I've been watching concurrently Buffy & Deep Space Nine on DVD. I'm currently in the midst of season four for both series. And with each episode viewed, the parallel between these shows and characters, or how I and other fans respond to these shows and characters becomes clearer. And I think these views may partly skew down gender lines which impacts fans' reactions and writers' intentions.

As I've been re-watching Deep Space Nine, it strongly occurred to me that Dukat is Spike, handled incorrectly. Or perhaps Spike is Dukat, handled more correctly. And by extension the argument could be made that the Spike/Buffy relationship is the road not taken by the Dukat/Kira relationship and vice versa. As well, the doomed Kira/Odo (or Kira/Bareil or Kira/Shakaar) relationship is parallel perhaps to the doomed Buffy/Riley relationship - in that the nice guy can never keep the strong girl.

I think it all starts though, with redemption. In the Buffyverse, pretty much anyone, no matter how evil the acts they've committed, can be redeemed. It may take centuries, but it's possible. Angel is the obvious example of that, Anya might be another, and many (probably predominantly female fans) think Spike would be another. However in the Trekverse, no matter how much you'd like it for someone evil who's shown a capacity for goodness or kindness or growth or even repentance, redemption does not seem to be allowed, merely punishment or as some may believe, justice. Dukat being a prime example, perhaps even Winn or Khan. Was Q ever redeemed or did he merely continue to be the troublemaker even when allowed the capacity ("Deja Q" or "The Q and the Grey") for growth?

I know when the (all male) Deep Space Nine writing staff was crafting their tale, they were extremely uncomfortable with the female fans a) finding Dukat appealing or sympathetic in any way and b) desiring him to have a romantic relationship with Kira. The writers' perspective was that Dukat was a monster. Period. End of subject. He was a (figurative) Nazi who committed horrible atrocities and while they were far too competent writers to paint anyone as simply black or white, and subsequently gave him interesting undertones and shades of grey to make him more complex (and certainly actor Marc Alaimo also deserves credit for bringing a great charisma and layered performance to the role), there was no chance at all they were going to allow or promote essentially a Nazi Officer/Jewish freedom fighter love pairing. They felt that this would be a terrible message to send. And yet many (again, predominantly female) fans saw the potential for Dukat's redemption (his choice to save his daughter at his own expense in "Indiscretion" being a perfect example of this) and felt if he was truly repentant, and since he was so clearly in love with Kira, and that she couldn't forever deny their chemistry with each other and needed a much stronger man than those she'd picked herself, that they should wind up together. I think the writers just got sick and tired of trying to explain that no matter how many nice things Dukat did, no matter what he did for love of family or others, or from the desire to set things right, that he was still a mass murderer and NOTHING he ever did could redeem his atrocities. And so they finally made him the black and white villain. They stripped him of his shades and tones and made him strictly a demon-possessed EEEEVVVVVVIILLLLLL guy so there'd be no mistake. And the Dukat fans (myself included) were, to put it kindly, extremely vexed. We felt that this was no justified end for this character and that he was sorely abused by the writers throughout this storyline. (Sorry, guys - you know I love ya, but I hate what you did to Dukat.) That he deserved, if not redemption itself, then a worthy death, preferably saving Bajor or Kira somehow as his last payment/atonement for his misdeeds. But he didn't get that.

Sometime later, Joss Whedon in his infinite wisdom, created the monster Spike as a foil for his heroine, Buffy. Spike, the evil, unrepentant, but ever so charming vampire who enjoyed nothing more than tormenting the Slayer. Responsible for the deaths of hundreds, no doubt, throughout his un-lifetime, as well as the deaths of two Slayers, the ultimate symbols of goodness and strength and hope in the Buffyverse. Originally brought on to be the badass and get killed halfway through the second season, Spike proved so popular with the fans and writers that he was kept undead (and again, actor James Marsters also deserves kudos for his rich and compelling performance in the role). But here, too, was a writing staff (this time a mix of male and female writers) that had no use for stock villains and in order to keep the character around, he had to expand and develop. And so he did. And the fans (female and male) liked him.

Then came season four wherein it was decided to make Spike a regular character. In order to do so, his evil ways needed to be curbed, so the chip was implanted in the character's brain to physically prevent him from doing harm, though it didn't curb his desire to be one of the bad guys. Season four saw Spike (as Dukat was for awhile) becoming the comic relief for the show. But unlike the Deep Space Nine writers, who shied away from the thought of exploring a relationship between a monster and a heroine (both of whom were killers), the Buffy staffers went for it. They spent season five laying the groundwork for Spike's obssession/infatuation with Buffy and in season six allowed it to be consummated. Now, while the Buffy writers (as had the Deep Space Nine writers before them) clearly saw this as an extremely unhealthy relationship, the fans (at this point, predominantly the females) thrived on this relationship, unhealthy as it was. Spuffy shippers (myself included) absolutely LOVED seeing the lovelorn Spike at least try to love Buffy. Unfortunately, at that point, Buffy didn't love herself, and certainly couldn't return Spike's feelings and the relationship became very abusive on her part.

But the fans (again, mostly female) STILL rooted for Spike and Buffy to be together. They longed for the continuation of Spike's redemption as he'd showed along the way, or so the shippers felt, the capacity for regret, generosity, and goodness. To be fair, other fans (I believe, predominantly male) hated this relationship and couldn't understand or support it. She was good. He was bad. And while they may have supported a Buffy/Angel once in a lifetime redemptive romance, they clearly couldn't see it happening for Spike/Buffy. The writers meanwhile, although clearly having their own fondness for Spike, came to a bit of a crossroads. And here is where my perspective is colored by my belief that Marti Noxon's influence was stronger in the sixth season than in any other due to Joss' distraction in trying to work on three shows simultaneously. So while Joss clearly permitted what happened to Spike's character, and hence gets some of the blame, I think it was driven by Marti's theme that recurs constantly in her writing - namely, that men are abusers and women have to fight men because men are abusers. Now, that's a whole 'nother Oprah, but I think it bears on what happened. As I said, a lot of fans loved the Spuffy relationship, to the point where they refused to see it as too much of a bad thing. So the writers had to (as the Deep Space Nine writers had done) make Spike a black and white villain so the shippers would stop seeing this relationship as any kind of an ideal. So amongst other scenes created to accomplish this, the rape scene was written into "Seeing Red". And while I think that moment was as unfair to Spike's character as Dukat's ultimate demise was to his, Spike, unlike Dukat, was allowed to grow from it. I think the writers realized they'd made their point: that Spike/Buffy was a BAD THING (TM) and now they could go back to writing the characters once again in shades of grey. So season seven saw Spike deliberately seek out and gain a soul in repentance for his deeds and what the repercussions and struggles of having that soul meant (possibility for redemption in the Buffyverse being tied into a character having a soul). Buffy found her center again in that season, and in doing so, could find forgiveness for herself and for Spike, and though just in friendship, find a love and even a trust that wasn't there even when they were together as a couple. In the end, Spike gave himself up to save the world, and to my mind, in that way, was redeemed. As Dukat had deserved to be, but didn't get.

Now, I could write a whole separate essay comparing Spike's addition to Angel in season 5 as parallelling Worf's addition to Deep Space Nine in season 4, both signalling a change in direction of the show, both an attempt to shake up the too-comfortable dynamics of the regulars by adding an observant outsider... but again that's a whole 'nother Oprah.