If Joss made even a bit of sense ... but he doesn't. It didn't even read like he was trying. Which, as Allyson might contend, fits in with S7. Or as I might, fits in with the idea that ASH films with no pants on.

If Tara had come back as a zombie, and eaten Kennedy's brains, I would have cheered.

Not enough wrod in the world.

I really think AB did the responsible thing in turning down appearing in S7. It was such a crappy misguided year, they would have utterly ruined squandered Tara anyway.

Oh, and I can't believe that Joss Whedon thought that the stupid "I may be dead, I may be evil, but either way I'm poorly written: The Rupert Giles Story" was amusing. Forget the whole part about it being a cheap trick, a lame stunt, and insulting to the audience. It just wasn't funny. I thought this man was supposed to know comedy.

t /bitter

I actually thought the not-touching thing was neat and anticipation-making back when I was first spoiled for it. Of course, at that point I assumed there would be a payoff of some sort.

Joss and other writers have talked about having so much to fit into this season that it didn't all work, but to me there were about 10 episodes that ran together with not much happening except for boring speeches to crowds of anonymous extras. Oh, and Andrew babbling on interminably, musn't forget that.

I think they would have been better served to do the first 2/3 of the season as monster-of-the week stories like "Same Time, Same Place" with the hunted potentials subplot on the back burner, and then kick the arc into high gear around eps 15/16 with "Conversations with Dead People" and the firebombing of Watcher Central.

I actually thought the not-touching thing was neat and anticipation-making back when I was first spoiled for it.

For example, it spiced up the Eye of Beljoxa's prophecy for me to be worrying, "What if by explaining the prophecy to Giles, Anya is giving valuable information to the First?" And I was worried the first time they gave all the potentials weapons, because Giles had brought them and I thought they might all be traitors. (I hadn't figured out that the First was incorporeal at that point. Without Buffistas explaining things to me, I missed a lot of stuff. I didn't even know Giles wasn't acting normal except in "Lies My Parents Told Me.")

"Two to Go" and "Grave" were on FX tonight. Oh, god, "I'd like to test that theory" and Dangerous!Giles, then Giggling!Giles ...

I actually thought the not-touching thing was neat and anticipation-making back when I was first spoiled for it.

Would have been neater if there'd been some reason behind it. Even a 2-second throwaway line about how he injured his whatever fighting the Harbinger.

Also, insulting to Rupert Giles and a waste of ASH....It started so strong with "Do you want to be punished?"etc.

For me all of the off kilter Giles in S7 was made up for it with the "Could it be any worse? I used to be a Watcher – now I'm a wounded dwarf with the strength of a doily." and the exact head tilt and delivery from the end of "The Harvest".

The Giles thing could have been neat it if really had been about being observant enough to notice he wasn't touching anything. But as far as I remember, we only really started discussing that aspect when we were casting around for reasons why he was so completely unGilesy to begin with. And by that point, I was not alone in desperately hoping it was true. The Joyce thing is just weird - it's a thread they dropped, fine. Pretending there's nothing off about it just makes JE look foolish, IMO. But the Giles thing felt so dismissive of both the character and the fans that it still rankles.

The Tara story, OTOH, just rings to me like Joss playing around. I don't buy it, and I don't really think I'm meant to.

I loved that one.Giles and D&D I mean.