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Buffy 6x10 (Extended) - Wrecked (Patreon)

Published:
2023-04-18 18:12:10
Edited:
2024-07-16 23:06:13
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

reaction link: click here. 

oh my gosh this episode was just INSANE? i am so excited to keep watching this season. things are picking up so much!

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Comments

Girl4Music

Willow’s magic/drug addiction conflation Question: What kind of drug does the writers relate magic to in ‘Wrecked’? Is it Heroin or some other high-level drug? I just noticed that Willow goes through a powerful physical withdrawal after she swears off doing spells to Buffy. And considering the writers literally conflate the use of magic with use of drugs for her in this episode, I just want to know what kind of drug magic is meant to be simulating? I would say it’s Heroin because of the extreme similarities to a Heroin withdrawal but it could be Crack or even prescription Opioids. I just find it interesting to know. It’s a fascinating storyline to me and she’s a fascinating character. 

Claire Eyles

The withdrawals are definitely indicative of heroin, although any type of opiate, street or pharmacy, will cause withdrawals like that if you get physically dependent on it.

Claire Eyles

Yes, if anyone is wondering, Willow did prostitute herself for magic in this episode. Rack referring to her as 'strawberry' is already a bit of a give away for this, considering the term 'strawberry' was old LA street slang for a prostitute. Also just the whole vibe of the "I'm just gonna take a little tour", and then Willow crying in the shower, and later telling Buffy, "I did things...". Yep, prostitution for drugs/magic is a hell of a thing to do. I will be back at some point with a whole arse essay on the subject of addiction as well.

Girl4Music

That’s what the writers are portraying with the ‘magic is a drug’ metaphor becoming literal. That it’s no longer just internal destruction but also external destruction as well. Her abuse of magic is now affecting others indirectly as well as directly. It’s out of control and Willow is suffocating under the weight and power of it. She’s a victim of its thrall but she’s a willing victim, thus she must take accountability for what happens regardless how hard it is to maintain in control. She thought she was, but now she knows that it’s gone beyond her capacity to withstand it. This is what power corruption and addiction does. This is the result of thinking you can handle it when you really truly couldn’t. It took this wreck for Willow to realize the error of her ways. Now she can admit to where she went wrong, she can actually work on resolving and overcoming it.

Girl4Music

Yep. Exactly. The withdrawals are very reminiscent of those kind of high-level drug withdrawals.

Girl4Music

I always wondered what she gave him to be able to get the power up from him. Yeah, prostitution makes sense. That’s… horrific. Glad you don’t see it though. They made the right choice there. Willow really does have the darkest arc in the whole show. Even darker than Faith. No wonder there’s so many parallels between the both of them.

Foamy

Not everyone in the comments hate the Trio.

Girl4Music

I hate Warren. Not all of them.

Girl4Music

Guys watch the dailies for this episode. Alyson Hannigan definitely deserved an Emmy nom for her performance in it. Incredible acting!

Girl4Music

Yeah, Willow waterworks are like the puppy dog face. You can’t stay mad at her. But if you forgive and forget so quickly, she doesn’t learn a fucking thing. So… yeah. Totally understand.

Girl4Music

“It’s almost like two different people living in her body” you mean like Angel/Angelus? Yeah, I’ve drawn those parallels too. But no, it’s not possession. With either of them.

Girl4Music

Well, Spike is still a monster. Maybe not evil anymore but definitely still monstrous. But let’s not forget humans can be monsters too.

Ray D

I consider Smashed and Wrecked to be a two parter and I’m not a big fan. I don’t really buy the magic = drugs metaphor at all. And don’t think it holds up really. I’m also always shocked at how much the Buffy-Spike thing mixes sex and violence together. Punching and fighting turn into kissing and sex. That just doesn’t seem healthy

Girl4Music

Yeah, I always think of it as a two-parter too. I love the little arc though for the clever theme of destructive relationships.

Girl4Music

Yeah, there’s a lot of serious shit going on with Willow at the moment that definitely calls for her to be called out. I mean we have mind control, date rape, addiction, power corruption, neglect,… It’s hard to stomach that arguably the purest character in the whole show is this fucked up. One really does wonder if she can come back from it or is this it?

Claire Eyles

Okay, let's talk about the 'Willow is addicted to magic' story arc, because I feel like a lot of people think it's a poorly handled, rushed story arc that makes little to no sense for the character. Heavy handed metaphors in this episode aside, Willow as a magic addict makes perfect sense to me, and I actually think Willow has been at least semi addicted to magic since at least season 4. There are two kinds of addiction, psychological and physical dependency (side note: having a physical dependency on something without the psychological aspect of addiction, is not the same thing as being an addict), and Willow has been psychologically addicted to magic long before she came across Rack. So with that in mind, let's do a character study and see how well the concept of addiction lines up with it. You have someone who is socially awkward, doesn't really fit in, whose Mum still makes her clothes and helps her to shop, who is bullied and belittled by most of those around her almost constantly. You also have someone with very deep seated insecurities, who almost can't see herself outside of a self constructed narrative that reads 'everyone thinks you're a loser no matter what costume you try to put on', and who struggles greatly dealing with any sort of negative emotion (often wrongly trying to just barrel through them even when it's the wrong thing to do, or not what the other person in the situation needs at the time). Subconsciously this person also has a deep seated desire for power and control, that goes along with their insecurity and inability to deal with negative emotions; when are they gonna get to step out of the shadows and kick a little arse themselves, when are they gonna stop being seen as 'reliable dog geyser person', when do they get to be the lead instead of relegated to sidekick role all the time - when is someone going to truly see and respect them. Then this person discovers something new and exciting - 'drugs/magic'. Now they start to construct a new self narrative around this discovery. They are no longer 'reliable dog geyser person', now they're cool, now they're special, now they have access to something that a lot of people don't have access to - now they're 'empowered'. Now they're also able to feel useful to other people, I mean where else are these people gonna find their own 'drugs/magic' when they need it, who else are they gonna trust and turn to but the person who has access to the goods, so to speak. But there's also another realisation, they don't have to deal with negative emotions anymore, all they have to do is do some 'drugs/magic' and those pesky emotions be damned. Oh sure things will go wrong from time to time, friends might start expressing concern at some point, but damnit they have a self constructed narrative to protect, and at least this one seems better than they last. So more and more they come to rely on their 'drugs/magic', and more and more they start to buy into their self constructed narrative of how this now makes them a better, cooler, more useful, more popular, stronger, more 'empowered' version of themselves. It's all lies of course, the 'drugs/magic' are merely plastering over and covering up all of those deep insecurities they'restill carrying around, but don't anyone dare try telling them that, they have their self constructed narrative to protect along with their spiffy new coping mechanism. Eventually they've become so psychologically reliant on their self constructed narrative, even if it is just another costume, and the ability of 'drugs/magic' to just fix and/or avoid things in their life they struggle to deal with, that despite numerous red flags and warning signs they end up driving themselves right off a metaphorical cliff. So that's Willow's story arc over several seasons, or is it? See that character study was actually my story, I just used Willow's story arc to tell it. I was a heroin addict for a lot of Buffy's initial television run, but my addiction actually started long before I got to that point. It started, and progressed much the same way Willow's story did, just swap out 'magic' for 'drugs'. So yeah I buy Willow's addiction story arc, because a few differences aside it's basically my story. By the way I've been clean for just over 20 years now, and consider myself fully recovered; let's hope Willow can say the same thing for herself now that she's taken the first steps towards getting help.

Richard Ashton

It's nice to see Jeff 'My Pills!' Kroeber once again. Helpless seems so far away.

Girl4Music

Thank you for telling us your story. I don’t relate to it myself but I understand Willow’s character very well and I absolutely can see how magic = drugs for them makes a lot of sense and is in character. The thing is is people just don’t realize why it makes sense that she would become addicted to magic. Not only because she has an addictive personality to begin with but also because of the whole thing in that she feels worthless, useless and pointless without it. What people need to understand with her addiction arc is that it is not about the magic. It’s about the power and the control you can have with that power. And that was Willow’s issue well before she got into magic. It was her issue from the fucking get go. So why it makes sense that she would become addicted to magic is because magic is the path to accumulating power and to have control. It’s not specifically the magic. And too few understand that. So the magic is a drug metaphor bothers them because they just don’t see why she would start using magic to USE magic : as in use it like a literal drug. I mean why do people use drugs at all? To escape. I don’t know. It makes sense to me. It makes all the sense to me. And I think it was a very brave choice.

anticonstructivist55

Great reaction ! Spike got his chip activated multiple times when he tried to hurt Buffy in season 4 and 5

Girl4Music

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that truly understands this “magic is a drug” metaphor given there is such a controversial take on it by the majority of the fandom. People need to understand that it’s actually not about the magic. That’s just the tool. The addiction is on the power Willow can accumulate through using magic. But the reason why it’s magic specifically that is the substance she’s addicted to is because that is what Willow is best at. That’s her most useful and valuable skill and Willow wants to feel that use and value as much as she can. It makes sense because when people use drugs and go through substance abuse, it’s not actually the substance that they’re addicted to, it’s all about what they can avoid or escape from in using that substance. Emotions, anxieties - all kinds of internal struggles. What’s poorly communicated about Willow’s addiction arc is that she’s using the power of magic to offset her insecurities. Using them as an emotional crutch. And internal struggles can manifest into external ones when you’re that deep into it. So I don’t think it’s for shits and giggles that they turn the metaphor to literal. It’s not supposed to be in your face or on the nose. It’s supposed to be making it apparent that Willow is so in deep with it that it’s become an external problem. I don’t know. It makes complete sense to me. I’ll admit it’s not written as well as it could be. But then I also think and believe that the intention is for it not to be because the arc isn’t playing out from the inside-looking out. We’re not following Willow’s arc this season through Willow’s eyes. But we are following Buffy’s arc this season through Buffy’s eyes. I genuinely feel that the point is for it to be mixed signal-ly because people that are not familiar with addiction don’t actually understand it - what it is, what it can lead to, how destructive it can be, the working relationships that can be destroyed from it. No, I think the artistic intention is for us to be confused and even frustrated by the writing of it because then that means WE can learn something from it along with the characters. Power corruption and addiction and then a further theme down the line puts it all into perspective. It’s not two completely different and random things going on with Willow. It does make sense. You just got to think about it deeper to understand the intention behind it. If you keep the focus more on the insecurities that Willow has and how accumulating power makes her feel good and less about it being magic… you’ll get it. It’ll hit you and click. It’s actually really clever and profound what they’re doing with the character this season. It just requires a little bit of mental gymnastics.

Girl4Music

Imagine wrapping yourself around a lover so much that you lose your identity in them and what you think/believe you need to or must be for them. Willow was co-dependent to Tara. And Willow was just lucky Tara was having none of it and wouldn’t take advantage of her the way she did with her. Tara got out of dodge because there’d be no chance Willow would let go of her. She was hooked much the same way as she was with magic. That’s why I say her addiction wasn’t just to magic. It was also to Tara. And as healthy as that relationship was from the outside-looking in. From the inside-looking out,… it was hella destructive because she was obsessed. She wanted to own Tara. Not love her. Tara was an unintended trigger and enabler for Willow and as soon as she recognized this.. she severed ties. She left more so for everybody else’s sake than her own. It’s difficult to see it this way because again… we’re watching the arc play out from the outside-looking in. From people who just don’t understand. To truly get this arc you have to look at it through from the inside-looking out. You have to see it through the eyes of someone who knows of emotional addiction.

Claire Eyles

I sometimes think people see it too much in black and white terms of 'drugs equals bad, but magic is a tool, so how can magic be equated with a drug'. They are both tools, drugs and magic, it depends on how they are used. Look at the way Tara uses magic, it is a tool she wields and works within the balance of, not a crutch or an escape or a means to control and power over her insecurities. You can look at drugs the same way, there are many groups in the world who use drugs as a tool without any element of abuse or addiction, it's not the tool that's the real issue, it's how someone uses that tool. Whether it's magic or drugs if the tool user is coming from a place of deep insecurity and various other issues, and the tool then becomes a crutch and a cover up for their own personal issues, then magic or drugs doesn't matter the outcome is the same.

Girl4Music

Anything can be an addiction. Even something said to be good for you. Too much of something is too much.

Ray D

You said everyone in the comments hates the trio but I don’t. I think they are the perfect running villains for this season where life itself is so dark and depressing for these characters that having a more comedic overall threat works amazingly. I don’t understand the hate for them at all

Dee Aitch

Yeah, I find the Trio hilarious as well. And fitting well into the camp of the series.

Ron Fehr

My favorite part is that the Trio thinks that it's such a big threat to Buffy. A small annoyance, but hardly a threat.

Ron Fehr

I believe his last name is spelled Kober. I agree. Both memorable roles.

Dee Aitch

"Outstay their welcome."

Superplin

Underrated and very well articulated comment.

Ron Fehr

I happen to remember Buffy's dad's name, possibly because it's the name of one of my uncles.

Ron Fehr

The phrase that you were thinking of when making predictions about the Trio was 'outstayed their welcome.'

Girl4Music

Honestly, I wouldn’t have bothered carrying on watching if no main character was flawed. Willow does deal with a ton of shit but most, if not all, are her own fault because she’s such a control freak. The moral ambiguity line of Willow is wavy as fuck.

Ray D

Yeah, Buffy barely notices them for most of the season. I can understand if the comedy for trio doesn’t hit for some but in concept, having them as the comedic running villains in darkest, most depressing season of the show makes sense to add some levity. But in execution, your mileage may vary based on how funny you actually find them

Bud Haven

Willow and the rest of the scoobies are trying to come up with a plan to help Buffy after finding out about what happen to her the day before. Then two days later Willow is asking her to help with her addiction. This can't do anything but continue the resentment she feels towards her.

Ron Fehr

It's a shame that something so severe had to happen for Willow to realize how bad her problem was getting.

Girl4Music

That’s the nature of addiction unfortunately. You never realize how far deep you’re into it until you fall from grace from it.

Troika S

Empathy saves lives. Buffy could have walked away from Willow and she wouldn't be entirely wrong to do so, but Willow needs help and even more importantly.. wants help. Everyone deserves a chance to heal. As much as these shows toss around words like redemption regarding Angel, I never really felt like it hit very well with him since the ambiguous vampire lore of "a demon takes your body" just makes a redemption arc with him far to easy. It's a loop hole to make it cleaner for the audience since it's not really him doing those things. With what Willow's going through it works so much better. It's messy and muddy and tangled just like real life. Yet people are in a constant state of change and growth, the only variable is whether the direction of that is positive or negative and a critical component of positive change is a good support system. Buffy was under no obligation to help Willow in that alley, but leaving her there probably would have destroyed her. It's important to never let yourself be taken advantage of, but at the same time one of the most powerful things we can do is choose compassion over condemnation when presented the choice, even when that condemnation is justified.

Girl4Music

The writing is meant to be the way it is. All mixed signal-y and heavy handed. It’s to show how people that don’t go through it personally or haven’t dealt with it with someone else don’t understand it and the destructive behaviours people result to just to continue feeding their addiction. It makes total sense if you look at it that way. There is a lot unclear about it that I don’t think the writers would have left so unclear unless they intentionally meant for it to be. People do things they normally wouldn’t do because of addiction. And while the addiction part makes sense with Willow, the things she does because of it aren’t. But that’s the point. She just wanted to escape from herself so in her magic-is-a-drug riddled brain… anything seems like a good idea as long as it leads her to getting her fix.

Girl4Music

“To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It's not done because people deserve it, it's done because they need it.”