repressed characteristics

A while back, out of sheer curiosity, I decided to watch "Seeing Red" and "Villains", two episodes from the latter half of the sixth season. "Seeing Red" is notable because (...we're beyond spoilers, right?) it is the episode in which Willow's girlfriend Tara, whom we've already met in "Hush", is unexpectedly killed. The subsequent episode, "Villains", follows Willow as she avenges Tara's death and hunts down the man who shot her. As far as I'm aware, this is the first real appearance of "Dark Willow", who apparently goes on to try to destroy the world out of rage and grief. (I can only assume that she's stopped before it's too late.)

Nonetheless it was a neat experience to watch these episodes after "Doppelgangland", which is the first time that we get to see Willow in a villainous role -- in the form of a vampire from another dimension. "Vamp Willow" is physically identical (with the exception of a different hairstyle and sense of fashion) to the Willow of our dimension, but differs in personality. Or does she? Vamp Willow is interesting because she is more of a personal foil, an aspect of character, rather than a fully-rounded character in and of herself. Ultimately she plays off yet another aspect of Willow that we typically see: the meek wallflower. I would argue that the "normal Willow" that we, as classroom viewers, have been watching (even "normal" is a bit of a misnomer) is also more of a type than a fully-rounded character... at least until this episode, which Whedon uses to further develop and define Willow as a whole. I mean, where is all of Willow's resentment and jealousy when Xander essentially rejects her? Where is her anger at being considered a loser and an outcast? The more dominant are Willow's traits of timidy and meekness, the deeper and more suppressed must be the negative feelings that inevitably ajoin the social repercusions and social consequences of those traits. (Sorry for the Yoda sentence, but hopefully that makes sense...) And so enters Vamp-Willow, the manifestation of those dark impulses, the return of the repressed.

At one point Our Willow asks: "that's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay." Of course, Vamp-Willow's "otherness" is really just an outward expression of latent desires in Our Willow; the doppelganger brings to light certain aspects of Willow's character that we wouldn't see otherwise. Vamp-Willow and Our Willow are merely two sides of a more whole character. Hence the reason that Vamp-Willow is immediately killed off once Willow has her personal revelation (I shouldn't stand to be stepped on! etc.) at the end of the episode; from an author's perspective, Vamp-Willow's existence is now simply redundant. Vamp-Willow's qualities, such as her confidence and aggressiveness, have been consciously subsumed and expressed by Our Willow, who in turn has become more whole as a person and as a character. Therefore I would argue that Vamp-Willow's appearance is crucial as a sort of prelude to Willow's dark turn in season six; through Vamp-Willow we can better understand that Willow does indeed harbor certain deeper-seated, potentially destructive qualities, which finally burst out in full force after Tara's death.