BUFFY REWATCH - S06E10 - Wrecked
*Cut to Buffy and Spike walking along. Sound of Dawn screaming. They both look to their right, exchange a quick look and rush off toward the sound. Cut back to the alley. Dawn screams and kicks as the demon drags her out from under the car. Her fists clutch at the ground. The demon pulls her all the way out and she throws a handful of dirt in his face. He lets her go and rubs at his eyes. Dawn gets up and tries to run away, but he grabs her. Dawn shrieks and hits at him with her fists. The demon backhands her and she flies quite a way down the alley, lands on the ground. She gets up on all fours and tries to crawl toward the stone wall. The demon comes over with one leap and snarls at her*
*Buffy tackles the demon, carrying him away from Dawn. They both roll, get up. Buffy punches him and they both go down again. Lying on the ground, she tries to kick him but he grabs her leg and shoves it away, gets up. Buffy gets up too, kicks the demon. Spike crouches next to Dawn to look at her injuries. Buffy ducks a couple of swings and then punches the demon. He punches her, then she kicks him and uses her leg to sweep his feet out from under him. He goes down. Buffy tries to grab him but he flings her off. She flies a few feet backward, lands in a crouch. She gets up and does a flying kick, then the demon grabs her shoulders but she breaks free and punches him. He punches her in the face, picks her up and throws her at the stone ceiling. She hits the ceiling and falls to the ground, gets up and faces off with the demon again. The demon growls and snarls, but as he advances, he begins to tremble all over*
*Buffy frowns as the demon begins to scream and steam comes off of him. He dissolves into a shower of sparks and smoke. Reveal Willow standing behind where the demon was. Magic sparks still crackle around her fingers. She walks forward and leans heavily against the wall. Her eyes are completely black and there's blood on her face. Buffy stares at her. Willow stands there panting*
DAWN: (Voice over): “No, no!”
*Buffy rushes over. Dawn still sits on the ground cradling her arm against her stomach, crying, with Spike hovering beside her*
What happened? Are you okay?”
DAWN: “He was after Willow, she made the car drive, don't!
*Buffy tries to look at her injured arm*
BUFFY: “I need to see, okay, let me see your arm.”
*Buffy murmurs reassuringly and tries to pull Dawn's arm gently away from her body. Willow rushes up*
WILLOW: “Dawn? Oh god, there's blood.”
“Okay, we need to get her to a doctor.”
WILLOW: “Is she okay? Is she okay?”
*Buffy and Spike help Dawn stand up*
BUFFY: “Back off, Will, I got her.”
*Buffy, Dawn, and Spike begin walking. Willow watches anxiously*
BUFFY: “I mean it, stay away from her!”
*Willow runs around in front of them*
WILLOW: “Dawnie! Dawnie, I'm so sorry!
I'm so sorry, it was an accident! I didn't see, I'm so, so sorry.
*Beat. Dawn glares angrily at Willow. Then Dawn slaps her across the face. Willow is shocked*
*The others resume walking as Willow continues to cry and beg*
Dawnie, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
*Willow falls to the ground crying hysterically*
*The others pause. Spike looks at Buffy, gives a slight nod, leads Dawn away. Buffy turns to look at Willow, walks slowly over to her with a stern expression*
WILLOW: “I screwed it up, everything, Tara...”
*Grabs Willow's arm roughly, pulls her to her feet*
“Yeah, you know what, you did screw up, okay? You could have killed her! You almost did!”
WILLOW: “I know! I know! I can't stop, Buffy! I tried and I can't.”
“I can't! I can't, I ju… god, I need help. Please!
*Willow puts her arms around Buffy and continues crying*
*Buffy slowly lifts her arms and hugs Willow back. Willow continues crying*
‘Wrecked’ is all about what can happen when the magical power Willow accumulates throughout the show becomes so corruptible mentally that she loses all rational thinking and informational processing cerebral capacity, and she is responsible for causing serious damage to both herself and others because of it. Due to the events of this episode she finally has to come to terms with her selfish choices and actions and get a handle on the addiction nobody other than Tara noticed that she has till now.
Something to keep in mind about Willow in understanding why she gets to this low point in going through all her sudden tumultuous changes in her negative character development in Season 6 is all her insecurities and anxieties that she doesn’t express herself on unless asked. Honestly, the character is really quite paranoid when it comes to how she thinks or feels or believes other people perceive of her. Her paranoia is something she doesn’t really address with anyone, if at all. Not even Tara. Those internal and intimate thoughts and emotions stay suppressed inside of her so that every time she voices her opinion on something when she develops the bravery to do so later in the show, she often comes across as arrogant and entitled. But if she could better communicate her thoughts and emotions with people, those people would understand her point of view better and realize that her intention is not to be that. She just doesn’t understand - and her way of understanding isn’t to ask questions, like it is for Anya. But it’s to automatically assume that she does understand. That’s because she lacks self-awareness on the most flawed and negative traits of her personality. So for example: when she has a fight with Tara in ‘All The Way’ - instead of communicating with her on how she feels about Tara’s expressing of her overusing magic, she goes for the attack instead and automatically assumes her and Giles are talking about her behind her back when Tara asks her to consider what Giles would say. It makes her come across as arrogant and entitled. But really, she deeply worries how both Tara and Giles perceive of her and can’t effectively communicate that. That’s her constant paranoia. Her fears of how people, especially her loved ones, perceive of her, and that she may lose them because of her belief of their perception of her.
I have said several times now that the character most likely has an undiagnosed variant of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) because she exhibits the same or similar behavioural patterns in the effort to control her experience: the situation, the environment, the people. Sometimes those behavioural patterns can manifest themselves physically, like in ‘The Body’ where she’s constantly changing her clothes because she’s so anxious and she can’t deal with her emotions, and so projects that by trying to control her appearance to others. Other times they remain entirely emotional and mental and she will project her thoughts and feelings on to people. Twisting their words and manipulating the context of whatever concept she and them are talking about in effort to control the situation and her involvement in that situation. Once again, that comes across as arrogance and entitlement, but really, it’s just lack of self-awareness or self-enquiry. She doesn’t know herself very well and so the way she processes information is in a very unhealthy way. She doesn’t ask questions. She doesn’t talk through her emotions with anyone. She just goes for the attack every time she’s called out and reprimanded for something she does in the need to control something or someone. It is honestly all about control for Willow. And if she can’t control it, she doesn’t know what to do about it and falls into a pit of self-doubt. What she has to learn is that not everything is within her control and accept that things just happen the way they happen. It’s better to express and communicate her thoughts and emotions with not having that control than to actively try to control it more. She’s not a bad person. Not really,… she just doesn’t know how to handle bad experiences. And like I said, that comes from not knowing herself very well. Not understanding her subconscious thought/feeling patterns. Why she thinks and feels a certain way. What the root cause for thinking/feeling that way is. How to deal with her insecurities and anxieties in healthy and non-judgemental ways so that those experiences are better for her. So that she can be happy and be a hero in her own right as that is really all she wants out of life.
That’s Willow’s absolutely profound character arc and I adore it. And therefore I adore her character because of it. The fact she is so flawed and frustrating is why she is such a beloved character for me. As I said - negative character development is a good thing to me. It’s something I don’t run or shy away from in interacting with art/entertainment because it helps me learn things about myself and the world around me. I look for characters that struggle psychologically because understanding the human condition is so very important to me. I just think her character is incredible representation for that. For helping people to acknowledge, address and deal with all their internal shit and realize that they might be in the wrong sometimes because it happens. And thus, growing and expanding in their consciousness evolution. Learning their mental well-being. I think that is so very important to be represented in art/entertainment because we only learn from either what we personally experience ourselves or what we vicariously experience through reflections of ourselves that we may not recognize. For me, this is what Willow Rosenberg represents in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. A human being that experiences and interacts with the supernatural to the point where she becomes less and less human, and yet, at the same time because of her flaws, shows herself to be as human as they come. Because humans are flawed and it’s important to understand that that’s okay. We can only do the best we can in the moment. We must allow ourselves the space and time to work through our issues and struggles any way we can. That’s why Willow’s arc is so profound to me. There is very few characters in TV like her with such immense written character development. It really is a shame.
Furthermore, Alyson Hannigan’s portrayal and performance in this episode especially is remarkable to me. She absolutely nails the wreckage of Willow and makes you really feel for her character despite the fact it’s entirely her fault what happens. Watching Willow fall to the floor in the climatic scene brings me to tears every time I watch it. The way the actress was able to stay in control of her performance and clearly and concisely deliver her lines while falling to pieces. It’s award-winning level acting skill and talent. Alyson Hannigan deserved an Emmy for this scene right here.
