Relationships suck- even the ones that don’t involve vampires.
That seems to be the reigning idea behind the episodes The I In Team, Goodbye Iowa, and New Moon Rising. None of the relationships, whether parental, professional, friendly, romantic, or otherwise are straightforward, or simple, or even safe at times.
The relationship between Maggie Walsh and her Initiative walks a fine line between militaristic and maternal. At first, she seems to truly care about her team, and especially Riley. She even allows Buffy into their operation, giving her the grand tour and a cool welcome, in the same way a strict parent might treat a new boyfriend or girlfriend at their first meeting. But we quickly see where Professor Walsh’s true instincts lie: with science and the military. Adam claims to be her favorite, and he is her finest (and final) accomplishment. But she treats him with all the pride of a winning science fair project, not the love of a doting mother. I think it’s this coldness and focus on reason over emotion that causes the Professor to be shish kabobed in grad fashion. The creature assembled from human, demonic, and mechanical parts destroying its creator? Wonder who saw that one coming, except for Mary Shelly.
Like usual in the Buffyverse, love, lust and in between relationships get their fair share of complication. Tara and Willow have found a way to be happy in spite of this, and Willow’s able to find someone to lean on, in spite of her past popping up, in wolfy-shaped form, to get in the way. Poor Riley gets attacked from all sides, and ends up having to walk away from his entire life to be with Buffy. She, of course, has earned this by treating him like dirt for a chance comment he made about Willow dating a ‘dangerous guy.’ This isn’t an unfounded argument, there was that slight issue with Oz nearly killing Willow and having to leave because he realized he was out of control. But, it strikes Buffy a little too close for comfort, given her past with a certain, usually-ensouled, dangerous guy, Angel. It’s interesting that Buffy so vehemently defends blurring the lines between good and evil. In Riley, she’s found one of the few guys in the serious who fit firmly into the ‘good’ column, and she’s pushing him towards the grey area that has before ended so badly. Buffy herself does finally explain her past to Riley, but doesn’t articulate a real reason she’s drawn to the baddies. She’s going to have to figure one out before she can move much further in the relationship, or in her journey as a hero.
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Dr. Rose says:
ReplyDeleteBut is Riley really firmly in the "good" column if he is, however unwittingly, mixed up with the likes of Walsh and the initiative? It's the same question we asked of Spike - how much do good intentions matter if there is evil at the root, whether it's Spike "badness" or Riley's lack of knowledge about the Initiative's true character? is Buffy pushing him in to "grey" or enabling him examine his life more carefully?