I’m really, really hoping for a two hour season finale. I’ve seen the spoilers up to ep 21, and it would take way more than forty-two minutes to wrap up those loose ends…
I don’t think this technically qualifies as a spoiler, but I’m putting it in a spoiler box anyway… If Angel is renewed for a fifth season, James Marsters and Alyson Hanigan are both contracted for ten episodes each. This makes me feel very positive about the season ending for Buffy, since Spike is really the only reason I’m watching these days, and this means it’s reasonably certain he doesn’t end up as a pile of dust. I’m really still hoping for a Spuffy ending, though.
I’m still debating with some of my friends on this point. I think he lied to save Dawn, who may or may not have summoned Sweet. I’m not sure who did. If you remember, when Dawn picked up the talisman it was on the counter at the magic shop. Being out in the open like that, it could have been some random customer.
I think the ending of the series will, among other things, change the nature of the Slayer phenomenon. Buffy, Giles and maybe Willow and/or Faith will make it happen:
There will no longer be one chosen Slayer. All the current “potential Slayers” will be activated and become full slayers. This will accomplish several ends:
In interviews about Firefly, Joss Whedon said that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was in the vanguard of a messianic trend in pop culture, which also included The Matrix. He said he’s tired of it. If he changes the rules so there are multiple Slayers, then there’s no longer one single “messiah.”
Faith doesn’t have to be killed off for the Slayer line (and thus, the possibilities for spinoffs and sequels) to continue. Faith can still be out there, on deck for guest appearances, but meanwhile Dawn, Kennedy, Amanda, or anyone else Joss wants can also be Slayers. (I know Joss is pissed at Eliza Dushku right now, but I also know he really likes the character of Faith.)
The potential-Slayers subplot becomes a little more meaningful. As things stand now, after the First Evil is defeated the potentials will simply be told “Uh, show’s over,” and be sent home. It will have more dramatic impact if they’re all sent home as Slayers in their own right.
If I may, Whedon is upset because Dushku signed a contract to do a pilot TV show for somebody else, thereby leaving Whedon without the character he’d planned to base a spinoff on.
The show that Dushku signed on to do sounded kind of lame, at least from the one-sentence summary that I read. So maybe it’ll get canceled quick and she, having had a vacation from vampires, will go back to Joss ready for action.
Jane Epenson spoke at my school (Ball State University) last Friday and she pretty much crossed out any spin-off BUT there are some ideas for future movie projects. That is why they are not killing off some characters they were going to kill.
I’m 90% sure that’s how they meant it to be, originally. And it was still a live possibility until that flashback sequence in “Selfless”, written in specifically to “confirm” that Xander was at fault. I get the sense that there was some disagreement among the writing staff on this one, and that the side that wanted to pin it on Xander finally won. Bastards.
Which raises, in my mind, the question of whether Whedon has any right to be “pissed” at her for this decision. I don’t know nothin’ about show business, but it seems a little unreasonable for Whedon to expect her to completely clear her schedule so as to be available for a spin-off that might never get made. Doesn’t Eliza Dushku, as an actor, have the right to pursue other opportunities? Especially when you consider the way actors on cult genre shows tend to get typecast, it’s probably better for her career to seek out a diversity of roles in other projects. (Personally, I think she should definitely do more roles where she gets to wear a cheerleader outfit. Yes, I saw Bring It On. Want to make something of it?).
Eh, let the show die, I say. Three years ago or so, I also would have mourned the thought of no more Buffy. But now? The last couple years haven’t been that impressive, and I really think the concept has run its course. Seven seasons is a respectable run for any series, and I hate to see good shows degenerate into pale shadows of their former selves, in a pathetic attempt to eek out one more season.
Ah, I see. I hadn’t really looked into what the pilot she’s signed for is about. Oh well, maybe she’s just tired of Faith. Still seems like she has a right to make that decision if that’s how she feels.
So in this other genre show, is she maybe like a space cheerleader or something?
Joss is pissed because they were in negotiations for a Faith spinoff, and things seemed to be a go-go, and then he read in the newspaper that she signed a pilot with someone else. IOW, she led him on, thus taking valuable time from pitching another pilot.
Anyway, according to NB and JM, Joss announced two weeks ago that as of now, there iwll not be a spinoff. But James pointed out that things are changing on a regular basis, and that’s not final.
