Listmum's guide to 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' Plotty Goodness

Okay, here goes:

This season is something that must be met with new eyes. Joss Whedon in his infinite genius has created this lil ditty called Buffy The Vampire Slayer for all of us to embark on with him. It all comes from his mind and the minds of his writers. Such a fantastic crew. I?m very sad to see a lot of people ranting and raving about how the show is lacking luster and plot and that the first two eps sucked or were filled with padding. In my infinite listmum wisdom, I?ve decided to intervene here before it?s too late. Before you all wind up hating the show you?ve loved SO much for seven years. Stop being so cynical and give it some thought. Please?

I?d just like to add in here I?m spoiler-free. Anything I say is speculation, discussion and general knowledge from the past seven seasons combined?If you haven?t seen ?Lessons? or ?Beneath You? there is discussion here from both eps.

A long, long time ago, a one-hour episode aired called ?Amends?. If wouldn?t mind, I?d like to take you on a journey.

In this episode we find that Angel is confused about his return to the living so to speak. He is haunted by visions of Jenny Calandar ? Giles? girlfriend he killed. We learnof ?The First? in this episode. We learn of the ?Harbingers of Death?. All very important stuff.

But we never hear about it again.

Stay with me here. Remember this?: Season 3, Episode 2 ?Graduation Day II?

Cut to Buffy walking through Faith's apartment her arms crossed in front of her. There are cardboard boxes stacked everywhere. Buffy stops and sees a cat jump up on Faith's bed.
Buffy: "Who's going to look after him?"
Faith: "It's a she. And aren't these things supposed to take care of themselves?" walks up behind Buffy and stops next to her.
Buffy: "A higher power guiding us?"
Faith looks at her then turns away and keeps walking towards the camera: "I'm pretty sure that's not what I meant."
Buffy looking down: "There's something I'm supposed to be doing."
Faith: "Oh yeah. - Miles to go - Little Ms. Muffet counting down from 7-3-0."
Buffy grimaces: "Great. - Riddles."
Faith standing in front of the broken window looking out: "Sorry, it's my head. A lot of new stuff."

This is the first EVER mention of Dawn. We don?t see her until Season 5, Episode 1 ?Buffy vs. Dracula?. It took two whole seasons to lead up to her introduction and acclimation into the fold. Keeping that in mind, lets think about Buffy for a while. Hell, lets throw Kendra, Faith and every other Slayer into the mix while we?re at it.

?In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons andthe forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.?

Dun dun dun!! Cue the creepy music.

Oh but wait. There are two Slayers. My bad. Buffy was ?Gone for a minute? and that brought Kendra into the mix. Kendra didn?t last very long because Dru turned her into snackish goodness. And here comes Faith.

I could do miles and milesof text on Faith, but lets not. Lets concentrate on the fact that we have a catastrophic fuck up on our hands here. Two Slayers. Off the bat we can?t see the problems. ?Two Slayers, no waiting.? But delve into the consequences for a moment. Two Slayers. Twice the agility, speed, prophetic dreams and ass kicking of all the evil in this little piece of spinning granite we like to call earth.

Kicking evil?s ass.

Hmm. Interesting.

So here we are at the beginning of season seven. Seven. Wow. Just look at that number for a moment. Yeah, kinda rings a bell, doesn?t it?

COUNTING DOWN FROM 7 ? 3? 0.

Seven. We?ve had two eps so far in season seven and this is how they played out. . if you were paying attention.

Join me in Season 7 now ifyou will. We have two episodes behind us and twenty to go. In the first two eps there is one thing that stands out that it seems EVERYONE is havinga problem with. The random scene?s with the girls being chased by. . .by. . .by. . .

Oh gods!!! Could it be GUYS IN BLACK ROBES?!?!?!?!

Why yes my little list children, it can and is. Guys in black robes. The same creepy bastards we saw first in ?Amends? that were channeling all of their power into bringingabout The First. The Harbingers of Death. The Biggest Bad Of All The Bads Ever Seen Ever In Sunnydale. Come on guys. . .this is Joss? Satan. The is THE evil. It?s here, it?s really friggin strong, and it?s definitly NOT going away. But you know what is going away? Know what?s disappearing one by one?

All of the future Slayers. Don?t tell me warning bells didn?t go off in your collective heads whenyou saw how fast the girl in Istanbul was running? Don?t tell me you didn?t notice what height the girl in Germany jumped from and the kick she got in on one of the robed guys before they ganged up on her and stabbed her? How about Buffy?s dream? ?The girls are gonna die.? COME ONE PEOPLE!!! It?s so obvious. And just how exactly are we gonna get to see Faith for five episodes in good old Sunnydale? You think the L.A. correctional department is running a special this year on letting inmates visit with the ones she tried to kill? No. She?s either gonna break out in fear of her lifefrom these robed guys OR they infiltrate the prison and capture her to bring her someplace to kill.

Character points

Willow ? Gotta love her. Still craving acceptance and reassurance that she?s a good person. Ever notice she?s never said this once herself and really meant it? Good, so did I. She?s in a coven in England when we first see her, but she?s not with the coven per say. She?s sitting under a tree doing magik. ::gasps:: Magick you say? Good gravy call the troops in!! A wicca is performing magik. Look at it from a plot perspective. She went all veiny and evil in the season six finale. She drew on the deepest and darkest magicks there are in this world ? andout of it ? and all of it was harnessed into her little body, soul and mind. That has to change a person. But not only does it change a person, it creates something. It creates a little nitch inside where it belongs now ? and you?re not gonna get rid of it. Willow developed into this all powerful being ? and you expect her to just not be any longer because Xander savedthe day and told her he loves her? Not gonna happen. She harnessed it, therefore she must now live with it. And THAT, my listkids, is why she was sent to England in the first place. Not to ?cure? her of her magick, but to teach her how to allow it to grow inside of her in a non destructive way. It?s something she was blessed with and given and now she mustlearn how to be responsible for it. It pisses me off when people akin her magick use to a drug addiction. It wasn?t about that. It was about developing her character for the following season. Slowly and painstakingly giving her issue after issue to deal with and keening her sense of responsibility. Magick is something to be cared for and nurtured ? NOT something you try to ?cure? someone of.

There?s a lot of guilt going on behind those beautiful green eyes of Willow?s. If you know her at all and her character?s history, youhave to recognize that right from the beginning she was unsure of raising Buffy from the dead, she was unsure about Amy, unsure about Rack. . .about everything. Didn?t restless teach us that? Inside, she?s still this dorky redhead dress by ?the softer side of sears? craving attention from anyone around her. She needs to feel useful, validated and part of something. If it wasn?t computers (?I?m such a computer geek!?), magiks (?I?m a badass wicca!?), relationships (?I?m a groupie? and ?No candles? Well, I brought one. It's extra flamey.?) It?s always been about belonging and fitting in. at the Halloween party her anger at Buffy and then going off todo magick in the wrong state of mind and the fear demon makes the spell go haywire. when Oz cheated she came close to cursing him. when she did the My Will Be Done spell and Da'Hoffren seeing vengeance potential in her. The power Tara saw in her....Season 5...deeper into the magick. spells with ease. tougher spells cause physical pain and injury. Tara gets hurt, angry, wrong state of mind, goes postal on Glory. After Buffy's death, she just loses all common sense. part of her reasoning for the ressurection is to get Buffy, but the other is to prove to her and everyone else what's she's capable of, and she wants praise for it. obviously, the black magick she used on Glory got into her and started affecting her.....then it got worse. Don?t even make me go there about Vamp Willow. How could you forget about that?

Spike ? Yeah okay. . .there?s a few points of contention here. Namely the ATTEMPTED rape of Buffy. Whether he stopped himself or Buffy stopped him or both ? I?m not gonna argue the points. His character has come a long way from being Dru?s whipping boy and Angelus? butt of all jokes but I must admit ? he?s still evil. BUT. . .we do insane things for love. He knows no other way to do things other than be aggressive and forceful, so the ATTEMPTED rape was well within his character. So was his trying to get a soul. Spike is the epitomy of extreme ? there is no in between. I don?t believe Joss is trying to redeem him in our eyes ? you can?t excuse the evil he?s done. I think that Joss is handing him to us, bad stuff and all and saying ?accept or don?t but this is the most straight forward no bullshit character you?re gonna get outa me.?

Buffy ? I really don?t see the whole mommish side coming out as much as people are complaining about. I mean, she?s gone through a lot ? it changes a person. Loosing her mother, not hearing from her father, dying, coming back and having to live with knowing what heaven was like and that her friends took her out of it, protecting ?the key? who is also now your sister for the rest of your life. Deal with that within 18 months and see how much it doesn?t change you. It will, believe me. I have to disagree with the whole ?Buffy turning evil? line of thought too. That is SO not where Joss is going. He?s bringing her to the next stage of life. Responsibility for a younger sister, to her heritage as a Slayer, to herself and her friends. There are still a lot of amazing turns, hills and valley?s left for our Slayer, but evil ISN?T one of them.

All in all we?re in for a hell of a ride this season. The Harbingers of Death are out to kill the Slayers ONE by ONE. The First has moved on from Angel to Spike. . .proof being the whole shape shifting deal we saw in ?Lessons?. Willow has harnessed the magic, good and bad, of the earth and on her way back to Sunnydale ? right where the most active hellmouth is. Giles had all that power put into him in the season finale so as to temp Willow ? don?t count that storyline out. Faith is gonna be on for a WHOLE FIVE EPISODES. Anya has to have a storyline in there other than being wishbitch ? I predict an Anyacentric eppy where we see shots of her past. Xander is mystery man now but look out ? His storyline is gonna explode. And don?t count Tara out yet ? I?m sure Joss has a really interesting Ace up his sleeve where she?s concerned.

But hey. That?s just my two cents ;-)

Your listmum,

~~Kimber