Father Figure

Welcome to the slow weeks. That’s right. This week and next are going to be extremely slow. It’s only the most stressful time of the year that we’re coping with here at the Weekly Ascension office. So, with that in mind, this article is going to be a little shorter than usual…and with a very stale wit. Does that mean I will dare voyage into the art of intellectual points and formulate logical ideas and truths to decipher that which is the Buffyverse instead of pointlessly casting insults toward Buffy Summers? Hell no. I’m still going to insult Buffy. Just more staley this week. And is staley even a word? Well, it is now because I just used it in a professional document. Oh, I love the advantages of the free press.

Last week we went twice as long to make up for this change of pace. Another reason for that simply was the fact that we were on the topic of the SiTs, and I could chat about them all day long without tiring. Go ahead. Dare me. Many now eat their words on betting I couldn’t. I still call them up sometimes four or five times a week just to unload my latest rant about the girls of potentialhood. My little SiTs make quite a mark in this series, after all. But that was last week. This is this week. And this week, in a stunning show of heroic bravery, I will make this article a shorter length. So let’s get to it!

Today we’re dedicating an article to the man who gave this journalist a cool pun for a literature series name. That’s right. Mayor Wilkins the third. Of all the big bads Buffy has ever faced off against, the Mayor represented one of the most fascinating changes of pace in the entire long run of the television series. After all, he was the first non-vampiric big time villain of the series. But more than that. He was also the first human big bad of the series.

Now, the Mayor didn’t have much in the way of profound powers when he was first introduced, but he did have himself a very nice deal with a couple of demons that allowed him to live forever. Other than this, however, he was relatively a physically weak man. He did have a major plus in the way of town influence and social authority though. This factor determined his eventual rise to the top of Sunnydale’s political elite and also introduced his stylish heart-winning charm early on in the show.

But I’m not going to spend this article talking about all of the Mayor’s great successes. I’m not going to spend a great deal of time on the fact that he was the biggest player in Sunnydale and practically built the city for demons to feed on…and did I just steal that line from Faith? I really do need to cut back on the re-run watching.

Nope. Not gonna happen. But I will spend this article talking about the one spark of goodness within our corrupted politician’s soul. That’s right. Faith. The daughter he never had, yet the daughter he loved with all his heart. These two brought the series a whole new dilemna and a whole new dynamic that was previously unseen. For the first time we had a big bad with a soul. And considering that it wouldn’t be until Willow was consumed by the dark side some three years later that we would ever have one of those again, it was such a profound character in the Buffyverse to make his mark as early as Season Three. Also considering Willow was eventually redeemed, the Mayor represented a man who never had that one spark of goodness generate itself into a lifestyle change. Could it have happened? That’s debatable. Just go with “anything’s possible” and you’ll usually spare the controversies. It’s not the point of this topic anyway, so don’t fret.

We’ll have a big bad series where we can go more in depth behind the masterful characterizations of this politician, but for now this introductory section is just to set the premise that the Mayor was indeed a human and was indeed capable of the most powerful emotion within our Buffyverse: Love. That emotion has been the tool by which just about every major decision by our Scoobies in the heat of battle has been made. Love saved Willow from the Mayor, blinding our heroes from any logic being spoken. Love eventually was what forced Oz to leave Sunnydale…and also was what eventually made him leave again. Love. It is born, and though uninvited, unwelcome, and unwanted, like a cancer, it takes root. Wait a minute…that’s passion. Damn re-runs!

But love does indeed have another side to it. A side that is just as cancerous as passion, and I’m sure Angelus would agree. A side that feeds itself off of the decisions others make and forces those decisions into a darkness, blinding its users from the wonderful logic that is reality. For instance, Buffy not being able to kill Angelus the first time she had the chance to. This eventually led to the death of Jenny Calendar…a wake-up call for our blonde bitch. The first of many wake-up calls, I might add. A long list of wake-up calls would follow, but our sleeping valley-girl still hasn’t woken up. She could have killed him earlier and saved the heart-break of one very unfortunate British watcher. But that just didn’t happen.

Love was at the heart of what conspired between Faith and Mayor Wilkins. The Mayor gave her something she could find no place else. It was love. What’s love got to do with it? Well, that’s the power of love. And what is love if you don’t hurt me no more? Okay, okay. We’ll move on.

The Mayor was a hard man to hate. Our world’s friendliest bad guy was a gosh darn swell man. And his sound, solid, fatherly advice is something that would live on in Faith for years to come. It wasn’t just some business arrangement between these two. Nope. Old Rick made his mark in Faith’s life. He touched her. Gave her what she needed, unlike some people (*cough*Buffy*cough*). And then, when the going got tough, the Mayor stuck by her. In fact, he stuck by her until the bitter end.

Now, I admit, I had my doubts about this relationship. That is, until I saw Mayor Wilkins catching a glimpse of his dark princess laid out in a coma. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize the look on his face was purely genuine. Of course, from all the things we claim rocket scientists don’t have to do it must be one hell of an easy life for them. But, sparing a quick sidenote to get back to the point, the way the Mayor lashed out at Angel in that twisted bit of rage left within his system became one of the most memorable events of the entire series. I gotta tell ya, it’s the one time old Ricky boy gave this writer the goosebumps. Definitely not what I was expecting, but that just goes to show the truly remarkable dynamics that go into being a human villain. These are villains who feel that nice little raw emotion us experts like to refer to as love. Oh yes, love. Love is a battlefield. Of course, can’t vampires feel love?

I don’t know. Maybe. Save that for another day. I’m tired and we’re almost done. So…

Remember the dress Mayor Wilkins picked out for Faith? Or the apartment he selflessly paid for in full? Or the playstation, knife, or milk that he offered as tokens of appreciation? Did Mr. Trick ever get any of these things? Well, the dress might have been inappropriate, but I’m sure Trick would have just loved matching wits on Vice City. I’m afraid Trick just didn’t pass the test though. Trick was business, Faith was personal. Very simple distinctions there.

So yes, I tell ya, this relationship was genuine. The Mayor loved Faith. Anyone disagree? Well, guess what. You’re wrong. Big surprise if you’re used to disagreeing with me. You’ll get used to that feeling soon enough. But I know the majority of people already know this little point of information about this villainous relationship. But hey, I’ve gotta stake a claim to something to pass the article space by.

So then came the end. The Mayor said goodbye to us all in the flash of a moment…or a really big explosion. He left us, but he would return later by way of video technology. And who could forget his dying action? Leaving Faith protection for herself. Knowing in his heart that his little girl had the strength to go on. And did he toss her aside like a business associate? Hell no. Did he treat her like the hopeless teenager that so many of her past acquaintances had? Nope. He gave her a weapon that eventually led to her redemption. And by no means should the Mayor’s contribution to Faith’s big change in personality be swept under the rug as unimportant. Without the Mayor, Faith would have probably gone bad and never come back again. She would have leeched herself onto somebody else, aside from Wilkins, and possibly stayed on that dark path forever. She would have never gone that full circle and all because the only support group she would have would consist of the blonde bitch and her loyal friends who are blind to her mishaps time and time again.

But hey, that’s life. More importantly, that’s love. And what do you know? I actually made it through an article without an Asian girls reference. Of course, now that I mentioned it, I technically didn’t. Oh well. There’s always next week. Until then, I’ll leave you with these passing and pointless words…

Love. It is the source of hope and the cause of despair. It is the source of life and the cause of death. And would somebody please get Angelus’s passion speech out of my head?