Season 6 review.

[Scarygothgirl]

I loved this season, it's my favourite! And I loved the trio as villains! I loved that they wanted to be evil but didn't really know what they were doing (simelar to dr Horrible). But then when Warren started dragging them to the depths of truly evil Jonathon and Andrew realised that it wasn't what they wanted at all, but by then they were truly stuck and they stayed loyal because it was the only thing they knew to do. Most people hate Warren, I imagine for what he did to Tara, but I love him I think he truly shows how everyone has evil somewhere in their hearts and the right set of circumstances could send anyone spiralling into oblivion. The season finale was also a really touching one, where Xander proved himself as the heart of the group (as in Primeval) by saving the world with his words. I think if my friend Amber had seen the end of season six she would not be calling Xander a useless character...

If I had to pick the thing I disliked most about the season it would have to be the magic-drug dealer thing. The metaphor didn't flow so well with how we've seen magic in other seasons.

One of the things I love most about season six is that there isn't too much emphasis on the big bad and the lead up to the end of the season. It's full of those little one-off episodes that I love so much.

And just because I can, I will list my top five episodes of the season.
OMWF
Normal Again
Life Serial
Hells Bells
Tabula rasa


P.s. Did anyone else find Afterlife a teensyest bit scary? It's the bit with Anya with the knife... urgh *shudders*

[lightandmagic]

You like Hells Bells? Why? Augh it's so goddamn awful. Sorry if I sound all hostile, I just loathe that episode with every fibre of my being. I'm curious as to what other people see in it.
I also hate Normal Again because it throws the reality of all of Buffy into question. I would have liked it had it not been for the ending when it goes back to the asylum and the whole "she's gone." It just bothers me.

The more times I rewatch the season the more I dislike it. When I first watched it I was all "ooh it's gritty and dark" and then as I grew older I just thought about how unrealistic and overdramatic it is.

[astranger]

Well, its worth noting that the reason Dark Willow is so good (depending on your opinion) is because well... its Willow, and relies on this to pull your heartstrings. Would it have the same affect if it were someone else?

While there are some excellent episodes in this season (OMWF, Tabula Rasa, Normal Again), hell I didn't even think that the Magic addiction was that bad. I think it is a letdown in the context of the series as a whole. I mean, Giles doesn't do much. Hells Bells is silly.

But Tara's death was stupid, made doubly so by the fact that the bullet that killed her could not have come from Warrens gun (non magic my ass). She was reduced to a plot device. I don't get it? You'd think that a super Villain like Warren would resort to a cheap shooting, in public, in front of Buffy's friends? Compare this to his elaborate plot to dispose of Katrina's body. And why is there a great big magical, world destroying pillar just lying around in rural California?

In my opinion, despite some great one offs, Season six marks the decline of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don't think it really improved back to the level it was at before.

[midwesternwatcher]

I mentioned something about Warren in an earlier post that nobody replied to ... does anybody have a take on it?

In Season 5, Warren isn't so bad. There's even an interview with Adam Busch where he didn't think of Warren as a villain and didn't play him that way. Turning him into the blackest of black villains in Season 6 just didn't work. I feel the same about Amy, BTW. She was also sympathetic when we first met her.

On another issue, sorry to some of you, but I think Buffy winding up in a fast food joint was entirely realistic and just what would've been expected. Buffy has an "amazing heart" and a vast fund of instinctive wisdom, but she doesn't have the competence that makes Xander succeed in the workplace, or the brilliance that makes Willow shine in the classroom. Her good qualities are not salable. And it was her first job, after all! I say, kudos to Marti Noxon. She must've been under pressure to go the "Charmed" route, make Buffy into a little princess, with a soft job as a buyer for a department store or a junior editor at a ladies' magazine.

Should Willow and Tara have chipped in with rent? Maybe they did. Presumably they had to maintain living quarters somewhere else. And Giles giving Buffy money ... I'm not surprised their relationship went downhill. Have any of you ever been in the position of giving or receiving money from a friend? I have. Sometimes you have to do it, but as a rule of thumb, any cash gift of more than about $50 to a person outside your family will mean the end of the relationship.

[midwesternwatcher]

OOps! A little more. I agree about Hell's Bells, they dropped the ball there. Anya and Xander should've married. A subplot about Anya being offered a return to demon status and turning it down could've preceded it.

And that part about the world-ending temple in the desert, which didn't appear until the last episode, I did hate that. It showed they weren't doing their homework, playing catchup.

[lightandmagic]

I don't think Buffy and Giles falling apart had anything to do with money. Throughout their numerous arguments in season 7 not once was money brought up. I haven't watched the season in a while, but most of their arguments seemed to stem from differing views on leadership, a struggle for power in a way, and mostly Spike. I really don't think Giles giving Buffy money had anything to do with their eventual fallout, if it was a part of the reason it definitely would have been touched upon at least once. Especially considering the father/daughter relationship between the two, I've always viewed it as a father helping a daughter out with her first place. It's quite common.

And I'm sorry but the fast food thing was never really realistic. Mostly because I don't understand why Buffy wouldn't just return to The Magic Box. She had one bad, not even like life threatening, just aggravating experience and then she decides to go to a fast food place that really can't be the most ideal place to work. I mean situation A) she has to repeat the same moment over and over where she has to catch a mummy hand, situation B) she is bitten by this giant worm thing that erupts out of an old ladies head that paralyses her and then leads to her almost being eaten alive. So go back to situation A or B? In terms of more traumatizing, I think situation B. And I mean she stayed in high school despite the many many times in which way worse events happened. I just think Buffy returning to the MAgic Box would have been a way more likely decision on Buffy's part. I'm still on the boat of the writers put her there to make her seem even more pathetic and beaten down.

[SOMNAMBULIST 2.0]

I think Tara death was necessary, to show willow true nature of power.

Tara's death wasn't necessary one bit. Though it made for a very shocking and wonderfully heartbreaking event...Anyways, there could have been other ways to show Willow's true power. But that's Joss for ya; always taking the saddest route.

[Scarygothgirl]

Lightandmagic I think in Buffy's world the repeating the same moment thing would have been more traumatisinf for her. Encountering a big dangerous demon that she eventually kills is something she does all the time, it's not really going to make her blink. I also don;t think she liked the idea of working for her friends, it would mean her getting stressed at them and being inferior to Anya, which is not something many people could stand.

midwesternvampire I agree turnign Amy into an evil character doesn't work at all, in season one she was described as one of Willow's only friends, and a quiet shy girl who kept herself to herself. Maybe being a rat for three years changed her a little but she shouldn't have turned evil. Whereas I think it did work with Warren, I think the character development was handled very well, starting gradually becoming more evil, and then his descent being faster and faster the more evil he got. The sort of way where he realises that there's no way he can ppossibly go back, the only way he can go back is to become a big powerful evil.
p.s. try not to double post, there's a button that let's you modify posts if you think of something later

[midwesternwatcher]

Buffy must've felt that she wasn't really welcome at the Magic Box. They might've accepted her, but it smacked of charity. The job at Doublemeat she GOT ALL BY HERSELF. That's why she preferred it.

You don't think accepting money from Giles damaged the relationship? That's the way it always is. Nobody wants to say, or even think, "I don't feel equal or secure in this relationship anymore because you gave me money," but that's in the background.

[astranger]

Sept 7, 2010 0:03:16 GMT -5 SOMNAMBULIST 2.0 said:

I think Tara death was necessary, to show willow true nature of power.

Tara's death wasn't necessary one bit. Though it made for a very shocking and wonderfully heartbreaking event...Anyways, there could have been other ways to show Willow's true power. But that's Joss for ya; always taking the saddest route.

It doesn't help that Tara was the only female character to achieve positive growth in Season 6. Buffy was a pitiful wreck, Willow was a druggie, Anya went to pieces after Hells Bells and Dawn became a kleptomaniac. Tara was the only one to stick to her guns and show her strength. Emotionally, she was the only strong female character for the season. And the bullet that killed her was just wonky. I don't mind characters dying, but their death should make more sense than a piano dropping on their head, which is essentially what happened to Tara.

I also agree that there was no need for Tara to die. Hell, I don't even see why Dark Willow had to be a season big bad. It reeks of railroading. Why not have Warren capture Tara (perhaps he was going for Dawn but screwed up?) and that sends Willow over the edge?

[The Girl In Question]

But then we wouldn't have Kennedy. Everyone loves Kennedy!

But I do agree with scar that Warren becoming a villain worked well. Adam didn't play Warren off as a villain at first because he wasn't a villain at first. He gradually became one. And we saw every step of the way of this development.

As for Amy, I'm not quite sure why exactly she went evil. My assumption is that she just plain went crazy after being a rat in a cage for three years (in Season 8 it's clearer than ever that the girl has lost her mind).

[lightandmagic]

Good point about the Doublemeat Palace, I've never really thought about Buffy taking the position because it was something she earned herself rather than a handout/charity job from her friends. I'm still on the side that it's more likely for Buffy to return to The Magic Box, but that's definitely a factor in why Buffy wouldn't that kind of slipped my mind.

Sept 7, 2010 17:43:02 GMT -5 midwesternwatcher said:

You don't think accepting money from Giles damaged the relationship? That's the way it always is. Nobody wants to say, or even think, "I don't feel equal or secure in this relationship anymore because you gave me money," but that's in the background.

I really don't think the writers would have left an issue like that to the background. If Giles giving Buffy money had been a problem or an issue within their relationship I think the writers would have at least mentioned it once, or alluded to it, and I don't think they ever do. It's not like it's Buffy who feels insecure within her position of the relationship, it's Giles, who's unsure of where he fits in now that Buffy has essentially outgrown the need for his training.

I agree with you that generally when you lend a friend money it can put a bit of a strain on the relationship. However I really have never viewed Giles and Buffy as friends. They're not. Giles is her surrogate father and their relationship has always reflected that. So I don't necessarily believe that a father giving his daughter money is really all that stressful on their relationship because in the scope of what it is, it has a way different context than a friend lending another friend money. A friend lending another friend money and a father lending/giving his daughter money are two totally and completely different scenarios. The former often creating complicated relationships while the latter is more common and often does not really complicate things.

I just don't think any of their arguments, tiffs or feuds in the later seasons have had anything to do with the money loan as they've all originated from something that was not in relation with the money. I just don't see it; if the writers felt that this would have caused conflict within their relationship they had two whole seasons to at least explore that, allude to that, or even outright say it at least once. But they didn't. Contextually, it just doesn't fit.

[midwesternwatcher]

For Girl in Question: Please elaborate about Warren. I didn't see any steps in his transition to evil. In season 5, he was not so bad, even a little better than, say, Parker, whom most fans seem to agree isn't actually evil. Then in season 6, he seems to be a full blown villain from the minute we see him. That was a WTF moment for me, I had no idea it was coming and it seemed to me utterly contrived. It was as if the writers wanted a new villain but were too lazy to make up a new character, or maybe Adam Busch needed a job and somebody liked him. It never rang true to me and still doesn't.

If I missed something, clue me in, please.

[buffyfan21]

Sept 5, 2010 15:50:09 GMT -5 Scarygothgirl said:

P.s. Did anyone else find Afterlife a teensyest bit scary? It's the bit with Anya with the knife... urgh *shudders*

You're not alone there. I find Afterlife very creepy/scary in some parts...

[The Girl In Question]

Midwesternwatcher, I was never under the impression that Warren was a full-blown villain when we first see him in season 6. He was never a villain in Season 5, but he wasn't exactly innocent bystander status either. He did something he knew was wrong, and we even see that hint of mysogyny that leads him to do horrible things later on. Jonathan was never a villain before either, and there he is in Season 6 working side-by-side with Warren (but this isn't about him so I won't get into that). Their decision to become villains was out of boredum, contempt for those who did them wrong in highschool, and reading too many comic books. At this point, I don't think we were supposed to take them seriously as villains, and I sure as heck didn't. I don't even think the characters were taking themselves completely seriously. I don't think they had the intentions of actually hurting anyone when they planned to take over Sunnydale.

As the season progresses we see him go from attempting theft, to messing with Buffy's head, to brainwashing Katrina (more mysogyny). When he killed her it was a crime of passion and I found it to be totally believable at this point. After that kill, everything that follows just seems natural.

And I totally believe that he'd do something as primitive as shoot Buffy. He's a very intelligent and tech savvy schemer, and all of his elaborate plans have failed him. All of his best ideas that could have and should have worked, all fell flat. Seeing as he painfully desperate, I'd believe he'd resort to something as simple as shooting her.

[Scarygothgirl]

^Karma for that, you described it perfectly. I think his development was really well done, rather than Amy who was much more of a character who was good then suddenly bad. I like to think that Joss did think of Warren when writing Dr Horrible, the way that he's just a geek who thinks it would be fun to be evil and fails at it, but then through one horrific event becomes the evil he wanted to be, whilst at the same time realising it's not what he wanted at all. The whole be careful what you wish for thing. Or possibly me reading too much into it, maybe I should post this in the Dr Horrible section.

[midwesternwatcher]

I love S6 and I never get tired of saying it, and I love all the things about it that most people hate. I think only one of you mentioned Normal Again, which I recently rewatched. I love that one, precisely because it "questions the reality" of Buffy. But every episode of Buffy does the same, when you think of it, including the S8 line. There's always a big gap between what the Scoobies perceive and consensual reality.

[Tea - Total]

I appreciate this season because their took a risk by showing all of the character their inner demons. Emphasis on real life problems. I think this season was all about exploring, how the characters responded to real life challenges. The thing i like about the trio is because you can relate them mischievous to true evil in reality. The trio shows a glimpse of what a human could become in reality as a real monster. So i think that the concept is deep and it give depth to the character and even the show.

[midwesternwatcher]

Hey tea-total, I'm always happy when I find somebody who shares my view on S6. I didn't relate so well to the Trio, though. I dislike them least when I think of them as comic relief and self-deprecating humor on the part of the fandom. It's sort of writers making fun of fans. So I think.

[Tea - Total]

I agree on your post. The concept people didn't like, i actually liked it. I like how Buffy finally got a taste of darkness in its show. Season 6 defiantly has depth. I don't think its perfect but it defiantly worked in my book.