Season four marks the beginning of a new stage for Buffy, or at least that’s what we’re supposed to think. Personally, the whole “I don’t know who I am or where I fit” act is getting just a tad redundant. Still, we can say that Buffy has finally passed out of the deluded virgin stage, literally and figuratively. She tried the whole sacred marriage deal with Angel, and we all know how that turned out... with the man of the house turning his back and walking away, leaving (yes, that’s right) the mother to take care of what’s left.
That mother is Buffy, or at least she is becoming the mother. Her first attempt on her own didn’t start out so great; she spent most of her time moping around about the fact that she was alone or, at least, felt like it. The girl deserves a little trial and error, though; it’s not as if her own mother was all that great at being a role model, spending her time either hiding from the truth or trying to change it.
Let’s get serious, though. Buffy is beginning a new phase of life. She left home to go to college, and while the school is only about five minutes down the road, she has shed herself of her authority figures, no parents and no watchers. Her friends have lives of their own too, so she can’t expect them to be there at all hours of the night to take battle orders from her anymore.
She still has that sense of duty and responsibility that has slowly been developing as she watched what happens when a slayer (i.e. Faith) rejects that aspect of her calling. Buffy helps people (flashback to “Anne” episode one of season three), that’s who she is. When it seems like someone might be in trouble, Buffy steps in.
That’s what happened in “Freshmen.” Disappearances on campus alerted that mother-instinct in Buffy and she hit the ground fighting. Okay, so it was more like she fell, whining about a sore arm (since when does an average vamp leave a mark on the slayer?), but the point is that she stepped up. She took responsibility for all the other students on campus and dusted the bullies. Buffy is no longer the self-involved little girl we saw in the beginning of the series.
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Dr. Rose says:
ReplyDeleteDo look more closely at the patterns you see repeated at the end of each season and consider whether the nature of the self-doubt or angst is changing any. Are the stakes getting higher? Changing in any way, or does Buffy have to learn and relearn exactly the same thing each time?