Re: Digest Number 1970

["ebailey140" <ebailey140@xxxxxxx>]

--- In buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Patrick Sanders 
<rsand21266@y...> wrote:
> >Season 7, with all the Potentials 
> >and Andrew running around the house, had Buffy's and Spike's 
> >relationship, evolving from animal passion to a true bond, the 
two 
> >of them against the world, each standing by the other when no one 
> >else would, as it's glue.  
>  
> And that's why we hate it, (or at least I do). We are all here 
because we believe that Buffy's true bond, "us against the world", 
even animal passion is (or should be) with her willow tree, NOT HER 
RAPIST for ****'s SAKE!!!

JW went out of his way to avoid dealing with Buffy's and Willow's 
relationship, which is where I think Season 6 went wrong.  I really 
think Joss derailed the season with that.  And, I want to know 
why.   
>  
> Anyhoo, my problem with season Sux is because, in the end, it 
wasn't necessary.
>  
> For me "The Gift" was a satisficatory ending to the story of Buffy 
Anne Summers.  As Yoshi said this was the moment that Buffy was the 
Slayer. 

Well, if depressing, and not resolving the three main plot danglers 
of the series is your idea of "satisfying", I suppose.  It wasn't 
neccessary, to me, to end the series by killing Buffy (and the 
Franchise), and closing with Travers and his methods triumphing, 
Buffy's attempt to change things for the better being futile.  
That's not what this series was about, and never was.  The Gift was 
never intended as a series finale, and wouldn't have worked as one 
any more than Grave would have.  There were three major plot 
danglers that had been running for years still needing to be 
resolved:  The Hellmouth, the First Evil, and the Slayer origin 
story, all of which ended up tying together in Season 7.  These were 
things Buffy had to deal with before her journey was done.  And 
(though I guess you disagree), I LIKED that Buffy and her methods 
outlasted, and overcame, those of Travers and the old Watchers 
Council.  I'm GLAD we didn't have a hopeless, "You can't change 
anything for the better" ending.    

> After that there was no place for her character to go and witness 
S6-S7 which basically, if we are to believe Whedon was all about 
Spike's quest for Redemption.

Buffy grew up.  Could we picture the Buffy from the first five 
seasons being in charge, on a global scale, of the war against the 
forces of darkness?  
>  
> Should I mention that Redemption is something by nature CANNOT be 
earned, (Not that Ol' Sunkencheeks was trying) it must be freely 
given from above. ("Amends", or MH's "Deeper")  

I disagree.  Forgiveness is something you can be given, but 
redemption you have to work for.  Angel wasn't redeemed in Amends, 
just shown that he CAN be redeemed, if he works for it.  That's what 
he's been doing ever since.  Willow was forgiven in Same Time Same 
Place, but didn't achieve redemption until Chosen (Granted, with a 
visual that was a bit heavy handed, but got the point across).

Interestingly enough, those who have hated our sweet redhead for 
years (Yeah, they exist, and haven't cut the poor girl any slack for 
several years, now) had the same opinion of her redemption that 
Spike Bashers had of his, thinking she got off way too easy.  
Personally, I think getting saddled with Kennedy rather than having 
the Real Thing (and leaving the path clear for the Real Thing's ex-
girlfriend who's strutted back into her life just in time for Spike 
to be out of the way, but I digress) is far more punishment than she 
deserves for that whole almost destroying the world thing  :)

Of course, Joss thought he was rewarding Willow by giving her 
Kennedy.  I found it amusing that he was having to defend doing that 
in an interview where the interviewer was really trashing K, seeing 
her as the Stalker Bitch coming between Willow and Buffy.  And this 
WASN'T a B/W shipper doing the interview.  Or if he was, he didn't 
mention it...

What I especially thought strange was it being vitally important to 
Joss that Willow, specifically, end the series with a Significant 
Other, when it was OK to leave both Buffy and Xander single at the 
end.  It certainly wasn't Fear of Subtext if they'd ended with a 
single Willow rebonding with a single Buffy (or Xander, for that 
matter).  If it WAS Fear of Subtext, he shouldn't have pushed it so 
heavily in Season 3.  Don't establish Buffy's attraction to 
cleavagey slutbombs if you don't want people to think she might 
notice a redhead.  Also, you might want to avoid having her go on 
about the redhead's lips before the cleavagey slutbomb entered the 
picture  :) 

>  
> For me S1-S5 complete a strong and satisfying story, begining, 
middle and ending.  S6-S7, among these legions of faults, just 
offfer nothing to the whole.

S7 completed the journey begun in WttH.  There was a REASON it was 
established that something was rotten at the core of the Watchers 
Council, that we had all those hints dropped about the Slayer's 
nature and where she came from.  None of that which was very key to 
Buffy knowing about what she was was resolved by The Gift.  Plus, 
Amends should have been a hint as to what she would ultimately be 
facing.  You don't introduce the Source of All Evil and make it 
fixated on the title character if you just intend it to be a Monster 
of the Week.  Obviously, that was setting up something for down the 
line.  And, resolving the Hellmouth, closing it (symbolically 
closing the story started in Welcome to the Hellmouth), was the long 
planned end of the series.  

And yeah, I wasn't pleased with how Joss went out of his way to 
avoid Buffy's and Willow's longstanding relationship over the last 
two seasons.  I don't wish Buffy were DEAD over it, though.  It 
wasn't HER fault.

E  



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Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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