I always thought the very end of Same Time Same Place was foreshadowing Buffy sharing power at the end of the series. Why? Because it wasn't organic to the episode. It seemed like it was deliberately included for a reason.

I had a theory all season that the problem of the Slayer was like "Marie Curie syndrome"--the idea that women can succeed and be powerful/intelligent, but they are special, exceptional, unusual. And when they are presented as such, it's not really empowering to the women and girls out there who might some day pursue similar interests, and it's also damaging to the "Marie Curies" who are told they are special and thus isolated.

Damn, I can't find the original, but I wrote this in December on a Spike list in response to the idea that Buffy might end the series without superpowers:

"I wrote a post a few weeks ago about female exceptionalism. It's all well and good for Buffy to be the Slayer, a strong woman etc., and example of female power, but hell, she's the only one. Or one of 2 slayers. :) Female exceptionalism--the idea that only the extraordinary women can have that kind of power.

Well, with the advent of the SiTs, and Buffy training Dawn, maybe we're seeing that the "potential" to be extraordinary is in everyone, even those without superpowers/superstrength. And I think for Buffy to be the only girl in all the world to fight vampires is, in fact, limiting--for Buffy and for all women in the world. How is that feminist? What Joss may be going for is to recognize that you don't have to have superpowers to be extraordinary, to be able to fight the demons in your life. How is it feminist for Buffy to have to save all the women in Sunnydale? What's feminist is for them to realize they have the power to fight back for themselves, even if they are not Slayers.

Anyway, if that's the case, then Buffy ending the series as a superpowerless human--alongside a shanshu-ed/human Spike--is not a negative thing. She might see that she can share her power with all women. Slayer power is girl power. Or grrl power.

Is it about power? Or is it about empowerment?"

Just realizing, too, that this fits in with the idea of Get It Done, an episode I hated when I first read the script, but worked myself up into a state of respecting it before it aired. That episode was about Buffy being tired of having to do all the saving. Why couldn't the others take care of themselves? They had skills, reserves, powers. And when she went off to the Shadow Men, sure enough, they found that even without Buffy they were able to figure out how to deal.

And that's why I don't mind Spike keeping the coat. It symbolizes a dark side that he draws power from. It's the same thing as Willow doing her magic, even though her previous use of powerful magic led to flayed Warren.

I think Spike keeping that coat was an important symbol of the purpose of Lies My Parents Told Me. To free himself of the trigger, Spike had to stop denying his past, and come to terms with it; he had to accept that his past is part of what makes him who he is today.

I always thought the very end of Same Time Same Place was foreshadowing Buffy sharing power at the end of the series. Why? Because it wasn't organic to the episode. It seemed like it was deliberately included for a reason.

I knew it was important when I saw it. I wrote an essay about it. But why do you say it wasn't organic to the episode?

Nice post, Anne.

Cindy, because there was nothing in the episode that led to the idea that sharing power was a resolution to the theme of the episode. The episode was about Willow feeling alienated from the others, punishing herself. Her lack of power wasn't an issue.

Her lack of power wasn't an issue.

Well, with Willow it's been her fear of tapping into her power without losing it (could i say something more obvious?)

Still, it felt "organic" to me as an evocation of their friendship and the Scoobs' willingness to help Willow heal from her loss and her anger.

I do think that some of that laughter at the end was joy along with the obvious defiance.

I thought it was because the scrubbing bubbles tickled.

Still, it felt "organic" to me as an evocation of their friendship and the Scoobs' willingness to help Willow heal from her loss and her anger.

Yeah, what smonster said.

I'm just picturing the Sunnydale gorge/big ol hole becoming a tourist attraction.

"And over to your right, notice that the sinkhole stops about a mile or so from the docks. It's a lucky thing it did, because the resulting force of the ocean rushing in would have flooded more than just the sinkhole."

"Don't worry folks, the Army Corps of Engineers assures up there is solid bedrock and a rise between the gorge and the sea."

"However, if you look to your left, you will see the brand new Sunnydale waterfall. Denied an outlet to the ocean, the Arroyo Cañada de la Sol now empties into the gorge, producing the wonderful Valle Asoleado waterfall."

"A study is ongoing as to whether Valle Asoleado Lake, or Lago Asoleado del Valle, will fill the entire sinkhole or will continue to drain underground."

"We didn't just save the world, we changed the world."

THIS was why it got to end, you know? If it had just been one more apocalypse averted I'd have been grossly disappointed.

Anne, just wanted to say - beautiful post.

And ETA - yes Nilly, that was one of the songs cut to make the short version.

t boggles!