Re: Kind of an OT post and sort of a ramble

["ebailey140" <ebailey140@xxxxxxx>]

--- In buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, danspector@w... wrote:
> E,
>
> Well, you apparently liked "Chosen" a lot better than I did.  But 
then,
> considering that I consider it the worst episode of the series 
(worse
> than "Flooded"! Worse than "Dead Things"! Worse than "Grave"! 
Worse than
> "Lies Joss Whedon Told Me"!), I suppose that's no surprise. 

I liked Lies My Parents Told Me.

> Although I won't do my long-overdue review now, let me briefly 
reiterate
> that I fundamentally hate for spitting on what I consider two of 
the
> cornerstones of the series:  Buffy's calling as a Slayer (Slaying 
is a
> metaphor for who she is, for finding her own identity, not some 
Horrible
> Burden she must Lay Down [by foisting on others, which is hardly
> heroic]) 
>
> (Remember, although most "S8" fics show Buffy actively fighting 
evil,
> post-"Chosen", Angel S5 canon does not.  She's hanging out in Rome 
while
> Giles/Andrew/etc do the work, contributing nothing more than an
> occasional teleconference.)
>
> and her mission (Buffy fights and sacrifices and periodically 
dies so
> that normal people can be safe in the night and have happy lives
until
> Joss drops their homes, their possessions and their memories in a
> sinkhole for the sake of a special effect).  Beyond that, I think 
the ep
> is a disaster from start to finish (I hate the "Power-up" on about 
four
> or five other levels, besides what I just mentioned) and I find the
> cheap regurgitation of dialogue from "The Harvest" forced and 
facile and
> in no way making up for the battering the Scooby friendships had 
taken
> place for the length of the entire UPN run.  (Basically my worst
> nightmare, that they'd **never** fix things, and try and paper 
them over
> with an unearned "moment" in the finale.)

Well, keep in mind Joss wasn't thinking of the concerns of us 
ficcers.  He wanted to complete the story he started in WttH, while 
keeping in mind he still had a spinoff going and wanted to keep 
things open enough for sequels.  But, there were three huge plot 
danglers that were going to be wrapped before the series was done:  
The Hellmouth, the Slayer Origin Story, and the First Evil.  It 
turned out the three major danglers were connected.  

But, he did want to end on a positive note (and not kill the 
franchise in the process).  So, we couldn't end with a scenario 
where the status quo was maintained.  Since Season 3 (Helpless), it 
was established that there was something fundamentally wrong with 
the traditions of the Watcher's Council.  Frankly, I'd have found a 
scenario where Travers just had to wait until Buffy died for the 
final time to re-establish the "traditional" way of treating Slayers 
to be downright depressing.  Add to that, this treatment implied 
that there was some sort of violation that created the first 
Slayer.  So, something had to be done about it, and learning what to 
do would be tied to finding out where Slayers came from.  Buffy was 
never one to just follow the rules and traditions, after all.  She's 
always overcome the Gloom and Doom Prophesies and Fate, BECAUSE she 
doesn't do things the Old Way.  So, leave it to her and a certain 
talented friend who's been there since WttH to change the rules, and 
even the odds.

I LIKE that Buffy and her methods outlasted Travers and his. 

> Heck, I can think of three or four other things that I feel are 
very
> damaging to the B/W relationship in the finale alone, never mind 
their
> utter failure to make up for "Get it Done" and "Empty Places" and 
all
> the season's other "Spike's the only one who's been watching my 
back!"
> treatments of the Scoobs as inconsequential/burdens/traitors to 
our Poor
> Solitary Suffering Slayer.  But I really don't want to rant, 
because
> once I start, I'd never stop.

Well, that's something that was building sinse S3, too.  They'd 
hadn't fully trusted Buffy since Revelations.  Faith going nuts made 
it worse, coloring how they looked at Buffy from then on.  Whenever 
there was a question of Buffy acting emotionally, they tended to 
jump to whatever the worst conclusion was.  Living Conditions in 
early S4, for example.  "Oh no, let's not give her the benefit of a 
doubt, and look into what she's saying like we would if it were any 
of the rest of us.  Let's just assume she's gone psycho.  That's 
what Faith did, after all...".  Later, that season, we have Who Are 
You.  Faith has done the body switch with Buffy, and the ONLY person 
who noticed this was something more than B being moody was Tara, who 
had never MET her, before.  Giles, Willow, Xander, Riley, even 
Joyce, didn't see that Buffy wasn't Buffy.

And that would have had to HURT, the total stranger being the only 
person around you who could get past their own issues with you to 
really SEE you, and understand.  Small wonder that Tara was who 
Buffy's subconcious chose as her Dream Guide in Restless.  
Eventually, it got to a point where Buffy only had one person 
(besides Spike, who in his then soulless state couldn't FULLY 
understand her) who she didn't have to be guarded with, who was 
never judgemental with her, who she could always confide her deepest 
secrets and darkest fears in, who was her pillar of support.  Buffy 
lost her to a stray bullet at the end of Seeing Red.  

Hmm...  How would Willow react to realizing that?  Did she ever know 
about the clandestine meetings?  Did she ever wonder at what point 
Buffy was something to Tara besides "Willow's best friend" and Tara 
was something to Buffy besides "Willow's girlfriend"?  Was Buffy's 
birthday party that year a really awkward situation for everyone?...

Mental note:  File away for fic ideas.  Already have something to 
revive my old "Missing Scenes" series, taking episodes and adding 
B/W to them...  Now, I'll have to do that before the next In Rome 
chapter...  

So, it got to a point where souled Spike was the only one who really 
believed in her, and vice versa.  They ended up proven right, 
though.  Buffy had done what Giles always said she needed to do, and 
that was grow into the leadership position, be the one who can make 
the decisions.  It just took the rest of the group a while to accept 
that.

But, regardless of how things would regularly fall apart, it would 
always be the core group that would pull together, that would find 
their bond, again.  We saw it in Primeval, Grave, and Chosen.  That 
bond was unbreakable, no matter what.           
> So I'm glad you liked it, but I would disagree *very* strongly 
with your
> theory that the only problem with S7 as far as writing a B/W S8 is 
the
> need to get rid of Kennedy.
>
> Personally, I think Ken-girl is about #100 on the list of the 
problems
> left over.  Yeah, it's a fling.  No one said "love", no one implied
> "love", no one talked about it being longterm.  On the "Willow has 
a
> girlfriend" side of things, I'd say Tara was 10 times the obstacle
> Kennedy is, even now when she's dead and buried and dropped into a
> sinkhole so Willow can never pay her respects again.

A lot of their loved ones were buried in Sunnydale.  The plan, 
though, always was that Sunnydale would go when the Hellmouth 
did.    
> "Buffy, this is different.  Kennedy was just for fun, we both knew 
that.
> Like what you might have had with Spike, or maybe Parker if he'd 
been
> honest and not such a big creep.  But I can't have that with youI
> don't want you to be my Riley, the person who loves me in a way I 
can't
> love them.
>
> "With you it'd have to be forever&and I don't know if I can do 
that so
> soon after Tara.  I'm sorry, Buffy."

Spike was a genuine threat, actually, but he suddenly forgot how to 
pick up a phone.
> Ken's a nice girl and I like her, but she's no problem.  Heck, if 
I were
> told to keep three things from S7 and we'd get rid of the rest, she
> might be one of them.  My issues with the season, and my 
difficulty with
> using it as a basis for serious longterm fics, are entirely 
different. 
> I do see your point that it would be nice to end the series with 
Buffy
> going on to face new challenges, but IMO that would have to come 
after a
> year spent rebuilding her life and growing emotionally, not totally
> alienated and unable to deal.  Why give her new challenges when she
> doesn't seem to be able to deal with the ones she's had the last 
two
> years?  And again, I'd much rather have her leave Sunnydale with a
> "mission accomplished" rather than "well, so much for that town.  
What
> can we blow up next?"  (Again, I have much more to say here, but 
I'm
> trying to limit it.)
>
> JMO, as is certainly plain, I'd think.

That mission WAS accomplished.  First Evil beaten, Hellmouth 
sealed.  LA lost an evacuated suburb in the process.  But, it was a 
very together Buffy in the end.  She'd dealt with her demons, and 
become the leader she was always capable of being.  Willow came 
through her ordeals powerful, benevolent, almost goddesslike.  
They're ready for the world, now.  But, is it ready for them?  

E



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

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