I have already written about two elements exclusive to season seven: Kennedy and The Killer in Me. So to tie in with those two pieces, I thought that I would write about why season seven is my personal favourite.
I will start off by noting what I believe to be the key themes in season seven, in no particular order:
Heroism is something that is present in every season of "Buffy" in one way or another, but to me, it is especially prevalent in season seven. It links into the previous two themes in the respect that Buffy and co were true heroes, including the potentials.
Transcendence is a very obvious theme at the end of the season, particularly in "Chosen". There is closure for all of the main characters, and Buffy, Spike and Willow in particular have learned to overcome their brutal difficulties. It ends with Buffy as a truly wonderful leader and the longest surviving Slayer, Spike sacrificed himself after being a key instrument in the final battle, and with Willow as a Goddess. All three had unbelievably difficult journeys to obtain their happiness (in the case of Spike, it was more of redemption), but they did it; they transcended. Let's not also forget Xander, the only "unremarkable" one, who had previously saved the world at the end of season six and was the heart of the group.
Power is also a clear theme throughout the entire season with The First Evil and with Willow being afraid of her power, in particular. "Get It Done" is a prime example of the usage of empowerment in the season, when Buffy refuses to be infused with more demonic essence from the shamans. Another good example of empowerment is in "Chosen" when all of the potentials become full Slayers, thanks to Willow activating the Slayer scythe. Joss Whedon was trying to convey the message of empowerment throughout the whole of the series, but it was extremely transparent to me in season seven.
I will start off by noting what I believe to be the key themes in season seven, in no particular order:
- Acceptance
- Responsibility
- Heroism
- Transcendence
- Power/Empowerment
Heroism is something that is present in every season of "Buffy" in one way or another, but to me, it is especially prevalent in season seven. It links into the previous two themes in the respect that Buffy and co were true heroes, including the potentials.
Transcendence is a very obvious theme at the end of the season, particularly in "Chosen". There is closure for all of the main characters, and Buffy, Spike and Willow in particular have learned to overcome their brutal difficulties. It ends with Buffy as a truly wonderful leader and the longest surviving Slayer, Spike sacrificed himself after being a key instrument in the final battle, and with Willow as a Goddess. All three had unbelievably difficult journeys to obtain their happiness (in the case of Spike, it was more of redemption), but they did it; they transcended. Let's not also forget Xander, the only "unremarkable" one, who had previously saved the world at the end of season six and was the heart of the group.
Power is also a clear theme throughout the entire season with The First Evil and with Willow being afraid of her power, in particular. "Get It Done" is a prime example of the usage of empowerment in the season, when Buffy refuses to be infused with more demonic essence from the shamans. Another good example of empowerment is in "Chosen" when all of the potentials become full Slayers, thanks to Willow activating the Slayer scythe. Joss Whedon was trying to convey the message of empowerment throughout the whole of the series, but it was extremely transparent to me in season seven.
So what sets season seven apart from the other six seasons? To me, a lot of things. The first being the exceptional episode "Conversations with Dead People". There are not enough words in the world to describe how much I adore the episode with every fibre of my being. In my opinion, it is "Buffy" at its very best. Part of what makes it so unique is that none of the main characters interact with each other. ("Hush" doesn't count because although throughout most of the episodes, the characters didn't speak, they still gesticulated and acknowledged one another). I will try not to write too much about "Conversations with Dead People" here, because I would like to save most of my thoughts on the episode for a piece solely dedicated to it, but I will say the following: it is the most unique episode of "Buffy", arguably the scariest, and it is my favourite episode.
Next up in unique episodes in the season, is "The Killer in Me", in which we see Willow and Warren switching perspectives. It was executed in a fantastic way and it does not receive anywhere near as much recognition as it deserves.
Finally, "Empty Places" is another superb episode. It is one of the most controversial episodes amongst fans because people argue that Buffy was kicked out of her own house after years of helping the Scoobies. Again, I am going to save my full thoughts on that episode for another time. All I am going to say is that my perspective on the aforementioned, infamous scene is very different to how most fans view it.
Along with those three episodes I mentioned, there are two other brilliant episodes that I can think of, too, "Selfless" and "Lies My Parents Told Me". The first is Anya-centric and the second is Spike-centric. I have always enjoyed seeing episodes where we get to watch flashbacks in Anya and Spike's long lives.
"Him" is a riot, it is truly hilarious and it has a rather eccentric concept. "Dirty Girls" introduces us to the egregious, yet awfully charming Caleb, portrayed by Nathan Fillion. It is his character who was behind one of the most brutal scenes in the entire show, I am sure that you know exactly which scene I am referring to!
In all honesty, there is not a single episode in season seven that I dislike. I found every single episode to be memorable and enjoyable. There were no duff episodes such as "Bad Eggs" or "Doublemeat Palace", just nothing but exceptional writing and acting, from my point of view.
Most of the criticism regarding season seven is derived from the inclusion of the potentials. I have already explained my stance on Kennedy, heralding her as my favourite side character, but what about the other potentials? Well, I rather liked them, too. I thought that they were humourous and they were a part of some brilliant moments (Dawn possibly being a potential and just about every scene with Andrew, to name two). Yes, they complained a lot, but I understood where they were coming from. At their core, they were young girls who had suddenly been thrown into a war-zone with people who they did not know, yet were expected to follow blindly, particularly Buffy. They had seen people die and with the exception of Kennedy, they were inexperienced -- not too many people would be delighted in a situation like that.
What I truly love about season seven, perhaps more than anything else, is its message of hope. Buffy's speech in "Bring on the Night" is the epitome of that:
Next up in unique episodes in the season, is "The Killer in Me", in which we see Willow and Warren switching perspectives. It was executed in a fantastic way and it does not receive anywhere near as much recognition as it deserves.
Finally, "Empty Places" is another superb episode. It is one of the most controversial episodes amongst fans because people argue that Buffy was kicked out of her own house after years of helping the Scoobies. Again, I am going to save my full thoughts on that episode for another time. All I am going to say is that my perspective on the aforementioned, infamous scene is very different to how most fans view it.
Along with those three episodes I mentioned, there are two other brilliant episodes that I can think of, too, "Selfless" and "Lies My Parents Told Me". The first is Anya-centric and the second is Spike-centric. I have always enjoyed seeing episodes where we get to watch flashbacks in Anya and Spike's long lives.
"Him" is a riot, it is truly hilarious and it has a rather eccentric concept. "Dirty Girls" introduces us to the egregious, yet awfully charming Caleb, portrayed by Nathan Fillion. It is his character who was behind one of the most brutal scenes in the entire show, I am sure that you know exactly which scene I am referring to!
In all honesty, there is not a single episode in season seven that I dislike. I found every single episode to be memorable and enjoyable. There were no duff episodes such as "Bad Eggs" or "Doublemeat Palace", just nothing but exceptional writing and acting, from my point of view.
Most of the criticism regarding season seven is derived from the inclusion of the potentials. I have already explained my stance on Kennedy, heralding her as my favourite side character, but what about the other potentials? Well, I rather liked them, too. I thought that they were humourous and they were a part of some brilliant moments (Dawn possibly being a potential and just about every scene with Andrew, to name two). Yes, they complained a lot, but I understood where they were coming from. At their core, they were young girls who had suddenly been thrown into a war-zone with people who they did not know, yet were expected to follow blindly, particularly Buffy. They had seen people die and with the exception of Kennedy, they were inexperienced -- not too many people would be delighted in a situation like that.
What I truly love about season seven, perhaps more than anything else, is its message of hope. Buffy's speech in "Bring on the Night" is the epitome of that:
"I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing on the mouth of hell and it is gonna swallow me whole. And it'll choke on me. We're not ready? They're not ready. They think we're gonna wait for the end to come, like we always do. I'm done waiting. They want an apocalypse? Well, we'll give 'em one. Anyone else who wants to run, do it now, 'cause we just became an army. We just declared war. From now on we won't just face our worst fears, we will seek them out. We will find them and cut out their hearts one by one until the First shows itself for what it really is. And I'll kill it myself. There is only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil, and that's us. Any questions?"
Her "Bring on the Night" speech is one of my favourite moments from the entire series. It is bold, optimistic, and absolutely 100% kick-ass.
Season seven is brilliant in the sense that it harks back to many events from the high school years. In "Lessons", the season seven opener, Sunnydale High is back and eviler than ever. In the final episode, "Chosen", everybody battles in Sunnydale High.
"Chosen" was a more than satisfactory ending to the series. Though some fans complain about Anya's death, I liked it because she died a hero. On the Wikipedia page about the episode, it says "Buffy slowly begins to smile, knowing that she is no longer alone in the world and that the burden of being the one chosen Slayer is no longer on her shoulders,". To me, that sums up why the ending is so flawless; our heroine is longer burdened. A lot of the series was about Buffy's conflict between herself and her calling, but by the end, it is settled. I believe that the complete annihilation of Sunnydale was a metaphor for the gang's troubles being buried and put behind them.
Overall, season seven checks off numerous important things to me: it is the season that contains my favourite episode, one of my favourite moments, my favourite side character, my favourite romantic relationship, and a beautiful message of empowerment. That's how I feel about season seven, now over to you... how do you feel about season seven? Is there anybody else out there who has season seven as their Holy Grail? Do let me know!
X
P.S: I have now had this blog for a whole week! Thank you so much to everybody who reads, "likes" and shares my entries. Furthermore, I decided to create a twitter: @MsBuffyBuff, where I will be posting regular updates on upcoming pieces. Feel free to communicate with me on there any time!
Season seven is brilliant in the sense that it harks back to many events from the high school years. In "Lessons", the season seven opener, Sunnydale High is back and eviler than ever. In the final episode, "Chosen", everybody battles in Sunnydale High.
"Chosen" was a more than satisfactory ending to the series. Though some fans complain about Anya's death, I liked it because she died a hero. On the Wikipedia page about the episode, it says "Buffy slowly begins to smile, knowing that she is no longer alone in the world and that the burden of being the one chosen Slayer is no longer on her shoulders,". To me, that sums up why the ending is so flawless; our heroine is longer burdened. A lot of the series was about Buffy's conflict between herself and her calling, but by the end, it is settled. I believe that the complete annihilation of Sunnydale was a metaphor for the gang's troubles being buried and put behind them.
Overall, season seven checks off numerous important things to me: it is the season that contains my favourite episode, one of my favourite moments, my favourite side character, my favourite romantic relationship, and a beautiful message of empowerment. That's how I feel about season seven, now over to you... how do you feel about season seven? Is there anybody else out there who has season seven as their Holy Grail? Do let me know!
X
P.S: I have now had this blog for a whole week! Thank you so much to everybody who reads, "likes" and shares my entries. Furthermore, I decided to create a twitter: @MsBuffyBuff, where I will be posting regular updates on upcoming pieces. Feel free to communicate with me on there any time!