On with the show – Seasons 4-7.
If you missed out on Part 1, do read it here.
Buffy: “You know what? I think you don’t want us to let you go. Maybe we made it too comfy here.”High school is over and done – a smoking ruin on the Sunnydale horizon. Buffy (and most of her friends) have moved on – either to university, or (in Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley’s case) L.A. Everyone feels a little lost and out of place, suffering from all sorts of things: loneliness, overbearing roommates, behaviour-modification chips… the list goes on. On the plus side, Buffy gets a new boyfriend in nice-but-boring-Iowa-farmboy Riley Finn, Willow gets a new girlfriend in nice-but-quiet-albeit-not-too-boring-witchy-woman Tara Maclay, and Xander and Anya’s relationship finally becomes more than just the love/hate variety. But demons and vampires are still running amok, and – for some unknown reason – being hunted down by military commandos working out of an underground base, which houses a nasty new experiment…
Spike: “Comfy? Do I look comfy? I’m chained in a bathtub drinking pig’s blood from a novelty mug. Doesn’t rate huge in the Zagat’s guide.”
– “Something Blue”
Season 4 of Buffy is fraught with growing pains – the show made the transition from high school to college, the characters matured a little, and though the humour stayed, the story arc for this season lost a bit of focus. It seems like the writers tried to go in a slightly different direction (with The Initiative and its implausible existence), then realized what they were doing wasn’t working and attempted (mostly in vain) to repair the damage by tacking a Big Bad (and a spectacular fight sequence) onto the end of the season. Cool, semi-believable, but mindless and not nearly as heartfelt as other season finales (not to mention too Matrixy). Probably the only overarching thing that Season 4 really had going for it was Spike, who I believe is at his best this season. The chip worked wonders.
Though Season 4 as a whole is possibly Buffy’s weakest season (let us never speak of Beer Bad again), some of its individual episodes are among the series’ best. Fear, Itself tops the previous Halloween episode (Gachnar is super-awesome); Wild At Heart bids a sad farewell to Oz (stupid Veruca); Pangs marks the (albeit brief) return of Angel to Sunnydale (and some fun jokey-rhyminess); Something Blue is absolutely hilarious and foreshadows plotlines to come (see, I do like Spike sometimes); Hush is simultaneously innovative and FREAKING SCARY (I think it was nominated for an Emmy – and rightfully so – but it’s ironic that of all the episodes with witty dialogue, they choose to nominate the mostly-silent one); A New Man is another absolutely hilarious episode (poor Giles); This Year’s Girl and Who Are You? pick up the Faith saga where it left off (and it gets even better once Faith shows up on Angel); The Yoko Factor is gleeful service for fans of the Buffy/Angel relationship (Riley doesn’t even compare to Angel, and thus gets the smackdown); and Restless is an indescribably weird and wonderful dream-sequence sendoff to the season (I want to see the version of Death of a Salesman with a flapper, a cowboy guy, and a dutch vampire in it!). Season 4 definitely had its ups and downs, but still managed to be chock full of memorable and view-worthy episodes.
Anya: “Oh, crap. Look at this. Now I am burdened with a husband and several tiny pink children and more cash than I can reasonably manage.”Having finally settled into life after high school, it’s slayage as usual for Buffy and the Scooby Gang – that is, until the “Dark Master… bator” himself – Dracula – shows up in Sunnydale, prompting Buffy to learn all she can about her Slayer origins. And she must learn quickly – an ancient hell-goddess is taking the town by storm – one shoe store at a time. Glorificus, as she’s known, is running out of time to return to the dimension from which she was banished, and it seems that Buffy’s new 14-year-old sister holds the key… Meanwhile, Riley discovers Buffy doesn’t love him, Buffy discovers Spike does love her, Xander and Anya make it official, and the love between Willow and Tara continues to grow. And yet, before she can win and save the world (again), Buffy must lose it all…
Xander: “That means you’re winning.”
Anya: “Really?”
Xander: “Yes. Cash equals good.”
Anya: “Oh, I’m so pleased! Can I trade in the children for more cash?”
– Mastering the game of Life, “Real Me”
After the highs and lows of Season 4, Season 5 felt more like the Buffy of Seasons 2 and 3 – a nice mixture of light and funny with dark and heartbreaking. Introducing Buffy’s sister Dawn with nary an explanation was a big risk, and though it didn’t pay off as much as it could have (good grief, she’s so whiny and annoying (“Get out. Get out! GET OUT!”) – and supposedly the same age I was at the time, so what does that say about people my age?), she made for an interesting twist in the Buffy story, and a perfect reason for Buffy’s ultimate sacrifice. Had this been the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and it could well have been), I wouldn’t want it to go out any other way. Wow.
Among Season 5’s more brilliant episodes were Buffy vs. Dracula (wow, the Dark Master is actually sort of… mmm); The Replacement (featuring Nicholas Brendon’s conveniently identical twin Kelly Donovan as Xander’s doppleganger); Fool For Love (easily the best Spike-centric episode – love the 1970s look); Checkpoint (interrogations can be funny); The Body (an indescribably powerful episode – real life death and subsequent helplessness/wouldacouldashouldaness in a nutshell – that everyone should see); Forever (mostly just for my boy Angel being… an angel); Intervention (Buffybots and hokey-pokeys with magic gourds = FUN!); Spiral (appropriately, everything goes to hell); and – as is usual – the season finale, The Gift (which is equally awesome and heartrending, and even better than Chosen, the series finale).
Buffy: “I’m just worried this whole session is going to turn into a training montage from an eighties movie.”Buffy saved the world (a lot), but now she’s dead. End of story, right? Wrong. At least if Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara have anything to do with it. After a summer of collecting rare ingredients, they concoct a grisly resurrection spell, bringing Buffy back – but their Slayer’s a far cry from “good as new.” Though technically alive, Buffy still feels dead, and in contrast to the heaven she thinks she was sent to, home feels like hell. Not that she’d tell the Scooby Gang. Like it or not, she has to keep living – “going through the motions” – and dealing with a pile of bills, a crappy job, and three bumbling nerds who want to become the crime lords of Sunnydale. But in the end, she’ll face a danger she never saw coming – one very close to home…
Giles: “Well, if we hear any inspirational power chords, we’ll just lie down until they go away.”
– “Once More, With Feeling”
All of the seasons preceding this had their dark moments, and even Season 7 was lacking in the Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows Department. But Season 6 is darkest of all – life is the Big Bad, and the darkness within is scarier than all without. Thankfully, the Trio of Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew – the Big Not-So-Bad – brought on the laughs. Nerdy knowledge does have its benefits – the inside jokes these three make are beyond hilarious and serve as a nice nod to typically trivially-inclined fans of the show (for the record, Connery is Bond). And once again, Joss Whedon outdid himself with the (plausibly!) musical episode Once More, With Feeling. Though some of the cast obviously have more musical talent than others (Amber Benson and Anthony Stewart Head are standouts, Nicholas Brendon not so much…), they do all of their own singing and (most) of their own dancing. Plus… if it’s going to be anything, it must be bunnies.
It’s relatively hard to pick consummate episodes from Season 6 – many of them bear the same dark tone. But if I had to choose, I’d go with Life Serial (punny title aside, this is the Troika at its best – and kitten currency is cute); Once More, With Feeling (because it’s a musical with catchy songs and dancing – and I want Tara’s dress); Tabula Rasa (for the awesomeness of Joan and Randy – and the BUNNIES!); Gone (a fight between invisible people never looked this good); Older and Far Away (like a supernatural Big Brother – but SO much better); As You Were (Riley’s return and derogation of Spike is fun); Hell’s Bells (no relationship, however strong, can last on this show – and that’s the prettiest wedding veil I’ve ever seen, by the way); Seeing Red (a shocker almost equal in caliber (pardon the pun) to Season 2’s Passion); and Grave (at last a season finale in which Buffy isn’t the one who saves the world – go yellow crayon, go!).
Anya: There was this other apocalypse this one time. And, well, I took off. But this time, I don't... I don't know.It’s back to the beginning – Dawn is now the same age Buffy was in Season 1, and is now attending the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High – high school on a hellmouth once again. Needless to say, Buffy is more than concerned, and jumps at the opportunity to become a counselor of sorts at the new school in order to keep it – and her sister – safe from supernatural harm. But the First Evil itself has reappeared (after its Season 3 failure to off Angel) with plans to reopen the hellmouth and bring about the apocalypse – not to mention finish off the Slayer lineage once and for all. To protect the Potential Slayers (one of whom will become the Slayer should the current Slayer die), Giles brings them to Sunnydale, where Buffy begins to teach them Slayer basics. Still, she’ll need all the help she can get to defeat the First – help from her fellow Slayer Faith, a rehabilitated Willow, and the recently re-ensouled Spike. Together, they will fight until the world falls down…
Andrew: Well, what's different?
Anya: Well, I guess I was kinda new to being around humans before. And now I've seen a lot more, gotten to know people, seen what they're capable of and I guess I just realize how amazingly... screwed up they all are. I mean, really, really screwed up in a monumental fashion.
Andrew: Oh.
Anya: And they have no purpose that unites them, so they just drift around, blundering through life until they die. Which they-they know is coming, yet every single one of them is surprised when it happens to them. They're incapable of thinking about what they want beyond the moment. They kill each other, which is clearly insane, and yet, here's the thing. When it's something that really matters, they fight. I mean, they're lame morons for fighting. But they do. They never... They never quit. And so I guess I will keep fighting, too.
– “End of Days”
Though it had its moments, Season 7 was a bit of a slog for me. It’s the most serial of the seasons, as every episode tends to string together. It’s also centered around the Slayer mythology – and any time a TV show gets all mythological and lineage-y, my eyes glaze over (see BFYB #1). I care more about the people themselves than where they came from. An argument could be made that this was also Spike’s standout season – but since I’m not a fan of the Spike/Buffy relationship and preferred “Captain Peroxide” when he was evil, even he is somewhat boring to me. Nope, the mainstay of this season for me was Andrew – the last of the Troika. His ridiculous geekiness is definitely appreciated in an otherwise dark season – plus his trivial references make fun in-jokes. Faith is also a welcome (and long-overdue) addition – after an unusually heroic (and actually quite comic) stint on Angel, she returns to Sunnydale, garnering a cool reception from Buffy. After Buffy’s sense of authority gets out of hand (her self-righteousness, which has been present from the beginning, is one of the reasons I never liked her as much as her cohorts), Faith is forced to take charge of the Potentials. It doesn’t work out… but hey, it’s nice to see one of my favourite characters make a change for the better.
As with Season 6, it’s hard to pick the best episodes of Season 7, since even fewer of them stand out from the rest. Still, I’d recommend Same Time, Same Place (featuring Willow’s reappearance – or lack thereof – in Sunnydale, and Dawn being inanimate yet poseable – they should have kept her that way); Selfless (which develops Anya’s backstory – yay bunnies!); Conversations With Dead People (one of the best-structured Buffy episodes, complete with a cool bookending song, and my favourite single-show nemesis: Holden, the psychology-major vampire); Never Leave Me (“That’ll do, pig!”); Potential (an ode to the underdog, with one of Xander’s best speeches); The Killer in Me (some resolution for Willow and the events of Seeing Red); Storyteller (“We are as GODS!” – I love Andrew!); Lies My Parents Told Me (another Spike-centric episode, no Fool For Love, but relevant nonetheless); Dirty Girls (Faith’s return, and Nathan Fillion aka creepy evil preacher Caleb’s arrival – poor Xander!); Touched (“We’re all gonna die, so let’s screw!” is nice in juxtaposition with Spike’s unusual tenderness); and End of Days/Chosen (ANGEL! – and… oh, some other cool/sad stuff happened too – and it was nice to see the original Scoobies up to the same antics as they were in Season 1… sigh.).
Buffy: Nothing's ever simple anymore. I'm constantly trying to work it out. Who to love or hate. Who to trust. It's just, like, the more I know, the more confused I get.It’s sometimes hard to accept that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is over. Sure, it lives on in comics (the Season 8 collections are worth checking out), but in the seven years it’s been gone, no TV show has come close to filling the hole it left behind (now I’m sounding like Bella in New Moon – yarg!). Joss Whedon has moved on to other good things (i.e. Serenity, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), but they don’t quite stack up to the legacy of the Slayer. I feel a little spoiled now – aside from (perhaps) Doctor Who, there doesn’t seem to be a show on TV now (at least none that I’ve seen) that can live up to both the comic wit and the poignant tragedy that is Buffy. So – and I’m being totally serious now – WATCH THIS SHOW. I don’t care if you’re not a fantasy/horror fan, you think the show is girly, or you think that title is beyond ridiculous. My descriptions don’t do this show justice. It is amazing and not to be missed.
Giles: I believe that's called growing up.
Buffy: I'd like to stop then, okay?… Does it ever get easy?
Giles: You mean life?
Buffy: Yeah. Does it get easy?
Giles: What do you want me to say?
Buffy: Lie to me.
Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
Buffy: Liar.
– “Lie to Me"
And that, as they say, is that.
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