- Giles
Giles’ grandmother and father were both watchers, and he wanted to buck the family destiny and do something more exciting like being a pilot or the ever illustrious and exiting career of being a grocer. Wow, two exciting careers I would never imagine seeing in the same sentence. So our young Rupert rebels like everybody, but a young Wesley Wyndham-Pryce does. He starts to dabble in magicks and summoned Eyphgon to Earth. (Let’s just fast forward that, cause to tell you the truth, I was really bored by Dark Ages or whatever that episode was.)
This rebellion in his youth may have been a preceptor for his concern for Willow’s increasing use and reliance on magicks. He had been there and done that. He had walked that road and was trying to assist Willow in not making a giant mistake, one that he couldn’t have even imagined. And we merrily won’t go down that path at the moment.
Our watcher’s presence was missed greatly in Season 6. We felt his loss and it just did not seem like the same show after he left for England. It was missing an element and that element was Giles. When he showed up at the priceless moment of bursting in the Magick Box to face bad girl Willow, it was a sense of comfort and joy. Willow was right. “Daddy’s home.” Exactly right, he was home and with his appearance came the notion that things were going to be ok.
I relate Giles with my perception of parent’s roles in a child’s life. They are the hidden safety nets that are always there, but at times, may not be seen. Parents let us fly, but also are there to catch us should we fall. This scene hits that message home for me.
In season four, we see Giles going through a mid-life crisis of sorts. He has no meaning to his world. His “child” has gone off to college and he is left home alone. He has no job. He is drinking more. His child doesn’t really have time for him and now looks up to a hotshot college professor/psychopath. He doesn’t feel valued or needed like he once did. However, in season five, Buffy does restart her training and proves to Giles that she still needs him. Giles knows that Buffy has to stand on her own, but still wants to protect her and shelter her from some things as much as he can. So he does this, until he leaves in season six.
In season seven, Giles appears once more and we are faced with the mystery of if he survived the bringer attack or not. We begin to search how we would feel if Giles turned out to be dead. It was unsettling for me. We saw that it was unsettling for the Scooby gang as well. Buffy was in this “mission matters only” mode and was missing out on the big picture once more. Yes, I love Spike, but he should have been staked, just like Angel should have been staked. However, when it comes to these two vampires, Buffy can’t see too clearly. Spike does see the picture clearly. He tells her so many times, I should go, you should kill me, and he can’t leave because Buffy wants him there. It isn’t Buffy’s fault that he stays; he just doesn’t have the strength to leave. He wants to be there for Buffy because he loves her.
Spike clearly sees what he is and always will be. Evil vampire. Yes, he has a soul, but that will never make up for the things he has done in the past and Spike knows that. Angel knows that as well. Xander and Giles know that, yet, Buffy doesn’t. She refuses to believe that. It could be that maybe she sees herself in Angel and Spike. Trapped by a demon, it defines who you are, you kill and judge, if she is faced with having to stake one of them, then would she just be staking a part of her as well?
Back to Giles, he sees that they are vulnerable and that Buffy can’t make the tough choice. So he aids Robin in helping to make the choice for her. She finds out and goes all cold and self-righteous. She tells him that he is no longer her watcher and she doesn’t need any more guidance. She pushes him away and that is common when someone does something that Buffy isn’t ok with. She tells him basically to go be a watcher to the SiTs.
This wasn’t a decision that I really agreed with that Giles made. The whole thing of them kicking her out of the house and Giles putting a lot of trust into Faith, it all just seemed majorly weird, but on the other hand, it was a more role than in Season 6.
Giles is often bitchy at Xander, I really didn’t notice this until reviewing a few episodes a bit closer. Giles didn’t tolerate Xander well at times. He seems to feel that Xander is brighter and has more potential than Xander believes that he himself has. Giles seems to feel that he has to be harder on Xander to get Xander to grow up and stop making excuses.
I want to jump back to a major point where Buffy tells Giles she doesn’t need a watcher anymore. Giles has been pushing Buffy to stand on her own and even left her in season six so that she could stand on her more now. He wouldn’t be there for her to depend on as much. However, Giles seems to want her to stand on her own in his way. I mean, how he thinks about what she should do.
Buffy stands on her own and makes decisions. She is the general, however, Giles second-guesses her decisions. He does not support them 100%, he lets her know his displeasure. His goal for her to stand on her own is fulfilled, however, he cannot adjust to this. It has changed their relationship and the dynamic that they once had. This change was evident in Lies my parents told me.
Giles believes that his worst fears will be realized and that he is the only one taking this apocalypse seriously. This puts him in a mindset that isn’t helpful to Buffy. It is a mindset that cannot see that maybe Buffy is making the right decisions and that he may not be right about some things. Father doesn’t always know best, but hey; don’t tell my father I said that.
Alright, time to close this article up. I noticed that a lot of my points weren’t saved from when I started this, but I will discuss that in next week’s article. Basically here is a sneak peek. Angelus killed Jenny and tortured Giles. Should he die? HELL YES! Should Buffy had killed Angel? YES! Is Angel/Angelus the same person? YES!
Should be interesting.
Voltage: I hate cliff hangers! It all started with X-files, spread to Buffy, and then now these? You torture me so. LOL Loved it! Can't wait till next week! Aeryn: Don't overreact just yet Rebecca. All that will be addressed next time. Rebecca: So Buffy should kill Angel for killing Jenny... but not for all the people he killed in Europe? WTF? Is there a statute of limitations on vampire killings? Or does it only count when it's one of Buffy's friends? Cannot wait for next week! DaddyCatALSO: Hmmm, that hsould be interesting next time, to me as an evangelical...
- And parents are a safety net; they can offer too much, too, I took unfiar advantage of that and Giles was too kind-hearted, he almost forced Buffy too ask too much of him when she was reluctant to do so, soemtimes.
- Giles's childhood ambitions remind me of the time my daughter, then 6, was asked (on national TV) what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said a country music singer or a zookeeper
by Aeryn -3.31.05
[ aaeryn@blkswan.com ]
The name conjures up an image of certain responsibility; fatherly devotion, pride, loyalty and I know, in my mind, a giant invisible safety net. Rupert Giles is the mumbling, concussion prone council watcher that was assigned to Buffy Summers after the death of her first watcher, Merrick. In total, Buffy comes in with three watchers to be officially assigned to her.
(01.04.2005, 13:05)
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(31.03.2005, 18:39)
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