Question What would be the best way to portrait Willow's addiction?

[Zenseem]

I've noticed that a lot of people don't like how Willow deepening into the magicks was portraid as if she was an addicted rather than maybe making her responsible by her actions without using her addiction as an excuse. So, I'd like to know what would you guys change in the season's arc to make it more acceptable or what path you would've followed to lead to Dark Willow or even something entirely different.

 

[Last Watcher]

I was basically ok with the whole addiction thing....I just thought the whole Rack giving her Magic 'Fixes' was taking it way too far.
We got the idea writers, she was getting totally dependant on using Magic for everything......you didn't need to make it quite so literal!!!!

I would have done away with Rack & his hippy drug den & just portrayed Willows struggle with
overuse & over reliance on Magic.

 

[Zenseem]

I was basically ok with the whole addiction thing....I just thought the whole Rack giving her Magic 'Fixes' was taking it way too far.
We got the idea writers, she was getting totally dependant on using Magic for everything......you didn't need to make it quite so literal!!!!

I'm also ok with it. I found out recently about everyone disliking the addiction thing and it took a little by surprise but now I can see their point.

And the Rack thing didn't make much sense to me. Willow was a hell of a powerful witch, so why would she need to go to a 'magic dealer' to get juiced up? He just felt kind of useless to me.

 

[thrasherpix]

One of the two options: First option, make it hubris rather than addiction, similar to what Faith experienced in season 3. That is, the power goes to her head and she feels she's above all rules and limitations, that her life and power is beyond the understanding of most, and if she can bring people back from the dead and do all sorts of good things then she DESERVES to get what she wants, or at least the scales will always be in her favor (that is, "I do so much good that I can be allowed a little indulgence" that just gets worse over time).

The other option is to create a mystical drug (as opposed to magic itself being the drug). In this case, Willow taps out and she learns of this magical meth can can give her the power pretty much as shown. Unfortunately, just like with many drugs, it causes the body to become reliant on it. That is, the more she uses it, the more she needs it and the less she gets out of it so that she has to up the dose to get the same effect, and she's scared of losing her powers altogether. Naturally, a rush should come from this to add to the addictive qualities. For the most part they could otherwise play it as they did, just iron out the "very special episodes" stuff like Rack (even the literal loan shark struck me as less silly than how he was portrayed--though props to the actor, my criticism is only for the character), hitting rock bottom so fast (which begs the question how Rack stays in business, especially if there are many other dealers like him) and the stuff that comes off like Partnership for a Drug Free America crap that I rightly felt insulted our intelligence back when I was a kid.

I'm not saying recreational drugs are harmless (though of course there are many people even using hard drugs who keep their lives together that we don't know about because it's illegal for them to come forward, and I seriously doubt sketching junkies on the streets are contributing the majority of billions of dollars to drug dealers in the US alone every year), or that people don't hit rock bottom as Willow did. It's just it doesn't happen like THAT, and I found it extremely annoying in addition to feeling extremely forced by the writers.

I'd have found an intelligent look at addiction, especially to a mystical drug, fascinating, however. It just needs to come off as something different than written by soccer moms and Sunday School teachers trying to scare the kids that even doing drugs once will destroy their lives by using ridiculous stereotypes and situations like that. It would probably be best to show Willow dabbling in some sort of "magical caffeine" in the very first episode (and also Tara deeply concerned, but--for the moment--keeping the secret despite her misgivings about it) with Amy later taking Willow to get the much stronger stuff, and it would need to a a bit more subtle than with Willow taking "Dawnie" through back alleys (though maybe much closer to the end of the season it could've worked), but everyone could be concerned before it gets that far.

 

[Priceless]

I didn't mind the addiction storyline, it had a great slow build up over season. I thought it fitted with Willow's character quite well, she was always an all or nothing over-achiever, just the type who would slowly get deeper and deeper into something she thought she could control, that would eventually control her. I also liked the false-starts at kicking the habit, when friends believe they are helping, but really they just don't understand the depths of Willow's physical need for magic.

 

[Slayerofslayers]

I didn't mind the addiction storyline, it had a great slow build up over season. I thought it fitted with Willow's character quite well, she was always an all or nothing over-achiever, just the type who would slowly get deeper and deeper into something she thought she could control, that would eventually control her. I also liked the false-starts at kicking the habit, when friends believe they are helping, but really they just don't understand the depths of Willow's physical need for magic.

I agree. I found the addiction to magic to be an interesting storyline. Willow relied on magic too much but I think with Tara leaving her is when she really became addicted to magic because she was trying to cope with Tara being gone. I think she liked feeling the power since Tara leaving her devastated her and left her feeling powerless. In a sense, magic was the only thing she had left and she liked having someone to do it with and Amy was the only one who would do it with her. It led to that powerful moment when Willow crashes the car and is crying and begging Dawn and Buffy to forgive her. So yeah I like that storyline its good stuff and a good character arc for Willow. I kind of wish Dark Willow had been around for more of the season and we had less of the Trio. Willow begging for there to be a way to bring back Tara gets me every time and makes me want to cry.

 

[Foxy]

I love the story line but lore wise it is not perfect. I mean until this season there had never been a distinction between the effects of good and bad magic. I mean Giles did black magic all the time but he did not get addicted to it?

Though these are little details and don't bother me too much.

One thing that irks me though, why did Tara not teach her more about light magic right from the start? She could prevented a lot from happening!

 

[Carrie Hopewell]

I never really understood why Willow got addicted at all. I mean, sure there was some subtle foreshadowing but nothing special, really. Buffy is a slayer and uses her slayer powers all the time and she never got addicted. Faith kind of did but that had more to do with her personality and how she used her powers. Angel and other vampires use their powers all the time too and all they get addicted to is blood.

I can understand how magic can become addictive, but Willow never crossed the line that much. Idk, she used her magic to change the weather sometimes, float pens, help her friends, etc. It was mostly harmless. I didn't feel like there was a proper build up to season 6 at all. That storyline, to me, just came out of nowhere. One minute, her powers were limited, the next, she was changing Amy back to a human and doing all sorts of spells without chanting or anything. Also, Willow could have done that spell to Amy sooner. She had the power to suck Glory's brain of sanity, but not enough power to change Amy back from a rat?? Amy did that spell in highschool so it couldn't be that difficult.

And Tara never got addicted although she did magic frequently with Willow. I get that Willow had an addictive personality and more power than Tara, but I still think it's sloppy writing how fast Willow became addicted to power. I never understood Dark!Willow either. Angelus is bad because he's soulless and Willow is bad because she gets taken over by dark magic? How does that work exactly? It's never explained how dark magic works and in what way it's different from pure magic.

I just think it's lame that the writers had to limit Willow's power because she was already more powerful than Buffy. It was unnecessary imo.

 

[Priceless]

I think Willow's issues with magic began in S3, when she tried that de-lusting spell in Lover's Walk, without consulting Xander first. Willow made an arbitrary decision to help herself without taking other people's feelings into account. It's something she did all the time where magic is concerned. She believes she know's best. In S4 she attempts a revenge spell in Wild at Heart. She doesn't go through with it, but her initial instinct is always to turn to magic when things get tough, which may be understandable, but a reliance on magic, like a reliance of a drug, can lead to addiction. Something Blue is another example of Willow turning to magic to cope with her problems. It gives her a sense of control over her life, and it's the sense of control she has while using magic, that leads to her addiction. From a S6 stand point, looking back, I think you can see Willow's path to addiction.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

I don't really like the addiction storyline in season 6. The only part I like is that Willow has to investigate using science and her computer skills again, without resorting to using the quick fix of magic.

One of the two options: First option, make it hubris rather than addiction.
The other option is to create a mystical drug (as opposed to magic itself being the drug).

I agree. I think it's because the "addiction" metaphor is so vague. The show does not distinguish between the different magicks in the Buffyverse. I don't like Rack and his magical drugs.

Giles and Ethan used magic and created Eyghon as a way to get high. But they didn't become addicted. Ritual spells, are those addctive magics? I get that not all people who do drugs become addicted, but there are certain drugs that are more addictive and different kinds of drugs. Some people use drugs just to have fun and get high, some use it to manage stress and anxiety, some want to escape reality, all kinds of reasons. In Fear Itself, Willow mentions that she's not Buffy's sidekick. And I think she feels that the power she gets from magic makes her more of an equal with Buffy. That could be why she was so quick to resort to magic, but to say all magicks can be addictive, I don't buy it. I need more rules of magic in the Buffyverse.

 

[Zenseem]

And Tara never got addicted although she did magic frequently with Willow. I get that Willow had an addictive personality and more power than Tara, but I still think it's sloppy writing how fast Willow became addicted to power. I never understood Dark!Willow either. Angelus is bad because he's soulless and Willow is bad because she gets taken over by dark magic? How does that work exactly? It's never explained how dark magic works and in what way it's different from pure magic.

I just think it's lame that the writers had to limit Willow's power because she was already more powerful than Buffy. It was unnecessary imo.

This really bugs me sometimes. Like, were the magicks responsible for triggering Willow's most dark side or she became evil because of the magicks?

After Willow went to magic rehab she was the same old babbling Willow so basically they're saying that she's just evil because of the magicks pushing her over the edge, but it doesn't feel very legit to me. Of course there was the grief factor, but still, it just seems more confusing everytime you think about it, at least for me.

 

[thetopher]

Don't make her turn to magic-junkie so blatant and sudden. I think Willow's arc works fine up until 'Wrecked' because before then it was a fairly subtle slippery slope. Willow was slowly justifying the use of magic to do everything and fix every little mistake she couldn't. It was her personality that was the problem- the 'how' she was using magic, not the magicks themselves.

And then we get un-ratted Amy suddenly becoming a jittery junkie looking for 'magic weed', getting withdrawn symptoms and going to the crackhouse of magic to get her fix, and dragging Willow along with. In the space of two episode Willow completely crashes out and becomes some caricature of 'don't do drugs, kid'. It only works on ANY level because of Alyson Hannigan's performance.

Basically to fix the problem, have the depiction of her decline be more subtle, and drawn out a couple more episodes. Maybe introduce Rack in a previous episode in an offhand way- Spike knows of him after all- perhaps as an underworld informant of sorts. Somethiung that has little to do with 'magic as drugs'. Have Willow interact with him and become intrigued by his magics on her own, and then set something up an episode or three later. Maybe Buffy and co. are looking into the Trio (or the 'mysterious Big Bad' at this point) and whilst floudering for clues stumble across Rack and decide to utilize him.

There are so many more subtle ways it could've been done. The whole subplot makes me cringe a bit the way it plays out.

 

[thrasherpix]

I just remembered NC roasting some of the dumber anti-drug PSAs (which isn't to say he's promoting drug abuse), and he sums up what's wrong with all of them in the first minute...which to me was just one of the things wrong with Willow's addiction story line:

Heh, one drug dealer turns into a snake, which the Mayor might appreciate. And NC making room for an anti-smoking PSA that shows R2D2 lighting up (and wondering what they have for lungs) could be applied to vampires. 😛

That one didn't include one that annoyed me when it got showed in a class, which was about surgeons giggling while smoking pot about to perform surgery, and the PFDFA was asking, "Still think marijuana is harmless?" As if they couldn't just as easily had the surgeons downing beers or shots of whiskey instead. (I bet if the truth about how many doctors abuse drugs, btw, ever came out that it would start a national panic, and explain so much, but that's another topic.)

Btw, if you're up to it, check out NC roast of Reefer Madness.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

Considering the show was practically encouraging Willow to learn magic from season 2 onwards, not only does season 6's magic=drugs come as a complete swerve but it also retrospectively means that Willow, as a high schooler, was being lured into that lifestyle by those around her such as Buffy, Xander, Giles and Jenny. Tara also comes off in a bad light as she was actively doing magic with Willow in seasons 4 and 5. Therefore, if magic=drugs, does that mean all the Tillow scenes of them doing magic were really scenes of them essentially "shooting up"?

What they could've done is have Willow hooked on the "high" she gets from doing magic. Not in the sense that magic=drugs but the feeling she gets from being able to help people, from being able to fight bad guys, etc. Willow's addiction would stem from the emotional highs rather than literal highs which in turn would be more difficult to tackle as Willow would still want to help people, she'd feel useless just sitting on the side lines. Willow's addiction would be a vicious circle.

 

[RomanticSoul]

What addiction? As S7 tells us, magic is not an addiction.

They had set Willow's character arc up pretty much since the beginning of the show. This was a girl pretty much forced to raise herself because her parents were too busy with their jobs/life. No one was there to teach her the basics like morality. We have seen her hacking government and other sites since the pilot. A girl that kept parts of a killer robot that drugged them and wanted to marry Joyce and then kill her eventually. Once her computer genius fell by the wayside due to witchcraft the same was still true, Willow didn't care about the consequences or the morality of what she was doing. She just wanted to see if she could do it, period. Also because it made her feel important and special. And S4 is also the time when she starts to complain about not just being a sidekick due to her magical powers. When we get to S6 her power has increased tenfold and so did her ego. S6 was the climax of a 6 year long arc that lead Willow down a dark path not because of addiction but because of her very human character flaws. And then Alyson Hannigan chickened out and they had to change the story midway through into magic!crack. Only then to retcon the whole thing in S7.