Well, THAT was epic.
Spoilers follow…
A major female empowerment story that drove the series to an eminently satisfying thematic conclusion. Just…not entirely blown away by the elements that got us there.
What I liked: Dialogue. Thank God. Everyone sounds identifiably like themselves again. Even though the first half suffered from stand-around-and-talk-itis, at least this time out I was more than happy to listen to it. Everything from the throwaways (Giles repeating his “The world is doomed” from the end of the second half of the pilot) to the self-deprecating (“Once I was a respected watcher; now I’m a wounded dwarf with the magic level of a doiley) to witticism (“Get out of my face”) to, most particularly, Willow sounding like Willow (“That was nifty!”) to the poignant (“I love you.” “No you don’t, but thanks for saying it”) indicated that Whedon was at the helm. Although I’m getting so keyed into his set-ups and punchlines that when Spike said “You don’t need your tongue to say hello,” I immediately said, “Well, yeah, you do,” and then Spike blinked and said much the same. And Wood’s principal-like introduction to Sunnydale high as he led the way was priceless.
Buffy taking charge, and doing so so confidently that the Wanna-Slays literally follow her into hëll. Quite a change considering a few weeks ago.
Ending with a bang. Well, we saw it coming. Although there was no story reason for it, everyone in Sunnydale cleared out, clearly signalling the town was toast by season’s end. Still, if you’re going to top blowing up the school, that’s the way to do it.
Dawn lightly kicking Buffy in the shin and their exchange. Easily Dawn’s best moment in a season in which even Whedon admitted she got short shrift.
Caleb’s demise. As Bill Mumy would say, Ouch, babe. For someone who considered Buffy an emasculating bìŧçh, demises don’t come any more aptly than that.
Wood didn’t get eaten, making that a first for Sunnydale principals.
What I didn’t like:
You say one deus ex machina isn’t enough? You say you want two? You got it!
It bugged me back in season 5 when the Scoobys pulled a spell out of their butt to defeat Adam, but it made thematic sense and it also set up the wonderful following episode. Here, Willow briefly goes cosmic and, boom, all the Slayer-be’s become Slayer-ares, as does every other girl with a smidgen of potential (although granted, I want to see that little girl with the baseball bat in action.) I’m not entirely certain WHY Willow had to wait until Buffy & Co. were in the midst of danger before empowering. I can come up with a few rationalizations, but I kind of wish we’d simply been told.
But that’s not all. A doo-dad which we’ve never heard of is given to Angel who gives it to Buffy who gives it to Spike, like a social disease. And it Just So Happens that said doo-dad is a major element in the destruction of the Hellmouth, even though no one knows what it is, how it’s going to work, if it’s going to work, what’s required to make it work, etc. It’s like planning the invasion of Normandy armed with weapons you’ve never seen, the instructions for which are written in Aramaic (yes, yes, I know Giles can read Aramaic, that’s not the point). With a storyline that seemed remarkably padded over the last ten episodes, we couldn’t have found time to build in a story arc in which they themselves acquire the doo-dad? Because if the object was to work in Angel for five minutes, they could certainly have come up with another reason.
No explanation for Giles acting out of character. No explanation for why, if the First simply wanted to destroy the Slayers, he didn’t just blow up Buffy’s house. If it was good enough for the Watcher’s council…
In sum, an ambitious episode that succeeded more than it failed, made some important points about taking charge of one’s life, and brought the series to a satisfactory conclusion…and considering the many series that fail to achieve that, it’s no small accomplishment. I just wish that more thought had been given to breaking down the overall season so the story arc would seem less hodgepodge and not feel so much as if they were–as Whedon himself said–coming up with plot twists just to have plot twists.
PAD
• 
What I thought was great:
Buffy can finally just live.
Spike. Priceless.
Robin. Andrew.
I was shocked that Anya died, and especially Spike.
I loved the D&D game.
sniff… as much as I loathed the last two seasons, I will mis it.
Travis
I thought the episode was a fitting end to the series. I just wish that more of the regulars died other then just the death of Anya . Another thing I don’t get is how they are going to have Spike on Angel next year if he died at the end of this episode?
p.s. I hope I did the spoiler text thingy right…. later
Well, I’ve pretty much hated this season, but I REALLY liked this episode.
The exchange with the Original Gang in the hallway was the highpoint, and though it was even more poignant a reminder of what the season has been sorely lacking, it was the perfect encapsulation of the friendship and relationship of Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles. And, yes, Giles repeating his prophecy was brilliant. (I wonder if that was the last scene they filmed; I hope it was, but I’m probably being to romantic.)
Sad to see Anya go, but I she’d be one of the casualties. I figured it would be Xander who also got the axe, not Spike, as I really figured Joss would off one of the core gang. Really, my one complaint was the reaction to Anya’s death was too rushed (though Xander’s line was quite fitting.) Well, that and I was REALLY hoping Kennedy would die, but you just got to take the bad with the good…
The fake-out with Wood got me completely, and was very well done.
It was a solid send-off. I agree that, as far as the overall storyline of this season goes, it was a complete crap-out. But, as much as I’ve spent this whole season taking apart each episode and criticizing what went wrong, I have to say I felt this was a great way to end the show. I’ll definitely miss it. Ave atque vale, BUFFY.
By the by–how many people got the Homestar reference? “and Trogdor comes in the NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!”
Regarding next season’s Angel, keep in mind that they’ve always announced that “James Marsters” will be joining the cast of Angel. They haven’t actually said that “Spike” will be a regular.
They do have the option of recasting him in a different role. [And Joss&Co are just perverse enough that they might do so.]
BTW, did anybody else notice they changed the animation for Grr!Arg! at the end? I was amused.
I can’t help but wonder why, with all the things that were done right, I still feel that it was a let-down? Anti-climatic? Could it have something to do with the acting? I *still* get all teary over the tender moments in some of the earlier episodes, yet the biggest tender moment of all seemed flat. Granted, some of that was the angle of the shot; Marsters’ face seemed really bloated. But Buffy herself seemed to be in deadpan mode there.
Ah well, nothing is perfect …
The one thing that truly shocked me was out of all the scoobys the only one to die was Anya. She was the one I was most looking forward to interacting with the Angel gang next season in a guest spot. But then again, she was a demon, so if you were going to kill someone and still have a potential for her to come back, she would be the one.
Agreed so much on the dialogue. I commented to a friend I was watching with that it suddenly felt like the dialogue went back several seasons, in how well the patter worked.
I very much liked the fact that.. well, we got an end, but a beginning too. The gang has a good mission ahead of them, and one that keeps them busy well. And by blowing up Sunnydale, most of the things that would hold them back from roadtripping to find and train Slayers is gone.
Another element that was nice was having Buffy admit that she’s just not ready for a real relationship, more or less. Considering the bang-up job she’s done so far, nice to see her admit in a non-angstful way. It came off as mature rather than the pouting pushing-people-away we’ve seen too much of.
And then there was the nifty amulet. I really should feel like it came out of left field… except… man, that was nice. A crystal reflecting light.. perhaps soul as well.. that really worked well for me. How the amulet was introduced was very fast, but the way it actually worked managed to make up for it.
But.. sigh. I guess we know why Xander and Anya were just hovering in limbo, vaguely together, vaguely not, in cycles, there. I do wish they’d gotten one last spotlight, before…
Nice homage to Strongbad’s Trogdor during the D&D game.
Burninator!!!
oh and I thought James Marsters was signed on to Angel next year? Is he making an appearance in an urn?
oh and I thought James Marsters was signed on to Angel next year? Is he making an appearance in an urn?
Well, there is some precedent for resurrecting dusted vampires (Darla).
Corey
I have only 2 words about tonight’s episode: cookie dough?
Nah, need more than 2. I pretty much had given up on this season. I sparingly watched it. That last 2 episodes previous to tonight’s were the first ones in awhile that I watched all of the show. This episode made up for a bad year. A dámņ good way to end a show. But c’mon, cookie dough??
SPOILER:
Hey, I was thinking……maybe Spike “Shanshu”ed at the end of the episode. All we saw was that he appeared to burn up, or be engulfed by energy or something. If he did “Shanshu” that would mean he would appear on Angel as a human.
Great episode. But my question is…could all the stuff about Spike going to Angel be a swerve? That would be a great way to throw people off, but at the same time I would be kinda disapointed…
What stuck with me the most: after Buffy jumps off the bus at the end, the first thing she does is look at the road ahead and not Sunnydale behind her.
Good moment.
As much as I loved the show I have to say that I am glad that it’s over. The last two seasons have been painful to watch, especially this season. Why did I keep watching? It’s kind of like having a critically ill friend. Just because you know that they are going to die doesn’t mean that you desert them.
What I haven’t been able to understand about this season is the STUPID things that the writers have had the characters do. Never confirming that Giles was really Giles. Forgetting that the First couldn’t take corporeal form. And if you are facing down an army of vampires why not go in armed with flame throwers? (And don’t say “How are they going to get flame throwers? Aren’t those restricted to the military?” I’m sure the flame throwers could be as easily obtained as the rocket launcher that the gang gave Buffy as a birthday present a few seasons back. And when the powered up slayers were fighting the army of uber-vamps why were they just punching them? Wouldn’t you try to make sure that every blow was a death blow? And if there is only ONE entrance from the Hellmouth to the school wouldn’t you post a couple of Slayers at it so you wouldn’t have to rely on normal humans to stem the tide? (Even if one of the humans has “clocked more field time” than all the Watchers put together.) And did anyone else notice that Buffy and Anya only got stabbed because they stopped to yap? (I’m not sure, but I think that Wood did the same thing.) But I loved the integral part that Angel played in the proceedings. Christ, that had to be the lamest crossover since the “red skies” that DC had back during Crisis.
As many problems as I had with this past season and the last episode it was still better than the last season and episode of X-Files.
Fazhoul
Although I really think it diminished Spike’s sacrifice that we all know he’s due for “Angel” next season in one way, shape, or form. It made his death a Whedon Death rather than a Real, Meaningful Death.
As a sidenote, PAD, how did the bidding go on the Troll hammer?
Peter I’m glad you can come up with rationalisations about about why they went down there before they cast the spell all i can come up with is horrible horrible writing. it can’t be that they needed to go into the hellmouth to do it, because of all the girls that got the power who weren’t in sunnydale did the spell needed to be cast above the hellmouth? maybe still doesn’t explain why they opened the seal before the spell was cast.
If you’ve come up with something that i missed please post it.
Also if you can tell me what the first’s plan was and why it was so important that the slayer line be eliminated I’d really appreciate it cause you know I still have no clue.
It’s been said that Joss strengtrh are Dialogue and Character and his weakness is plot and continuity and consistency.
This episode perfectly encapsulated that. I get the feeling Joss knew he was going to have all the potentials activated at the start of the season he just had no idea how he was going to get there so he kept tossing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. I’ts not enough the sweet dialogue and character interactions (not counting Xander making jokes 5 minutes after Anya dies) are not enough for me to forgive the dredful mess the show became.
Yes, the Friendly Mutant took a quick turn of his head to look at the audience and growl, before he continued on his merry way offscreen on the ME production logo… thanks to Lis for the heads up.
Not much for me to say about the finale since others have said ’em already… except for one logical inconsistency which I will point out and also refute in a schio episode of point and counter point. Spoiler Presto Changeo!
Buffy had been going on about how the Slayerettes had to make a choice, which was to accept the power of the Slayer or not for her battle plan. Willow got to kickin’ it, and awakened it in ALL of the potentials, not just the Slayerettes… uhm, doesn’t look like those other girls got a choice in the matter… and Buffy did go on a bit about how it was an important choice…Oh I’m sure Baseball Girl would’ve taken the power, but some of the other girls may have not wanted the power foisted upon them.
CounterPoint- maybe the choice was actually the decision whether or not the Slayerettes should accept the power, which would also be forced upon all the other potentials in the world-, that they were being asked to make the choice for those unaware potentials in order to make Buffy’s battle plan work.
Here ends your episode of Point/Counterpoint.
Another thing that comes to mind- the demonic aspect of the Slayer’s power never was quite addressed… but I’m sure the Whedonverse will be continuing on in various media (comics, novels, ANGEL) so that question can still be answered later.
In a nutshell: Good final episode, just not as good final season. Now onto the Smallville discussion…
eddie
dámņ sorry, that second paragraph escaped the HTML coding…. sorry, my bad. Go ahead, have the Burninator spank me.
eddie
Hey Peter,
Coming from someone who often seems to be at odds with you, let me just say, couldn’t agree with your assessment more. My only regret was that it wasn’t somehow…bigger and longer for the series finale.
I also have a confession to make. I read the script online two days ago. I didn’t want to spoil it for anyone, so I kept mum about it.
I’m posting the link now for those of you who, like myself, might one day be interested in writing a script for a television show, and for those who think it would be cool just to read the actual script. It’s a major spoiler ofcourse, so follow the link at your own peril.
http://pluh.com/members/slashwhore/1.html
SPOILERS (like the whole thread, I guess, so why’d you open it up?)
I didn’t remember until after she was gone that Emma Caulfield had said that she asked to be killed off this season, and that she wouldn’t have come back even if there was a next one.
I agree with PAD and folks that this, finally, was Buffy for once this season. Moving away from the core four characters and introducing a literal army of extras they did everything they could to make us a care about (but just couldn’t do it) was just a bad call, Ripley.
I guess this opens a lot of doors, for not just Angel (I agree with PK up there, that’s exactly what I was thinking), but for maybe some future Buffy stuff…I mean, what about the Fray-told ending of the Hellmouth? Maybe a future movie/graphic novel/something?
So now we have Angel, Wolfram & Hart, and Slayers, Inc., two cross-country (global?) evil fighting organizations. Interesting. Granted, I doubt Buffy will go corporate, but they just increased their numbers big time.
And as braced as I was for a sad ending, I was happy that we got a happy one (see? happy). Good points on the deus ex machina’s, but I was also expecting something suddenly tragic to happen with Buffy’s very serious wound, which seemed to suddenly become a non-issue.
Ah well. There’s something appealing about good people getting a happy ending.
Night, Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Faith…you’ll be missed…
well…i loved every minute of the final “buffy.” i’ll miss this series, but i’ve got “angel” and the dvd series to keep me going.
does anyone else do this: when a show i enjoy ends (especially after a long run), i wonder what will replace it for me.
when “x-files” ended, i hadn’t been watching “buffy” long, but “buffy” was there when “x-files” was gone.
of tv’s current “genre” offerings, i most enjoy “angel,” “alias,” and “smallville.” i catch “enterprise” from time to time, but i’m not married to it.
just sorta wonder what will take the place of “buffy” in my line-up.
ok I liked the majority of it, was really shocked at the killing off of characters tho.
and how is spike supposed to be on angel this fall?
unless this was misinformation?
what does everyone else want the “buffy” spinoff to be?
i’m intrigued by the idea of a “ripper” (giles) series. too bad it might not air here, in the u.s.
i’d like to see faith and wesley (or faith and wood) on the road.
Umm, hi. longtime listner, first time caller.
really really really really really hope that pretty character who was funny and had a great singing voice comes back somehow. Really.
j
Definitely a step up from previous episodes. The Joss touch was present constantly – not only the sense of humour of old, but the characters that I knew and loved. Loved the four way convo with Giles, Buffy, Willow, and Xander. Just like old times. I’m fairly happy, considering how apathetic I’d gotten over the course of the season.
Regarding the auction for Olaf’s hammer:
PAD put in the second bid, and now, with 33 total bids, the high bid is $2086.
If there was one problem with this episode, there were three:
1. Too short. After the padding of the last few weeks, this episode really, really needed more room.
2. No closure. Spolier region ahead. I’m not talking about the big picture, but where does everyone end up in three months. Dawn said it best when she asked “Where do we live now?” Where do they end up? What does Xander do; what does Buffy do? Does Faith get a new start with a new name? A hint at a boyfriend, at happiness thought denied her by her calling would have been nice, considering that it looks like there won’t be a movie ay time soon.
And we and Xander deserved some grieving time for Anya. We realy did.
3. No “thanks and farewell” from UPN. Hëll, the WB did that when Buffy changed networks. It would have been nice had UPN acknowledged Buffy.
I will really miss Buffy, a lot more than I even now realize. I watched the show from the beginning, when it debuted for that half-season. I saw those thirteen episodes so many times that first season, that even was tired of watching them. But I was watching the pilot this afternoon on fX, and I began to see why I loved this show from the beginning. This was a great show from day one and achieved creative heights all shows would like to reach once in a run.
Personally, yes, I think the show lost itself when the Scoobies graduated for high school; part of the fun was how they reacted like kids, that finding a prom date or having a pimple was as important as stopping The Big Bad. The scene of the Scoobies walking away from a mumbling Giles was wonderful and is how I will always remember, and love, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.
A personal aside follows about a Buffy topic that has bothered me for a few seasons. I apologize if I offend anyone, I don’t mean it to be offensive, it is just a comment on a character’s development, but I’ve included in spoiler space to avoid making someone mad.
I’ve also never been able to reconcile the idea that Willow was 100% lesbian after her great love for Xander and Oz; I’d have accepted bisexual; but that’s really not here-nor-there. It is just a pet peeve I wanted to get off of my chest..
Well, at least I was two for two on death predictions. That’s something, anyway.
There was, thankfully, more to like about this episode than there has been to like about most of the season. As PAD and others have noted, the dialogue got its groove back in a major way, and that’s always been much of the appeal of the show and the characterizations involved. Good to see that signature strength here in full force, for the most part. (A few annoying missteps: from what little I know of Angel this season, he seemed a bit too goofy; Buffy’s giggle at her own quip about Caleb’s demise was a touch off; Xander shouldn’t have been joking quite as soon as he was at the end.)
It is too bad that they clearly threw all pretense of a sensible plot out the window–though perhaps they just recognized the various corners they’d written themselves into all season and figured no one would be caring much about plot this last time out, anyway– only about the character bits. Here are the head scratchers, for me:
1) The Amulet. As Buffy herself would say: could ya vague it up a little more? Geez. Seems like all they needed were some very well placed mirrors and Spike could have been spared the mystic sunburn. (Though I’m glad he wasn’t, of course.)
2) The Evacuation of Sunnydale: PAD nailed it– this was done so we wouldn’t be distracted by thoughts of all those innocent deaths in the Sinkhole from Hëll. Fair enough. But, people, please: drop a line or three of dialogue over the last few episodes explaining why this time, why none of the Scoobies or Slayers felt compelled to flee, etc. This was just way too obviously phoning it in.
3) The Spell and the Axe (sorry, just can’t call it a scythe– saw too many real ones on the farm as a lad…). Timing much? As others have noted, there’s no indication whatsoever as to why the big rush. I’m okay that they pull this utterly out of their posteriors (though, again: would a few lines of dialogue hinting at this solution here and there through the season– from Cassie? The Eye? The First? Amy? Grandma Slayer in the Crypt, even– have killed them?), but they then throw salt in the wound by not worrying about the glaringly obvious suggestion: gee, Willow–you get us all wired for Slayage, and then we’ll head downstairs for the LOTR festival. Dumb. Unfogivably dumb, in fact. At the end of Season 2, Buffy had to act to stop Angelus without waiting any longer for Willow’s major mojo to work–here, there was nothing pressing. In fact, the First had just been dealt a pretty significant defeat with Caleb’s partitioning. I don’t get the strategery here, not from the group that coordinated their efforts against Glory and Adam and the Mayor down to the minute.
4)Giles’ odd behavior goes unexplained.
5) The First’s actual plan goes unexplained, so much so as to seem nonexistent. Sort of apt in a metatextual way, sure, but more vexing than not. I’m reminded, again, of Buffy’s own words: “All right, I get it, you’re evil.” Ho-fa-reaking-hum.
6) Worst of all, from a storytelling standpoint: the Ubies turn out to be total nancy-boys. Remember how one of them gave Buffy such a hard time it took her utmost effort (and an entire episode) to kill it? Yeah, I do, too. That one must have been given all the Wheaties, ’cause several thousand of his peers seemed incapable of taking out a small cadre of Slayers with less training and experience. Sure– I’ll buy Faith, Buffy, and one or two of the pluckier lasses holding their own for a while, especially with the Exposition Axe, but–dammit, Joss– there were thousands of these things down there. Sheer body weight and numbers alone should have sent them scurrying up the stairs and out into the world, since the idea that anyoneupstairs other than Wood and possibly Giles would have lasted more than 5 seconds is ludicrous. This has to be one of the most poorly-thought out battle sequences in the show’s history, and it all could have been avoided by just making them regular vamps way back when. But then we wouldn’t have gotten as many thrilling speeches and scintillating padding. Call me a grouch, yes: but I don’t like it when writers change the rules midstream about characters’ abilities–especially villains’–sucks all the drama and tension out of a situation, wrecking the illusion. Buffy and Faith might just as well have started being able to teleport.
All that being griped, yeah–there are worse ways to go, overall. Season 5 gave the better finale to the characters on many levels, but I’m glad that there were enough touches here to make it worthwhile. I’m particularly glad that so much of the structure of the original concept was preserved, right down to Buffy’s remarks–and actions, by not choosing either sallow suitor–about not damseling well, and to those sweet moments of the core four in the hallway. Not bad for an ex-cheerleader, a computer geek, a goofball, and a librarian, all things considered. So long, suckers.
Forgive me a dated cultural reference, but in the words of Living Color’s Men on Film…
“Hated it.”
Okay, it certainly *was* entertaining… for some parts… But for a series finale (let alone a season finale) it was totally unsatisfactory…
– What the hëll was it what the First Evil wanted?! I think it’s a very bad sign if the writers still have no idea about it in the very end… Okay, they suddenly came up with the “I want a body”-thing. But how does it get a body if it frees an army of Turok Han?
– Why does it want to into every man if it’s pure evil and it’s in every human anyway…?
– What was the point why Spike should live? What what it that the FE had planed with him?
– Same thing for Buffy.
– Why did it want to wipe out the slayerline? And why was that killing stopped in the middle of the season? And why are still so many potentials left on earth when most of them were supposed to be killed by the bringers? (and I wonder how many season 3-Faiths are under them, hehe)
– Why was the ghost of Joyce warning Dawn not to be “chosen” by Buffy for some reason? Just because she didn’t want her to be in the fight? Why did the FE actually care and destroyed the Summers-house just because of this?
– Why was Giles acting so much out of character this season? Was he just having his cycle?
I could go on and on… But I don’t feel for it right now…
I’m deeply disappointed… All season 7 did was defining new standards in bad writing. Great job, ME. Well done!
I pretty much agree with PAD’s comments. It was a good wrap up to an excellent (overall) series. I’ll miss it.
And am I alone in thinking that the new status quo at the end of the series finale might have made for a very interesting season 8? Oh well 🙂
At any rate, Joss and co. made one helluva series. Kudos to them!
In a final season that started off gangbusters, marked time milking a secondary plot point mid-way through, then lurched in fits and starts to the finish line, that was an epic final episode to be sure!! Even if I wasn’t exercising the ‘commercial skip’ option on my VCR ( yes, I had a last – minute rehearsal called!! ) , that was one hour that truly flew by!!
However…..!!, the deaths of Anya and Amanda….my personal favorite of the potential slayers….did register several thousand points on the suckiness scale, as Willow would say!
>>By the by–how many people got the Homestar reference?<<
Pfffffft!! Homestar, Schmomestar!! How many people caught the ‘The Wild Bunch’ reference?? ( “If they move….kill them!” )
Incidentally, I seem to recall reading somewhere that the final image of tonight’s episode was to be: As the bus pulls away, a hand rises from the ground where Sunnydale once stood. I inferred that hand to belong to the now-human Spike….which would mark the beginning of his eventually making his way to L.A…..and, of course, ‘Angel’!
Well, I learned long ago that you can’t believe everything that you read…..still, I think that would’ve been pretty neat, and a cool lead-in / set – up.
Thanks to the WB….who came through….we shall see!!
:^)
Hooper
By the way, Peter, I shall neither read, nor comment upon, your ‘Smallville’ entry. Until the episode is re-broadcast on Sunday, that is.
As I mentioned earlier, after weeks of anticipation, I found myself having to rely upon my VCR after all! And in the 9:00 series-finale Sophie’s Choice derby, the winner was ’24’!!
And so my long countdown to 5:00 p.m. Sunday begins.
Tick ( poom ), tick ( poom ), tick ( poom ), tick ( poom ), tick ( poom ), tick ( poom )….
Hooper
Okay. I meant to say ‘SEASON – finale’ up there.
But gimme a break….it’s freakin’ late!!
And besides….no more Emma Caufiled or Sarah Hagan on a weekly basis!!
*sniff*
Hooper
What was wonderful about the episode, I think, was how it opened up so many storytelling possibilities. It felt like a gift from Joss Whedon to the fans. The fanfic writers are going to have a field day, having so many new slayers to choose from and limitless story potential. And Dark Horse’s life must be easier now too, because now they are not burdened with the task of squeezing everything into continuity. The world of BtVS is literally opened up to them. Just pick a slayer, and start creating. It’s an exciting time.
The show didn’t end. It’s only beginning.
Wow. I was… not so happy. [Lots of spoilers follow.] As usual this season it was hard to ignore the enormous plotholes. The First Evil seems to know their every move, and yet our heroes take their time casting the spell to empower the slayers, leaving plenty of time for them to be attacked first. Buffy could barely defeat one ubervamp, and yet she sent her newly minted slayers against an army of thousands of them. Folks like Andrew and Xander were able to hold their own against multiple ubervamps. Why fight them at all– it was daylight, so the ubervamps couldn’t leave the school anyway. In the least, I would have positioned myself real close to the windows and doors. The deaths of Anya and Spike were flat, and we know Spike will soon be back on Angel. The destruction of the town was predictable (though the effects were nice). And no payoff for the Joyce prophecy in “Conversations with Dead People.” We never found out what The First Evil was planning, or why, or what its philosophy of life was after existing virtually forever. Really, I’m not a nitpicker… I never really noticed stuff like this at all in earlier seasons, or on Angel this season, really. But geez, I really need more than FINALLY writing Giles in character to salvage the season for me. I really feel this season went nowhere, and took forever getting there.
Wow. I loved it. I agree that it should have been a 2 hour finale, and that the season should have been better paced. But it ended the series well. I am satisfied.
For some reason, the whole “First” thing has not bothered me. He/It was evil. He/It wanted to take over the world. What more did “B” need to know? Sometimes you don’t need to know the plan to stop it from happening. I agree that it would have made me care more if it had been better written, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I did not see it coming, but when the crystal brought in the sunlight, I was like, “Duh.” And then I thought, why didn’t they blow a hole in the roof of the school so that the portal would be bathed in sunlight when they entered? No vamp could have escaped, no humans would have been put at risk.
One possible “excuse” for waiting to superpower the girls after they entered: the First would have noticed and been more alert/prepared. But it was more likely poor writing.
While Anya’s death did not have the impact ME may have wanted, I did appreciate the bunny reference.
My one biggest complaint is the failure to explain Joyce’s prophecy to Dawn that Buffy would not choose her. That is the one shoe that never fell.
Bottom line: It may not have been the best season, but a poor season of Buffy is better than most of the rest of TV. (Except for Alias. Sydney rocks!)
JLW Dallas
I’m glad this series is over for the simple fact I don’t have to come here and see people like Fazhoul complain about how each episode sucked. I started coming here because people posted thoughtful topics and deep insight about what happened, but if Peter bad mouthed an episode, so did the faithful lackeys. That really started to destroy the series on a whole for me. Move on to something else, it’s over.
I think what was shown in the end was that Joss Whedon got in over his head. He and his primary lieutenants were no longer overseeing the series closely enough and what we saw was the series flailing around out of control. Maybe he was feeling a little confined and wanted to do something a little different but one man can only do so much. Firefly was cancelled, Ripper hasn’t happened and this wasn’t the strongest year for either Buffy or Angel. If Joss ever gets lucky enough to catch the lightning in the bottle again I hope he’ll have learned to stay involved with the series and not be tempted to wander off to a third and fourth show. Because I will of course be investing my time and hope in trying it out based on liking his past work. Reading EW today, I’m led to wonder, if SMG and the other cast members are to be believed about the absence of Joss on the set and the way it felt for the cast, if Joss had been around more this season, would SMG have re-upped? It’s over now and I’m sad that it is. Now I will be a little nervous until I have all 7 seasons in my hands on DVD. The track record seems to be there for the first 5 to come out, but until I see them in a store, I will be uncertain about seasons 6 and 7.
The one bit no one else has mentioned that I caught; the shout-out to the universe of The Wish (aka vampire Willow’n’Xander) when Giles mentions the other Hellmouth in Cleveland. Remember, in The Wish when he’s on the phone trying to get Buffy to come to Sunnydale, he has a line something like “Well, I’m sure she’s very busy in Cleveland…”
Anyone else hoping that on the first ep of next season’s Angel we see Fred casually exhibiting super-strength as a Slayer? 🙂
I’m not sure, but I don’t think all the critters from the pit were uber-Vamps. Some of ’em looked like Bringers and lower level (but still deformed) vamps that I could believe Anya and Andrew could’ve handled for more than .1 seconds (OK, .2 when Anya’s hulked up on thoughts of bunnies)
As for why they waited until opening the seal to empower the Wanna-Slays, well, Willow explained that quite well “Buffy, nice girl, but not very bright” 🙂
I enjoyed tonight’s series finale. In terms of hour-long drama sendoffs, I’d place it about in the middle somewhere between the Star Trek:TNG (the best) and X-Files (the worst) series enders.
I probably would of enjoyed it more if this season wasn’t so poorly done. I mean, it would of been nice to see everything building up to this grand finale when they started and stopped so many plotlines that the season never had any focus.
But, in the end, two big ongoing things in BTVS have always been that Buffy is the Chosen ONE and the concept of the Hellmouth…so in that regard, the finale did wrap that up nicely.
Some assorted thoughts:
1) to those asking about Joyce’s “prophecy” to Dawn about Buffy not choosing her…uh, I thought that was already explained. “Joyce” was the First. She was telling lies and being evil. If you remember, in that ep, Tara also “came back” and told Willow to kill herself.
2) To those wanting a FAITH series. After tonight’s ep, I can safely say that show would last exactly 4 eps before annoying, pardon the pun, the hëll out of the audience. Dushku’s a hottie, no argument, but soon as she opens her mouth..”I need some sleep, yo???”…that whole white-chick-who-talks-like-a-sista thang she had going on annoyed me more than Kennedy on her worst day.
3) Speaking of Kennedy, yeah, she kind of grew on me at the last minute. I think once she admitted she was an annoying spoiled brat, I started to dig her. There’s something sexy about self-awareness.
4) Xander was strangely calm about Anya’s death. I think her death scene would of been 100x better if after she had fallen, if Andrew had gone all Wolverine and slashed like 3 bringers to ribbons.
5) Speaking of death (and poor storytelling), how about Preacher Caleb? What a useful character he was. So he attacked Buffy randomly a few times, poked out an eye and then got chopped to suey soon as Buffy got a pickaxe? And the way she did it tonight, like swatting a pesky fly. He sure was an essential part of the season…I think he was only written in because Joss felt sorry for him being part of that Fox series that tanked.
6) In a way, I hope Spike stays dead. There is something epic about how he died…seeing him as one of Buffy’s first Baddies and then, just because he fell in love (and thus was “resouled”) he was able to be the one who made the difference in the final battle. Kind of fits. Although the silly “Amulet That Annihilates All” thing sure didn’t.
7) Speaking of Spike. Don’t hypervenilate over him not being on Angel next year. Rememeber in the Angel ep “Shanshu in LA” the prophecy was that a vampire with a soul would be reborn as a mortal.
8) Finally, the best moment was, for me, the Original Four roaming the school hallways one last time..and especially how Xander and Buffy held hands at the end. Its kind of a shame they never hooked up (I mean, did she have to waste almost two seasons with RILEY?).
All in all, a great tv series (ok, 5 1/2 great seasons and 1 1/2 mediocre ones) that I think is ending at just about the right time. And since the Star Trek franchise is pretty much dead, hopefully 5 years or so from now we’ll get a Buffy movie.
Best–Chris
I thought this was the worst season final that they ever made. aside from the plotholes already mentioned before I also dearly the missed the emotional human connection. The thing that made me fan of this show was that no matter how fantastic the story was the reaction to what happened to them was always understandable.
as an example let take the death of Spike. down in the cave Buffy tells Spike that she loves him. However when they are standing at the crater she does not shed a single tear but only smiles when Dawn ask what they are going to do next demishing his sacrifice and impact. The same can be said about the death of Anya and all the others. Although i do understand the reason behind the smile i think it totally inapropriate at this time. In my oppion this should be time of grieve and sorrow for dead friends. We have seen this off behavior the whole season.
Frustrating is also that this season could have worked fine with just a few minor adjustments. looking back at it the first evil is a rather dissappointing last enemy for Buffy. It does not seem to have plan except to send a ubervamp and Caleb after her and see what happens.
About Spike appearing in Angel season five I think Spike is dead and will not return. However we might get to learn to know William. The way they are probable pull this off is that the PTB will resurrect him working at wolfram & hart having no memory of his vampire life as Spike. Since this is a kind of reward for what he did he also does not need to live with burden of what he has done in the past. This will then will also mean that he does not remember the love he had for Buffy and why he doesn
I cried. I sobbed when the ending credits ran for the last time. When certain characters died, I gasped, even though I knew of at least one of them. I know it wasn’t the best episode of Buffy’s seven (6.5) years, but it was a satisfying ending. There were times during the show’s run that, directly after an episode, I couldn’t believe how horrible it was. But then, most of the time I’d watch it over and I would find things that were great.
My favorite seasons will always be the first three, after that I felt Buffy kind of lost its path. Even in the most meandering of seasons, however, were episodes, scenes, or just lines of dialogue that, excuse the cliche, I felt in my soul. This was the reason I kept watching. Through the ribbing of co-workers, friends, and family, I always believed Buffy was the best show on television.
And despite any plot holes or confusions left over, I still do. There was passion in this show. I don’t mean lusty physical passion, but the kind of feeling that comes from something important.
In the end, I don’t believe the final episode itself is so crucial a point. For me, the series finale was a powerfully satisfying conclusion to a series that I hope is never forgotten.
1. Would have been nice if there were a few extra minutes to completely wrap things up, or a more overall plan for this season to begin with. Wheddon was probably too busy with Firefly in the beginning.
2. Will be interesting to find out what happens to all the new Slayers, especially since until now, it would have been Faith’s death that triggered the next one’s activation, not Buffy’s. Remember, they’ve been running a Slayer ahead since Kendra, and there wasn’t a new one after Buffy scarificed herself against Gloria.
3. If anyone goes over to Angel, I would prefer Willow. It would be nice to see the Sunnydale connection continue, especially since C. Carpenter allegedly wants to leave.
Now that Eliza Dukashu has declined staring in a spin off we’ll undoubtedly we’ll see some of the Slayerette’s show up on Angel to be tested for popularity and spun off.
Come to think of it with Charisma Carpenter gone from Angel they could use another chick or two.
I gotta wonder how many readers of this site would have enjoyed the last two seasons of Buffy a little more had they not had the internet. I’m not saying you all can’t form opinions on your own but if you have one nitpick and post it others will join in with little things they found wrong that you might have missed. After reading about 30 posts like this its hard not to think the show has bad writing even if you liked it before posting. Then of course your LOOKING for plotholes in the next episodes.
Would seasons 1-3 have held up if we had this board to discuss it 7 years ago? Cause I hate to say it but this show has always had humongous plotholes and bad acting. Everyone leaving the town because of all the strangeness is only odd because of the total blindness the whole town had for the last 7 years. This show thrived on the simple understanding it had with the audience to not take it to seriously. A ‘Don’t question why the school hasen’t been closed down after a 100 random deaths and we’ll give you a missle launcher.’ mentality.
Calling the ax and amulet a dues ex machina? The ax was, to me, a fun tip of the hat to Fray, which, Hello! How cool is that? Whedon didn’t have to do that. So I’ll accept it as a fun gift to me and anyone else that was thrilled to see it and the rest of you get coal. 🙂 And the amulet? I wouldn’t be surprised if Wolfram and Hart didn’t have a bunch of other handy little trinkets that would have stopped Glory or the Master laying around too. Sure, you could say that it was just a plot to get Angel on for 5 minutes, but I again thank Joss for going through all the trouble of convincing 2 networks to allow the crossover to show the history of these characters. I’m sure some big-shots in UPN doesn’t want the fans to be reminded that Angel still exists on a competing station.
All throughout the series it was obvious that Whedon and co. were huge comic book fans and that this show was in many ways a shot to make a live action comic. It had the action, the humor, the drama, and most overlooked, the guts not to put everything to rights at the end of every episode. It moved along and grew. A lot of you are loving Smallville for doing everything Buffy purposly avoided. The whole soap opera based will they or won’t they Clark and Lana thing I got tired of halfway through last year will go on for ever cause the creators say getting the stars together ruined Lois and Clark. Which is wrong and an excuse. And if they feel that way why d
Great episode, but yeah, lots left unexplained and it loks like quite a few people have already mentioned that with all the trouble Buffy had with the first Ubervamp, all the humans upstairs should have been toast.
Anya sliced clean through one? Unless she was secretly a potential, “I call no way”…
Apart from dangling threads (giles behavior, what did Joyce mean, mystery do-dads from no where… inability to suspend disbelief although the dialog and characters seems a lot more like them selves
Anya: “Lets go round up the cannon fodder….”
However when they are standing at the crater she does not shed a single tear but only smiles when Dawn ask what they are going to do next demishing his sacrifice and impact.
It just occurred to me that if Spike is reborn as William the moment he dies as a vampire and the momories of everybody affecte get changed at the same instant Buffy might not remember Spike anymore when Dawn asked her what to do next. This could explain the smile and her not crying over Spike ending. kind of sad though if that were the case.