I've always thought that the contrast and dynamics between the characters Buffy Summers and Sam Finn, if delved deeper into, made for good character analysis. Being each others foil, with same motivations and similar experience but in different circumstances and methods, being pitted against one another (not in a fight, but character wise) would have put many a watcher (non-British ones) in quite the dilemma to choose a side.
As You Were didn't give much room to really explore the possibilities that could have unfolded with the sudden return of Agent Riley Finn aka Captain Cardboard and his wife, Sam Finn. All that could ever be told about Buffy and Sam were told in less than the 45 minutes of air time, and even then, what we only got to see was Buffy's spiraling into her own self and seeking solace from her Captain Peroxide, but nothing of Sam. Even reading
Seven Crows left much to be desired; since it was pretty much a Buffy and Captain Forehead show. But then again, it's not like there was room to fully go through the variables of the given situation.
And then again, the current unfolding of Season 8's plot has much in store that might just change the scenery of what we thought before. Seeing how Riley could possibly play a bigger part than being just a corn-fed Iowa boy who hunts demons...who's to say, now? He could be an inside man on the side of good, or a cog in the wheel of evil. So who knows who Sam really is?
Nevertheless, I am more interested in the Buffy and Sam contrast as what they were when they were first presented and thought to be, and none of the new, possible revelations we would glean from the coming issues. Therefore my thoughts of the now are just as they were, Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. Sam the Demon Hunter.
Buffy and Sam, an unthinkable duo. Similar. Different. Slayer. Demon hunter. Is there a difference or a side to choose, when they are just two sides of the same coin?
Hence, here's a metaphored version of Buffy and Sam:
They see the warrior that knows no rest
I see the woman that does what she does best
And I do what I do, in the way that I can
But I can be no faster even if I ran.
A staked heart, it bursts into dust in the breeze
And as you walk away, the grains I seize
For I do what I do, and I'll take what I'll get
Because at a day's end, I haven't a regret.
A captured demon, or a demon capturedI'll stay here to mend the strings that were severed
Since I do what I do, and I seek and I find
And I take what of yours, and make it mine.
And when I think that I can't think no more
I leave all my doubts scattered at the door
Because I do what I do, and am all that I am
It doesn't matter that you're the Buffy to my Sam.
*Backstory, for those not in the know:
Buffy is a Slayer. Chosen. Called. Has the strength that is inherent. Has the instincts. The passion. Natural.
Sam is a Demon Hunter. Recruited. Trained. Assigned. Relatively inexperienced. Relatively superficial.
And she will always be second best to Buffy.
Despite their differences; they have some few things in common: Riley, and their fighting evil.
Love,
Linzy
*P/s: This entry goes as far back as November, last year. I've had the idea lingering in my mind for sometime now. I'm glad that it's finally written. Although, it might be edited at some point or other when I find the words to express myself better :)
Firelight, Firelight
