elisi | The problem with 'As You Were'.

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buffy has taken over my brain

The problem with 'As You Were'.

Thanks to AOQ's reviews, I've been spending yet more time thinking about AYW. Because One Bit Shy (whom I usually agree with at least 95%), had a completely different take: Riley was Prince Charming, giving Buffy a wonderful boost and helping her enormously. Which kinda threw me, as you can expect. So I thought and pondered, and this is what I came up with.

(It all ties in with my Why Spike wasn't The Doctor post, which I've also amended. Not that it changes anything on that front. Spike was never The Doctor - the problem is Riley.)

So, what about this other option? Where Riley is Prince Charming for the day, saving Buffy and being the great hero and inspirer? Lets say he goes to Willy's and someone (deliberately?) lets him know that Spike has all these eggs at his crypt. Riley in true Action Hero mode storms off to confront Spike ("I shall undo his dastardly plot!") and is all in all exactly the same straightforward guy we met back in S4 - and his speech at the end can be taken at face value and we can pat him on the back and thank him for being such a swell guy who can show Buffy how amazing she still is.

But... I have a BIG problem with this interpretation. The end result is the same anyway (Buffy breaks up with Spike for pretty much the same reasons she broke up with Angel in 'Lovers Walk' - "What I want from you I can never have...") - but with Riley as Mr Nice Guy the whole thing is painfully simplistic. Yes there are simple episodes in S6 (DMP to name one), but they are usually selfcontained eps, dealing with one thing and wrapping it up (Buffy gets a job). AYW is when Buffy stops seeing Spike, the end of a fascinatingly complex and mutually damaging relationship... and why? Because of some idiotic demon eggs and Buffy remembering that Spike was eeevil (not that she holds it against him, but she finds the strength to say no to his wicked charms thanks to a pep talk from Captain Cardboard).

It's like IWMTLY with Riley as April. Execpt April was cuter. (How can Riley be Prince Charming when he isn't charming? Well except to Buffy. Usually I have no problems feeling what Buffy feels - in AYW I do. A lot. Riley just doesn't do it for me, and I think he's meant to. Stupid Petrie.)

So again - what is an episode as *important* as this one doing, being as simple as one from S1? In S6 which is all about the character's past deeds coming back to haunt them, about people's flaws making them behave very badly indeed, about choices and consequences... it doesn't fit! If it really is that simple and is meant to be, then I just have to write off Dough Petrie's good episodes as lucky flukes (and getting *a lot* help). So to make AYW sit comfortably amongst its fellow episodes and carry the same themes, I *have* find layers. More than just the whole thing being seen though Buffy's star-struck eyes.

And this is where Riley gets to be Machiavelli. And where Spike's role in breaking up Buffy and Riley comes back to bite him. Hard. No one knew about the vamp-ho's, as far as we can tell. Giles might have guessed, but I'm as certain as I can be that Buffy never told her friends. But Spike found out, and Spike used his information to humiliate Riley and Riley almost staked him because of it - he figured out (*way* before anyone else) that Spike was in love with Buffy - he could recognise a rival. He couldn't think of anything better than the plastic stake back then (which was kinda pathetic, seriously). But here in AYW he has the most shining opportunity when he walks in on the two of them... it's beautiful and simple and will accomplish many things at the same time. He'll say that Spike is The Doctor - it should hopefully shock Buffy so much that she'll stop seeing him. And then Spike would be without Buffy, just like Riley was. And then Buffy can find someone else, someone good enough for her - he makes darn sure to build her up as much as he can.

I don't think Riley is stupid - he majored in Psychology if I recall correctly. I think he knows exactly what he's doing in AYW, and he does it well. But he isn't Prince Charming. At least I sincerely hope not.

The problem being, that I don't know which option I'm supposed to be seeing - and that is all due to bad writing!

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I have problems with the writing in AYW but they’re mostly that listening to Riley do exposition is very, very boring. Skip over the Summer’s house scene and the rest makes just as much sense. It reads a little as if you’re having a problem with wanting there to be a bad guy and wanting it not to be Spike. But I think the main reason Buffy finds the strength to break up with Spike after Riley leaves is not that he’s her Prince Charming showing up how bad Spike is. She already knowshe’s not good, she just thinks he’s too incompetent to be a threat. I mean the nearest he got to an evil scheme post-chip was the deal with Adam and if Spike hadn’t been involved Buffy wouldn’t have worked out what Adam was up to nearly as quick. And when he tried to get his chip back he got fooled by a doctor with some spare change. The thing Riley does though is to remind her how she used to be better than this. She is being selfish using Spike just because he’s convenient. It’s not working she can’t love him until she gets herself back on track. Finds her strength again and Spike can’t do that for her. I think that realisation that she can be strong again would be cheapened if we were supposed to see Riley as merely manipulative. The episode works just as well if there is no bad guy. And Doublemeat Palace is a complex masterpiece of political subtext :-)

Personally I prefer not to waste precious brain cells over Riley Finn but this discussion seems like it would be a wonderful question to put to JE at the James Marsters Con or whatever it's called. At least from her you have a good chance of getting a straight answer.

jonesiexxx made a brilliant post regarding AYW at Tea at the Ford which actually explains the entire episode as filtered through Buffy's psyche. It still hate the episode, but if I ever watch it again, I going to do so through with this analysis in mind. If you haven't yet read this, I highly recommend it.

re: Riley grading Buffy's papers while sleeping with her. I posted a plot bunny or two on waywardbunnies about someone running across Buffy talking to Riley in AYW and mentioning that they remembered them because Buffy was sleeping her way to good grades or asking what thye were doing together now that she doesn't have to sleep her way to a good grade. Then have Buffy see the sleaziness of her being with Riley in a new light and realizing that he isn't bastion of virtue that she's held him up as and she really should question things about his visit like him knowing where she worked.

Interesting interpretation of one of my least favorite episodes. I like the way your mind works, and I totally agree with you. (Except for Petrie. Petrie - like all the writers - submitted the final draft to MN and JW, and if they disliked anything, they'd change it. I rest my blame on them.)

In my general readings of fandom, Riley tends to be the character that gets ripped the most. He's viewed an interloper, both in the series and in various Buffy/(Insert Fave Here) shipper circles. He's a military
man on a TV show where institutions are almost universally portrayed as corrupt and without merit. And come "As You Were" in the midst of S6 and 'Everybody is Miserable' -- Riley shows up and he's not miserable -- so he's resented even more.

It often seems to me that much of Riley-meta begins with the premise of discrediting and removing him - rather than considering what positives he might add. Such as in this discussion..

So I'll argue on the side of 'most obvious explanation' -- stepping back and looking at Riley's story and character arc through his own lens... and considering the possibility that he is a flawed yet non-vile human being, with both merits and redeeming characteristics.

Riley has been gone for a year, had a life before and after Sunnydale, and probably isn't ever going to come back - exactly how much does he have to gain by brilliantly manipulating Buffy to break up with Spike? Is that really his overriding goal or priority in life?

Buffy is someone Riley loved, respects, and still cares about. He sees her desperately unhappy, and engaging in self-destructive and abasing behavior. Something he not only understands because of psychological study - but because he's lived it himself. So he says things to her that will help her help herself break out of her own self-hatred and depression. He gives a boost to her self-esteem rooted in her ability to see herself as both good and bad.

Buffy breaks up with Spike for pretty much the same reasons she broke up with Angel in 'Lovers Walk' - "What I want from you I can never have..."

Disagree. While I do think that what a happy Buffy would really want in a romantic partner is not what she would ever have from Spike - that isn't exactly why she breaks up with him. She breaks up with him, mostly because she's sleeping with him as a form of self-medication... which is destroying what she still values about herself and destroying what she actually does like about Spike. She broke up with Angel because they didn't have a future. She breaks up with Spike because they barely have a present.

So how's this get back to Riley?

Riley's attitude toward Buffy has been that it doesn't matter what you say to her about a guy. She has her own mind. He doesn't blame Spike for his breakup with Buffy. He doesn't blame Buffy as having some improper fixation on the undead. (That was Riley grasping at straws, and knowing he was stupid while doing so.)

What Riley believes about Buffy boils down to a clear point: "She's just not that into you". He believed that Buffy liked him, but didn't really want him that much. Spike's an ass, but what Spike did was precipitate the inevitable. Riley, himself, probably recognizes that his own behavior was at least somewhat a passive-aggressive attempt to provoke Buffy to either dump him or save him - he eventually gives her this ultimatum directly -and he was willing to live with either answer. Because getting her to resolve his uncertainty mattered more than the actual resolution.

So if Buffy really wants Spike or if she doesn't.... nothing Riley says is ultimately going to matter on that score. She'll do what she wants to do.

Riley's leaving town in a day or two, and he's hardly ambitious enough to plot out Buffy's life when he's got a career and life of his own to manage. He says a few encouraging words to his ex because he's not a horrible person. He'd prefer to see her making decisions based upon pursuing her aspirations instead making decisions out of despair.

And then he goes on his way. Back to his job, where he can feel good knowing he's using military (society's) resources to help regular people live their lives -- and now without a blind eye to the military's flaws. And where he works with his wife - who is in no way his subordinate. (Because Riley likes women who can & will tell him what to do.)

Can you at least consider this version plausible? It's obvious, but I think that at least it's fair - and not dependent upon anyone being dumb or a villain.

Here via

su_herald. I remember a theory I loved that was going around after the episode - Riley was actually Warren under a glamour (hence the scar in the same place Warren had been cut previously) and Sam was a robot. The whole thing was a troika plot to screw up Buffy's life yet further. Still makes a heck of a lot more sense to me than the superficial crap that was the episode.

I'd actually liked Riley just before he left in season 5, because he had some dimension and humanity, finally. Petrie blew it all away.

Here via

su_herald

Frankly, I didn't like AYW for a variety of reasons, but the deus ex machina that was Riley Finn, all American god of normalcy, clean thoughts, and brushing your teeth after every meal was, at least in my mind, doing what he always did through most of it, but the part that seemed tacked on to me was the bit about Spike being the Doctor because it wasn't necessary and frankly didn't make any sense.

Riley was right that Buffy didn't love him; she did, however, love what he represented, which was a normal life. Aside from his commando job, and that was at least something that could be found in the real world, this was a farm boy who wanted to get married, have kids, and own a golden retriever. Riley was an attempt to run the heck away from what she was by pretending she could be wife, mommmy, and co-golden retriever owner and be something other than a Slayer. Unfortunately, Riley had as much trouble with her being the Slayer as she did, and the idea that he wasn't stronger than her and that she didn't collapse in front of him emotionally during her mother's illness sent him running to vampire bite-addicts (her natural enemies) so he could feel needed... by strengthening what she was fighting. His departure was under a cloud of bad feeling on both their parts, Buffy because Captain America was the equivalent of a heroin addict and blaming his addiction on her (not only magic is crack!), and Riley issuing an ultimatum to her because he wanted her to let him in and not just pretend to be Mrs. Farmer's Wife but actually be it. The only mistake there was Buffy running after the helicopter. Buffy says "bye bye" to a normal life, and while she knows she'll always be more than just a Slayer, she also knows she can't escape the weirdness and responsiblity that is her life.

Then, he comes back, much, much happier without her. He married the equivalent of a female version of himself: all-American, home-spun, and a cardboard representation of a perfect person. And Buffy falls in love all over again, not with Riley, but with the normalcy he represents. Her life sucks worse than it ever did before since she's lost her mom, is a single parent, is distanced from all her friends, has lost her mentor because he thinks she's too dependent on him, is unable to go to college, is in debt up to her eyeballs, and is working fast food as a livelihood; all this while she's still the Slayer and would actually still be dead (and happy) if she weren't.

Riley isn't really a character to me: he's an allegorical symbol of a perfect life, and when Buffy's own life goes belly up and he returns somehow having reached whole new levels of perfection, it makes her feel even crappier. The thing is, if the writers felt the need to throw Riley back into the mix to remind Buffy of how bad things have gotten, that should have been enough impetus to get her to wake and realize stuff wasn't working in her own life without throwing in the bizarrely concocted thing about Spike being the Doctor, which frankly never made sense to me except as another desperate attempt by the writers to make the audience decide Spike was unredeemable vampire garbage (yeesh, long sentence). Riley's so dang perfect, Buffy decides she wants to be perfect too, and the easiest thing to erase on the list of bad stuff in her life that makes her cringe is #2327: Sleeping with Spike. She crosses that one off her list and is left with the other gazillion things in her life that suck beyond the telling, doing what she does throughout the season and pretending that what's actually wrong with her life is an external thing when it's actually her own overwhelmed apathy and depression over a variety of issues she needs to face that's sinking her.

::looks up at what was meant to be a 2 or 3 sentence answer::

Uh, so that's why Riley bothers me in that episode.

I wish I could think of something intelligent to say about this episode but since it's about the least intelligent episode of the whole show, maybe it doesn't matter too much.

Maybe we're supposed to take the lack of irony in Riley's perfect life and perfect wife as ironic in itself, who knows?

Also, it's not the only poor episode Petrie wrote. I don't think much of Bad Girls either.

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