Well, I’m grieving. I mean, didn’t you feel a bit of pain when BUffy died in S5, even though youknew she would be back on UPN? I think no matter what happens, the Spike we see next year is not going to be the same Spike we saw on BtVS…how could he be?
As for the Shanshu, it doesn’t matter that the prophecy wasn’t mentioned on BtVS. If you don’t watch Angel, and you don’t plan to after this season (and I know a few people who insist they won’t…hahaha, like they won’t follow Spike anywhere…) then that’s it. Spike’s story is over. Whatever happens from that point on is firmly in the realm of the Angel-verse, including the prophecy.
I think that the Buffy/Angel interaction was a bit off because FOX told Joss that he had to keep the B/A relationship open for merchandise. I’ve heard that a few different place, but of course, it’s just a rumor, so I can’t say anything about its veracity.
I don’t think Andrew saw Anya die…I thikn he just said that to make Xander feel better, make her deatha little less pointless. Also, I think Anya’s story had to end in death. Ever since her speech in The Body, that’s where I thought they were taking her. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but maybe it was (to steal a phrase) her last, great adventure. She was over 1000, she did everything else there was to do.
I have such mixed feelings about this ep I don’t even know where to begin. A lot of what’s been said already mirrors a lot of what I’m feeling, even a lot of the stuff that directly contradicts other stuff. I do have one question that I don’t think has been addressed. What’s the deal with there being all these other potentials out there suddenly being activated? I thought the whole point of TFE’s plan was to eliminate all the potentials and that The Bringers had done so, except for the group Giles had gathered. It seems like short of eliminating every female on the planet there was no way for TFE’s plan to work from the start. I’m really hoping, too, that the multi-slayers thing is somehow temporary, that maybe only the current generation of potentials will all automatically be Slayers and that as they die out there’s a return to one, or perhaps a handful.
I saw it more that Angel was the typical ex-boyfriend, kind of jealous that Spike was doing his girl for no reason other than a lingering sense of territoriality. Also, Angel and Spike have never really been friends, so it was a little more galling than, say, Riley (who Angel didn’t like either).
Angel doesn’t even know if the real Cordelia is alive anywhere or can be revived, so I don’t see the discontinuity.
The picture of Angel on the punching bag is particularly funny given that Angel himself is quite the artist and would probably do a lovely sketch drawing of Spike for his punching bag. It would kind of be a neat framing device to see that next season.
I loved the little details. Like how Giles mentioned the Hellmouth in Cleveland, which is where Alterna-Buffy was in The Wish in Season 3.
The “Welcome To Sunnydale” sign falling over was a great sight gag. Also, wasn’t Spike the person who knocked over the sign the last time? If he was, it’s also an ironic sight gag.
BTW, the skin-eating monster (Gnarl, NOT “the Gnarl”) ep is called Same Time, Same Place.
I can only give it an OK score, the story arc is just too incomplete for me to be thoroughly satisfied. Spike’s amulet was brought in just in this episode, and was the key object for the defeat of TFE. Without it, the scoobies would have gotten their butts kicked, even though the uber-vamps were now easily killable.
I never really minded much that vamps could be tough or easily killed, but the super-tough vamp that scared the heck out of everyone, including Buffy, earlier this season shouldn’t turn into cannon fodder at the end. I don’t think I’m being ultra nit-picky either, she was brought to the brink fighting one of these things, now one-eyed Xander and Dawn are taking them down.
This is why I enjoyed Angel and Firefly so much, things seemed much more internally consistent, and there isn’t nearly as much foolishness. Such as, if Willow’s spell was permanent (I assume) why wait until the last minute to do it, and possibly REALLY screw things up if her spell fails?
Not NEARLY the debacle that X-Files was, the show had its moments, but this still leaves me unsatisfied.
I’ll echo the nods for continuity for mentioning the Cleveland Hellmouth… and, just before everyone split up, I absolutely loved the moment when four original Scoobies, Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles, are in the hallway talking about what they’re going to do tomorrow. It reminded me strongly of the end of “The Harvest,” in which Willow, Xander, Giles, and Buffy are discussing how, even though they prevented the Master from arising, there will be new challenges to face, and the three younger Scoobs are lighthearted while Giles shakes his head and mumbles that the Earth is doomed.
I haven’t decided yet how I feel about the finale, especially in the context of the last season. It was amazing having Joss back and handling the writing/directing. As pretty much everyone else has said, the characters snapped back into focus and were their charming, compelling selves again. He also managed to salvage an amazing amount out of an otherwise largely directionless season. So why the hell couldn’t he help out earlier? Even if only on the last two or three episodes-- this series was his brainchild and his launchpad into opportunities to try out other projects he otherwise couldn’t have done. I wish he’d stepped in a while ago to get ALL the loose ends tied up, rather than just some of them.
Well, I just focused on what was good, and I chose to overlook what wasn’t so good, and I was pretty much satisfied with this finale.
The best moment, for me, was at the very, very end, when Willow asks, “What do we do now?” and Buffy gets this happy, peaceful look on her face, as she realizes that, for the first time in a very long time, she’s no longer alone, and that she’ll get to have a normal life, or at least something resembling one. It was like a massive weight being lifted from her shoulders, and maybe for the first time in several weeks, I really, really liked the character, and understood what she must have been going through.
I’m sad the show is over, but I can’t bring myself to complain too much about such an energetic and witty sendoff.
I’m not going to bother trying to add to the comments above.
I just wanted to say that this episode taught me one very important lesson: never try to explain Trogdor the Burninator to people. When I busted up laughing when Andrew said they were fighting Trogdor (and almost came to tears), the friends I was watching with gave me some very weird looks. Then during the next commercial, I tried explaining the whole Strongbad thing, and realized that my sanity was less in question at just laughing at the scene.
Rumors of discord about an 8th season may be just that.
But i can’t come up with another way to explain how this season started so strong and basically derailed.
Half the season felt like filler,look at the early episodes the writers had to have had a plan,so why throw it out the window and give use magic scythes and uber-priest?
I think what Gaspode meant was a little more than a rumor. This season WAS plauged by uncertainty about the future and last minute retcons and changes. First there was the whole HS fiasco: fans hated the idea of Dawn the Slayer or focusing on her new bunch of friends. That meant that everything they had planned to do with the school, especially Wood’s character, had to be re-thought.
Then there was the issue of the spinoff: who would be in it, and what do we need to set it up. It’s obvious that this is why Andrew became a major character and a focus of an entire ep. Maybe Wood too. Certainly a key element in bringing back Faith. Even maybe having Kennedy be a face-forward character. But when that fell through, they were again left with lots of setup and nowhere certain to go.
I’ve been maintaining for a while now that most of what has been happening from “First Date” on should have happened at least three episodes earlier. This would include IMO, the introduction of Caleb.
Another potentially great storyline that went nowhere… Spike’s insanity. Instead of actually doing something with Insane Spike, they left him in the basement, yanking him out when he was needed for some task then abandoning him again, then when it became apparent that We, the Viewers were sick of Insane Spike already, they moved him in with Xander in “Him” and suddenly he was all better. (Well, except for the trigger thing.) I think Insane Spike could have worked if he had sort of become a shaman-type figure, with him making pronouncements that seemed totally whacked when he first said them, then beginning to make sense as more information was gathered from other sources… and also some exploration into what actually caused him to go insane (I still think it was the soul, the First just found a weakness and exploited it). It would have been very cool if Buffy and the Scoobies, as well as the viewers, could have gained some insight into the First by looking at it through the cracks in Spike’s psyche.
JFTR, I think “Beneath You” was the best ep of the season.
I guess it’s the later half of the season that was bad, not the early half. It’s when the potentials started showing up that the writing got awkward and strained too, and characters started acting… not like themselves.
