Summary
In this one, we talk about the Scoobies falling for their own round-robin tricks, Dawn canonically being a centaur, and we debate what is and isn’t “too much magic.” It’s time for Season 6, Episode 6, “All the Way.”
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Download: Episode 120 – All the Way
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Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast 
Ah, the only Buffy Halloween episode I don’t rewatch around Halloween each year. I agree with both of you that this one is just not well done throughout. I wanted to say, though, that I loved your point comparing Willow using magic for decorations being painted negatively/her being encouraged to do it ‘the natural way’ to how people get encouraged to give birth ‘the natural way.’ Because I think that’s an interesting aspect of the problem – yes, Willow’s issues with power provide context for the moment and for Tara’s unease, but there’s also the layer of: how much of Willow using magic like this feels off simply because of how little effort she seems to put into it? Up until this season we’ve seen Willow learning magic – we’ve seen her make mistakes and those mistakes have cost her. Almost every spell she’s done has had either multiple steps or took concentrated effort generally. After resurrecting Buffy, we’re seeing her use magic without any visible effort, and while it canonically makes sense (when you become sufficiently advanced at a skill you can make things seem easy precisely because of the legwork you’ve put in previously), it does present problems. The first is a narrative issue -if Willow is that advanced what kind of threat will be even remotely worrying to her or the Scoobies? The second is maybe on more of an unconscious level – are we, as viewers, as interested in Willow as a witch when magic no longer seems to be a journey for her (or even a connection with Tara) but rather solely a convenience? Both of these are, in my opinion, dealt with well by Willow’s power issues (which fit so well with her character it almost feels like it was planned since season 2 if not earlier [and I would read untold numbers of essays about Giles, Willow, and magic throughout the series, because their relationship as it relates to Willow using magic and Giles’ own history is fascinating]), and I absolutely agree that the addiction metaphor undercuts that – though not enough to make me love the power issues story any less. Thanks for another great episode!
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