Sweet Dreams

The Yoko Factor, Primeval, Restless

In The Yoko Factor and Primeval, metaphors are embodied, epic battles are fought, friends and comrades die, evil is defeated. Surprise. While they’re interesting episodes, and valid parts of the Buffyverse, Restless stands out, if only because it’s so Other. The world, for once is not it peril. Whedon instead keeps the focus closer to home, following each of our four favorites through the dreams.

Willow’s major fear throughout her dream is the disguise she’s forced to wear. At first it seems like this refers to her new-found gayness. But Willow and Tara’s relationship has already been accepted by those closest to them, and Willow describes it as her safe place. They even have a kitten. What’s safer and more snuggly than a kitten? It’s interesting how Tara says that the kitten will be ok, even though it doesn’t have a name. It will define itself, much like the relationship between Tara and Willow. Of course, Willow has to leave her safe place, and go out into the world where we all play a role. Here we see that Willow’s disguise isn’t hiding her homosexuality, but her lack of self-esteem. When her costume comes off, Willow’s still the same nerd she was in high school, ignored by those around her, until she’s attacked by a stronger force. From her dream it seems that Willow actually hasn’t grown as much as it appears, or at least that she doesn’t recognize how much she’s grown. She stills sees her inner-self as a vulnerable outcast.

Xander’s next on the couch, and Freud would have him sorted out in a second. Whether with Joyce, Willow and Tara, Anya, or casting spells himself, Xander is ridiculously preoccupied with sex, but Whedon seems to emphasizes that Xander wants more than just the physical intimacy-usually- he just wants to be loved and needed. He’s as willing to be a ‘comfortador’ as a conquistador. This ties into Xander’s usual fantasy of being a hyper-masculine soldier throughout the series. No matter how hard Xander tries though, he continuously ends up in his dead-end basement, where he’s vulnerable to his family and fear of the future.

Giles’s dream also revolves around his desires for a relationship. He, of course, plays the father figure, with Buffy and his lover wandering through a carnival where the vampires and demons are no more than entertaining games. But, Spike quickly comes into the picture, and Giles has to choose between attending to his weeping lover (and empty baby carriage) or dealing with the 30’s-movie-villian-esque Spike. Giles, being the responsible man he is, chooses duty over love, but is confronted with another issue. His living room, dusty volumes included, is moved to the middle of the Bronze. Giles attempts to combine his role as the distant adult with that of rock star, in the middle of things, being cheered on. It doesn’t quit work out, and Giles is lead away, off the stage and out of the spotlight. Here, he finds his watch, a clear reference to his duties as Watcher, hidden beneath the tangle of his other desires. He realizes too late though, and is unfortunately at the mercy (or lack of same) of the Primal.

Buffy’s dream starts out with a normal-enough fear. Her mother has actually followed her to college, and is walled up in the building. Having one’s parent that close, just when you’re ready to move on- very frightening. Buffy quickly enters the weird-realm, though, when she’s Riley and the non-Frankenstein version of Adam discussing world domination as paragons of masculinity and cold, impersonal governmental power. Their masculinity is even more overt given Buffy’s hyper-feminine appearance as she stands across from them, in an adorable white dress, complete with a bright cherry pattern. The discrepancy continues when Riley and Adam gather weapons: “We should build a fort, I’ll get some pillows.” Boys and their toys, they show the masculine tendency to make violence as cold and organized as possible. However, when Buffy reaches for her weapons, she finds only the warm, primeval mud of her ancestors. Buffy’s (and thus female’s) version of war is inherited, not inherent. Buffy has all the power of the past behind her.

Still, she refuses to have the restraints of the past hold her back. When confronted by the Primal, she repeated denies being alone. Instead of using raw strength passed down through unknown ancestors, Buffy relies on the strength she derives from those around her. In the same way Buffy refuses the Primal’s assertion about her destiny, Buffy also originally rejected Tara’s tarot card. But, when Buffy looks down at the tarot cards in the desert, she sees her friends, who have effectively altered her fate from the cold mysticism of the early card. Buffy has chosen her path, and saves her friends from the dreams through her anti-climatic refusal to do battle with the Big Bad Slayer. Buffy has chosen her own fate, and nothing- demons, the Primal, or the Cheese Man- can stand in her way.