Andrew, Riley, and Kennedy: What Was Joss Thinking?

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Author: bookishwench aka Meltha
Summary: Andrew, Riley, and Kennedy are three of the most disliked characters in the Buffyverse. In a show filled with wonderful characters, what went wrong with them?
Spoilers: Through the Buffy season 8 comics and AtS season 5
Word count: Approx. 6,600, excluding works cited list and appendices.
Notes: Written for the buffyversemetathon from a prompt by lusciousxander, "Riley, Kennedy, Andrew. What made these characters unpopular?" Also, there are a few images in the text, but I don’t think they’ll be too draining on dial-up.

Andrew, Riley, and Kennedy: What Was Joss Thinking?

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I enjoyed the essay. I particularly agreed with the point of both Tara and Oz sharing characteristics and how this made Kennedy seem like such an unlikely choice of romantic partner for Willow.

Another thing that surprised me is how my own feelings have mellowed with time. At this point I have little to no resentment left for any of these characters, even though I was never a fan of any of the three.

Admittedly, I never had a great dislike of Andrew. But I've always understood why some people did.

With Riley, it's a bit more complicated in that I tend to think of him more as an annoyance rather than someone I disliked. The odd thing is that though he annoyed me, I don't think he, as a character, was annoying. He just didn't quite fit into the Whedonverse and in the Buffyverse in particular--at least for me. Looking back, there was no one aspect of his existence that was particularly objectionable. On the other hand, I clearly remember cheering whenever his helicopter flew away always hoping that he'd never return again.

I think, perhaps, the most damning thing I can say of Riley is that I simply preferred his absense.

As far as Kennedy goes, your essay actually made me think of looking at a few Kennedy/Willow fics. It would be interesting to see Kennedy actually developed instead of simply seeming to be a required Tara replacement -- the anti-Tara.

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Riley was kind of like an apple in the middle of a dessert bar. He just plain didn't go.

I think, perhaps, the most damning thing I can say of Riley is that I simply preferred his absense.

That sort of sums him up, perhaps. He would have been better if he just hadn't been there. I remember people joking when the 5th season DVD was released that the top special feature they wanted was a way to edit out Riley.

I think fic is possibly the last, and maybe best, chance for Kennedy to get a few fans.

Thanks so much for your feedback!