Buffy
Spoilers!
Well, the final episode was pretty good (and leaves the possibilites wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy open for spinoffs, movies, and SMG guest spots), but I thought it was still pretty uneven. In his discussion of the episode, Victor links to a Salon interview with Joss Whedon (which, to me, explained a good part of why the show was so maddeningly uneven — it’s not for the reasons that Whedon thinks.)
First, one thing to get out of the way — my husband asked, “When you blog on Buffy, make sure you mention that they should have put the show out of its misery three seasons ago.” Okay, honey.
Second, I thought there could only be one Slayer alive on the entire Planet Earth at a time and that’s why Buffy was the Chosen One, etc, and that Kendra and Faith were activated because Buffy’s heart stopped temporarily, etc. (Which would raise the question of who became the Slayer when Buffy was good and dead at the end of Season Five.) And — sorry, Victor — I liked Buffy’s idea of changing the rules of Slayer status. It just makes more sense if there are Hellmouths everywhere. (Cleveland is revealed to have a Hellmouth — is it under the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?)
I did get some of the items on my wish list — the swift death of Caleb, who was annoying, not creepy. Sorry, Mr Whedon, Caleb was just a warmed over Stephen King villain, and cartoon fundamentalists generally do not wear Roman collars. If you want to critique “religious institutions” and “the patriarchy” (whatever that is) please learn a bit more about them first, okay? (And how can “religious institutions” be bad but priests and ordinary believers be okay? That kind of stuff needles me too much) I did not get another big item on my wish list — the swift death of Kennedy — and I guess Giles was for real after all, so his behavior for the last half of the season was just confusing.
My husband thought it was significant that the only casualties were reformed demons, something about showing how truly they had reformed by sacrificing themselves for others (especially for Andrew, who himself is a reformed villain….) I forget what we came up with. He also thinks it’s significant that they escaped in a school bus (beyond the fact it’s something they could easy acquire that would a whole lot of Slayers and Scoobies.) So maybe there is a Slayer/ Watcher Academy in the future.