First, I loved the episode with the exception of Dawn. I hated her from Day 1 and I haven’t really stopped. I really, really, really hope she does not figure too much into this season, but I’m really worried.
Some things that I haven’t read here yet that I want to share/ get ideas on.
Spike not only got his soul back, I think he’s human again. The injuries on this chest may have been recent, but I think it’s Joss’ way of hinting that Spike doesn’t have vampire-healing powers anymore.
I like the principal (remember The Time the principal is your PAL!) My wife floated the idea that he may be this season’s love interest, which I found fascinating. I really hope they do something with him.
I too am confused about the first part, I assumed she was a slayer-in-training. You got Buffy. When Buffy died the first time, you then had 2 slayers. She died again, so there should be a 3rd slayer, who I figured the girl in Istanbul was. However, she didn’t appear to have much ass kicking ability yet.
I’m thinking the whole Buffy showing up in the list of Big Bad’s may be foreshadowing the whole “Power corrupts” theme again, with Buffy having to deal with the feral slayer.
I loved that people thought Buffy was Dawn’s mom. Funny.
There you go, just some WAGs and ideas. Whatta think?
From what I could find on-line, SMG has at least 3 tats, a Chinese symbol for integrity on the small of her back, a Celtic symbol on her left hip and a heart with a dagger above it on the inside of her ankle.
One site referred to a Tao symbol for patience on inside of her other ankle.
I found Spike to be interesting. I’m not still fully convinced he’s not halucinating, or simply being haunted, so I guess we’ll see.
What, exactly, do you think he meant, after he and Buffy closed the door on the zombies, by saying " Nobody ever comes down here, it’s just the three of us" in response to Buffy’s pondering about whether or not the zombies would come back? Buffy doesn’t even ask him about Dawn until then, so he doesn’t mean her. I’m not great at math, but he was in the room and she was in the room, and there was no one else there we could see, anyway. It makes me think that the whole being haunted/visited whatever thing at the end has been on-going.
Why isn’t Willow in jail? She killed an actual, if evil, human being, and even in the buffyverse people tend to go to jail for that sort of thing, not to England.
Dinsdale, I noticed the same thing you did, but I ended up attributing it to shadows from the ruffles on the bottom of her shirt, since it seemed to be across her lower back instead of just above the hip area. But I’m not sure. I’ll join you in uncovering this mystery.
And whaaaat? No comments about Giles on horseback? In riding boots?
She couldn’t have been a Slayer unless Faith has died. Buffy can die another dozen times, and no new slayers will be called, because the line of continuality for slayers hasn’t had anything to do with her since the end of the 1st season. She’s a slayer, but not the slayer that the line depends on. As soon as she died the first time, the line moved to Kendra, then Faith.
I think he’s still a vampire. The being last year didn’t say “I’m making you human” he said “here’s your soul back, do you need a receipt” or whatever. Similarly, I thought Spike’s reference to “the three of us” meant Buffy, William and the vampire demon that inhabits him.
I also got the impression that the new pricipal would be Buffy’s love interest for the season.
When Buffy drowned in season 1, Kendra was called. When Dru killed Kendra in season 2, Faith was called. The line of succession goes through Faith. Buffy’s deaths will no longer give rise to new Slayers.
I too thought the morphing baddy was the First Evil. I don’t think that would be a “rehash” as TFE appeared in one episode and was never really dealt with. But it probably won’t be because everyone’s guessed that it is and Joss would never be so obvious. I hate Spike’s hair and hope he gets a new 'do soon. Speaking of hair, I think it was Adam’s hair which made him look “off” as it was kind of spiked and messy last night.
My take on it was as follows. The three a The Spike Demon, The William Soul and the First (or whatever that evil thing was). Spike is having trouble adjusting to being a soul and a demon together in one body. That’s what he meant when he said he’s not a fast study.
Kinda hard to explain what happened to the police I would immagine.
[hijack] For those who don’t like Dawn - I don’t care much about her one way or the other myself. But I have now officially heard more whining about Dawn than I have ever heard from Dawn. [/hijack]
Buffy has nothing to do with the slayer line any more. It was broken when she died the first time.
Byffy died at the end of S.1. Kendra got called. Kendra died and Faith got called. Faith is in jail, so the Council of Watchers doesn’t really have a slayer working for them any longer. Although Buffy’s bargaining to get info on Glory might make them think that they sort of have an active slayer.
No new slayer can be called, unless Faith gets killed. However, from what we learned from Kendra, some slayers start training early in life.
Buffy may be teaching fighting to Dawn, but a slayer she’s not. It doesn’t run in the family and she has no superpowers. I just think that Bauffy’s concerned, and want Dawn to know how to handle her self. She did say: “Next time you see a vampire, you run away.”
I do hope S.8 won’t be Dawn, the vampire slayer. However - I would easily follow a spin-off, based in Willow’s life. I think she, as did Angel, could carry her own show.
Go, Joss! I was much more pleased than I thought I’d be. I like what they’re doing with Willow. I was worried she’d be given a pass on her rampage. And I really like non-whiny Dawn. The new principal is decidedly yummy–hopefully we’ll see more of him.
My only worry is that ME seems to be playing up Buffy’s maternal role. No, thank you. I want to see Cool Big Sister Buffy, not PTA Mommy Buffy. I like the new, improved Dawn, but I really dislike the idea of Dawn as a junior Slayer.
I think Willow isn’t in jail because she needs hardcore rehabilitation of a type a normal prison can’t give her. Put her in jail and it is only a matter of time before she decides she is too good for it and blasts her way out. No one is going to be able to stop her from getting free and you create a lingering monster.
As for Dawn in training I don’t mind her as a junior Slayer and would be willing to give a S8 with her a shot. I’d prefer that Buffy go out with a bang in this season though. I’d rather live with reruns and fond memories than with bitterness at the final seasons before the show just died.
About the Slayerline, why not just make an army of Slayers? Drown them and bring them back. You get an already trained Slayer and a new one. Rinese, repeat, kick the bejesus out of evil. Clearly the Watcher’s Council isn’t pragmatic enough.
Finally I hope to see Faith back in the episodes or at least mentioned. But I doubt it’ll happen.
So much Dawn vitrol… I was pleased as punch with her alst night. I like Dawn a lot. She was kinda whiny in season 6, but I didn’t get to see the whole season (only cought 5 episodes of it) and so I guess I “missed out” on that. Lucky me?
The three down here: I concur with the thought of bifurcating Spike into Spike+William.
Final comment: introduced to the big bad in the first episode? I’ll need to rewatch the first episode of season 1 tonight, but I don’t recall any season introducing the big bad so early. We need the “little tribulation” first.
It wouldn’t bother me one bit to have the Scrappy Gang.
Okay, did anyone else notice that in the opening credits Alyson Hanigan’s name now appears last (as opposed to other years where it was near the front, IIRC) and is now followed by “as Willow.” Strange. I don’t think anyone else had their character name listed. Maybe someone with a VCR can check it out.
What was the deal with the GooGoo dolls video? Did they just run short on time?
Did anyone see “Haunted” with Matthew Fox. I was a puddle. He is just incredibly handsome. And boy can he act bereaved!
Yeah, I noticed that too. I think it’s traditionally a mark of respect. It shows that this person is an especially big star, and we’re especially proud to have him/her on the show. I guess because she was in the American Pie movies?
Actually, that started last season. Tony Head used to be: “as Giles” at the end, but he moved to be “Special Guest star”, as he wasn’t on every episode of S.6. That made the favoured “as /character/” spot available for Alyson.
