Buffy Season Six

[barondave]

I had major internet problems, and Comcast was just out to replace the "modem". So naturally, the first thing I do is catch up on LJ... I had been taking notes on Buffy The Vampire, Season Six, so I can post this entry quickly, if somewhat lacking in coherency.

Season 6 destroys the Buffyverse. The writers and producers shredded their legacy. This season's theme: Willow's downfall.

Where is the Council? In previous seasons, a Slayer pops up when Buffy is barely dead. Twice. Yet monsters are free to roam around smack dab on top of the Hellmouth for four months. "The council haven't a clue. About much of anything, really." says Giles. Like, duh. The underlying structure of the series premise dissolves with a whimper.

I don't believe that they were going to bring Buffy back and didn't think to dig her up.

In the Season wrap-up (an extra on the last DVD), they producers and writers insist the season was about "growing up" and taking responsibility. More, it seems that the season was about making mistakes and having other people pay for them. Willow, Xander and Jonathan all try things with good but selfish intentions and wind up messing with the lives of those they love.

"Once More With Feeling" is a great musical and a lousy episode. Sort of a sequel to "Hush", says Whedon in the commentary, where people could sing what they couldn't say. But the townsfolk were just singing of traffic tickets and laundry. No soap opera revelations there. and... Why does anyone live in Sunnydale? Great music, lyrics and dancing, so I can see why fans like the show. It failed the consistency test. A dumb monster, and poor motivation by Xander in not fessing up earlier. Once again, Buffy is really Gilligan trying to get off the island.

And even Whedon complains about the lighting, in the commentary to the musical episode. I respect what they accomplish with a tiny budget but the poor production values sometimes get in the way.

"Normal Again" was done better on Deep Space 9.

"Entropy" is the best episode in terms of believability. Breakups and new lusts take over. It's a very story arc-dependent episode, and mostly works in advancing the characters. Of course, they're mainly in retreat...

Tara gets her name in the main credits under the music... for one episode... Whedon keeps saying that the show works because the viewers can identify with the characters and it has an emotional base. The Willow/Tara romance is the only pairing that seemed real. Naturally, they kill off Tara in a remarkably undramatic way, and she lies crumpled on the floor for days.

(And why didn't any of the vamps ever think to shoot the Slayer before? Haven't they talked to joelrosenberg?)

In Season Six, Buffy gets all Marvel Comics on us. Friend fight friends, enemies switch sides. So much for character-driven tv.

I'll probably watch Season Seven, though I haven't added it to my Netflix queue as yet, but I've decided to skip Angel.

Comments

[laurel]

Overall, I didn't care for season six either, though there were bits and episodes I liked. While I love the musical episode, you really just have to ignore the ridiculousness of Xander not saying anything and the actual villain-- it was really all about the character revelations and that bit of plot was the way to get there (pity they didn't come up with something better).

The problem that probably bugged me most for later seasons of Buffy was the continuing existence of Spike. While I enjoyed the character and actor, I found it sad that the showrunners fell so in love with him that they kept him around even though it made no sense to the story. Lots of shows do this-- keep a popular character even when it damages the overall story.

I've forgotten most of season seven already, I recall it was a disappointment, but don't recall much detail by now. Maybe someday I'll revisit the whole series again.

I wouldn't skip Angel as when it was good, it was a better show than Buffy. Never thought that'd be the case as I didn't care for the character of Angel or for David Boreanaz when he first appeared on Buffy and was never that big of a fan period. Angel is a very different show or a couple of different shows as it changes direction/tone a couple of times during it's run. Way more interesting as a show, IMHO.

[guppiecat]

I liked Angel until they decided to see if they could make a show that got darker than #000000. When nobody's happy, I'm not happy, and there was little reason to watch.

I own all the seasons of Angel, but I couldn't even get through the box set of season 5, the time it aired was enough.

IMO, Angel fell apart even worse than Buffy did at the end.

(Early Angel, though, was fantastic.)

[laurel]

They both fell apart, which is a bummer. I'd have to revisit the final seasons of each to decide which fell apart worse and I'm not sure I'm willing to do that any time soon given how much good TV is out there to watch! Maybe someday if I'm really bored . . . Though I have found when I revisit seasons of shows on DVD that I was disappointed in when I first saw them "live" they sometimes work better for me-- maybe because I have low expectations or know what I won't be seeing.

I do wish there was a way to see the alternate universe Angel where Charisma Carpenter didn't get pregnant in real life and derail things in a weird way (or else where they had a better plan or learned sooner or . . . something.) But I won't say more so as not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't yet watched Angel.

[gamerchick.livejournal.com]

...And again, I've got to be the only one in the world who loved Angel seasons 3/4/5 and hated the beginning.

[guppiecat]

It is generally accepted that the council has watchers watching potential slayers and one watching the real slayer. When Buffy died the first time, she triggered Faith into becoming a slayer. Thus, the council is notified of problems when:

1) A new slayer is activated
2) The old watcher reports the old slayer dead
or
3) The old watcher goes missing (which cannot be an infrequent occurrence)

Since Buffy had already "triggered" Faith, there was no new slayer triggered and Giles may well have chosen to not report the event, not wanting more interference in Sunnydale, there is every reason for the Council to not know and have it be perfectly canon.

----

I enjoyed the musical episode, though I do feel that it was used to forcibly advance the arc. It could have been better plot-wise, but it would have suffered creatively by doing so. I accept it for what it is.

----

Other than that, we're generally in agreement. For what it's worth, Season Seven is worse. Do not expect to enjoy it. There are good bits here and there, but all in all the series should have ended with 5.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

You're missing a Slayer. The first post-Buffy died fairly quickly. How Slayers are chosen/picked/alerted is never fully explored. Heck, barely mentioned. The "one in every generation" tag slipped off quietly in the first season.

And I don't believe Giles didn't report to the Council (who was back to paying his salary) for four months. He tended to be good about that sort of thing. Besides, wouldn't they know when the Hellmouth was spewing baddies?

Why does anyone live in Sunnydale? Are the taxes low?

[guppiecat]

Why does anyone live in Sunnydale? Are the taxes low?

I'm still trying to figure out why people live in Detroit. :)

Maybe they can't afford to move?

[davidkevin.livejournal.com]

> Why does anyone live in Sunnydale? Are the taxes low?


Sunnydale Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnydale_Syndrome#Sunnydale_Syndrome).

Sunnydale occupies the space of what is in our universe Santa Barbara, with all the geographic desirables that Santa Barbara has, but with added gruesome deaths. Plus Mayor Wilkins actively recruited new residents, and was an extraordinary civic booster in order to keep up the population (no doubt he also used magick to influence people to move in).

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Plus, the residents may die gruesome horrible deaths, and loved ones may get turned into the undead, but they get to be on tv.

[davidkevin.livejournal.com]

> Since Buffy had already "triggered" Faith,
> there was no new slayer triggered....


Buffy's death at the end of season one created Kendra as a slayer. It was Kendra's death that created Faith.

I think it was Joss Whedon himself who stated that the death of a slayer only created a subsequent slayer once: Buffy's second death at the end of season five did not create another subsequent slayer.

I have gathered that two slayers alive at the same time (Buffy/Kendra or Buffy/Faith) is an extraordinary event, possibly unprecedented prior to Buffy's first resurrection.

Without spoiling, since DavE hasn't seen it yet, I just want to say that what Willow does in the season seven finale is literally breathtaking (at least it was for me), one of the most empowering occurrences (both figuratively and literally in its own universe) I have ever seen in my life.

[davidkevin.livejournal.com]

Tsk, tsk at me. There should be a comma in that last parenthetical clause ("both figuratively, and literally in its own universe"), as I was speaking about two separate universes, ours and Buffy's, respectively.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the late reply, but I had to mull over this over: Are you saying that, by council rules, they can't appoint another Slayer until Faith dies? Faith has pulled a Bush, and to our knowledge isn't even fighting vampires. She doesn't have a Watcher or any connection to the Council. She might live a long life on the lam.

[guppiecat]

It's not *council* rules, it's the mystical rules of slayers. At the time of season six, there were two slayers:

* Buffy - sorta dead, not playing with the council anyway due to the events of Glory in season five.

* Faith - in prison

Until Faith dies, the magic "slayer triggering process" will not create a new slayer. So, at the time of season six, the watchers do not have an active slayer at their disposal. (Though I have to wonder why they didn't just kill Faith and activate a new slayer. It seems that a high powered rifle with a sniper's scope would solve a great many of the problems that the later seasons were hinged upon... but that would make for bad TV.)

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Buffy isn't "sorta dead", she's gone. The Council was perfectly willing to play to the death, which they did (or threatened to do) several times. Plus, as they intimated somewhere in the middle seasons of Buffy, the average life span of an active slayer is just a few years max.

So... either Slayers are great protectors who only come along "once in a generation" to save the day or guard a hellmouth, or the Council is set up to make sure that there's a continuous supply of vampire hunters. Neither explains their inaction between seasons 5 & 6. The demons (not even just the vamps) run amok in Sunnydale when the robot is revealed, so even they more clueful than the Council.

Though I then have to reframe my question: Why do the undead still live in Sunnydale? Maybe that's where they emerged, but they can always take a bus.

[guppiecat]

Slayers are great protectors who only come along one in a "generation" where "generation" is defined as "time when an individual slayer is alive".

The council does not make the slayers, they're just opportunists that "guide" the slayer when she emerges from a set of potential slayers.

This is explained in better detail in season 7 and then completely screwed with in "Fray", the far-future graphic novel written by Joss.

[gamerchick.livejournal.com]

I have got to be the only person in the world who thinks that season six was Buffy's finest hour and that there's not a thing about it that I would do differently.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

You didn't want Xander and Anya married?

[gamerchick.livejournal.com]

I would have liked to see them be happy, but I don't think it was dramatically appropriate and/or interesting for the characters to do so, no.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll bite. What did you like about Season Six (and no spoilers for Seven, please).

[gamerchick.livejournal.com]

I loved that the show moved forward from its previous formula of Buffy fighting the Big Bad all season and defeating it at the end. In this season, the Evil Trio was a lesser threat than the tensions and problems within the Scooby gang itself. (I liked season 2 for a similar reason.)

Similarly, I loved that the show and the characters grew up and changed. I would have hated it if Buffy had stayed stuck in the high school/college storyline mode throughout the show's whole run. It was already getting repetitive and stale in season 4, which felt like a rehash of stuff that had gone before. I loved the fact that everyone was allowed to move beyond that.

I loved that in season six the characters were allowed to make mistakes, including major ones, so that you wouldn't always necessarily see the protagonists as heroes. One of the things that bothers me is when shows or books get so concerned about making their characters easy to identify with that they never allow them to screw up or show a darker side, or experience real repercussions for the mistakes that they make. CSI, House, and many other current shows are prime offenders of this. Buffy never crossed that line, and allowed you to occasionally hate its protagonists for what they were doing to themselves and others. But they never stopped being interesting.

Plus, the consequences for mistakes were always badass. Buffy being pulled out of heaven was a fucking brilliant idea. And the twists upon twists in the last episode. As for Xander and Anya getting married: Happy couples make for bad TV, which is why Tara unfortunately had to die. However, you should know that in my Buffyverse, Spike getting his soul back was a mistake (i.e. he went to the demon to get the chip deactivated and ended up getting more than he bargained for because of a badly worded wish).

The criticisms you make are valid, but many of them are such that if they were addressed within the show, Buffy would lose what made it Buffy. For example, if vampires shot the Slayer, it would make for a gritty style that is totally antithetical to the four-color comic book style of world. I think what it comes down to is that you didn't respond to the Buffy concept in the same way that I did. In order to like the concept, you have to accept certain ridiculous premises and suspend your disbelief. If you're unwilling to do that, you're never going to like the show - and that, too, is a totally reasonable difference of opinion.

For the record, though, I hated all of season 7 except for one or two episodes.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the analysis. Yeah, my disbelief suspenders get stretched when a universe is inconsistent. You choose to focus on the aspects you like, which is perfectly reasonable.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

My Comcast internet problems lasted for 9 months through four of their Netgear modems. And they couldn't figure out the problem. The problem was finally resolved when we replaced it with a Linksys modem we provided.

[alierajean.livejournal.com]

Season Six has it's moments of glory and it's moments of stupidity. I'm generally a sucker for deep emotional moment, so if the plot has to suffer a little (and I do mean a little) to get them I'm okay with that. That holds true for most of what happens during the sixth season. Buffy's (and SMG's) reaction to having to crawl out of her coffin is worth the lameness of them not thinking to unbury her. The ridiculousness of Xander summoning the demon in OMWF is completely made up for by the brilliance of the rest of episode. I love it so much.

As for the lack of the Council... I do wish they'd explained that entire situation a little better. I wonder if they couldn't bring Eliza back for money reasons or something. It would have made alot more sense to break Faith out of jail (I'm sure the Council has the resources to do so legally ).

Don't get me started on "Normal Again". The retconning of Buffy having been in the physch ward? It was just ridiculous. There's no way anyone could see her mother's reaction during Becoming and think she'd ever heard of slayers and watchers before. And the bit at the end where they hint that that reality might be the real one? Arg.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Interesting take. You must really be invested in the characters. I did think that some of the emotional moments were very good, but I wish they hadn't had to bend the Buffyverse to get to them. I liked that Buffy was brought back from a good place, and that Osiris couldn't bring back Tara; those were consistent with what had been set up before. Some of the other things, like Anya going back to being a Vengence Demon, seemed to directly contradict what had been set up before.

Geller isn't a particularly good actress, but she pouts really well, and waking from the dead after being in heaven will generate a really fine one.

[alierajean.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm very invested. I wouldn't argue if someone said too invested. ;) And yeah, I didn't like pretty anything they did with Anya the entire season.

Geller isn't a particularly good actress,

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

[davidkevin.livejournal.com]

I've a friend locally whose personal Buffyverse ends with the end of season five (the last year on The WB) and Buffy's death. He can't stand the two UPN seasons and to him they're non-canonical. Whatever gets you through the night....

[calimac.livejournal.com]

I found both of the UPN seasons (6-7) to be deeply disappointing. They had one good episode each, and the rest was fluff or filler. The characters ceased being believable, so I could no longer care about what happened to them. The finale of 6 was particularly bad. It's as if the screenwriters had been taken over by the Terrible Trio (Warren, Jonathan & Andrew) who said, "Let's have everybody fight everybody else! That would be so cool!"

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Which was the good episode in Season 6?

[calimac.livejournal.com]

The musical. It was, as you say, a great musical, and it was witty and clever and provided a good excuse for itself. Plotwise it didn't hang together so well, as you note; but musicals are rarely about their plots. And its advancement of the continuity was a disaster, but that's the fault of the season, not the episode. The last words of the musical were "Where do we go from here?" and it turned out that the writers had no answer to this question.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks.

For what it's worth...

[thorintatge.livejournal.com]

Aside from a few random episodes earlier in the series, I only saw the last three seasons of Buffy, since I started watching around the beginning of Season 5. I quite liked Seasons 6 and 7 and didn't feel any disappointment regarding them relative to 5.