rennervision

First of all, I think this series wrapped up with the best possible ending. The show is still on top, despite some of its recent flaws.

However, I am disappointed with a lot of exposition throughout this season that never really paid off. Last week, the show ends with Spike once again conversing with the First, feeling jealous over Buffy and Angel's kiss. I was fully expecting this week to have a lot more drama around those three, and even a return to a more bad Spike, which never happened. Angel's appearance was so brief, that the way last week's show ended now seems like a cheat.

Last week's plotline where Xander "kidnapped" Dawn went nowhere. It was resolved as lamely as when we were strung along for weeks wondering if Giles was the First, and then our final reward was a throw-away joke where Giles was tackled by everyone. I thought this story arc was going to develop into the warning Dawn's mother alluded to at the beginning of the season. But, like a lot of stuff this season, that didn't seem to go anywhere.

I loved Buffy's suggestion that the First change its name to "The Taunter." I felt the same way, because, I was beginning to think this Big Bad was about as dull as Warren! The thing is non-corporeal for crying out loud and basically does nothing all season long.

And just one last question - why go into the Hellmouth, then stand there and wait (and hope) that Willow gets the spell right so that all the Slayers are activated? Why not perform the spell first to see if it works, THEN go into the Hellmouth to kick butt???

Don't get me wrong. I'm still a Buffy fan though. And my fingers are crossed waiting for the day Joss Whedon announces SMG will be appearing in a feature-length film to be shown only in theaters.

Chopper

One of my favorite parts of the episode was the scene where Willow was reading the spell in bed... To the left of her was Kennedy sitting under the light... On the right of her was darkness... Gave a nice image of her inner conflict with the usage of magic.

The scene between Faith & Wood seemed really bad. I don't know why, but the dialogue never seemed "real".

Chopper

You mean like the line about how Xander was the one who sees things? What did THAT mean? Does he only see things from the left eye? Can he not "see" things anymore?

C Roberts

Ditto.

It was a great episode and a great ending for the series. I'm not going to read/post anything else on it.

retihsuhnt

I must admit, I have been rather opinionated about this season of Buffy, like a couple of others (on this board) I shall be silent when it comes to my thoughts on the Series Finale.

I would like to thank Mutant Enemy for the seven (7) years of compelling television.

Pointyskull

I think the episode can be discussed or debated, without being done just by naysayers.

I think everyone had different expectations of the final installment, and while there are certainly PLENTY of Mr. Negative Naysayers out there, there are likely just as many fans of the episode who maybe wished for this story arc to be fleshed out more, or that element to explained in further detail.

With that said, I will miss the show immensely, and far-reaching implications of the episode's payoff are more than satisfactory for me.

Dr. DVD

After some reflection, it seems as though everything did work out for everyone in the end.

NO SPOILER TAGS, THEY ARE USELESS AT THIS POINT!!



-Buffy and the gang finally get the option of leading a normal life, like they will actually take it.

-Faith, whom has never been able to find a man that could look past her body or care about her without being evil, finally gets someone who will treat her properly. (If Wood had died, that would have been another great blow to Faith).

-A lot of people are upset about what happened to Anya. IMO, Anya had been alive for more than 1,000 years and everything had gone wrong for her for the most part. While being dead might seem like suck, for Anya it might have finally brought her peace.

-Spike got to redeem himself for being such a meanie through most of the early years and eventually proved his love to Buffy and basically be the one who saved the day in the end.

Obviously if Marsters is under cotnract to WB (not certain of that), we can count of him popping up there to torment Angel. Not that he will meant to do so, but his presence might be enough, especially if he shows up as a human. Of course we all remember what happened when Darla came back as a human, and last I checked Drusilla is still out and about.
I could continue to post here, but it would only be prolonging the inevitable. Any further speculation about what happens in this show's world from here on out should be addressed in an Angel Season Five speculation thread (hmmm....). Bye Buffy, you were a great show, even if I only got on in the fourth season. Thank God for DVDs! Tell Fox to make haste on the last three seasons, nothing to keep them down.

lwhy?

This was a good ending to the tumultous tale of Buffy Ann Summers. I didn't like the whole slayer power to every potential, but Buffy smiling at the end justified that. They have left many possibilites for a movie, a new series, or to continue some of this on Angel.

Breakfast with Girls

I think they set that up earlier in the season with Xander's conversation with Dawn, about how they will forever be the non-super-powered ones, and be relegated to watching the others. Or something, I can't recall exactly.

MrN

Two things I wish were different about the series finale:
That it was two hours long, (because the episode felt rushed and a lot of plots hastily resolved) and it should have been in Widescreen to add weight to the battle and destruction at the end.

I'm glad Buffy got a happy ending and she can try to live a normal life without the burden of being The Slayer - except for Faith. The reaffirming of the feminist leanings of the show was a nice touch, even if it kinda came out of left field and leaves a lot of issues undealt with.

What does the future hold for the characters? I for one hope Spike doesn't make it to Angel unless there's a drastic change in his character. And we can hope for guest appearances from a few people (maybe even Buffy) every now and then. For sure I hope we see Andrew or Xander there soon.

I'll miss the show immensely.

Doug Heffernan

The highlight for me was the original 4 in the school - and when Giles said the line he said from the 1st episode .

Goodbye Buffy, we'll miss all of you.

Josh-da-man

I don't think Buffy will retire from slaying. It's too much a part of her now and she enjoys it too much, even if she doesn't realize it.

But it does seem kind of dangerous to activate all of these girls. It seems they could potentially have unleashed hundreds of (post-"Consequences," pre-"Sanctuary") Faiths on the world.

Original Desmond

things could be interesting for Angel now !

there could be anywhere from 1 to 101 new Slayers in town!

some might not even know where the power came from

I'd like to see a scene in Angel where a women is about to get gang raped, Angel is there ready to save her, she gets slayered up in the nick of time, takes out the rapists, Angel says "guess i'm not needed afterall" or something similar

Josh Z

With everything that happened with the Watcher's Counsel over the past couple of seasons, I think the point was that these girls are better off leading their own destinies.

Mark Holtz

So, as far as we know, there are two living watchers left: Giles and Wesley.

Lets see what happens on Angel.

clemente

Both former watchers....and that dude that works for Wolfram and Hart, so there could be tons of ex-Watchers out there.

Chad

Well, I don't have much to add other than it was a fitting ending for a very unique show.

Who knows, in a few years we might be seeing a Buffy reunion special or maybe SMG will change her mind about doing a movie (television or theatrical)...afterall it did leave quite a bit unresolved.

It will be missed.

Rogue588

Quote:

Originally posted by Chad
Who knows, in a few years we might be seeing a Buffy reunion special or maybe SMG will change her mind about doing a movie (television or theatrical)...afterall it did leave quite a bit unresolved.

Yeah, after she finishes shooting Scooby Doo 8 [direct to video] i'm sure she'll change her mind..

Arcade

OK. I finally got to watch my taped episode tonight.
I have just read through 90 something posts and only one other person seems to have the same problem with the ending that I do. That person is (Rennervision) from a few posts above.

Why in the hell did Buffy and the slayerettes have to go down in the hellmouth before willow cast the spell!!!
Why not just do the spell first and see if it worked.

If there is somthing I missed explaining this, please let me know.

Other than that I loved the ending.

Patman

Perhaps the spell could only be done with all the girls in the hellmouth, and the original plan was for Buffy and the girls to get juiced up before being noticed by the vamps.

gcribbs

I also loved how one by one the original gang left in the reverse order of how she met them. So Giles left first(the last to meet her in the first episode) then willow and last was Xander who was the first to meet her.

Until Buffy was alone again heading to the Hellmouth.

I loved the episode. Sure they could have done a bunch of things different. However in the end I felt they did a great job.

Now I will miss the show , but I will look forward to the remaining dvd's coming out.

minguy

But she was MORTAL for only 5 years.

It would've been nice to see some closure on her character arc. She started out tactless and selfish. Would've been poignant if there had been a small scene revealing she's learned something about being human. Not just words. By action. Despite herself.

B5Erik

OK, so I finally got to watch it last night on tape, and I liked it more than I thought I would.

I LOVED the end of Sunnydale - it really put closure on the series. Yes, the characters go on, but the setting for the series has come to a VERY final end.

I think that giving dozens, maybe hundreds, hell - possibly thousands of "previously unknown potential slayers" the full Slayer powers does create some problems with continuity for the writers on Angel. All these slayers running around - Angel and his gang won't be needed as much, will they? Sure, they aren't trained, and have a lot to learn, but they'll be able to take care of business. Of course, I like the idea of a few "rogue slayers" running around looking out for #1 and making like Faith - that could be quite a dilemma for Angel.

Overall, while it wasn't all it could have been, the finale did its job well, and really put a nice stamp of closure on the series.

Now bring on the feature films! (A Buffy movie every two years - is that really so much to ask?)

Seriously, they could make really good Buffy movies for about $40 million each, so they wouldn't have to be "blockbusters" to make money - and doing one every two years would give Joss and whoever he decides to have co-write the films time to come up with some killer scripts. It could work.

Of course it may never happen, but it sure would be nice - and it makes all the sense in the world.

Draven

I felt we got that in her conversation with Andrew in the previous episode. She was staying to fight, because that's what humans do and she wanted to be there with them.

She held her position, but ended up getting killed. It was abrupt and sudden (which is more realistic, so I like it better) and they knew that some of them would fall in the battle. She went down fighting, which was a powerful way to end her story.

I was fine with it.

slaughter22

After watching for 5 and 1/2 years , and thanks to dvd box sets was able to see all the episodes, I will greatly miss this show. Overall, I was quite pleased with the finale. To me, it definitely had a Lord of the Rings esque ending when Buffy and crew were in the pit of the hellmouth.. Very cool. However, I think there are a few things that kind of bug me.
1. Xander not showing more grief toward Anya's death.
2. Buffy being impaled by a sword, looking like she was on her deathbed and miraculously rising back into the heat of battle. Although, I can sort of buy it a little bit because when someone taunts you on being defeated, it's pretty common human nature to force yourself harder. Anyways the same thing was done in "The Princess Bride" for instance.

What I really enjoyed would probably be the little things:
1. Spike's picture of Angel on the punching bag was freakin' hilarious.
2. Dawn kicking Buffy and Buffy going "Ow"
3. Gile's line about being now a Dwarf with the strength of a doiley.
4. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles together in the hall of the school was sort of homeage to season 1 and the struggles they have had throughout.
5. Spike disentegrating was done well with his little speech to Buffy before hand. It fit with his noble image he has portrayed as of late.
6. While shocking, the death of Anya was cool. Unlike others on here, I really did not expect her to get killed. I only wish they would have chose one of the other cast members instead of her since she has been my favorite character.
7. Andrew's line to Anya, think about bunnies and Anya's response to that.

Anyways, thanks Whedon and crew for an amazing 7 years of television!