Chief Seattle Review of Buffy S5 E2 ?
Linda
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I am a bit late with this. It's the second in my series of season 5
reviews.
Who are you?
At the end of "Buffy vs Dracula", Buffy sees a strange girl in her room and
angrily asks what she is doing there. For us the presence of this girl
would
not have been that much of a surprise. Even the greatest of spoilerphobes
(is that a word?) must have known that at the beginning of season 5 Buffy
would be gaining a sister. No, the real surprise came when Joyce invited
Buffy to take her "sister" out. As one Buffy and Dawn turned on her with
the age old cry of complaint "Mom!". Something had changed radically in
Buffy's life yet from her reaction it was as if having Dawn there was the
most natural thing in the world. That was what lent an air of unreality
to the whole scene.
The introduction of Dawn was always going to pose two very important
questions.
The first was how would the writers explain her presence at all.
Unsurprisingly
we were going to have to wait for the answer to this one. The more
important
the mystery the longer it had to be kept a mystery. But we did get a small
clue even here:
Deranged Man: "What are you doing here? You can't loiter. There's no
loitering.
That's why I'm a cat. Quiet. See, cat's in the cupboard but they find you
there anyway, and it hurts. Please, make it stop. Shut up, shut up, they'll
hear you!
Dawn: "Buff- "
Man: "I know you. Curds and whey. I know what you are. You ... don't ...
belong ... here. "
So far so very obscure - especially the Miss Moffett reference. But it was
our first clue and the very fact of giving it was the writers promise that
they would explain Dawn's presence in due course.
The second question was how would Dawn fit into the long established pattern
of relationships in the Buffyverse. And the answer to this question
self-evidently
could not wait. And certainly in "the Real me" the writers were able to
insert Dawn almost seamlessly into this pattern as if she had always been
part of it. This took some nerve. But the thing I liked most about it was
the way they went about doing this.
It is of course commonplace that Buffy has used the supernatural as a
metaphor
through which to explore the real stages in the development of adolescents.
Somewhere in season 4 however this focus was lost. But here the writers
rediscover it. BUFFY as a series is about growing up. Adolescence is often
characterized by a feeling of alienation. This feeling is a common theme
in drama about growing up but in "The Real Me" we look at one particular
aspect of it: the pain of being misunderstood. We see this from Dawn's
very first diary entry, immediately after the opening credits:
"Nobody knows who I am. Not the real me. It's like, nobody cares enough to
find out. I mean, does anyone ever ask *me* what I want to do with my life?
Or what my opinion is on stuff? Or what restaurant to order in from?"
For teenagers in particular their perceptions of themselves and their place
in the world differ markedly from their parents and even their older
siblings.
Equally a teenager's view of their older family members bears little
relationship
to how the latter see themselves. This difference in perception forms the
central theme of this episode and the focus for exploring this theme is
the relationship between on the one hand a girl whom we have known until
now as an only child and on the other a "sister" we did not know existed.
In this way, the writers are able to explore the difference between
perception
and reality (especially in way in which teenagers relate to the world around
them) through the way in which Dawn relates to each of the Scoobies in
general
and her "big sister" in particular. And at the same time they are able
to launch the "Dawn arc" by introducing her to the audience and tease us
with references like those in the diary entry I have just quoted which seem
to emphasize the unreality of Dawn's situation. All in all I thought that
this was a very neat little package.
In all of this the central relationship is between Dawn and Buffy rather
than between Dawn and Joyce. Indeed the principal conflict Joyce has is
with Buffy and to a certain extent this undermines the choice of theme
because
in the life of any teenage it parent-child dynamic is obviously going to
be the most significant one. But this was probably inevitable. It is not
only that the whole of season 5 was about the relationship between Buffy
and her faux sister. It is also true that in many ways Buffy's own
perceptions
of her role in life come under scrutiny here.
But of course none of this would have worked at all if the difference in
perceptions hadn't been so closely observed and cleverly worked into the
storyline. Every teenager is of course the center of his or her own
universe
and every other creature in that universe only exists to serve the
teenager's
needs. So, at the beginning of this episode we see Buffy's training
unceremoniously
interrupted by Dawn who is blissfully unaware of its importance and
afterwards
we see Dawn commandeer her sister's cereal, bowl and milk without so much
as a thought. Even in her diary entry the emphasis she gives to her own
thoughts shows who occupies the center of her world. The corollary of that
is, of course, that anyone else is so unimportant as to be beneath her
notice.
And here the way in which Dawn airily dismisses being a slayer is both
hilarious
and a very nice example of the "supernatural metaphor" in action:
"People wouldn't be so crazy about her if they had to live in the same house
with her every single day. Everybody cares what she thinks. Just 'cause she
can do backflips and stuff. Like that's *such* a crucial job skill in the
real world. Plus Mom lets her get away with everything. "Your sister's
saving
the world." I could so save the world if somebody handed me super powers;
but I'd think of a cool name and wear a mask to protect my loved ones, which
Buffy doesn't even."
The counterpart to this is that for older siblings younger teenagers are
a nuisance. They are only children. Older teens on the other hand are
important
people and the things they have to do are important as well. So when Buffy
has to take Dawn for school supplies instead of going to the magic shop for
training she sees that as a waste of her valuable time. And when they find
Mr Bogarty's body her reaction is less protective than dismissive as she
roughly shoves her outside:
Buffy: "It's nothing you need to see, Dawn, go wait outside."
Dawn: "I don't wanna wait outside!"
Buffy: "Dawn!"
Dawn: "Ow, that hurt! You're hurting me. I'm telling."
Buffy: "Look, I don't have time for this. Just do as I say and wait."
For her Dawn is simply in the way and it is left to Tara to actually think
about her feelings. Dawn knows and resents this. In particular she resents
being thought of as a kid. She dislikes having to be left with a
babysitter,
takes umbrage when Riley calls her that and warms to Xander when she thinks
he treats her like a grown-up.
So what we have here is a reflecting mirror in which both Dawn and Buffy
see themselves through the other's eyes and do not like or recognize the
view the other has. For Buffy, Dawn is the baby of the family who is
irresponsible
and yet spoiled. For Dawn, Buffy is the one full of herself for no good
reason. But equally in the other each also sees what they would like to
be but cannot. For Dawn her ambition is to be grown up - to grasp
responsibilities
and to show how valued she should be. For Buffy there is the attraction
of irresponsibility, of being the protectee not the protector:
Buffy: "So then my mom goes off on me about how I'm supposed to watch out
for Dawn and make sure that she's shielded from something that might upset
her."
Riley: "Like dead shopkeepers."
Buffy: "She didn't see him! A foot, maybe. A dead foot, which is bad, okay,
but hello, I see dead stuff *all* the time, and you don't see Mom shielding
me."
But the sad thing here is that despite the fact that each sees in the
other's
situation a reflection of what they would like for themselves, each also
only sees the "easy" side of that situation. For dawn it is the admiration
and respect given to Buffy; for Buffy it is the frivolous and cosseted life
Dawn has. Neither is prepared to see the other's situation for what it
really
is. And it is really because of this they prove that the other's picture
of them is closer to the truth than each might like to concede. The way
that Dawn invited Harmony into her house and then ran outside where she
could
be kidnapped and in the process put Anya's life at risk proves that. This
is not someone who is ready for responsibility. Similarly in her righteous
indignation Buffy is willing to make no allowances for Dawn's age:
Riley: "Well, yeah. You're like her idol, Buffy."
Buffy: "Her idol? I don't think so, unless you like to spill things on your
idol's new leather pants, and..."
Riley: "You know what I mean. You have super powers ... and college ... a
studly yet sensitive boyfriend... "
Buffy: "And a pesky life-or-death job that I can't quit or even take a break
from."
Riley: "She doesn't get the sacrifices. She's a kid."
As Riley noted here Buffy betrays the fact that Dawn is right about her
being
way too into herself to see things from her point of view.
This is an all too recognizable picture of the conflicts and
misunderstandings
inherent in growing up. It also shows just how successfully you can
establish
parallels between the supernatural and the real world. There was of course
a degree of exaggeration in Dawn's "saving the world is no big deal"
attitude
of Buffy's "I have important things to do and she gets in my way" attitude
when compared with the more mundane concerns of real life. But it is this
exaggeration that allows the writers to draw out more clearly the points
about real world family relationships they want to make. And it is such
an appropriate use of metaphor in this context precisely because Dawn in
a way that paralleled the experiences of teenagers was now trying to find
her way in a world that was new for her and that she was therefore
ill-equipped
to deal with. But in terms of arc development this episode has another
strength.
As I have already said it was important for the writers that they establish
a relationship between Dawn and Buffy because it was through that
relationship
that they intended us to understand the dynamic between them - how they
acted and reacted to one another. And the important point in this respect
is that they were sisters. To have shown them full of natural love and
affection
at this stage would have rung completely false. But to show them as having
the normal antagonistic relationship that sisters can have is to suggest
the love and affection that underlies the mutual jealousy. We get a sense
of that in the following conversation between Riley and Buffy over dawn's
invitation to Harmony:
Riley: "She's just a kid."
Buffy: "You know, will everybody please stop saying that? I was just a kid
when I met my first vampire, but somehow, I still managed to remember the
rules."
Riley: You had to. It was your job.
Buffy: "No. No, it was common sense. But nobody expects even that much from
Dawn, do they? No, she has to be protected and coddled from the big bad
world,
well you know what? We are doing nothing but turning her into a little idiot
who is going to get us all killed. She just has to be more careful. Now,
I can't be there to protect her 24 hours a day. I-I just can't."
Here Buffy's expression of concern is more effective than any number of
"you're
my sister and I love you" speeches. This not only makes Buffy's reaction
when Dawn is kidnapped entirely understandable. It sets the scene for the
entire arc to follow.
Of course I have to add that the credibility of this sisterly relationship
depended upon more than this introduction to it. At this stage we did not
know who Dawn really was or how she had come into Buffy's life. In
particular
at this stage we were dealing with a strange anomalous figure who featured
in just this one episode. Nor had we a clue as to how far reaching the
implications
of her presence would be. The success of the writers ideas on all of these
features depended on whether they could be sustained for the long term and
at this stage the jury was obviously still out. But I thought that this
was a good start.
The Other Members of the Scooby Gang
The idea of the difference between reality and perception is also exploited
very nicely in the way that Dawn reacts to the other members of the Scooby
gang. For example, she thinks Willow is "awesome". The fact that she and
Tara are witches impresses Dawn no end:
"They do spells and stuff, which is so much cooler than slaying."
Again this perception has far more to do with what Dawn would like to do
and be than it does with who Willow really is. Far from being cool she is
the usual mass of insecurities and dependency on others. So, when Buffy
tells her she is going to stop Drama classes, Willow's preoccupation is with
her being forced to go it alone:
Willow: "Drama is just Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. You can blow off
training Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, can't you?"
Buffy: "What happened to "people gotta respect a work ethic"?"
Willow: "Other people, not me! There's a whole best friend loophole."
In contrast to her unenthusiastic view of Riley, Xander picks up points
because
he is so different from Buffy. In particular Dawn in impressed by the fact
that:
"Xander treats everyone like an equal. He doesn't look down on people. "
In other words he was, in his treatment of Dawn, the polar opposite of
Buffy.
He wasn't always treating her like a child. So for dawn that made Xander
a much more adult and mature person than Buffy. That is why she says of
him:
"Xander is so much cuter than anyone. And smarter too. He totally skipped
college and got a job working construction. Which is so kind of ... deep,
you know? He builds things. And he's brave too."
Of course here again we see the gap between image and reality as we see
Xander
in typical "goofy" mode as he promises Joyce that he and Dawn will be good:
"We're just gonna play with matches, run with scissors, take candy from ...
some guy ... I don't know his name."
But because Dawn has this picture of Xander she sees her own adulthood
reflected
in him:
"Sometimes when he looks at me, I feel like he sees me as I am...as a
woman."
Of course none of this adds very much to our knowledge of either Willow or
Xander. But as humorous illustrations of aspects of their characters it
works, mainly because Dawn is new to them. Because we see Xander and
Willow
through her eyes we too look at them in a fresh light and can perhaps more
clearly appreciate things we might otherwise have taken for granted.
However it is not only adolescents that are insecure and worry about their
place. We see similar concerns in both Tara and Giles. There was a very
nice moment after Giles in his brand new BMW confessed to Buffy his
uncertainty
over what the future would bring:
Buffy: "Giles, are you breaking up with your car?"
Giles: "Well, it did seduce me, all red and sporty."
Buffy: "Little two-door tramp."
Giles: "I-I-I don't know, I just - I was so at loose ends, I-I found myself
searching for ... some way of feeling more..."
Buffy: "Shallow?"
But all of this unhappiness and uncertainty vanish when he sees Willow and
Tara and exclaims:
"Ooh, they haven't seen my new car."
The car is if you like Giles' way if demonstrating to himself that he is
not just a clapped out old banger but an up-to date, smart and sophisticated
machine. It contrasts with Dawn's somewhat acerbic comment:
"I'm not sure how old he is, but I heard him use the word "newfangled" one
time. So he's gotta be pretty far gone."
Again therefore we see the way in which we want others to see the real us
through the image we project.
When the gang discover Mr Bogarty's body everyone is too busy to worry about
Dawn. So, it is Tara who comes out to talk to her:
"They're gonna be a little while longer, doing the detective thing. Best
non-scoobies like you and me stay out of the way."
And later the significance of this remark is brought out in the following
exchange between Willow and Tara:
Tara: "It's just ... I, I think it's tough for her, not being able to ...
well, allowed to, you know, help."
Willow: "Help?"
Tara: "Oh, you. You guys. The slayer circle."
Willow: "Well, Buffy doesn't really need ... a-and I think Dawn's a little
young."
Tara: "I-I know, you're right. It's just hard. That outsider feeling.".
Willow: "Tara ... you're not an outsider."
Tara: "Well, yeah. I kinda am."
Just as Dawn in trying to find her way in a situation that was new and
difficult
for her to deal with, so too was Tara. Her relationship with Willow was
itself new enough but more importantly she was as a newcomer thrust in the
middle of a well established team. Hence her instinctive empathy with Dawn.
Hence also her evident concern when Willow referred to her as one of the
"good guys". Normally s remark like that would have brought comfort and
the fact that it didn't did suggest that all was not quite what it seemed
with Tara and that with her too there was a difference between perception
and reality.
Plot
I can be reasonably brief here because quite frankly I have no other choice.
The plot in this episode is vanishingly thin. The writers obviously
decided
to keep the tone of this episode predominantly light. There is really no
other explanation for making Harmony the principal criminal mastermind and
her minions a correspondingly stupid and weak willed bunch. Having done
that all the usual ingredients of good drama - excitement and uncertainly
- are going to be in short supply. There was a good deal of compensation
for this though. In particular it allowed the writers to use the overall
theme of the episode to good effect by playing around with the differences
between perceptions of the vampire gang and the reality. So the brutal
murder of Mr Bogarty is followed by the discovery of what the gang is after:
Willow: "Well, I've cross-checked the inventory list, and things are
definitely
missing. Mostly books. Including: Treatise on the Mythology and Methodology
of the Vampire Slayer. "
Buffy: "Oh, shoot! Was that the only copy?"
Giles: "Come on, Buffy, this could be very serious. Whoever's leading this
pack of vampires appears to be interested in learning more about you.
Perhaps
searching for weaknesses..."
Then the discovery that a missing item is a cheap and tacky statue leads
to the discovery that the gang leader is Harmony. She of course has a plan.
That plan is spoken of with love and awe and it is going to be pout into
effect tonight. Then we find out that this brilliant strategem is to stand
outside Buffy's house and dare her to come out and fight. And finally in
the confrontation between Harmony and Spike we see her opinion of herself:
"You just can't stand the fact that I'm my own person now. There comes a
time in every woman's life when she realizes she needs to take the next
step.
I've taken it. I've found the real me... and I like her."
But far from being the leader she thinks she is forced to stealing Spike's
(somewhat obvious) idea and then having kidnapped Dawn we see that Harmony
is too stupid and unimaginative to kill her even though there is no reason
not to - simply because it wasn't in the plan.
These were all very nice touches. They were great fun and entirely in
keeping
with the main theme of the episode. But there were just too few of these
for comfort. Most of the first half dragged. Virtually nothing happened
that advance the plot and many of the scenes in which there was some theme
or character development were spun out or repetitive. So, for example, we
had three or four different scene in which the same point was made - Dawn
was self centered and irresponsible and Buffy was fed up with it. This was
the theme explored in the scene in the training room, the breakfast room,
when Joyce asked Buffy to take her to get school supplies, when Buffy and
Riley had the heart to heart on patrol. We were going over the same basic
ground again and again. And when the plot did get going you could see what
was coming a mile away. Dawn running out of the house and into the hands
of a kidnapper, Anya's brave but unsuccessful attempt at a rescue, Buffy
beating Spike up until he told her where Harmony was, the mutiny by the
underlings
and Buffy's arrival in the nick of time - all of this was plotting strictly
by the numbers.
Overview
8/10 (B): This episode revolved around an interesting and intelligent idea.
The writers drew a parallel between Dawn's situation and that of teenagers
generally. In doing so they focused on the difference between perception
and reality and how this leads to a feeling of alienation among those who
feel misunderstood. Thus they were once again able to use the supernatural
as a metaphor and at the same time advance the arc by introducing Dawn's
character and showing how she was now to relate to the other Scoobies and
especially Buffy. But the context in which they did this was a little too
light for my taste. There is no reason why highly effective comedy cannot
be blended with real tension and threat. BBB was the classic example of
this in BUFFY as was "Sense and Sensitivity" in ANGEL. And without some
feeling of danger BUFFY as a series loses an important edge. The plotting
was characterized by its slowness and predictability. And although as I
have said I though the character-related theme was well done it just wasn't
strong enough to carry the episode as a whole.
Linda
Linda
Episode Title "Real Me"