#s1-4 Abbey is from heaven

[theclacks]

Buffy Thoughts - Season 6

I’m splitting up my Angel Season 3 thoughts into a different post because I have too many feelings this time to cram them both together. In summary though...

Me at the beginning of season 6:

Me at the end of season 6:

Previous Seasonal Recaps: BtVS S1+S2, BtVS S3, BtVS S4 + AtS S1, BtVS S5 + AtS S2

Previous Episodic Recaps: S6E1-3, S6E15, S6E16, S6E18, S619, S6E20-E21

On Overall Thoughts

The was by far the weirdest season of any show I've ever watched, and that includes season 4 of Battlestar Galactica. A couple people have commented on my smaller, episode recaps that apparently there was disagreement in the writer’s room? And boy does that explain a lot because yeah. Tonal dissonance out the wazoo.

I liked the juxtaposition of smaller villains in contrast with the huge internal problems the characters were going through. And ultimately, had it been executed with a more solid vision, I think this might have been one of my favorite seasons because at the end of the day I kind of love soap operas in the vein of Downton Abbey and Gossip Girl, and season six was a soap opera but with punching. And vampires. And death.

And regardless of me simultaneously hating episodes and loving episodes, it was definitely the most INVOLVED I've been with the show thus far. I mean, I wrote six or seven "per episode" recaps? I POSTED A GIF OF “EVERYTHING IS AWESOME” SAYING “SEASON SIX DO YOUR WORST” AND THEN IN THE VERY FUCKING NEXT EPISODE TARA DIES AND SPIKE TRIES TO RAPE BUFFY. I ASSUME ALL YOUR GUYS’ “LIKES” ON THAT POST WERE MADE IN SAD, CRUEL IRONY.

I think a lot of Buffy’s depression was solid because it really hit close to home, “Going Through the Motions” in particular.

There was a good comment in one of the AV Club reviews in that the season itself is super meta because Buffy died and the show itself was supposed to be cancelled. Her resurrection was the show’s resurrection, so in a lot of ways this season was more like a sequel to Buffy than the next season? And it was a kind of “what now?” sequel, where there weren’t any good answers and life just kind of sucks sometimes.

Well, a lot of times.

But because a lot of it hits painfully close to home, like The Body, it's something that I’m not entirely sure how many time I want to rewatch.

So yeah. I’m going to go through character by character thoughts, then do a thing on general inconsistencies and plot holes that bugged me, and then do predictions for Season 7, and I’ll be done.

On the Trio

I loved them as villains. Their bumbling methods give a perfect excuse for why they're in some episodes and why in others they're not. (Contrast this to Adam in season 4 who just sort of “took a break” a lot of times.)

Plus, there can't always be escalating threats. After Glory, they were going to do... what? An even more powerful God? Going with a more down to earth threat gives room for other emotional arcs to breathe, and at the end of the day they ended up being more deadly than the villains of Season 4 and Season 5 (RIP Tara).

Also, I loved how they maintained their separate personalities. I loved that Jonathan was the most sympathetic, but that also he wasn't "good" either.

On Giles

I get actor contracts and needing to write him out, and the writers tried to smooth it over with him and Buffy sharing a hysterical laugh in the finale, but I still think Giles should've been chewed out

I mean, a watcher’s job is to take care of his slayer. Yes, Buffy’s an adult now, but she’s just come back from heaven. She showed suicidal impulses in Once More With Feeling, she would’ve committed suicide in OMWF if Spike hadn’t stopped her so WHY would Giles be all "i should go so that she can stand on her own feet." Like HOLY SHIT, there is a middle ground between enabling her out and FUCKING ABANDONING HER.

Also, he said he left so that Buffy took better care of Dawn, but guess WHAT? DAWN STILL GOT FUCKING IGNORED.

On Dawn

Dawn is the best. I love Dawn. I don't care if other people think she's "whiny,” I love her. Steal all the shit you want girl, it's not like people will notice until they've been magically stuck in a house with you for 48+ hours.

Which is ironic because I went into season 5 thinking I was going to hate her and now she’s in my top three faves with Spike and Anya.

I love her continued bro-ness with Spike. I think the very first episode of Season 6 was my favorite (more on that later) just because her friendship and brotherly bond with Spike just BLED through the screen... even though their screentime took a major hit when Buffy and Spike started their affair.

Also I like that her character arc was basically "please notice me, i'm still a character even though i'm no longer a plot point.” Because that’s a common flaw in ensemble shows when plot point character no longer become plot points. Also like, yeah, maybe it's annoying but being ignored and feeling inadequate is also a huge part of what being a little sister is like.

And the episode where they all got stuck in the house together was a FUN episode in a sea of NOT FUN episodes, so four for you, Dawn Summers, you go Dawn Summers.

On Anya

My fave, my love.

I like that everyone was banking on her to ditch Xander, for her to have cold feet at their wedding, but it ended up being the other way around.

However my thoughts on Anya’s character arc this season are mixed because although I loved her becoming a vengeance demon again, that pretty much WAS her character arc. Everyone episode leading up to Hell’s Bells was filler for her. Like emotionally she didn’t change from Bargaining: Part One until the altar.

BUT, Anya and Spike drinking together and being bros in Entropy was by far... well, my second favorite part of the latter half of season six. (My favorite being the wedding conversation Spike and Buffy have.) And I still stand by what I said in my episodic reviews that Xander left HER at the altar, so she owned him nothing and deserved NONE of his "how could you do this?!!?" chewouts whatsoever.

Which, speaking of Xander…

On Xander

I appreciate what the writers tried to do with him this season, but I didn't like the execution.

Like yes, he's the guy normal and had RIDICULOUS pressure on him in the sense that he's the ONLY one in the group who never has, had, or eventually received super powers, and there's definitely something to be said for the decision to keep him that way. Also, I liked how he was used in the finale, how he was the one who calmed willow down with their mutual friendship…. HOWEVER

That friendship bond was built on past seasons of interaction, not this one. Willow and Xander didn’t interact at all this season. (Or it was so minor I already forgot.) And, sure, you can argue that that’s the point, that the strength and tragedy of their bond is how old it is despite how neglected it’s become, but it’s my personal view that seasons should be somewhat self-contained? Or at least they should be given the way Buffy handles its seasons.

Because yeah. This season, Xander’s only scenes were worries with Anya, snippiness at Spike, and occasional worries with Buffy. He didn’t interact with Dawn or Willow or Tara or even Giles when Giles was still in the picture. Xander was just flat and rather unlikeable this season.

On Tara

I talked about Tara's death in my Seeing Red recap, so I'll leave this one note here.

I don’t think Tara was ever a fully developed character. She was a really good love interest, but the writers never let her blossom and play off the other characters.

And THAT was the most annoying thing about her death because SHE WAS JUST STARTING TO BLOSSOM.

Through the Spuffy affair, she got her own relationship with Buffy as level-headed confidant. She got her own relationship with Dawn as motherly aunt. And I wish they would've kept going that direction because Tara without Willow was really cool.

On Willow

I loved Willow's arc this season. It was my favorite arc because it was consistent, well-executed (ignoring the brief “drugs are bad, m’kay” episode), had a clear beginning, turning point, dive off a cliff, struggle back to calm floating, and then dive off a EVEN BIGGER APOCALYPTIC cliff.

Like, if all of the other plots lines had been as strong as Willow’s, I think this could've been my favorite season.

Unfortunately Xander/Anya and Dawn's were a little too shallow, so they had a lot of "filler" episodes for their characters. And Spike and Buffy’s were all over the place, bouncing back and forth thematically.

That said, I looking forward to seeing Willow's recovery in season 7.

On Buffy's situation and how it could've been avoided

I really don't know how to talk about Buffy herself, so instead I’m going to talk about her situation and how I think a significant portion of Buffy’s stress and angst this season was on her friends TOTALLY dropping the ball.

Let’s start with finances.

Willow and Tara can start paying some fucking rent, thank you. I don't care if they don’t have jobs, they were obviously paying for their dorm rooms somehow, they can pay for part of buffy's mortgage.

AND IF THEY CAN'T PAY RENT, THEY SHOULD GET PART TIME JOBS ALONGSIDE BUFFY. Lots of college kids have them. Just because they’re going to class and Buffy’s not isn’t an excuse. It's like "SORRY BUFFY, WE’RE TOO BUSY TO HAVE JOBS BECAUSE OUR TIME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOURS EVEN THOUGH YOU TECHNICALLY ALREADY HAVE A FULL TIME JOB AS THE SLAYER" like jesus christ, Willow and Tara.

But even that, I could chalk up as Willow and Tara not thinking/being immature if it hadn’t been for Giles backing up their mindset. Like Giles gets a stipend for being a watcher. Why doesn't Buffy get a stipend for being a slayer? Have other slayers in history needed to support themselves with minimum wage jobs? WHY DIDN'T GILES GET WILLOW AND TARA TO PAY THEIR PART OF THE RENT?

Also Buffy’s dad and child support. GILES, SHE’S TAKING CARE OF A MINOR. AT LEAST HELP HER GO TO COURT AND CLAIM CHILD SUPPORT.

Like, just, fucking support group some of this stuff people.

Season 6 acted like it was just Buffy's mental state that made everything so shitty, and yes, it was, but everyone else continuously dropping the ball until Buffy got buried in a sea of dropped balls didn’t exactly help things either.

So yeah, on behalf of Buffy, "fuck you, all the other scoobies of season six". 

Except Anya. Anya did nothing wrong.

On Spike

Because I've talked loads about him in other recaps, I’m going to move straight past his season six stuff and talk about his arc going forward.

Because OH MY GOD that ending.

HIS SOUL.

I thought I’d gotten spoiled for season 6′s ending. Turns out I got spoiled for season 7′s re: the hellmouth opening. Because yeah, I kept waiting for evil!Willow to open the hellmouth and then she pulled up the temple instead and I started getting SO confused, and then Spike was in Africa and asking to go back the way he was and I'd ALSO gotten spoilered for Spike getting his chip out and I thought THAT'D be the big thing, which didn’t seem like it was big enough for giant Africa sidequest and then boom

SOUL.

But at the same time, I can't see Spike acting much different with it. Like my favorite parallel/difference with Spike and Angel is that Angel does a complete personality flip with or without his soul. Like total good vs total evil. But Spike is already grey. And I really like the idea of his causing him to flip... to more grey.

Like when Spike comes back to Sunnydale, will the other characters even know the difference? I'm predicting they won't. Im predicting he's going to hide it from them and then it's going to be a WHAM moment or something around episode 5… or 6… or 7? IDK, one of those. The show likes its WHAM moments between episodes 5 and 7.

Also, I have no idea if Spike’s going to get back together with Buffy? I'm thinking not based on the tone of posts i've seen, and also because season 6 is THE talked about season, so season 7 will be mellower? IDK.

But then, I've also seen spoiler screencaps of them just chillin' and honestly Buffy and Spike just chillin' and being at peace/trust with each other means WAY more to me than angsty sex and being physically together. Like, I just want them supporting each other and joking and making each other smile and groan and all that fluffy shit… and then occasionally fist fighting themselves into the dirt because Spike and Buffy.

I will though end on one very annoyed Spike rant, which is the writers insisting that Spike’s evil because he only ever did good things because he loved Buffy/wanted to get into her pants, to which I say BULLSHIT.

Go back to Bargaining: Part One. Buffy was DEAD. Stone cold DEAD. And she had been for five months. Spike was still taking care of Dawn for her. He was following her wishes. He knew she wasn’t coming back. He knew he no longer had a “shot” with her. And yet he did the things she would’ve wanted him to do because it was selfless fucking LOVE, and I think that more than anything else was what frustrated me the most about this whole season. Because although I’m looking forward to what souled!Spike entails, I don’t think he needed it.

Anyways.

Results of Predictions for Season 6 Finale

- Willow gets de-evil!Willow-fied (CHECK)

- Clem lives (CHECK)

- Anya lives (CHECK)

- Spike comes back to Sunnydale because otherwise wtf is the point of his mystical quest thing (NO CHECK)

- Jonathan lives  (CHECK)

- Giles gets chewed out for leaving ONE EPISODE AFTER BUFFY REVEALED SHE WAS SUICIDAL like come on wtf  (HE APOLOGIES, BUT STILL... NO CHECK)

- Dawn and Spike have one more moment of being bros. I don’t even care about Spike and Buffy anymore. Just let me have Dawn and Spike being bros (I COUNT DAWN BAITING XANDER, SAYING “SPIKE WOULD’VE DONE IT” AS A BRO MOMENT. CHECK)

Predictions for Season 7

- Spike comes back to Sunnydale and becomes tentative friendship bros with Buffy with continual underlying UST that's never resolved again because of the attempted rape and also because none of my ships can ever be happy

- Dawn and Spike eventually work through his attempted rape and become bros again

- Dawn takes a level in badassery, will fight things

- Buffy's perma-death/rebirth will be addressed re: slayer chain of dead slayers leading to new slayer

- Anya stays a vengeance demon because fuck Xander

- Willow finds a happy place between using no magic whatsoever and trying to fry the earth

- Giles hangs out in Sunnydale again because Giles

- Anya stays in command of the magic shop because it's her magic shop… even though Willow kind of destroyed it

- Clem continues to have cameos because he's Clem and he's awesome