Easy To Say, Hard To Mean

Hmm, that title sounds vaguely like a Claremontism. Bit of news, I'll be getting my comics tomorrow, so reviews Monday, and I'm sure Adorable Baby Panda will swing by Tuesday. So that'll be two days of joy. I mention that, because I figure it means I can go ahead and rave a little bit more today. I'm shooting for "calmly sarcastic", but may drift into "angry bellowing". Or the Internet equivalent, anyway.

I mentioned that I found the image for yesterday's post on scans_daily. I know some people in the blogrealm are not big fans of the site, and they have their reasons. I find it useful for introducing me to old comics I might want to go hunting for, and occasionally funny. Still, I probably ought to stop reading the comments. But, as I hadn't cured myself of that habit by yesterday, I ambled through the comments for the posts covering that arc from Buffy Season 8. One comment I saw more than once was that the fight between Buffy and Faith in issue #8 shouldn't have happened because those two made peace in Season 7. Well, OK, let's chat about that. Or I will. You don't have to if you don't want, but it's probably good for someone not as much of a Faith homer as I am to balance me out.

Anyway, in the issue itself, Buffy has been teleported without warning to Gigi's estate, which causes her to throw up. When she stands up, Gigi kicks her in the face and starts talking about how she thought Buffy would be harder to kill than all the other Slayers she'd disposed of. They fight a bit, then Faith, in an attempt to rescue Buffy, tackles her out a window, causing them to fall into a shallow pool. Given those circumstances, and their past history, I can completely understand Buffy thinking Faith's gone to the Dark Side again, at least initially. As for Faith, well she probably didn't appreciate her attempt to help Buffy being rewarded with punches, so she hit back, which certainly isn't going to help things, even if she's just trying to slow Buffy long enough to explain. Then when Faith tries to explain Giles sent her there undercover, Buffy pops her again, and says Giles never trusted Faith, and neither did she. Ooo, that's hitting a sore spot with Faith, so then she actually does try and kill Buffy, until she gets herself back under control, by which time Willow manages to teleport Buffy back home. So the whole sequence is largely a product of Buffy being involved in a fight for her life when Faith makes her presence known, and both characters letting tempers get the better of themselves. Happens all the time.

But let's consider the supposed peace the two established in Season 7. It was primarily Buffy showing a willingness to let bygones be bygones, since she was the one that had been wronged. Well, ask yourself if, on an occasion where you've been wronged, have you ever, at a later date, told that person "It's OK," or "I forgive you"? If so, did you ever say it and not really mean it? Perhaps you were in a good mood, they looked down in the dumps, and you felt like trying to raise their spirits, or you were just being polite, or you were trying your best to mean it, but couldn't pull it off. Hey, we're not perfect, and we can only try our best to move forward. And when I think of the scene, I see Buffy making a real effort to bridge the gap between them, and Faith accepting that it's probably the best B can do.

I mean, Faith seemed to be struggling for that since she got there. She took Dawn's 'Are we letting the escaped murderer stay here?*' line, she didn't lash out when Buffy popped her for taking the Potentials to the Bronze to unwind without consulting Generalissimo Summers first**. She's trying to follow orders, but she's still herself enough to call Buffy on her dictatorial attitude, which inadvertently gets her named as new head honcho, which wasn't something she was expecting. So she tries to lead, and nearly get s blown up for her troubles. Meanwhile, Buffy stumbles on the fabled axe-thing, kills Stupid Preacher Guy, and finds the panicked Potentials Faith brought with her and saves them from Super-Vamps. Buffy is bathed in glory and resumes command, and Faith is dinged up in Buffy's bed. So Buffy's feeling good, she knows Faith tried her best, and so she tries to give Faith the forgiveness she wants. And Faith accepts the offer. maybe she believes it, maybe she just figures it's the best she can hope for***.

I'm trying to think of a good comparison from comics. I suppose you could compare it to Hal Jordan and the Green Lanterns he mowed through during the Parallax days. I know a few of them (all?) have made peace with Jordan since then. Arisia and Tomar for sure, I think. But you have to wonder, if Hal starts acting a little wonky, are they going to get ready to take him out, just in case it wasn't Parallax (or the Yellow Bug is back inside him)?

* I can't remember whether Dawn said "convict" or "murderer". I think it was the latter, and if so, well Dawn, given that Andrew, Anya, Giles, Spike, and Willow are already staying at the Summers' home prior to Faith's arrival, I'd say, yeah, the murderers are staying there. If it was convict, well, just because you went to prison doesn't mean you're guilty, and just because you haven't been to prison doesn't mean you're an innocent. Yes, Faith was guilty of what she was convicted of, but like I said, Andrew's guilty too, and he hasn't been convicted.

** I'm not sure which part was what caused Buffy to punch her, taking the kids out of the house, or not asking permission.

*** I kind of got the feeling that the body-swap in Season 4 provided Faith with some insights into Buffy, and who she is, and what it's like to be the Slayer people believe in, and are glad to see arrive to save the day. I'm not as certain Buffy learned anything about what it means to be Faith, though to be fair she had to spend some time escaping those Watcher idiots, and getting her friends on her side. Doesn't perhaps provide opportunities for reflection on the lives' of others.