That's All Folks 7.22

The final episode! "The Chosen!" The final blog! To continue with the theme of the last blog, what happens in this episode is the ultimate redefining moment. Through all of Buffy there has not been an episode which has completely changed the idea of 'slayer'. The slayer has always been the one. Even in the very beginning after Buffy's death and revival the idea of 2 slayer was difficult for everyone to fathom. Now there are unlimited supplies of slayers. Every girl who has the potential now has the power. What does this do to the balance between good and evil? It evens the score! There have been since the birth of the first human an undying source of evil beings and forces and only one girl to stop them and protect the human race. Now, thanks to Buffy, Willow, and the entire gang, the force of good might have a chance. With more slayers who not only have the ability but the actual power to stop evil, there is no telling the impact this will have on the world. Also, Spike's place as a sacrifice for the cause of good is so amazing! When looking at Spikes journey from desiring to be the ultimate evil, to the revelation of his true origins, to his desire to fulfil his purpose and be a true force for good is unbelievable and awe inspiring. We've talked about in different episodes how Buffy could be considered a sacrificial lamb as she gives up everything to save the world (especially at the end of season 5) but in the end, Spike is the Christ figure. I think this really shows his development and how far he has always been willing to go for Buffy and for good though, only recently, would he have admitted it. All in all, I think this was a fine way for the Buffy season to end and I must say that I am leaving the season feeling very satisfied with the outcome.

You Are Not What I Thought You Were 7.12 through 7.21

Redefine can easily be the word which summarizes the theme of season 7. Especially throughout the end of the season, realization of what things are and discovery of what they could be have a major effect on the outcome of the season.

"Potential" temporarily redefines Dawn's role in life as she thinks she is a potential slayer. The information is hard for her to accept and, even though in the end she discovers that she is not a potential, the experience allows her to see what her abilities are. She is very capable of being in the action and supporting her sister and the potentials. She can make tough decisions easily and at the end of the day, she realizes with the help of Xander that her role is just as important as any of the slayers'. Though she isn't a slayer, Dawns role is set into place in this episode and from here on we see a more settled, mature young woman rather than a teenager with a lack of direction.

"Lies My Parents Told Me" helps to redefine Principal Wood, not only in the eyes of Buffy and Spike as they realize what he is capable of, but also in Principal Wood's view of what his purpose is. We recognize in this episode that he has every intention of fulfilling his life's quest to kill Spike, but when he fails he has a major decision to make. Though he can't kill Spike, Wood still has the desire to fight evil so he must redefine his perception of what evil is. It's not "the monster that killed [his mother] but the things that are fighting against the slayer and desire to cause pain to the human race. Once he sees that Spike is not what he was and that there are other things out in the world causing harm he, like Dawn, is able to gain a focus which is beneficial for the gang.

Faith comes back in "Dirty Girls." In this case the gang, and the audience, must redefine their perception of Faith. Faith left on exceptionally bad terms and being back at such a time can cause everyone to be a little wary. Faith shows that her personality hasn't really changed but she claims to be back on the side of good rather than evil. This episode also brings us another example of what evil can really be. Caleb appears to be the physical strength behind The First. The mutilation that occurs when Buffy's attack fails lessens the moral of everyone in the Summers home and all seems a loss by the end of the episode as Xander loses an eye. This episode is really the catalyst for the final episodes of the season and what will next occur.

"Empty Places" begins the uprising within the Summers' home. By the end of this episode, what is redefined is leadership and who is capable of leading as well as who deserves the power that comes along with the leadership. Until now, Buffy assumed that because she was the active slayer for all the years and she has been in charge through the years she would be followed without question. However, the Gang, the Potentials, and even Dawn agree that it is time that Buffy stepped down before she made any bad decisions. Buffy's role as slayer has always carried along with it the title of leader but this episode begs the question of "Does being the slayer automatically qualify you for leadership position?" My opinion is that not Buffy's role, but Buffy's natural instinct and abilities qualified her for the role of leader. Through the years she has dealt with stronger evils than she could have ever expected or that was expected of her to defeat. I may be biased but I think Buffy was more than qualified to take on a leadership role, despite the fact that she is the slayer.

"Touched" was such an amazing episode and the part that I remember the most vividly is not when Spike and Andrew find Caleb's parish or when Buffy beats Caleb and gets the weapon but when all of the couples are shown with each other (especially Buffy and Spike). I love the contrast between what Xander/Anya and Willow/Kennedy were experiencing and what Buffy/Spike were experiencing. Buffy and Spike's relationship has been through a great deal and I love that at the end of it all, they can be content laying together and it be the equivalent of what the others are shown experiencing. It's as if their relationship has been taken to a completely different level and their feelings for each other and the experience of simply being together has a more powerful meaning than the experiences they had in season 6.

"End Of Days" is another episode like Dirty Girls where a lot is happening and it acts mainly as a shift between everything that has happened thus far and what is destined to occur. However, with the death of Caleb, and the return of Angel as well as Buffy and Angel's reunion kiss which is witnessed by Spike this episode is one that would truly make the audience fall off the edge of their seats in anticipation and the possibilities for what lies next are unlimited at this point.

I Just Want You To Know Who I Am 7.2 through 7.11

The first half of season 7 is about getting back into the swing of things. Spike returns with his soul, Willow returns from her rehabilitation, Buffy returns to Sunnydale High as a counselor in the school. Anya tries adjusting to being a demon but fails and has to reacclimate to human life as the others go through adjustments of their own.

In "Beneath You" Spike has to reacclimate to having a soul. His getting his soul is analogous to people having to readjust their moral compass after realizing that they have done something wrong. At the end of season 6 Spike tried to rape Buffy and he realized how far he had gone. Spike's getting a soul was not just for Buffy, but for himself. Because he realized the severity of his actions, his getting a soul would allow him to fully understand the pain he has caused so that he can repent of it by feeling true remorse. As he reveals to Buffy that he has his soul again, Buffy also has to reacclimate and develop a new understanding of Spike and the depth of his passion for her.

"Help", with Cassie, is one of my favorite episodes of the season. In this episode Buffy has to come to the realization that other factors, including fate, affect her life and the lives of those around her. Buffy saves Cassie, but in the end, she couldn't keep her alive. Buffy has become so used to saving everyone she comes across and defeating every battle that I think she really needed this episode to see that sometimes things are beyond her power to stop. I think this episode and this experience with Cassie has great influence on Buffy and prepares her for later on in the season as she prepares for battle with the First and her acceptance of what may happen to the perspectives.

In "Selfless," Anya kills a house full of frat boys. This act is the best vengeance deed she has done since becoming a demon again, but because of her previous experiences as a human she begins to feel uneasy about her act. She tries to reconcile these two parts of her nature but here she recognizes that she has to make a choice between her demon and her human nature. In effect, she realizes that she doesn't know who she is. Anya has spent all her life relying on roles such as 'demon' or 'wife' but she doesn't know who Anya is. As she walks away from Xander alone she is finally making a decision to discover who she is.

"Him" can be seen as an episode which shows all of the women reaclimating to the dating world. All of the females who fall in love with R.J. are recently single and when they see R.J. in his Letterman jacket they can't help but swoon and go to any depth to win his love. This episode also makes a reference to the superficiality of dating. The things the girls are willing to do (from performing a magical sex change to Dawn trying to kill herself) can be seen as a statement about what girls are willing to do for the men they "love" and how crazy love can make us (and often self-destructive).

"Conversations With Dead People" is the first episode that really introduces us to "The First." The Scoobies, throughout the season have been preparing for an impending evil and here we see what they will be dealing with. We also learn that The First only comes through the presence of deceased people. Again we see the gang dealing with the stress of remembering the loss of a loved one. This is something that the gang will need to overcome because through the rest of the season they will deal with the first this way and his hold on them will only become stronger if they are unable to recognize that the form The First takes is not the person they loved.

"Showtime" gives Buffy the opportunity she needs to prove to the potential slayers and herself that she has the strenght and the ability to conquer her opponents. Buffy has always been a strong character but she often experiences doubt that can be crippling. In this episode however, she uses her weakness and focuses it as a push to find the energy and the skills necessary to defeat a seemingly impenetrable vampire. Buffy has to reacclimate to her powers and prove to herself that she is the Slayer for a reason and that the strength that she must trust the strength that she has been given.

Nobody Knows 6.21, 6.22, 7.1

In the last two episodes of season 6 we see how far Willow's grief has taken her and how her addiction to magic makes it even harder to break through to her. Willow sees Dawn in Rack's again in "Two To Go" but rather than recognizing how her addictions are hurting her closest friends, she appears to feel the need to inflict pain on even those closest to her. Willow is in a deep hole and she can't see what she is doing to herself or those around her. The coupling of Tara's death and her lack of coping through healthy, mourning activities skews her perception and allows her to confuse those who would show her the most compassion and support with people who would cause her harm. In "Grave" Xander realizes that he has to try to break through and tap into the Willow that lies underneath her evil exterior. By reminding her of who she is, Xander reaches the real Willow and Willow finally allows herself to break down and grieve in a healthy way as she cries on Xander's shoulder. This series is based around the experience of death (inflicting death on the bad and protecting good from death). Willow seems to be the one least capable of dealing with death of those she loves. After Tara's death she clung to magic like a security blanket. Overcoming her fear of death and her abuse of magic are two things that Willow works on while she is in England and we see in "Lessons" the great improvement she has made after working with the coven there.

Don't Fear The Reaper 6.17, 6.19, 6.20

For this blog I want to talk about Death and the impact it has on close friends and family members. In "Normal Again" Buffy is harmed by a demon that makes her see an alternate reality in which she is in a mental hospital, her parents are still together, and everyone is trying to convince her that her life as a vampire slayer is simply a fantastical reality. At one point Buffy decides things would be easier if she let herself drift into the other reality and in so doing she is essentially trying to kill herself, the self that the audience recognizes. In order to do that, though, she has to kill her friends. Committing "slayer suicide" would be an easy out for Buffy, but not so much for the friends who she endangers. Suicide attempts often affect those who the person is close to. In Buffy's case it affected them physically. But, again, the relationship between Buffy's reality and our reality is quite visible in this episode.
At the end of "Seeing Red" we watch as Warren tries to murder Buffy and instead wounds her, though a stray bullet kills Tara. "Villains" allows us to see the effects of an unexpected death on Willow, who is emotionally not ready for a sudden separation so shortly after their reconciliation and whose powers allow her to seek vengeance on Warren. In this situation, mourning would be an acceptable response, but often, those burdened by the loss of a loved one will turn to violence. Willow seeks after Warren for vengeance and kills him but judging by her response, "one down," we can safely assume that what Willow is doing is trying to inflict pain on others in hopes of lessening her own. This is an unfortunate response and because of the power she holds, a dangerous one as well.

Hello My Name is _____ and I am an addict. 6.10, 6.13, 6.14

In "Wrecked," "Dead Things," and "Older and Far Away" we see a lot of addictive behaviors. "Wrecked" deals mostly with Willow's addiction to magic. She is becoming so addicted that she even harms Dawn, which is a common trend among addicts. In "Dead Things" Buffy is realizing her addiction to Spike and the pleasure that comes when they are engaged in sexual pursuits. He makes her feel alive, wanted, and he places her on a pedestal. In "Older and Far Away" Dawn's kleptomania is found out. These addictions range from physical (Willow's need to seek Rack, Dawn's need to steal, and Buffy's need for sexual intercourse) to psychological, which is seen through the needs that motivate the characters to action. What's interesting about these episodes is how these different women recognize their addictions and work towards overcoming them. Especially in "Older and Far Away" when everyone is trapped in the house. Buffy and Willow are both in close proximity of what they are addicted to and so they are physically trapped by the spell that Hallie has cast as well as trapped by their addictions. As they realize the consequences of their behaviors, however, they overcome the temptations.

Also, we see through these episodes relations to addictive in "our reality." Dawn's and Buffy's addictions are easily generalized to society, whereas Willow's addiction can be metaphorically to a drug addiction. It is important for the audience to see easier generalizations to society through Buffy's and Dawn's addictions and then make the leap to metaphorically realizing what Willow's addiction is in "the real world."

"And They Say That A Hero Can Save Us" 6.1, 6.2, 6.7

So, Buffy saved the world again. She jumped into the gaping hole in the world and sacrificed herself so that Dawn would not have to be the sacrifice. In season 6 we see that Willow and the rest of the scoobies are not ready to give Buffy up just yet, not if they can help it. The problem is, their plan wasn't very well thought through because they didn't take Buffy out of her grave before they resurrected her. However, Buffy managed to dig her way out. "Beginning 1 & 2" could be seen as an allusion to Christ's resurrection. Buffy died in order to save the world and then came back, as we later discover, to teach those who will come after how to lead. She made her way out of her grave just like Christ rolled back the stone from his tomb. Also, as we find out in the end of "Beginning," Buffy was taken out of heaven and brought back into the world. This causes a great deal of conflict within Buffy because she feels like the world is hell compared to what she was experiencing when she was dead. The only person she feel she can share this with is Spike. The theme of keeping secrets and not trusting friends with personal information is seen throughout the season and is the cause of much drama. In "Once More With Feeling" Buffy and the gang are forced to express their emotions through song, which opens a lot of doors and leads Buffy to express the fact that she was in heaven, not hell like Willow and the others supposed. The music and tone that the song changes to when Buffy lets them know the truth is very telling of Buffy's feelings. The viewer can sense torture and pain along with guilt for not being more appreciative and a sense of being more lost and alone than before. These thoughts appear through the rest of the season and it remains Buffy's internal conflict for a period of time as well.

You Can't Keep Running Away From What You're Trying To Find: 5.20-5.22

Since I talked in class about the episodes 15 through 18, I'm not going to write about them here and I'm going to skip ahead to the end of Season 5.

These last three episodes begin with Buffy running from her problems because she thinks it is the only possible way to get out of the mess. In "Spiral" Buffy is literally running away with the gang in an RV when they are stopped by the Byzantium knights and Giles is badly wounded. In "The Weight of the World" Buffy is mentally running away as she become catatonic after Ben transforms into Glory and she takes Dawn to serve her purpose as the key. Buffy appears to finally be doing what she has wanted from the beginning. She has talked about what it would be like to give up her powers from the beginning and now she is not using the powers that she has. This is a very stressful period because now we can see what would happen if she didn't have her powers or if there was no slayer. In just the few hours that Buffy is unresponsive Time is wasted and all hell literally breaks loose in "The Gift" when the gates are opened. If Buffy had been using her powers from the beginning rather than running away, it is unlikely Glory would have gotten that far. However, this experience appears to have given Buffy enough of a boost to realize for herself why she is truly necessary and to come to grasp with the fact that she can make a difference in the world that no one but she can make. She is the slayer, the one chosen to protect the world. In the end she realizes that if she wants to protect the world, the best way she can live up to her calling is to sacrifice herself. This act, and the reasoning behind it gives new definition to "the slayer". She is not only 'one who slays' or 'one who protects', but she is 'a sacrifice made in order to protect mankind'. As spike said, "Every slayer has a death wish." The end of season 5 shows us the importance of that to the human race.