So call them “The A-Team”
What? WHAT?
Now that I think about it, the old woman things was doubly lame. She didn’t reveal ANYTHING of any particular use about the sycthe. Indeed, the whole premise of this ep in finding out more about the sycthe was just utterly pointless. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything more to learn about it than there was when Buffy picked it up. It’s. A. Powerful. Weapon. Ya KILL things with it. Buffy knew everything we learned in this ep right from the first time she picked it up: it’s powerful, and its old. So what did the big cryptic “last surprise” reveal? Oh: it’s a powerful weapon. Also, it’s old. grrr…
But the silly thing is… it hasn’t really been demonstrated to DO more than a regular axe. I mean, it’s not like it gave Buffy any sort of special advantage I could see. All it seemed to give her was the idea that, uh, maybe I shouldn’t be fighting super-strong guy barehanded.
And I’d really just like to know where some centuries old druid-ladies got the technology to create pink steel, don’t ya know.
I dunno, I thought it was pretty good, for this season.
First, I recommend people just relax about the ancient tomb coming out of nowhere. It’s Sunnydale. Stuff is where it is, when it is, because it needs to be there, and it’s pointless to try to explain it. It’s why nobody noticed Dracula’s castle, or how Evil Willow raised the ancient tomb just outside of town, etc. etc.
For the rest of it, I was a little upset that there weren’t more deaths due to the bombing. Did they get rid of the “The witch is dead” girl? If so, at least that’s a start. But the interactions were pretty not annoying, which is good.
As for Dawn’s being able to take over Xander, it makes perfect sense. She had him by complete surprise; he didn’t think she’d carry a taser with her, and he also felt he was doing the right thing and expected that the most she’d do was argue with him or start crying.
And as for the kiss at the end, that seemed okay to me. Buffy and Angel haven’t seen each other in a long time. I didn’t get “romantic” out of it as much as “used to be romantic, after a prolonged separation.” What I didn’t get, though, is why Spike would lurk in the shadows while Caleb kicked Buffy’s ass, instead of jumping in to help her. Seems like there are a million other ways they could’ve had that same love triangle thing going on without its being so awkward.
At least that one, they acknowledged, and played for laughs.
Bleah.
Another crappy episode, continuing a long tradition of crappy episodes. If next week wasn’t bringing this all to a much-needed end, this would have been the episode that moved the series from “must watch” to “If there’s nothing else on, and nobody wants to go out, and nobody’s posting on the boards, and I’m not feeling creative enough for any of my projects, then yeah, maybe I’ll watch just to see how bad it’s gotten. Maybe.”
One laugh in the whole show: the “I’ve done things with you I can’t spell.” Even Everybody Loves Raymond hits more often than that. Forced and meaningless dramatic scenes. No forward plot motion at all. A big Deus Ex Machina, the Barbie Dream Scythe, which nobody understands and doesn’t seem to do anything special. Hey, maybe the Woman In The Crypt Which Appeared Out Of Nowhere can tell us something about it… nope. She Died. And all because Big Scary Preacher TightPants knows how to materialize in a tomb that’s been hidden for millennia, which he couldn’t possibly know about, just in time for Exposition Lady to almost, nearly, possibly, get to the Freaking Point.
Oh, and then the death of Caleb, via Deus Axe Machina. And the other big Deus Ex, Angel, appearing out of nowhere, and doing… pretty much nothing. And then, more senseless character interaction.
It’s not that the show has jumped the shark, it’s become a whole damned watershow. It’s like visiting Sea World. The final episode should get some sort of humanitarian award for putting this thing out of its misery.
I wouldn’t mind so much, if it hadn’t once been so damned good. And I wouldn’t mind so much if Angel wasn’t having one of the best runs of any series on television. But compared to Angel, compared to what it once was, the show has turned entirely to dreck.
Bleah.
I think I know why they had the Wise Old Woman on there.
We know Buffy isn’t going to die, and that she’s going to stop being the Slayer. Since Wise Old Woman got killed, there’s a job opening and Buffy’s the one who’s going to fill it. Similarly, Willow and Xander are going to be the nexus of a new Watcher council. I think.
Hmmm. I seem to have interpreted the ending completely differently that some people, based on the spoiler boxes. I was under the impression that it was TFBuffy who was fighting “with” Angel against Caleb, and Real Buffy with Spike at the end. Seeing Caleb “dead” (yeah right, like the bad guy is ever really dead on the first try) would convince Angel that everything was A-OK in Sunnydale, so he’d believe TFBuffy if she told him to leave, thus leaving Buffy with one less ally. Undoubtedly Spike has told Buffy by now about TF’s ablity to appear to look like her… no spoilers to prove or disprove this please, just counter-speculation.
T’was one more episode
'Tis the end
I just can’t mind
It don’t offend.
Good night.
Exactly. It was forced. When did Spike get there, why was he watching from the shadows? I guess everyone followed Buffy there, but still very pat. And the return of the FE & Spike thing. Gack, what next- chained up in the dungeon?
The good:
The scenes with Angel really popped, it was nice to see some chemistry for once. Actually there was a lot of decent chemistry in a couple scenes, like a trip down memory lane.
The hospital scenes were very amusing. Wheelchair Fight! 
I
The plot actually went somewhere. Some major issues were actually addressed.
The preview for next week.
The bad:
Why won’t Kennedy die already? First the bomb, then the Uber Vamps, yet she is still stinking up the screen- grrrr, she is like a cockroach. Did anyone die from the bomb? If not, what was it powered with-- silly putty?
The Dawn & Xander scenes, especially the last one. Oy. The horrible lines for Giles.
Good episode overall, especially after the last couple of stinkers. 7/10.
I’ve also heard them called “MoG” or “Ministers of Grace.” From Hamlet, when he sees his dad’s ghost: “Angels and ministers of grace, defend us.” Much classier than Fang Gang.
I liked the Anya and Andrew scene at the hospital. They had–not sexual chemistry–but some kind of chemistry. And I enjoyed the Buffy/Faith moment, especially the “hot chicks with superpowers” comment. Heehee!
Yeah, Faith & Buffy and the wheelchair fight were good. I would have liked Angel to have seen Buffy get the crap kicked out of her THEN come in. The way he looked, it was as if she was just killing some random vamp.
I’ve had a wacky idea for the end: we have been told Buffy won’t chose Dawn. I’m thinking TFE has Dawn hostage, Buffy has to choose between her and saving the world…and doesn’t choose Dawn. Sound plausible? I’m nt putting it in a bx 'cause it isn’t a spoiler, just my speculation.
Is there some reason that super internet sleuth Willow didn’t, upon finding a link to the m-glottal stop axe, click on it?!?
Is there some reason why Buffy, upon figuring out last week that the way to defeat Caleb was to fight “slippery” for lack of a better term, went back this week to the same damn “run at the bad thing and get tossed across the room” offense? She’s been doing that mad dash at the bad guy thing for seven years and it never works. I was really hoping after last week we’d seen that move retired but I guess not.
I really loved the scene at the hospital right up until the wheelchair fight. Hi, remember why you’re there, to get supplies to treat the severely wounded people?
How many people have been Buffy’s strength? Spike, Xander, Angel, Willow, Giles…the list goes on I’m sure.
Loved loved loved the sappy letter/taser moment. Was Dawn actually driving the car from the passenger seat?
And, of course, Miss Kitty Fantastico, rest in peace. Alas, we hardly knew ye.
There are so many ? that are never going to be straightened out to !. The eye oracle thing, Joyce talking to Dawn, From beneath you it devours, that I’ve given up the hope of ME bringing it all together. Knowing what I know now, there never should have been a 7th season. I don’t really know what went wrong. That column in salon.com was interesting, but I don’t think it’s the only reason. I think SMG making it clear last summer that she was going to leave is part of it. I also think it’s how the writers painted themselves into a corner by adding more and more to the mix, to the point where they lost perspective.
I did a search for things I said about Ats during the early season. Couldn’t find the threads, but I remember myself being less than enthusiastic. I found many things to be strange, contrived and stupid. Then, episode by episode, the writers showed me that they wanted me to be annoyed. There was a plan and a clear goal with where the story was going. Slowly and surely, it all came together. If this had happened during the last five or seven episodes on Buffy, I would have been very happy. However, with only 40 minutes left to go it will not happen.
I still think that JW has a magic touch, only that he hasn’t applied it to Buffy this year. There are so many interesting storylines to explore and all of them are just left untouched, while we’re going nowhere with Spuffy. And even that storyline could have been a lot more interesting.
Except of course, TFBuffy can’t touch anything, much less weild an axe.
I thought it was OK, but the old woman scene bugged me severely. First, if she and her friends made it FOR the slayer, why did they keep it secret FROM the slayer in this time of need. The slayer’s enemies apparently know all about it, but the slayer herself has to stumble on it.
Second, how did she find this old tomb again?
Third, how did Caleb, Angel, AND Spike find the old tomb all at exactly the same time? Wasn’t Spike supposed to keep an eye on Caleb while Buffy went out?
Is that where that’s from? Ok, that makes sense. Everytime I see people refer to them as “Ministers” it makes me scratch my head. Has somebody been ordained? What the hell have I been missing. I agree, that is more classy than the Fang Gang.
I suspect that Spike showed up at the crypt at roughly the same time as Angel. Or alternately, Spike was prowling around looking for Caleb (because he wasn’t at the vineyard obviously), and found the tomb and noticed Angel was there, and decided to keep an eye open. Or it doesn’t really matter, as long as he saw that Joss wanted him to see and it’s best that we don’t think about it or we’ll get a headache.
Spike looked yummy in the preview. I love the Touseled Hair of Redemption ™. (Which is not the same as the Bedhair of Redemption, and the Curly Hair of Redemption, or the Roots of Redemption). 
Bottomline - it has come to the point where I was out until halfway thru the ep, and was content to simply watch the final half and had no urge to later rewind the tape and watch the first half.
My fave exchange was:
Faith: Good thing we’re hot chicks with superpowers.
Buffy: Yeah, that does take the edge off.
No surprise Dawn could overpower X - he was being a responsible driver and keeping one eye on the road at all times.
Buff’s killing(?) of Caleb was lame. No special strategy, no evidence of power from the weapon, and not even all that icky looking of an injury. She sliced his gut. Didn’t see great gushing gouts of gore. What did he die of, immediate sepsis?
Not only did Buffy just stumble upon the pyramid/tomb - Caleb used the back door! And the old lady was really old, but didn’t show any other powers. Didn’t hear/sense Caleb/evil, and her neck sure snapped easily.
I am so not looking forward to next week. This used to be a great show.
I still say Dawn is going to be “key” to any resolution.
Oh yeah - another prediction. Next week, Buffy stakes Spike.
what a pile of crap. are they trying to make us happy that buffy’s being put out to pasture? because, i, for one, can’t wait until it’s over so i don’t have to watch anymore.
Hmmm, I like Mahaloth’s prediction for the finale. But I had an alternate idea:
After seeing Buffy and Angel kiss, Spike’s jealousy turns him back into wholly evil vampire-with-a-soul, to contrast nicely with Angel’s good vampire-with-a-soul on Ange[ next season. There’s no way that Angel can support two good (ar at leats, well-intentioned) souled vampires, and with Buffy gone, Spike won’t have much motivation to be good anyway.
I liked this episode-- they’re at least trying to tie up some loose ends. I’ve given up on it all coming together seamlessly, as we used to be able to count on ME pulling off, but it’s still a strong show.
I thought the Anya/Andrew scene worked perfectly. While I wasn’t moved by Anya’s speech, I was by Andrew’s admission, “I don’t think I am going to be OK.” For a character who struggles to be brave and do the right thing when his natural inclination is to be a follower, I think he’s evolved beautifully over the course of this season. He’s facing down death and doing it more candidly and humbly than any of the others.
Angel showing up at the end should have been left as a surprise for the audience, rather then given away by the commercials/teasers by UPN. Would have been more effective. As it was, I was waiting for him to turn up and for it to mean something, but as it was, it did feel contrived. And the kiss was just weird, especially given that the last time Angel and Buffy crossed paths (all off-screen), they both said to their friends, “Don’t ask,” about the encounter. Implying all was not well between them. Oh well. We’ll see what they do with it next week and next Angel season.
But seriously now, why didn’t Buffy behead Caleb when he was down? Has she never seen a horror movie? Is she not The Slayer? Never assume the uber-powerful enemy is dead. Always make sure. Doesn’t make you vicious, it makes you smart. Caleb will clearly be back.