Season 4
Episode 16
WHO ARE
YOU?: Behind the Wheel
- Flash forward - Driving
& control – Surrendering control - Refusing to be coerced – Finding
safety & stability – Self-respect – The power of love – Conclusion - Spicy extras for James Marsters fans
SPIKE (about the Faith/Buffy body swap): “She [Buffy] told me it went
down. Failed to mention who was driving
her skin around.”
FAITH: “I may have said a few things . . . “
SPIKE: “Like you could ride me at a gallop 'til my knees buckle, squeeze
me 'til I pop like warm champagne.
That's not the kind of thing a man forgets.”
FAITH: “Should've known it wasn't blondie behind the wheel. She'd never throw down like that.”
SPIKE: “Oh, you have been away.”
But
let’s get back to Season 4. Faith is behind the wheel in Buffy’s body
and Who Are You? is filled with
images and mention of driving and traveling.
Buffy (in Faith’s body) is driven off by the police, then by Watchers’
Council goons. Meanwhile Faith (in
Buffy’s body) makes plans to leave Sunnydale and is seen at the airport. Buffy escapes from the goons by driving off
in their truck, and later, Giles, Buffy & The Scoobies drive to the church
in the same truck. Faith will escape
Sunnydale in the boxcar of a train.
Many references to driving are made:
·
JOYCE (about Faith): “I just
don’t understand what could drive a person to that kind of behavior.”
FAITH:
“Well, how do you know she got drove?
I mean, maybe she likes being that way.”
·
FAITH (to Spike): “I could ride
you at a gallop until your knees buckled and your eyes rolled up.”
·
FAITH (to Tara): “So Willow’s not
driving stick anymore.”
·
FAITH (to Riley): “Maybe we
should take you for a test drive.”
·
BUFFY (preparing to escape in the truck): “OK. I’m good at this.
(wrestling with gearshift) Ohhh!
Drive!”
We constantly struggle for control over our destinies, over our journeys
through life. But any control we
achieve is temporary and largely illusory.
There is always someone or something waiting to usurp or destroy our
thrones – our homes, our families and loved ones, our support systems, our
safety, and our security. Our very
identities exist suspended in the most fragile of silk-strung webs. Many references to “mine and yours” point
out the tenuous nature of our individual identities. The lines between us can be very unclear:
XANDER: “I
believe that’s my hey!”
WILLOW: “Of
Buffy’s?” Uh. Oh. This ring.”
When we entangle ourselves, when we let what is mine become yours, we
become vulnerable and open to takeover.
With Faith’s invasion of Buffy’s body as the central symbol, we see many
images of people seizing control. Some
examples:
·
In the first scene, Faith takes Joyce’s hand, deliberately raising it so
that Buffy can see that she has taken over.
The police seize control of Buffy (thinking she’s Faith), telling Joyce
how glad they are that they “finally got the kid.”
·
The Watchers’ Council takes control of Buffy away from the Sunnydale
police –they literally take the wheel away from the cops.
·
A vampire has complete control over an intended victim in the alley
outside The Bronze (“He was so strong!”), until Faith turns the tables.
·
Vampires take over a church.
·
Riley takes control of the situation outside the church, telling the
Sunnydale police to back off - it’s a military operation now.
Control? As the frequent mention
of the word “kill” in this episode reminds us, anyone can be dead a moment from
now. You think you have control? Who are you kidding? Anything and everything can be snatched away
from you in an instant – anytime.
But
let’s examine another aspect of control by looking at
some of the many images of people willingly giving up and losing control:
·
Joyce accepts the fact that Buffy doesn’t visit very often, telling
“Buffy” that she understands how busy she must be. Joyce wants more, but she’s plainly willing to take whatever
crumbs she can get. She’s willing to
let Buffy control the extent of their relationship, rather than insist Buffy
stop hurting her by neglecting her. She
loves Buffy so much she doesn’t want to chance losing Buffy by issuing
ultimatums or seeming disappointed.
·
Tara and Willow have this exchange:
TARA:
“Nobody knows I exist, right? I
know all about them, but . . .”
WILLOW:
“Hey.”
TARA: “I
mean, that’s totally cool. I mean, it’s
good. It’s better.”
WILLOW:
“It’s not like I don’t want my friends to meet you . . . I just kind of
like having something that’s just, you know – mine.”
TARA (later in the conversation): “I am, you know.”
WILLOW:
“What?”
TARA:
“Yours.”
Like Joyce, Tara accepts whatever crumbs she can
get. She turns herself over to Willow;
she’s letting Willow drive rather than insisting Willow stop hurting her by
hiding the relationship. She loves
Willow so much she doesn’t want to chance losing Willow by issuing ultimatums
or seeming disappointed.
·
Faith tells Spike she could completely control him, she could “. . . have anything. Anyone.
Even you Spike.” She could own
him; he could be hers just as Tara is Willow’s. And from the expression on Spike’s face, we can see – yes - she
might be on to something there. We’re
pretty sure Spike would do, and let her do, as she says: “I could ride you at a gallop until your
legs buckled and your eyes rolled up.
I’ve got muscles you’ve never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you until you pop like warm champagne and you’d
beg me to hurt you just a little bit more.”
Wow! Now, that’s what I call
driving. Someday, Spike will let Buffy
do all of this - and more - rather than insist Buffy stop hurting him by
abusing him and hiding the relationship.
He will love Buffy so obsessively that he will be too afraid of losing
Buffy to seriously issue ultimatums or complain.
·
A vampire gang and their leader give up their sewer lair to Adam: “You can have the place. I mean, we don’t have to stay here
anymore.” They are afraid of Adam. Later, despite the fact that Adam has killed
one of the gang and seems incapable of mercy, they become enchanted with Adam’s
message. The vampire gang leader says:
“Tell us what to do.” They plainly will
do anything for him, and put up with anything from him, in order to remain with
him.
·
In a Christian church, later, we have an image of The Lord and “His
people.” Certainly God can be seen as a
being that people continue to follow despite the individual versions of Job’s
trials that are inflicted upon each of them.
True believers are uncomplaining and thankful for whatever moments of
joy they receive (BUFFY, upon hearing Willow had conjured up a way to re-switch
bodies: “Thank God”).
The vampire gang leader, when we first see him, is suggesting to the
others that they wait until the night is less crowded, so they can safely pick
a drunken straggler as a victim. This
is an image of letting fear control your decisions, but it also points out that
being alone makes humans vulnerable.
The images we see of people ceding control are also images of people
just being human; they are trying to meet their needs. They need food or clothing or shelter or
love or all of the above. As many uses
of the words “afraid” and “fear” underline (ADAM: “What is the thing you fear?”), human needs make people
vulnerable to being hurt, abused, neglected or controlled by others.
But
we also get an image of people refusing to be coerced into ceding control. Buffy turns the tables on a Watcher goon named Smith when she
captures him: “How about this, I’ll be
quiet, and you can scream!” She
threatens to kill Smith unless the others (Collins and Weatherby) release
her. But Collins and Weatherby aren’t
vulnerable to the takeover attempt, because they aren’t emotionally invested,
or particularly concerned, in whether Smith is alive or dead. They comment that each of them puts their
affairs in order before going on this sort of mission – they are prepared to
die. So it seems the cost of retaining
control, of being invulnerable to blackmail, is dehumanization, hardening
yourself. That’s the image we see here,
and it is certainly one that also describes Faith’s M.O. She gets through life, protects herself from
hurt, by not caring:
FORREST: “You really care what I
think?”
FAITH: “No. I don’t care. God, I don’t care.”
Many, many references to safety, to
stability and to being hurt emphasize the reason Faith is so tough: She has an overwhelming desire to avoid pain
and find security. Here are a few
examples of the references to safety, stability, and pain:
TARA: “Well,
you should be safe.”
Like the Watcher goons, Faith has chosen to harden herself to avoid pain
and protect herself. She prefers it to
allowing herself to be hurt, the way Joyce and Tara are allowing Buffy and
Willow to hurt them. Faith
believes these are her only two choices.
But are they, really? Must she
be Tara, who retains her softness and ability to love and feel - but puts up
with Willow hiding her from her friends?
Or otherwise, must she continue to be like Collins and Weatherby, who
stay in control, impervious to pain, but have lost a good portion of their
humanity?
No.
Those aren’t Faith’s only choices, as she learns in her encounter with Riley. But Faith has believed in her “I’d rather be tough than be a
goody-two-shoes wimp” philosophy for so long, that she is profoundly disturbed
and confused by her encounter with the imperturbable - but still very human -
Riley.
What happens when Faith encounters Riley? Faith, as Buffy, tries to take control of the sexual encounter
with Riley. But he isn’t vulnerable to
her kinky come-ons. He loves Buffy, and
he takes a simple, honest, loving – and irresistible – approach to dealing with
“Buffy’s” unappealing suggestions.
There are no ultimatums, no games.
Riley simply knows what he wants.
He has self-respect, and standards.
He’s interested in sex with Buffy, but not so desperate or needy that
he’s willing to do things her way because he’s afraid she’ll say no
otherwise.
Riley’s combination of strength and tenderness leaves Faith shaken and
confused. It doesn’t fit into her view
of the world as The Mayor has defined it - a place where one is a master, or
one is a slave. Her night with Riley
puts the final lie to Faith’s long-held, cherished belief that life is always a
choice between eating or being eaten, using or being used.
Now, Faith has been privy to the better
life Buffy has
achieved both through the luck of the draw, and through Buffy’s own strength
and difficult choices. In this
environment, Faith’s basic human needs have begun to be met. Through her encounters with Joyce, Riley and
others, she experiences true love, trust, high expectations (Willow expecting
her to kill the vampire) and genuine appreciation (from the girl she
saves: “Thank you. Thank you!”).
Joyce’s and Tara’s (and in Season 6, Spike’s) willingness to accept less
than they want isn’t just about self-effacement and fear of loss. Like the Lord’s people, they have trust and
faith in the loved one and in the power of love. It’s about believing – rightly or wrongly – that better days are
ahead, about forgiveness, about giving people a chance and letting them make
mistakes (and we see many images of people making mistakes and misunderstanding
each other, but getting past that – e.g., GILES: “Look, I know what you’re going to say.” BUFFY:
“I’m Buffy.” GILES: “All right.
I didn’t know what you were going to say.”).
Like Buffy reacting to being injected with a sedative, or Spike flinching
at the pain from the chip, Faith responds to the internal infusion of warmth
she receives from Buffy’s friends and family.
The feelings and realizations that begin coursing through her veins
disturb and frighten her, just as Joyce’s hug did. She heads to the airport to try to leave behind the confusion of
this painful growth; after so long in the dark, the light from above is hurting
Faith’s eyes. But it’s too late. It’s in her system, now. She has begun, irrevocably, to change, to
climb toward that very light, despite the pain. Listen to her exchange with Riley outside the church:
RILEY: “I don’t want you
risking-“
BUFFY: “I’m Buffy. I have to do this.”
RILEY: “Then I’m coming with.”
BUFFY: “I can’t use you.”
This is how she is feeling – that she has become Buffy. That - for all her mocking of Buffy in the
mirror earlier “It’s wrong!” and teasing of Spike “Because it’s wrong!” - she
has actually begun to discover the significant difference between right and
wrong. And though her words to Riley
are, on the surface about going into the church alone, they also point out the
fact that she has realized that she “can’t use” Riley. He’s not like all the men she’s used
before. And amazingly, his love for
Buffy and his confident, kind, patient nature are what protect Riley from being
used. What a revelation for Faith, who
has always protected herself by not caring and by using her fists.
Faith goes into the church a changed woman. She’s very much like Buffy in her sassy approach to the bad guys,
and she battles evil with all she’s got.
Then, she is suddenly confronted with an image from her very recent and
unhappy past – her body, with Buffy inside.
The Faith she loathed and tried to leave behind stands before her. Faith explodes, beating her own face bloody
while trying to deny its existence:
“You’re nothing, you’re nothing!!” (that word – nothing – is a word very
much connected to Spike, and of course, we’re going to see this “beat your own
dark side to a pulp” scene again, with Buffy beating Spike, in Season 6’s Dead
Things).
But growing and maturing and becoming the
best person you can be isn’t as simple
as excising your dark side. That’s a
fool’s errand anyhow, because exorcism is not an option. The road to a happy and successful adulthood
requires one to love, accept, integrate and harness the power that dark
side. Faith cannot leave any part of
herself behind, any more than Buffy can, anymore than any of us can. There is no easy, painless way to the
light. Leading a successful life isn’t
about being in control of every situation.
It’s about taking responsibility rather than control. (ADAM:
“I know why I’m here. I was
created to kill. To extinguish life
wherever I find it. And I have accepted
that responsibility.”)
In the final scene, Buffy – back in her own body - is faced with a test
of her love of Riley. Can she be OK
with the mistake he has made, sleeping with Faith? What does it mean, that he didn’t realize it wasn’t Buffy, and
that he claims, even now, “I slept with
you.” Is she more than a body to
Riley? Can she give him another chance,
trust him again, and get past this?
We leave both Buffy and Faith - separate, but always together, always
connected – with some important decisions to make as they begin new phases of
their lives, older and wiser from their time in each other’s skin.
Spicy
extras for James Marsters fans
·
I’m not sure about Spike, but my knees are about to buckle when I watch
the Spike-scene in this episode. What a
great, subtle acting job by James. We
can see his hesitation and suspicion, his surprise, and his anger – all in his
face, all in those few seconds “Buffy” has him backed up against the post.
·
We can also see Spike’s arousal.
Hold on Ladies! No need to rush
back to your DVD. I mean we can see his
arousal from the look on his face. (Sorry!) But just that look is enough to make me
gulp. He looks so . . . ready.
·
Here are some interesting lyrics from the song that plays while “Buffy”
tells Spike about the way she’s could squeeeeze him – the singer is singing of
watching himself. From Watching Me Fall by The Cure:
Yeah I’ve been seeing them strip to the bone in the
mirror on the wall
Seeing her swallow him whole like it’s not me at all
She holds out her hands and I follow her down to my
knees
And the sucking inside insatiable smiles
“You will forget yourself in me . . .”
·
There is some major foreshadowing going on in the Spike scene. Everything “Buffy” says to Spike will come
to pass.
·
Spike tells “Buffy”: “I get this
chip out, you and me are gonna have a confrontation.” And of course, once he can hurt her again, once they are on equal
footing again, he and Buffy will, indeed, have a major fornication – uh, I
mean, consummation – I mean confrontation!!
·
From Spike’s perspective, this is the first overt, sexual move either
party has ever made on the other. Up
until this scene, except for the minor “hello, cutie,” neither Spike nor Buffy
has never acknowledged a sexual attraction to the other.
·
Yep. Talk about driving – Faith
gets Spike’s motor running, and steers him right to the nearest, steepest,
downhill slide. There ain’t no stopping
him now. This moment begins to change
Spike’s behavior toward Buffy, culminating in his early Season 5 realization
that he doesn’t loathe and detest Buffy after all – he’s in love with her. And everything proceeds from there.
·
Faith picks up immediately on Tara and Willow’s connection, and it
doesn’t take her long to realize that, as Buffy, she can mess very effectively
with Spike’s mind, body and soul (OK, strike that last one). She’s a lot like Spike in both her outsider
and dark side status, and in her ultra-sensitive and very observant nature.
·
The way Faith poked Riley in the ribs reminded me very much of the way
Spike will poke Buffy in her injured side, during their pool game in Fool
For Love.