ME to explore depression, as it effects women about twice as much as men, but Buffy never sought treatment. All she did was wallow (very unattractive), until she had to climb out of her grave again, and then it all just 'magically' went away. There was so much she could've done and didn't even try, and what was presented by ME as this huge, crushing burden didn't have to be.
Interesting aside...physical activity is recognized as a good way to combat depression. I think btwn rough sex with Spike and the demands of her slaying, she'd have been riding the endorphine high of all time.

Lady Di,

Sweetie, while your sentiment in regards to our president is well understood and sypathized with by many here, let's refrain from any further comments along this line in describing the topic at hand. While the analogy may be a "good one descriptively," it does draw politics into a discussion that has nothing to do with politics as portrayed in the Buffyverse. While we are not editing out the original statement, please be aware this in not a path we want to go down, due to potential complaints that would be rightfully pointing out that it disobeys some of our rules. If anyone wishes to discuss this policy or this reminder, please IM me or one of our technopagans for the discourse. Thanks!

Vlad

[Kerrie]

ladydi said:

kerrie said:

Upon even further reflection I agree that Willow's addiction to magic makes as much sense as someone being addicted to electricity. However, the intense heat in SA is currently producing rolling blackouts as people crank up their air conditioners. I am beginning to think that whilst I would not say that I am addicted to electricity, but I am heavily dependent on electricity for the comfort and control that it provides. Ditto for Willow: she is not addicted to magic but she is heavily dependent on the feelings of control and comfort that it provides. Being stripped of magic or even being asked to cut back would be like asking people to cut back on their electricity usage: difficult in the extreme.

Kerrie,

the pathetic electricity junkie.

Since I'm an American (and we're selfishly hogging most of the planet's resources while our criminally insane and buffoonish Prez denies anything's actually wrong with that), I can understand this very well.
But here's the thing, if ME wanted to show Willow hooked on the feelings magick gave her (as Buffy was hooked on the feelings Spike gave her), they didn't make a very good show of it. Instead, they were simply (and simplistically) hooked on the thing/person.
Personally, I chalk this up to a lack of communication btwn Joss and his minions.
As for depression, I've been a sufferer for some time now. Ironically, it came to a head after Chosen. I'm still embarassed by the depths of dispair I was thrown into. Believing as I did at the time that Buffy still didn't love Spike after everything they'd been thru and everything he'd done to atone for the AR just about killed me.
Fortunately, I was able to get help thru the Health Center at Cal Poly (where I was a student at the time). While it was difficult for me to talk about what was really going on, I was able to talk about some other stuff I needed to deal with, and get the medication I needed to function. While I'm still not entirely over it, and I no longer have access to the Health Center, I'm glad I went to get help.
It made sense for ME to explore depression, as it effects women about twice as much as men, but Buffy never sought treatment. All she did was wallow (very unattractive), until she had to climb out of her grave again, and then it all just 'magically' went away. There was so much she could've done and didn't even try, and what was presented by ME as this huge, crushing burden didn't have to be.
Interesting aside...physical activity is recognized as a good way to combat depression. I think btwn rough sex with Spike and the demands of her slaying, she'd have been riding the endorphine high of all time.

Three things:
1) Really enjoying the discussions.
2) The magical disappearance of depression made sense on a metaphorical level which seems to be what JW specialises in (Thionk of "Anne"). I don't think that we were meant to think that Buffy just magically got better but that she worked through some of her issues about slaying and her role and her actions and had resigned herself to it. The walk out of th grave was only meant to represent that the physiological, cognitive and emotional aspects of depression had lifted so that she could see and appreciate the world in full glorious colour again rather than the drab grey glasses that one wears when depressed.

3) Depression is a disease and not simply a state of emotions. Feeling sad can be combatted by exercise because of the endorphin hgh. In contrast a clinically depressed person will use the endophin high to beat themselves up. Thus Buffy feels guilty about her relationship with Spike and feels guilty that she doesn't enjoy slaying (i.e. just going through the motions). Ahh depression! You gotta love it! Not! I had forgotten that it aflicts females more often than males. As an aside the Western Australian premier, who by all accounts was doing a brilliant job, has just resigned citing depression as the reason. Apparantly, his medical team had advised him to reduce his stress levels. I am not sure that this would have been an option for Buffy. I mean what would she say to a counsellor or Doctor? I am not even sure how they got around the administrative nightmare of her death and resurrection. In any case, I think most depression sufferers have trouble seeking help. You were lucky that you worked at a place that helped depression. In real life almost half my friends are Doctors and the other half are psychologists and yet when I am depressed I have trouble seeking help. In fact I have resigned myself to having a lead time of about six months before acting on anything relating to my treatment.

[Kerrie]

ladydi said:

Forgot to thank those of you who have played along. Since initial results are promising, I may extend the experiment to other eps.
What do you think: Smashed or Seeing Red for thoughts on Buffy and Spike's all too literal battle of the sexes?

Either. "Smashed" is the better episode , but "Seeing Red" allows for greater breadth of discussion. As they say in the beer ads: "its all good!".

[leftylady]

ehills said:

ladydi said:

Trying a little experiment here. Please bear with me (or get out now while you can, either way). This post is not about the ep in particular, but this ep is a good jumping off point for me to express what I think is 'wrong' with s6.
There are many lines I love from the Buffyverse, but a few I really hate. One of those lines is spoken in Dead Things.
B: Why do I let [Spike] do those things to me?

IMO, one of the central tenets of the Buffyverse, the bedrock on which all else rests, is this: Buffy isn't a victim. She's suffered heartache before, but hasn't come across as victimized. Only now, Buffy perceives herself as a victim for most of the season. She can't/shouldn't be enjoying the things she does with Spike, so it must be that he's coercing/manipulating her into doing them, right?
Some have argued that due to Buffy's mindset, Spike was raping her every time they had sex. I scoffed at this when I first saw it; I doubt any woman would willing give her rapist a blow job or nibble on his ear. But, if you look at it a certain way, there's a grain of truth in it. Buffy's mindset ("woe is me") turns a big plus into a nasty negative.
The theme of victimization carries over into Willow's arc as well. Thru most of s6, she's PatheticJunkieWillow. I really didn't like PatheticJunkieWillow. As I have stated elsewhere, an addiction to magic makes about as much sense to me as an addiction to electricity.
You could say that Anya's a victim in s6. Tara certainly is; Katrina, too. I didn't/don't watch BtVS to see women being victimized. I can watch pretty much anything for that.
Well, guess that's all for now. If you've gotten this far, thanks for playing along. ;D

I think you've got a good point here. Interesting too that in Sanctuary she says that Faith the only one (at that point) who made her feel like a victim. To that I said, huh? Faith, but not "Angelus?" Seems like this is something that really needs to be teased out. This is one part of Buffy that I am completely confused about.

Barb (not our Barb, but rahirah in lj land) wrote a really good essay on this subject. You may enjoy reading it if you haven't already.

rahirah.livejournal.com/112692.html

Thanks for the link, Liz. Wow. That did give me some insight on why my feelings on Season 6 are all over the map. There are parts of S6 that I just love, and despite everything I remain resolutely (or maybe it's stubbornly) "spuffy" in my heart, but this lj exchange really makes me see where some of Buffy's S6 behavior hits my personal "hot buttons".

[Lola m]

kerrie said:

ladydi said:

Forgot to thank those of you who have played along. Since initial results are promising, I may extend the experiment to other eps.
What do you think: Smashed or Seeing Red for thoughts on Buffy and Spike's all too literal battle of the sexes?

Either. "Smashed" is the better episode , but "Seeing Red" allows for greater breadth of discussion. As they say in the beer ads: "its all good!".

Agree. Either would be great for a discussion. Heck, start putting comments in each and let us bounce around between them. ;D

Although, come to think of it, when I discuss Smashed, I tend to put it together with Wrecked. They just fit so well together.

[Alexandra]

Depression can produce melancholia or it can make one angry and hostile. Perhaps Buffy was leaning toward the hostile end of depression. She could work out her intense feelings of anger on Spike through rough sex and he'd take it all. He was strong enough to keep up with her rages without getting seriously hurt himself and Buffy would know that.

Being yanked out of heaven by the ones you loved the most would be devastating to anyone and certainly could produce depression. Under all her angst though, was an intrinsically strong person who finally, slowly found her way back to a sense of normality - as normal as her life could ever be.

Coming out of a depression by yourself is difficult, very difficult. But if Buffy's depression was induced by her return from the dead, then more time spent among the living again would lessen her trauma as she caught hold of the living world and let go of her experience of heaven. Interacting with Spike, who was the only person she could tell about being in heaven, slowly started her on the road to life again. Ironic that she should begin interacting with the living again by talking to someone dead. But maybe that was actually a good progression. She may have thought he would understand better than anyone who hadn't died.

And, of course, he was seriously hot.


Alex