These episodes were very saccharine but nonetheless violent and entertaining. Evil Willow is an even better Willow than Willow is! Wicked, sexy, frankly honest, witty, observant…IMPRESSIVE.
The Willow in “Two to Go” and “Grave” is the Willow I always want to see. While I’m not partial to seeing people skinned alive, I’ve always thought that the evil Willows were more powerful and provoking than the normal Willow. Evil Willows aren’t desperate for validation that they’re powerful. Evil Willows have a more sadistic sense of humor, an eye for weakness, and irony flows in their blood. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, which made Evil Willow and VampWillow absolutely irresistable!
Evil Willow and the dolled doppelganger, Vamp Willow, know they can do anything and everyone they want and join the ranks of sexy, nutty villains like Darla (season one), Dru (season two), Faith (season three), and Glory (season five).
“The Wish” and “Doppelgangland” presented us with Vamp Willow, the darling, possibly bi sexy goddess of a vampire. Had VW been any more cute or sexual, she could have had Buffy bent over the table! We even saw the vamp side of real Willow in “Doppelgangland,” when she masqueraded as her blood-sucking counterpart, and before “Two to Go” that was Willow at her incredible best. She showed us that she wasn’t a little, timid girl next door: she, too, could be a sexy scene stealer.
For every ounce of sexy in Vamp, Evil has a pound of wicked. Not to say that Evil isn’t sexy- aside from the veiny issues, of course. Evil’s fight with Buffy in “Two to Go” was not only satisfactorily violent but curiously sensual. I, at the very least, was ready to see clothing disappear. Even Evil Willow’s breakdown at the end of “Grave” was powerful. I didn’t find it cheesy or stupid at all. She was full of anger and power, and its outpouring as grief was as strong and terrible as its outpouring as vengeance.
If the evil Willows showed Buffy audiences one thing, it was Willow’s potential to be sexy and strong. So why was she only that way when she was evil? Simple. It would have stolen Buffy’s spotlight if her sidekick was good, attractive, and powerful. Willow had to screw up to be at the top of her game. Despite the fact that Willow NEVER had sex with vampires (although she was very serious with Oz, a werewolf, it’s not the same thing at all) she’s drawn as the less moral, upstanding character by having her mess things up all the time. How is that fair at all? If you mixed Evil Willow’s powers with Vamp Willow’s raw sexiness and normal Willow’s good intentions and good sense, you would have had a heroine to slay Buffy’s angsty pretentious butt.