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Buffy 7x05 (Extended) - Selfless (Patreon)

Published:
2023-11-10 19:16:08
Edited:
2024-07-15 22:10:13
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

reaction link: click here. 

omfg THIS EPISODE!!!! gosh i love anya so much and SHE BETTER NOT HAVE LEFT THE SHOW OR I WILL BE RIOTING. 

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Comments

Dee Aitch

You _finally_ got your "Anya goes off the rails" episode!

Ron Fehr

Even though your guess was wrong, it's perfect understandable, from the title, to assume a Buffy centric episode. I agree with you, int the title perfectly describes Buffy.

Ron Fehr

Well, Willow's reaction to seeing blood in the guys' dormitory was sure different than the one she had in season 1's Prophecy Girl.

Richard Ashton

Xander's sigh as his heart breaks...

Richard Ashton

By the way, read the IMDB trivia about the scenes in old Sweden.

Ron Fehr

One thing that I noticed, and I hope others did too. Prior to Buffy stabbing her, Anya was in her vengeance demon form. But post-stabbing, she was back to human form. We don't see her as a vengeance demon for the rest of the episode. I interpreted it as possibly wanting to give up her vengeance demon ways. Possibly the only reason for such a violent wish grant was the pressure she was getting from others in the vengeance demon fold, judging from what Halfrek told her in episode two.

Loves Bitca

I understand the wanting Anya to call to Xander, but that would just go back to her point about having always clung to whatever came along. Always going with whatever direction was presented to her.

Ron Fehr

Calm down, Domi. The way I look at it, Anya just wanted some time alone now to think things through. The final shot, with her coming out of the shadows into the light was meant to be symbolic. For the first time in her life, she was truly free to choose her own path.

Loves Bitca

Anya's original name was Aud. Pronounced like "Odd". I find it interesting that many of those personality quirks that Anya had that we blamed on her not being human for thousands of years, were actually there in her original self. Like taking things so literally.

ghostofdurruti

"Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain" could be the Buffy writers' motto tbqh 😩

Dee Aitch

You came back after both Giles left for England and after "Seeing Red." You'll be back even after you watch "Him." I'm calling your bluff.

Girl4Music

The character that doesn’t understand human emotion yet is always asking questions so that she can learn. Ironically and satisfyingly, her constant inquisitiveness always made her seem much more human than any character that always was human. That was always played for laughs until it wasn’t. WILLOW: “Because it’s not okay for you to be asking these things!” ANYA: “But I don’t understand!” So it’s like, in a way, she understood being human better than anyone else did. And that was so clever because with being human there is no answer book to how to live like one. There is only ever constant questions. And navigating is hard. That’s the point. And it’s always the “non-human” or “not-always-human” protagonist characters that actually act the most human because they’re not hardwired to. No, of course they don’t understand being a human. But in the same way a baby doesn’t understand being a baby… yet performs like a baby anyway. It’s wisdom! The thing that comes most naturally never needs to be “understood”. It just is instinctively. The joke is that non-human beings don’t understand being human. But isn’t THAT exactly what makes them perform as human? As supernatural beings, isn’t the understanding of not understanding humanity fundamentally what makes them be human? If they weren’t aware to it,… sure. Then you have an argument that they aren’t or can’t be human. But what if they’re the most self-aware characters? And not only aware of themselves but others as well? That’s why both Spike and Anya, and yes, even to some degree, Angel, are the most human non-human or not-always-human being characters. Because they carry the intuitive wisdom of “I know that I know nothing”. The very same intuitive wisdom a newborn baby has despite all their years and all their experienced history as human and non-human. They understand nothing. That’s precisely the point because at what point does nature understand itself? It doesn’t. Yet it functions perfectly fine anyway. It’s only humanity that thinks and believes that it MUST understand everything. But if they let go, they’d realize that they already do in the way that they always will. By just simply fucking existing. By being as they are. This is partially why I believe identity to be a hinderance more than it is a help. People get too caught up in it. And suddenly it becomes about performing an identity rather than actually being it. Nature worries about no such nonsense as that. It doesn’t even identify that it NEEDS to worry about it. And like I said - that’s why it functions perfectly fine anyway. There’s no need to be performative. Anya is most human because she is most naturally being. And part of naturally being is to ask stupid questions and to do the most absurd. To NOT UNDERSTAND everything. Least of all how to behave human when you’ve all but forgotten you once were and only coming to experience humanity again when you’re no longer human. Anya is never in a place or time where it’s easy or simple to be human. That’s why she’s the best at being human. Suave Xander put it best in ‘The Replacement’. XANDER: “You haven't been hurt like this since you became human. Maybe it's finally hitting you what being human means.” ANYA: “No, that's not it.” XANDER: “Yes, I think it is. You were gonna live for thousands of years. And now you're gonna age and die. That must be terrifying.” The world has always met Anya with "you don't understand" right from her original human life, and Anya has always responded with "so? Explain it to me." One of the only reasons I'm okay with ‘Hell’s Bells’ existing is because it leads to, in my opinion, the second best Anya character study, and her only central episode, ‘Selfless’ (her first best one is obviously her speech in ‘The Body’). ‘Selfless’ shows that even when she was a human, before, Anya was naturally curious. She didn't understand a lot of the injustice in the world, but she was ready to try and understand it, only nobody explained it to her: "take your furs and your literal interpretations to the other side of the river". I mean the girl figures out what selfless love and sacrifice are all on her own with no one's help. Xander is busy arguing with Buffy and Willow, Buffy is clearly exhausted and just wants to eliminate the problem, and Willow tries to reach out but using only her own experience which may not be applicable to Anya. But still, a vengeance demon understood the importance of selfless love, even after getting her heart broken. Which makes her one of the most deeply human characters of them all. I think a philosophical debate about what it means to be human in a supernatural TV show is a profound choice to make. But what is equally just as, or maybe even more, profound, is to show how it is. Theory is great but it doesn’t work alone. Showing it alongside saying it is what provides a far harder impact. It really hits! And ‘Selfless’ is one of the best episodes in the show, never mind just in Season 7.

Girl4Music

Yes, because as I said in my little rant piece above… Anya understands being human in such a way where she doesn’t have to. Like a baby, child, animal or even an autistic person does. Her literally not understanding or not knowing is precisely what makes her most human because human beings don’t understand or know who or what they are. They just are. Anya is naturally being human even when she’s not a human being because she doesn’t understand how to be or behave as a human being.

Girl4Music

I just remember her talking about how much she hates spiders and here she faces and defends herself from this spider monstrosity like it’s nothing. She’s faced so much worse since that that’s nothing to her now. Amazing. That’s character growth for you. To get there wasn’t always fun but she got there. And that’s a remarkable feat.

Girl4Music

I think doing a Buffy-centric episode titled ‘Selfless’ is kinda pointless because of that reason. It’s already obvious throughout the whole show because the whole show is heavily Buffy-centric. There’s only a few episodes I can think of that are not - and even those episodes still center around her metaphorically. ‘The Zeppo’ for example. You’re learning about Xander’s character and following his perspective… but at the same time you’re also learning and seeing “what would Buffy do?” You’re learning how her Heart would inform her actions and choices. In ‘Wild At Heart’ Buffy herself is barely there as the episode centers around Willow and Oz. BUT you’re learning and seeing how her Spirit gets torn to pieces all throughout. I think it’s very important to always keep Buffy in mind when watching non-Buffy centric episodes because they do still tell you something significant about her through her Metaphorical parts.

Ron Fehr

I agree with you about that. While the episode title describes Buffy, it does seem needless if the episode would have just focused on her. Which is why I like that it was really about Anya. Someone who isn't selfless all the time. It gives the title meaning.

Girl4Music

Almost like she sheds her armor when she is weakened by the sword. It doesn’t kill her but it has penetrated her defences. In this case - her emotional ones. Profound.

Ron Fehr

I wonder if the cast was aware of the series ending by this time, although I'm pretty sure that they did. If not, I can see your trepidation over the ending. More seasons in the future would mean that people could leave the show. Seth Green did. But knowing that the series was ending soon, it wouldn't make sense to kill off a beloved character this late.

Ron Fehr

For recurring characters, three come to mind immediately: Halfrek, Clem, and Ethan Rayne. Make that four: D'Hoffryn.

Steve Quast

Correction: You now have 17 episodes of Buffy left to watch.

Alex Wright

I suppose the title Selfless - as well as the actual meaning - may also refer to Anya questioning if she has a self worth saving.

Ron Fehr

Something just occurred to me. Perhaps when Buffy said that she had to kill Anya, could she have just been referring to the vengeance demon part of her. Kill Anya and bring back Aud, so to speak. When Buffy stabbed Anya, she must have known that wasn't enough to kill a vengeance demon. But maybe it could start the process.

StephanieB

Dawn at the beginning of the episode: "Just do what everyone else does, say what everyone else says"... then, when Xander says he's worried about Anya, Dawn says, "She should try acting like everybody else more." This is Anya's problem- continually figuring out how to act, who she is, how she fits into the world. Also- 11:02: No, Domi, Anya is "inventing" socialism. She just wants to share her wealth, requiring no exchange of goods or services. Then in her conversation with Halfrek at the dining table during the Russian revolution, she is in total support of communism. It's not until she is in modern America that we see she has completely become a capitalist. Her socio-economic leanings change and morph depending on her surroundings- this is part of Anya's ongoing issues, she never figures out who she is or what she believes because she is so easily influenced by others around her. Being a vengance demon was her identity (she even allows D'Hoffryn to "reinvent" her, giving her a new name). Then once she lost that identity, it became being Xander's girlfriend, then fiancé. I believe that is at least part of the reason why she originally pushed so hard to be Xander's girlfriend and then again why she pushed so hard for Xander to announce their engagement; she wanted to move on to the wedding so that she could solidify her identity as Xander's wife. This is what she was singing about in this episode. It's easy to get caught up in the sweetness of her singing about being Xander's missus. But it's really about her being able to put a name to who she is and forge her identity from that.

StephanieB

Yes, and also the fact that she doesn't really know who she, herself is. In her own words: "I've just glommed onto whatever's come along." She feels she is without a true self.