The Star-Spangled Bananas

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

I interrupt this regularly scheduled writing lesson to give you the following public service announcement: What the hell?? I don’t normally get political, but when people accuse perky, harmless Rachel Ray of seditious acts of style, I worry about the future of our country.

The blogging community went bananas last week when a Dunkin’ Donuts ad featured Rachel Ray wrapped in an innocuous black and white scarf. Critics, led by political commentator Michelle Malkin, charged Rachel Ray with “endorsing terrorism” and “hate couture” because some rocket scientist somehow managed to draw a parallel between her stylish rayon-blend swatch and a kaffiyeh, the traditional headdress of Arab men.

Say what? Please tell me they’re joking. This mockery passes for news reporting and issues of national security? They further complained about the possible meaning of the scarf. Meaning? You mean, outside of its function as apparel? Well, it’s possible that - I don’t know - her neck was cold? It’s not like she bound it around her head over a face-covering black hood while toting an AK-47. It was a simple scarf draped around All-American, non-violent Rachel Ray clutching a coffee cup, for heaven’s sake.

Were these people raised by wolverines? How can anyone possibly go from paisley scarf to the latest in guerilla fashion wear? Do they seriously believe her stylist used malice and forethought to select an accessory that venerates jihadists everywhere? Not to mention how insulting it must be to the millions of peace-loving Muslim men who wear kaffiyehs for no other reason than it’s traditional and it keeps them cool in a climate that is brutishly hot and arid.

The ad was successfully yanked. How can an ingenuous, inane thing as a donut spot whip people into a terrorist-fearing frenzy? Is this what passes for patriotism these days? What a hard, sad fact.

Rachel Ray may be guilty of a few things – among them, the overuse of such words as “yum-o”, “evoo”, and “de-lish” - but that’s hardly grounds for commercial castration. I’m appalled and saddened such power is wielded by dangerous, hate-spreading people. What’s next? Banning Dalmatians from Petco ads because their coloring promotes the symbolism of Yasser Arafat? Come on.

I guess I’m not terribly surprised. Turn on any info-tainment news channel – Fox News and CNN just to name a few – and they are loaded with reason to fear walking out your front door every morning. Have we nothing better to do than speculate whether Barack Obama was giving the finger – to whom, no one could sufficiently answer – during a speech when he was just scratching his cheek? Really? Is it any wonder the airwaves are bogged down with commercials hawking anti-depressants to get us through the day and sleeping pills to help us through the night? Who can live with themselves when they are glued to drivel like this?

It’s dehumanizing. And sad. And ridiculous. I recommend anyone with an ounce of compassion and sense go out and support your local Dunkin’ Donuts by buying at least a dozen donuts in protest. It’s the American way. Not to mention the sugary goodness will lift your spirits. Donuts are, after all, “yum-o” and “de-lish.”

Paradise Lost

Character is what you are in the dark – proverb

Thanks to the modern marvel of DVDs, my family and I are watching the first season of Lost four years after it aired. It’s a thrill ride of tension and mystery that fills the yawning gap of grief left behind when we devoured seven seasons of Buffy and five years of Angel only to realize we had no more Whedonverse to enjoy. Sadness. There is Firefly, but with its first and only season truncated by cancellation, the attempt to fully examine character is somewhat compromised by network executive narrow-mindedness. But I’m not bitter.

Lost eases the resentment. Aviatophobics take note: if you are on the fence about flying, this show might ground you indefinitely. Proceed with caution. The writers took the suggestion, “start with action”, to heart with astonishing abandon.

The premiere opens minutes after a plane crash in a gripping, gruesome tableau of scorched, smoking fuselage and bleeding, soot-covered survivors waking to the shrieks and moans of the dazed and dying. A giant, detached jet engine screams in wheezing ululations as one of the main characters, Jack Shepherd, stumbles forward. The visual horror stands in direct contrast to the swaying palms and dulcet tones of surf gently curling ashore. Despite disorientation, Jack immediately approaches the injured. His medical assessments mark him a physician. As a result, he becomes the unofficial leader of the group, a responsibility that proves both instinctive and burdensome.

Because of the large ensemble cast, each episode revisits brief yet relevant snapshots of history to reinforce theme, expose motivation, foster understanding, or generate empathy whenever current action requires explanation. At the heart of the season, the literary underbelly bubbles to the surface in pockets of literal and figurative significance. These folks are not just physically lost; they veered off course long before they boarded Oceanic flight 815 and plunged into paradise. One that harbors polar bears and a giant, invisible something that occasionally crashes through the jungle with bowel-loosening vigor and skin-shredding panache. Gilligan’s Island it ain’t.

The heavy reliance on backstory would not be recommended in novel form but it’s deftly handled here. These peeks into the past support each episode’s theme while peeling away a facade that hides the real deal. It embodies Robert McKee’s take on writing: story is the revelation of true character in contrast or contradiction to characterization.

We deduce characterization based on observable attributes – gender, age, profession, socio-economic level, personality type, etc. Jack, the accomplished, caring doctor, is a surgeon and son of an elitist chief of surgery at an LA-based hospital. Sawyer, the island’s bad boy, is an insufferable, selfish loner who oozes southern charm and cantankerousness in equal measure. You know from the get-go these two will collide. Need living, breathing proof? Enter Kate, the attractive, eager-to-help, capable question mark caught in the middle.

Characterization offers unique and specific individuals who conceal flaws they’d rather not expose to the general public. Until forced by conflict. As time goes by, the civilized masks slip via character choices substantiated by flashbacks.

Now we have character. Jack’s overactive sense of duty and responsibility hide self-esteem issues fed by a conflicted relationship with his domineering father. Sawyer, the scavenging opportunist, promotes ill will because he hates himself more than anyone else could. Why? He became the thing he spent most of his life hunting – a manipulative, reckless con man. His conscience is tearing him up. Kate, the executor of island law and order, is actually a fugitive from justice wanted for a crime that’s yet to be disclosed. Whatever she did warranted a handcuffed escort courtesy of a now-dead U.S. Marshal - one convinced she was danger personified.

True character beads the skin of characterization with the sweat of contradiction and choice. Who they appear to be (characterization) vs. who they are (character). Since character is story, I’m going in-depth with this concept for several castaways to observe how true character is slowly crafted. Fasten your seatbelts! Ha, ha.

Lie to Me - Part 4

The truth is rarely pure and never simple – Oscar Wilde

Previously on Lie To Me, Buffy follows Ford to the club. Ford is using her as bait to bring vampires down upon them so they can be turned. Diego locks them in with no way out. They are sitting ducks for the mob about to descend.

Chantarelle and Diego don’t understand why Buffy is so worked up. They will ascend to a new level of awareness as vampires. This is a beautiful day! Can’t you see? They have no clue what’s in store. Buffy begs Ford to let them go. He may have options, but his friends will not pass go, will not collect life everlasting. Besides, becoming a vampire is not what it’s cracked up to be. A demon sets up shop in your old house. It walks and talks and remembers your life but it's not you.

His friends don’t deserve to die. Maybe not. But Ford is dying. He has a cluster of brain tumors so excruciating he vomits from the pain. In six months his mind will be liquefied. He won’t die that way. Buffy sympathizes, but mass murder is not allowed on her watch. He has a choice, a crappy one, but a choice. His friends don’t. They’re fiend fodder. Ford almost capitulates then whacks Buffy over the head with a crowbar. Sunset is upon them.

Spike and his crew burst in. Spike falls upon Chantarelle while his men spread out and feed. Buffy wrenches the crowbar from Ford’s grip and slams him into a pillar, knocking him unconscious. Drusilla floats in behind the rest of the merry band and observes the party from the balcony. Armed with her new knowledge, Buffy leaps up next to Dru. She points a stake at Dru’s heart and shouts at Spike.

Stricken, Spike releases Chantarelle and orders his men to fall back. Buffy demands they let everyone go or Dru fits in an ashtray. Oh, the poetry. All the believers race out the door unchallenged. With Dru as her shield, Buffy edges over until she’s near enough to thrust Dru at Spike, dart through the opening, and slam it shut behind her. Spike glares at the door. Where’s the doorknob?

Outside, Angel, Xander and Willow arrive to tend the wounded. Buffy explains the situation and recommends they wait till later to come back. Come back for what? She looks at the closed door. The body. Inside Ford wakes to find Spike and company locked in. No Buffy. No one to feed on. Except him. Ford insists he lived up to his end of the bargain. Where’s his reward?

Much later, at Ford’s gravesite, Buffy doesn’t know what to say, what to think. So much simpler if she could hate Ford. But he was just a kid afraid to die. The truth is a painful reminder how fragile the line between good and evil can be. At her side, Giles agrees. Buffy fears the more she knows, the more confused she is. How do you know who to love, who to hate…who to trust? It’s called growing up, Giles tell her.

Does it get easier? Ford - now a vampire - erupts from the ground at their feet. Buffy stakes him without so much as a glance. You mean life? Giles asks. What would she have him say? Buffy thinks a moment. Lie to me. As they stroll away, Giles weaves a fairytale where good guys are always good, bad guys are always bad, and no one ever dies. Buffy hesitates. With affection, she mutters, Liar.

Let’s take a look at Ford’s GMCD. His goal: become a vampire (external) and escape the tenuous nature of life (internal). Why? He’s dying from a debilitating disease (external) and he’s terrified to die that way (internal). What’s standing in his way? Buffy. Not just the slayer (external) but an old friend whom he remembers with fondness (internal). How does it end? Disastrously. Buffy always gets her man (external), but she can’t hate him - which would have made Ford’s betrayal easier on both of them (internal).

Two prominent writing elements - theme and foreshadowing – headline a simple premise: a childhood pal re-emerges and gives Buffy the chance to experience friendship unfettered by her superhero status.

The thematic question – Is honesty the best policy? - reverberates through every major character. First, Buffy catches Angel in a lie. Her conjecture he’s seeing Drusilla is refuted, but the truth proves worse: Dru is a vampire of his own making. A gently bred girl he menaced and dehumanized before siring. How do you love a man who’s done such a depraved thing? The reality of Angel’s past begins to seep into their present, suggesting a less than propitious future.

Next, Ford hides his knowledge of her identity. Not a lie precisely. But it demonstrates Ford’s ability to keep things close to the vest when it suits him. And it suits him just fine, thanks. He’s not there to sing “Auld Lang Syne.” He’s chasing a top spot on Buffy’s to-be-killed list. She comes to grips with it because she must, but a straightforward task becomes far harder when he admits the truth - he’s dying in the worst way possible and will do anything to escape the agony. Even become an unrepentant monster.

Finally, Buffy contends with her friends’ subversion. Up until now, Willow and Xander have been an unshakable foundation of faith and fealty. Suddenly they join forces with Angel and snoop on Ford. Does it matter that their intentions are good? It doesn’t diminish the disloyalty she feels. Can she trust them as she once did? Is it wise to trust anyone that much?

Foreshadowing comes in two flavors: episode level and the season long variety. Drusilla implies Angel knows her from the start. This leads to the backstory disclosure that Angel sired Drusilla. When Ford meets Buffy at The Bronze, he jokes, I know all your darkest secrets. He’s already aware Buffy’s the slayer. In the same scene, Angel admits to Buffy there’s a lot you don’t know about me. This observation pulls double-duty. It hints at his bond to Dru and presages how much more we’ve yet to learn, especially one crucial aspect of the curse which reinstated his soul. The whole story arc will turn on this revelation – far too late to avoid disaster.

Several season long denouements are portended in the opening conversation alone. Angel’s warning: If you don’t leave…it’ll go badly. For all of us. Dru’s prediction about Buffy: Poor thing. She has no idea what’s in store. Her promise that this is just the beginning. All hint at future plot developments. Once the tide changes, things go south for any warrior that picks up a stake in the name of justice. Eventually it’s also bad for the villains as Buffy finds a way to extinguish the fuse whizzing towards human annihilation. But the solution proves lethal to someone Buffy loves and her series-long goal of being a normal girl is dealt a devastating blow.

The pressures of adulthood begin an inexorable push into Buffy’s teenaged existence. People aren’t good or bad. They’re a confusing mishmash of both. Ford converts to the dark side b/c of an inescapable death sentence. Steady Willow and steadfast Xander commit a friendship faux pas under the heading of good intentions. Spike - a creature with zero scruples - sacrifices an easy meal and a chance at the slayer to save fickle, fey Drusilla. And Buffy’s spotless champion, Angel, exposes some glaring blemishes on his white charger resume.

What’s her lesson? Take your pick. Friends are imperfect. Villains have layers. Heroes hide their fatal flaws. Weakness burrows beneath the surface of decency, integrity within the most decadent heart. Life isn’t black and white anymore. It’s grayer and grayer. Buffy’s first step into this shadowy realm - in the words of Drusilla - is just the beginning.

Dialogue in italics from “Lie to Me” by Joss Whedon

Lie to Me - Part 3

Men occasionally stumble upon the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened – Sir Winston Churchill

Previously on Lie To Me, we learn both Angel and Ford are hiding things from Buffy.

Something feels off about Ford so Angel goes to see Willow. She opens the door to her bedroom balcony but he can’t come in until she invites him. It’s a vampire thing. But what is once done cannot be undone - without some serious magical mojo. The decision hardly seems momentous here, but it will exacerbate a plot crisis in an upcoming episode when Drusilla’s premonitions bear fruit. Another foreshadowing slight of hand.

Angel asks Willow to look Ford up on the internet. Is he jealous? Angel never used to be, but yeah, with Buffy, he is. Willow pokes around and discovers something weird. Ford’s school transcripts haven’t been transmitted as he claims. Willow’s mother comes to the door and prevents further surfing. Willow shoos Angel out, promising to meet the next evening. He asks her not to tell Buffy. Lie to Buffy? Willow’s not good at lying. It’s like asking a cat to care. Never happen. He advises her not to bring it up then. It’s probably nothing, anyway. Sure. You know how bad things hardly ever happen in Sunnydale.

The next day, Ford and Buffy reminisce about prom night at Hemery when Buffy was forced to burn down the gym to destroy a nest of vampires. The worst moment of her life is seen differently through Ford’s eyes. She saved a lot of people. One minute you're a kid, living in your safe kid world, and then - truth hits you in the face. Vampires. I'll never forget that night.

Knowing what we do now, it’s clear this has meaning beyond what Buffy comprehends. It’s also significant beyond what the audience understands, but we don’t realize that until the end. We know he’s a fraud - but he’s not ready to reveal himself. He wonders why everyone in school acted like the fire in the gym never happened. Buffy replies, People ignore truths they don’t like. She will soon discover how true this is.

On the way to class, they pass Willow, who is edgy, bordering on manic, afraid her covert ops will be discovered. When she races off, Ford comments she’s a nice girl. There aren't two of those in the world, Buffy assures him. Another interesting presage, as there will, indeed, be two Willows loose in a couple of future episodes. You have to see it to believe it.

That evening, Buffy and Ford take a walk around campus and come upon a pair of vampires skulking near the admin building. Ford takes out his own stake and follows the female vamp while Buffy trails the bigger male. They separate. Ford catches his vampire but promises to free her if she tells him what he wants to know. By the time Buffy dispatches her vamp and rejoins him, he maintains he’s dusted the girl vamp.

Near the club, Xander, Willow and Angel are searching for Diego. Willow tracks some of Ford’s e-mails from Diego to this address, so Angel uses Ford’s name to gain access. Once inside, they cop to the vampire theme and are approached by Chantarelle. She explains vampires are the Lonely Ones, misunderstood as monsters who just want to suffer the mantle of immortality in peace. Angel’s seen this kind of thing before, kids making up bedtime stories about friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark. Lying to avoid truth. A theme resounds.

After sending Ford home, Buffy beeps Giles and Miss Calendar so they can discuss the sighting of vampires on school grounds. Then she spies an old photo of a woman in one of Giles’ books. Giles explains it’s Drusilla, the on-again, off-again girlfriend of Spike. Buffy informs them Dru is in town and was last seen in the company of Angel. Suddenly, the girl vampire Ford supposedly staked lunges out of nowhere, swipes one of the texts, and bolts away. Ford didn’t dust the vamp. He lied to Buffy. What’s going on?

In a darkened warehouse, Drusilla gazes into a birdcage, crooning to a dead bird. Spike, her peroxide prince of darkness, saunters up behind her, unhappy to learn she met Angel while out questing for humans. Angel is the enemy now. Dru prattles on, cajoling the bird to sing. Spike pronounces the bird dead. She didn’t feed it and now it’s dead, just like the last one. She pulls a pout until Spike offers to get her another.

Ford emerges from the shadows of the warehouse, his face aglow with Disneyland fervor. He didn’t go home like a good soldier. In fact, he’s been a very bad boy. He hands Spike the text he had pinched from Giles. Ford knows all about Spike and wants to be a vampire like him. Yawn. Spike is unimpressed and doesn’t feature Ford living forever. When Ford promises to deliver the slayer, Spike changes his tune.

Angel seeks Buffy out at home to tell her Ford isn’t what he appears. Who is, these days? Willow ran a check on Ford. Wait – he and Willow went behind her back? And Xander knew? And no one saw fit to fill her in? Betrayal. Point blank, she hits Angel with Drusilla. He confesses he lied, but he was trying to protect her. Sometimes the truth is worse than a lie. He’s lived long enough to know.

Drusilla was one of the most unconscionable crimes Angel committed as Angelus. Dru became an obsession. She was pure and pious and he turned her into something corrupt and profane. He drove her insane - murdered her family, tortured her for days. She escaped to a convent but he made her into a vampire before she could take her vows. Dru’s earlier assertion about Angel resonates with new menace. Of course he remembers Dru’s mother. He executed her. Who could forget that?

Somber, sincere Angel sired the demented, dangerous Drusilla. Certainly not the kind of thing you want to hear about the man you love. Buffy knows the truth now. She wishes she didn’t, but she asked for it. She can’t hide from it now. Well, she could, but that’s not how Buffy operates. She has to face the fact Ford is lying, too. No friend of the slayer would apply to a secret society that reveres vampires. Disaster in duplicate. Or triplicate, if you count her friends’ we-did-it-for-your-own-good conspiracy. Buffy is smarting.

The next day, Ford flags Buffy down and asks if they can go out hunting vampires again. He’s got a surprise for her. Oh, she bets he does. They make plans to meet later. She watches him go with a heavy heart.

Ford and the True Believers congregate at the club, discussing the coming event when they will be “blessed.” Diego hopes Ford’s friends don’t show up - they’re not true believers. Ford freezes. What friends? The two guys and girl who showed up last night, Diego supplies. They weren’t friends. Chantarelle worries this will interfere with the blessing, but Ford says it won’t be a problem.

Buffy materializes behind Ford and begs to differ. She wants to know what Ford’s up to. To be become a vampire, of course. Funny thing - vampires are picky about who they turn. Then Buffy realizes Ford offered her up as a trade for the “blessing.” At Ford’s signal, Diego locks them in with a special rig that can only be opened from the outside. No doorknob. No way out. They’re trapped. Vampires will enter and no one will leave. Not with a pulse, anyway.

We’ll wrap up tomorrow with the conclusion, review the writing elements spotlighted, and do another GMCD check.

Dialogue in italics from “Lie to Me” by Joss Whedon

Lie to Me - Part 2

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. - Sir Walter Scott

Previously on Lie to Me, we discussed the subterfuge of foreshadowing and how all roads paved in duplicity lead to conflict. Deception is the theme of the Buffy episode, “Lie to Me”, and foreshadowing is the device on display.

The episode opens at night in a playground where a young boy sits, alone and uneasy. Drusilla, the wispy and weakened vampire, drifts onto the scene. She ogles the boy like a starving cat might eye the last canary on earth. He tells her he’s waiting for his mother. In true Dru mode, she natters on as if he hadn’t spoken, rhapsodizing about a nursery rhyme her mother used to sing - in a voice as sweet as cherries. She wonders, What will your mummy sing when they find your body?

Eow. The boy admits he’s not supposed to talk to people. Oh, I’m not a person. If you knew nothing about Dru before, you know all you need to now. Vile, incorporated, and its faithful sidekick, mad as a hatter.

Angel, the vampire with a soul, confronts Drusilla and chases the boy off. Dru asks if Angel remembers how her mother used to sing her to sleep. He does. We sense an “unfortunately” buried in there. It’s confirmed when Dru murmurs, Yes…you do… Something here we don’t know yet. Something obscene. And portentous. Angel warns Dru that she and Spike must get out of Sunnydale. If you don't leave… it'll go badly. For all of us. Brother, you have no idea.

Dru grieves for Angelus, Angel’s diabolic alter ego, who once rampaged across the old country, slaughtering human and demon alike. There was a vampire. Now he is the guardian of good - in fact, he reeks of slayer. Dru can’t stomach it. Poor thing. She has no idea what’s in store.

Angel demands their micro-reign of anarchy end, to which Dru leans in and whispers, Oh, no, my pet. It’s just the beginning. Since Drusilla has the power to see the future, this is especially unsettling. Her visions manifest in random bursts - cryptic drips and dreadful drabs - but when they occur, roll out the blood red carpet. Evil draws nigh.

Every snippet of dialogue is foreshadowing at its best: words masquerading as something else – a veiled threat, a horrible warning. An appalling promise. The hair on the back of your neck stands straight. You can’t help but recoil in fascination.

Compounding things is the presence of the slayer. Buffy spies them from a rooftop not far off. From her angle, it looks as if Angel is kissing some mystery woman in vintage clothing. Her goal to deepen their romantic relationship hits a snag.

At school the next day, Buffy wanders the halls, disheartened. She bumps into Giles, her watcher, and Miss Calendar, the tech teacher. Giles perceives Buffy’s gloom and recommends she take the night off from patrolling, perhaps make plans with Angel. Buffy fears Angel might already have other plans.

During history class, Buffy passes notes to Willow about the peculiar woman she saw Angel with the previous night. While they go back and forth, we are treated to classic Cordelia. Cordy shares her unique prospective on the French revolution: I just don't see why everyone is always ragging on Marie Antoinette. I can so relate to her. She worked really hard to look that good. People don't appreciate that effort.

She adds, the peasants were all depressed. To which Xander interjects, I think you mean “oppressed”. She shrugs it off. Whatever. They were cranky…And Marie Antoinette cared about them. She was gonna let them have cake! Wisdom for the ages. The bell rings, saving us from further insights of the rich and pampered.

Never an Angel fan, Xander is cheered to hear he may have a female side piece. Buffy doesn’t react well so he suggests a night out at The Bronze. Before Buffy can decide, an old friend of Buffy’s pops up. Ford is finishing out high school in Sunnydale b/c his dad got transferred. What luck! Buffy happily invites him to The Bronze and he gladly accepts. Xander mopes, shoved into the backseat of discarded male companions.

At The Bronze, Ford entertains them with blasts from the past until Buffy strides in. She cautions Ford away from a trip down memory lane. Ford teases, You can't touch me, Summers. I know all your darkest secrets.

Oh, yeah? Xander can’t resist. Care to make a small wager on that? An inside joke for the Scooby gang becomes a furtive bit of foreshadowing. Buffy goes for a soda at the bar and runs into Angel, glass in hand. She had no idea he drank non-sanguinary beverages. There’s a lot you don’t know about me. Boy, you can say that again.

She asks Angel what he did the night before. Stayed in. Read. No mention of our lady of ancestral clothing who was violating his air space. The lie sinks in. After suffering through the Halloween night from hell (see The GMC & D of Trick or Treat) and making progress, their relationship takes a giant step backwards.

Buffy returns to the gang, Angel in tow. Introductions are made. Buffy suddenly has an urge to go for a walk with Ford and makes tracks as far away from Angel as possible. Outside The Bronze, a scuffle in the alley alerts Buffy to vampires. She has to get rid of Ford. She distracts him by sending him back in to get her purse.

Buffy dusts the vampires only to find Ford standing behind her, unsurprised. Ford knows she’s the vampire slayer. She doesn’t have to lie to him. I know all your darkest secrets. It would appear he does, after all.

Later, she fills Willow in over the phone. Ford figured out her identity the night before she got booted out of Hemery High, their old high school. How does Buffy feel about that? Glad she doesn’t have to hide her identity from Ford. Happy to have another person she can talk to about it.

Does she? Down a darkened street, Ford walks into a club. It’s done in haunted haute couture, complete with goth wannabes dressed in vampire vogue. One guy, Diego, approaches Ford in ruffled shirt and Dracula cape. He asks Ford if things have been set in motion. Two more days, Ford promises, and they will have what every teen wants. To die young and stay pretty. Uh, oh. That’s never good.

Ford accepts a goblet of liquid and a pill, downing both while watching a vampire video. He mouths along with the words, Fools! There is no way in this life to stop me… which brings to mind his earlier statement, You can't touch me, Summers. Ford isn’t here to revive an old friendship. He’s here to ravage it.

The plot thickens. Before we go, a quick GMCD review for Buffy. Her goal is the ongoing quest to strengthen her relationship with Angel. Motivation – well, what red-blooded all-American slayer wouldn’t? Conflict – she sees him getting up close and personal with a strange woman with antiquated fashion sense. But she’s not ready to close the door on things until – disaster – Angel lies to her about it. What’s a girl to do?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Dialogue in italics from “Lie to Me” by Joss Whedon

Lie to Me - Part 1

Coming events cast their shadows before – “Lochiel's Warning”, by Thomas Campbell

As a mother of two, I’m no stranger to the little white lie. I was a teenager myself once. I can hardly claim immunity from this ancient rite of passage. Revisionist history is a milestone for moral code formation. Can’t cultivate a sense of right until you walk on the wrong side. I always found it especially character-building to get caught in the act. Adds that extra layer of dread that’s so compelling and unforgettable.

At birth, you’re a clean slate primed for imprinting. Eat. Drink. Sleep. Cuddle. Crawl. Half instinct, half ability. All mandatory. Fibbing, though, is one of those optional talents. A coping mechanism typeset in early adolescence that’s filed away under survival skills. Every now and then it trots out when friends want to stay out passed curfew or that one last text message begs to be sent, even though you maxed out your quota one thousand messages ago.

Parents are sympathetic creatures, but when the devil has its due, the gloves come off. They confiscate pitchforks, blunt horns, clip tails. Suspend phone privileges. Kids learn each specific misstep earns a certain consequence. Think twice. The angel on your shoulder is not a complete snore. Wake up and smell the comprehension.

Thankfully, lying is more of a phase than a way of life. At least in my reality. Not so in fiction. People are forever hiding something to comfort, protect, or deceive. Fabrication – and its partner in crime, omission - are fabulous instigators of conflict, superb soothsayers of foreshadowing, and world-class generators of growth.

Conflict is the bread and butter of story. The basic framework demands character face obstacles on their way to self-realization. If nothing stands in the way, there is no story.

Readers and audiences alike love to put themselves in the protagonist’s place. They suffer when the hero suffers. Rejoice when the hero rejoices. Learn what the hero learns.

If conflict is the bread and butter, foreshadowing is the jam that sweetens the meal. Fans love to anticipate b/c they feel like an active participant in the unfolding drama. When a tale takes a sudden turn or a character reveals himself to be more than he is, you can’t help yourself. I knew it! I knew there was something going on with that guy! Like you’ve been accepted into the gifted & talented program and found you’re the star pupil.

It’s exhilarating to be immersed in this make-believe world on a personal level. You’re validated by the experience b/c the writer adroitly engages your inner detective, shifting from amateur sleuth to veteran bloodhound in the course of the story. And let’s face it, there’s little appeal if the magician pulls the rabbit out of the hat only to clock you over the head with it.

If you knew Darth Vader was Luke’s father before Luke did in Star Wars, wouldn’t you have felt cheated? Evidence early on indicates Luke’s father is not who Luke believes him to be. Dead, for one thing. Uncle Owen’s reaction to Luke’s desire to leave triggers an annoyance that’s later revealed as protective anxiety. Luke’s no farmer. Owen accepts that, but he also fears Luke has too much of his father in him. That worries him.

And now, it worries you. You’re invested. You learn just enough to rock the boat but not enough to tip it over. It takes brainpower to decipher deftly deposited hints and cleverly crafted clues. An innocuous action here, a sarcastic observation there. The writer wants you to work a little b/c it pays dividends. Satisfied fans are repeat customers.

In an episode of Lost entitled, “House of the Rising Sun”, the backstory of a Korean couple is unveiled. Sun, the obedient wife, watches her oppressive husband, Jin, wrestle with a fish bare-handed in the surf. Triumphant, he approaches and bashes the fish’s head against a nearby piece of wreckage. His crude aggression is jarring, but it also foreshadows Jin’s character.

For no apparent reason, Jin tackles and beats Michael, another survivor. Jin’s brutality seems excessive given his businessman’s persona. He’s subdued by other islanders and handcuffed to a section of fuselage. They refuse to release him until they understand what provoked Jin. B/c neither Jin nor Sun speak English, this exacerbates the conflict.

In flashbacks we learn Jin is a lowly waiter in love with a rich man’s daughter. To earn Sun’s hand in marriage honorably, he agrees to work for her father. Sun is troubled by this, but overjoyed to marry. Jin earns enough money to support her in the manner he envisions. As their marriage matures, however, the burden of this decision wears on him. One night he comes home covered in someone else’s blood. Sun is horrified. What does he do for her father? Jin does whatever her father tells him. “I do it for us.” Honor has changed him into a man of dangerous extremes.

Sun confesses to Michael she speaks English but she dare not tell her husband. The lie is sure to backfire on her, but not this episode. Jin attacked Michael b/c he was wearing her father’s watch. Michael lost his in the plane crash and found a replacement in the wreckage – unwittingly, her father’s. When Jin saw it, he considered Michael a thief and attacked him as a matter of honor.

Whether dressed for deception or cloaked in comedy, your conscious mind doesn’t always catch the significance of foreshadowing the first time. But your subconscious mind does. That’s what adds layers to storytelling. That’s what turns a good story into a great story. That’s why certain books are destined to be read over and over again.

The next Buffy the Vampire Slayer analysis is the aptly titled, “Lie to Me.” It has many excellent examples of foreshadowing using dishonesty as the backdrop. An old friend of Buffy’s relocates to Sunnydale and tests the bounds of friendship under false pretenses. As it turns out, he’s not the only one lying to her. Tune in tomorrow.

The GMC & D of Trick or Treat - The Wrap Up

“Clothes don’t make the man.” - proverb

Previously on The GMCD of Trick or Treat: Angel, Xander, and Cordy search for Buffy, Giles and Willow attempt to unravel the mystery behind the demon-possessed denizens of Sunnydale, and Buffy is cornered by a homicidal, hygiene-challenged pirate while Spike closes in on Buffy…

Giles and Willow enter the costume shop and confront the owner, Ethan Rayne. Giles recognizes him but it’s no Brady Bunch reunion. Giles urges Willow to run. Now. She scrams. Ethan smiles and calls Giles "Ripper". Hmm, that’s new.

Xander, Angel and Cordy come to Buffy’s rescue. Xander pummels Larry, the black-toothed pirate, dispatching him with great relish. Though Xander still doesn’t recognize Larry, he feels “a strange sense of closure.” Xander shoots…he scores! Goal.

We now enter the boggy grounds of the climax, the Big Black Moment in Deb Dixon speak, or the Resurrection of the Hero’s Journey. Willow rejoins her friends just as Spike surfaces with a battalion of ghouls. The Scoobies flee to safety. Buffy can’t possibly keep up so Angel sweeps her up into his arms.

Ethan mocks Giles’ tweed-clad, goody-goody persona. Giles is apparently more than the well-mannered Englishman we’ve come to know. Rather than bluster with intimidation, he responds with astonishing violence and cold-cocks Ethan. Did I call Giles guileless?

The gang seeks refuge in a warehouse. Angel deposits Buffy where she clings to a resigned if resilient Cordelia. He helps Xander move boxes to block the door. Unfortunately, metal is no match for demon super-strength. Spike and the goon platoon pound their way in.

Giles demands Ethan tell him how to break the spell. When Ethan refuses, Giles delivers a vicious kick to Ethan’s ribs. Ethan realizes Giles has left the building and Ripper stands in his steed. He tells Giles he must break the statue. Giles hurls it against the wall, shattering it to pieces. When he turns back, Ethan is gone.

Xander and Angel are subdued by Spike’s minions. Spike taunts a cringing Buffy, slapping her across the face. He revels in his power over her. Xander breaks free, aims his gun, and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. The gun in his hand is plastic. “What the…”

Spike’s cronies are now two quaking high school students and a couple of shell-shocked seven- year-olds. Before Spike can react, Buffy drops him with a nasty right hook, declaring, “It’s good to be me.” She thrashes Spike, who breaks free and scurries away.

Cordy jabbers to Angel about all the weirdness, but he only has eyes for Buffy. Xander advises Cordy to give up. She’ll never get between Angel and Buffy. He’s tried. It’ll never happen. Then he realizes Willow is gone.

Across town, Willow wakes up in her own body. She takes off the sheet, studies it, then tosses it away. Reborn. Shy, uncertain Willow takes over in the face of tremendous odds and comes through. She stands a little taller, walks a little prouder.

The day wraps with Angel asking Buffy why she thought he’d like her better trussed up like a trimmed turkey. She wanted to be normal for once, be the kind of girl he used to like. Like? Angel shakes his head. He hated simpering misses. They were dull. Moronic. He’s “always wanted to meet someone exciting. Interesting…”

…and? Buffy needs to hear it. Needs him to tell her. That’s why this adventure started, after all. The dearth of personal details. So he gives a little. He shows her. By kissing her.

In the light of day, Giles returns to the costume shop. The place is deserted, the inventory stripped. Giles wanders across the room and finds Ethan’s business card. Scribbled across the front is a promise: “Be seeing you.” We haven’t seen the last of Ethan Rayne. Nor, I wager, Ripper.

Though unaffected by the spell, Giles is revealed to be more than he portrays. The benevolent watcher moves from stuttering professor to uncompromising combatant, a man who will do what he must to protect his slayer. As his inner life is slowly unveiled, we learn he’s capable of a whole lot more than a simple rib-bruising.

When Buffy’s super-strength is restored, she reverts to form – her true form. Here the relationship between midpoint and climax becomes very important. The choice she made that was meant to solve her problem with Angel, but instead escalates the disaster – pretense over personal power – is overturned. She faces her worst fear and trounces it.

She could have stepped aside and let Angel handle Spike if she wanted to continue role-playing. She didn’t. When the rubber hit the road, Buffy chose to be herself.

Xander may not have risen out of the ranks of sissy men completely, but Larry will think twice before thumping him again. Not b/c Xander played soldier boy and knocked Larry around. B/c Xander always backs Buffy up. Incognito or out. Any guy who stands with the slayer, even quaking in his boots – maybe especially so - is no coward. Not when it counts.

Spike lost this round, but he will be back. Sunnydale’s resident evil, he develops into a complicated character that spans many seasons and two series. Little is know about his internal world at this point, but he eventually swings from villain to hero in a convincing arc of evolution.

Self-realization should never come as a complete surprise. Buffy doesn’t abruptly recognize her worth. Willow doesn’t just discover her inner goddess. Xander doesn’t suddenly grow a spine. These things are within them. They just need a new lens through which to focus.

Did the writers drop hints so the audience could anticipate the end? You bet. They foreshadow early on that Buffy has the knowledge inside her. Remember her conversation with Willow, before they pilfered the watcher diaries? Willow definitively states Angel would never fall for Cordelia’s act.

Willow’s right. Angel doesn’t want Buffy to dress up or act differently. He just wants Buffy to be Buffy.

Moral (and theme) of the story - be yourself. You won’t be disappointed. This is first and foremost Buffy’s lesson, but they all hop onto the self-realization bus and hitch a ride. All except Cordy. Meow. But her time will come.

Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Buffy has her own pair of ruby slippers. She doesn’t exploit the power until she learns to appreciate who she is and what she has to offer: herself. A kind, decent kid who trains hard, sacrifices often, and - every year or so – saves the world.

Dialogue in italics from, “Halloween”, by Carl Ellsworth