A reminder: So... wheelchair fight?
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season Seven, Episode 20: "Touched"
Writer: Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Director: David Solomon
One of the nice things about the end of the season is that this is
about the time when I=92ve fully come to terms with no longer expecting
the plot to fill in all the holes. I wouldn=92t want the show to make a
habit out of it. It=92s contrast from ATS4, where I work harder at
making sense out of it; that season of _Angel_ is closer to making
sense, but by the very end of the year of _Buffy_, such concerns feel
much less im****tant. That lets =93Touched=94 itself be all about human
relation****ps and passions, and what does BTVS do better? Although I
do have some room for admiration at the way Buffy comes up with a way
to beat Caleb that=92s so obvious that it never would=92ve occurred to me
=96 return to form for the Buffster =96 or the way it lets Buffy and Faith
both have been part right and part wrong in their tactical
disagreements. The second half of =93Touched=94 is essentially a montage
of reaching out for comfort and contact before things go right or
wrong. I compared it to prom night once, but the feel is actually
more =93Graduation Day I.=94 The most obvious highlight is the exchange
between Buffy and Spike, which comfortably balances the deep sentiment
and closeness that=92s developed between these two characters with the
need to hit about five thousand topics, all without forgetting to
leave time for quotable back-and-forth. I can almost forget that
Spike=92s speech has been outlined and then scripted, since it seems to
be coming spontaneously from him as we watch him struggle to work out
what exactly he knows he has to convey. Speaking as someone who=92s
never been a huge B/S person, it=92s ****ing beautiful. I also want to
give props to the acting during Faith=92s all-too-real visit from
Wilkins, which I think is a bit of a forgotten favorite among great
scenes involving Faith, what with there being so many to choose from
and so much other good stuff going on.
Rating: Excellent
Season Seven, Episode 21: "End Of Days"
Writers: Jane Espenson and Douglas Petrie
Director: Marita Grabiak
This re-watching, during Buffy and Faith=92s conversation, I was
overwhelmed with the sudden feeling of how much I was enjoying just
listening to these two talk. I felt like I could watch an hour of the
two of them addressing their shared connection without quite
forgetting their past and ongoing conflicts, and bouncing half-jokes
off each other. Well, that=92s pretty much the way I feel about most
pairs of characters in the Buffyverse, and most scenes in this
episode. At this point of a sequential re-watch, I realize anew how
much I don=92t want the show to be over, and how much I care about these
people. Whether they=92re color-forming and tasering each other, having
****rty little not-lovers=92 quarrels, or making hospital runs (love
almost everything in or about those sequences), they make a good group
to hang out with, speaking as a viewer and a fan. There=92s something
about late-series Buffy/Xander scenes where they reaffirm their love
and trust in each other after a rough patch that melts me, every damn
time. My biggest problem with EOD is the entire stupid concept of the
Guardians and everything that goes along with them, but hey, they=92re
not a problem for very long. Hey, it=92s Angel! Now, unless the agenda
is for Fillion to collect an extra check, I don=92t see why Buffy
doesn=92t finish off Caleb here (you can even keep the splitting from
the groin up, show, if it=92s that im****tant to you); this is a fitting
place to end it.
Rating: Good
Season Seven, Episode 22: "Chosen"
Writers: Joss Whedon
Director: Joss Whedon
We=92ve discussed this enough that I can=92t see any major changes of
opinion or reassessments. Other than my increased love for taking the
time for a Trogdor-enhanced D&D game the night before the final
battle. I also notice that I=92m less bothered by what I see as flaws
in Buffy=92s plan, but that may be due to the fact that I assimilated
and accepted them as part of the episode after last viewing. In some
ways, =93Chosen=94 is hamstrung by the rest of the year, which has tried
to set up enough of a multitude of different resolutions that some of
it feels incomplete. I think my original review more or less
summarized the way some moments of the finale accomplish just what
they=92re supposed to for me, while with others I can see what the show
was attempting but I=92m more detached and critiquing than swept up.
For instance, contrary to what the special features may suggest, I
feel no inclination to cry during the power-sharing scene, and the
climax to Willow=92s S7 arc feels like reading the Cliff Notes of what
sounds like a powerful book. Having been raised on fantasy novels,
I=92m amused (now that it=92s been pointed out to me, anyway) to see the
female hero doing the one-on-one confrontations and the bloodier part
of the battle, and then the male hero using mystic powers to seal the
evil away afterward. There=92s been some discussion about what happens
between everyone=92s favorite or least favorite vampire/Slayer couple
after the screen goes dark and the viewers are left to complete the
story however they want. I originally assumed ***, because that=92s the
convention, but I=92ve been won over to the ways of those who think
their relation****p is in a different place now, and specifically that
Spike wouldn=92t hop into bed with Buffy if he didn=92t really think she
loved him. A little sad, perhaps, but they=92ve both got much bigger
personal triumphs ahead of them. And so everyone=92s set free for
whatever may come next, with this big allegorical growing up tale
behind them and an open-ended question ahead of them. (Speaking of
that question, are people still annoyed that Dawn gets the last
word?) Since I=92ve lost interest in comic books, this is a perfect
place to leave them behind.
Rating: Good
Additional comments on S7D6: Season Seven=92s cumulative ratings stay
exactly the same. It=92s the least my opinion has ever changed over the
course of a year; only two ratings changes, a Decent-> Good (=93Get It
Done=94) and the opposite (=93Empty Places=94).
So, that=92s it for _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_. I=92ve spent more time
diving into this show than I=92ve ever spent with TV before, and
certainly sunk a higher pro****tion of internet time into doing so.
It=92s both a great show to watch casually and a series that rewards
intense scrutiny and discussion, so that worked out nicely. On a show-
by-show basis, I still find the series to be frustratingly
inconsistent, particularly during the first two years, which is a bit
of an obstacle when introducing newbies. But taken as a whole, it=92s
quite a journey. I=92ve become a fairly character-driven person, and
BTVS shows the potential of long-term character-driven storytelling,
given seven years to develop it and given personalities like those of
Buffy, Willow, Xander et. al. that were strong to begin with. I don=92t
know if it=92s my favorite program ever or anything like that, but any
short list I ever make will certainly have to include it. Although I
feel like I=92ve more or less said my piece about the show now, it took
a lot of speaking to get to that point. Thanks as always for reading.
[faint smile]
-AOQ
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