SEASON 8 ANALYSIS

[Emmie]

So I'm trying to breakdown the significant developments of Season 8 and I thought it might be interesting to see what other people think. This is going to look like homework, but it's about Buffy so it'll be way more fun.

Here's the worksheet to fill out (in whatever parts you feel interested):

1. LONG WAY HOME

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:


2. THE CHAIN

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

3. NO FUTURE FOR YOU

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

4. ANYWHERE BUT HERE

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

5. A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

6. WOLVES AT THE GATE

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

7. TIME OF YOUR LIFE

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

[wenxina]

1. LONG WAY HOME

Theme: Expect the unexpected? The first tease of Twilight (his boots), his mark, the reappearance of Ethan, Warren, and Amy. Also, there's the whole Slayer Inc. against the world. Not quite theme-ish... but I'm aiming for more cohesive discussion than a proper breakdown. Bear with me.

Character Development:

-Buffy: Misses sex. Has fallen into another rut with Dawn; Dawn won't talk to her about her issues. Again shows that she will risk just about anything to save those dear to her.

-Xander: Now serves as a quasi-Watcher. Is pretty much in charge of home base in Scotland when Buffy's not around. Continues to show unparalleled ability to read Summers' women. Has a mild flirtation going on with Renee; i.e. is moving on with his life.

-Willow: Not much is explored personally, but we know that she can now fly at will, give Disneyland a run for its money in terms of fireworks, is able to contact a spiritual/elemental plane in times of need, and is able to heal major tissue and organ damage quickly. Is still mortal, as the possibility of death is mentioned by one of the elemental beings. Is undoubtedly comfortable with using magic again, and her confidence of her control is back.

-Dawn: Is a giant. Has reverted to being whiny. Possibly had sex with a Thricewise (see "Anywhere but Here" for why I said possibly), which is somehow supposed to explain her ginormous shoes.

-Secondary Characters: Amy and Warren have teamed up. A military organization recognizes the Slayer force as a threat to national security. Giles and Andrew are in charge of Slayer elsewhere, Andrew in Southern Italy, and Giles in presumably England... although the architecture kinda throws that off.

Arc/Plot Significance: Starts off the threat of Twilight, who's watching the Slayers, and especially Buffy keenly. The subplot of Slayers against the military is set up, and from what we've heard so far, will probably be explored later on (in the series of standalones, if I remember correctly). Buffy's Sleeping Beauty moment reveals a potential love interest. Kennedy died a mystical death, but details are still hazy... and Willow seems okay with that.


2. THE CHAIN

Theme: The connection between Slayers, and how the power of a name is the product of the efforts of many.

Character Development:

-Secondary Characters: No appearances by any of the named main characters. Giles makes an appearance, essentially conveying the theme of the story. Andrew and Vi make a cameo, but we really learn nothing, except that possibly Vi has a unique sense of humor? Rona's leading the Chicago squad, and Simone's with her then, implying that this was before she was sent away to Andrew in Italy. This (to me) suggests that "The Chain" can possibly be placed even before the events of "TLWH", as Simone's joined Andrew by then. It's also possible that it's chronologically correct, and that the memory was from a long time ago. The decoy pretty much hogs the limelight here; her story about how she came to feel the connection, and how she was happy to have made a difference, even if we never come to know her name was truly touching.

Arc/Plot Significance: Simone's gun-lovin' ways come back to bite Buffy later on. Also, the decoy can be used a dramatic foil for Buffy, when she claims that she doesn't feel the connection (in ABS).

3. NO FUTURE FOR YOU

Theme: Redemption.

Character Development:

-Buffy: Still has strong reservations about Faith; she pretty much jumps to the wrong conclusions right away. Has a fallout with Giles over the Faith issue.

-Xander: Nothing.

-Willow: Is still the logical one, and her questions about General Voll and the sort are somewhat unsettling. Also, calls Renee by name, and jokes with her. The only other newly activated Slayer that Willow has ever called by name is Satsu; both Renee and Satsu become somewhat romantically entwined with members of the original Scooby gang.

-Dawn: Reveals her insecurities, and how Kenny was the only one who saw her as a person, not a playmate. Revealed later on that she couldn't bring herself to tell Willow what really happened, that she cheated on Kenny with his room-mate.

-Secondary Characters: Roden and Gigi are fairly disappointing as villains. Gigi is essentially a foil for Faith's inner struggles, and Faith shares a connection with her. Faith tries to save Gigi from herself, but ultimately fails. Giles is cut off from Buffy, but teams up with Faith to play social workers for troubled Slayers. Faith feels that she's found her "Tru Calling" (horrible pun), and is still actively working to redeem herself.

Arc/Plot Significance: The first real reveal of Twilight. It seems that the US military is somehow affiliated with him, and it is revealed that he is a master manipulator, who's playing Team Slayer against each other. Also, marks the start of Twilight's actual appearances, but always at dusk/dawn hours. Heck, he even strikes only at those hours (i.e. blowing up the castle).

4. ANYWHERE BUT HERE

Theme: Continuing with the theme of the first arc: expect the unexpected, and nothing is truly as it seems.

Character Development:

-Buffy: Is now a jewel thief. Has a thing for Daniel Craig and Christian Bale (can't blame her). Her reasoning for why it was okay to steal reveals a warped version of justice... possibly a moral spiral downwards.

-Xander: Nothing.

-Willow: We know she has the ability to teleport now, something which she couldn't do, even as Dark Willow (according to Anya). Also, she's still carrying residual guilt for the death of Tara, and fears that Kennedy will meet the same fate if she's close to Buffy. There's also a glimpse of Willow's mystical walkabout with Saga Vasuki.

-Dawn: Well, she finally admits to what she did; cheat on Kenny with Nick, his room-mate. But whether it's Nick or Kenny who's the Thricewise is never confirmed. Sure, according to Buffy, both Giles and Willow thought that Kenny was a Thricewise, but if Dawn didn't sleep with him, then maybe it's Kenny's revenge that's working its mojo on her. Makes sense about the three transformation; Thricewise and all.

-Secondary Characters: Meh.

Arc/Plot Significance: Dawn comes clean to Xander, instead of Willow, even if Willow was who she wanted to talk to at first. There are theories out there about Dander (I HATE 'ship names!). Willow and Buffy have a minor falling out, and we learn that Buffy will be betrayed by the closest and most unexpected. Funnily enough, she turns on Willow right away, which is kinda paradoxical on the whole "unexpected" bit.

5. A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET

Theme: Connection. And the question of if the activation of all those Potentials was a bad thing.

Character Development:

-Buffy: She's lonely. She spends a lot of time alone. She finally confronts Satsu about the kiss, and they have a semi-adult conversation before she gets body-slammed by Twilight. Buffy shows what makes her the Slayer as she does aerial combat, despite her fear of flying/heights. Her sense of righteousness takes a serious knock from Twilight, and she continues to question if the Slayer spell was such a great idea.

-Xander: He's still moral support guy. He does have a moment and admits (more or less) that he likes Renee.

-Willow: MIA, but we get the sense that there's been some estrangement between her and Buffy after the events of AbH.

-Dawn: She's happier.

-Secondary Characters: Nothing much to say.

Arc/Plot Significance: Buffy's shaken. She's shared a traumatic experience with Satsu. Twilight seems to have the support of both the military and demons, which could make him very dangerous. Oh, and Simone and some other Slayers have gone rogue. Given the recent bit of info from Scott Allie (that Faith and Giles would be back sometime soon), I'm wondering if they'll deal with Simone and Co.

And I'm tired. Bleh...

[angelmonster]

Poor Dawn, her only real development so far is she had sex and turned into a Giant then Centaur.

Anyhoo I will fill one out soon myself, good idea Emmie :-)

1. LONG WAY HOME

Theme: I think the overall idea of LWH is reintroducing us to the primary characters of the Buffy verse and showing us where they all are at the moment in the storyline. It also shows us that there are tons of Slayers out there but it doesn't change the fact that Buffy still needs to fight evil. The title of these four comics also could indicate one or both of two things: 1) Buffy is a long way from home and who she was which is basically the theme behind her being a Slayer compared to her pre-Slayerdom. 2) A long way back home, indicating something is int he works that is changing Buffy's life and it will be a struggle to get back to her being who she was in the TV series.

Character Development:

-Buffy: Both Buffy and Xander have become leaders, well Xander has but Buffy has more of a leadership role now then she ever has. Even though she stil has her friends, Dawn and now tons of Slayers around her int he end she still feels lonely and misses being home and her Mom showing she still has some growing up to do. She is still really weak when it comes to enemies attacking her mind. She is still faithful to her friends and Dawn though even though she keeps them at a distance.

-Xander: As mentioned above he is more of a leader now then he ever was and seems to be doing a really good job at it. The tension between him and Buffy that came about at the end of the series seems to be in the past. He still has the best powers of perception when it comes to his friends.

-Willow: She has gained power or is simply not afraid to access her full potential. It seems like she has a firm grasp on her power now and is no longer afraid of becoming unstable. There is no real rift between her and Buffy, yet, but her not living with Buffy int he castle is pretty significant considering both Dawn and Xander are there.

-Dawn: Dawn has grown up a bit(pun intended)and has had sex. My feelings towards this was she did it because Buffy has distanced herself from Dawn. She is obviously ashamed of it or who she had sex with since she won't fully open up to Buffy or Xander about the sex or the reason for her becoming a giant. Dawn expands the rift between herself and Buffy by revealing that she thinks of Willow like a mother.

-Secondary Characters

Giles: Still the leader/teacher type who has a group of Slayers on his own to train.
Satsu: We're introduced to her and we see that Buffy has some confidence in her as a fellow Slayer. She will accept Buffy as a leader when she feels like Buffy is making the right decision otherwise she will do what she needs to do for the sake of the mission..and for Buffy.
Amy: Still an annoying b**** who we now regret is no longer a rat :-p

Arc/Plot Significance: There are now tons of Slayers out there but it still comes down to Buffy being the ultimate hero for the cause. Most of the characters are still the same and only parts of them have changed, which is natural. This set up the big bad being Twilight and it really drew us into his story with demons and the military wearing his symbol. It also sets up a possible love interest for Buffy.

Will do the other tomorrow :-)

[Emmie]

Karma for you, Wenxina! You are awesome. I'll be posting my thoughts soon

[Emmie]

This is my work-in-progress, to be filled in as I go

1. LONG WAY HOME

Theme: Change, adaptation, consequences. The past coming back to haunt you.

Character Development:

-Buffy: lonely and misses home, her mother, "the sex"; not getting along well with Dawn;

-Xander: established as Buffy's "watcher" and a commander of the troops in the castle

-Willow: dark side emerges while fighting Amy; can instantly heal herself after Warren torturing her as well as heal the army Buffy and Satsu bashed and slashed; mentally connected to best friend, Buffy, and can channel her powers through Buff; seemingly nonchalant about causing Kennedy's temporary death;

-Dawn: a whiny, moody Giant who's closer to Xander and Willow than she is to Buffy. Something that threw me a bit was her "[Willow]'s like a mom to me" comment to Buffy which I could absolutely see Dawn saying about Tara, but Willow was the one who got Dawn's arm broken in 'Wrecked' and threatened to change her back into green energy during her Dark Willow phase. Season 7 didn't show hardly any Dawn and Willow interaction, so I guess Willow must have been mothering Dawn between Chosen and LWH - except wasn't she off with Kennedy for most of that time? Yeah still confused by Dawn's statement.

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:


2. THE CHAIN

Theme: Identity - being defined by one's actions and not your name. Connection. Sacrifice.

Character Development:

-Secondary Characters: The underground Buffy decoy is introduced.

Arc/Plot Significance:

3. NO FUTURE FOR YOU

Theme: Redemption. Friendship. Judgment.

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

4. ANYWHERE BUT HERE

Theme: Trust. Morality.

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

5. A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET

Theme: Connection. Righteousness/Doubt.

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

6. WOLVES AT THE GATE

Theme: Transformation. Loss. Grief. Solitude punctuated with brief connection.

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

7. TIME OF YOUR LIFE

Theme:

Character Development:

-Buffy

-Xander

-Willow

-Dawn

-Secondary Characters

Arc/Plot Significance:

[wenxina]

People... get crackin'! It's not a term paper... it's kinda fun.