I finally cracked open my Buffy season 6 DVDs yesterday after having them for who knows how long. I made it up to "Gone" last night, though I watched OMWF with the commentary on because I've already seen it about a hundred times at Cons and friends houses.

I had no recollection of how bad "Wrecked" actually was. I'd only seen it once, when it first aired and when I was brand new to the show so I didn't have a lot of reference. I recalled it as being not the greatest episode, but hardly terrible. Watching it yesterday was a rude awakening. Ugh.

Oh yeah. I actually just watched that last night with my housemate, who's making her way through all my Buffy DVDs at lightning speed. It's just so, so bad. My hatred for the magic = crack storyline has only increased over time. ugh.

I think we should rewrite all of Season 6. In my opinion, the changes wouldn't have to be THAT huge - just fixing Smashed and Wrecked would completely change the character of the entire Willow/Tara thing, bringing it back to good or even great, even if we didn't touch anything else.

Of course, this is speaking from the perspective of somebody who actually quite likes much of Season 6. I just think the magic!crack storyline in particular was terribly thought out, written, and executed, and completely stifled the potential inherent in the "Willow has serious boundary and control issues that need exploring" setup that built through all of season 5 and climaxed in OMWF and Tabula Rasa.

I don't mind the magic being an addictive thing. I can totally see that. Having it map directly to drug abuse, to the point where we suddenly have magic junkies, however, is just dumb.

So far, "Wrecked" is the only episode I've had a problem with, though the fallout in "Gone" where Buffy and Dawn have to remove anything that could be used for magic from the house grates as well.

Having it map directly to drug abuse, to the point where we suddenly have magic junkies, however, is just dumb.

Even worse -- no set up. No warnings when Willow was just starting out. Or even when Giles went ballistic over the resurrection of Buffy. Just all of a sudden, oops, magic can be addictive.

Having it map directly to drug abuse, to the point where we suddenly have magic junkies, however, is just dumb.

God, yes. Amy breaking in to steal SAGE?? For the love. Like D. said, it took the whole interesting backstory of Willow's issues with using magic inappropriately and sent it screaming off the tracks. It was stupid, cliched, and came out of nowhere. oy. I do think that Dark!Willow was a great place to go with that storyline, but I dearly wish they could have avoided the whole junkie bit altogether and gotten there some other way.

No warnings when Willow was just starting out.

I disagree, there were warnings -- the werewolf ep where she was going to do a spell against Veruca, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered -- all indications that she was misusing magic, and showing a lack of judgment with the power.

Well, the issue is it went from being an abuse of power to being a direct mapping of substance abuse.

-- all indications that she was misusing magic, and showing a lack of judgment with the power.

But if they'd run with that, I think it would have been a lot better. They laid the groundwork for Willow pushing boundaries, beginning to cross ethical lines - but it wasn't about the magic, it was about the result.

all indications that she was misusing magic, and showing a lack of judgment with the power.

Misuse, yes, addiction--no. Making it an addiction problem gives her an out, whereas being irresponsible and power-hungry are character issues that have interesting connotations.