which means both are being evaluated and judged, although especially Buffy in terms of having the judgement laid down.
Exactly. I know everyone hates EP but in some ways Dead Man's Party is as damaging if not more so to Buffy. EP comes at the end of the series so it's one of the "last impressions" in an already wonky back end of S7 (I'm fond of the season despite it's flaws, but still...)
DMP is almost easier to forget because it's "buried" in a sense - esp if you're a late-season lover like I am (and not all that excited by S3); or if you're a Spike fan like some of my f'listies who don't/won't watch anything that JM isn't in. But the episode is essential to Buffy's story: we've seen her receive harsh judgement before after Angel lost his soul; and she left Sunnydale thinking that she truly was alone. So when she comes back and is basically ganged-up on by an entire roomful of her "friends" and her mom, it's painful to watch. Whatever Buffy did to contribute to the situation she did not deserve that treatment. The fact that a MOtW distracts everything and papers over the cracks temporarily is very realistic in dysfunctional families/situations, and very true to these characters. And it's only going to get worse. (Look no further than Gingerbread and roll ahead all the way to the end of the series.)
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Exactly. I know everyone hates EP but in some ways Dead Man's Party is as damaging if not more so to Buffy. EP comes at the end of the series so it's one of the "last impressions" in an already wonky back end of S7 (I'm fond of the season despite it's flaws, but still...)
DMP is almost easier to forget because it's "buried" in a sense - esp if you're a late-season lover like I am (and not all that excited by S3); or if you're a Spike fan like some of my f'listies who don't/won't watch anything that JM isn't in. But the episode is essential to Buffy's story: we've seen her receive harsh judgement before after Angel lost his soul; and she left Sunnydale thinking that she truly was alone. So when she comes back and is basically ganged-up on by an entire roomful of her "friends" and her mom, it's painful to watch. Whatever Buffy did to contribute to the situation she did not deserve that treatment. The fact that a MOtW distracts everything and papers over the cracks temporarily is very realistic in dysfunctional families/situations, and very true to these characters. And it's only going to get worse. (Look no further than Gingerbread and roll ahead all the way to the end of the series.)
Especially in DMP.