The difference between Xander and Wood is in age and how they are viewed.
ME has consistently pushed an older/younger relationship ...
Buffy/Angel; Buffy/Spike; Jenny/Giles; Willow/Oz; Kennedy/Willow; Cordy/Angel; Connor/Cordy; Justine/Holtz; Fred/Wes; Faith/Wood. The female characters seem to universally prefer the "older" men or women since they aren't as difficult or "high maintenance" and will mostly be about them.
Robin Wood is all about Faith; whereas Xander has his own issues and is likely to be VERY prickly. From a purely emotional viewpoint Wood is the better choice IMHO for Faith (even if we the audience don't like it much).
Secondly the two slayers who are "old school" view things differently than the newbies. The original ones, Buffy and Faith, are used to the "Slayer+Boyfriend" against the world duo; see Buffy/Angel or Faith/Wood. The couple who fight evil together in an endless adolescent superhero battle against the bad guys. Someone else who can't "get their back" properly just won't do for them. Robin Wood is if nothing else a MUCH better fighter than Xander, he's been doing it longer, seems to be willing to train for it, has it as his heritage, and has two eyes if nothing else. If your mental model is Xena/Wonder Woman then Hercules or Superman looks pretty good to you; an ordinary guy with one eye won't cut it.
Xander ... he's more like a Navy Corpsman to the younger slayers IMHO. THEY seem to fight in groups, together, instead of alone with their super-boyfriend like Buffy or Faith. Xander to them I would suggest is like a Corpsman amongst a group of Marines. He doesn't fight (much) but DOES pull people out of harms way and provides care. For Kennedy he should walk on water, and she's the leader or most respected among the younger slayers.
The younger ones seem to look to themselves as a group; thus Xander would be viewed differently than the way Faith and Buffy view him (basically, he's not Angel, Spike, or an acceptible human substitute for those two). They may not want to hop into bed with him; but Spike coming back for example and making jokes at Xander's expense would likely get himself a severe beating from Kennedy, Vi, and Rona I imagine just as a bunch of Marines would pound the snot out of anyone who messes with their Corpsman.
Re: hey liz
ME has consistently pushed an older/younger relationship ...
Buffy/Angel; Buffy/Spike; Jenny/Giles; Willow/Oz; Kennedy/Willow; Cordy/Angel; Connor/Cordy; Justine/Holtz; Fred/Wes; Faith/Wood. The female characters seem to universally prefer the "older" men or women since they aren't as difficult or "high maintenance" and will mostly be about them.
Robin Wood is all about Faith; whereas Xander has his own issues and is likely to be VERY prickly. From a purely emotional viewpoint Wood is the better choice IMHO for Faith (even if we the audience don't like it much).
Secondly the two slayers who are "old school" view things differently than the newbies. The original ones, Buffy and Faith, are used to the "Slayer+Boyfriend" against the world duo; see Buffy/Angel or Faith/Wood. The couple who fight evil together in an endless adolescent superhero battle against the bad guys. Someone else who can't "get their back" properly just won't do for them. Robin Wood is if nothing else a MUCH better fighter than Xander, he's been doing it longer, seems to be willing to train for it, has it as his heritage, and has two eyes if nothing else. If your mental model is Xena/Wonder Woman then Hercules or Superman looks pretty good to you; an ordinary guy with one eye won't cut it.
Xander ... he's more like a Navy Corpsman to the younger slayers IMHO. THEY seem to fight in groups, together, instead of alone with their super-boyfriend like Buffy or Faith. Xander to them I would suggest is like a Corpsman amongst a group of Marines. He doesn't fight (much) but DOES pull people out of harms way and provides care. For Kennedy he should walk on water, and she's the leader or most respected among the younger slayers.
The younger ones seem to look to themselves as a group; thus Xander would be viewed differently than the way Faith and Buffy view him (basically, he's not Angel, Spike, or an acceptible human substitute for those two). They may not want to hop into bed with him; but Spike coming back for example and making jokes at Xander's expense would likely get himself a severe beating from Kennedy, Vi, and Rona I imagine just as a bunch of Marines would pound the snot out of anyone who messes with their Corpsman.