Faith: Evil or Not So Much

Poor Faith gets a raw deal sometimes.

I am a huge Faith 'Lehane' fan, not just because Eliza Dushku is in one of my favvy Arnie movies. Faith had character, she had glaringly apparent flaws. But its sad how she got to be so 'evil' in the eyes of some fans. Was Faith really so bad? Yes, she did things to Buffy and did things so awful only Angelus could compete.

I believe that theres a quote in Angel Season 1 that Buffy says to Faith that sums up what she did amazingly.

"I gave you every chance! I tried so hard to help you, and you spat on me. My life was just something for you to play with. Angel, Riley, anything that you could take from me, you took. I've lost battles before... but nobody else has ever made me a victim." - Buffy, Sanctuary

Faith, if you recall:
- Tried to lead Buffy to the dark side
- Killed Allan Finch
- Joined the Mayor and became evil
- Tried to seduce Angel
- Tried to kill the Scoobies at one time or another
- Nearly killed Angel
- Turned Buffy into her and her into Buffy
- Let Buffy be taken by the Watchers Council
- Seduced Riley
- Ran off and left Buffy to clean up

But...

Faith is not so much a villain as an anti-Buffy slayer. She's the mirror image of what Wish Buffy was like. She had no support network at all. I own a copy of 'Go Ask Malice', which is a copy of Faith's diary from before Buffyverse.

- She had no father
- Her mother was a drug addict, neglectful and abusive [possibly dead]
- Boyfriend who were losers or were jerks
- No friends
- Foster care at one point, I believe
- Teachers didnt support her
- She didn't do school
- Had a social worker
- Kakistos killed her Watcher.

Faith then comes to Sunnydale where [a], theres already a Slayer and [b] she has the life Faith should have had. Faith has nothing expect her clothes and then her new watcher is a fake and the one after that is so stuffy and priggy she can't deal. No wonder she leapt into the Mayor's schemes, he offered her everything she had never had. Love.

I think that Faith is simply misunderstood. "And you can't stand that. You're all about control. You have no idea what it's like on the other side! When nothing's in control, nothing makes sense! There's just pain and hate and nothing you do means anything. You can't even..."

And to prove it, Faith becomes good again. Does her time in prison [mostly], saves Angel from himself and then saves Buffy. Whatever she's done, those few acts negate it. She earned the right to be a hero.