Any Buffy Fans — Page 9

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

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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.

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."

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

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so you agree with me then.

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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.

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.

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.

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...

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

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!

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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...

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.