I liked ALL Buffy shows.
Until he saves the world at the end of Season 6, of course.
Oh, mostly I was just calling Willow evil. (Again; I’ve done it about 2,494,404 time.) Being me, I don’t mean that as a criticism.
Oh, right. Being evil doesn’t seem to be a hindrance to a character being likable or liked. I kinda liked the Mayor, even though he really was an evil bastard. Being funny is the main requirement, really.
Side question (ignore if you want): I know people refer to it as Willow coming out, but didn’t she really more switch? I finally saw another episode, and it was Season 1, episode 7 (where Buffy finds out Angel is a vampire). She had a huge crush on one of the main guys, but was too shy to say anything. Or do you think she was just covering?
Willow was still doing these things, she was just using magic to speed up the process if a need arose (she was running late, there was a surprise need). I don’t see this as any different from using a dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand.
I like to call it “graduating”. 
Seriously though, it’s clear she’s pretty heavily hetero with some bi tendencies until Tara, at which point she denounces all her heteroness and becomes solely homo (as evidenced by her interactions with Amy, and her comments to Xander at his wedding about them both being in formal wear). I think it’s one of those things you just aren’t supposed to examine too closely. Not that it doesn’t happen in real life. I think in Willow’s case, she’s bisexual, with gradually changing preference.
Yes, he saves it with the power of hippie. Good for him.
I’ve always thought that Willow’s coming out was rather hamfisted. As you point out Willow had crushes on boys with Xander being her unrequited love in the first season and then there’s the fulfilling romantic relationship with Oz starting in season 3. I don’t think we ever had any indication that Willow leaned in that direction until Tara was introduced. No, the episode with evil vampire Willow doesn’t count. Once they decided Willow was a lesbian I thought they handled the romance rather well. (Really hot scene in Once More with Feeling where I’m pretty sure Willow goes down on Tara…) Of course being a romantic relationship we know things won’t end well because Whedon hates happy relationships.
Wasn’t anything gradual about it - she was very hetero (at one time, she was two-timing Oz with Xander), then one day, presto-chango, “Hello? Gay now!”
And there’s nothing to say that she’ll won’t be all like “Hello? Hetero now!” in the future.
The sixth season was fine. The tone started to get a bit darker, but the characters were still interacting with each other in meaningful and interesting ways.
The seventh, on the other hand…my least-favorite development in any show, and the one that writers (even Joss, it seems) will inevitably turn to if given enough time, is when all the characters are rendered useless and unable to have any meaningful effect on the plot, and are left to sit around and be emo about it for episode after episode. Take that formula, throw in even more unnecessary character tension created by adding an extraneous houseful of bitchy teenage girls, and you’ve got Buffy, Season Seven. I mean, for God’s sake, WHY?
Let’s not also forget that in Where the Wild Things Are, Willow said she used to have a crush on Giles. I’d say she is bi.
There’s varieties of evil. The Mayor would make a good drinking buddy, and I’d be pleased to go to a cookout at his place; if I were having personal problems, he’d be a good source of advice.
Willow’s interesting to watch, and I don’t mean that in a sexual way. But as a friend? Nosiree. Don’t trust her. She’s as bitchy as Cordelia at her worse, except that Cordy, for the most part, was up front about her bitchery.
Is that a blanket statement about Willow, Skald, or one based on her actions in the 2nd half of the show’s run? For Willow seasons 1-3, I don’t get that at all.
I liked both seasons, just not nearly as well as the first 5.
Season 7 had enough content for 2 seasons. It would have been better to stretch out the plotline-tying up a bit. It felt rushed.
Willow’s descent into evil starts in 3, actually, though there it only comes off as youthful recklessness. If you stop watching before season five, she’s not evil at all; if you watch all 7 seasons, I think it’s clear that she’s not terribly nice for years before she tries to destroy the world.