The Insomnitic
And you can't stand that. You're all about control. You have no idea what it's like on the other side! Where nothing's in control, nothing makes sense! There is just pain and hate and nothing you do means anything.
-- Faith, "Sanctuary"
Control. We all need it, we struggle for it, we hate to give it up. But, sometimes, voluntarily giving up control can be the most liberating act of our lives. And, sometimes, what we do to gain control can be the most selfish thing we've ever done.
Cordelia is someone who has always been in control. Then she kissed Xander and got involved in the Scooby Gang, and her life began to spin away, out of her reach. She moved to LA to try to regain some of her autonomy, and ended up working with Angel, fighting demons again, and bearing the burden of prophetic visions. "Downward Spiral" depicts Cordelia's deliberate self-abandonment to her visions, the relinquishing of all control to this power that was forced upon her. It's insightful, and beautifully written - a glimpse into what it could be like to have this ability, and the pain and responsibility that goes along with it.
"The Best Revenge" looks at a different aspect of control - gaining it over someone else. Set in the middle of "Who Are You," Faith (in Buffy's body) goes to visit Riley. Ins gives this scene (one of my absolute favorites) a new spin, looking into Faith's motivations for deliberately seducing the pure Riley. And are they ever slimy. Again, Ins shows her ability to get inside the characters' heads, seeing a deeper layer of deceit and self-delusion than shown on screen.