Re: Season 7 and B/W? (No Spoilers)

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

I was replying to Cas's spoiler post and wandered into discussing
whether there still was a hope of B/W on air, so I've made a separate
post on that topic.

While for much of the year I bought into the idea that B/W's separation
was leading to something big down the road, post-"Grave" I would be
really surprised if it was a Season 7 hook-up. Which leads me back to
some things I never got around to saying about that ep.

Because in that finale, Willow has the most important emotional moment
of her life...and Buffy is busy saving Shiny McWhiny from--ye
gods!--dirt. Dirt! That's our hero's big showdown in the season
finale, dirt.  

(And you're so silly, Buffy, since even after a knock-down drag-out
fight in a grave, Dawn's hair is still perfect! Nothing can harm the
Keyhair!)

Not a single thought. Willow's magic stops, which means for all Buffy
knows, Willow could be dead. Not a word of concern, nope, sorry, got to
reassure Dawn.

A whole year of leading up to "I have to fight my best friend"...and she
doesn't. Doesn't even have to be in the ep, really. Feh.  

Besides the obvious B/S and B/X, I'd believe a Buffy/Giles romance a lot
easier than B/W after that finale. Heck, I'd believe Buffy/Dawn, since
there's got to be some reason Buffy's so Dawn-centric, right? (Anybody
read Wynd Gyrl's "Beauty and Power", where the Summers girls fall into a
clinch in that last scene and get the lurve on, right there in the
grave? Hilarious [which I hope was the point...].)

Mind you, "Two to Go" was a pretty good ep, mostly. All the B/W
confrontations were fine, because that follows the "3-Act theory" of
drama. You know, "get a man up a tree, throw rocks at the tree, get him
down from the tree."

Marti did an okay job of getting Buffy and the B/W relationship up a
tree. Petrie did a rather good job of throwing rocks at them in the
tree.

And then Fury completely forgot there was a tree. Buffy isn't needed to
solve the problem, and the B/W conflict is completely forgotten. Did
Cordelia suck his talent or something?

And have you seen all the reviews where people say that Xander got
through to Willow because he offered her unconditional love, where
everyone else was doing "intervention" cliches? Absolutely true, but...

...Didn't we say that during "Villains", it was the EXACT OPPOSITE way?
**Buffy** is worried for Willow and **Xander** was giving the "you have
to stay on the wagon, you promised" lectures in ep 20.  

What happened, did they switch bodies?

[Hey, that's a cool fic idea: Buffy, in Xander's body, getting it on
with Willow. Sort of a condensed version of all Willow's fantasies :) ]

And as for Xander scolding Willow, doesn't that make him the little
hypocrite, considering that he urged her to use magic back in "Older and
Far Away"? (I know, I know, keeping a character consistent from ep 14
to ep 20 is too much strain for poor Marti.)

Cas says she wants to see where Willow's character is at the start of
next season. Me, I'm pissed that WE'LL NEVER SEE how Buffy reacted when
she saw Willow for the first time after Willow tried to kill them all.
(Nor will we see the similar Willow/Dawn scene.) Showing lingering
tension in October won't be the same thing.

No cosmetic rewrite can help such a flawed finale; you can't save this
ep from its faults. (Like, if Giles wants the White Magic to cure
Willow, then why doesn't he give it to her while she's in his power?
What if she hadn't taken it from him? If he planned on Xander saving
the world, shouldn't he have **told** Xander? If I were Xander, I might
concentrate on helping Buffy, on the weird theory that, being **The
Slayer** and all, she might be of use. And how does Willow stopping the
black magic save Giles from dying, exactly? The damage had already been
done, right?)

But you could have made it much more emotionally satisfying with just
two scenes done differently in the final montage, as Sarah McLachlan
sings:

Buffy and Dawn climb out of the hole and see Xander and Willow walking
towards them. Willow looks terrified of how Buffy will react, but Buffy
can't help but go to her instantly, and they fall into a wordless,
tearful embrace as Dawn looks on nervously.

CUT TO:

Ext. Cemetery--Day

Willow stands weeping at Tara's grave, as Buffy supports her, looks at
her, and keeps up a steady stream of what we can assume is comfort.
Xander stands on the other side of Willow, an awkward hand on Willow's
shoulder as he stares at the grave. Giles stands to the side of and
slightly behind Xander, knowing how difficult moments like this are for
the boy.

In the foreground, Anya helps Dawn lower herself to kneel by the side of
the grave. She steadies Dawn's trembling arm as Dawn reaches forward to
place a single flower (something appropriate; perhaps a lily?) on the
grave. The camera pans along Dawn's arm as she reaches out, to her
hand, to the flower, and then up to the tombstone, which reads:

Tara Maclay
1980-2002
Beloved daughter, partner, and friend
Be at peace

And as the final line of "Prayer of St. Francis" is sung ("...and in
dying, we are born again...to eternal life"), we hold on the tombstone
and:

FADE TO BLACK

Then we can either have a surprise fade UP (see "Faith, Hope & Trick" or
"Heartthrob") for the Spike scene, making it the epilogue, not the
climax of the ep. Or we can just leave that scene for the Season 7
premiere (with a "four months ago" title on it).

I like this treatment because it would have given respectful closure to
Tara (left to rot! body bag! Giles and Buffy yuk it up when she's not
even a full day dead! [God, I really hate that "let's laugh at the
audience for being stupid enough to take this year seriously" scene]),
and it would have kept the closing song from being hijacked by Spike,
when the ep was **so** not about him.

Oh, and Tara's funeral is another scene we should have seen that we'll
never get to see. (Btw, I'm fond of my blocking there: The Three
Musketeers together, with Giles available for support, as Tara's best
friend and her daughter figure pay their respects.)

You know, if I was a masochist and looked hard enough, I'm pretty sure I
could find a reason to hate every single second of "Grave". Except
Willow telling Giles what a jerk he was for yelling at her in "Flooded".
That stays. And Spike getting a bug up his nose. Not for drama or the
story, just for him getting the bug up his nose. But that's it.

Anyway, now I'm just bashing, so...

Dan

lacking a clever exit line.