While Kathy in "Living Conditions" is portrayed to be one of the most annoying roommates imaginable, not to mention the fact that she's also a demon, what struck me most about the episode was how obnoxious Buffy also would be as a roommate. Even though I had seen the episode before and knew that Kathy turns out to be a demon in the end, I was still extremely irritated on her behalf for many of the unpleasant things Buffy does throughout the part of the episode before Kathy's demon side is revealed. I personally would want to kill anyone who left their used gum out for my book to get stuck on. Beyond that, Buffy never really gives Kathy a chance - she doesn't even ask Kathy to turn off the Cher, which could have easily solved that problem.
I think Buffy's obnoxiousness is what makes the episode so enjoyable. Although supposedly Buffy's "bitch attacks" are due to Kathy slowly stealing her soul, it's fun to see the hero behave badly and still turn out to be right in the end. I think this is part of why the bait-and-switch technique is so prevalent in the Gothic genre.
I never really looked at Buffy as being an 'annoying roommate' before you brought it up. That's an interesting viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteThat is actually my favorite thing about this episode, and I have seen it more times than I can count. I always liked how Joss is playing on her selfish only-child nature. See, Joss likes to foretell things in Buffy, as some of you might know from reading his own blogs and hearing his interviews, and I wouldn't be suprised if this episode is his own little prophesy about Dawn in the 5th season. Aside from that, though, I think you are right about the bait-and-switch, and we see in the end of the episode that even though her soul is restored, Buffy twitches at the idea of sharing anything, and just basically makes a frustrating roommate. I think that Joss is giving little jabs at his heroine to show that even the greatest of vampire slayers isn't perfect, which isn't uncommon amongst Gothic authors.
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