#consequences-posting

[faith-thee-slayer]

you just know when angel said this her heart broke

[faith-thee-slayer]

the moment she finally realizes that faith needs her. but faith is already gone

[faith-thee-slayer]

Giles lying to Faith here was so reckless. Yes, his reasoning was so Faith would believe he's on her side, that she needed someone in her corner who believed she wasn't to blame for killing Finch (she wanted him to believe she actually didn't do it. Really, she wanted someone to believe that even though she did it, it was genuinely an accident undeserving of serious repercussions. Faith believed Buffy saw her as a killer that needed to turn herself in). But that lie was always going to be found out sooner or later. And for Faith to eventually find out that Giles was lying the whole time would be ultimately worse, leading her to feeling like she couldn't trust anyone.

His initial reaction to Buffy coming to confess gave Faith a terrible impression of the situation. If he acted harshly towards his golden child, how would he act if he knew Faith killed Finch and lied about it? This did nothing to assuage her fears to eventually get her to confess. He also said "I don't want to hear any more lies" which could've been a hint towards Faith that he knew she was lying, but it went over her head at best, and kept her clinging further to her lie at worst.

Giles told Buffy in the office that "this is not the first time something like this has happened, accidents have happened" which parallels the conversation Faith had with Buffy earlier in the episode (even though Faith's justification was to avoid responsibility). He told Buffy that the Council usually investigates, but he didn't plan on telling them anyway. Did he say any of this to Faith? Or, knowing that Faith still had to accept responsibility, could he have possibly offered some assurance that the accident was not likely to be punished harshly?

Giles is smart. If he knew Faith was lying, he could've asked more questions that might lead to the truth, especially when he said she's a bad liar. Faith respects Giles. Out of everyone, he's the one that she'd most likely tell the truth to. He in some way could've steered the conversation towards her confessing. Or at least mention the things he told Buffy, and let Faith know that any sort of consequences to come wouldn't necessarily be major.

[faith-thee-slayer]

Buffy's intervention in Revelations vs. Faith's intervention in Consequences

[faith-thee-slayer]

y'all know what I realized. she says "i hope evil takes mastercard" offhandedly to spite angel, but that's literally what happens. she gives in to evil and hurts other people, basically going into debt. and then she ends up paying for it later via emotional suffering, jail, and her redemption path...

[faith-thee-slayer]

rewatching ‘consequences’ for an edit and just revisiting faith’s scenes with buffy + the end scene where she turns to the mayor... it’s so fucking sad to think about how all she wanted was to be buffy. for buffy to see her as an equal. and she makes one mistake on patrol and doesn’t know what to do other than the only thing she’s ever been good at which is to run away. and everyone starts voicing their concerns and giving her pity looks and she can’t handle it because it’d mean that no, she is not the same as buffy. this thing wouldn’t have happened to buffy. all faith has in her life is slaying. it’s the thing that gives her a reason to live, and now she can’t even do that right? they have real reasons to be worried about her but through their attempts to chain her and lock her up + the final denial from buffy at the docks, they further cement in her mind that she can’t be good. because the good slayer wouldn’t have killed a man on patrol. she thinks that maybe she was never good at all, that she was just pretending to be good. so she turns to evil, because why not? isn’t that more fitting for someone like her?