I loved that part 😍😍😍. That's why naj is special. Now I just wish she would put up the missing episodes from seasons1-3. She is the only one with whom I wanna rewatch Buffy.
I remember watching this with my sister when it first came out. We both jumped up SCREAMING at the end! Our mum came running in because she thought one of us was hurt or being murdered 😂😂😂 Every time I rewatch this Giles gives me chills! ‘I’d like to test that theory’ BOSS ENTRY 💪🏻
I adore Dark Willow, she's right up there with Glory for me. And i agree that she was completely justified in killing Warren and that nasty warlock. And i love her fight with Buffy, two characters i love and a fantastic fight. The next episode is really great, too, as Buffy finales always are. Season 6 splits the fanbase and i understand it's a lot of emotional stuff, but between all the naked Spike and the last couple episodes, i have to like it. Hope you get some enjoyment out of it, too, naj.
I loved the dark willow episodes to it really developed her character in a way that was different to the others which made for a good watch if it was always the same it wouldn’t be as entertaining
Same Dark will and glory are my favorites..other than faith who is another fav..Its not about killing people you dont like , Warren is horrible, has no redeamable features and no remorse, just like she said, he is a legit sociopath
Willow has always wanted to get rid of pain quickly and/or ignore it altogether. That attitude is only making Tara's death worse when Willow is lumping anyone helping Jonathon and Andrew (who weren't responsible for Tara's death) into the blame column. Killing Warren didn't solve anything, killing Andrew and Jonathon wouldn't have, and going against the Scoobies wasn't solving anything. The only thing that will help Willow, even a little, is dealing with her grief over Tara because Warren wasn't the issue as much as not grieving and ignoring her grief was. It is a great storytelling device in making Willow more relatable than she has been all season.
This is a good start on what I talked about "what it does to Willow". In the truck and police car chase bit, Willow is perfectly willing to kill Buffy and Xander in order to get at Andrew and Jonathan.
I love dark Willow, she's awesome. But when she tried to go after Dawn? Hell no, not Dawn. Dawn literally lived with Tara and had the sweetest bond with her, so yeah Dawn loved her too. And she found Tara's death body and stayed with her for hours, traumatized. That was just so sad. Ohhh the Giles VS Willow. Giles is my favourite character, so... let's just say I was worried for him.
Have to admit that back when this originally aired there was a common belief that Willow’s dialogue in the scene with Dawn was kind of fan service. Dawn was not exactly universally loved back then - in fact I believe I recall a fair amount of Scrappy Doo jokes being made at that character’s expense. Regardless of where anyone falls in the ethics of Willow’s actions, Alyson Hannigan acted the hell out of it.
Story telling wise I think it makes it very interesting seeing willows addiction and eventual succumbing to darkness especially when she’s grown up feeling so small and weak. It is really relatable especially with the metaphor of addiction thrown into the mix I loved the dark willow episodes I thought it was a fresh storyline for the buffy verse and it was devastating but great to watch
Posting my BUFFY REWATCH recap for ‘Two To Go’. May contain spoilers. The two people that ever wronged Willow the most are Warren and Veruca. And the way they wrong her the most are because of being the catalysts for her losing her lovers. Veruca made Oz walk out the door by manipulating him into thinking the wolf was who he was. Warren made Willow lose Tara by accidentally killing her. Anything that happened to Willow herself at any point didn’t cause her as much pain as anything that happened to her loved ones. Willow wrapped her entire self around the people she cared about that when she was without them, she was gone. After losing Oz: “I feel like I’ve been split down the center and half of me is lost.” After losing Tara: “The only thing I had going for me were the moments, just moments, when Tara would look at me and I was wonderful.” There’s a co-dependency to Willow’s character that is so fascinating to think and write about for me since I have never experienced this loss of identity in myself. So why then does she turn on and against her loved ones in this episode? If that of which causes her the most pain is pain to and losing her loved ones, why is she now suddenly attempting to hurt them? Well, the answer to that has already been answered. They’re in the way of her greater plans while she is riddled with an intense and confusing blend of emotions and themes that she cannot differentiate between because she’s lost all sense and control of self: anger, hatred, grief, vengeance, sorrow, pain and power. These greater plans that take most priority override everything else that matters at the moment and they’re being driven by all these emotions and themes at once. She’s running on nothing else but pure animalism. The more and more power she accumulates and absorbs into herself, the worse this gets. And the more and more people get in her way, innocent or not, loved ones or not, the more and more her rage is fuelled. The more and more likely she is to turn evil and completely lose all of her humanity. The more and more likely that she is to become a monster just like any demon or vampire. She’s at the brink here. She could topple over and submerge herself into the empty abyss, taking everything and everyone with her, at any moment. But there’s a reason why she doesn’t. At least, not yet. There is still a part of her that is clinging on to the surface, to the ground beneath her feet. To life and to humanity. And the reason is Tara. For the few moments that she thinks of Tara and all that Tara means to her, all of which Tara has done for her, and how much Tara loved her, she is propelled back to herself and back to the excruciatingly painful thought that Tara is gone. And then the whole cycle starts all over again. She’s mentally and emotionally stuck in a cycle between the immediate and stark urgency to kill Jonathan and Andrew and the dull ache of not wanting to bother at all if it doesn’t make a difference to the outcome. If it doesn’t bring her Tara back. If it doesn’t make her feel any better. But alas, because of the corruptive power of black magic, the former wins out. Now the question is would throwing around physical reflections and reminders of her roots in nerdism be more satisfying than throwing around a reflection and reminder of what grew her out of it? Not likely. ‘Cause it’s like the woman cannot live if she’s not living for somebody else - be it for the better or for the worse. Buffy and Willow’s showdown in ‘Two To Go’ is years of repressed jealousy, resentment and ignorance boiling to spill over. This showdown that occurs at the climax of this episode is the legendary Caesar VS Brutus showdown. WILLOW: “So. Here we are.” BUFFY: “Are we really gonna do this?” WILLOW: “Come on, this is a huge deal for me! Six years as a side man, and now I get to be the Slayer.” BUFFY: “A killer isn't a Slayer. Being a Slayer means something you can't conceive of.” WILLOW: “Oh, Buffy. You really need to have every square inch of your ass kicked.” BUFFY: “Then show me what you got. And I'll show you what a Slayer really is.” When it came right down to it, Willow perceived Buffy as a violent inhuman thing that would ultimately expose her greatest fear. And yet she’s the one that turned into the monster all because she couldn’t let her anger and hatred go and let the magic power that made her something a little more than human go to her head. Willow’s perception of Anya in her ‘Restless’ nightmare when her perception of Buffy unveiled her perception of herself: “It’s exactly like a Greek tragedy.” Definition of ‘Greek tragedy’ by Collins Dictionary: a play in which the protagonist, usually a person of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he or she cannot deal FAITH VICTORIA: “Just like how the Roman empire fell because of inner corruption, Willow became Dark Willow because of her inability to reconcile her inner turmoil with her misuse of magic, and fell from grace in her own way.”
I love you Naj❤❤❤❤❤. You are so under-rated. I love your commentary and your analysis, its so passionate, but also intelligent, with a lot of strong moral standards. Your reaction to Giles coming back was exactly like mine😂. I jumped up and down, and replayed it again and again. Giles' reappearance was described in the script as "leather jacket, no glasses, pure RIPPER."
And I agree with you a lot about Wilow. I don't hate her for killing Warren and the creepy drug dealer stand-in or for trying to kill the other two losers. And every time she tries to hurt her friends, that's exactly the point- its besides the point what she really feels about their issues, she has just given up on anything and everything and is trying to push everyone away so she can numb her grief with magic, anger, violence, self-pity and self-hatred. I don't hate her for any of that, she has reasons enough for all that to be understandable, even if some of her attitude is not excusable. Having said that, I absolutely hate her for how she treated Tara. Maybe someone can point out that what she did was consistent with what a relationship with an addict is like, but I still don't care. What she did to Tara is the equivalent of drugging someone and then having sex with them, basically SA, which is especially despicable considering Tara came from an abusive family and had just last year had her mind assaulted by Glory. I think this whole thing was glossed over way too much, with the way Tara forgave her so easily because she stayed clean for a few weeks. I mean, I get that she has problems, but come on. Some mistakes you can't come back from.
And speaking of mistakes you can't come back from, I would just like to point out, like someone else in the comments(Faith Victoria), that while I dont regret the deaths of creepy misogynists, Buffy was right after all, murder does change you. I mean, look at Faith. Look at how Willow is spiralling deeper and deeper out of control from the moment of her first kill; first she killed for righteous revenge, then she killed for greed and power, next episode she is gonna wanna kill for fun. I don't think who deserves to die is the point; the point is her soul.
I mean I love Willow, but this episode basically proves that Buffy was 100% right in Villains. It's not about whether it's right to kill Warren, or Wrack (I think that's how you spell it?) or Andrew or Jonathan or anybody. It's about what all that killing is doing to Willow. She's using highly addictive dark magic that we know has made powerful mages go insane, not to mention she's a deeply insecure character who is finally getting the power trip she's been yearning for for ages, and in Buffy's words, Willow is just getting completely lost. If they let her continue, there won't be a Willow to bring back anymore. It's tragic, but that is what makes her probably one of the best villains that no one was expecting this season (at least I wasn't). Not to mention there's no end in sight. She spends all of Villains declaring that she must kill Warren, and only Warren. She does this, and then instantly says "two to go", because once Warren was killed, it didn't stop her need for revenge, so now she wants to off Andrew and Jonathan. They are in the police station, the police are in the way, so now it's time to kill the police. She needs power, Wrack has power, now it's time to kill Wrack. Dawn is trying to stop her, she is annoyed, now it's time to kill Dawn "go back to being a ball of energy". People keep being added onto Willow's list, and with each new one she loses herself further and further down the rabbit hole of having immense power and no limits on what she can do with it. Off topic but I love Dark Willow's design. Having villains dressed all in black is a very common choice and the fact that the series already had Faith with this style could make it hard for Dark Willow to stand out, but she totally does. The changes in her hair is a very cool way to show her loss of identity within the dark magic, and the black veins or scars appearing across her face whenever she does a particularly powerful spell further highlight the loss of humanity, and also just look really cool.
Uggggghhhhhh this comment is everything!!!! You worded it so perfectly I’ve read so many dark willow hate comments and that’s okay if people don’t like her I think having her be so indecisive is a job well done. I agree with you completely though I don’t even need to say why because you already covered it all thank you for that comment it was a joy to read ❤
great reaction, i was a little disappointed you guess it'd be giles in the end i wanted to see the complete surprise in your face lol , but it's still great reaction; on to the next ! ✌
you misremembered the willow/tara scene. tara gave her "people deal with grief differently" speech before anya announced that buffy was sleeping with spike. afterwards, willow agrees that they need to be understanding, but *tara* does a 180 and announces that buffy is nuts.
It makes sense that she would spiral even more after witnessing Tara's murder right before her eyes. I would go into a rage too and then add power on top of that, you are bound to lose it. I definitely don't care that she killed Warren, he was written as a piece of shit for a reason, the audience is suppose to hate him.
A great title for this episode Willow now in true 'Darkman' mode, revenge is all that is driving her, and the other two, Andrew and Jonathan seem doomed. Anya explaining in a matter of fact way to the Prison Guard what is going to happen is very funny. Her chase is relentless, and the scream she lets out outside the Prison is really chilling. The other part of the story arc is Spike's quest to complete the tasks. Prophetic words indeed when Buffy says is she is running low on magic power, she is gonna need to juice up soon, and we switch to the abominable Rack. Willow of course is now more powerful as him, and takes his strength. The Willow and Dawn conversation is interesting, with Willow's now piercing eyes looking straight onto Dawn's mind. Willow saying to Dawn you weren't always human, and why is she crying as she is just a mystical ball of energy, this is so hurtful to Dawn. Funny too when Jonathan and Andrew are arguing and Anya says ' the annoying Virgin has a point '. Great dramatic and painful conversation in The Magic Box with Xander and Anya. Willow's great scene with Buffy at Rack's where she seems to release all her pent up anger and hurt she has endured over the years of Bullying and being thought of as a nerd, and now feels she has the power to take revenge on all is a very interesting concept from the writers, it seems now as she refers to herself as a 'junkie' but feels the need to get even on everybody. The killer line here is when Willow says to Buffy, 'you hate it here even more than I do'. We switch back to Spike briefly to see he has more tasks to complete, which is interesting as this story is sidelined here as the main event is in the Magic Box, but the Spike storyline even though peripheral here, is probably the most important for the whole Series! The Buffy/Willow showdown was inevitable. It seems so bitter when Willow says to Buffy 'years of being your sideman' there seems to almost actual hate and jealousy towards her here, she is of course just too powerful now, but a brilliant ending scene Willow is thrown across the room, and we see the return of a 'juiced up' Giles, great satisfaction for the viewer here setting up a great Finale.
SPOILER ALERT: Please don't read ahead if you don't want future episodes to be spoiled!!!! Willow's stages of grief- 1. Denial-"Osiris, bring her back!" 2. Anger- Her killing spree "Bored now" 3. Bargaining- "I can't have Tara, so the rest of the world must lose their lives" 4. Depression- Her teary breakdown in Xander's arms after he got through to her that no matter what, he will always love her "I love Crayon-Breaky Willow and Scary Veiny Willow" 😍 5. Acceptance- Next season! Her learning to keep her magic in control, taking accountability for her actions, letting Tara rest in peace so that even The-freaking-First-Evil itself could not manipulate her, and eventually letting go of guilt for moving on from the love of her life."It's not fair, we should have been forever". Okay, that one broke my heart and rekindled my faith in love at the same time😭💔💔
But the thing is Willow ... Getting darker n dark turned her to only destruction just like people in real life ... Choices that are not good turn worse n worse ... Darker n Darker ... That's the difference with Buffy ... She knows where it takes her
It’s really easy to be biased when Willow is your kid. Personally it doesn’t matter to me what Dark Willow does because Willow has already done the most horrific thing she could have done well before she turned dark.
I really dislike the trope* of 'I'm the only one that's grieving, I'm going to attack all my buddies that are also grieving because my pain is the only thing that matters.' Throwing Buffy an Xander in the previous episode, mocking Dawn, etc. Willow didn´t need to do that. *(I don't know if it's a trope with a name)
@@riel4553 nah, it’s not a trope. But I know exactly what you mean. Some characters that are in pain can’t looked passed their own to see that others are in pain too. This character always wants to get rid of pain the quick and easy and usually unnatural way. They often perform magic to avoid feeling painful or uncomfortable emotions.
@@riel4553 Makes both Buffy, Dawn and Xander more lovable characters by contrast though, the fact that they have suffered too and are dealing with the loss of Tara but staying strong throughout.
@@faithvictoria9014 That's why I love the dark Willow arc. As much as I'd like to say I would be the other 3 when at the peak of depression, grief & addiction, I am actually toxic as fuck so Willow being toxic af when at her worst is the only one that resonates with me
The thing is buffy shuts them out she always does willow brought it up cause buffy kept standing in the way and being a hypocrite she chose bad coping mechanism and willow is pissed for buffy is against her for doing her coping mechanism.
See i don't hate Willow this Season. I hate what she did to Tara and what she tried to do to Buffy in Tabula Rasa. The reason i can forgive allot of it is because she is held accountable in a way that matters. She loses Tara over what she does, she hurts Dawn (and i'd argue next to Tara, Dawn loves Willow the most.) There are very real consequences for her. Some of what she did is unforgiveable (e.g. sleeping with Tara after wiping her memory.) I hate how that is never addressed as what it is, yet when Warren does the exact same thing it is called exactly what it is. But then they also did the same thing with Xander in Season 3 when he blackmailed Amy into casting that love spell. Heck he's literally rewarded for it because Cordy takes him back. I hate that when it comes to the 'good guys' like Willow and Xander it's played for laughs or never addressed but when it comes to villains like Warren they (thankfully) get torn to bits and bloody up the forest doing it. Either its bad no matter what, or it isn't. I think that's my biggest problem with this Season. Even though this is my favourite Season in a Season where SA is a huge theme where even the heroes are using magic to do it or have a history of using magic to do it, they are never called out for it...i'm rambling.
Anyone with that much power is scary and not at all ok. I doubt that threatening friends and family is what any of us want. I dont love willow here, im sad for her.
Coming from someone that watched this show when it was on the air (and absolutely obsessed with it) you are gonna need a box of tissues next episode. When Willow says “uh oh daddys home” HAHAHAHAHA This is a perfect example of how humans cope with great grief, they change, they don’t think straight…Sweet Willow saying and doing the opposite is obviously a mediocre and a villain is a consistent behavior pattern..willow flipped her humanity switch and I love that character development it gives her…wait until season 7…oh man. I LOVE your reactions, I’d love to see more reaction time of you and maybe a tad less summary of the episode.
I watched Charmed back in the day. A couple of years ago, I tried to rewatch it, and ... omg ... it is so BAD. It either did not age as well as btvs, or it was always bad, but as a hormonal teen I did not care due to the charming actresses
The human desire for revenge is powerful. I get the desire to see truly ireedemable people get what they deserve, and Willows murder of him can be viewed as justice from a certain Pov's. But there is a line where we have to draw between righteous vengence and becoming that which you want to destroy. When willow turns on her friends, and decides to include two people who didnt commit the crime of murder, she went too far. Power corrupts. No matter how much our path can begin in the light eventually too much power leads us to doing evil, and once we start doing evil we can justify anything and hurting anyone. How would yoh feel if Willow had to kill buffy or giles to get her revenge? At what point do you say... stop. Too far. Another point, what would your dead loved one want? Would they want you to destroy yourself seeking vengence? Did they care about you? Then honor them by living and not becoming a monster. Be worthy of them, and dont destroy what they loved to satisfy revenge. I get your feelings, but too many people have died because someone wanted revenge. We have to break that idea before it kills us all.
OKAY! I feel like you are giving Willow a huge pass. I mean, I think everyone is fine with Warren dying. But none of Warren's crimes justify going on a killing spree. She casually talked about killing Buffy...To Buffy! And she was about to kill Dawn if Buffy hadn't rushed in. Other characters in the past have done Buffy wrong, but to a much lesser degree. And you were real quick to jump on them and call foul. But fucking Willow walking around like she's Thanos, and it's fine. ....Come on🤨
May I also add, I also love your reactions. I love how you are so emotionally invested in these characters in an honest way without "performing" for the camera (like some other reaction videos). And yes I love Dark Willow. What she does is really fucked up, but I love her.
For the most part, this is a great episode, but it has my biggest pet peeve in the entire series. It makes NO sense that Willow is able to fight Buffy while Anya is blocking her magics. The spell she uses on herself gives her strength equal to Buffy's...but none of her training, reflexes or skills. Even with the same strength as Buffy, Willow shouldn't know any martial arts or be able to do gymnastics. She's so illogically OP, it drives me nuts. Buffy should have beaten her unconscious in less than a minute.
I think the only reason why Willow was against her friends was because they were protecting Jonathan and Andrew. Don’t know if Willow would have stopped if Jonathan and Andrew were never in the picture.
"I'd like to test that theory."
Naj: **hits table repeatedly**
Other reactors: 😲😍🤩🤯👏👏 **too shocked to speak**
I loved that part 😍😍😍. That's why naj is special. Now I just wish she would put up the missing episodes from seasons1-3. She is the only one with whom I wanna rewatch Buffy.
Giles, earlier this season: I've got a theory
Giles, at the end, while we hold his beer: I'd like to test that theory
Us: YAS GILES!!!! YASSSSSS
I remember watching this with my sister when it first came out. We both jumped up SCREAMING at the end! Our mum came running in because she thought one of us was hurt or being murdered 😂😂😂
Every time I rewatch this Giles gives me chills!
‘I’d like to test that theory’ BOSS ENTRY 💪🏻
Me too except I watched it alone
Even better, it was a two-hour finale.
I adore Dark Willow, she's right up there with Glory for me. And i agree that she was completely justified in killing Warren and that nasty warlock. And i love her fight with Buffy, two characters i love and a fantastic fight. The next episode is really great, too, as Buffy finales always are. Season 6 splits the fanbase and i understand it's a lot of emotional stuff, but between all the naked Spike and the last couple episodes, i have to like it. Hope you get some enjoyment out of it, too, naj.
As long as it's people you don't like you can justify killing anyone you want. 🙄
I loved the dark willow episodes to it really developed her character in a way that was different to the others which made for a good watch if it was always the same it wouldn’t be as entertaining
Same Dark will and glory are my favorites..other than faith who is another fav..Its not about killing people you dont like
, Warren is horrible, has no redeamable features and no remorse, just like she said, he is a legit sociopath
Willow has always wanted to get rid of pain quickly and/or ignore it altogether. That attitude is only making Tara's death worse when Willow is lumping anyone helping Jonathon and Andrew (who weren't responsible for Tara's death) into the blame column. Killing Warren didn't solve anything, killing Andrew and Jonathon wouldn't have, and going against the Scoobies wasn't solving anything. The only thing that will help Willow, even a little, is dealing with her grief over Tara because Warren wasn't the issue as much as not grieving and ignoring her grief was. It is a great storytelling device in making Willow more relatable than she has been all season.
This is a good start on what I talked about "what it does to Willow". In the truck and police car chase bit, Willow is perfectly willing to kill Buffy and Xander in order to get at Andrew and Jonathan.
I love dark Willow, she's awesome. But when she tried to go after Dawn? Hell no, not Dawn. Dawn literally lived with Tara and had the sweetest bond with her, so yeah Dawn loved her too. And she found Tara's death body and stayed with her for hours, traumatized. That was just so sad.
Ohhh the Giles VS Willow. Giles is my favourite character, so... let's just say I was worried for him.
Have to admit that back when this originally aired there was a common belief that Willow’s dialogue in the scene with Dawn was kind of fan service. Dawn was not exactly universally loved back then - in fact I believe I recall a fair amount of Scrappy Doo jokes being made at that character’s expense.
Regardless of where anyone falls in the ethics of Willow’s actions, Alyson Hannigan acted the hell out of it.
Story telling wise I think it makes it very interesting seeing willows addiction and eventual succumbing to darkness especially when she’s grown up feeling so small and weak. It is really relatable especially with the metaphor of addiction thrown into the mix I loved the dark willow episodes I thought it was a fresh storyline for the buffy verse and it was devastating but great to watch
Posting my BUFFY REWATCH recap for ‘Two To Go’. May contain spoilers.
The two people that ever wronged Willow the most are Warren and Veruca. And the way they wrong her the most are because of being the catalysts for her losing her lovers. Veruca made Oz walk out the door by manipulating him into thinking the wolf was who he was. Warren made Willow lose Tara by accidentally killing her. Anything that happened to Willow herself at any point didn’t cause her as much pain as anything that happened to her loved ones. Willow wrapped her entire self around the people she cared about that when she was without them, she was gone.
After losing Oz: “I feel like I’ve been split down the center and half of me is lost.”
After losing Tara: “The only thing I had going for me were the moments, just moments, when Tara would look at me and I was wonderful.”
There’s a co-dependency to Willow’s character that is so fascinating to think and write about for me since I have never experienced this loss of identity in myself.
So why then does she turn on and against her loved ones in this episode? If that of which causes her the most pain is pain to and losing her loved ones, why is she now suddenly attempting to hurt them? Well, the answer to that has already been answered. They’re in the way of her greater plans while she is riddled with an intense and confusing blend of emotions and themes that she cannot differentiate between because she’s lost all sense and control of self: anger, hatred, grief, vengeance, sorrow, pain and power. These greater plans that take most priority override everything else that matters at the moment and they’re being driven by all these emotions and themes at once. She’s running on nothing else but pure animalism. The more and more power she accumulates and absorbs into herself, the worse this gets. And the more and more people get in her way, innocent or not, loved ones or not, the more and more her rage is fuelled. The more and more likely she is to turn evil and completely lose all of her humanity. The more and more likely that she is to become a monster just like any demon or vampire. She’s at the brink here. She could topple over and submerge herself into the empty abyss, taking everything and everyone with her, at any moment. But there’s a reason why she doesn’t. At least, not yet.
There is still a part of her that is clinging on to the surface, to the ground beneath her feet. To life and to humanity. And the reason is Tara. For the few moments that she thinks of Tara and all that Tara means to her, all of which Tara has done for her, and how much Tara loved her, she is propelled back to herself and back to the excruciatingly painful thought that Tara is gone. And then the whole cycle starts all over again. She’s mentally and emotionally stuck in a cycle between the immediate and stark urgency to kill Jonathan and Andrew and the dull ache of not wanting to bother at all if it doesn’t make a difference to the outcome. If it doesn’t bring her Tara back. If it doesn’t make her feel any better. But alas, because of the corruptive power of black magic, the former wins out. Now the question is would throwing around physical reflections and reminders of her roots in nerdism be more satisfying than throwing around a reflection and reminder of what grew her out of it? Not likely. ‘Cause it’s like the woman cannot live if she’s not living for somebody else - be it for the better or for the worse.
Buffy and Willow’s showdown in ‘Two To Go’ is years of repressed jealousy, resentment and ignorance boiling to spill over. This showdown that occurs at the climax of this episode is the legendary Caesar VS Brutus showdown.
WILLOW: “So. Here we are.”
BUFFY: “Are we really gonna do this?”
WILLOW: “Come on, this is a huge deal for me! Six years as a side man, and now I get to be the Slayer.”
BUFFY: “A killer isn't a Slayer. Being a Slayer means something you can't conceive of.”
WILLOW: “Oh, Buffy. You really need to have every square inch of your ass kicked.”
BUFFY: “Then show me what you got. And I'll show you what a Slayer really is.”
When it came right down to it, Willow perceived Buffy as a violent inhuman thing that would ultimately expose her greatest fear. And yet she’s the one that turned into the monster all because she couldn’t let her anger and hatred go and let the magic power that made her something a little more than human go to her head.
Willow’s perception of Anya in her ‘Restless’ nightmare when her perception of Buffy unveiled her perception of herself: “It’s exactly like a Greek tragedy.”
Definition of ‘Greek tragedy’ by Collins Dictionary: a play in which the protagonist, usually a person of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he or she cannot deal
FAITH VICTORIA: “Just like how the Roman empire fell because of inner corruption, Willow became Dark Willow because of her inability to reconcile her inner turmoil with her misuse of magic, and fell from grace in her own way.”
I love you Naj❤❤❤❤❤. You are so under-rated. I love your commentary and your analysis, its so passionate, but also intelligent, with a lot of strong moral standards.
Your reaction to Giles coming back was exactly like mine😂. I jumped up and down, and replayed it again and again. Giles' reappearance was described in the script as "leather jacket, no glasses, pure RIPPER."
And I agree with you a lot about Wilow. I don't hate her for killing Warren and the creepy drug dealer stand-in or for trying to kill the other two losers. And every time she tries to hurt her friends, that's exactly the point- its besides the point what she really feels about their issues, she has just given up on anything and everything and is trying to push everyone away so she can numb her grief with magic, anger, violence, self-pity and self-hatred. I don't hate her for any of that, she has reasons enough for all that to be understandable, even if some of her attitude is not excusable. Having said that, I absolutely hate her for how she treated Tara. Maybe someone can point out that what she did was consistent with what a relationship with an addict is like, but I still don't care. What she did to Tara is the equivalent of drugging someone and then having sex with them, basically SA, which is especially despicable considering Tara came from an abusive family and had just last year had her mind assaulted by Glory. I think this whole thing was glossed over way too much, with the way Tara forgave her so easily because she stayed clean for a few weeks. I mean, I get that she has problems, but come on. Some mistakes you can't come back from.
And speaking of mistakes you can't come back from, I would just like to point out, like someone else in the comments(Faith Victoria), that while I dont regret the deaths of creepy misogynists, Buffy was right after all, murder does change you. I mean, look at Faith. Look at how Willow is spiralling deeper and deeper out of control from the moment of her first kill; first she killed for righteous revenge, then she killed for greed and power, next episode she is gonna wanna kill for fun. I don't think who deserves to die is the point; the point is her soul.
I mean I love Willow, but this episode basically proves that Buffy was 100% right in Villains. It's not about whether it's right to kill Warren, or Wrack (I think that's how you spell it?) or Andrew or Jonathan or anybody. It's about what all that killing is doing to Willow. She's using highly addictive dark magic that we know has made powerful mages go insane, not to mention she's a deeply insecure character who is finally getting the power trip she's been yearning for for ages, and in Buffy's words, Willow is just getting completely lost. If they let her continue, there won't be a Willow to bring back anymore. It's tragic, but that is what makes her probably one of the best villains that no one was expecting this season (at least I wasn't). Not to mention there's no end in sight. She spends all of Villains declaring that she must kill Warren, and only Warren. She does this, and then instantly says "two to go", because once Warren was killed, it didn't stop her need for revenge, so now she wants to off Andrew and Jonathan. They are in the police station, the police are in the way, so now it's time to kill the police. She needs power, Wrack has power, now it's time to kill Wrack. Dawn is trying to stop her, she is annoyed, now it's time to kill Dawn "go back to being a ball of energy". People keep being added onto Willow's list, and with each new one she loses herself further and further down the rabbit hole of having immense power and no limits on what she can do with it.
Off topic but I love Dark Willow's design. Having villains dressed all in black is a very common choice and the fact that the series already had Faith with this style could make it hard for Dark Willow to stand out, but she totally does. The changes in her hair is a very cool way to show her loss of identity within the dark magic, and the black veins or scars appearing across her face whenever she does a particularly powerful spell further highlight the loss of humanity, and also just look really cool.
I love how you put it
@@asthajindal5275 Thank you
Uggggghhhhhh this comment is everything!!!! You worded it so perfectly I’ve read so many dark willow hate comments and that’s okay if people don’t like her I think having her be so indecisive is a job well done. I agree with you completely though I don’t even need to say why because you already covered it all thank you for that comment it was a joy to read ❤
Spike fighting the human torch. Flame on!
great reaction, i was a little disappointed you guess it'd be giles in the end i wanted to see the complete surprise in your face lol , but it's still great reaction; on to the next ! ✌
you misremembered the willow/tara scene. tara gave her "people deal with grief differently" speech before anya announced that buffy was sleeping with spike. afterwards, willow agrees that they need to be understanding, but *tara* does a 180 and announces that buffy is nuts.
That still takes me out how they basically switch opinions on this just like that from Season 5 to Season 6.
@@Girl4Music People being inconsistent with their stances when pressed or put on the spot wow how...not shocking.
@@MrSupertallblackman not shocking but still odd.
I think that line was just there for laughs. I wouldn’t read too much into it.
@@ihateunicorns867 probably yeah.
I love dark willow more than anything else in the series. I can relate to wanting vengeance
Dark Willow is so badass
Giles the goat
i think when willow screamed in the jail, that was her battle cry. maybe?
It makes sense that she would spiral even more after witnessing Tara's murder right before her eyes. I would go into a rage too and then add power on top of that, you are bound to lose it. I definitely don't care that she killed Warren, he was written as a piece of shit for a reason, the audience is suppose to hate him.
Willow's so scary honestly
A great title for this episode Willow now in true 'Darkman' mode, revenge is all that is driving her, and the other two, Andrew and Jonathan seem doomed. Anya explaining in a matter of fact way to the Prison Guard what is going to happen is very funny. Her chase is relentless, and the scream she lets out outside the Prison is really chilling. The other part of the story arc is Spike's quest to complete the tasks. Prophetic words indeed when Buffy says is she is running low on magic power, she is gonna need to juice up soon, and we switch to the abominable Rack. Willow of course is now more powerful as him, and takes his strength. The Willow and Dawn conversation is interesting, with Willow's now piercing eyes looking straight onto Dawn's mind. Willow saying to Dawn you weren't always human, and why is she crying as she is just a mystical ball of energy, this is so hurtful to Dawn. Funny too when Jonathan and Andrew are arguing and Anya says ' the annoying Virgin has a point '. Great dramatic and painful conversation in The Magic Box with Xander and Anya. Willow's great scene with Buffy at Rack's where she seems to release all her pent up anger and hurt she has endured over the years of Bullying and being thought of as a nerd, and now feels she has the power to take revenge on all is a very interesting concept from the writers, it seems now as she refers to herself as a 'junkie' but feels the need to get even on everybody. The killer line here is when Willow says to Buffy, 'you hate it here even more than I do'. We switch back to Spike briefly to see he has more tasks to complete, which is interesting as this story is sidelined here as the main event is in the Magic Box, but the Spike storyline even though peripheral here, is probably the most important for the whole Series! The Buffy/Willow showdown was inevitable. It seems so bitter when Willow says to Buffy 'years of being your sideman' there seems to almost actual hate and jealousy towards her here, she is of course just too powerful now, but a brilliant ending scene Willow is thrown across the room, and we see the return of a 'juiced up' Giles, great satisfaction for the viewer here setting up a great Finale.
SPOILER ALERT: Please don't read ahead if you don't want future episodes to be spoiled!!!!
Willow's stages of grief-
1. Denial-"Osiris, bring her back!"
2. Anger- Her killing spree "Bored now"
3. Bargaining- "I can't have Tara, so the rest of the world must lose their lives"
4. Depression- Her teary breakdown in Xander's arms after he got through to her that no matter what, he will always love her "I love Crayon-Breaky Willow and Scary Veiny Willow" 😍
5. Acceptance- Next season! Her learning to keep her magic in control, taking accountability for her actions, letting Tara rest in peace so that even The-freaking-First-Evil itself could not manipulate her, and eventually letting go of guilt for moving on from the love of her life."It's not fair, we should have been forever". Okay, that one broke my heart and rekindled my faith in love at the same time😭💔💔
Why can't you just wait until the last episode before spoiling. Just annoying.
@@sneekz07 Uh literally first two words of my comment are spoiler alert, so people can avoid it if they choose to.
Is it ok now?
But the thing is Willow ... Getting darker n dark turned her to only destruction just like people in real life ... Choices that are not good turn worse n worse ... Darker n Darker ... That's the difference with Buffy ... She knows where it takes her
Absolutely nothing Willow does in this episode is remotely ok. I love her too, but that doesn't make this defensible.
It’s really easy to be biased when Willow is your kid. Personally it doesn’t matter to me what Dark Willow does because Willow has already done the most horrific thing she could have done well before she turned dark.
I really dislike the trope* of 'I'm the only one that's grieving, I'm going to attack all my buddies that are also grieving because my pain is the only thing that matters.'
Throwing Buffy an Xander in the previous episode, mocking Dawn, etc. Willow didn´t need to do that.
*(I don't know if it's a trope with a name)
@@riel4553 nah, it’s not a trope. But I know exactly what you mean. Some characters that are in pain can’t looked passed their own to see that others are in pain too. This character always wants to get rid of pain the quick and easy and usually unnatural way. They often perform magic to avoid feeling painful or uncomfortable emotions.
@@riel4553 Makes both Buffy, Dawn and Xander more lovable characters by contrast though, the fact that they have suffered too and are dealing with the loss of Tara but staying strong throughout.
@@faithvictoria9014 That's why I love the dark Willow arc. As much as I'd like to say I would be the other 3 when at the peak of depression, grief & addiction, I am actually toxic as fuck so Willow being toxic af when at her worst is the only one that resonates with me
The supernatural stuff you can't relate to are supposed to be metaphors that you do relate to 🤔🤔🤔
The thing is buffy shuts them out she always does willow brought it up cause buffy kept standing in the way and being a hypocrite she chose bad coping mechanism and willow is pissed for buffy is against her for doing her coping mechanism.
Dark Willow is just grief. This ending of the season is not why I dislike her this season.
Heh, I guess that Sabrina reference has changed its meaning.
See i don't hate Willow this Season. I hate what she did to Tara and what she tried to do to Buffy in Tabula Rasa.
The reason i can forgive allot of it is because she is held accountable in a way that matters. She loses Tara over what she does, she hurts Dawn (and i'd argue next to Tara, Dawn loves Willow the most.) There are very real consequences for her.
Some of what she did is unforgiveable (e.g. sleeping with Tara after wiping her memory.) I hate how that is never addressed as what it is, yet when Warren does the exact same thing it is called exactly what it is. But then they also did the same thing with Xander in Season 3 when he blackmailed Amy into casting that love spell. Heck he's literally rewarded for it because Cordy takes him back. I hate that when it comes to the 'good guys' like Willow and Xander it's played for laughs or never addressed but when it comes to villains like Warren they (thankfully) get torn to bits and bloody up the forest doing it. Either its bad no matter what, or it isn't.
I think that's my biggest problem with this Season. Even though this is my favourite Season in a Season where SA is a huge theme where even the heroes are using magic to do it or have a history of using magic to do it, they are never called out for it...i'm rambling.
Come on, who doesn't love Dark Willow? She is us. With power.
Anyone with that much power is scary and not at all ok. I doubt that threatening friends and family is what any of us want.
I dont love willow here, im sad for her.
Coming from someone that watched this show when it was on the air (and absolutely obsessed with it) you are gonna need a box of tissues next episode. When Willow says “uh oh daddys home” HAHAHAHAHA This is a perfect example of how humans cope with great grief, they change, they don’t think straight…Sweet Willow saying and doing the opposite is obviously a mediocre and a villain is a consistent behavior pattern..willow flipped her humanity switch and I love that character development it gives her…wait until season 7…oh man. I LOVE your reactions, I’d love to see more reaction time of you and maybe a tad less summary of the episode.
I cannot wait for you to start Charmed
I concur but them chicks couldn't handle a candle to Willow
I watched Charmed back in the day. A couple of years ago, I tried to rewatch it, and ... omg ... it is so BAD. It either did not age as well as btvs, or it was always bad, but as a hormonal teen I did not care due to the charming actresses
@@pyavuelsy No you're right it is legit an awful show but it's 90s trash awful so it has a bit of charm 😉😉 to it.
The human desire for revenge is powerful. I get the desire to see truly ireedemable people get what they deserve, and Willows murder of him can be viewed as justice from a certain Pov's. But there is a line where we have to draw between righteous vengence and becoming that which you want to destroy. When willow turns on her friends, and decides to include two people who didnt commit the crime of murder, she went too far.
Power corrupts. No matter how much our path can begin in the light eventually too much power leads us to doing evil, and once we start doing evil we can justify anything and hurting anyone. How would yoh feel if Willow had to kill buffy or giles to get her revenge? At what point do you say... stop. Too far.
Another point, what would your dead loved one want? Would they want you to destroy yourself seeking vengence? Did they care about you? Then honor them by living and not becoming a monster. Be worthy of them, and dont destroy what they loved to satisfy revenge.
I get your feelings, but too many people have died because someone wanted revenge. We have to break that idea before it kills us all.
OKAY! I feel like you are giving Willow a huge pass. I mean, I think everyone is fine with Warren dying. But none of Warren's crimes justify going on a killing spree. She casually talked about killing Buffy...To Buffy! And she was about to kill Dawn if Buffy hadn't rushed in. Other characters in the past have done Buffy wrong, but to a much lesser degree. And you were real quick to jump on them and call foul. But fucking Willow walking around like she's Thanos, and it's fine. ....Come on🤨
May I also add, I also love your reactions. I love how you are so emotionally invested in these characters in an honest way without "performing" for the camera (like some other reaction videos). And yes I love Dark Willow. What she does is really fucked up, but I love her.
For the most part, this is a great episode, but it has my biggest pet peeve in the entire series. It makes NO sense that Willow is able to fight Buffy while Anya is blocking her magics. The spell she uses on herself gives her strength equal to Buffy's...but none of her training, reflexes or skills. Even with the same strength as Buffy, Willow shouldn't know any martial arts or be able to do gymnastics. She's so illogically OP, it drives me nuts. Buffy should have beaten her unconscious in less than a minute.
You really shouldn't support the wrong that people do. That's messed up
I think the only reason why Willow was against her friends was because they were protecting Jonathan and Andrew. Don’t know if Willow would have stopped if Jonathan and Andrew were never in the picture.