Some ramblings on Same Time, Same Place

by Elz

A few years ago, there was an episode of the X-Files titled "Jose Chung's From Outer Space." It was a Rashoman-like take on an alien abduction with several wildly different accounts of the same events. The final line not only summed up the point, it also added a poignant aspect to a very funny episode: "For although we may not be alone in the universe, in our own separate ways on this planet, we are all alone." There's a loneliness inherent in the fact that nobody else sees the world the way we do - and never can.

Same Time, Same Place works from a completely different plot, but I can't help noticing certain underlying similarities. Every character sees things differently - literally, and in ways that affect how *we* see them. First, the obvious: Willow is afraid to see her friends, so she... doesn't. But Willow doesn't just make herself invisible, she fractures reality somehow. She is physically absent from Buffy, Xander, and Dawn's perspective (and vice versa) - so much so that they can occupy the same space at the same time without any effects whatsoever. Willow is alone and lonely; she knows that she didn't commit the murder, but she can't communicate that to her friends. She can't tell them that she's there, and she can't even get in touch with Giles. Meanwhile, her fears come to life: she's abandoned and suspected, and she becomes the victim of poetic justice of the most literal kind. When the gap begins to be bridged and she and Buffy and Xander start to understand what's happened, the spell is broken. They at least walk in the same world together, even if there isn't perfect harmony among them. However, sharing of strength aside, Willow's battle to control her powers will be hers alone, and it's clear that there's a long way left to go.

At the same time, Anya is fighting her own battles, and is just as isolated as Willow, if less noticeably so. She clearly sees the events of Beneath You differently than Buffy and Xander do; she thinks she did them a favor, especially since she's had to suffer consequences of which they are ignorant. She's also deeply conflicted about her occupation, which is something that neither the other Scoobies nor Halfrek would really understand. The Magic Box, which used to be a haven, is now a burnt out shell, and she has no friends and no boyfriend. As a result of their mutual isolation, Willow and Anya actually spend some time together and learn a few things about each other. Their views of themselves and each other may change as a result; I don't think it's a coincidence that they literally burn the map together.

More than anyone else, Spike is the victim of the others' limited perspectives. Buffy can't see him talking to Willow, Willow can't see him talking to Buffy, and no one can see whatever else he might be talking to. No one understands him, and no one can until he makes sense of it himself and draws the distinction between the real and the imaginary, the external and the internal. Until he sorts out, in his capacity as conductor, who belongs there and who doesn't. Even worse than the isolation of rejection is the isolation of mental illness, or what passes for it in a newly resouled and possibly possessed vampire - he's *really* seeing the world the way nobody else does.

Buffy, Xander and Dawn mainly act as the control group, although there are fractures even there; Buffy is keeping secrets, Xander is unappreciated, and Dawn is ultimately silenced, frozen, and abandoned. The shifting of perspectives and beliefs is more of an ongoing process, especially with Buffy. This week she draws closer to understanding Willow but not Spike, and neither she nor Xander pay much attention to Anya. Appropriately, they get lost in the school basement because the blueprint/map isn't accurate; the way they think things should be isn't the way they really are. The lessons have begun now, though, and the characters do seem to be learning more about themselves and each other... and the first stage of that is for them to discover just how much they don't know. They're each alone, but drawing closer - shifting their perspectives in relation to each other, especially where Willow, Anya and Spike are concerned. I'm intrigued to see how Buffy will react when her viewpoint is *really* challenged, but we're not quite there yet. Will she ever really be able to break out of the shell of secrets, expectations and unshared emotions and forge real common ground with the others - especially Spike? She's made progress by reaching out to Dawn and Willow; we'll see how far that can extend.

Sight imagery: speaking of perspectives and sight, there were a few other things that stuck out at me. Xander's sign at the beginning was so pale (yellow crayon) that Buffy and Dawn worry that Willow won't see it at all - fitting, since they're worried about their welcome itself not being strong enough or real enough for their friend. The opening to the cave was narrow and oval-shaped, not unlike an eye. The big crisis of the episode occurs when Buffy and Xander trap Willow in the cave with Gnarl, blocking the entryway and effectively shutting the eye. They lose touch with her completely (and nearly lose her permanently) because they don't see. When they come back, realizing that Willow is inside, they open it up again. And of course, we get the lovely image of Buffy killing the demon by destroying its eyes, so that the monster's vision is ended. Gnarl acts as the representation of Willow's fears; his death allows her to see past her fear and reconnect with her friends.

One good thing: with Willow back in the loop, there's at least a fighting chance that we'll actually get to hear Buffy talk about what's on her mind, rather than be forced to try to intuit it from SMG's facial expressions. Like Giles' presence, that's something that was sorely missed during S6. It was absent for a reason, certainly, but the show is Buffy's world, and that's something that *we* need to be able to understand.

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Elz