Season 5
Episode 5
by Spring Summers -28-Feb-04
- Boundary issues - Proper
identification – Raging insincerity – Letting others in – Finding a balance
– More growing up – Spicy Extras
for James Marsters fans -
In last week’s episode,
Buffy mentioned controversial French Revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat, and his equally
controversial assassin, Charlotte Corday.
On the Internet, I read a note that Corday had written, hoping it would
gain her (and her very sharp knife!) entry into Marat’s home. Here is the sentence that struck me hardest
(translated from the French): “My great
unhappiness entitles me to your kindness.”
There is always
somebody wanting something from you.
There is always someone pounding on your door, or someone calling on
your phone – someone asking for your money or your effort or your time or even
your life. The richer or stronger or
smarter you are, the more people tug at you, with their wet needs for help and
attention. They’ll drain you stone-dry,
if you let them.
GLORY: “Yes, I said humans . . . wriggling, piling,
prowling, crawling, clowning, cavorting, doing it over and over and over until
someone is gonna sit on their tuffet and make this birthing stop!”
GILES: “Xander!
There’s too many of them!
People! And they all seem to want
things!”
The bell above the
door into Giles’ shop just keeps ringing and ringing. This episode continues Season 5’s identity-definition
theme by looking at the need to establish boundaries against perennial
invaders, and the processes needed to optimally (if forever imperfectly) define
and defend your perimeter. Notice the
images in the opening sequence:
·
Monks
are barring the door against a force which is determined to pound its way into
the monastery.
·
Buffy
is fighting in an abandoned lot, and at the fade in, we focus first on this
sign:
PRIVATE
PROPERTY
NO
TRESSPASSING
VIOLATORS
WILL BE PROSECUTED
And, as the
episode progresses, there are other images of people who seem to believe that
their great need entitles them to the kindness of others:
GLORY
(to the Monk): “I’m hurt by your
incredibly selfish behavior! Newsflash,
hairdo – it’s not always about you. All
I want is The Key!” Glory is desperate for The Key that can let her go home. As she refers to her “boundary issues,” she expresses
her belief that she is justified in cruelly and ruthlessly attacking the Monk,
in order to obtain what she needs.
SPIKE
(to Buffy): “You know, contrary to one’s
self-involved world view, your house happens to be between parts – and other
parts of this town . . . and I never really liked you anyway, and you have
stupid hair.” Spike is desperate for . . . something from Buffy - a key to go home, of
sorts. With his bluster, he tries to
justify his stalking and trespassing.
But Spike’s presence is actually all about filling his own nameless need
to be near Buffy. And at the end of this
encounter, we see Dawn, watching them from an upstairs window. Look: There’s
The Key, way above Spike’s head.
MONK
(to Buffy): “We knew The Slayer would
protect . . . you cannot abandon . . .” The
monks needed someone to protect The Key.
In desperate straits, they felt they had the right to take the outrageous
liberty of altering Buffy & Company’s memories, and of putting the
dangerous Key in Buffy’s home.
Several references
to Buffy’s “Chosen One” reflexes and superpowers emphasize an important message
in this episode: The more you have to
give, the more people want. Talents and
gifts – whether they are superpowers or more commonly endowed advantages like
great beauty or wealth or intelligence or musical genius - come with a price,
and with responsibilities: To have the courage to say yes to deserving
requests, the strength to say no to parasitic requests, and the wisdom to know
the difference.
Meeting those responsibilities can be a
nearly impossible challenge; it’s difficult for human beings to patrol
their long, contiguous borders. The
importance of properly “knowing the difference,” of knowing yourself and
others, of identifying the truth, is emphasized with repeated mention of
distraction and concentration, and with these images:
·
The
watchman-madman whose madness allows him to “see through what the rest of us
are seeing.”
·
The
“spell to see spells” which Buffy uses to try to learn what is wrong with her
mother.
·
Glory’s
pretty-girl looks, which belie her tremendous strength.
·
The drug-affect
references and imagery. Note the details
of the preparation for, and the affect on Buffy of, the “spell to see spells.” Those scenes are full of drug imagery, as Dawn
claims that Buffy’s clothes will reek, and Buffy puts a towel under her bedroom
door (all that’s missing is the bong). Later,
Buffy tries to act “straight” with Joyce.
There are other drug mentions – e.g., the madman claims that the
prescription drugs are useless, and Joyce mentions placebos.
·
The
difficulty we Viewers have in deciding if Dawn has evil or innocent intentions.
The various images
and references speak to the difficult and ambiguous nature of a very important,
life-long chore: perceiving reality.
Knowledge is
power. When it comes to protecting your
borders (and everything within them, including your loved ones), a clear
understanding of the truth is essential.
Hammering this theme is an emphasis on names and qualifications – some
examples (among many) are below:
NAMES & TITLES
– Get the name right. You need to know
what you’re looking at:
DAWN:
“Oh, Mom! That’s like my
kid name.”
BUFFY:
“Did you ever have any names for me?”
JOYCE: “No - I think you
were always just Buffy.”
DAWN: “I got some names
for ya. . .”
You
can’t be a Vampire Slayer, and a little punkin’ belly, all at the same
time. You get the power, you get the
responsibility. It’s right there in the
names. Identify yourself and others
correctly. It’s important to know who
you are – and aren’t - in order to understand your place and purpose in the
world, in order to find your proper home.
BUFFY:
“I’m going to go back to the factory where I found it. Whoever planted this doohickey’s got answers.’
GILES:
“Buffy, you’ve heard me say this before, but do be careful. Anything that goes unnamed is usually an
object of deep worship or great fear - maybe both.”
When
you don’t know its name, when you can’t identify it – that’s when something is
at its scariest, that’s when you are most vulnerable to it. Listen to the exchange at the very end of
this episode: DAWN: “What’s wrong with Mom?” BUFFY:
“I don’t know.” A nameless threat
is much scarier for The Slayer, than any demon could ever be.
BUFFY:
“Don’t take this the wrong way but. . .” (She socks him in
the nose.)
SPIKE:
“Ow!”
BUFFY:
“What are you doing here? Five words or less.”
SPIKE (counting the words with his
fingers): “Out-for-a-walk. Bitch.”
BUFFY:
“Out for a walk at night by my house. No one has time for this, William.” Maybe
there’s some spell-to-see-spells mojo left in Buffy here, because she uses his
kid name. She seems to subconsciously realize
that she’s looking at William – shy, nervous William, trying to hide his
anxiety behind “Spike.”
Oh
boy. Spike & Buffy are starting to
get into serious trouble. Spike
shouldn’t forget that Buffy has another name: The Slayer. Spike!
Take note of how she socked you in the nose! And Buffy needs to remember that William is
also Spike. Buffy! Stop to think about those cigarette butts,
why don’t you? Don’t you two want
to protect your boundaries here?
QUALIFICATIONS – you need to have the knowledge and training to
name what’s in front of you, and handle it successfully. Here are some examples of the way this
episode emphasizes the importance of experience and knowledge:
·
Buffy wants her mother to get a second
opinion.
·
Ben points out his “almost a doctor”
qualifications.
·
·
Giles tells Buffy that the “spell to see
spells” is risky, because she is an amateur, not the legendary Sorcerer
Cloutier, when it comes to trances.
·
Joyce agrees she doesn’t have to worry
about Buffy patrolling because “it’s not like she’s never patrolled before.”
·
Buffy tells the monk: “Don’t worry.
I’m stronger than I look. I’ve
had experience with stuff like this before.”
Get your creds, or
find someone with the proper training, and keep your eyes open. Other people and impersonal external forces
wage constant battles against your fortress walls – watch out or they’ll find your
weak spot, they’ll crash right through.
Or maybe they’ll sneak across the border. They’ll
slip in by hook or by crook. The images
of Glory hammering and bullying her way into the spaces of others are mirrored
in the images of people using in what Xander calls “raging insincerity” to break
through resistance, to get others to do what they need them to do:
XANDER:
“Anya, the Shopkeeper’s Union of
ANYA: “But I have their money. Who cares what kind of day they have?”
XANDER: “No one.
It’s just a long cultural tradition of raging insincerity. Embrace it.”
Shopkeepers
pretend to care to get you to surrender your money. We also see Giles using social niceties with
his customers (“Thank you for choosing to shop at the Magic Box.”), only to
later hear him say about the entrance bell:
“Would someone please rip that bloody bell off its hinges??”
·
BUFFY: “Thanks for coming over. I really appreciate the help.”
RILEY: “Sure thing, what do I do?”
BUFFY:
“Lots.
Tons. Lots and lots and tons . .
.”
RILEY
(later in the same conversation): “Are
you sure this isn’t your way of trying to make me feel less – what are the
words – cute and weak and kittenish?”
Buffy
is pretending to need Riley more than she really does, in an attempt to keep
him happy and by her side – and to fill her need for a boyfriend. Notice Buffy’s first words to Riley: “Thanks
for coming over.” And Riley’s parting
words for this encounter are: “Have a
nice trip.” Buffy means it when she says
she doesn’t want to see Riley get hurt.
And Riley means it when he tells Buffy “Look, I really am OK.” But look through the gift-wrapping: Those opening and closing phrases, so very,
very similar to shopkeeper-niceties, betray a certain (subconscious) raging
insincerity.
But this episode is not only about the
trials and tribulations of trying to forestall outright and underhanded assaults upon
our territory. No man is meant to be an
island, or even a peninsula. We’re all
landlocked, for all the joy and misery that brings us. We are all squeezed in against each other,
and we need each other.
So
living a successful life isn’t just about keeping people OUT of our homes. We also need to let them IN to our
homes. The positive side of allowing immigration
is also seen this episode. It’s not just
about knowing your enemies; it’s also about knowing your friends. There are frequent mention and images of:
We need other
people. We need to give and receive help
from them, make deals with them, socialize with them, and make contact with
them through communication. Home is
where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. So the answer isn’t in building an
impenetrable fortress, but neither is it in wide-open and wholly unguarded
borders. Hard work, risk-taking by
allowing yourself to hope and love, knowing your self and your limits, and
constant, clear-eyed vigilance are the only answers to successfully tapping
into what the external world has to offer, while also letting it tap into you.
Find a balance, laissez-faire:
GILES: “Magic’s a small niche market. But well, think about it. Sunnydale, monsters – supply and demand. They’ll be lining up around the block in no
time.”
When the bell
rings, it’s time to get up and serve your customers. But when your feet get numb, it’s time to
lock the door and put out the closed sign.
Strike a balance between caring for others and caring for yourself - else,
you will find yourself useless to all:
XANDER
(about Giles’ reaction to his crowded shop):
“Damn! The thousand-yard
stare. You hate to see that on any man,
especially in retail.”
The thousand yard
stare: It’s a term that refers to the
numb, emotionless look of bone-weary and overwhelmed combat soldiers (WW I
& II) or the empty expression of the young soldiers who bore the unbearable
by smoking dope (
Buffy is The Slayer, but she’s also a very young
woman. This
episode’s title, No Place Like Home,
is a reference to the Wizard of Oz
– similar references were used in Season 4 to remind us of Buffy’s youth and
her need for the faithful friends that accompany her on her journey toward
adulthood.
This episode also contains
reminders of the growing up process – we see Buffy’s envy of Dawn’s childhood,
and we watch her disapprove of childish behavior by Giles, when he greets her
in his wizard outfit. We see grown-up
Giles’ childish glee in making his first sale, and we snicker at Spike as he behaves
like love-sick adolescent.
You gotta grow
up. But you can never (and are never
meant) to let go entirely of your childish innocence, and the pure joy and
excitement it can bring to every new experience. As this episode closes, the camera moves out
into the hallway, and we watch Buffy tenderly stroking Dawn’s hair as they sit
in the bedroom together. Dawn isn’t a
hall monitor. She’s in the same room
with Buffy. Buffy loves Dawn - she
really, really loves Dawn. Dawn, I
think, represents Buffy’s innocence, the purest part of her, and the related
ability to take a simple joy in living.
Dawn is, and she has, The Key to Buffy’s padlocked heart.
Spicy extras for James Marsters fans