- Proper roles – Male & female – Adult & child – Conclusion – Spicy extras for James Marsters fans -

This episode is about our proper roles and the consequences of accepting or abandoning responsibility. It is also literally about role-playing, as the ghosts of James & Grace, doomed lovers, force unwitting people to replay the final tragic scene of their romance.

References to books, movies and plays emphasize the importance of roles, and suggest that life imitates art, overtly layering an episode in which viewers watch actors portray fictional characters – who themselves reference fiction and are made to act out other roles. Some examples:

• Snyder tells Buffy that he saw the movie JFK.
• James, a high school student, tells his lover (and teacher) Grace that he has read a Hemingway novel she gave him (A Farewell to Arms).
• At one point, Xander can’t understand Giles’ and says: "Fill me in then, ‘cause I’ve read the book, seen the movie, and I’m still fuzzy . . ."
• Xander references Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice when he tells Buffy, "The quality of mercy is not Buffy."
• At the mention of exorcism, Cordelia says: "I saw that movie! Even the priest died!"

So we’re ready and set - let’s go examine the roles involved. The relationship between James & Grace defines the context of our analysis. They are male & female, but they are also child & adult. We are first invited to see their roles primarily as the former. James is the stereotypical violent, jealous male and Grace is his pleading female victim. After a brutal, highly emotional confrontation, James shoots Grace to death on a balcony in the high school.

At first, Buffy seems to identify with Grace. James’ ghost is active and trying to change the past by forcing others to re-enact the argument and the shooting. When a boy-girl pair of Buffy’s schoolmates become victims of James’ ghost, Buffy is angry with the boy, telling him that he "went OJ" on his girlfriend, and calling him a jerk. She concludes that the ghost is James, rather than Grace, because of "how violent it is." Though Willow expresses some sympathy for James, Buffy says: "He’s a murderer, and he should pay for it."

But what we see in this episode is that it is women, not men, who usually pay for sexual misconduct. Listen to Cordelia, right after we watch her pay for a plate of spaghetti in the cafeteria: "I hope you guys aren’t going to the Sadie Hawkins Dance tonight . . . Do you realize that the girls have to ask the guys? And pay and everything?"

Yes, Cordelia. The girls have to pay and pay and pay. It is girls whose reputations are sullied and girls who find themselves pregnant. It is Grace who paid with her life. And it is Buffy, unlike Angel, who is weighed down by guilt and grief over Angel’s death-by-orgasm. Buffy, in the beginning of this episode, describes the loss of Angel to Willow:

Willow: "You’re thinking too much. Maybe you need to be impulsive."

Buffy: "Impulsive? Do you remember my ex-boyfriend, the vampire? I slept with him, he lost his soul, and the demon that wears his face is killing my friends. The next impulsive decision I make will involve my choice of dentures."

In taking complete responsibility for the sex act that "killed" Angel, as well as for the horrible consequences that followed, Buffy is assuming the traditional female role of keeper of the vaginal gate. A male is expected to indulge in every sexual opportunity; the female is totally responsible for imposing restraint.

As the episode moves forward, we hear Buffy make more comments revealing that she holds herself entirely at fault. Because of her youth, and because her love for Angel is "a kind of blind love" (to quote the song from the episode’s title), Buffy demonstrates zero ability to see or understand Angel’s own culpability for the loss of his soul. So it follows that it becomes James, not Grace, with whom Buffy identifies the most. And she refuses to acknowledge that James (and symbolically, she herself) may deserve any forgiveness, saying: "No. James destroyed the one person he loved the most in a moment of blind passion. And that’s not something you forgive . . . it was wrong and selfish and stupid."

Though Buffy may have decided that fault for their respective tragedies lies entirely with her and James, this episode suggests that true blame lies elsewhere. If we look just beneath the surface of the text, we find Buffy & James portrayed as victims of adults who have abdicated their responsibilities in pursuit of their own selfish desires and needs. Consider the following:

WILLOW & GILES: When we first see these two, Giles arrives at Jenny’s old classroom to check on Willow. Willow is in the adult role of substitute teacher because of Angel’s murder of Jenny. Giles stops in to see if she needs "any assistance." But it is Willow who ends up assisting Giles, helping him feel better by giving him Jenny’s rose quartz with healing powers. Later, Giles gives in to his own desires and irrationally insists that the destructive ghost must be Jenny. This indulgence effectively renders him useless to Buffy and the rest of the teenage Scoobies during their time of need. Buffy blames herself for Giles’ behavior, calling it a "fall out from her love life." Willow must step into Giles’ role – doing all the research and taking charge. Giles’ abdication leaves Willow and the others in serious danger when her plan goes awry. It is not until Giles rescues Willow and allows his love and concern for her take priority over any thought of himself, that he lets go of his selfish need to see Jenny and reclaims his role as an adult in authority.

SPIKE & DRU & ANGEL: Oh, what an icky Oedipal mess we have here. Spike is the "child" in this threesome; Dru & Angel can be seen as his parents. There is the siring relationship, and there is also Spike’s helpless wheelchair-bound state. In Passion, we learned that Dru must bathe him and change him. But Dru & Angel are not going to win any parenting awards for bringing up Baby. Spike, sounding very much like a child who has been forced to move, correctly blames Angel for the need to leave the factory: "Well, our old place was just fine till you went and had it burned down." But Angel accepts no responsibility, and makes fun of Spike in response. Dru also gives Spike’s feelings little thought as she indulges her sexual needs and responds gleefully to Angel’s advances, right in front of Spike’s nose. And though it is Angel who is Dru’s sire, we see it is Spike, the "child", who must play the adult. Angel, the "father", is interested only in his own enjoyment. In the exchange below, notice Spike’s fatherly concern for his "mummy" Dru, and how, in light of Daddy’s selfish behavior, it is Spike who must take responsibility for getting to the bottom of things:

Dru: "Maybe I'll sleep underground. Dig myself a little burrow."

Spike: "What about your pretty dress, sweet? It'll get all dirty."

Dru: "Then I'll sleep naked. Like the animals do."

Angel: "You know, I'm suddenly liking this plan."

Dru (later in the conversation, seeing visions): "There's a gate! It's opening!"

Angel: "Incoming! I love when she does this."

Spike: "What gate, pet? What do you see?"

THE SCOOBIES & THE SCHOOL: Both Xander and Cordelia make many comments disparaging the school and disdaining its authority. Sunnydale High, after all, is a dangerous place for the students it is bound to protect. Xander is attacked at his locker, the students are "fed" snakes, and finally, the school becomes covered in wasps. Principal Snyder and other authorities are seen as ineffectual in combating the threat. Snyder promises the police chief that he can "handle it." But in the next scene, Xander is asking Buffy if she is sure she can "handle it." We see that, ultimately, it is up to a group of students – Buffy & the Scoobies – to save the day. Note that Buffy’s history teacher makes a passing mention of child labor as he unconsciously writes, "Don’t walk away from me, bitch!" on the chalkboard.

BUFFY & PRINCIPAL SNYDER: After the first incident of violence, Principal Snyder explicitly absolves himself of blame and responsibility for the near shooting death of the female student. He calls Buffy into his office and says to her: "I’m gonna look at all the pieces carefully and rationally, and I’m gonna keep looking until I know exactly how this is all your fault."

BUFFY & ANGEL: Though Angel was the adult in his relationship with Buffy, it is Buffy who is accepting all the blame and punishment for their sexual encounter and its tragic consequences. Both Buffy (in this episode) & Angel (in Innocence) use the same words to blame Buffy for the incident: "That’s not something you forgive." In deciding to have sex with Buffy, Angel abdicated his responsibility as an adult by selfishly giving in to his own desires. And later, because of his transformation to Angelus, he joins Buffy in placing the fault entirely on her. And Buffy, because she is still a child, idealizes the "parent" and blames herself - as children everywhere always do - when things go wrong.

JAMES & GRACE: When we compare Buffy & Angel to James & Grace based on age and responsibility rather than gender, it becomes clear why James picks Buffy to re-enact his role. Grace was James’ teacher. Like Angel, she abdicated her responsibility as an adult to give in to her desires for sex and love. And it is James, like Buffy, who is the one condemned to eternal suffering; it is James who pays and pays. But, like Giles with Willow, Grace reassumes responsibility when she rescues James, offering him selfless and unconditional love by forgiving him. She speaks to James through Angel: "It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident . . . I’m the one who should be sorry, James." And since Grace’s words are actually being spoken by Angel to Buffy, the implication is that Angel might say the same thing, if only he could be momentarily re-ensouled.

But no such luck. When the spirits of James & Grace leave Buffy & Angel during their kiss, Buffy – because she only has eyes for Angel – looks at the demon in front of her and cannot see it. Instead, she whispers hopefully, "Angel." But it is not her Angel.

When next we see Buffy, she seems to be making the first step toward forgiving herself. Earlier, Giles told her that "to forgive is an act of compassion . . . it’s not done because people deserve it. It’s done because they need it." At the time, Buffy angrily disagreed. But after witnessing Grace’s forgiveness of James, she is feeling differently:

Giles: "Well . . . they can both rest now."

Buffy (who identifies with both Grace and James): "I still . . . a part of me just doesn’t understand why she would forgive him."

Giles: "Does it matter?"

Buffy: "I guess not."

Blame, forgiveness, love, selfishness – listen carefully to the dialogue throughout this episode, and you will find many references to these concepts. Among other things, a mention of the notorious Dr Laura gives us a vivid picture of the way unrelenting faultfinding precludes forgiveness and resolution. And several characters comment about "not caring" what others want, or, like Xander asking Buffy if her accurate dreams included any goodies for him, sometimes seem totally self-absorbed. Selfishness, represented most strongly in what can be seen as the most self-indulgent act of all –suicide - precludes love. James commits suicide, Spike tells Angel that the large windows and gardens of the mansion are a possible suicidal indulgence, and a mention of Hemingway serves to invoke both the image of suicide, and the image of the traditional virile male, rewarded and admired for sexual prowess and promiscuity.

At the end of the episode, we rejoin Spike, Angel, and Dru. Unlike Buffy, the soulless Angel has had no revelations from his experience with Grace & James. He is angry about being violated by love, and tellingly, wants to indulge his base desires by killing a toddler (at Dru’s suggestion) to wipe "this crap" out of his system. When Angel refuses to take Spike on the hunt, Spike is again cast in the role of the child, left behind by his parents because he will be too much of a burden. "Try to have fun without me," says Angel.

A moment after Angel’s departure, Spike responds, "Oh, I will." When, earlier in the episode, Buffy/James kills Angel/Grace with a gun, Buffy’s upcoming season-ending encounter with Angel is eerily foreshadowed. And now, we also see a hint of Spike’s future alliance with The Slayer against Angel: Spike rises from his wheelchair, gives it a vicious kick to the side, and adds: "Sooner than you think. " Sonny-boy, apparently, has plans to get even with papa.

Spicy extras for James Marsters fans

• Oooooh . . . James is so good at showing us Spike seething inwardly. You gotta love a guy who really knows how to feel.
• Yay!! Spike is back on his feet!!
• There are more parallels drawn between Spike & Buffy. At the beginning of the episode, Willow tells Buffy she should try to have fun. At the end, Angel tells Spike the same thing (sarcastically). Buffy & Spike are both portrayed as children wronged or abandoned by the adults they depend upon (and both can list Angel as one of the perpetrators). And at the end of the episode, they are both liberated (Spike from his wheelchair, and Buffy from her crippling guilt) and starting fresh.
• There are many shots of Spike’s face in the half-light. Spike is one complicated vampire – an evil being who manages, somehow, to selflessly love Dru. The half-light also foreshadows his upcoming brief alignment with the good guys. Spike in half-light will become a very familiar sight as the series continues and Spike’s "evil" becomes more and more ambiguous.