Wesley & Buffy- what was his reasoning?

[seryna]

We, the viewers know that Wes was on for Buffy's replacement after Giles was fired for the Birthday test. However, was there ever a reason given why he was always hanging out in the library?

My boyfriend was watching it for the first time and commented that although Giles was a paid employee- and meant to be there- did no one wonder why a second man flew down from England to fence in the Library, supposedly unpaid?

[Skytteflickan88]

Buffy went to school there and since she was "trouble" I bet the council told Wes to keep close.

But it is weird that Snyder never noticed Wes... I bet that could have been made into a fun scene, seeing Wes trying to explain himself.

[Angelsgirl]

There is another question that should be answered....Giles was the librarian at the school as "cover-up" and so he could stay close to Buffy. Surely Wesley should have had a cover job also?? Librarian Slave? Book Bitca??

[XanderHarris]

It's the running gag of the series, guys.

A couple of students always hanging out at the library? No one ever reading a book in there? Middle-aged weapons and antient items?

It would be suspicious all alone, not mentioning "another english guy" hanging out there.

So I figure, just no one really cared.

[Angelsgirl]

Yet they made a big fuss about Buffy being on school property after she had been expelled?

[BennyTheKey]

I was thinking about this the other day!. Surely someone would have noticed that there was a random man in the library!

[seryna]

Good points, all. Especially in some instances- like in 'Hush' when the scoobies massed to prevent a tragedy- and they totally shook down people for 'the Yearbook'. They weren't on the Yearbook.

Perhaps its showing how apathetic students are.

Jan 8, 2009 10:53:07 GMT -5 Angelsgirl said:

Yet they made a big fuss about Buffy being on school property after she had been expelled?

Snyder seemed to patrol the halls for Buffy- and Giles backed up her no - school rule- yet Snyder never noticed Wesley?
No blond malcontent- another strange English guy- hmm..

[amuk]

What's more, the first time Wesley appears, he's even brought a few boxes of books with him. The show just pretends that his presence (like so much about the Library - like students being in it doing all sorts of strange things at all hours) just isn't an issue. The running gag kind of serves as Handwavium for it -- like when Jonathan comes for a book on Stalin and Xander goes off on him before Giles reminds him it's what the Library is for.

[snizapman6294]

i thought about this too, but you never really see students in the library aside from Never Kill a Boy on the First Date. but i assumed that if anyone asked, they would say Wes was Giles' son or brother or nephew or something.

[faithnspike]

If no one comes into the library no one will see Wes or the hole caused by the hellmouth or anything else.

[sarahi]

I assumed that Wesley spent time in the library for two reasons:

1. Buffy spent most of her time there and Wesley would be left out of her Slayer-Watcher relations otherwise.
2. Wesley wanted to fit in. He was kind of like the nerd who had to be around to avoid being forgotten.

[Mathieu]

Yeah now that you mention it, that's interesting but I agree with those who talk about the running gag. Nobody ever stepped a foot in this library. So who cares if there's Wesley there or monsters or whatever. It's just Buffy's headquarter... jeez I miss it!! I wish I could watch new episodes of the first seasons. I actually never paid attention to those details, I was too absorbed, I never even wondered (back then) why Buffy and her friends were the only students hanging out there. That's funny.

[Saturn 5]

If anyone has the 1999 Sunnydale High yearbook there's actually a caption under Wes' photo asking 'Who is this guy?"

[Paul]

Feb 2, 2009 5:07:22 GMT -5 Saturn 5 said:

If anyone has the 1999 Sunnydale High yearbook there's actually a caption under Wes' photo asking 'Who is this guy?"

Lol, I was going to mention that but you beat me to it! I guess the writers figured it out after the fact and decided to make fun of themselves. I remember thinking the same about Kendra and Faith... these random girls are wandering around campus and nobody notices they aren't students. Oh well, it's not important.

[Angelsgirl]

I guess with Faith and Kendra is was slightly less conspicuous considering they were supposed to be high school age. Wes on the other hand was supposed to be an adult, perving on the high school girls! lol....I mean Cordy of course!

[Whedon Fan]

I guess it could have been allowed. Fare enough Faith and Kendra could have passed as high school students. If I had noticed Wes in the library I would have just assumed that he was a school inspector or a teacher...

[dane5by5]

I have pondered this in the past, and like many others, assume it was just continuing the tongue in cheek nature of no students ever visiting the library. If no one ever goes there, who would notice some British guy moseying around the place?

Regarding Faith and Kendra passing as high school students, was Faith not enrolled at Sunnydale High? I thought she was attending classes when she first arrived, in those first few episodes. Kendra wasn't at the high school long enough to draw suspicion, she was only there a couple of days.

[Paul]

It was never really addressed but Faith does say to Willow and Xander in her first episode that she dropped out of high school... I doubt she ever re-enrolled at Sunnydale.

[wenxina]

Faith's never struck me as the school type. In fact, when Robin makes a joke about the First's Achilles' heel, she doesn't get it, citing that since it was a school thing, she was "kinda absent that decade". Even accounting for the time spent in a coma, then in jail, that's nowhere close to being a decade... meaning that she probably played hooky... A LOT!

[Paul]

Feb 3, 2009 15:09:43 GMT -5 wenxina said:

Faith's never struck me as the school type. In fact, when Robin makes a joke about the First's Achilles' heel, she doesn't get it, citing that since it was a school thing, she was "kinda absent that decade". Even accounting for the time spent in a coma, then in jail, that's nowhere close to being a decade... meaning that she probably played hooky... A LOT!

Faith's school career is explored a little in the prequel novel Go Ask Malice, which isn't "official" canon but is an excellent read and fits into continuity very well. Something I found interesting was that Faith did actually try to be a good student, but was dismissed and ignored by her teachers. For example, she has to read Dracula for English class, and her teacher asks her why it's written in journals and letters (which is how Go Ask Malice is written, interesting parallel) and Faith says it makes it more personal as though you're in the author's head. Pretty good point. But then when she struggles to identify the theme of the book, the teacher accuses her of not reading it (which she did) and then humiliates her in front of the other kids. So it's no wonder she didn't do well academically; even when she tries, people shoot down her efforts.

Also, if I remember correctly, she doesn't actually drop out of school willingly. She gets suspended for protecting her friend from gay bashers, and then I think her mother goes missing so she gets placed with a foster family. Eventually, the whole Slayer thing kicks in and she just never goes back to school. That's if I'm remembering it right, it was a few years ago I read it...