After watching "The Replacement," I couldn't help but be struck by the dominance of Xander's "goofy" personality. While "Suave" Xander was clearly part of Xander's overall identity, the "goofy" part generally overrides that aspect. The episode visually confirms this when the Xanders are rejoined. Instead of assuming "Suave" Xander's clean-cut appearance, the rejoined Xander maintains the disheveled and dirty appearance of his "goofy" side. The episode also verbally confirms this interpretation. Giles, seeing the two Xanders laughing and joking together, recognizes this before they are reconnected and remarks, "He's clearly a bad influence on himself." Although these two sides of Xander are initially the complete opposites of one another - Xander even says of his "suave" side, "He can't be me. He's too fancy" - they eventually embrace their inherent similarities. In doing so, they essentially reconnect themselves and make Willow's job easier. All she has to do is provide the magic that will reunite these two halves, for, as she tells them, "Your natural state is to be together." As such, "The Replacement," like "Dopplegangland," plays with the idea that dopplegangers don't always represent the "evil" or "opposite" side of the original character. Rather, "The Replacement," more specifically its treatment of Xander's doppleganger, imply that dopplegangers are the same "person" as their originator. In fact, they merely represent the amplification of different aspects of that person's character.
Robert Louis Stevenson plays with a similar idea in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Although Jekyll's relationship with his alter ego, Hyde, is incredibly different from that of the two Xanders, there are some notable similarities. Jekyll, as he tells Utterson, initially performs his experiment because he wants to separate his "good" side from his "evil" side. He does so because he believes it will bring him peace. He tells Utterson that both sides of his nature represented his true self: "Both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I laboured, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering" (78). He becomes Hyde because it allows him to fully separate these disparate elements of himself, which previously fought against one another, and brings him peace. He believes these personas will be completely different people and won't truly be cognizant of the other's actions: "The unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil" (79). However, his experiences as Jekyll and Hyde teach him differently. As he spends more and more time as Hyde, the connection between his "good" side and his "evil" side grow stronger. In the end, the two become inextricably linked and Hyde gradually subsumes that of Jekyll. He becomes aware of his actions as Hyde and must face their consequences. While his two personalities begin to fight for control of Jekyll's body as if they are different people with different agendas, Jekyll comes to accept that he is responsible for Hyde and that Hyde represents a part of him. He is reluctant to acknowledge the, "details of the infamy at which I thus connived (for even now I can scarce grant that I committed it," his words suggest he does recognize this suggestion. He fights this knowledge and continues to refer to Hyde as if he was a distinct person. What Jekyll failed to realize, and continued to fight until the end, were that Hyde and Jekyll were the same person; they were just different aspects of his original personality amplified differently.
In the end, Jekyll and Xander have completely different relationships with their dopplegangers. Xander, although initially hostile to "suave" Xander, eventually learns to like him and appreciates what that side of his personality has to offer. From his interactions, Xander becomes more mature and learns to become more confident and forceful. At the same time, he retains his goofy personality. In contrast, Jekyll learns that the "evil" and "good" sides of humanity are interconnected for a reason. As Hyde gains power and begins to take over, Jekyll comes to regret his decision to separate the two and his excitement at the prospect. He learns, as we talked about in class after "Dopplegangland," that people can't really be one or the other; they need their "good" and "evil" sides to be complete.
Robert Louis Stevenson plays with a similar idea in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Although Jekyll's relationship with his alter ego, Hyde, is incredibly different from that of the two Xanders, there are some notable similarities. Jekyll, as he tells Utterson, initially performs his experiment because he wants to separate his "good" side from his "evil" side. He does so because he believes it will bring him peace. He tells Utterson that both sides of his nature represented his true self: "Both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I laboured, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering" (78). He becomes Hyde because it allows him to fully separate these disparate elements of himself, which previously fought against one another, and brings him peace. He believes these personas will be completely different people and won't truly be cognizant of the other's actions: "The unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil" (79). However, his experiences as Jekyll and Hyde teach him differently. As he spends more and more time as Hyde, the connection between his "good" side and his "evil" side grow stronger. In the end, the two become inextricably linked and Hyde gradually subsumes that of Jekyll. He becomes aware of his actions as Hyde and must face their consequences. While his two personalities begin to fight for control of Jekyll's body as if they are different people with different agendas, Jekyll comes to accept that he is responsible for Hyde and that Hyde represents a part of him. He is reluctant to acknowledge the, "details of the infamy at which I thus connived (for even now I can scarce grant that I committed it," his words suggest he does recognize this suggestion. He fights this knowledge and continues to refer to Hyde as if he was a distinct person. What Jekyll failed to realize, and continued to fight until the end, were that Hyde and Jekyll were the same person; they were just different aspects of his original personality amplified differently.
In the end, Jekyll and Xander have completely different relationships with their dopplegangers. Xander, although initially hostile to "suave" Xander, eventually learns to like him and appreciates what that side of his personality has to offer. From his interactions, Xander becomes more mature and learns to become more confident and forceful. At the same time, he retains his goofy personality. In contrast, Jekyll learns that the "evil" and "good" sides of humanity are interconnected for a reason. As Hyde gains power and begins to take over, Jekyll comes to regret his decision to separate the two and his excitement at the prospect. He learns, as we talked about in class after "Dopplegangland," that people can't really be one or the other; they need their "good" and "evil" sides to be complete.
I think it's important to briefly address the relationships characters have with their doppelgangers, something you mentioned at the end of your post. Xander, both Xanders, are initially extremely hostile towards their other. Guido retains a disgust and hostility for the dwarf. Willow fears and somewhat loathes her vampire self, even if it doesn't extend to murderous tendencies. Jekyll harbors a loathing for Hyde, and Hyde openly hates Jekyll, though they cannot kill each other as they're the same person. This theme of anger and hate towards one's doppelganger keeps cropping up. Ironically, the doppelgangers always benefit their others in some way or other, though Jekyll eventually dies because of Hyde's actions. He did have one hell of a run though.
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