And yes, to Giles having never played the game and being able to jump in. Because if Giles had played the game, he would have had the others down to penniless blind lepers, begging in the streets, hoping the next roll of the dice would put them out of their wreched miserable poor excuses for game existance.

New ending. Music comes up as Dawn speaks.

DAWN: "Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?"

Music swells as Buffy smiles...

Chorus: "Holiday roaaaooooaaaaoood, holiday roooaaaoooooaaaaoooood..."

Joss should just write everything.

And direct everything as well. Two perfect shows. The Angel finale - written and directed by Tim and the Buffy finale - written and directed by Joss. A fitting tribute to ME - long may it prosper.

Micole "Buffy 4: Grr. Arrgh." May 21, 2003 12:18:03 am EDT

Micole .... I am so in agreement with all you whited.

I was overly spoiled for this ep - so I decided to take it as a stand-alone and as such I so thoroughly enjoyed it. And was even surprised by a lot of it (especially the exceptionally sparky dialogue). This script could and would make a fine movie.

Oh, god, that was perfect. It totally upset all my expectations, and brought the show back to the core narratvies: Buffy, Girl Power, High School, the Hellmouth.

Timelies, everyone. Now begins the part of the post-show discussion I like best--the focused analysis.

why is Spike the one to make the ultimate heroic sacrifice of the episode?

I've got an idea on this one that might tie in to some of the other themes we've seen kicked around throughout the years. Spike has been a sort of dark reflection of the Buffster throughout the years, so his sacrifice was as a sort of substitute-Buffy. Killing Spike was as close as Joss could get to killing Buffy a) without getting the "been there, done that" feeling, and b) leaving Buffy alive and empowered, and able to enjoy her no-longer-alone life.

Here are the bare bones of my Spike/Buffy (but not Spuffy) analysis.

S1. Spike is not there, and in a way, neither is Buffy. She starts out in quasi-denial of her Slayerosity and the sacrifice/hardships it demands. By the end of the season, that has changed to a large degree.

S2. Spike shows up, and so do all of the big issues with Angel--for both characters. Spike is dismayed that Angel has gotten a soul, Buffy is dismayed when Angel loses his soul. Both characters are psychologically tormented by Angelus. Both wind up leaving Sunnydale in wake of a bitter victory. Buffy has lost her true love, and so has Spike (only he doesn't realize it yet--Dru will leave him for good shortly after they get out of town).

S3. Faith takes over the role of Buffy's reflection for the most part. Still, it's significant that Spike shows up for "Lover's Walk."

S4. Spike is cut off from the vampire community just as Buffy is somewhat cut off from the Scoobies--all thanks to the initiative.

S5. Buffy gives up her life out of love for Dawn. Spike changes the most over the course of this season, IMO, nearly laying down his unlife for Buffy and her family. The alliance of necessity of S2 and the false alliance of S4 have moved aside and the two of them are truly allies, fighting for the same thing and for more or less the same reasons.

S6. Buffy and Spike connect in a truly unhealthy way as Buffy is trying to feel alive but winds up becoming more and more withdrawn into herself. The positive aspects of Spike that we saw in S5 and early in S6 vanish as Buffy's own joy in living vanishes. The AR shocks both characters deeply, deeply enough that they realize that change is needed. Buffy ends the season with a renewed desire to live that she was not expecting. Spike ends the season with a soul that he was not entirely expecting (IMO).

S7. Both Buffy and Spike are prime targets of the FE. (I'm summarizing like mad, since I have to get ready to go to work). The two of them reconnect once Buffy and Spike have both been betrayed by the Scoobies, but this time, it is in a quiet intimacy and acceptance of each other. Buffy give Spike the amulet that Angel had given to her assuming that she would be the one to use it.

Does any of this make sense? I'm still hammering out this theory.

I liked that a lot.

I suspect I won't love it until I can see it without having to squint through static or turn the volume up full blast.

Didn't cry. Did get goosebumps at the mass Slayer awakening. Did laugh out loud for ten full seconds at Spike's drawing of Angel. Was most appreciative of something rather mundane: Angel leaving during the first act. Thought the "fat grandchildren" line also hit Home for Angel. Grossly overused the implied first-person in this paragraph.

About the spreading of Slayer-dom: that was only supposed to be happening to potentials, right? Well, then, maybe when they called up the Devon coven, they should've asked them how their seers missed so many last year.

All right, I was going to post this last night, when everyone else was doing their eulogies tributes, but I couldn't finish it before the show started, and it didn't seem right to post during the post-and-watch.

My junior year in college my boyfriend tells me, "You've gotta watch this show with me sometime. You'd really like it." I'm like, "Buffy the what? Wasn't that a movie? And didn't it suck?" But I keep hearing about this show--from him, on the Internet, etc. I remember hearing the radio ads for the "Two Night Event." I remember reading a MSTing of a Buffy fanfic, which was tricky considering I had only vague ideas of the characters. And finally, just to shut the poor boyfriend up, I started watching.

I don't remember exactly my first episode. I came in during the reruns after Angel went bad, which was disorienting because in one episode Angel would be bad, then in the next he'd be good. Jenny Calendar was dead, then alive, then dead. Boyfriend had to fill me in on a fair amount of backstory. But it didn't take me long to really start enjoying the show. It was fun, funny, and made me think.

The first episode to really, really grab me was "I Only Have Eyes For You". The juxtaposition of the student/teacher story with Buffy and Angel's situation, the guilt, the way it all fit together perfectly, "Bitch!", and oh god, that song...

Then it was onto the heartbreaking perfection of the season finale, and how could it get better than this? But it did--Faith, the Mayor, the slayer's dark side.

Buffy graduated high school when I graduated college (except, of course, my ceremony wasn't postponed until mid-July) I've been watching since, inspired at times, disappointed at others. But always glad to have it, and Angel, in my life.

I've been stalking lurking with y'all since TT. My then-boyfriend, now-husband (Hi, Hobgobble!) have watched every Tuesday. Thank you, Joss, for all the fun.

"Did laugh out loud for ten full seconds at Spike's drawing of Angel."

And I loved the way the camera kept the Angel-as-target sketch visible in the upper left-hand corner when focusing on Buffy. Hilarious.

Hoya Saxa's great big idea to ponder over the long summer: Spike could be Angel's biggest headache next season on Angel. Could be very interesting. They are natural rivals. I envision a renegade faction of W&H pulling off a Darlafication to thwart A&W&H.

Oh, one other thing -- it would have been rich, and perhaps even vicious, if during last night's Angel jealousy huff about Spike, Buffy says: "And where in your heart is Cordelia, Angel?"

Coming from lurkdom and reading a long threadsuck to say I loved this episode. But I'm suprised that no one's mentioned the biggest shock from this episode:

That Caleb's now bisectual.

runs away quickly before things can be thrown

That Caleb's now bisectual.

t wipes monitor with tissue to remove Diet Coke

I thought that the way Buffy dispatched Caleb was wonderful, if wince-inducing. What a perfect way to take out the misogynist.