Buffy - 05/20/03 - Chosen (This is the end. And spoilers, obviously))

Cafe Society
1

I had the file for five hours before I got the nerve to watch it. I did pointless things. Watched Boston Public (swimming with sharks), read a little from the new Terry Pratchett, played Zelda WindWaker… I just couldn’t find the nerve to hit the play button.

And what’s up with the hamsters today? On strike? It’s been impossible to get in for the past… oh eight hours. One reason I waited to watch, was because I knew I had to come here and write about it, the moment it’s finished, just to vent.

What can I say? I mean really?
96 hours of Buffy over seven years. A lot of terrific stuff, some of the best things ever on television, and lately, well you guys know. So how would it all wrap up? What things would be left hanging loose? I had to work up the strength to see it. And now I have. Sorry about ranting.

Joss Wheadon is the Master. He wrote and directed and he does a great job. The problem as I feel right now, is that maybe he’s trying a bit too hard. I mean, for me, Buffy is a drama-soap-comedy-horror-action thing. And JW really tries to get all of that into this episode. So many innuendoes, so many double entendres. And references all the way back to the very first episode.
Had JW taken control earlier, during the season, and spread these things out a little, I would have been more forgiving about the horrors of SIT’s and Kennedy.

Most of it works. There is some horrible scene with Kennedy and Willow, and now that I think about it, there were to many things that weren’t resolved. The speech from the first episode, with the promise from the Master of going back to the beginning - where did that go?

All in all, a good, but not stellar episode. And leaving me slightly… un-satisfied.

High points, for me: Dawn kicking Buffy’s leg. Dungeons and Dragons. Andrew’s road to redemption. David B actually being funny as Angel. He gets some great lines.

Low points: Faith and the Principal. Hint of magick as a drug. Pandering to both B/A and Spuffy shippers. And some of those sexual innuendoes were not so fun.

Scores:
As a part of this season: 9/10
As a part of the whole franchise: 7/10

I left out specifics about the very end, who lives, who dies, what happens. Those who cannot wait can read it in the next box:

Spike fans will of course be happy that he got to save the world. Yes, he sacrifices himself and turns to dust. How this will work with him showing up on Angel next season, I don’t know, but I now understand why JW was reluctant to talk about him being there.
Of course, having a person dead is no guarantee that they will stay dead. My prediction - his reward will be being turned to a human.
And Anya dies.
So much for casualties.

Oh, and the Hellmouth not only closes. It implodes. There is one in Cleveland, though, as Giles points out. And we’re not really sure what happened to TFE.

BTW, I really hate revealing what was said at the big meeting, later in a flashback. I knocked of a whole point from the score, because of that.

And with slayers all over the place, and not just those who survived the battle, is there even a point in making any kind of SpinOff around a vampire-slayer?

It felt very rushed at the end.

I think that the ending is going to be debated for some time. Maybe not here, but at the fan fora.

2

I read the wildfeed this morning, and have been mulling over the episode since. I can’t say I am totally happy. The entire episode seemed rather contrived and rushed. Almost like finishing a test paper on the last day of school when you already know you have passed the class.

I also feel cheated. There are too many unanswered questions, too many things left swinging in the breeze. Yes, Anya dies. We knew or suspected that for a while now, no new suprises. Xander doesn’t seem to terribly upset, and neither does Buffy, although the man she claimed to love just sacrificed himself and is now dust. It will be interesting to see how JW explains Spike’s appearance on Angel next season. And, a mini rant - has Angel completely forgotten his comatose girlfriend back home? Where is Xander’s big arc? Why is Kennedy still alive? Was the Wood/Faith thing really necessary?

I am trying to withold most of my judgement until I actually see it. At times, things just do not scan from a reading.
Grr Arrggh - Nevermore:(

3

When I got the script, I hated it. When I read the Wildfeed last night, I hated it so much I drank. When I DLed the ep this morning and watched, I loved it so much I cried, and I’ve been watching it over and over. So I think maybe you might feel differently after you’ve seen the ep, Lyllyan It does come across better on screen.

4

I thought it was a good episode (at least compared to the rest of the season). There are still a couple of loose threads hanging, such as [spoiler] the “She won’t choose you”-thing wasn’t addressed one way or the other (at least I don’t think so), and why are the übervamps suddenly so easy to kill? Buffy had serious problems with the last one.

But all in all, I feel that this episode was a nice ending (after all, they destroy Sunnydale), but not as good as Graduation Day, or Becoming.[/spoiler]
Buffy Score (somewhat adjusted upwards due to a generally bad season): 8/10.

5

::giggles:: Okay, I have to dig that piece of continuity. In the Wishverse, Buffy was sent to Cleveland instead of Sunnydale :D.

6

I really liked that episode.

[spoiler]Not everything was resolved, but that was to be expected, with all those loose ends.

About Spike: Are you all sure that he’s going to be in Angel next season? His death looked rather final to me, he turned to dust and the whole town collapsed onto him. And it takes away from the sacrifice if he just goes on living afterwards, even with a convincing story.
[/spoiler]

7

mkl12

I was wondering about that too. Last week, Joss Wheadon said in TV-guide that nothing was settled about Spike being on Angel. OTOH, The WB has him listed as one of the regulars for next season.
Also, I read somewhere that Spike will be ‘Shan-shuad’, as an explanation. I’ve have no idea about what that means, but someone - Pepperlandgirl? - will surely be able to tell us.

8

http://www.tvguide.com/tv/review/

TVGuide’s review of tonight’s episode. Some spoilage (I didn’t peak at that), overall it seems they liked it. See you after the show airs.

9

mkl12, Spike will definitely be on Angel next year. He’s a reg with second billing. Fury and Minear explained in the Succubus Club interivew that James was always going to be a part of any new project ME did, and that the clincher for AtS being renewed was James becoming a regular. They basically said “WE had to make a compromise. Fortunately,that compromise was more Spike, which really wasn’t a compromise at all.”
As for the Shanshu thing (or as my friend calls it, Orgasmify) it’s the prophecy/reward that ANgel has been looking for. A vampire with a soul will save the world in an Apocolypse and be “reborn” or become human. I think there are a lot of contextual clues that point to Spike getting ANgel’s reward–and I think that would be totally exciting for a story-telling viewpoint. Remember Spike shouting “I’m drowning in footwear!” Shan=water Shoe=footwear. Joss being cutesy-clever, or Spike having his own prophecy? Nobody knows at this point.

10

Pepper,

How does shan=water? I thought shan meant “mountain” in Chinese. And does shu=shoe because it sounds like it, or something else? I am quite interested in this point of foreshadowing.

11

Mahaloth

I thought I read that shan meant water in some language…Chinese probably. But it was a passing reference on a board, and now that I’m hashing it out with a few other people (none of us know for sure) we’ve changed our theory, it’s just a pun. Shanshu is commonly referred to Sand Shoes in the fandom (and apparently Joss does, indeed, read the Internet.), and footwear=shoes. Sand=beach=water=drowning.
Or Joss is being “clever” and like much of Restless, it doesn’t mean anything. Who knows?

12

I’m giddy with anticipation. Only 2 hours 45 minutes to go. Well, actually, its longer than that because I have to record it and watch it after my son goes to bed. So 4 hours 45 minutes to go.

13

It’s going to be very interesting to read your reactions to this tomorrow. I think I’ll re-watch again tonight before going to bed.

And Yay! it’s nice the board is working again.

14

I liked it. Fun stuff

15

Hmm. Anyone not reading the contents of spoiler boxes is really going to get a whole lot of nothing out of this thread! :wink:

16

I liked it, better than a lot of this season, but could have had some things done to it to make it better.

I really loved the reference to HomestarRunner and Strong Bad with the whole Trogdor thing. I was laughing a lot more than a lot of others during that scene.

I’ll talk some more when I don’t have to go run away and do things…

17

I spent all day thinking about how much I love Spike, and how much I love Buffy, and how much I love the episode. I honestly loved every single part of this episode—well, every part except the last scene. Xander just lost someone he loved dearly–it’s not the time ofr jokes. I think Giles, Willow and Dawn were also very cold and tactless. You guys just lost Anya, Spike, SitS that lived and worked with you for months, your home, your town! Jeeze!
But other than that, I thought it ended the series on a very high note. I can’t stop crying over Spike. he was so beautiful sniff I can’t stop crying over the “I love You”. I didn’t believe it when I read it, but I believed when I saw it. I can’t stop crying over Anya. I can’t stop crying over “The world is definitely doomed.” I’m so emotional.
I even liked the Faith/Wood stuff.
I have some philosophical problems with “sharing the power”. There is no watcher’s council to keep an eye on these girls. What if we get a whole world of Faiths? I mean, they have no idea what their power is and what they should be doing with it. I can see like, a super-army of young ladies wreaking havoc all over the world, going “rogue” as it were. I get they are going to try to find them and the Scoobies will be the new CoW…but it still doesn’t strike me as the smartest thing they’ve ever done. Oh well.

18

This is the first time I’ve ever posted to a Buffy thread and I’ve watched the series from the beginning. I’ve always peeked at the spoilers and yet truly enjoyed the show when it aired. I forget who mentioned this but it’s true: Even when the show sucked, it was still better than 97% of the dreck out there. This show entertained me, taught me, repulsed me, and I’m going to miss it. I was so bummed when there wasn’t an ending title sequence acknowledging the end to this masterpiece. Joss Whedon must be compelled to create more shows with this wit and depth. Thanks, pepperlandgirl, for your insights and observations. I got more out of the shows that way. Thanks, The Gaspode, for watching the show just before I could and pointing out bits that were fresh in my mind that I could watch for. It’s been a great ride.

19

This did not live up to the hype. It was worse than the Seinfeld fiasco. Only shining light in this was the Trogdor the Burninator reference.

20

I loved it - I thought it was wonderful. And loved the part with Willow!!