| CHUCKG'S PROPHECIES The Willow/Xander Foreshadowing O' Delusion . . . |
| OK, the reason I call this the 'Foreshadowing O' Delusion' is 'cause you've gotta be delusional to believe that clues this vague are actually foreshadowing. Four epis come to mind... ITEM NUMBER ONE -- "The Replacement" -- When SnoopyDance!Xander goes to Willow. Why I Think This Matters: a) SnoopyDance!Xander seemed to be the more empathic half of Xander, the half that got the heart and sentiment and the more lovey-dovey emotions (and the greater insecurity, natch) while Confident!Xander just got the macho, the sex drive, the more objectively goal-oriented stuff. And wouldn't you know, Confident!Xander's puttin' the major make on Anya while SD!Xander is over at Willow's. So, even if we get all cynical and say that the reason that SD!Xander went to Willow's was both because 1) the rest of the Scoobies were gotten and 2) he's the really insecure one, so he needs the greatest reassurance of his old friend, wouldn't it still be true that 1) Anya was just as 'wide open' all day to be met with as Willow was, and Lord knows they'd shared enough intimate details by then that he could prove his identity to her too, and 2) if Anya isn't the one Xander will instinctively turn to for reassurance when he most needs it, then she shouldn't be the girl for him. b) When SD!Xander is with Willow and is giving up, he's willing to give C!Xander every single portion of his life. /Except the part he's sitting with./ That's so unconscious he's not even thinking about it. Willow's with *him*, so the rest of his life is something he can live without. (Admittedly, this one point of mine is me *REALLY* reading a lot into things that weren't written.) Buuuuuut... one thing that *is* in the screen is Willow's tone of voice when she says "Xander.... You already knew he was taking over your life, and ... you didn't think about Anya till just now?" (sound available at) http://www.psyche.kn-bremen.de/snd_b/081/wx_eviltwin.mp3 Is it just me, or doesn't Willow sound a little... hopeful? As in "Oh my God, is Xander *not* really in love with Anya?" (Unconsciously so, of course -- consciously, Willow wouldn't want to be disloyal to Tara) c) Why was Willow's "evil twin" brought up in conversation? To make a funny, of course. But why is it scripted that Willow is left sitting alone, being all thoughtful about her evil twin, when she should have been picking up the phone to tell the gang what's going on? Could it possibly have been that she was thinking about what her evil twin had had that she didn't? (I.e. -- Xander!) Or, even if Willow wasn't thinking about it, was the *audience* supposed to be thinking about it? You know how Joss Whedon works re: double meanings of things. So, are we suitably impressed by my ability to mine mountains of delusion out of the skimpiest of clues yet? Well hang on to your hat, you ain't seen nothin'. :-) ITEM NUMBER TWO -- "Triangle" a) The obvious -- Willow's still in jealousy/nobody-hurts-my-Xander mode, even if her and Anya reconcile by the end of the epi (i.e. -- now that Willow's consciously reassured that Anya isn't going to hurt Xander, she can relax) b) The man-do-I-read-too-deeply-or-what... Listen to this exchange: ================ Willow -- Xander's my best friend! Anya -- Oh, and you don't want anyone else to have him. I know what broke up him and Cordelia, you know. It was you! And your lips! Willow -- No it was not! Well, yes it was so, but ... that was a long time ago. Do you think I'd do that again? Anya -- Why not? Willow -- Well, hello, gay now! ================ "Gay now?" That's the *only* reason Willow can think of under stress, when it's speak-from-the-gut-and-not-with-discretion time? Not "But I'm not in love with him anymore, we're just best friends", or "Xander and me, that was just a fluke" (which is an excuse they'd already sold *themselves* on, for God's sake, so it's not like she hasn't thought of it yet), or anything else? Just "Hey, I can't possibly go after Xander again... 'cause I'm gay!" Problem is, Willow, you're *not* gay. You're bisexual. VampWillow was most definitely not a straight lesbian (we need only ask VampXander to confirm that -- a few thousand times *g*), and she's how we first found out Willow wasn't limited to only driving stick! (Plus, even after her Tara period, Willow still occasionally checks out guys. She checked out *Giles*, for God's sake, in the Espresso Pump). c) Again, we ask ourselves -- why did Joss waste time putting this scene in when it was not necessary to the main plot? When it could have accomplished the same immediate goal in a shorter way? Joss keeps taking a few minutes out here and there to keep making Xander/Willow an issue. Not the main issue, but still an issue. He keeps reminding us the topic exists. Which is more than he was doing last season. But last season, the plan was Willow/Tara, the hot new thing. Now next season, we hear that W/T might end up on the rocks... and this season, they go out of their way to drop in reminders? ITEM NUMBER THREE -- "The Body" Ask yourself why Joss Whedon, in his most strictly planned episode all season, where *everything* -- every last little move, gesture, and twitch -- was being directed piece-by-piece towards the twin goals of "Let's have a major emotional issue with *no* comedy" and "Get me an Emmy"... ... why, when he's got this big one over-arching goal on his mind, does he *still* take time out for a Willow/Xander moment? And look at how the moment is staged! First, Willow's totally dithering, completely brain-locked. Tara's trying her best to help, not doing too well at all. Then Xander comes in, and he's about to lose it completely. Anya can't reach him. Anya can't even make Xander hear her. Anya's totally out of her depth. And wham -- suddenly, Willow's totally focused again. Intelligent, empathetic, knowing exactly what to do and say. Somebody needed her, and that somebody was her best friend, Xander, so Willow's suddenly functioning at full power again. And Xander, who's so wrapped up in rage and pain that he's about to go berserk, is brought right back down -- because Willow can reach him even when nobody else can. (Addendum -- At least for as long as she's in the room. As soon as Willow left, Xander punched the wall.) I mean, look at how that scene is shot -- and remember, this was the 'every camera angle has major meaning' episode. Xander and Willow are in the center of the screen, connecting at the deepest emotional level. And their *cough* 'true loves', Anya and Tara, are totally separate and stuck in opposite corners... alone, out of their depth, not able to contact their respective significant others at all, *completely* out of the picture. Again, to a severely delusional soul like me, this is a message. To a sane person, of course, it's just a coincidence. I suppose if I concentrate for long enough, I'll start hearing voices from God in the clicking of my typewriter keys too. *LOL* Joss spent almost *four minutes* -- one full tenth of his Big Emmy- Hopeful Showcase Episode -- on showing us something only very tangentially related to Joyce's death, in an episode that was all about it. And that something was "Hey, look at Willow and Xander -- they have a deep history with each other that's even bigger than their feelings for their respective significant others!" Kinda like, ohhh, a reminder for old fans combined with an instructional manual for newcomers who don't know the history? I mean, if, hypothetically speaking, Xander and Willow suddenly got together in Season 6, even a newcomer who'd never heard of them before wouldn't be *totally* surprised about that -- if they'd seen "The Body" late last season, right? Indeed, this is the only item on my List O' Delusion that I don't think is actually that delusional. ITEM NUMBER FOUR -- "The Gift" The 'tenth grade' comment. Again, ask yourself this -- *why*? Why did Joss go out of his way to throw this in, when Lord knows he could have used the extra 30 seconds to beef up something else? He had a lot of irons in the fire going on, and yet this is still made one of them. Of course, this is also the episode where Xander friggin' *proposes*, and we get that breathless "I will always find you!" declaration, so to try and mine W/X-foreshadowing out of this episode takes *severe* dementia. :-) |