Actually, S7 in general went way, way up in my estimation on an all-at-once rewatch. So much more balanced. There wasn't anywhere near as much Potential plot-hogging or tedious speechifying as I remembered; the season-long character arcs, especially for Xander but really for everyone, felt much clearer; it didn't feel so much All About Spike; the two or three light fluffy standalones were much more enjoyable when they weren't coming on the heels of a month of no episodes at all and immediately followed by another month of nothing. IMO, the craxy airing schedule did a massive disservice to S7; I'm all bouncy and eager to see what everyone else thinks.

Ooh. This is the first thing that, selected eps aside, has made me really want to get around to watching my season 7 DVDs. I suspected the above might be the case, but had too much other stuff on my plate to make the time to find out. Does the pod!Giles stuff seem less pod-y?

Also, have you watched season 6 in one big go? I'm curious if that plays better as well, as I recall the scheduling was similar.

Does the eventual eye loss make her feel better?

Not really, because it wasn't a consequence of either The Lie or his bouts of self-righteousness.

I think that the Xanderest thing ever is "Calvary's here! Calvary is scared guy with a rock, but he's here!" *sob*

Oh, yeah. Well, that's probably the Xanderst line (more specific than 'thing'), okay, maybe it's tied with his first line to Buffy: "Can I have you?"

Actually, his entire set of lines in his whole first scene with Buffy is a study in meet-cute.

Oh, another Xandery line is, "I'm going to go home, lie down, and listen to country music--the music of pain."

has never forgiven Xander for big lie, never will

Buffy has. She knows what happened. I mean, it's not precisely canon that she knows, but it's totally in character for her to know, and the conversation with Willow and Xander in S7's Selfless, gave her enough information to piece it together.

Before that episode, I used to like to think that she figured out the lie, really early, maybe right after she sent Angel to Hell, and that knowing about it contributed to her running off to L.A.

I honestly think he was totally wrong, and yet it was probably the right thing to do, at the same time. I think it's possible Buffy might have gotten herself killed, trying not to kill Angelus--just biding time, waiting for the spell to kick in.

Also, have you watched season 6 in one big go? I'm curious if that plays better as well, as I recall the scheduling was similar.

Last summer, Scott and I watched the first six seasons in one gulp. Season 6 played much better, but we never did get more than halfway through season 7. I love what happened in season 7 (the narrative, I guess), but I hate the execution of it.

Does the pod!Giles stuff seem less pod-y?

Somewhat, yes. There's still not enough of him, and the saving-himself-from-the-swinging-axe still seems highly improbable and asspully, but he's definitely Giles (it helps a lot to know from the get-go that he's really Giles and not the First, so you can just watch his performance instead of obsessing about whether or not he's touching anyone (that bit of Stupid Plot Tricks still bugs, unfortunately)).

He's gloomier and less supportive of Buffy than in the past, which is slightly out of character, but on a non-chopped-up rewatch of the whole season it's much clearer that this was a conscious decision on the part of the writers, not laziness or ineptitude; it's there to serve Buffy's arc, to push her One Slayer All Alone/This Is Too Big For One Slayer dilemma. Which was for me a much clearer arc on continuous rewatch, and which made her inspired decision to use the Scythe to share her power with every possible Slayer everywhere feel much more powerful, more of a breakthrough, more emotionally resonant not just on a big meta Jossian metaphorical level but as a brilliant, sweet resolution to the misery and isolation of this one particular girl whose story is being told.

This is all with the caveat that it may just be me; it's entirely possible that most people will rewatch it all and still think S7 sucks desiccated donkey balls, and that my viewing experience was heavily influenced by pregnancy hormones and carrying-a-daughter mental wanderings (though, admittedly, Hec seemed to like S7 better too, and he was under rather less of a hormonal onslaught).

I think it's possible Buffy might have gotten herself killed, trying not to kill Angelus--just biding time, waiting for the spell to kick in.

which is why I have forgiven him. She wouldn't have fought nearly as hard as she did if she thought that it might happen. Plus, even if she had known, Angelus still would have opened Acathala's mouth.

I think it's possible Buffy might have gotten herself killed, trying not to kill Angelus--just biding time, waiting for the spell to kick in.

which is why I have forgiven him. She wouldn't have fought nearly as hard as she did if she thought that it might happen. Plus, even if she had known, Angelus still would have opened Acathala's mouth.

standing in Vortex & Cindy's corner. We're very pretty.

I'm not joining in on the W&P because 1) I don't have S3-7 and don't want to have to pull out after S2 and 2) I don't have time, but I'm loving the discussion it's all sparking.

standing in Vortex & Cindy's corner. We're very pretty.

yes, we are.

Right, and she'd have gone in, expecting she could stall rather than psyching herself up for a slaying. Xander was wrong to keep the knowledge from her. That's an abuse of power (friendship = trust = power) that's beneath him.

On the other hand, he was a 16/17 year old boy, who knew what Angelus was capable of. He'd stared him down in Killed by Death (another scene I ADORE) when Buffy was in the hospital. He would have been killed by Angelus in BB&B, if Dru hadn't fallen victim to the love spell and saved him. Miss Calendar was not only dead at Angelus's hand, but her body was left on Giles' bed, just to add to his agony. Willow, who Angelus had stalked (remember the dead fishies) was in critical condition. Xander knew Angelus had stalked Joyce (and harrassed Buffy with it), and probably knew that Angelus told Joyce that he and Buffy had sex. And on the petty side of things, 2 kicked off with Buffy using Xander shamelessly, in her sexy sexy sexy dance to Cibo Matto's "Sugar Water," in WSWB, to make Angel jealous. His lie was way wrong, completely understandable, and might have saved the world.

I did a poll in LJ, on Xander's BIG LIE. Feel free to fill it out: [link]

I never thought Xander's motives were all that complicated. It was a split-second decision, or he wouldn't have even mentioned that there was a message.

I assumed Buffy & Willow would find out about the whole thing early in S3, and, like, be grumpy about it for 2 episodes and then get over it. I was always surprised that it was such a huge deal in the fandom.