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..."
Bittorrent ;-) (Score:5, Interesting)
Can someone please explain... (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not suggesting that Charmed should register on Slashdot's radar, rather I'm asking why Buffy does. Can someone please explain it to me?
I've watched several episodes of Buffy, as well as a handful of Charmed. I can't say I've ever for a split second thought that either show had much merit but, obviously, there are those out there that disagree with me?
Not that I think she's that attractive but is it a Sarah Michelle Gellar thing? I've read so many posts on Slashdot, in various discussions about quality television and I find it amazing that Buffy is even mentioned in the same breath as shows such as CSI, The West Wing and 24.
I'm not looking to troll here - seriously, that's an honest statement - but just what is it about Buffy that has some of you ga-ga over it? Schoolboy fantasies? Demonic possession? Please elaborate.
Rise and Fall of BtVS (Score:5, Interesting)
However, the loss of the high school setting was a major problem, with the show first focusing on college, then the magic shop, and finally getting stuck in the claustrophobic confines of Buffy's house in season 5 as Buffy focused on her sick mother and magical sister. Sunnydale faded away as the setting became smaller and smaller, leaving us to wonder what happened to the world that Buffy is supposed to be saving. The last time I recall Buffy going out of her way to save a normal person was the guy she saved in the alley in The Gift, two years ago.
The sixth season started out well, both in terms of quality and ratings (a 4.3 Neilsen), but quickly ran into problems after the excellent musical episode. Somehow magic has become addictive and we end up with Willow strung out at a magic crack house in the episode Wrecked. Don't ask me to explain it, or the producers for the matter, as showrunner Marti Noxon admitted on last week A&E Biography that she didn't understand the story arcs that she's run on Buffy. Unfortunately, season 6 continued to get worse with Spike attempting to rape Buffy and Willow's lesbian lover getting shot, resulting in Willow becoming evil and going off to destroy the world in a perfect example of the lesbian cliche perpetrated in so many books and movies.
Season 7 made a token effort to fix the characters after destroying them in the previous season, but quickly focused on throwing spinoff ideas at the viewers, ranging from Buffy's little sister Dawn, guest star and dark slayer Faith, and a multitude of Slayers-in-training whose names fans couldn't recall from one week to the next. None of them stuck, but the combination of losing the focus on the core characters fans loved and having the villain of the season be the First Evil, who can't do anything but talk, made for a boring season with Buffy's lowest ratings ever. Over half the season's episodes had Neilsen ratings below last season's lowest rated episode, Seeing Red, which had a 2.7.
Unfortunately, I'm glad the show is over and wish that it had ended a couple of years earlier. I'll still cherish the early days though and buy the first five seasons on DVD once they're all available.
Looove the knee-jerk hate (Score:1, Interesting)
Look, those of you ranting that it doesn't belong on slashdot: no one cares about your opinion. The editors put up whatever the hell they want. You have three mature ways of dealing with this situation: 1) register a nick and use the filters so you don't see what you're not interested in, 2) don't visit the site anymore, and 3) self-filter by not clicking on news you're not interested in. Instead all you vapid-brained teenagers spew forth your filth, whining more than an infant ever would, complaining that part of the world hasn't instantly been made over to your liking.
This is why I support lowering the age of adulthood back to 12. Not because I'm a fan of "kid's rights" or anything, but because if you teens are too busy raising a family and/or working some soul-crushing job like the rest of us are doing, you won't have the energy to complain about things that don't matter. (not just the physical teenagers, but the mental ones as well)
If you don't like Buffy, go on to the next article. If you just can't resist complaining that other people like something you don't, please kill yourself now and stop annoying everyone else.
A bad end to a great show (Score:4, Interesting)
The finale does nothing to answer these questions, instead it only poses more. You're left with the impression that the writers themselves don't know whats going on, that they're simply making it up as they go along. But why have an overall arc plot if you can't be bothered doing it properly, they'd have been much better sticking to the one off style episodes of the earlier seasons.
Buffy Nerds (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Can someone please explain... (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that if you'd examine the demographics for the two shows, you'd find the Charmed audience to be centered around teenaged girls.
You'd find the Buffy audience to be centered around older females and young and middle-aged men.
Case in point, my sister and her 15 year old daughter just love fantasy programming, and wouldn't miss a Charmed episode. I've tried to get them into Buffy, but I think it's a bit to "male" for their tastes: more action, more male-oriented humor, less PMSing witches living together.
Not that I think she's that attractive but is it a Sarah Michelle Gellar thing?
*shrug* Not for me. I much preferred Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) for the eye candy value. For me, it's all about the writing.
The signifigance of BTV (Score:3, Interesting)
Sci-fi, fantasy seemed to be a domain of special concern to the
Besides being about pop culture, rejoicing in it, playfully alluding to it, and creating innovative and well-crafted popular culture, Buffy is also about the alienation of youth. This is also something that is central to the "geek" experience, as Jon Katz once pointed out (though much to his massive villification, for some reason). It also did all this while being darned entertaining (though it did abound in in-jokes which often failed to enamor the casual and occasional viewer).
And for the record: The show didn't start failing with Season 4, that season, with the massive secret commando base below UC-Sunnydale, had great comic moments, innovative TV writing, social commentary, social satire, action, you name it, one of the best seasons. Season 5, battling Glory the Valley Girl Demon God and the the mysterious dawn of Dawn also had many strengths and was just good horror writing.
Re:Can someone please explain... (Score:3, Interesting)
A really excellent example being the famous "Earshot" which was pulled from the air when the Columbine shootings happened a few days earlier which had some parallels. This named the whole "Hellmouth" discussion of Columbine on Slashdot.
Another example: "The Body". Somebody just dies. Bang. More or less natural causes and then dealing with the paramedics and doctors and such afterwards.
Another: Buffy wakes up in a mental institution, which is an often used device but we don't really know which is 'real' in Buffy: The institution or Sunnydale. The doctors make an awfully strong case for her being mentally ill.
Or maybe the whole "High School as Hell" thing just resonates for the nerdly among us (a feature that some of the other similar shows lack).
Throw in some nice character twists (just when you think you know who a character is, some new and often unexpected side turns up....and that twist usually stays with the character...it usually doesn't just disappear the following week as so often happens in series TV), some snappy banter and a willingness to do something unusual from time to time (e.g. the episode "Hush" had almost no dialog and "Once More with Feeling" was a musical) and a penchant to run a parallel between the outer story (e.g. demons steal the voices of everyone) and the inner story (e.g. how DO you communicate with your new love?) and usually a sense each season of a season-long story being shown via the individuals episodes and you have a pretty cool series.
I'm going to miss it. If you don't care for it: that's fine too.
Re:Rise and Fall of BtVS (Score:3, Interesting)
The main story arc for season four (the Initiative) was stupid, but there were still some good episodes, like Hush. Fifth season, Riley has gone from being slightly annoying to completely useless and leaves. Dawn joins the cast and we see more of Tara, which adds even more estrogen to the cast of this show. The show became more serious with less of the jokes we were used to in the first four seasons.
Sixth season it moves to UPN and goes straight to hell. After the musical episode, it's all downhill. Stupid things that happen:
Buffy uses Spike for sex.
Spike tries to rape Buffy.
Dawn is a kleptomaniac.
Willow becomes addicted to magic. (WTF?)
Xander leaves Anya at the altar, however she still sticks around.
Anya becomes a vengeance demon again.
The main villians: Warren, Andrew, & Johnathan
Warren starts the misogynistic villian trend. (Girl Power everyone!!)
Warren finds out something rather obvious: Guns hurt slayers. However, the strangest stray bullet in history manages to kill Tara.
Willow goes apeshit and Xander, who is feeling incompetent and powerless manages to save the world. (Wasn't that in The Zeppo?)
Seventh season: More shit happens
Buffy has to kill Anya for what she's done as a vengeance demon. Xander tries to stop her. D'Hoffryn kills Hallie to undo the wish Anya granted. No one thinks to destroy Anya's necklace LIKE THEY DID THE LAST TIME SHE WAS A VENGEANCE DEMON.
Willow & Kennedy - Kennedy actually made me like Tara. And boy do I ever miss Oz.
Willow turned into Warren.
Spike has a soul. How original.
Xander dates an evil woman. How original.
Potentials. 'Nuff said.
Caleb - misogynistic villian #2 (Girl Power!)
Anya, Xander, Willow, and Dawn get one scene per episode - if they're lucky.
The first - the biggest wanker villian out there. (He's non-corporeal, ignore him.)
But it's over, although it can't go out without them killing my some of my favorite characters (Anya, Spike, & Amanda, the only Potential that wasn't completely annoying)
A good show once, but it was time to end it.