#bargaining part two

[best-buffy-lines]

Bargaining, Part Two, 6.02

[withoutpassionwedbetrulydead]

Scoobies sans Buffy

There are a few times when the Scoobies have to function without Buffy, and it’s always interesting to see how they function. More than anything else, Buffy gave the group a sense of direction. She was the general.

When She Was Bad (2.01): There is not too much to talk about. Buffy is in Los Angeles for the summer. Meanwhile Xander, Willow, and Giles bury the bones of the Master and consecrate the ground. Willow mentions that there isn’t much demonic activity over that summer, so it seems that the Scooby Gang functions just fine, but with very little to do.

Killed By Death (2.18): With Buffy sick in the hospital, the everyday patrolling falls to the Gang. Mostly we see Xander stand up to Angelus, which shows competence and confidence. He doesn’t actually fight Angelus, but he also does not need Buffy’s direction.

Anne (3.01): The Scoobies have to hold down the fort while Buffy is in Los Angeles. Oz says they slay about 6 out of 10, which honestly, is pretty good without the Slayer. They also manage to not die, which is one of their objectives. They also always remember crosses and other protective gear, which they somehow usually forget otherwise. 

Where the Wild Things Are (4.18): Riley and Buffy can’t stop having sex and Xander, Willow, Anya, and Tara try to reach them. The Scoobies figure out what is going on, and not only control the situation pretty well, they fight their way through to house to get to Riley and Buffy. Anya and Xander in particular function really well fighting their way through the house.

Fool For Love (5.07): Riley takes the rest of the gang patrolling, but Willow and Xander eat chips too loudly, which leads Riley to send them home and come back to finish off the vampire nest himself with a grenade. The gang act like idiots, and then get mad when Riley blows up the tomb, but honestly, that’s one of the smartest thngs anyone ever did on that show.

Listening to Fear (5.09): The gang deals with the Quellar demon. Willow wants to bring in Buffy for direction, but Tara reminds her that Buffy has more important family things to deal with. Aside from Giles referring to the Quellar demon as a “killer snot monster from space”, they manage to hold down the fort.

Bargaining Part One/Two (6.01/6.02): With the aid of the Buffybot, the gang manages to make it through the MONTHS of Buffy’s death without the demon community knowing that the Slayer was not around, which is actually a pretty impressive accomplishment. The absolute highlight was Tara slaying a demon for the only time we see (as the audience). 

Empty Places/Touched/End of Days (7.19-7.21): This one is interesting because they are not without the advisory of a Slayer. Faith is still there, and she’s trying her hardest to lead, but it’s just not her forte. 

[best-buffy-lines]

Bargaining, Part Two, 6.02

[buffyandgaius]

motorcycle man almost run ovor spike lol

[analysingbooks]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Bargaining, Part Two

Is this hell?

[withoutpassionwedbetrulydead]

Bargaining Part Two

The way in which Tara comments on Buffy having to crawl out of her own grave really gets to me. It's full of crushing understanding, as Tara metaphorically had to crawl out of her own grave... the grave that Glory put her in.

[withoutpassionwedbetrulydead]

Bargaining Part Two

Much of season six is spent having the audience have dissonance between Spike appearing to have changed for the better, and Spike being very nearly worse than before. It should have been evident from the start that he really hadn't changed. When watching the demons looting Sunnydale, Spike looks longingly at them, wanting to join them. He revels in their destruction of the town. And when he and Dawn find the quartered Buffybot and Dawn goes to find Buffy (the other Buffy), Spike stays and almost mourns over the loss of the Buffybot. He doesn't notice that Dawn has run off. He just laments the destruction of his fake Buffy.

[withoutpassionwedbetrulydead]

Benediction (AtS 3.21)/Bargaining (BtVS 6.01/6.02)/After Life (BtVS 6.03)

When Cordelia "reads" Connor, she says that he felt like he was banished to Quortoth, that he belonged there. He felt like he was being punished for being born of two demons. 

This is how Willow felt in Bargaining. She wanted to pull Buffy out of "hell" because she felt like she was being punished for not being able to stop the ritual in The Gift. She felt like Buffy was being punished for being a martyr, and that she was banished somewhere she didn't deserve to be. 

And when Buffy came back, she felt like she was banished to Earth, that she didn't deserve to be in Heaven, and that she was being punished for something like letting her being the Slayer defile any remnants of pure selflessness she had in her (as she later tells Giles in the 7th season, she would have sacrificed Dawn, meaning that she had to have actively thought about it before). 

So while Connor felt banished to Hell and like he was being punished, Buffy felt banished to Earth and like she was being punished.