I think season three's apparently sudden character moments reveal actual depth--Xander's attitude in The Zeppo comes after a series of real and perceived humiliations immediately following each other starting back with Revelations (most of it) and then going through being dumped by Cordy, losing Willow, having to go through his parents' drunken Christmas without anyone to comfort him, feeling like Oz et al. blame him almost entirely for the clothes fluke, and just generally being actually supplanted in the fight by Faith and increasingly powerful Willow. Xander's surety of his Zeppo-ness is still a leap but we're firmly entrenched in his POV. Doppelgangland I think is similar, and is revealing I think about Willow's role in the gang where people really do expect her to be good and do as she's told all the time on the one hand, and encourage her to relax on the other. Maybe I just like The Zeppo and Doppelgangland far too much to acknowledge flaws, but I see them as continuous.
Similarly, Maggie once pointed out that Buffy's clinginess towards Angel (which runs through Choices as well) follows nearly immediately her discovery that Angelus is much closer to the surface than Buffy had thought (in "Enemies")--so while the leap is a surface leap I think it has real basis in the text, as Buffy's reaction to an impossible emotional situation--retreat to childhood, retreat!
I agree that Buffy reacts fairly well to people infantalizing her, and forgives Giles more easily than she should. It's interesting, because I see Giles' behaviour in Helpless as more objectionable than his abandonment of her in season six, though he gets less overt hatred for it. I guess it lasts one night rather than most of a year. Ultimately they're similar decisions though--and note that in both cases the effect is that Giles leaves a damaged Buffy alone with a vampire.
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Date: 2010-09-16 12:51 am (UTC)Similarly, Maggie once pointed out that Buffy's clinginess towards Angel (which runs through Choices as well) follows nearly immediately her discovery that Angelus is much closer to the surface than Buffy had thought (in "Enemies")--so while the leap is a surface leap I think it has real basis in the text, as Buffy's reaction to an impossible emotional situation--retreat to childhood, retreat!
I agree that Buffy reacts fairly well to people infantalizing her, and forgives Giles more easily than she should. It's interesting, because I see Giles' behaviour in Helpless as more objectionable than his abandonment of her in season six, though he gets less overt hatred for it. I guess it lasts one night rather than most of a year. Ultimately they're similar decisions though--and note that in both cases the effect is that Giles leaves a damaged Buffy alone with a vampire.