Phases

[Updated April 29, 2013]

After the sturm und drang of Innocence, we need some comic relief and Phases provides it. Humor is very much a matter of individual taste, and I think it’s the second funniest comedic episode in the series, after Pangs. Even the funniest Buffy episodes, though, have a serious point, and I think Phases does.

Let’s start with the title. It obviously refers to the phases of the moon which affect werewolves, but it has other meanings as well. For example, the werewolf himself has alternating phases of demon and human, which is why Buffy won’t kill it. Willow’s “three days out of the month” can be seen as a phase. Most significant, in my view, is this dialogue from Innocence:

“Spike:  Is it really true?

Angelus:  It's really true. (laughs and walks around the table)

Drusilla:  (follows him with her gaze) You've come home.

Spike:  No more of this 'I've got a soul' crap? (follows him)

Angelus:  What can I say, hmm? (strikes a match on the table) I was going through a phase.”

Needless to say, I don’t think this word choice is accidental. The ending of Innocence left no doubt that Buffy was going to have to deal with the consequences of her relationship with Angel, including her inability to stake him. One thing Phases does, in my view, is add a layer of complexity to her dilemma. Thus far, we’ve had the example of Xander suffering from temporary possession by a hyena, and Buffy rightly doesn’t slay him. Vampires (other than Angel) are permanently controlled by the demon, so Buffy slays them on sight. Now we get Oz, who’s a demon sometimes but not others. Oz needs to be given the opportunity to recognize his problem and control it himself; once he takes that responsibility, Buffy won’t slay him. The name of the werewolf hunter – Cain – hangs a lantern on this point.

So how should Buffy think of Angelus? Is he now just a vampire again, something to be slain on sight? Or is he unique among vampires such that she should treat him as merely going through a demon “phase”? Complicating her task further is the fact that, in stark contrast to Oz, Angel doesn’t control himself during this “phase”. Oz never harmed anyone, but Angelus has killed the prostitute, Enyos, and Theresa (at least). Buffy accepts responsibility for Theresa’s death, adding to her sense of guilt over the events of Surprise/Innocence. But what if Oz had been the killer, not knowing that he was the wolf and unable to control himself? Should Buffy then have slayed Oz?

I’m not going to answer these questions, though I intend to discuss them later when we have more story as background. I’m not sure they have definitive answers anyway. My point is only that Buffy’s situation can’t necessarily be resolved simply by reciting her duty to slay vampires. I can only say that the show is going to explore these issues going forward and that the show is consistent in recognizing Buffy’s responsibility for the consequences of her actions.

Now I want to return to the werewolf. The wolf needs to be controlled; on that everyone agrees. What we need to analyze is what it is about the wolf which makes this so important. Let’s see how Giles describes it:

“Giles:  … Y-you see, uh, the-the werewolf, uh, is such a, a potent e-e-extreme representation of our inborn animalistic traits … And it, uh, acts on-on pure instinct. No conscience, uh, uh, predatory and, and aggressive.”

That’s kind of how I see the id. Here are some descriptions of the id taken from the Wikipedia article, and I think they fit pretty well with what Giles said: “The id comprises the unorganized part of the personality structure that contains the basic drives. … It is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle…. The id is responsible for our basic drives, "knows no judgments of value: no good and evil, no morality... It is regarded as "the great reservoir of libido"….”

Libido. Now, I think, we can understand what the episode is telling us. The wolf, as I noted, never actually kills anyone. Instead, what we see is lots of references to sex, consistent with the season to date. The wolf is attracted to places where there’s sexual heat: lover’s lane, the Bronze. “They're suckers for that whole sexual heat thing. Sense it miles away.”

I see Phases as telling Buffy in metaphor that her sexual urges need to be controlled. Not repressed, not killed, but kept under control. That’s a job for the superego – to keep the id from getting out of hand. That’s the message we get from Larry coming out: he’s wolfish beforehand, a considerate person afterwards. (h/t Aeryl)

When the episode opens, Buffy’s spirit – Willow – is obsessed with desire: “Willow:  … I mean, he said he was gonna wait until I was ready, but I'm ready. Honest. I'm good to go here. Buffy:  Have you dropped any hints? Willow:  I've dropped anvils.”

But Buffy’s desire for Angel still distracts her from her destiny as Slayer, and in Theresa we see the consequences. Not until Buffy takes responsibility for Theresa – “Instead of not protecting Theresa from the werewolf, I was able to not protect her from something just as bad.” – can her spirit rally and subdue the beast. At the end, her spirit comes to terms with her desire:

“Willow:  Well, I like you. You're nice and you're funny. And you don't smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either.

Oz:  You are quite the human.

Willow:  (smiles) So, I'd still if you'd still.

Oz:  I'd still. I'd *very* still.

Willow:  (smiles widely) Okay. (more seriously) No biting, though.

Oz:  Agreed.”

Trivia notes: (1) The callback to Witch in the opening scene – Oz looking at the cheerleader statue – is a great moment. There are also references to The Pack, I Robot, You Jane, and Teacher’s Pet. (2) Cordelia told Xander that he put on too much “Obsession for Dorks”. “Obsession For Men” was a Calvin Klein perfume. (3) Buffy said that “tonight we bring ‘em back alive”. Bring ‘Em Back Alive was the title of a book written by big-game hunter Frank Buck. I read it when I was a kid. (4) Xander mentioned Robbie the Robot, who was from the movie Forbidden Planet. (5) Anyone else think Nick Brendan has kind of a Matt Dillon (actor, not Sheriff) look here? (6) This episode contains the first mention of bunnies, which will become a standing joke in the series.