2x03&04 School Hard/Inca Mummy Girl

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS! Now I see why this show has such a following. It only took 15 episodes to get here! The show's strengths have always been in the tertiary characters- that's where the real stakes are, where the danger lies. The main characters aren't going to get iced, but Wheadon's brilliance relies in his ability to cast well and do more with less when it comes to characters. So now we have our standouts of the show- Spike, Inca Princess, and that other fuckup girl in the principal's office. The master sucked, and I'm glad he's gone. This storyline does not lend itself to prophecy well. Buffy has a little meat to chew on in being reluctant to embrace her destiny, but it's missing a crucial part that makes prophecy a compelling narrative tool- how the world reacts to the chosen one, and what that means for their place in the world. Something that Harry Potter nailed, but the Matrix flubbed (yeah I said it). Spike is just the right amount of charm and chaos we need to make the vampire faction interesting again (I still miss Darla, though). A vampire hybrid of Littlefinger and Jack Sparrow. He wants to rule the vampires, but he doesn't have prophecies or succession on his side- so he pisses all over that and charts his own path to gaining power. Including, blessedly, putting that prepubescent little twat in a cage and frying him to dust. Inca Girl is Buffy in the darkest timeline (so much so that I wish her backstory was that she was an ancient slayer)- someone whose fate has cursed her to a short life with no agency. She's back now, and requires the life force of the living to stay alive. But she's sympathetic, her desire to live and love is a much more compelling motivation than seeking power.  I truly hope the show keeps this up.