The strength inconsistency of her powers. She was tied with Amy and Willow and about to be burnt and she could not use her super strength to tear the rope. Buffy is supposed to be as strong as Spiderman. it should have been very easy for her to free herself.
share[deleted]
"Buffy is supposed to be as strong as Spiderman"
Spider-man is able to lift more than 20 tons. What exactly gives off the impression that Buffy can even come close to that?
Yeah she also broke the boys out of jail by bending the cell bars!
shareJust another silly power inconsistency. There are much more to list. Funny thing about this instance is that while Buffy couldn't free herself from the ropes, she managed to break the stake she was connected to.
shareAnother point is.... Amy was able to turn herself into a rat to escape, yet she couldn't come up with a spell to loosen/untie rope? lol
We know the spell exists, because Tara cast it in "Normal Again." 
A young, inexperienced witch chanting the wrong spell that turned her into a rat instead of freed her? A young, inexperienced witch calling on the wrong spell...is "another point?"
"I wish I wasn't afraid all the time, but I am."
-V for Vendetta
No, the other point is that while they conveniently changed Buffy's abilities for plot purposes, they clearly did the same with Amy.
Yes, she was inexperienced but she clearly had meant to turn herself into a rat but didn't think of how she would turn herself back. But is it likely that a witch would turn herself into a rat if alternatively she could cast a simpler spell to unbind the ropes?
So that was the point, the parallel between Buffy/Amy not using their abilities correctly for plot purposes.
they clearly did the same with Amy.
she clearly had meant to turn herself into a rat but didn't think of how she would turn herself back.
How? When did they establish pre-Gingerbread that Amy had the powers to manipulate rope?
Actually, she didn't mean to do that. She was intending on turning her attackers into rats, just as she had done with Buffy. However, since her hands were bound down, she couldn't direct at them and it built up under her.
It's even in the script:
"She shivers as the spell's power increases around her, building ever
greater strength. Finally, since she hasn't directed the spell at anyone
else, it works on her."
Well as I previously said, Tara was seen to be able to do it in Normal Again.
It could be either way TBH
Yes, I could buy that Amy might not have known the spell. She seemed more interested in learning powerful/dangerous spells, where as Tara would learn more practical spells.
I am still not so sure if she had meant to cast it on the crowd though or a person in the crowd. She had been struggling to lift her arms the entire time, but maybe I should watch it again.
After meeting Tara's family, I'm not surprised she knew a spell to untie ropes.
shareA spell with unforeseen consequences...imagine that.
Say, do you hear that? It's the sound of the Reaper.....
Okay, but what's the point of the episode? So, there's inconsistencies with their powers, what about it? There are bigger ideas being explored here that I don't see being discussed. The idea of the episode was exploring the notion of the paranoia fueling the mob-mentality. The townspeople were so scared and irrational that they started a witch hunt. Buffy, Willow and Amy being tied at the stake is fitting for the ideas presented in the episode.
Storytelling is a controlled environment. Writers do what they have to do to tell a story. This production told the story as best they could. They're limited to what they can present and how they can present it. Had they had more resources and a bigger budget they probably would had made a lavish inescapable chamber or shown a scene where they drugged Buffy. I don't know, but I'll file this under: Big deal, there are bigger ideas being explored that notions of continuity.
"I wish I wasn't afraid all the time, but I am."
-V for Vendetta
This seems somewhat trivial, though. Story-telling is a controlled environment, and writers do what's needed to tell the necessary story. That's why Angel can move through daylight in Angel. Buffy tied at the stake goes to the idea of the episode, and that's the attack of the mob crowd. Obviously, there's budgetary reasons to consider. Had the episode had the budget of a movie, we'd probably be a much more elaborate bondage.
So, in summation:
Buffy tied at the stake.
Mob crowd enraged and participating in a witch hunt.
Humans making irrational decisions out of fear.
That's the point of the episode, and not Buffy being tied and bound to rope.
"I wish I wasn't afraid all the time, but I am."
-V for Vendetta
Slayer strength would allow Buffy to free herself, but that's not the point of the episode. It's a story, and writers do what's necessary to tell it. You either go with it or you don't. No biggie.
"I wish I wasn't afraid all the time, but I am."
-V for Vendetta
That annoyed me in the episode when I saw it the first time too 'cause Buffy should have easily been able to get out of that but perhaps there was some kind of magical spell binding her from using her slayer strength.
_____________________________
It don't matter if it's raining
Nothing can phase me
I make my own sunshine
And if you think you can break me
Baby, you're crazy
I make my own sunshine
there was no magical spell and it annoyed me too. anyone who has never seen Buffy before and watched that episode for the first time would have asked the question of was she not meant to be super strong?
shareThat's not the point of the episode, though. It's talking about the mob mentality, paranoia and witch hunts. Being burned at the stake is fitting for the episode in its intent.
"I wish I wasn't afraid all the time, but I am."
-V for Vendetta
Her powers were always inconsistent.
Say, do you hear that? It's the sound of the Reaper.....