(This presumes Buffy can draw blood with her thumbs, which I don't doubt.)

I think todays FW rerun with the Gnarl prety well confirmed that. Ick.

Point. Although by then the metaphor had been strained into a whole bunch of new, previously-unintended shapes. I think that, against a vampire, Buffy could posit herself without resources as a counterbalance. Against the very definition and source of evil in this world? That's a taller order (and besides they'd done that ending before anyway).

Also the part where, if capital-E Evil (or just a hellmouth) could be destroyed by a slayer doing her slayer thing and nothing more, capital-E Evil would be incredibly wussy.

if capital-E Evil (or just a hellmouth) could be destroyed by a slayer doing her slayer thing and nothing more, capital-E Evil would be incredibly wussy.

Which it apparently was, up until the late nineties.

if you strip it down to the core you have something strong, but then if you don't, you have something stronger.

Maybe this is what I'm trying to say: in order to get to that position that ita talked about, you have to have something strong at the core. You have to have something strong at the core, for the possibility of it being stronger when what's around it is not stripped.

Then again, maybe not. Words complicated are. Brain break a takeing is.

I think that Becoming 2 and Chosen have some interesting parallels. We've already mentioned the weapons, friends, and hope thing.

Also, both episodes ended with the sacrifice of an ensouled vampire to bring about the resolution. In B2, Willow unconsciously called on seemingly dark forces to re-ensoul Angel, while in Chosen, she deliberately called on light forces to activate Slayer strength in all the potentials. Both episodes ended with Buffy running away from the scene, but in B2 she was running away from friends and family while in Chosen she was running to rejoin her friends and family.

There's more I could say, but it's hard to compose longer posts while at work.

Chosen and Graduation Day are the two that I find incredibly similar. (Except I like Graduation Day better, because I preferred Let's Bring Regular People On Board And Together We're Strong! to Let's Make All The Proto-Slayers Strong!)

= I preferred Let's Bring Regular People On Board And Together We're Strong!

I think that scene works emotionally, but logistically I would have liked to see a little bit more of how they turned a graduating class into an army in a few hours. But I understand the time limitations.

Oh, yeah, well, that kind of thing I'm willing to skim over. If I start thinking about training kids how to use flamethrowers, next thing I know I'm back to "Buffy, sweetheart, get a good PR guy, convince the world of the existence of vampires, and take a vacation in Bermuda, willya?"

next thing I know I'm back to "Buffy, sweetheart, get a good PR guy, convince the world of the existence of vampires, and take a vacation in Bermuda, willya?"

I once suggested that given how many people in Sunnydale know, she should have just started a public safety campaign. "Friends don't let friends get bit."

(Really, why does the slayer's identity have to be secret? Couldn't she do more good if everyone knew? It seems like the bad guys who would hurt her if they knew, find out eventually anyhow. But I guess the same is true of all superheroes.)

Really, why does the slayer's identity have to be secret?

So she doesn't get sent to the loony bin, I assume. I don't think it's to protect her from demons, so much.