That is one of the worst misrepresentations of Faith that I've ever read.

project bitsy | April 08, 01:08 CET

Yeah, not the best. They kinda glossed over her entire redemption arc with a mere sentence.

wenxina | April 08, 01:09 CET

Oh, c'mon. The writer admitted that Faith "reformed, a bit". Surely, that covers it, right? I mean it's not as though she went through years of soul searching, including voluntary jail time or anything.

Oh, wait...

project bitsy | April 08, 01:15 CET

Yah... definitely not liking how they glossed over the fact that she turned a new leaf.. Horrible representation of Faith

pinktatto0 | April 08, 02:09 CET

Sailor Uranusssssss fuckyeah.

I don't see the problem with Faith's write-up. She "apparently" felt no remorse for killing that guy, and she went on to kill more people, and then she reformed. That's her story.

By the way: Faith's "redemption arc" lasts like three episodes. All of which are set in Angel. She shows up, tries to kill Angel, they have the breakdown in the rain, then Buffy shows up in the next episode and they fight and Faith turns herself in after getting some good counseling from Angel. In the first episode of Angel season 2, Angel briefly visits Faith in prison.

That's all.

When Faith shows up for Angel season 4/Buffy season 7, I maintain that she's already "reformed" and therefore these episodes aren't a part of her redemptive arc. And I don't count her appearance in season 4 as part of her redemptive arc, either, since she steals Buffy's body, sexes up her boyfriend, etc. Only at the end of that episode does she show a glimmer of thinking about redemption, but by her next appearance, she kills a guy in Los Angeles. So much for that.

Most of Faith's redemption takes place off-screen, with her in prison reflecting on her life so far. I think the off-screen portion of her redemptive arc is what the author was getting at, or maybe the fact that she's still really hardcore even after reforming.

I get that two sentences can't possibly summarize an entire character's history, but that's not what this article is trying to do. The title is "Teenage girls who can kill you whenever they feel like it." And the information they present is appropriate for the title used.

Compare her arc to Angel's, who got five seasons all about his redemption and his moments in Buffy. Looking at the big picture, I think that a "mere sentence" can sum up Faith's redemptive arc pretty well.

I think the list is awesome. And I love that Sailor Uranus is on it. Even though that blurb was a bit wrong, too: she and Neptune willingly pretended to turn evil and killed their comrades in order to get a shot at Galaxia with her guard down. They weren't under her influence; in fact, they were able to withstand it. While this representation is also a bit incorrect, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "horrible" or anything like that.

Lighten up folks. =)

Waterkeeper511 | April 08, 02:47 CET

Waterkeeper511, I don't think Faith is even close to the end of her redemptive arc, it was a battle for her in every episode we saw and this does not do her justice. Because she skipped out on jail and did some good doesn't mean she's finished. As we saw in S8 she's still struggling and her new series with Angel will probably show that even more. I think the term "redemptive arc" is kinda reductive. It suggests that there's an end to it. There isn't. She'll be at that just as long as she's breathing. You can never really make up for the wrongs you've done.

BlueSkies | April 08, 03:00 CET

Okay, way out on a limb here, but I thought Faith felt bad as soon as she found out the guy was human. She looked like her world just fell down for a minute. I always thought she felt: well, I've done the unthinkable now....so, what-the-hell?
Liked the article, still. Thanks

hako | April 08, 04:19 CET

I agree with the Faith statements here. I always felt Faith felt remorse for killing the mayors aid but didnt want to, kinda had a mental breakdown and went off the deepend. and it wasnt until she showed up in LA with Angel that she realized how far she had gone. thats my 2 cents. but for some reason the "axe thingy" statement for River just really bothered me. it may be nit picky, but a sword is not an "axe thingy"

Canis_Latrans | April 08, 10:58 CET

Yep, one sword and one axe thingy rather than a couple of axe thingies.

The look on Faith's face just after she kills the aid suggests she feels remorse and her actions afterwards suggest she couldn't handle it and actively suppresses her guilt by fully embracing her "bad girl" persona. Being in Buffy's body shows her that she can change, forces her to confront her self-loathing which comes to a head in 'Sanctuary'/'Five by Five' and Angel's belief in her sets her on the path to redemption. The article's pretty dismissive of her arc but then it's quite light-hearted in general, didn't much bother me.

Saje | April 08, 11:35 CET

The article isn't doing a Faith dissertation and as blurbs go... I've seen worse.

I think the issue in S3 is that Faith simply will not allow herself to be a victim - even to an accident. Whenever she's most vulnerable, that's when she hits back the hardest. And in this case, the guilt and remorse get squashed because she's just not able to admit that she made a mistake. She has gnawing doubts about her self-worth, especially standing next to Buffy, and a mistake on that level leaves her far too exposed. The further she goes down that path – and the more she's pushed down that path by Buffy's desire to talk about it, the more she forces herself to become the kind of person who would do that on purpose. She's making it not-a-mistake, because that's actually easier for her than the alternative.

BringItOn5x5 | April 08, 13:46 CET

Ooh, I like your idea better BringItOn5x5. So in order to integrate making a mistake into her self-image (which is too fragile to accept the possibility of making a mistake) she makes it a deliberate choice, feels being bad is preferable to being weak ? Yep, that rings true to me, nice one.

Saje | April 08, 14:09 CET

Ditto for me, BringItOn5x5. That's a great character analysis.

There's a singing teacher I've had some workshops with, and one of the things she always says is, if you make a mistake act like you did it on purpose. "I hit a wrong note. I MEANT to hit the wrong note." Which is great advice when you're trying to bolster people's confidence about singing in public. Maybe not so great when you're mistake was killing someone.

As for the article, I don't think the problem was that they didn't cover Faith's redemptive arc in detail, it's that they pretty much dismissed it. She doesn't just willingly go to jail. In season 5 AtS, my understanding is that she fully expects to die from the drug she takes to bring Angelus in. When you get to the point that you're willing to sacrifice your own life to save someone else you're more than "reformed a bit."

barboo | April 08, 16:23 CET

Also, we don't actually know that River can kill you with her mind. She may just be punking Jayne on that one.

barboo | April 08, 19:24 CET

Barboo, fair point, but are you willing to take the risk?

williamthebloody1880 | April 08, 19:38 CET

I'd want that girl around when the Reavers hit, so I wouldn't sell her out to the Alliance in any case.

barboo | April 08, 20:20 CET

Add Hanna to the list...

Dana5140 | April 08, 21:13 CET

Missing Triela from Gunslinger Girl.

RCM | April 09, 03:30 CET

Ginger from Ginger Snaps! That makes me so happy.

electricspacegirl | April 09, 03:43 CET

Three Whedonverse characters if you count the brief mention of Harmony!

ftloosenfanzfree | April 09, 05:27 CET