I also like the Buffy/Oz scene when she's de-ratted. Buffy and Oz are both so cool that it feels right that they're both so chill about handling a teenage-awkward fest of being naked in front of your best friend's boyfriend.
I do defend the Moral of the Story to say that the episode really is critical on Xander. I think Giles's angry yelling is the clearest authorial moral judgment because it's coming from the intelligent wise grown-up who doesn't have a personal dog in the fight. Buffy's kinder stance is muddied by how she's Xander's best friend and is trying to make him feel better about himself because he's clearly guilty. Cordelia's flattered stance is muddied by how she's, IMO, foolish about a lot of things and one of them is how she's so obsessed with being flattered and deemed The Most Special Girl that she'll become blind to other dangers. This stance ultimately killed her in how she fell for Skip's lies and I'd argue, subverted her life to Angel's drama.
I agree that Xander isn't particularly in love with Cordelia. However, I do think it was a happy ending because Xander/Cordelia was important to Xander's and Cordelia's character development. In terms of Xander, it was a learning experience for Xander on how to be in a romantic relationship- and on that level- it had value in continuing for a short time. It's good that they both had a chance to give the relationship a real chance instead of letting Harmony and her crowd dictate the relationship's course. Even though it ultimately landed on a note that, IMO, Xander decided that he liked Cordelia but his Fluking with Willow was part and parcel of how Xander didn't love Cordelia enough to feel like he's in the best relationship possible.
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I do defend the Moral of the Story to say that the episode really is critical on Xander. I think Giles's angry yelling is the clearest authorial moral judgment because it's coming from the intelligent wise grown-up who doesn't have a personal dog in the fight. Buffy's kinder stance is muddied by how she's Xander's best friend and is trying to make him feel better about himself because he's clearly guilty. Cordelia's flattered stance is muddied by how she's, IMO, foolish about a lot of things and one of them is how she's so obsessed with being flattered and deemed The Most Special Girl that she'll become blind to other dangers. This stance ultimately killed her in how she fell for Skip's lies and I'd argue, subverted her life to Angel's drama.
I agree that Xander isn't particularly in love with Cordelia. However, I do think it was a happy ending because Xander/Cordelia was important to Xander's and Cordelia's character development. In terms of Xander, it was a learning experience for Xander on how to be in a romantic relationship- and on that level- it had value in continuing for a short time. It's good that they both had a chance to give the relationship a real chance instead of letting Harmony and her crowd dictate the relationship's course. Even though it ultimately landed on a note that, IMO, Xander decided that he liked Cordelia but his Fluking with Willow was part and parcel of how Xander didn't love Cordelia enough to feel like he's in the best relationship possible.