Don't Fear The Reaper 6.17, 6.19, 6.20

For this blog I want to talk about Death and the impact it has on close friends and family members. In "Normal Again" Buffy is harmed by a demon that makes her see an alternate reality in which she is in a mental hospital, her parents are still together, and everyone is trying to convince her that her life as a vampire slayer is simply a fantastical reality. At one point Buffy decides things would be easier if she let herself drift into the other reality and in so doing she is essentially trying to kill herself, the self that the audience recognizes. In order to do that, though, she has to kill her friends. Committing "slayer suicide" would be an easy out for Buffy, but not so much for the friends who she endangers. Suicide attempts often affect those who the person is close to. In Buffy's case it affected them physically. But, again, the relationship between Buffy's reality and our reality is quite visible in this episode.
At the end of "Seeing Red" we watch as Warren tries to murder Buffy and instead wounds her, though a stray bullet kills Tara. "Villains" allows us to see the effects of an unexpected death on Willow, who is emotionally not ready for a sudden separation so shortly after their reconciliation and whose powers allow her to seek vengeance on Warren. In this situation, mourning would be an acceptable response, but often, those burdened by the loss of a loved one will turn to violence. Willow seeks after Warren for vengeance and kills him but judging by her response, "one down," we can safely assume that what Willow is doing is trying to inflict pain on others in hopes of lessening her own. This is an unfortunate response and because of the power she holds, a dangerous one as well.