Buffy Series Finale Tonight 433
roothog writes "I just finished watching the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, an episode that sparks with the writing of Joss Whedon. Strangely, there weren't any commercials :). One of the best written shows on television comes to an end tonight in North America. A very accurate script summary is available for any spoiler-seekers. I'd suggest skipping the spoilers: it's worth the wait...for a season 7 episode..."
Full Script? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Bittorrent ;-) (Score:1, Informative)
In Canada... (Score:5, Informative)
Here's a no-spoiler summary: the ending doesn't suck. I really mean that. I hate nothing worse than something that ends poorly, be it a book or a movie or a television show, because it tends to ruin all the good things that went before. This is an ending worthy of Buffy.
Re:Can someone please explain... (Score:2, Informative)
Salon Article (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Censoring? (Score:2, Informative)
Sky don't cut it, AFAIK. BBC do for the Thursday showing (6.45pm) but show it uncut on Friday night.
Of course C4 had the bright idea of show Angel at 6pm (think that's right), which is more violent. The result was often amusing, and invariably baffling. The endings (where the fights normally are) would become a rapid succession of cuts. Perhaps that's what the poster had in mind?
Re:Can someone please explain... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Huh? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Huh? (Score:2, Informative)
And now we're to believe that a TV show, from the Dubbya-Bee no less, about a teeny bopper girl who hunts boogeymans is somehow the 'best written show' on television? It's a fucking live action Scooby Doo, with Sarah Michelle Gellar stepping in to play the dog.
Hmm... [bbc.co.uk]
Hmmmmm..... [npr.org]
Hmmmmmmmmm....... [slayage.tv]
Re:A bad end to a great show (Score:5, Informative)
The "First Evil" (a human name for something timeless) is the thing from which evil was borne. That from which all of the seven deadly sins find their roots. That which creates our urges and impulses and makes bad possible. Its grand plan? It told us; it's tired of the balance of good versus evil. It's coming home to roost, and that's that.
In part, Spike was removed from the influence of the Hellmouth and brought to live with loved ones who helped him battle the evil that tried to control him. This was brought to light in the second-to-last episode where he saw Buffy, the one he loved like he didn't think he was capable of, kissing Angel as if he (Spike) meant nothing to her. That allowed his guard to drop, enter the first, and we find ourselves prepared for the finale. Answers forthcoming. :)
My guess would be the 'First' was raising its army. Why send small groups out when you could hit with full, brutal force and crush your enemies? Also, the one it brought out initially was quite possibly (probably) a test. What, exactly, is this slayer capable of?
If you can take out the supply lines before sending your men into battle, all the better. The last thing the 'First' needs is for slayers to continue to pop up as a replenishing source of opposition. Terminate them as mere weak humans and you solve a lot of problems later on.
Divide and conquor. It meant the same as it did for Willow; it asked Willow to kill herself (Willow being powerful, and therefore a potential threat), and it wanted to create (our favourite acronym) Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt in the Summers household. Give Buffy some problems on the homefront to deal with and distract her from the front lines. In the old BBS game, Barren Realms Elite, you could send in spies to create dissent amongst the enemy troops which would lower morale and make them easy pickin's.
It's my understanding that should the show have been picked up for an eighth (and possibly ninth) season, this was to be the plan. Alas, Sarah has a burdgeoning career to consider and I'm sure the rest of the cast have other projects to attend to (I know Eliza has been in some movies lately, I believe Anthony has been returning to theatre, Allison is getting married, albeit to our Rogue Demon Hunter friend, Michelle is still young enough to snare a great deal of roles, etc.). That, and Joss is spread a tad thin of late with Angel and the various new projects he's starting up (Firefly? Is that still around?).
Re:Can someone please explain... (Score:3, Informative)
It isn't about SMG. I would even say she was almost expendible, except for being the title character, so... Anyway, no it wasn't SMG. Not that I have anything against her, but I think Xander and Willow and Cordelia were all portrayed by better actors than Buffy.
One thing I liked was that it was a horror show, and there aren't really many of those. Well, horror with some humor added. Later it became just another dreary drama, with a vague horror backdrop.
WBut back to the humor... Here, have a sampling of lines:
Cordelia: "Oh, I'm not saying that we should kill a teacher every day just so I can lose weight. I'm just saying, when tragedy strikes we have to look on the bright side, y'know? Like how even used Mercedes still have leather seats." [How I loved to hate Cordelia. Unfortunately, she starts to become a "person" and thereby loses the appeal. I watched a few episodes of "Angel" and it was unbearable. What a waste.]
Anya: "Look, I know you find me attractive; I've seen you looking at my breasts."
Xander: "Nothing personal, but when a guy does that, it just means his eyes are open."
Buffy: "Sorry, but I'm an old fashioned gal. I was raised to believe that men dig up the corpses and the women have the babies."
Buffy: "So something ripped him open and ate out his insides?"
Willow: "Like an Oreo cookie. Well, except for, you know, without the chocolatey cookie goodness."
Principle Snyder: "There are things I will not tolerate: students loitering on campus after school, horrible murders with hearts being removed, and also smoking."
Spike: "You were there? Oh, please! If every vampire who said he was at the crucifixion was actually there, it would have been like Woodstock. I was actually at Woodstock. That was a weird gig. I fed off a flower person, and I spent the next six hours watching my hand move."
Buffy: "Vampires are creeps."
Giles: "Yes, that's why one slays them."
Buffy: "I mean, people are perfectly happy getting along, and then vampires come, and they run around and they kill people, and they take over your whole house, they start making these stupid little mini-pizzas, and everyone's like, 'I like your mini-pizzas,' but I'm telling you, I am---"
Giles: "Uh, Buffy, I believe the subtext here is rapidly becoming, uh, text."
Cordelia: "But she's like this superman. Shouldn't there be different rules for her?"
Willow: "Sure, in a fascist society."
Cordelia: "Right! Why can't we have one of those?"
Spike: "I'm gonna do what I should've done in the first place. I'll find her, wherever she is, tie her up, and torture her until she likes me again."
The show was perverted, and I like perverted stuff.
Joss Whedon Q & A in Todays NYT (Score:3, Informative)
Joss answered answered reader's questions in this feature in today's Times online. [nytimes.com]
$0 reg. etc.
Buffy Schmuffy... (Score:5, Informative)
Trogdor (Score:2, Informative)
Hilarious!