Checkpoint is the feel good episode of S5. Who among us
can resist a good smackdown of the Watcher’s Council? Better yet, Buffy does
that by raising an issue which will be crucial for the series henceforth:
“Power. I have it. They don't. This bothers them.” Yes, it’s about power. That
word gets used 9 times in the episode. But exactly what “power” consists of or
what it might mean is subject to lots of interpretation; we get one here, but
there will be others.
Why is the episode called Checkpoint?
In my view, it’s because Buffy has nearly reached adulthood. The purpose of the
“review” is to confirm that she’s ready for it. That’s the challenge Quentin
puts to her: “you're dealing with grownups now”. Quentin demands proof that
Buffy’s “prepared for it”, referring to information about Glory, but also, I
think, meaning the challenges of adulthood more generally. That was the point
of the Cruciamentum in Helpless, to
which there are several references here, and it’s the same tactic the Council
still employs.
There’s a clear feminist point being made here as well. All those telling Buffy how weak and powerless she is – that is, how unready she is to be treated as an adult – are men (except for Glory; as a God, she doesn’t count). If you notice, one of the women of the WC (sounds like a calendar, I know) makes coffee for Quentin when he sits down to give Giles his ultimatum at the Magic Shop.
There’s a clear feminist point being made here as well. All those telling Buffy how weak and powerless she is – that is, how unready she is to be treated as an adult – are men (except for Glory; as a God, she doesn’t count). If you notice, one of the women of the WC (sounds like a calendar, I know) makes coffee for Quentin when he sits down to give Giles his ultimatum at the Magic Shop.
The physical test is actually a metaphor for Buffy’s situation this
season:
TRAVERS: Philip will attack the dummy. The Slayer's job is to protect
it. Do you understand?
BUFFY: Protect the dummy.
TRAVERS: As if it were precious.
BUFFY: Protect the dummy.
TRAVERS: As if it were precious.
His use of the word “precious” takes us back to Joyce in Listening to Fear:
JOYCE: And she's important. To the world. Precious. (Buffy nods) As
precious as you are to me.
Buffy smiles and nods again. Joyce nods back.
JOYCE: Then we have to take care of her. Buffy, promise me.
Quentin forced Buffy to defend the dummy while blindfolded. So far this
season, she’s had to protect Dawn, blindfolded by her lack of knowledge of what
she’s fighting against in the form of Glory.
Ultimately, though, this isn’t a test of Buffy’s physical prowess or
her knowledge, it’s a test of Buffy’s confidence in her readiness. When she talks
to Giles in the Magic Shop she’s uncertain: “Am I gonna be able to get through
this review? … They're gonna expect me to ... to be like a Slayer and, and know
stuff, but I'm just me and I don't know anything….” What she discovers in her
confrontations with Glory and the Knights is her confidence in her own power.
Buffy gives the WC proof of that confidence when she calls their bluff.
She’s the one holding all the cards, and she knows it. When she first
encountered Quentin she called him “Mr. Travers”. In her speech at the end she
and he were on a first name basis. She’s ready to be an adult.
Buffy learns a lesson too. No sooner does she tell Spike that “I never
need you” than she needs him to protect Dawn and Joyce.
I’m deliberately leaving discussion of the Knights until we learn more
about them.
Trivia notes: (1) Note yet again the parallel between the school
subject/lesson and the events of the episode: Buffy realizes that the Council
is trying to play the same power game as her professor. (2) Buffy has her dates
wrong on the Vikings. It was roughly 1000, not 1400. (3) On the TV show Forever Knight, Rasputin actually was a vampire as Buffy
implied to the professor. That would also be implied in the AtS episode Why We Fight. (4) Metaphor check when Xander references Primeval: “I was the heart part of a
super-Buffy.” (5) Joyce asked Spike about the character of Timothy Lenox from
the soap opera Passions. We know from
several previous episodes that Spike loves that show. (6) Bangers and mash, for
the non-Brits out there, is sausages and mashed potatoes. Blood sausage is
actually made with blood. (7) Buffy’s reference to the “Everyone Thinks We're
Insane-O's Home Journal” is presumably a play on the Ladies Home Journal. (8) At the end of the episode, Quentin reveals
that Glory isn’t a demon, she’s a God. There was a big clue to that earlier in
the episode: “GLORY: (to Buffy) … You should get down on your knees and worship
me!”
No comments on this one, so I'll pitch something in. As if we needed any further proof that the Watchers Council is entirely corrupt and exists simply for it's own edification, we have the fact that the entire sum of knowledge that they have to contribute to Buffy's fight against Glory comes down to three words: "She's a god."
ReplyDeleteYes, instead of just saying this over the phone or by email or by telegram, they have to fly at least 7 people over from England for multiple days to interview and bother every single member of Buffy's team for hours - time that could ACTUALLY be spent in forming strategies to fight Glory, defend against the Knights Who Say "Strike Us Down and Thousands Will Replace Us... and oh, by the way, NI!", or just straight up vampire killing.
In view of this incredible waste of time, money, and resources, the WC deserves to be ignored by Buffy and...
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
...no tears should be shed when they get blowed up real good in Season 7.
I pretty much agree with this. If they had been seriously and legitimately concerned about Buffy's ability to handle Glory, such that they needed to "test" her, then she demonstrated her ability by the end of the episode. That she had to do so outside of their phony tests simply reinforces their bad faith.
DeleteThat said, SPOILERS
they did apparently bring some additional material with them because Giles quotes it later.
True, true. The WC just REALLY irk me, especially at this point in the series when Buffy is struggling with so damn much, with a road that doesn't get any easier. Bastards.
DeleteEven in this episode we know the WC have more information-Travers says there’s “a lot to go through” and Buffy says “just tell me what kind of demon I’m fighting”...which is when we get the “she’s a god” line
ReplyDeleteApologies-I did hit reply to add the previous comment but that hasn’t worked it seems!
ReplyDeleteI noticed, in line with some comments on a previous episode, that in the early scene in the graveyard, Buffy is wearing a leather coat again. In fact, her outfit in this scene is almost exactly the same as Spike’s!
The real clue is when she wears leather pants. :)
Delete