But...but...he was a first-time watcher. He was doing what he was told to do, with the nasty fuckwits at the Council holding his job over his head. And he hated every minute of it!

It's hard to go against centuries of tradition. But, he ends up doing what his conscience told him to do all along and he goes against the dictates of the Council.

As opposed to "kick his ass!" ?

"Kick his ass" was the worst betrayal. Giles was doing what he thought was his duty. Xander was being petty and cruel.

Giles also realized he was wrong by seeing what it was doing to Buffy, and came clean with Buffy.

And he didn't have to invoke a temple to the penis to get there.

That's not the the question that applies, if it's not about the Our Townness of it all, rather...what's so special about that emotion? Who could have gotten away with it, since she can't?

It's not the emotion I mind. I feel like Joss got cheap to evoke the emotion, and I'm not sure I can explain why. I don't mind being played and tweaked, but when I've been played and tweaked, I either end up thinking, "Damn, I've been played and tweaked. I feel so dirty, cheap and easy. Do it again," or "Damn, I've been played and tweaked. I feel so dirty, cheap and easy. I hate that." This was one of those, "I hate that" times. Understand even as I'm saying all this, that if I were to watch The Body, tonight, it would still be possible for me to feel all weepy during that scene.

cereal...

For an example of "Damn, I've been played and tweaked. I feel so dirty, cheap and easy. Do it again," I need to look no further than Buffy's, "Mom, Mom, Mommy?"

Very little that people say is heresy around here turns out to be heresy.

t heresy It still moves! t /heresy

Uh, what still moves?

Cindy, so what powerful emotional moments affected you and yet left you feeling unused?

Surely someone gets my only sort of obscure historical reference?

Uh, what still moves?

Galileo reference.

she always acts rationally, she expects others to do the same

Hm, that's not my impression of Anya at all. Which might be part of my problem with the whole thing, I guess.

In The Body, I think that she was more affected by the way that people were acting than Joyce's death itself.

I think that would be a very understandable reaction for her to have. But what she's saying doesn't convey that reaction to me. "Why can't she get back in her body" and "no one will explain" sound like "I don't comprehend death." So I'm left with the feeling that either the emotion she's expressing doesn't make sense for the character, or it does make sense but it's communicated poorly. It doesn't particularly matter which, because either way, ungood.

There's a famous quote I'm missing, isn't there?