My wank for the time stamp is that is was important that we, the audience, know that each of these encounters was occurring at the exact same time. It was important that we know that the FE was in only one of these locations (with Willow) and that it cannot be in multiple places at the same time. (So Maybe!Joyce was not FE, but I still don't know what the haunting was all about.)
Thus we should have realized that when the FE spent several days in the Summers house as BadSouthernAccent!Potential (not touching anyone the entire time) it could not have also been Not!Giles. But everything else was wonky, so who knew?
That's my wank, and I'm sticking to it.
Thanks. Allyson. You brong it on, girl.
But the FE was being Warren with Andrew at the same time it was being Cassie with Willow, wasn't it?
Curse you, Holli. I forgot.
Another reason to say that was Joyce, and that her warning was about Buffy having Xander kidnap her out of town (etc.).
Dawn ended up saving Xander's life in the final battle. The last we see of the in the school (that I can remember) - Xander's just killed an ubervamp, and then is surprised by either another uber or a Harbinger. We see Dawn draw her sword. Later, we see they've made it through.
These threads like ?Joyce?, and the eye of botox (what they hell is it really called, again?), etc., were interesting and then were followed up on in such a way that we can't even tell if they were, or if we're wanking. I am saddened with that sort of execution, except it helps me be glad the show is over. I was still terribly pleased with the finale. It's what I've wanted since forever, and I felt I was promised it at the end of Lessons, when Buffy/First!Buffy both told us it was, "all about the power."
I feel way less sad than I expected to, before the finale ended. I expected to be depressed that the show is over. Instead, I feel like I do when I've finished a good book. Satisfied, and done.
I vote for Real!Joyce with the cryptic ghostly easily misunderstood anxiety provoking warnings.
Scripty goodness from Joss indicates (though does not prove) that Anya
did
save Andrew's hash. To wit:
INT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL - LOUNGE - DAY
Giles and Wood look at each other -- they can hear them. Giles has a hand rolled cigarette. He offers it to Wood, who declines, blowing out a little smoke as Giles stamps out the cigarette. They hoist their swords.
A few of them come at Anya -- who's pretty damn good with a sword -- and Andrew, who's Jerry Lewis with a sword, but somehow managing to keep them at bay...
INT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL - NORTH HALL - DAY
Wood, being pushed back with Giles, sees three Bringers approaching them from behind, hurls a knife into one of their throats with perfect precision.
The Bringers descend on Andrew and Anya, driving them apart -- Andrew toward the north hall, Anya down the adjacent hall that leads outside. Andrew goes down holding his sword out pathetically, a Bringer leaping onto him with a knife.
Anya slashes one - drops it, and another comes from the side, she turns and is gutted, the Bringer stabbing her repeatedly as she drops, dead.
****
As shot, Anya takes out two ubervamps by herself while Andrew is beaten into a corner. Then Anya is stabbed by a...bronger and goes down. Andrew seems to more or less had a...bronger fall onto his sword and survived by sheer capricious redemptive luck.
Even the Brongers had no mystical powers
Glad I wasn't the only one who read the type as Bongers.
In unrelated news, I'm listening to Shriekback right now, AIFG!
t /natter
Oh, you people -- the date/timestamp in CwDP was clearly a shout-out to it being my birthday. Duh!
See, I like Jess's reason.
Because it really sort of distracted me that it was shown (and date stamped) on my dad's birthday. (He died last June.) I found it rather hard to concentrate on it at the time.
