Any Buffy Fans- Page 9

[RobbO]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:35am

ugh. it was three years ago and i know the answer. i just was not 100% positive.

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:36am

The last scene Anya appeared in during the final episode broke my heart...

[MenzelManiac]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:38am

Oh I know Guy....I just kind of sat there afterwards. That show is one of the only shows that could consistently make me cry. The exchange between Xander and Buffy in the kitchen of the same episode also made me emotional. Xander (eye patch and all) wants to make sure that Buffy is going to let him fight, and she tells him how important he is to her and the fight.

Such good writing.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:40am

I have to say, despite my reservations about the final season, I think the last season was just absolutely PERFECt.
And it summed up one thing I love about Joss so much: how he keeps his continuity going.
(paraphrased)
Giles: There's another one of these in Cleveland.

And the slow closeup of Buffy while Willow asks: so what are you going to do now?

[wyou17]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:43am

Spoilery...in case you don't want to be clued in to specifics...



"When it's something that really matters, they fight. I mean, they're lame morons for fighting, but they do. They never... never quit. So I guess I will keep fighting, too."

Joss Whedon is a genius. But a few years of watching his shows will tell you that when a secondary character (and scene-stealing as she was, she was secondary) gets a speech like that, you know where things are headed.

That said, actually SEEING it happen was a shock. Not big and glorified. Not in slow motion. Not a huge lead-up. It happened, quickly and graphically, in the heat of battle when there was not time to dwell on it. So upsetting, but completely earned. And who the hell could have watched The Wish in Season 3 and expected that arch for little Anyanka? And to have that character sacrifice used to further develop an even MORE secondary character (Andrew)? Brilliant.

"That's my girl, always doing the stupid thing."

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:43am

A lot of people complained that the end of the series was so false and it shouldn't have ended that way, but really, the type of show buffy was, there really was no other way it could have ended. The entire series really was leading to that one point on the edge of caved in city.

[RobbO]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:53am

i still think "the gift" was the better way to end the series.

[MenzelManiac]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:53am

Beautifully written, beautifully acted, beautifully shot.

Absolutely right...a perfect ending.

[RobbO]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 9:55am

so you agree with me then.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:01am

Shut it. As I said, I'm glad Buffy is the one slayer to defy death again and again. Part of what is so sad about these Slayers is that they DO die, often by a measly little vampire.

*spoiler*


I mean, look at how easily Kendra died.

So for Buffy to defy death TWICE really speaks, once again, to the fact that this seemingly vapid little blond was, in a line of special girls, even moreso.

[MenzelManiac]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:02am

I think that the show did a great job of making us care about the characters we shouldn't have cared about. Joyce, Andrew, Anya, Jonathan. These peripheral characters were supposed to be secondary, but it got to a point where you knew you were rooting for these people thrusting forward in their lives, just trying to help.

How heartbroken were you for Anya during the wedding episode? Heartbroken for the person who, in her first episode, made me initially say "Why is that 30-year old at Sunnydale High? Get her out." That's the power of Joss Whedon's writing.

My boyfriend told me one day "This show is one of my favorite shows of all time. I think you would enjoy, just watch one or two episodes and I think you'll like it."

Two hours later, I knew that I would have a new favorite television show. Little did I know to what depths this show would touch me. That's "The Gift" to me.

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:04am

It's probably already somewhere in this thread but I have to post it again...

"Dawn listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will *always* love you. This is the work I have to do. Tell Giles... Tell Giles I figured it out. And... I'm okay. Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now -- you have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS
1981-2001
BELOVED SISTER, DEVOTED FRIEND
SHE SAVED THE WORLD
A LOT

[MenzelManiac]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:07am

I'm going to say this. I'm not a cryer. (no comments wyou)

But that's another episode where I was just destroyed at the end of the show.

Luckily I had the convenience of having the series box set, so I quickly made sure we started the next season and didn't have to wait months for the new one to start. How you guys did that I'll never understand.

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:09am

One thing that killed me EVERYTIME it happened in that show was seeing Willow cry!
God, Alyson Hannigan is the BEST cryer of all time...

Worst of all: "Grave"

[wyou17]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:09am

I LOVE The Gift. And I think Season 5 as a whole is stronger than Season 7 as a whole.

What I love is that you COULD stop at the end of Season 5. Or at the end of Season 1. Or Season 2. Or 3, 4, or 6. Each season wraps up. Everyone has a favorite, and they hold up individually, based on what kind of tone you most prefer in a season.

While I would have been happy to end with The Gift, I would not give up seasons 6 & 7. Too many wonderful developments, and great character episodes happen in the last two seasons. And let's not forget the musical, which was perfectly set up, explained, and earned and a real present to everyone who had been watching all along.

There is not a single season they got completely wrong. There is something worthy to watch (and rewatch) every one of those years. And while I love The Gift, that episode was a finale for Buffy, the woman. The end of her school life. The end of Buffy as a "kid". Chosen was a finale for the show as a whole. For the journey of a hero and her friends (heros themselves). Of being a leader, of passing on power, of restating the message of the show. Much more THE END than The Gift was.

PS- GuyfromGermany, I love that speech, and the music that plays under it. I have the soundtracks, but I needed to make sure I had the SHOW version of that musical piece on my iPod. It just isn't the same without Buffy's voice-over.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:19am

Meh. I liked the last episode, but not most of season 7. I did love the continuity in the beginning though. It finally came out that Xander knew they were trying to restore Angel's soul and he didn't tell Buffy.

The musical was of course great, and there were bright spots to season 6. Still, nothing compared to the first 3 seasons, particularly 2 and 3.

Man, I forgot how much Grave made me cry. It was the first time Xander really saved the day.

Restless aside, the season finales of Buffy were always amazing.

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:20am

You're completely right about the "every season stands on its own" thing but what makes this show even more special to me is the fact that the seasons are strongly connected at the same time!
Whedon always gave hints to what was coming up in later seasons and THAT is very impressing from my point of view...

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:22am

Ooh, big ditto Guy!

I'm kind of gay...
Everything in Restless about Dawn

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:24am

oh my god. You guys make me want to just go home now and finish the entire series again.

[MenzelManiac]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:25am

Speaking of gay...

The episode where Buffy and Tara get shot. Willow holding Tara's body, then her eyes turn black.

Probably my favorite storyline. Dark Willow.

Oh, and I cried again with that one.

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:27am

Bwaysinger, I'll probably spend the whole evening today watching Buffy! I haven't done that in a long time but this thread is JUST TOO GOOD!

And Dark Willow was just the coolest!

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:28am

More quotes!

Angel: I knew this was gonna happen.
Buffy: What? What do you think is happening?
Angel: You're 16 years old, I'm 241.
Buffy: I've done the math.
Angel: You don't know what you're doing. You don't know what you want.
Buffy: Oh, no. I think I do. I want out of this conversation.
Angel: Listen, if we date, you and I both know one thing's gonna lead to another.
Buffy: One thing already has led to another. You think it's a little bit late to be reading me a warning label?
Angel: I'm just trying to protect you. This could get out of control.
Buffy: Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?
[Angel grabs her and pulls her close, and she gasps]
Angel: This isn't some fairy tale. When I kiss you... you don't wake up from a deep sleep and live happily ever after.
Buffy: No... when you kiss me, I wanna die.

One of my favorites!

[wyou17]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:29am

wickedrentq, I agree that Restless was not really like a true finale. It was more an epilogue to the season, or one of those previews that show up at the end of books, where you get an out of context chapter of the author's next work to entice you into checking it out.

The more "finale" like episode that comes before it has that fight with Adam that, while a bit computer-effect heavy, is amazing to see if for nothing else than the thrill of seeing Buffy and her friends bond to work as one and save the day (LITERALLY bond, this time)

And as far as countinuity...YES. The best show for that. Other shows make cryptic comments that never amount to anything. They are just vague to sound mysterious. The comments on Buffy, no matter how confusing at the time, always make sense later on. And the fact that some forshadowing took place up to two years in advance is crazy...

From Wikipedia (spoilery):
In the Buffy/Faith dream in Graduation (Season 3), we encounter the first foreshadowing of Buffy's death at the end of Season 5. Faith's comment, "Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0," comes (roughly) 2 years (730 days) before Buffy dies. The term 'Little Miss Muffet' is a reference to Dawn's arrival, as Tara will also make a 'Little Miss Muffet' reference in "Restless", prior to Dawn's first appearance. Glory also makes references to "sitting on a tuffet" when she goes looking for Dawn in during Season 5.

PS- Sorry I'm such a slow poster, especially at work, and my responses come a few messages past where I mean to answer...

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:29am

This thread needs pictures! *g*

And don't worry, wyou17, I'm a much slower poster since English isn't my mother tongue...

Updated On: 8/15/06 at 10:29 AM

[wyou17]

Posted: 8/15/06 at 10:30am

I LOVE this one, too:

(Buffy and Giles stand in front of Buffy's friend's grave)
Buffy: Does it ever get easy?
Giles: You mean life?
Buffy: Yeah. Does it get easy?
Giles: What do you want me to say?
Buffy: Lie to me.
Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
(After a moments pause)
Buffy: Liar.