“Conversations With Dead People,” “Lies My Parents Told Me,” and “Storyteller” are all pretty good season 7 episodes, and the two-part series finale, “End of Days” and “Chosen” is obviously must-see for any Buffy fans.
Anya’s episode (I’m spacing on the title) was pretty excellent, too. The one with the “missing” OMWF song and the bunnies.
I didn’t care for it that much. It relied too heavily on the whole “magic as addiction” storyline that was a big factor in my dislike of that season.
Big Bad Voodoo Lou named some good episodes, but not “must see” episodes, IMO.
“Selfless”
I’m pretty sure that was ‘selfless’. The title being a play on words, not meaning ‘altruistic’, but referring to Anya’s revelation that she wasn’t sure who she’d ever been as a person. She had no sense of self.
A very good episode except for two things. 1, the tired Buffy cliche of- Now they’re a demon, now they can fight! WTF?
And 2, the episode was essentially pointless since it wrote Anya out of the series and then she pops up again like almost nothing happened.
Meh. That’s not a cliche; that’s just how things work in the land of Buffy.
This I can’t disagree with, but I don’t feel that it really hurts the episode. I guess it turns on your definition of “must-see.” Does that mean an episode that’s so important to the show as well as well created that your life is meaningless without it? IMO, the more useful category is whether at the end of the episode you say “Holy fuck, I’m glad I sat here for the last hour,” which I certainly did with Selfless.
Also, Him.
–Cliffy
Not to mention lays the groundwork for the moral dilemma of the episode, which is “yes, but what if the demon is your friend, and your best friend’s love interest?”
I’m with Cliffy on the second point, too – that episode hit me like a punch to the gut.
(Thanks for coming up with the title, silenus and chrisk! :))
That post should probably have been spoilered.
Watching the musical episode of Buffy was one of the most enjoyable hours of television I have ever witnessed. Most of the songs were actually good, and they had some awesome lyrics.
“We have to fight
We’ll pay the price
It’s do or die
Hey I’ve died twice”
I agree. But, then, I love musicals.
My favorite lyric remains
“I hope she fries.
I’m free if that bitch dies.
<beat>
I better help her out.”
I’m still pretty partial to Tara singing
“I’m under your spell
Lost in ecstasy
Spread beneath my Willow tree!”
I love all the lyrics, but the brilliance of
is incomparable. In musicals people sing when the emotions are too strong to speak, at that point in the series nothing could have some out any other way without being too much of a soap opera. Brilliant. And for amusement I suggest reading Joss’s notes in the soundtrack.
I have to say, I love just about everything about ‘walk through the fire’…
-
the starkly bittersweet beauty of Buffy’s opening verses… “why can’t I feel, my skin should crack and peel! I want the fire back…”
-
the utterly schizo way all of Spike’s lyrics go back and forth, “no I’ll save her then I’ll kill her” and so forth
-
The bridge with the scoobies coming in, Giles and Xander’s earnest concern contrasted against Anya’s usual loopiness
-
The way EVERY chorus before the very end is left incomplete, with the obvious rhyme of “and let it burn” just never finished.
-
The medley portion… (not sure how to describe it) from about two thirds of the way in is possibly my favorite part of the song, partly because it took me so long to get straight. Buffy starting, with Tara’s high descant that I’m still not sure if it’s supposed to be real or just a memory callback from “I’ve got a theory/It doesn’t matter.” And then everybody joins in at once, the demon singing his line in the bass, and Buffy/the scoobies/Spike all staggering their lines and overlapping each other. (One more favorite line of mine is buried in here, from Willow: “I think this line’s mostly filler.”) And that leading into the big finale, with all singing the chorus together and finally finishing it.
sighs
I have to say, I love just about everything about ‘walk through the fire’…
-
the starkly bittersweet beauty of Buffy’s opening verses… “why can’t I feel, my skin should crack and peel! I want the fire back…”
-
the utterly schizo way all of Spike’s lyrics go back and forth, “no I’ll save her then I’ll kill her” and so forth
-
The bridge with the scoobies coming in, Giles and Xander’s earnest concern contrasted against Anya’s usual loopiness
-
The way EVERY chorus before the very end is left incomplete, with the obvious rhyme of “and let it burn” just never finished.
-
The medley portion… (not sure how to describe it) from about two thirds of the way in is possibly my favorite part of the song, partly because it took me so long to get straight. Buffy starting, with Tara’s high descant that I’m still not sure if it’s supposed to be real or just a memory callback from “I’ve got a theory/It doesn’t matter.” And then everybody joins in at once, the demon singing his line in the bass, and Buffy/the scoobies/Spike all staggering their lines and overlapping each other. (One more favorite line of mine is buried in here, from Willow: “I think this line’s mostly filler.”) And that leading into the big finale, with all singing the chorus together and finally finishing it.
sighs
Me, too. “Walk Through The Fire” sends chills down my spine every time I hear it. Especially Buffy’s emphasis on “I want the fire back.”
Tony Head has the most beautiful voice of all of the Scoobies. I’d pay good money to hear him sing the phone book.
Did you know this existed? You need to listen to it!
Oh, yeah! Bought it the day it was released. It is still in fairly heavy rotation in my classroom CD player.
As much as I liked Tony Head’s singing in OM,WF I would rather plunge a nail into my eardrum before listening to “Music for Elevators” again.
I got S6 for Christmas and the first thing I did upon getting it home was pop in OM,WF and watch it. Then watch it again with the commentary.
“Tara, Anya - she needs backup.”
