Season Seven: Worst Season of Buffy

[EvanCooper93]

For me, this season is just horrrible. The episodes are boring and just drag on and on. Also, there doesn't seem to be any episodes that stick out except for Chosen. This season also doesn't have that good old Buffy feel to it. We kinda lost the feel around the sixth season. It might just be me, but the season feels so dead and tired. It doesn't even seem like they were trying. Does anyone else feel this way?

[bitca]

I thought it was a weaker season, but I still enjoyed it. Besides Chosen, I really liked Conversations With Dead People. I also enjoyed Selfless and Storyteller. I liked how they had Buffy explore and develop her role as a leader, and had her make mistakes. I thought the first half of the season started particularly strong.

I felt like the season could have been better if The First just did more than taunt. I thought he was going to be the best big bad yet, playing on everyone's insecurities and fears (sort of how Spike does in The Yoko Factor). But eventually, that was all he could do, and it got old. I wish they had introduced Caleb a bit earlier. More focus on the original Scoobies would have been preferred too....less Spike and the Potentials.

[VampSlayer]

It wasn't the best season, but it wasn't the worst either. We all know season one is the worst. This season had a killer ending, and had a handful of good episodes. The episodes were meant to be seen as a arc, maybe that's why they had them drag on? Either way, they all are awesome.

[Wyndam]

Season 7 is my least favorite season, for a few reasons. The main being that the episodes just don't hold up well on repeat viewings. It's similar to my issues with Season 6 where I just cannot watch the episodes late at night, or else I will just fall asleep. A large number of them become tedious and boring. I thought The First was a decent enough villain, and the season definitely picks up once Faith and Caleb show up, and finishes strong, but everything leading up to those last few episodes just feels like filler (I mean "First Date", seriously?). That said, I don't HATE Season 7, or even dislike it. I enjoy every single Buffyverse season and episode, some are just weaker than others. Season 7 just happens to be the weakest season.

I personally love Season 1. It's cheesy music, low production values, fun, campy plot, I just never get tired of it. Still far from my favorite season, but I enjoy it more than Season 7 (and maybe even Season 6).

[lizzierainbow]

I will agree that season seven did not have the Buffy feel of the other seasons but i still enjoyed it, although it still was not my favourite season.
My favourite was season 4 and then i liked season 5, season 6 i sorta liked but season seven went downhill completely compared to other seasons.

[The Night Lord]

Season 7 wasn't too bad. I liked how Spike had to deal with his soul, though the Potentials were a little annoying, especially Rona and Kennedy. Vi was the only one I liked. There are some good episodes in S7, my favourite being Chosen (who doesn't?)

[ambersknight]

I wouldn't call 7 the worst season (for me its 6 by quite some distance) but it is the next worst.

Several reasons for this:

The Potentials. Not the idea of the potentials so much (as it was a good idea) but they were so annoying it detracted from the enjoyment so much I started to cheer when they were being killed. Plus, being so many of them, there was no real time to truly get to know them. fewer potentials, better acted and more fleshed out as characters, would ahve been better dramatically speaking.

The First. It sounds a great idea in theory, get the First Evil, the source of all badness, to be the main villain. Problem is, once you establish the First can't actually do anything pro-active it loses all credibility as a threat. Sure you hav ehte Ubervamps and the Bringers and later Caleb but the First itself was a pointless and wimpy villain. Made all the worst by the fact that this was the last season and it really should have been the villain to end all viallains.

Then there are the episodes themselves. like season 6, the first half is actually far more successful than the second half. The second half dragged to almost a crawl. By the end I was more cheering that something was happening, rather than the fact that it was a big finish.

Then i have one small tiny bug - Andrew. Didn't like him season 6, I just found him annoyingly unfunny, and I liked him even less in season 7. Just when you thought he couldn't get any more annoying, they re-set the scale.

As a season it was better than 6 (heck I've had vomited better material than season 6) but season 7 really caused the show to go out not with a thunderous roar but more a big bang that didn't resonate long.

[gumgnome]

Season 7 is definitely my least favourite season for many reasons. Some have been covered above but screw it.
Potentials - I think i dislike this idea far less than when it was first introduced to me back when i first watched S7 but i still don't like even the principle of having potential slayers. It always made me feel they were breaking canon at the time. After all, Buffy and Faith never had a heads-up that they were gonna be slayers - one died and they appeared on the scene. Kendra helps the idea along a great deal because she seemed to be called forward by the council for training before being chosen as the slayer. But then what about Buffy and Faith - do the watchers just really hate Americans?!

The First can't do anything - like ambersknight says, wimpy pathetic villain.

My main complaint though as a huge Buffy (character) fan is that she becomes such a bitch in S7 - she's so humourless and gloomy and uptight about EVERYTHING. She was capable of cracking jokes back in S6 when she wished she was dead for crying out loud! I know she's under a lot of pressure, but when hasn't she been? My single biggest gripe is that S7 makes me like her less.

[ambersknight]

Yes, its certainly true that by season 7 i had gotten so ticked off with the character of Buffy her death would not have been so much a tragic shock as a bit of welcome relief. Sad to say but that's how it played out with her character in season 7.

[sosa lola]

God, I hate this season. Sure, it had some nice character development - Dawn and Xander.. except you need a telescope to see those developments- but the missing opportunities are way greater than the good. And why, oh why, are the main characters pushed to the background the very last season?

[diabeticdude202]

I have to disagree. It wrapped things up PERFECTLY, and the whole "slayers chosen" storyline...it's pretty cool!!

[hitnrun017]

I agree somewhat. I absolutely love everything from Lessons to Conversations with Dead People. The writing was great and we finally got a lot of light-heartedness mixed in with drama and heartache. If the season continued down that path, it would no doubt have become one of my favorites. After that, the writers spent too much time focused on a story that wasn't that good, exciting and filled with plot holes, and not enough time focused on the characters. There are still a few gems: Storyteller, Dirty Girls, Touched and Chosen, but everything else is just Grade A boring.

[ambersknight]

I think come season 7, having written through the previous 6 seasons and after the battering they took from sections of the fanbase for season 6 (for a variety of reasons) I think a mixture of fatigue and despondency set in. Ultimately, i think the writers just gave up.

[EvanCooper93]

They did really just give up. It seems like it at least. I liked how the first half of the season was light and had some jokes thrown in, but it's just so dry.

[snizapman6294]

May 27, 2009 7:24:41 GMT -5 diabeticdude202 said:

I have to disagree. It wrapped things up PERFECTLY, and the whole "slayers chosen" storyline...it's pretty cool!!

agreed 100%! karma for your optimism!

[Just Willow]

it has some good moments, and i love how most of the recurring characters return, but i just didn't like the Potential storyline. also, if you know me, you all know who i hate.

SPOILER: Click to show

KENNEDY!!!!!!!!!! :vampirebite: :upset: :buffyslay: NONONONONO!!!................ yay.

[Rebecca]

I disagree. I consider S7 one of the strongest seasons of all.

There were so many good characters and episodes in this season, and the arc in entirety as said above was very good in wrapping up the series. The Big Bad(s), the separate storylines (Spike, Buffy, Anya/Xander, Andrew, etc.), the darkness and the light, it was well balanced. I'd call it one of the most mature of the seasons, and rightfully so given its placement. It also contrasted well with the last finale, Season 5, by having Buffy directly defy fate instead of accept it.

The one thing I wish there was less of was focus on the Potentials, as most were whiny as Dawn in S5. However had they been written in and little focus on them... we would be complaining of that today instead of their inclusion. Oh, and I wasn't happy with Giles "separateness" in this season, which is continued in the comics. He should still be a Scoobie like in S4... I can only hope it is rectified in the future.

Like I've said on this board before, this season made me all the more a fan of Buffy as a character. If she were real, I would follow her through fire. But this season also made me absolutely fall in love with Spike. Andrew was irreplaceable. And the Scythe. THE SCYTHE!! Such a cool device.

I don't understand the animosity to this season... I guess I watched it prior to the earlier ones, so maybe I like it more?

[henzINNIT]

If they'd planned out a better overall story, this may have been my favourite season.

It started off incredibly strong, and laid out a very effective "whats to come" in Lessons and CWDP, then got really tedious really quickly. The Uber-Vamp was briefly threatening, then died. Caleb was also good, but came in entirely too late. There was no obvious evil scheme, or even a vaguely tangeble sense of direction, and way too many convinient tools (scythe/seal/amulet etc etc). The murky arc could have been saved last minute with some exposition, but it never came.

[Just Willow]

May 27, 2009 14:03:27 GMT -5 @mcbuffy said:

I haven't rewatched season 7 a great deal (due to various non-Buffy related things). However, my over riding memory is that I really enjoyed it. It felt more like the earlier seasons.
The beginning and end sections were particularly strong.

My only gripes with it are:

Too much Spike. They handled his character alot better this season compared to season 6. However any hint of Spuffy by this point instantly made me want to vomit, scream or hit something really hard.

Empty Places. I won't go into too much detail as thinking about what happens makes me so incredibly angry. I'll simply say - They would NEVER throw Buffy out.

Kennedy. More specifically Kennedy with Willow. Season 8 has made me realise (after the excellent "Swell") that I actually quite like her. It's just Kennedy with Willow that doesn't sit right with me.

agree with your first and third points. i actually LOVED when they threw Buffy out. it was the highlight of the season for me, because she was a major ass bitca.

if anyone's looking for a season 7 without Kennedy, check out my fanfic, Because I Am Empty in the fanfic board. it's Willow/Faith. chapter 20 up yesterday!

[Harmony]

My brother never really liked Buffy but he watched it with me all the time... Anyways he really liked the 7th season he said it was one of the bests ... After season 2 & 3 of course