In the box set, Joss has a list of his favorite episodes and this is the first on it, precisely because it is the first time we see that we're in a complex world.
The point for me isn't that Xander is dark. It's that Xander is human, and all humans have dark. Xander's dark is probably pretty normal dark for a teenage boy, and part of his quality as a character is that he so little succumbs to it (when in possession of his higher faculties).
So for me it's not about judging Xander and saying aha! he's dark! It's looking at the story and saying "go Joss! you're letting us see that your protagonists are not exempt from the darkness that plagues us all."
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Date: 2010-09-09 06:01 pm (UTC)The point for me isn't that Xander is dark. It's that Xander is human, and all humans have dark. Xander's dark is probably pretty normal dark for a teenage boy, and part of his quality as a character is that he so little succumbs to it (when in possession of his higher faculties).
So for me it's not about judging Xander and saying aha! he's dark! It's looking at the story and saying "go Joss! you're letting us see that your protagonists are not exempt from the darkness that plagues us all."