Part One – Introduction, Histories, ‘Hush’
The purpose of this thread will be to discuss Willow and Tara’s relationship throughout its duration on Buffy, from 4.10 ‘Hush’ to 6.19 ‘Seeing Red’.
Feel free to debate anything said by anyone (friendly debate only, of course). All opinions and viewpoints are welcome and encouraged. Please bear in mind that my posts are solely my ideas and interpretations based upon the episodes discussed. They are not intended to be a sweeping, 100% watertight overviews of Willow and Tara’s relationship. If you’d like to fill in anything or suggest an improvement, that’s great.
Also, a lot of my S4 comments are retroactive. I shall bulk them out with quotes and extra ideas soon, once I review the episodes and obtain some episode transcripts. S5 and S6 shall be more detailed as these are fresher within my memory.
Enjoy!
Before we dive into W/T, we need to look at them individually before their first meeting in ‘Hush’.
For Buffy’s first three Seasons, Willow was a nerd (no offence meant). This was a tag she had adjusted to and accepted. Willow was never popular – she had only a few friends – Xander, Jessy and Amy. With Buffy’s arrival, however, she is befriended by a ‘cool’ girl – one who doesn’t put her down like Cordelia or Harmony. One who respects Willow for being intelligent. Willow very much looks up to Buffy. With her friendship and Giles’ tutoring, Willow becomes a confident and powerful woman. She shows a great ability for magic and harnesses it for the benefit of others. She puts her life on the line to help Buffy, where many people would have refused. We already know she is special – but her potential remains untapped. Her first major relationship (with Oz) is loving, but shares its foundation on Willow’s previous desire to be cool. At university, Willow comes into her own – she gets the chance to shine and is rewarded for her talents, not victimised. Oz betrays her and leaves, and Willow is crushed. But she bounces back very quickly. She may have loved Oz deeply, but their relationship was clipped due to Willow’s desire to fit in. At college, Willow fits in. She does not need that validation any more.
Sadly, we know very little about Tara’s past. Her existence may have been happy up until the death of her mother. As well as trying to cope with her grief, Tara is forced into the role of caretaker for her family. But she doesn’t want to undertake that role forever. She wants to leave the nest and discover who she is. So her family concoct a story and tell her she is a demon. They no doubt use her sexuality and witchcraft as reasons to imply that she is a monster. Tara leaves, and goes to SCU. But do her family allow this, or does she run away? I believe the latter. At the university, she is content, although a relative outsider. She is painfully shy – no doubt a result of the emotional cruelty she suffered at the hands of her family. She joins the Wicca group and they accept her shyness and stutter. In Hush, when Tara goes to speak, the group leader tells the others to quieten so that she may contribute. But Tara is still unfulfilled. The group sees Wicca not as a religion or involving spells, but as a cool alternative lifestyle.
Then Willow joins. When we first see Tara in ‘Hush’ she sits on the floor while the others are elevated, she bows her head, her face concealed by her hair. This is very telling as to how Tara may view herself – as less than the others, subordinate. When the others allow her to talk, although she says nothing, there is happiness on her face at simply being acknowledged. This is both incredibly sweet and incredibly sad.
During the Wicca group meeting, Willow brings up the subject of spellcasting. Tara’s interest is immediately piqued – she looks up and sneaks quick glances at Willow. It is likely that even at this early stage, Tara sees something in Willow. Her magic allows her to see people’s energy flow, and perhaps, she detects that Willow has power. As the only two individuals believing in magic, a bond is immediately formed between them - although Willow does not see it and believes all of the girls to be ‘wanna-blessed-bes’.
But Tara sees it – when the Gentlemen steal everyone’s voices, Tara leaves the safety of her dorm room – despite (presumably) knowing of the student’s murder the night before. Because of her belief in Willow, Tara risks her life by going to find her in the dead of night. She is chased and nearly caught by the monsters. This is incredibly symbolic – Tara, the young woman, is deprived of her voice, her ability to speak out, by a group of older males (representing her father and brother?) She searches for Willow and finds her. Like Tara, Willow did not have to leave her room – but she does. This may be more evidence for a connection between the girls. They flee together to the laundry room, where Willow attempts to magically move a soda machine. She tries, and it violently shudders from side to side. Then, she and Tara join hands and it gracefully slides across the room, blocking the door and saving them. They keep holding hands even after the spell is finished. Both have felt and accepted the connection between them.
Willow is intrigued by her new friend and wants to know more. Tara downplays her own abilities. When Willow says that she’s nothing special, Tara earnestly tells her that she is. Whatever Tara has seen and felt within Willow, she already loves.
But will her love be reciprocated?
Edited by: LostWithoutTara at: 4/7/03 10:59:03 am
at: 8/2/03 10:45 pm
). All viewpoints are welcome and I will definitely consider what you said when going back over the scene.
). But whatever her thought processes, I think it was too soon for her to be sleeping with someone else, especially with possible orientation confusion and unresolved feelings for Oz tossed into the mix. IMO, if she’d started sleeping with Tara too early, their relationship might not have worked out over the long term.
