Was Wes Right Choices S3 EP19

[KaitKat]

After the major and Faith took Willow hostage in exchange for the return of the box of Gavrok, Buffy is immediately in favor of not the exchange prior to destroying the box which the major needs to ascend. Wesley is not necessary in favor of sacrificing Willow but would be willing to stating that her life is not worth more that the rest of the Sunnydale residents and would like to look at options. Buffy ask Wesley if he even has a soul, Giles is silent throughout the exchange. Who was right? Who do you think Giles agreed with? Was it irresponsible for Giles to remain silent or should he have spoken up?

 

[DeadlyDuo]

I think Wes was right. Heroes can be incredibly selfish when it comes to the people they care about and they develop a hypocrisy where they will be willing to sacrifice someone else's loved one for the greater good but never their own. When villains do this, they're still presented as villains, yet when the heroes do it they don't get villainised and they seem to get applauded for being willing to risk the world to save their loved one.

We see this with Buffy and Dawn in Season 5. It could be argued that it was the monks spell that prevented Buffy from being able to sacrifice Dawn, however she was risking the lives of everyone in the world, people who had nothing to do with the scoobies or Sunnydale, just to protect her "sister" who wasn't really her sister but "feelings". The whole "she's made from me" was just a cheap get out which meant Buffy could avoid making the hard decision of sacrificing Dawn or letting the world be destroyed.

 

[thrasherpix]

Without watching it again, I can easily imagine Giles strongly conflicted on the subject, though he'd likely have agreed with Wes if he hadn't gotten so close to Willow so that his well hidden sentiment created his inner-conflict (and also knowing Buffy is going to do whatever she wants to do whatever either of them say).


To take it out of the show's plot armor (and thus see it from the point of view from one involved rather than as an audience rooting for them because we know the writers aren't going to let Armageddon happen), Wesley had a very valid point, one that would be put out by Buffy herself and others in later seasons of Buffy and Angel. War comes with sacrifices.

(At the same time, the individual matters more than society, but at strange times. For example, Angel saved that little boy at great risk despite that MILLIONS of children could die if it didn't go well, but later that same season sacrificed Fred rather than risking almost certain plague as Illyria was called back to the Well.)



Now if it were me, ESPECIALLY as a teen who is close to Willow, I'd make the trade (but I'd also plan to blow up the Mayor's car right after, either myself or Xander, with the rocket launcher Buffy still had, since she brought it out to use in season 7, hope he wasn't already indestructible at that point or that would blow up in our faces).

But what's the right choice? Depends on your values and many other things. Just because I did it wouldn't make it right, and just because it worked doesn't mean I was right either, just lucky.

 

[KaitKat]

I personally pretty much agree with both of you. I remember watching Buffy for the first time at 10 years old thinking Wes was a monster and always agreeing with Buffy but now that I’m 30 I just rewatched it and find that she is wrong about a lot, in certain seasons more than others, but when she makes choices that are either wrong or questionable she is always presented a being right and never has to deal with real consequences due to plot armor. I fully understand Buffy making the decision to make the trade, truth be told I would probably have made the same one in her shoes especially at the same age, but that still doesn’t make the choice right or Wes a monster. He’s simply pointing out that the lives of characters not in the credits matter too. They did end up coming up with a plan that had the whole class fighting and it was epic, but Willow doesn’t matter more than Larry or Harmony or anyone else that day. I honestly feel like Buffy and Giles existing dislike for Wesley colored that interaction.

As far as Giles goes I don’t think he wanted to say it because he cares for Willow but I think that he new Wesley was right. I don’t know if Giles dislike for Wesley and affection for Buffy or his reluctance to disagree with her in general played a role in his not speaking up but I think he was wrong. He spoke up in the gift when he told Buffy that they couldn’t sacrifice the world for Dawn and she should have spoke up in this case. He told her that he took an oath to protect the world and that means saying what others can’t.

I agree that Buffy willing to let the world die for Dawn was wrong. I also think her not killing Ben was wrong. She basically told him to tell Glory not to mess with “me or mine” again, so what Glory/Ben gets to go to another town and murder innocent people as long as they aren’t Buffy’s family/friends? Giles had to clean up the mess which was an act of love but what if he would have been busy and Ben wouldn’t gotten away?

 

[Nearwild]

Wesley has no real attachment to the gang, maybe he's never really had friends before at all, so there's no complicated emotional entanglement. Technically, one person is worth sacrificing to save many. After the events of Helpless, Giles could never express this view out loud even if he thought it was true. He has already betrayed Buffy and felt the emotional repercussions, not to mention losing his position. Buffy and the gang are all he has left at this point.

 

[Priceless]

I think Buffy believed that Willow was important enough to save and that she could only overcome the Mayor with Willow by her side. There would be no winning without Willow anyway.

I don't think it matters what Giles's thoughts are, because Buffy has made the decision. Of course he is no longer her Watcher so has no hierarchical power over Buffy, but he must be aware of the emotional power he may hold with her, but the fact that he chooses not to use that is a point in his favour.

 

[KaitKat]

Honestly though is it fair for Buffy to make the judgment call that there would be no winning without Willow? Who is she to say that Willow’s life matters more than Harmony’s or Larry’s? Yes she is the Slayer but does that give her the right to make that call? In Consequences she tells Faith that being the Slayer doesn’t give them the right to pass judgment yet her she is asking Wesley if he has a soul because he doesn’t think Willow’s life is worth more than the rest of the towns. I am sympathetic to Buffy, she’s been through a lot and if I were in her shoes I’d probably do the same thing with that being said I think I’d also understand that Wesley wasn’t wrong and that on some level I was being selfish.

I do agree that Buffy has a habit of doing what she wants to do so it potentially wouldn’t have mattered had Giles spoke up, however he may have been fired but he was acting as her watcher. If you think that Giles was correct to remain silent here do you think he was wrong to speak up in The Gift?

 

[Puppet]

I think Buffy believed that Willow was important enough to save and that she could only overcome the Mayor with Willow by her side. There would be no winning without Willow anyway.

I think you're giving Buffy entirely too much credit. I truly doubt she thought that far ahead, to worry about the coming battle, and I'm glad; the fact that it seemed to be an entirely emotional choice made in the moment makes it slightly easier to forgive Buffy than if if was a calculated decision made because she 'needed' her Big Gun.

 

[Priceless]

I think you're giving Buffy entirely too much credit. I truly doubt she thought that far ahead, to worry about the coming battle, and I'm glad; the fact that it seemed to be an entirely emotional choice made in the moment makes it slightly easier to forgive Buffy than if if was a calculated decision made because she 'needed' her Big Gun.

I think it was both. I think we see Oz's reaction as the emotional one and Wesley's as the purely logical one, but it is Buffy who stands in the middle and weighs up both options and makes the decision. I also think that's what the role of Slayer is, to make those tough decisions.

 

[KaitKat]

If that is the case then I think we can ignore 90% of the things that Buffy told Faith in Consequences. I mean I’m fine with that because most of what she says completely ignores the fact that Finch’s death was an accident, but the episode (poorly in my opinion) explores the philosophical/morality role of the Slayer. Buffy stated that being the Slayer doesn’t make them better than everyone else and bring the Slayer doesn’t give them the right to pass judgment. So if we think that Buffy is correct here, which I mostly do I just don’t agree with the context it’s used in, then we would also agree that she has no right to but her friend’s lives before others.

 

[Faded90]

If that is the case then I think we can ignore 90% of the things that Buffy told Faith in Consequences. I mean I’m fine with that because most of what she says completely ignores the fact that Finch’s death was an accident, but the episode (poorly in my opinion) explores the philosophical/morality role of the Slayer. Buffy stated that being the Slayer doesn’t make them better than everyone else and bring the Slayer doesn’t give them the right to pass judgment. So if we think that Buffy is correct here, which I mostly do I just don’t agree with the context it’s used in, then we would also agree that she has no right to but her friend’s lives before others.

I don’t think Buffy is even thinking that far ahead to think she’s ‘passing judgement’. I think what Wes says mostly flies over her head as she’s thinking purely about saving Willow. It’s a ‘we save who we can save today and try again tomorrow’ thing. She’s just thinking ‘well we’ll just come up with another solution then’. It’s not like she’s planning to do nothing to combat The Mayor once they have Willow back

 

[thetopher]

Choices was one of those basic moral dilemma's; on the one hand you have Willow being in danger. Everyone- including Giles- cares about Willow being safe and not getting horribly killed. Giles himself was devastated when he thought Willow had been vamped just weeks earlier; no question that he values her life very highly.

On the other you have the very real possibility of the box of Gavroc being used to further the schemes of the Mayor in harming lots of innocent people; the dispassionate (and very watcherly) view is that this should be stopped at all costs. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and a Watcher's first duty is to prevent its end no matter what.
This is Wesley's response and he's very passionate and articulate about it. Wesley actually shows quite a bit of spine this episode, standing up to the rest of the group despite their hostility.


And we've seen that Giles view is that of Watcher; Dawn should die because the fate of the world is in the hands on an insane hellgod , Ben has to be killed to stop the Beast from rising again, trigger!Spike is a thrall of the first and greatest evil and so must be disposed off.


...However; in those cases Giles knew the stakes; he knew that the threat posed was immanent and dangerous; Hell-God, army of uber-vamps below the Hellmouth.

That is not the case here; by 'Choices' the gang had figured out that the Mayor is evil, that he founded the town and that when his 'ascension' comes people are going to die. They also know that the Mayor needs the box for his ascension. They still don't know an awful lot, how much time they have, what and where the ascension is happening.

I think in Giles mind that this lack of knowledge, of definitive answers, gives him some options and 'moral wiggle room'; at least enough for him to justify not cold-bloodedly sacrificing Willow just on the off-chance.
He' not just a Watcher any more and I think at this moment he would side with Buffy and take the risk that there will be time enough to stop the Mayor another way with perhaps a lesser cost.

I just don't think the threat is clear and dire enough for Giles to do otherwise.

 

[KaitKat]

That is a good point about not having any concrete facts on the ascension just the general knowledge that it is very bad. I am critical of Buffy, honestly probably because all her choices are framed as right, but I do love her and I love that she is wonderfully emotionally human and questions authority. I honestly don’t think I would be asking if it was framed as “I know it’s risky and maybe selfish but she’s my best friend and she has been fighting this war side by side with me for almost three years I can’t lose her, I understand that stopping the major is important but together we will find another way.” I really do love character that can be reckless and selfish and sometimes hypocritical as long as they are self aware enough to realize it and level it with other characters vs talking down to them.

I do find the Watchers’ reactions interesting in this episode. I admire Wesley’s spine as you put it. Giles I get the impression somewhat agrees with Wes but is too heartbroken and disturbed to say it out loud. I think this is supposed to highlight the fact that Giles character is no longer the WC.

Side note I know why they didn’t do it story wise but it really is a shame that Giles and Wesley didn’t work together for both Buffy and Faith’s sake. Both girls were in need of authority figures to advocate for them, help them grow, and treat them with compassion which is where Giles comes in and they both need an authority figure that would sometimes tell them no and not let their affection could their judgment which would be where Wesley would be useful.

 

[Priceless]

If that is the case then I think we can ignore 90% of the things that Buffy told Faith in Consequences. I mean I’m fine with that because most of what she says completely ignores the fact that Finch’s death was an accident, but the episode (poorly in my opinion) explores the philosophical/morality role of the Slayer. Buffy stated that being the Slayer doesn’t make them better than everyone else and bring the Slayer doesn’t give them the right to pass judgment. So if we think that Buffy is correct here, which I mostly do I just don’t agree with the context it’s used in, then we would also agree that she has no right to but her friend’s lives before others.

Faith killed someone, a stranger, while Buffy is trying to rescue her best friend, I think the situations are different enough to cut Buffy some slack. Buffy isn't saying she's better than anyone else or passing judgement here, she's just formulating a plan of action. She either rescues Willow, potentially putting others in danger or she lets her best friend die. Xander and Oz both support her, and she isn't forcing anyone to do anything they don't want.

 

[thetopher]

I am critical of Buffy, honestly probably because all her choices are framed as right, but I do love her and I love that she is wonderfully emotionally human and questions authority. I honestly don’t think I would be asking if it was framed as “I know it’s risky and maybe selfish but she’s my best friend and she has been fighting this war side by side with me for almost three years I can’t lose her, I understand that stopping the major is important but together we will find another way.”

I get that, I get that Buffy is forcefully putting her foot down without exactly explaining herself. But...she did kill Angel to save the world not long ago so the viewer knows that if she has to Buffy can make the hard, heartbreaking choice about someone she loves.
And obviously she also wants to avoid doing that at all costs. Maybe her 'I will not consider this, not ever!!' is driven by a little internal voice of her own secretly expressing what she might have to do, what she's already done.
And by the end of the season she has crossed another line...albeit to save somebody she loves dearly.

Plus Buffy is totally 'action girl' who believes that she can stop the Mayor some other way. I think her knowing the power she has makes her seem more strident because she is prepared to put herself front and centre no matter what happens in the future.

Giles I get the impression somewhat agrees with Wes but is too heartbroken and disturbed to say it out loud. I think this is supposed to highlight the fact that Giles character is no longer the WC.

I remember Giles muttering something noncommittal like 'it might be the only way' as he's desperately thinking things through. Wesley would probably surmise that Giles judgement was compromised because of his closeness to the group. So yeah, in that sense Giles is not solely Watcher material anymore.

Side note I know why they didn’t do it story wise but it really is a shame that Giles and Wesley didn’t work together for both Buffy and Faith’s sake

Nothing unites folks like a common enemy and by this stage Giles and Wesley knew who they were up against. Unfortunately that was too late for Faith. On the one hand she made her choice but on the other...she may not have gone over to the dark side if Giles and/or Wesley had done a decent job of 'Watchering' her.


Thinking about it, is there anything in the episode that indicates what Willow would want the others to do? I mean, she has the chance to escape the clutches of evil but instead takes the opportunity to snoop on the Mayor's plans and gets captured again. Is she reckless or confident about Buffy saving her?

 

[KaitKat]

Honestly I’ve always hated Consequences because I honestly think it does a good job of making almost every single character unreasonable. With that being said yes Faith did kill a human a stranger, which was an accident, however that fact was ignored for the majority of the episode to both move the plot forward and discuss the philosophical questions such as do Slayers have a right to make moral judgment calls with the lives of others. What happened with Finch was tragic but Faith’s outlook isn’t wrong, they guy choose to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and it’s awful but it is what it is and it didn’t say anything about Faith’s morality she right when she says she’s still good has done good things and should continue to do good things and that she can’t save the world from jail. Buffy then inserts a lot of judgmental straw man arguments saying that being the Slayer is not the same as being a killer and they shouldn’t get to pass judgment on others. I think that everything Buffy said here is fundamentally true however I don’t agree with the words in the context as Faith is not yet at the point where she is advocating murder. She at no point tries to “pass judgment on and kill evil humans.” It was an accident Faith does feel guilty as we do see her mask drop a couple of times she simply isn’t ready to talk about the trauma and honestly Buffy is probably making it worse. I don’t blame Buffy for that 18 is too young to understand that other people especially from different backgrounds are going to process trauma differently. Then we do see Faith deteriorate throughout the episode and obviously we can agree she has no right to use her strength as a slayer to terrorize others.

Then in Choices Buffy honestly has a crappy choice to make and I do cut her slack I’ve even admitted that I would probably do the same thing while at least recognizing that my choice would be morally questionable. She definitely is passing judgment on Wes when she ask him if he even has a soul. When Giles makes a similar suggestion with Dawn she’s angry with Giles and she never admits it but she does know on some level she’s selfish. By taking the stance that she’s the Slayer and that she therefore has the right to make the choice that Willow’s life matters more that everyone else’s then yes she is contradicting herself.

She can’t be right in both cases while different situations her words actions contradict each other. She either does have the right as the Slayer to decide that some lives matter more than others or she doesn’t it can’t be both.

 

[Priceless]

Faith’s outlook isn’t wrong

I disagree with this. The whole point of Faith is as an example of the existential idea of 'bad faith', which is basically 'a refusal to confront facts or choices'. I believe that's what Whedon et al were aiming for, a character who embodied this philosophical view. I understand if that doesn't work for you and the writers missed the mark.

as Faith is not yet at the point where she is advocating murder.

By not accepting what she'd done, by not finding a moral way of dealing with it, she is, in my opinion, advocating murder. She is essentially saying that it's ok to murder people because she has done so much good in the world, and that balances the scales. She is saying that she takes no responsibility for her actions, that she didn't have choice, that the victim was to blame. The way she dealt with the aftermath of Finch's death makes her morally questionable.

Buffy is probably making it worse

Buffy offers Faith help and kindness, which Faith throws back at her. Maybe Buffy was in the wrong, maybe she should have taken a step back and left Faith alone, I could possibly agree with you. But then Faith goes to Giles and blames Buffy for Finch's death and I think that's her lowest point in this whole thing.

Faith talks a good game, how brave she was jumping off a rock into the water when she was a kid, how strong she is wrestling alligators, how she has no time for the little people around her because she's special, but when it really comes to it, she's morally weak, refuses to take responsibility and blames others for her own actions. She is a brilliant metaphor for an existentialist concept and I think she works really well as that.

Then in Choices Buffy honestly has a crappy choice to make and I do cut her slack I’ve even admitted that I would probably do the same thing while at least recognizing that my choice would be morally questionable. She definitely is passing judgment on Wes when she ask him if he even has a soul. When Giles makes a similar suggestion with Dawn she’s angry with Giles and she never admits it but she does know on some level she’s selfish. By taking the stance that she’s the Slayer and that she therefore has the right to make the choice that Willow’s life matters more that everyone else’s then yes she is contradicting herself.

Buffy is consistent in both cases. The watchers want Willow and Dawn to die for the greater good and Buffy says she will rescue/save them. I have a hard time thinking of her as selfish, because she sacrificed her life to save the world. But I do see how it could be read as that.

She can’t be right in both cases while different situations her words actions contradict each other. She either does have the right as the Slayer to decide that some lives matter more than others or she doesn’t it can’t be both.

I think you're probably right here. We don't see the full embracing of this until Season 7, when Buffy declares herself
'the law', but I think each season is a step on the way to her understanding that this is who she has to become.

 

[KaitKat]

I do get that Faith was supposed to be a pun for bad Faith the girl doesn’t believe in anyone or anything. To me the mark was missed she accidentally killed a man and she is trying to deal with it that’s all. No she isn’t talking about it with Buffy and I don’t blame her she’s not obligated to deal with her trauma in a way that makes Buffy more comfortable. Yes it’s tragic but the guy nominated himself for the Darwin of the year award by confronting Slayers in the middle of a life or death fight as Giles tells Buffy it happens. How should she morally deal with it? And she was correct it was an accident killing Finch didn’t make her evil or a murder, she at this point has done a lot of good and is still a good person and can’t continue to save the world from jail. She also can’t explain to the police what happened and how it was a tragic accident because of the circumstances. At no point does Faith suggest that Slayers should pass judgment on humans and kill accordingly a better example of that would have been when Willow went after Warren in grief. She determined that he did something awful and she therefore has the right to kill him and didn’t even give the law a chance to deal with it. I do think in Buffy’s head she’s offering kindness but it was a lot of lecturing that came off as having to do with her own guilt than helping Faith. With that said I do think Buffy wants to help her but she’s in over her head and cant deal with the fact that Faith handles trauma differently, internalizes it, so she pushes and it absolutely makes things worse. I think we can all agree that Faith telling Giles that Buffy did it was wrong that’s not even a question. I sympathize with her character she looks vulnerable and shaken up about it which I think has to do with Eliza Dushku’s portrayal and I’ve heard the theory that Faith believed Giles would protect Buffy and not her and it makes since but there was no way that choice was ever going to end well. Obviously she does end up taking full responsibility when she goes to prison and since it’s cannon that she went for Allen Finch’s murder I am curious as to how the questioning went since both Faith and Buffy were initially questioned. Post prison Faith doesn’t ever blame anyone for her choices or blame anyone for anything wrong that they did to her. In Finch’s case though I’m saying that Finch is stupid but it seems her thought process was it just happened it’s awful but it is what it is.

Buffy was consistent with her answer in both cases although how she responded was different. Deep down she knows that it would be selfish to let the world end for Dawn. Yes obviously she ends up sacrificing herself which actually took the choices out of her hands if her idea had failed. I recently rewatched The Gift when she tells Giles that she can’t keep living in this world if these are the choices. She’s sick and tired of choosing between a loved one and the world and my heart breaks for her just like it did in The Becoming.

I’ve also noticed that “I am the Law” parallel but I’m still not sure what my thoughts are on it.

 

[Faded90]

I do get that Faith was supposed to be a pun for bad Faith the girl doesn’t believe in anyone or anything. To me the mark was missed she accidentally killed a man and she is trying to deal with it that’s all. No she isn’t talking about it with Buffy and I don’t blame her she’s not obligated to deal with her trauma in a way that makes Buffy more comfortable. Yes it’s tragic but the guy nominated himself for the Darwin of the year award by confronting Slayers in the middle of a life or death fight as Giles tells Buffy it happens. How should she morally deal with it? And she was correct it was an accident killing Finch didn’t make her evil or a murder, she at this point has done a lot of good and is still a good person and can’t continue to save the world from jail. She also can’t explain to the police what happened and how it was a tragic accident because of the circumstances. At no point does Faith suggest that Slayers should pass judgment on humans and kill accordingly a better example of that would have been when Willow went after Warren in grief. She determined that he did something awful and she therefore has the right to kill him and didn’t even give the law a chance to deal with it. I do think in Buffy’s head she’s offering kindness but it was a lot of lecturing that came off as having to do with her own guilt than helping Faith. With that said I do think Buffy wants to help her but she’s in over her head and cant deal with the fact that Faith handles trauma differently, internalizes it, so she pushes and it absolutely makes things worse. I think we can all agree that Faith telling Giles that Buffy did it was wrong that’s not even a question. I sympathize with her character she looks vulnerable and shaken up about it which I think has to do with Eliza Dushku’s portrayal and I’ve heard the theory that Faith believed Giles would protect Buffy and not her and it makes since but there was no way that choice was ever going to end well. Obviously she does end up taking full responsibility when she goes to prison and since it’s cannon that she went for Allen Finch’s murder I am curious as to how the questioning went since both Faith and Buffy were initially questioned. Post prison Faith doesn’t ever blame anyone for her choices or blame anyone for anything wrong that they did to her. In Finch’s case though I’m saying that Finch is stupid but it seems her thought process was it just happened it’s awful but it is what it is.

Buffy was consistent with her answer in both cases although how she responded was different. Deep down she knows that it would be selfish to let the world end for Dawn. Yes obviously she ends up sacrificing herself which actually took the choices out of her hands if her idea had failed. I recently rewatched The Gift when she tells Giles that she can’t keep living in this world if these are the choices. She’s sick and tired of choosing between a loved one and the world and my heart breaks for her just like it did in The Becoming.

I’ve also noticed that “I am the Law” parallel but I’m still not sure what my thoughts are on it.

Obviously the Faith issue is complex but it’s not that Faith is dealing with her trauma differently. It’s that she’s NOT dealing with it that’s the problem and has decided to ignore it completely. Faith not dealing with her trauma even outside of the Finch incident is the root of her issues and her deep unhappiness. Not properly dealing with her trauma re Finch and ignoring it was just going to fester. That’s what Buffy was trying to help with.

After this episode in Doppelgangland and Enemies (pre realising Faith had gone ‘bad’) they appear to have gone down the ignoring and ‘oh she’s ok then’ path and does it help? No it doesn’t, Faith just slips even deeper. Faith actually says in This Years Girl the root oh her anger ‘you just keep sinking a little deeper every day and nobody even sees’ . Faith is angry that she felt like Buffy DID ignore what happened and how Faith was feeling about it. If Buffy had just shrugged it off in Conseqiences I’d say it’s guaranteed to have just pushed Faith deeper and made her feel even more irrelevant

 

[KaitKat]

I will agree that the root of Faith’s issues is deep unhappiness I personally believe she was already very troubled before arriving in Sunnydale. She isn’t dealing and it is unfortunate that she doesn’t have an adult in her life that she can trust to help her with with because it’s too much for an 18 year old that neither A)Has years of experience or B)Hasn’t studied psychology and Faith doesn’t entirely trust Buffy at this point. With that being said what would have happened if Faith was crying devastated with grief what would Buffy have told her “It was an accident, it could have happened to me?” Why does Buffy need her to break down so she can tell her these things. The beginning of Consequences takes place the day after Bad Girls we can assume just give her a minute to breath an say “when you’re ready to talk I’m here because honestly it’s hitting me hard too and I need to talk.” Instead we have Faith who we do know feels guilty but it pretending not to get lectured by Buffy, watched Giles yell at Buffy when he thought it was her fault, and told by Angel that she’s the same as Angelus, of course she lost it. I’m a firm believer that Giles should have stepped in and dealt with it, he’s an adult, he has perspective, and he’s accidentally killed a human himself, instead he has a meeting with three 18 year olds to decide which one of them will deal with it? Not only is that unfair to Faith it’s unfair to the Scoobies all four of these characters are children at the end of the day and it’s an adult situation.

I never got the impression that Faith was upset that Buffy ignored how she felt after Finch’s death. I think in the beginning she was upset because she felt like she was putting forth an effort to be Buffy’s friend and felt that it wasn’t reciprocated. My understanding of This Year’s Girl her rage comes from being forgotten about while she was in a coma. She woke up, nobody had missed her, there wasn’t a place for her in the world. She flat out tells Buffy that in her mind Buffy stabbed her over a guy then forgot about her, the guy she stabbed her for, and “moved onto the first college beefstick she meet.” She has so much rage when she wakes up but I still can’t see it as her being upset that Buffy didn’t care how she felt about Alan Finch.