I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that I finished season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night so this is the last review you’ll be getting. The bad news is I’ll be starting up Babylon 5 again (I’m up to season 3) and I think even less of you people watch that, so sit tight for more pointless reviews. Yay!
So what did I think of season 7? I thought it was really good, and a big improvement over the mildly disappointing season 6. I love that they knew this was the final season, so they set it up like a novel from the get go. I loved the first episode where The First takes the form of all the previous big bads. I love that Buffy was in a better place mentally, and I went back to enjoying the Buffy/Spike dynamic. Yeah, the introduction of more wacky teenage girls wasn’t the best, but it made sense to the story and the payoff in the final episode was great. Oh, and any excuse for Giles to make flashcards is a good excuse. They crack me up.
Some standout episodes were Selfless, which showed us the history of Anya and had an awesome fight scene at the end. Him, which started off as an annoying Dawn-centric season 1 episode, but the last 15 minutes with the wacky 70′s music and the girls’ plans to win over RJ was brilliant and made up for everything else. Conversations with Dead People was also great, though I wish they were able to get Tara back even though I did really like the quirky blonde girl. I also really enjoyed the Andrew-centric Storyteller. I kept wondering how they were going to redeem his otherwise likable character and I think they did a really good job.
And of course the final episodes were also really great, and a fitting end to the series. Gonna get spoilery here! I really liked the end battle and the plan to give all the potential slayers their powers and I loved the montage of girls getting their powers all around the world. I’m a sucker for girl power and I thought it was done really well here. I liked the send off that Spike got, though I’m pretty sure he shows up in Angel, so I’m guessing it’s not too permanent. Luckily the impact still felt real. Of course since this is Joss Whedon we have to get an abrupt death with zero payoff or tearful goodbye and of course it has to be Anya, but I still hate when he does that. We get it! Abrupt death, blah blah blah. I’m a little bitter about that if you can’t tell. Luckily she got a great line about bunnies beforehand so I’m put slightly at ease.
So yeah. I’m done now. I’m thankful for everyone who urged me to watch this show, especially since I fought them about it up until Angel turned evil in season 2 and everything finally fell into place for me. I’m looking back on all the seasons and I’m trying to pick a favorite. I can’t decide between 3 and 5. Five had Gloria as a great big bad, and it had that amazing finale, but I also love the high school vibe of Three and overall I think everything just worked that season with another great villain and finale. Maybe it’s a tie? Either way Buffy the Vampire Slayer was an amazing series and hope that someday Joss Whedon gets to recreate the success of that show for another seven seasons and quits getting restrained or cut short.
Now you need to pick up season 8, which continues in graphic novel form.
I agree with you about season 3 & 5 being the best. I loved all the high school senior episodes and the blowing up of the school and class getting in on the act for that finale. And Glory was the most threatening villian, imho. I loved when Buffy finally was able to clobber her with the sledgehammer.
I hated that they killed Anya in the last episode. Completely unnecessary. Although I heard Joss originally wanted to kill Xander, which would have been even worse!
When do you start your Angel marathon? It has a very shaky first season but really improves as it goes along.
I still can’t get thru Angel. I’m still stuck in season 2 but I really want to jump to the part where Pete from Mad Men comes in as Conner.
Felicia Day who played the potential Vi in the final season of Buffy is also the female lead in Joss’ Dr Horrible and also her own successful web series, The Guild. The gamer boys practically worship her.
You should really watch Angel. It had a couple of meh seasons (though if you didn’t think Buffy’s S4 was bad, you’ll probably still like them) but the final season was fucking amazing…Illyria is probably the best character Joss has ever created.
I need a break from the Buffyverse for a bit. But I’m getting the first four seasons of Angel for Christmas ($10 each at Target!) so I’ll definitely be watching them.
Once more, I got nothing to comment on about. Never seen Buffy, but I hear that Dr. Who is pretty nifty.
HUGS…
The only thing I know about Dr Who is he wears a stripey scarf.
GoKitty: Nononononono…that’s like 5 or 6 Doctor’s ago! All you need to know about this one is that he frequently wears blue suits with sneakers, and is hilariously funny. And he hung out with Captain Jack Harkness…which is why I’m all jellerzcopterz of him.
HUGS…
Once I was beautiful. Now I am myself.
Three words….. Dead . Like . Me!!
Oh, I second Dead Like Me and am going to throw out Carnivale again as a contender.
GoKitty: Never saw it but just ordered the first season from Amazon. From the website it looks like a really good show.
I have Dead Like Me on DVD due to my love of Bryan Fuller but I haven’t watched it yet.
Very tempted to get Carnivale. I just worry the ending will be disappointing.
Craig: You should watch DLM next. But let me warn you. Like so many great shows, once they become popular, the idiots at the networks decide to “fix what isn’t broken”. Why do they do that? You’ll notice it halfway through the second season of DLM. But the first season and half of the second season are more than worth your time. Stupid TV execs did the same thing to Wonderfalls. I don’t know if Carnivale suffered the same fate, but I’ll let you know.
And after reading the following description of Carnivale, I can’t believe Polt hasn’t already reviewed it.
CARNIVALE follows a traveling carnival as it wends its way across the Dust Bowl, focusing on Ben Hawkins, a mysterious 18-year-old fugitive with hidden talents who is taken in by the carnival
I’m glad Xander made it through (well, except for his eye). I’ve only watched the Angel episodes with Spike in them.
I vote Kids in the Hall as your next series.
yay buffy! i’ m glad you enjoyed the series, it really is a wonderful show. I’m also sure you’ll love Angel, up to a point.
I have to agree with you Mark, DLM is a great show but it lost a lot of its dark tone when the execs took over but it wasn’t like a completely horrible change. The show was still incredibly strong in its second season. The DLM movie, however, was just horrible awful blah. I also quite liked Wonderfalls!
” a mysterious 18-year-old fugitive with hidden talents who is taken in by the carnival” 18 year old…hidden talents….clowns and elephants and knife thrower…. How have I NOT been watching this thing already????
And Craiggers, may I formally second Michelle M.’s awesome suggestiong of The Kids In The Hall? Outstandingly hilarious Canadian comedy!
HUGS…
Wolf Lake is a great series canceled too soon, try to find it, its worth it!
“The Twelve Men of Christmas”, tonight at nine on Lifetime.
I’ll be DVR’ing and doing a lot of skipping thru the “plot” to the good parts.
Just wanted to chime in, because I loved Dead Like Me all the way through, from first episode to the final movie (it’s flawed but also does some really great things with the plot)…The execs didn’t take over a season and a half in. What happened was, Bryan Fuller left the series early on when MGM wanted him to turn a gay character straight. So only the first few episodes or so have involvement from Fuller. I don’t like the circumstances of why he left, but besides that one point, it’s great TV. Sometimes I wonder what would have been, but what we’re left with is actually still pretty damn good.
Season 6 grows on you with time. Well it did for me, at first I was all ‘argh’ and then I’m all ‘they got the mustard ouuuuuuuuuttt’ and now I like it as much as any of them.