I will argue that the depiction of a lesbian relationship by “straight” writers on the BTVS staff, while a well-meaning and mostly positive attempt, was fatally flawed by their lack of lesbian experience, involvement, and acting. I will present evidence that this absence of actual lesbian input caused an ignorance of the model of the Evil/Dead Lesbian cliché, and therefore made the relationship’s descent into stereotypical models inevitable. I will also contend that the hyper-awareness of the cliché in hindsight led to the sanitization of the Willow/Kennedy relationship, and discuss reasons for the lesbian community’s profound attachment to Willow and her love life.