Willow pics

Alyson Hannigan-- Willow Rosenberg

While not sexy like Sarah or Charisma, I think Aly is absolutely beautiful, and quite possibly the best actress on television today.

Willow started out as my least favorite character on this show. I didn't dislike her, but, I mean, Buffy was beautiful and bad, Cordelia was just beautiful, Xander was damn funny, and I even liked Angel more. And, of course, I've always been obsessed with Jenny. Then something funny happened. I don't know when, Maybe Halloween, maybe Innocence, but I didn't even realize it until IOHEFY. It must have been the long break or the inferior episode but suddenly I realized something: Willow was my favorite character. Even more than Jenny. (This might have had something to do with the fact that Jenny was dead and there was really no place to take her anymore, or that Willow is becoming a lot like Jenny.)

Aly said in an interview that Buffy is what everyone wants to be, and Willow is what everyone is, and I so agree. Aly has made shy, awkward Willow into one of the strongest characters on the show, and, I think, the most sympathetic. She has come into her own so much as this season has progressed. In WttHM, Willow was a bright, enthusiastic girl with a passion for learning but no self esteem to speak of, and a really bad fasion sense. (I mean really bad. I almost didn't blame Cordelia for the "softer side of sears" line. And the dress she wore in the Bronze the first time...Yeesh. Almost worst than what Thomas "DeBarge" Vampire wore.) Her hair was so flat, and her face pasty...She had the potential to be cute but didn't really know how to make use of it.

And her self esteem was like nonexistent. Buffy's like "I'll be back," and Willow's like "you don't have to." I felt so bad for her. She actually couldn't see that someone like Buffy would want to be friends with her. That's really rough. But by the time I started watching, with School Hard, she was very cute. And becoming more sure of herself. She was starting to accept that Xander didn't love her in IMG, and in RB she actually yelled at Giles and Angel, showing for the first time a great strength of will she didn't even know she had.

Then, in Halloween, we have Willow really sure of herself for the first time. That episode was fully Willow-centric, and it was her best work. She completely took charge when Buffy changed, and showed resourcefulness, bravery, and self-confidence. The best scene of all was at the end, when she was about to put her ghost costume back on, and then smiled to herself, threw it down, and strutted away feeling pretty good about herself. In TDA, she took charge again, and even yelled at Cordy and Xander for fighting. And Cordelia even apologized. ("We'll be good.") In WML she met Oz. They had a scene in which the cuteness factor was unreal. All about monkey pants and the French.

Innocence marked a major change for Willow. She caught Xander with Cordelia, and, all at once, her entire world came crashing down around her. Her face was so descriptive, reading a combination of hurt, shock, confusion, and betrayal. "No, it just means you'd rather be with someone you hate, than be with me." I was heartbroken for her. Oz was there to help her get over him though. She finally got a kiss in Phases. She started to take control of events. She even made the first move on Oz. ("But won't that make me a slut?") It's cool that she's okay with the werewolf thing. They play off each other well. It's interesting in BBB that Willow was going to kill Xander. I wonder why Willow was going to kill him, while Harmony actually saved him from the ax-wielding Willow. (It was cool seeing Willow with an ax, though.) If any episode summed up Aly's amazing acting, and Willow's personal growth, it was Passion. Her excitement and nervousness at teaching, her disappointment. ("five hours of lesson plans down the drain!") This line, in less capable hands, would have been a Saved by the Bell line said by a nerd. But Aly made it entirely believable. It was awesome. Her best scene, though, was her reaction to the news of Jenny's death. Jenny was her mentor. In Jenny, I think Willow saw who she wanted to be. She was heartbroken.

If anything good came out of Jenny's death, it was that Willow found her nich. She's a good teacher, and even her classmates seem to respect her. This was most evident in IOHEFY, and it really says a lot about how far Aly and the writers have taken the character. She's poised, articulate, confidant, and mature, and I think Jenny would be very proud of her. She's already shown the makings of a watcher, She did it in TDA, but even more so in IOHEFY when Giles wasn't at full capacity. I can see Willow training a Slayer. She also can work magic, as proven by B2, when she successfully worked the curse. I believe Willow shares a special relationship with Giles. I think he's sees her as Watcher material also, and while Buffy may be his Slayer, Willow is his protégé, and probably the closest thing to a daughter he'll ever have.

I think Willow has the most beautiful and descriptive face ever. She's not that good at expressing herself with words, but her face says everything. Aly makes total use of her face, and what she's feeling is so written on it. When she smiles she could light up a room. Aly brightens up every scene she is in, no matter what she does, with her amazing abilities. Willow is a loyal friend who has stood by Buffy through everything, since the very beginning. I can't imagine Buffy without Willow Rosenberg by her side, and I don't want to imagine BtVS without the exceptional Alyson Hannigan. Doesn't she just scream cuteness? Click on the thumbnail to see the full sized image.

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