Buffy: Season 7 or... When will Fox stop spoiling the series? (1 Viewer)

[Kyle**S]

I don't believe Mutant Enemy has a lot of say in the DVD's. Angel Executive Producer Tim Minear has said that he considers the "Previouslies" as part of the episodes, and has complained at http://www.buffistas.org about it (Check the Minearverse threads), and he's complained even more on Twentieth Century Fox's releasing Angel Season 2 in widescreen rather than the fullframe OAR.

 

[Kyle**S]

This was actually in response to The WB's preference for simplified, more self-contained stories, that wouldn't require a 2-minute or longer previously. I can't imagine that the DVD release had no influence on the show.

 

[John McM]

when discussing spoilers, the tv promos promoting Buffy season 7 on DVD shows nothing but scenes from the final episode, including hints to what happens to Spike at the end of the series

 

[Michael Reuben]

That may have been the WB's preference, but it isn't what the creators of Angel delivered. Almost every episode depends on extensive knowledge of what went before, but instead of a "previously", there's exposition by one or more characters. (For a classic example, see Fred's long speech in the first act of episode 1.) In any case, it's nice to know, with one more DVD set to go, that there are only three more opportunities for cuts due to missing "previously" segments.

M.

 

[StylesStewart]

I think i prefer no previouslies because i watch basically a disk or half of a disk at a time and the previoslies would be annoying...

 

[Ray H]

I do enjoy "Previouslies." When watching both Angel and Buffy over the summer on TV, they were just fun. I found it interesting to see how everything was cut together and what information producers thought was necessary to tell the story of the episode. I also thought it was cool when a segment from the previously would give you a hint on what the episode was about.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Very simple. Have a chapter set afterwards, so you can skip it if you want.

 

[Scott_F_S]

We've had now 11 Buffy and Angel sets released in R1, and none of them have ever had the previously segments on them. And we'll have the same discussion when Angel S5 is released. Geez, by now, we know they're not going to be there. So get over it already.

 

[Michael Reuben]

It won't be much of a discussion. Only three of the 22 episodes in that season began with "previously".

M.

 

[Adam_ME]

Well technically, "When She Was Bad", the first episode of Buffy Season 2, did have a "Previously on" intro on the R1 set. What's ironic is that it was reportedly left off of the DVD in other regions.

 

[Joshua_W]

What's strange is that, while they left off the "Previously" segments, they left those "In every generation..." series intros on a bunch of the eps from the first two seasons.

 

[Eddy-C]

Yeah, see at least the Prevoiusly On gave you info on what the episode would be about.

What do you people who are watching S7 for the first time think of it? Good, ok, bad? I've only rewatched the first 4 eps and they're really good, I hope the middle episodes hold up. Everything after episode 9 (except for a few noticable eps like Storyteller and Lies My Parents Told Me) bored the hell out of me.

 

[Scott_F_S]

Watched the first four eps last night. I'm a DVD Buffy fan, so I'm seeing these for the first time.

I liked the first four eps, anxious to resume. I know that this season has been panned unmercifully by fans. So far, I think it's still quality TV but my feeling is that the show has run out of steam. What made the early Buffy and Buffy at its best so great was the heart wrenching drama coexisting with the brilliantly goofy humor. By now, the brilliantly goofy humor is all but non-existent, and the drama is getting close to going over the top. Doesn't seem to be any real inspiration left.

 

[Joshua_W]

Overall, I thought it was a strong season.

After CWDP, there was a pretty drastic change in tone, but I didn't find the middle stretch to be bad at all. Much better than the middle of the sixth season. Hell, I even liked Kennedy, and I didn't hate the potentials like most seemed to. I was expecting Ewok-level annoyance from them (sounds like something Andrew might say, no?) but I actually liked most of them.

A lot of the complaints about the season, I think were unwarranted. Xander did have a somewhat diminshed role, but he's just a normal guy getting on with his life. It's kind of the point... Buffy's a superhero, Willow's a witch, and he fixes windows. In seven years he went from being an awkward teenager to a responsible, successful adult with more ease than anyone else. And when he lost an eye in "Dirty Girls," it had all the more impact because of it.

Willow's different attitude toward magick was also a breath of fresh air. After watching all of the silliness of season six (mostly her antics from "Smashed" and "Wrecked") it was good to see her start to treat her powers with a greater degree of responsibilty.

I can see the complaint about the potentials overshadowing the regular cast, but I think they kept an overall good balance. It's tough to pull in a half a dozen new recurring characters in during the final of act of the series, but it was necessary. A major theme of this season was passing things off to the next generation... going back to the first part of the season, it thematically started when Dawn began her first day at the new high school and ended when all of the new slayers were called.

While the First Evil's plans were never really made explicitly clear, it wasn't as bad as I feared. I still wish they would've made the FE's plans more explicit, I would've liked to have known more about how resurrecting Buffy disrupted the Slayer line, what really happened with Joyce in CWDP, was it Caleb/FE/Bringers who tried to have Faith killed in prison, or was it someone trying to activate a new slayer? Lots of questions left over, but it's really not too hard to fill in the blanks without being spoon-fed everything.

 

[Matt Thompson]

Well, it had to be Caleb/The Bringers regarding Faith, considering the attacker used a Bringer's knife.

 

[Terry H]

True. The beginning of "End of Days" is simply hacked off. If I had known this in advance I would NOT have purchased the set. I'm surprised there isn't more outrage.

 

[Joshua_W]

The problem with that is -- presumably -- if Faith were to be killed, a new slayer would be called. Even though it was never clarified within the story just how the slayer line functions, we can presume that the line now moves through Faith. We never saw or heard about a third slayer being activated after "The Gift," so we can assume that Buffy's death there didn't call another. Buffy herself believed that the FE would kill all of the potentials, then Faith, then her. (Though at times Buffy seems to be under the impression that if she dies another will be called. Again, that's never clarified within the story anywhere... not since "Faith, Hope, and Trick" back in season three.)

My guess would be that a watcher ordered the hit on Faith with the intention of calling a new slayer, and gave Deb a bringer knife to do the deed. Since those guys are everywhere, it wouldn't be hard to get ahold of one of their knives, especially if the watcher in question had killed a bringer sent to take him or her. (Like the one who tried to kill Robson... hell, it could've been Robson who ordered the hit of Faith. He was later shown to have survived the attack in "Killer in Me.")

It just makes no sense for the FE/Caleb/bringers to kill Faith at that point, because having her incarcerated and alive would prevent the activation of a new slayer. Whereas Buffy could've been killed at any time. Unless the FE either didn't understand that (doubtful) or they believed Faith was just another potential (again, doubtful, because she would be too old at that point... 21 at least if she was 17 in BTVS S3, and since she was an activated slayer, she probably wouldn't show up as a potential on any kind of mystical detector.)

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I think it was just a plot hole they didn't think of, which is unfortunate, cause they usually were so careful.

Buffy's death (assuming the line still did run through her) would have activated a new slayer in "Villains" as well, considering she flat-lined at one point. So it's a very safe bet to assume that Faith is the new slayer line. Buffy was obviously just mistaken, or the writer's forgot that bit of evidence.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Forget "Villains". A new slayer should have been activated at the end of "The Gift".

Any attempt to rationalize this mechanism is doomed to failure. As Whedon admits in the commentary to "Chosen", he was perfectly happy to tolerate inconsistencies for the sake of a larger narrative purpose. He wasn't talking about this particular point, but it's an attitude that prevails throughout Buffy and Angel.

M.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

But it's not a plot mistake. The line should move through Faith. Buffy died in Prophecy girl, activating Kendra. Kendra died, activating Faith. Buffy is therefore a "mistake" in the slayer line. The line didn't split in two, she just passed it to Faith.

So a new slayer shouldn't be called should Buffy have died after the season one finale. The fact that Buffy didn't know this, or that she assumed that her possible death at some point in season 7 would activate a new slayer is the plot mistake.

But I agree, Whedon did choose to toss out inconsistancy in favor of the narrative. Too bad the season's narrative was so sloppy and hamfisted...