slayerpower
02-27-2007, 02:42 PM
www.avclub.com/content/node/59017
13 Sidekicks Who Are Cooler Than Their Heroes
#4
Willow, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Either one of the two charter members of "The Scooby Gang"-Alyson Hannigan’s Willow or Nicholas Brendon’s Xander-made for better company than Buffy herself. Part of the reason is the hero’s burden: While Buffy always had to grapple with the cosmic responsibility of keeping the Hellmouth under wraps, the sidekicks were freed up to joke around, develop their loveable idiosyncrasies, and go on little side adventures. But Willow was truly special, an adorable bookworm who brightened Sunnydale’s perpetual darkness with sparkling wit and optimism while still breaking viewers’ hearts on a semi-regular basis. Willow’s sheepishness, brought out by Hannigan’s halting rhythms of speech, also masked surprising courage and even a little brassiness on occasion, like when she discovered her leather-clad, badass doppelgänger in Season Three. It should also be said that her sexual reawakening never seemed forced, but more of a natural outgrowth of her curiosity and her deep connection to other people. Even when her Wiccan experiments got the best of her, the forces of evil ultimately couldn’t smother her irrepressible Willowness.
13 Sidekicks Who Are Cooler Than Their Heroes
#4
Willow, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Either one of the two charter members of "The Scooby Gang"-Alyson Hannigan’s Willow or Nicholas Brendon’s Xander-made for better company than Buffy herself. Part of the reason is the hero’s burden: While Buffy always had to grapple with the cosmic responsibility of keeping the Hellmouth under wraps, the sidekicks were freed up to joke around, develop their loveable idiosyncrasies, and go on little side adventures. But Willow was truly special, an adorable bookworm who brightened Sunnydale’s perpetual darkness with sparkling wit and optimism while still breaking viewers’ hearts on a semi-regular basis. Willow’s sheepishness, brought out by Hannigan’s halting rhythms of speech, also masked surprising courage and even a little brassiness on occasion, like when she discovered her leather-clad, badass doppelgänger in Season Three. It should also be said that her sexual reawakening never seemed forced, but more of a natural outgrowth of her curiosity and her deep connection to other people. Even when her Wiccan experiments got the best of her, the forces of evil ultimately couldn’t smother her irrepressible Willowness.