Magic in Buffy Season 6 is Better Than You Think

[@clearmountain28]

One of my favorite episodes of batman beyond is when Spellbinder, a guy who can create illusions, starts making fictitious worlds for teenagers where everything the emotionally want is provided for them for a time and then he pulls them out and tells them to pay for more time causing them to rob places and give them money. One of the things i love about it is when Max, one of the teen batmans friends, is in her 'happy life' its not the vapid rockstar or supermodel lives of the other kids but just that her family validates and loves her, and it is so addictive that she nearly breaks on giving it up. Willow, to me, is kinda similar except she has validation with her friends, which she clearly never got from her family, but is always terrified that that validation isn't real. Amazing discussion video, i look forward to more. And thank you for your hard work.

[@J_Mock92]

Great video! I've always said that I don't mind the magic addiction storyline, and that it actually makes a lot of sense for Willow's character, but is just done so heavy-handedly. I'm a recovering addict myself, and have always identified with Willow's personality and characterization, both before and after she starts using magic.

[@TheEileen]

I always consider Giles to have failed Willow in this. Season 2 starts the multiple instances of Giles hiding from his mistakes with magic and he says to Willow on multiple occasions "Don't do magic because I say so, it's bad." But then asks her to DO magic for him and the team. She's not supposed to do it or practice it ever on her own = bad. Only with or for the group = good. BUT he won't teach her or guide her (that we see). He is shown to have gone all "rebel boy" out of a 180 reaction to the rules of how he was raised in the Watcher organization. And then proceeds to do the same thing he rebelled against with Willow (and Buffy). I know he isn't Willow's "watcher" but I always saw that this was one of the ways his character was flawed and he sort of "passed" that flaw along to Willow. I agree with everything you said about Willow's sense of self-worth, her addiction to behaviors that made her feel better about herself. Giles relying on her while also scolding her for the same behavior ... did NOT help.

[@margaridabaptista3712]

Ooh, that's very interesting, and makes me wonder about Giles' character. I think maybe because of what he did when he was young could have caused him to indeed have a huge blind spot about magic and to avoid talking about it with Willow, someone who very likely he sees himself in. Yes, this is a flaw, but it might be a narratively coherent flaw (which are the best kind)

[@blrr4356]

Yes thank you for this! I have always (partially) loved this arc of Willow abusing magic- and for all the reasons you pointed out- it is so so good when we look at the why of Willow's abuse - addiction usually stems from somewhere, an attempt to escape, control, numb and this is where the magic and drug parallel works. We see this need build, we see Tara and Giles and even Oz concerned about Willow's magic use long before season six- not because she is doing magic but why and how she is. On a side note - I feel like Tara is seen or interpreted like she told Willow to stop magic altogether- which she never does- she says Willow is using too much and for the wrong reasons- this is so much more compelling than an 'it's all or nothing' approach that is sort of gets flattened into

[@philipnichols4089]

I like your interpretation of the addiction metaphor over the show’s interpretation. They hammered the drug addiction metaphor so hard that I thought they were going to have Willow stealing from her friends and family to support her habit. They were going for something sensational instead of exploring addiction and how it related to Willow herself. The whole season took missteps like this with other character arcs.

[@meaghaneliz]

no!!! because you GET it!!!! love love love seeing people talk about how core buffy and willow's relationship and that validation is to her character. because it IS and that's why when we don't see basically any of it in season 7..... things just don't feel right. (also validates my wiffy trutherism but that's besides the point)

[@KitsuneRokaku]

I do like where the "magic is addiction" storyline started because it didn't come out of nowhere. Willow had always used magic to "fix things", helping the gang fight evil or finding solutions to problems while trying to fight said evil. Overtime, magic was used as a tool to fix mundane problems like putting up decorations or cleaning up messes for the sake of convenience. Not to mention her uses of magic to fix her romantic relationships. She tried to take Xander's attraction towards without his concent, she tried to curse Oz after the Veruca incident and finally everything that happened with Tara. Magic was a tool and not a force in the universe.

[@J_Mock92]

Exactly. I've never minded it, and think it makes sense for the character. It's just heavy-handed. All of the points in this video make a lot of sense, and Willow has always been shown to be reckless with magic, even as far back as Season 2 when she INSISTS on re-ensouling Angel while in the hospital (which is literally like, the first spell she ever does). Her intentions were good and the framing is different, but it's still a reckless thing to do, especially considering that she essentially just got out of a coma and isn't up to full strength. It's like you said, she sees it as a way to "fix things." It starts out as a way to help others and fix problems for the whole gang (with a few noticeably selfish exceptions like in "Something Blue," etc), but then it gradually becomes less truly "helpful" and more self-serving over time. Tara literally tells her that in "Tabula Rasa" after Willow says she just wants to help people, by responding with "maybe that's how it started, but now you're helping yourself" or whatever the exact quote is. The recklessness has always been there. It just spirals completely out of control in season 6.

[@JBar]

I preferred magic as a tool and prior to season 6 they never really explained why that was bad

[@bernardsoul5186]

This was literally addressed in the video. No one said it came out of nowhere. What you're describing is "magic as behavioral addiction," and not the "magic as substance abuse" that it became OUT OF NOWHERE in season 6. Again, this is explained in the video.

[@J_Mock92]

@@bernardsoul5186 umm, what?

[@bernardsoul5186]

@@J_Mock92 umm, I wasn't talking to you, but do you have a question?

[@DanikaLeighEllis]

Huh, you really changed my mind about this story line. I can see how the behavioural addiction view is more continuous with Willow's character arc.

[@boo5860]

LOVE this video but I think it would have been interesting to also bring up the incident where tara also abused magic that one time to compensate for her own insecurities (regarding her family and the demon stuff) and how that probably allowed her to empathize with willow's struggle a bit more - and also how willow reacted in that episode by defending tara's brief desire for control by saying it was 'just a spell that went wrong'. Not much to discuss there but something I thought about while watching!

[@5x5Takes]

agreed. that’s why i said “usually,” tara doesn’t use magic that way. but i could’ve gone more in depth! well put

[@jonaskoelker]

That mini-arc/motif spans a few episodes: - Goodbye Iowa (4x14) in which Tara sabotages the demon locator spell due to feeling shame about (so she believes) having demon inside of her - Family (5x6) in which Tara abuses magic and we see her false belief is due to her father's gaslighting - All the way (6x6) through Tabula Rasa (6x8) in which Willow abuses magic in ways that mirror Family One could of course add more episodes for context. We see Willow's unhealthy use of magic in Lover's Walk (3x8), Wild at Heart (4x6), Something Blue (4x9), Tough Love (5x19) and Bargaining (6x1 and 6x2) and Tara's insecurity is on full display throughout S4-starting in Hush (4x10) of course, but especially in The I in Team (4x13).

[@Scarygothgirl]

I love this video! It so eloquently expresses why season six is my favourite season, despite its flaws.

[@acousticmonkey2209]

I love your end of 6/season 7 idea. Not just because I love Tara and was so hurt they took her away, but I always liked the idea of it being Buffy who was killed/put into a coma by the gunshot and Willow rampaging from there. She would have ended S6 as she started, by being the strongest and in charge, with Buffy dead/dying/coma (a call back to Buffy doing to Faith), culminating in a distorted full circle and landing in a very different angle. It would have been interesting. But, alas, we were given Kennedy.

[@noctap0d]

As someone who was as introverted as Willow (and very very shy) I always found this ark believable. It spoke to me in a lot of ways, because I can see in my own life a lot of things I've become addicted to because they provided a way out of my shell. I'm glad you talk about it ❤ Great video as always ❤

[@goddessofanguish]

Great video! I love the tie to the vampire metaphor in the end, never thought of it that way but makes so much sense. I also agree on her being hammy 'being the point' but I also think its a choice that reflects her actions across the finale when you think about; When she absorbs power from the book (something functional and static) she's more monotone and emotionless When she absorbs power from Rack (manipulative, confident, kinda drug-dealer stereotype) she starts to be more hammy and evil, her words more cutting towards Buffy and others When she absorbs power from Giles (human, with powers that tie to love and compassion) she starts making more rash decisions before Xander steps in and cos she's more in touch with her emotions, she reciprocates where she couldn't before

[@bernardsoul5186]

That's a great point!

[@Lauren-jc8uf]

On the magic = drugs, the series needs Willow to continue to use magic in S7 for selfless purposes, so if you understand how addiction works- you can't be asking an addict to start 'using' again. So yes, I agree, they shouldn't have gone with the magic = drugs 1:1 metaphor. I think you make a lot of good points in this video about how Willow uses magic, and why. And why Xander's unconditional love, allows Willow to stop herself from destroying the world. My biggest issue is where Willow goes from killing Warren (good riddance as far as I'm concerned) to trying to destroy the whole world. I know she turns to magic to deal with pain, that's been shown, multiple times, and she has harmed her friends before- the conflict with Buffy and Giles in Villains and Grave- I get it, it's been built up, they haven't been talking out their crap- but consciously trying to kill them and turn Dawn back into energy doesn't sit right for me. And worst of all- this character that we've seen be supportive time and time again, and fighting the good fight for years at this point, who has other meaningful connections to the world beyond Tara- decides to end the whole world to end her pain, and decides for the whole world's population that she knows what's best for them, and will end the world's pain by killing everyone. Every single living human being. I just can't see how they got there. I don't believe this of Willow even on her worst day. Do you have an opinion on this Five by Five Takes? This is where I hate this arc. I agree with you about- if Tara had lived- there could have been more resolution. In the absence of Tara, Buffy and Willow have the opportunity to talk in S7, but never talk out the conflict between them that comes to a head at the end of S6. I think I would have preferred if the 'consequences' of raising Buffy were more tied to magic. Eg. In BBC Merlin for a life to be created (using magic), another must be taken- and you don't get to decide who's life is taken but the price is always heavy. The demon they created was easily dispatched and a little anti-climatic- maybe more lasting consequences for Willow as she is the person who performed the spell?

[@bernardsoul5186]

Willow turns to destroy the world when she absorbs the "spiked" magic from Giles. She has a reaction to it that makes her feel connected to everything and everyone. And because she had all that dark magic (not to mention her own pain and hate) in her system, she mostly connects with their collective pain. Her being so pain-adverse (the behavioral addiction part) and so centered on her Id at the moment, her reaction is to end all pain and suffering by killing everyone. A collective suicide, if you will. Imagine taking a large dose of psilocybin while you're already on bath salts. I've only done psilocybin, but I think I can imagine bath salts. Anyway, you wouldn't be in a positive hippy state, you would probably feel some kind of awful. That's a working analogy. The reason this also works for Willow's character is because even when she's being supportive (at least a lot of the pain), she's doing it for selfish reasons: to feel valuable, to feel powerful, and to feel loved. This doesn't make her a bad person, just a young kid (yes, she's only 21 years old) who's learning to connect with people better. By the end of the season, she's grown as a person thanks to this learned experience. As for the life taken complaint, remember Willow did kill a doe in the cemetery and then went through other body horrors. That to me seems like a fair exchange for a life that was taken through supernatural means in the first place. The spooky demon they fight in the following episode was an inner dimensional hitch hiker, not a price for the revival.

[@GoryBMovie]

You broke down what works and does not work about the magic allegory perfectly! I love that your respect and admiration for the show comes through even when you are critical and your criticisms were fair and honest. Great video!

[@erinchristian9619]

wake up babes new Five by Five Takes buffy video dropped!!!!

[@5x5Takes]

im wide awake

[@LovetheLuvRecords]

You did an OUTSTANDING job breaking down the "magic = addiction" concept and i love your perspective and how you deflected on oast episodes from the other seasons that had a string connection to Willow's dark shift into becoming dependent on magic. It was truly her crutch abd for someone who deals with abandonment issues & heartbreak, i can see how/why she snapped the way she did.. i just wish she wasnt put on the back burner in S7, she deserved so much better!

[@roderick8167]

Even though I have a major love/ hate relationship with Buffy Season 6 as a whole Willow's fall from grace into Dark Willow always captivates me and hooks me like uh oh shit is about to get real Lol , i also love Xander bringing Willow back from the darkness he is Willow's oldest friend so it makes sense and his speech to bring Willow back from the darkness is one of my favorite moments from Xander ever.

[@agahnim0196]

I always loved Willows' arc in season 6. The ending still makes me cry.

[@seadawg93]

this channel is SO GOOD! What an amazing analysis! ❤ When I think of the magic as addiction metaphor, I hate it, I think of the examples given in the beginning, but there are, indeed, so many really deep and strong metaphors in there. Excellent!

[@alexanderveal1180]

I really like this analysis, makes it much more relatable and understandable as a behavioral addiction

[@joshuagosdin2999]

10/10 would channel such potent magicks again

[@octo448]

While I wholeheartedly agree that Tara and Buffy are the primary relationships that influence Willow's relationship with magic, I think Xander acts as a sort of... negative polarity for the same thing. I'm no Xander apologist, but I think it's fair to say he's often the butt of the joke among the team. He's physically the weakest among them, for sure, and he doesn't have any magical mojo like Willow does to add value to his position. His place and value in the team are much more emotional, social, and intellectual (I know that's a bit weird but really by the end of the series he's providing a lot more to the team via his specific military expertise than Willow or Giles do via "book smarts"). Willow is afraid that if she doesn't or can't use her magic, she will then be competing with Xander for a place in the group and due to her lack of confidence she will lose that competition. She's also afraid of being treated the way the group can sometimes treat Xander. Thinking back to The Zeppo, Xander was left out of an entire apocalypse plot due to the team trying to protect him as the weakest member of the group. Willow can't handle that kind of exclusion and being forced into that situation where she's left behind "for her own good" is probably a worst case situation for her. To her, magic allows her to be Buffy, it allows her to be with Tara, but it allows her to be BETTER than Xander.

[@5x5Takes]

that’s a bit interesting, i like that. thank you for the addition!

[@evemhooper]

Really interesting point, I never thought of willow and xander as being in competition but I think you might be on to something!

[@blurrble5]

Great video! Season 6 could have been so much better if they leaned into Willows dependence on magic, instead of drugs are bad mmkay

[@5x5Takes]

if only

[@marocat4749]

Yeah her dependence or using it as compensating power trip.

[@RickyRuedaM]

If Willow had existed within the Charmed universe... Then she would have been punished for using her magic for personal gain, by stripping her powers just like they did with Phoebe Halliwell 😅😅

[@jamesbennettackland]

They couldn't, they were going to but the start of S7, they said they she had so much power in her and it was so engrained in her that if they tried to strip her power, it would kill her, some with her never using the power again, that's why she was being taught about pure magic and control.

[@murrayjohnson5217]

Would love to see your take on Agatha All Along and its treatment of magic as addiction for Agatha.

[@turtlezen4292]

What an insightful essay! I really liked the approach of the metaphor of addictive behavior. Not only does this make the metaphor work a lot better, but you pointed out some things about Willow's behaviors that made her whole character make a lot more sense to me. I've often felt that while people correctly point out a lot of problematic "nice guy Xander" behavior that Willow gets a pass for some similar entitled demanding behavior of her own. But I could never quite figure out what made it pop out. Because a lot of the times Willow IS pretty amazing. Zeroing in on the low discomfort threshold snaps her character into place for me.

[@zinnialynn9757]

Thank you for articulating my thoughts on this arc so clearly. I only wish you'd included the main forshadowing of this arc from earlier in the series, that being Giles' backstory and dynamic with Ethan Rayne, as part of the analysis. Crossing my fingers for that as a separate video someday maybe?

[@5x5Takes]

i had that mentioned, but omitted it because they were getting high via possession, not by using magic itself!

[@zinnialynn9757]

@5x5Takes Ahhhh, that tracks. I think I was more just thinking about the general energy of it and how that experience impacted Giles' early approach to Willow learning magic, but you're right. Not quite relevant enough to be here. Love this!

[@5x5Takes]

@@zinnialynn9757 i thought about it! but there’s definitely a lot of other foreshadowing about willow potentially abusing magic

[@jordanhyman9877]

I actually like Wrecked and some of the over-the-top on-the-nose addiction imagery. I thought Rack was a great subvillian. Obvious doesn't always mean bad to me. Plus, it's a great set-up for how it's gonna look by the end of the season, especially with making stoned Willow like an entirely different character, or at least a part of herself that she dissociates from. that being said, I *don't* like the scene of Amy and Willow casting spells all over the Bronze in Smashed, I think that scene is silly as all get out, too "Sabrina" for me.

[@bernardsoul5186]

I agree about that scene is the Bronze, it was just ridiculous and cheap

[@olived9560]

AAA *SUCH* an incredible analysis, probably the best Willow analysis I've seen!! Amazing video!

[@5x5Takes]

thank you :) yay :)

[@reeelazy773]

I've been hoping for more Buffy (and cxg) videos from you!!

[@rebeccarodger2636]

Your rationalization is actually pretty affective 😊 it makes perfect sense

[@Andrewsmiith]

This is a beautifully constructed video! I don’t suppose you remember the name of the music track you used from 8:49 ? It’s magical. 💛

[@Melissa-tw2gp]

Completely agree! You made so many fascinating points.

[@miaththered]

Sometimes! Post watch edit: You raise good points and I agree, overall there were more hits than misses and it built upon what was already established but ended up quietly buried over time in peoples memories. Well articulated and thank you for sharing.

[@5x5Takes]

Check out my partner trymintmobile.com/fivebyfive to get premium wireless for as low as $15 a month - Buy 3 Months, Get 3 Months Free through 1/1/24!

[@marocat4749]

Oh if you havent, watch magicians, its a really good show, and quentin is, pretty bad , but its intentional and goes in great character growth. The book was apearently worse with the author inserting his college self, that he does not like. He got toned down. Anyways the first season it has, like the shows thesis is how magic is often toxic due people avoiding, yeah the power and distracting from dealing with your own problems healthier and just become outlandish. Great show that gets better and, bery buffyeske really . But college students, and it gets so good with the pain and messed up dark humor stuff that happens and just gets worse. And the characters growth. Also fun. Plus cool magic, like including it as excuse in once a season going musical., in character making sense. Great series, anyways juslia in the first season is just, ok some things get messed up along the line and really strong season 1 story that makes season 1 to be honest. and its not a bad season, just , at the end the show gets the best working tone.

[@Girl4Music]

Five By Five Takes mentioned ‘Performance’. “So much of Willow’s evolving identity is tied to the idea of performance. Becoming a competent witch helps Willow project a very curated idealized image of herself. One of the first iconic insults that Cordy makes towards her is about her appearance. It’s not just that she’s a nerd, it’s that someone else has dressed her. Think about the implications of that. So for Willow, her appearance, her identity and her confidence with magic becomes deeply entwined. And we can even see this with Dark Willow. Even grief-stricken, there’s a layer of performance here. Black hair, dark clothes, the corny maniacal villain lines. I’ve seen the dialogue here and Alyson’s performance get criticized as too hammy or cartoonishly evil but I think that’s kind of the point if we read Willow as purposefully putting on a front. So much of Willow has been costumes. This is just her latest and most intense.” This piece of commentary is on the money for Willow. I always talk about performance regarding Willow Rosenberg. I believe in this interpretation so much that I actually think Willow never appears authentically as who she actually is throughout her entire arc. But at the same time - I also believe that because her authentic self isn’t ever a solitary or specific thing at any point. Her identity is not solid or permanent. It’s malleable and fleeting. It fluctuates wildly all the time to the point where anything she identifies as is entirely performative. It’s only who she is to make up for her negative perceived image of herself and the image that she believes of others constantly perceiving of her. And both these images are one and the same. Because she deep down perceives of her character as the weak and ugly loser, she also believes everyone else that she loves and that love her perceives of her character that way too. And there is quite a few moments where there is evidence for this so she’s not just making it up entirely based on her paranoia of not having control and neurotic feelings of unworthiness. She has experiences where people do actually express that she’s weak and ugly. It’s just those people don’t really know her very well and therefore don’t matter. Like Percy for example. He directly expresses the way he perceives of Willow to his then-girlfriend and Willow hears these comments about her and immediately gets uncomfortable at the notion that Percy sees her as a nerd and therefore not physically appealing. It bothers her and is on her mind so much that she directly expresses it to Buffy over the phone what he said and immediately defends her character. She hasn’t been a nerd for a long time. She’s cool now Does she actually believe it or is she just performing? Is she just trying to tell and convince herself that this perception of her character isn’t true but ultimately fears that it is and always will be the truth about her? Well, it’s hard to say for sure until her dream in ‘Restless’ that she feels this way about herself because there’s no direct statement of it by her. However, I am very well aware of this behaviour in insecure people. So no, I don’t believe she truly believes and perceives of herself as “cool now”. I think she’s just performing as “cool now” and that her immediate defensiveness proves that she is because truly authentic people don’t have to defend their their character at all. Like Oz. He is never boastful of his “cool” identity. Other insecure people like Xander point it out for him. He never needs to because, to him, it’s not a big deal if he is “cool”. He is just himself because he is happy being himself. He wears his confidence authentically and so “cool” naturally follows because he isn’t trying to be something that he is not. He never really needs to think about his identity. It’s his nature that he is conflicted on but that’s only because he is a werewolf. If he wasn’t - nothing would ever faze him. He’d always be confident in who he is or how he is. Contrasting somebody like Oz with Willow is quite the striking difference because while Willow is so insistent on performing an identity, Oz has no such needs or desires to perform as anyone. And I love how he always tries to tell Willow that she doesn’t have to prove anything to him for him to love her and stay with her. It’s not about her at all why he eventually breaks up with and leaves her. She’s the one that believes of it that way. Of course she would. So ‘Performance’ is a key part of Willow’s entire arc. It’s practically the only thing that she ever does in the show. And sadly, this is never truly ever properly addressed or concluded for much of the reasons Five By Five Takes mentions. But it should have been because this was Willow’s real problem. Not addiction. That occurred because of the aforementioned issues. If they didn’t make it so much about the magic but rather how Willow uses it to offset her insecurities how the addiction becomes a major problem, then I reckon she would have had a better concluded arc. I have said that I do really like her endgame - but at the same time - I do have quite a few criticisms with it.

[@thebrenizers]

Wow, I was making this EXACT point the other day. There are spots where we are infuriated with the writers and those bad, but many spots where we are infuriated with Willow are classic behavioral compulsion. It would have been great if they had handled it differently, but the distinction between addiction and compulsion is an area where mental health disciplines have grown in the last two decades.

[@darianp9930]

Amy and Willows night out should be a whole episode

[@DanaVMBVSDDM]

Weirdly, I never thought of the parallels between Midnight Mass and Buffy until you mentioned it. Great video and analysis, love your videos :)

[@OffTrackEpisodic]

great video! totally captures my feelings on willow's arc and what i love (and don't love) about season 6. and while yeah it maybe might've been nice to have willow and tara reconcile things, i don't see the climax to season 6 happening without tara's death. but totally agree they dropped the ball on willow's supposed "redemption" in season 7.

[@5x5Takes]

definitely. whether or not it ended in “reconciliation,” i wish that relationship had been allowed to really dig through the complexities of willow’s behavior and what it meant for them. beyond the one argument

[@johnwang9914]

Well, your interpretation certainly hits all the right buttons and brings a lot more meaning to the series for me and is perhaps why I've always liked the Willow character so much. However, I think magic was also just an excuse for her, that she could just use magic to solve her problems and to explain what she does. I think there can be other excuses that people can grab on to, such as a chronic, end of life, health condition, once it dominates your life and psyche, it becomes quite disabling even if it can be managed medically. A form of super power would be great but simply something that begins to dominate your life for whatever reason would also play this part, it doesn't have to be a power or even an advantage, it just has to dominate your life especially when you try to do something.

[@emmathomas2832]

You make a good point, about how the change in Magic's metaphor from accepting your identity to control to addictive behaviour isn't completely unprecedented. I think what ruined it for most people is how they articulated that change and how it ended up feeling more like a change from being about lesbianism to Drugs=bad and you're a dangerous and bad person to be around if you do them. As with it feels like most problems in Buffy, the problem is almost never the underlying ideas but rather the execution

[@nagillim7915]

Season 6 of Buffy is my favourite season.

[@OUTSIDER40]

Thank you for making this interesting video 👍

[@esmeraldaloschuetz9120]

Thank you so much for this insightful analysis! I agree wholeheartedly. Season 6 is controversially my favorite season; I do acknowledge its flaws, but I still think it gets bashed to pieces too much without sufficient reasoning. One of them being the "corny" drug metaphor-thing.

[@SuziQ.]

14:10 In Tabula Rasa, I think that Willow was only trying to mind wipe Tara. The spell affected everyone, because she left the herb on the hearth, and the whole bunch of it burned up. My problem with that scene is that Willow was trying to hide her magic use, but left the evidence sitting on the fireplace hearth, which would have been noticed by Tara if it hadn’t been destroyed. Willow pisses me off in that episode. She says she won’t do any magic for a fortnight (or a month), and she uses it immediately, both to get ready to leave the house, and to make Tara forget (again) about their quarrels. I don’t think that she was trying to make Buffy forget about being pulled out of a better place. If that was her goal, someone would have noticed, and Willow would have been caught for wiping Buffy’s mind. I have so many problems with Willow’s behavior over the series, and not just starting with “Something Blue”. Regarding what Amy said to goad Willow about high school, it wasn’t true. Amy mined Willow’s insecurities. During high school, Willow was dating Oz (a symbol of cool), and spent a lot of time with Buffy and Xander. Did she just forget about that, or does she really see herself as a loner? I’ll stop now. Thank you (and Jack for linking me).

[@SuziQ.]

Oh, regarding Mint Mobile, I’ve had them for over 3 years, and I have been happy with their service. I just wish that my family would switch over so I could get a discount. 😂 I’ve got the e-sim, and didn’t have to leave my house to switch. I got a laugh from my welcome text from Ryan Reynolds.

[@5x5Takes]

she names buffy in the spell, and in the convo earlier in the episode says “but i know a spell that will make buffy forget she was ever in heaven” from the tabula rasa script, here is the text of willow's spell: WILLOW: For Buffy and Tara, this I char. She strikes a match and sets the flowers on fire. WILLOW: Let Lethe's Bramble do its chore. Purge their minds of memories grim, of pains from recent slights and sins.

[@SuziQ.]

@@5x5Takes , Thanks, though I almost know the episode by heart. I didn’t interpret that as erasing Buffy’s memory of the peaceful place she was in before, but if that’s what Willow intended, I dislike her even more. Addit: “Memories grim” seems to indicate their recent arguments about Willow’s use of magic. (Maybe I don’t have to hate Willow?)

[@5x5Takes]

given her earlier convo w tara, xander, and anya "i know a spell that will make her forget she was ever in heaven," i'm inclined to think the text is telling us she's trying to do just that. i don't think any of these acts make her irredeemable, though. i think "liking" or "hating" a char is def a matter of personal preference, but the show is very much one about people, esp young people, making mistakes and confronting their worst and growing.@@SuziQ.

[@SuziQ.]

@@5x5Takes , Tara’s horror and shock at the suggestion that Willow erase Buffy’s memory of being happy and loved mirrors my feelings about mind wiping Buffy, but I can see Willow deciding to do what she wants at this point in the series, regardless of what’s right to do.

[@marocat4749]

The using magic with the like ressurecting dead, and memorywipe as heavy lines crossed, to avoid consequences and being honest instead, Thats pretty good, and in character. And willow was always insecure. And power can be addicting, and that no question counts as power. Ok it would be more interesting if they didnt just make up but tara was willing to talk with her about it, and that broke willow. you can still have her going after warren, but way more projecting to blame him instead her behaviour for loosing him. Because, they just talked, and it was unsure, and they didnt make up. And willow did get to one step to be willing to talk about it, when thatr shit happens. I get the representation stuff, but if they had met just with maybe making up or not, but willow just being to be conflicted, and they just talk and willow is willing to talk like adults harsh, and that happens. Yay messy gays.

[@bernardsoul5186]

I agree with every one of your points, but thank you specially for honoring Tara. Her character deserved better. Just the mention and shot of her being there for Buffy makes me break up into tears. On one hand, Season 6 is not enjoyable for me as a rewatch, since I already know the arcs, the themes, and the punchlines, it's more of a cranky watch because I focus the negative that will never be resolved. So I watch it for the good Tara moments and enjoy it that way.

[@gloriathomas3245]

Used to think season 6 was the absolute worst but the more I watch it the more I come to appreciate it.

[@Girl4Music]

Good lord. This was so perfectly analyzed and explained that I have literally nothing to say that hasn’t been said already. This is EXACTLY it. What I’ve been talking about since the start and why I’ve always been so defensive of Willow’s Season 6 arc. I’ve always thought it was really good too - sometimes. Really well done, once again! 👍

[@5x5Takes]

very kind of you to say! and i’m so glad it resonated. that’s always my hope-is that some other person goes YEA THAT MAKES SENSE. i think it’s pretty well agreed on that willow was addicted to power, not drugz, but it’s so fun to look at how structurally supported it is. magic serves SO many things for her. unsurprising

[@Girl4Music]

@@5x5Takes Well,… Willow is so many things herself. It’s only right that the external source she chooses to connect with can also offer that. And I think it’s because magic is a very inherent natural skillset that it can be just as much internal and psychological as it can be external and physical. It has many different versatile facets to it and so only suits and belongs to a character who is just as complex, layered and dynamic. Thematically, magic addiction works very well for Willow. Maybe to the point where the writers had trouble comprehending the depth and intensity of it themselves. And so we got the heavy-handed drug/alcohol substance abuse imagery and dialogue along with it which only really served to confuse us if not frustrate us. I think they were in a bit over their heads with it. But it was a brave effort nonetheless. I do have a very in-depth analysis of Willow Rosenberg myself that I would love for you to read and give me some feedback on because I really admire your work and want to be as good as you someday. Would you be interested?

[@5x5Takes]

no totally. i cannot wait to do a full character study video. and hit me! i’d be honored [e-mail]

[@Girl4Music]

@@5x5Takescool, I’ll send you it😊

[@NerdySwede]

great video!

[@saulemaroussault6343]

Can someone tell me the name of the piece of background music we hear around 15:30 and 21:30 ?

[@CaramelKittyKat]

My fav season!

[@ETPlayground]

Maybe I just relate way too much to Willow, but Warren had it coming and imo she didn't need to be redeemed from that so much as her inability to satisfy her bloodlust.

[@jamesbennettackland]

Amazing video

[@JBar]

Without the 1 to 1 drugs connection no one would say that Willow was abusing magic though. They might say she was relying on it, or just overusing and that leaves a chance it wouldn't seem bad. As for your imagine if Willow and Tara had talked about WIllow's behavior; imagine if Tara had ever explained to her why what Willow was doing was bad, because at that point where Tara claimed Willow was fixing things to her liking including her, Willow had done magic to her once and I can't think of any other times where this was the case

[@blrr4356]

I feel like in this case, once was enough- what Willow did was pretty bad . And Tara does explain why- and she tries several more times- Willow just doesn't listen

[@JBar]

@@blrr4356 where does she explain why it's bad?

[@nutbastard]

@@JBarTara had just come back from what Glory had done to her, in Tara's words, "violate my mind". In the context of the drug analogy, Willow roofied Tara. Dosed her. It is pretty explicit, and akin to someone r*ping a SA victim. It would always be horrible, but to have something like that repeated by someone you trusted and who helped you through the first time is another level of betrayal.

[@mushroomsallie5148]

Tara tells Willow why she is misusing magic multiple times in the season. Before the musical episode they have a fight that leads to Willow erasing Tara’s memory & the point of the fight was that Tara didn’t approve of how Willow over uses magic. Tara tells her that she is playing with the forces of nature irresponsibly. During the musical episode - Tara sings about how her boundaries have been crossed and she feels betrayed by Willow. I always interpreted that song as implied that Willow is aware of how she is breaking Tara’s trust by erasing her memory because she’s intelligent. Willow is academically gifted and has always been the “researcher” character alongside Giles, she knows exactly how ethically and morally wrong it is to erase Taras memory - shes just too confident that Tara would never find out. It’s truly a turning point in Willows character when she turns from confident to arrogant (I liked this about her - shes powerful but has human flaws). Honestly from the beginning of the season it’s implied that Willow is spiralling towards lose of control and contact with reality - she convinced herself that Buffy should be resurrected because she might be in hell. Willow is a very powerful witch so why didn’t she try to contact Buffy before resurrecting her? Willow is supposed to be the smartest person in the group and I know she was grieving but that is exactly the point, she used her own desires to make a decision about something earth shattering - bringing back Buffy could have caused the rift to open back up, it could have causes the timeline to change and have potentially apocalyptic consequences? Thats when she fucked up and crossed the line using magic.Then in tabula rosa when Willow accidentally erased everyones memory again Tara and pretty much everyone else is furious at how inconsiderate Willow has been using magic. Willow just wasn’t ready to hear it, she only saw magic as her tool to make her life easier to suffer through. I think Willow has been struggling to cope with the stress of knowing about the supernatural world and aiding the slayer in saving the world since she was so young that she has a very child like black and white view of how to protect herself. Willow was trying to remain wilfully ignorant to hold on to what little safety magic provided.

[@JBar]

@@mushroomsallie5148 I disagree. I think they say it is bad, they don't say why. It's dangerous isn't enough of a reason when all the magic she does is dangerous

[@camgeorge6222]

I think willow need for it comes from how she was raised her parent weren't really present.

[@dawesome_sauce]

It's a shame they handled Willow's arc exactly the way they did, because I can tell from your analysis there was a lot of potential for good subtext. Especially in repeating similar themes I've heard you use previously in analyzing Catra. There's a lot of good meat here, just not fully executed upon by the showrunners.

[@JBar]

I look at the rumors for Willow's arc if Buffy had ended at season 5 and Tara had died instead of being brainsucked and it makes me think that the problem is for all the issues people see over the years they weren't actually the issues Willow was supposed to deal with. She was supposed to lose her lover and magic would give the girl who ruined Cordelia's schoolwork for insulting Buffy the power to enact revenge.

[@therealemtothebee]

this is a great video but the end of their relationship wasn't just shock value in my opinion. we are meant to know they should have had that conversation and they deserved more and it's supposed to hurt, willow was supposed to hurt and lose someone

[@erickfmarte]

very smart essay

[@DarkMysteriousObject]

Personally think S6 is the best season

[@darianp9930]

I think they should use magic all the time.

[@ebenezerstooge]

I would argue Willow's magic arc in s7 is better than s6 mainly cause shes more mature with it. I mean she basically becomes A goddess by the end of the entire series.

[@Girl4Music]

And that’s great… but we really needed to see for ourselves how she was able to get there and we didn’t because they decided to focus on something that wasn’t that important or necessary in concluding the character’s arc and was really just a byproduct of the real problem - which as Five By Five Takes so eloquently expressed, was her deeply-seated issues with her self-image and self-worth. She might have been a better character in Season 7 morally, but her arc was less interesting simply because they never unpack in the narrative itself how it even happens. And therefore - I much prefer morally grey and psychologically fucked up Willow because there’s more to gain or obtain in understanding exactly who this character is and why she matters in the context of real life relatability.

[@ebenezerstooge]

@@Girl4Music I’m not sure what you mean. Didn’t they say in s7 that willow went to the coven to show willow the “essences of real magic” ? It’s implied there that willows teachings from the coven in s7 was what gave her that new insight into magic. As far as her arc being less or more interesting that’s subjective to be honest. But as far as magical Knowledge and prowess goes , which was one of the points the op brought up s7 was more fleshed out than s6. Which was really just willow not giving into her impulses and fixes. And I would argue “morally gray” willow wasn’t really morally gray at all. She wanted to take out two people who weren’t involved in Tara’s death regardless of who she hurted. She was just an addicted.

[@Girl4Music]

@@ebenezerstoogeit’s IMPLIED yes. But it wasn’t given the attention it really deserves as an arc for us to really understand not just the progression of her character in Season 7 but also her endgame as a “goddess’. They don’t spend the time to explore what it is they initially set up. In fact - they basically just drop it entirely. It looks like it’s going somewhere to begin with, but once the Potentials come into the narrative - that whole thing gets left by the wayside. Her endgame is good but it doesn’t feel earned narratively or thematically simply because it’s not represented or rather - written very well. They just skirt around it and shelf it. I don’t know. Maybe Five By Five Takes can explain what I mean better because it appears we are both of the same mindset on this particular subject and our interpretation of this particular character. She is such a profoundly compelling character but unfortunately - they make many choices with her arc that dilute it. Most of all - the fact they focused on “murder redemption” over addressing her complex trauma which goes far beyond just unpacking whether she’s a murderer and whether she should be let back into the Scooby fold for it. There was so much more going on with Willow that wasn’t properly attended to in Season 7.

[@nagillim7915]

What always threw me is how and when did Amy - who'd been a rat since she was 17 - meet Rack?

[@pixelsthered]

She wasn't the best adjusted 17 year old

[@belafaulds6405]

I love season 6, are people seriously not happy with it?

[@Mrs.Watcher]

I don't understand how the drug aspect of magic is so cringe. It's escapism for Willow after losing Tara, it is the same as Willow seeking to avoid pain and discomfort as she did before. Except this time using a kind of Dark magic that wields drug like results. The Addictive Personality traits as it were. And yeah, season 7 has is issues. But the realization for Willow that she can focus on the light side of magic, the side of magic that is not about control and power and work on herself through magic instead of making magic work for her is a beautiful ending for her arch.

[@5x5Takes]

it’s not the aspect itself that’s “cringe”-it’s that the story swaps out a scalpel for a hammer to do it. the same way beauty and the beasts, beer bad, and phases, for example, rely on heavy handed cliche that strips the story of a lot of the meaning they were going for. i’m with you: the escapism makes sense! i just wish they had treated it with the nuance it deserved

[@Buffy8Fan]

I never considered the video's title true. What gets me is how people assumed Willow was an addict out of nowhere.

[@kaiwancallender2761]

Willow is the best arc the best artist thing like the fact gay sorry

[@lukullus4039]

💚💚💚

[@MisstressMourtisha]

I got so mad when she didn't being up the satanic church lol

[@kaiwancallender2761]

Yes, the fact that we understood these things. Sorry we did the best I didn’t like Tara give us somebody better than Tara and the other one Puerto Rico but I didn’t like that.

[@Itcouldbebunnies]

Hard disagree. The 'magic = drugs' metaphor seriously harms both plot- and character arcs. Willow's abuse of magic has always been rooted in her want for power and status, which leads to her using magic to avoid conflict and heartbreak, and ultimately to control the people around her. A good arc would've been a slowly escalating power struggle between Willow and Buffy, the seeds of which were planted in the season opener 'Bargaining'. The boring, stupid addiction nonsense (+ a few other disastrous writing decisions like the trio, Xander's regressing character arc, trading in clever metaphores for stuff that is as subtle as a brick to the face , and Buffy's boring and repetitive 'real world' issues come to mind) actively destroys the great season we could have had. There is, of course, also the problem of abruptly changing the metaphor from 'magic =Sapphic love and intimacy' to 'magic = drugs and addiction that makes you evil'. Killing Tara right after they get back together and have sex in order to make Willow go dark is even worse. It is a veritable layer cake of misogynistic and homophobic tropes about witches and lesbians, in a show that always claimed to be subversive and feminist. Disgusting. And let's not forget that it all ends with Xander talking Willow down, thereby "accidentally" suggesting that the only thing that can save the world from lesbian witches (who are of course evil - unless they're dead, that is) is the love of a good man. Besides, by the end of season 6 I just want Xander to die in a ditch, not to see him save the day with that lame, embarassing, wet fart of a speech. In conclusion: There's a good reason it became known as season sux. It's because it really is *that* bad. The writers overtly refusing to properly deal with the fallout of events in season 6 in 7 only makes things worse.

[@5x5Takes]

i agree that the magic -> drugs plot is bad and harmful! you’ll hear me say it multiple times in the video :)

[@Itcouldbebunnies]

@@5x5Takes So we both agree it is in fact *NOT* "better than you think"? Cool.

[@5x5Takes]

i think a behavioral addiction lens is really neat and gives us some insight into the character and show. at the same time, we all have different takes and perspectives, especially on something as rich as buffy. it’s one of the best things about the show

[@Itcouldbebunnies]

@@5x5Takes True (about the different perspectives, that is). We're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

[@marocat4749]

Her using to avoid having to confront hard stuff and feel and, power, or rather felt control, are an addiction. too Thats not magic=drugs , and yeah it should mbe more clear how willow abuses izt is bad rather than it being a heavy drug metaphor (through kinda, that what makes an addiction, just that nuance should be constant, not the , oh she goes to a magic dealer.

[@chissstardestroyer]

You think it is "pro-magical practices"?! I sure don't, the story has elements to it that're correct about it: it *always* does harm. Here's the clincher: it properly correlates magic and religion- the two aren't that different, especially in today's properly attuned mindset- with the *deeply desirable result* of the burning of the religiously devout as sorcerers and the demise of everything sacred as the fallout that's sure to happen, especially with religion's condemnations of magic matching up as they do and should!

[@troikas3353]

The only thing the hamfisted addiction metaphor accomplished in S6 was a character assassination of Willow in order to play into their misguided belief that the show was only good when the characters were miserable.

[@psych0536]

no this is just wrong. it is pretty clear that magic dependence was where willow was headed for a long time. the drug metaphor was janky but it was no character assassination. I honestly think s7 was the character assassination because they barely did anything with her

[@troikas3353]

@@psych0536In s1-5 Willows primary motivation was protecting the people she cared about (every time she even gets snippy with someone its directed at a character that has or could hurt her friends), and her primary flaw was her inability to recognize she was even adequate at anything let alone actually strong. She needed strength to feel useful and yet was freaked out by the pressure of having it which caused her to turn it down whenever it was offered. Meanwhile her worst "misdeeds" were some petty highschool relationship drama that would struggle to be taken seriously on a Disney Channel kids show, and inadvertently causing a will spell to backfire while grieving. Every time she's offered power of presented with a chance to intentionally misuse it she doesn't; From her first meeting with Anya where she backs out immediately on seeing its dangerous, to her refusing to actually use the spell on Veruca (and nearly getting eaten for that mercy), to her turning down D'Hoffran's offer of reality altering power without even giving it a second thought and instead being instantly focused on just helping her friends. Then S6 roles around and suddenly she's a irresponsible heroine addicted disaster that drugs and date rapes her girlfriend. There's no part of S6 willow that bears any similarity to the character seen in S1-5, which even the show half heartedly acknowledges when Giles reveals in the finale that Willow's actually been being corrupted by the dark magic this whole time. S6 as a whole was just a study in making every character the most cynically awful version of themselves they could be for the sake of cheap drama and none of it actually goes anywhere to justify that, especially the Willow and Tara plot.

[@nardo218]

No one said it came out of nowhere. We said it was terribly written, heavy-handed, obvious, and stupid. Because Marti Noxon shouldn't be writing Buffy, she belongs on Lifetime: television for idiots.

[@kloe6095]

are you even a fan of Buffy ? or do u just hate watch 💀

[@arc7375]

Another masterful video. Thank you very much for taking the time and effort in putting this together.