For those of us who don't read Fray, it was an asspull. (or would that be axepull?)

I haven't yet read Fray and didn't think it was an asspull. It was no more of an asspull than:

• Pergamum Codex that Angel gave to Giles in Invisible Girl

• The sword blessed by the knight that slew Acathla (that didn't show up until Becoming)

• The Books of Ascension and the shared slayer dreams that Buffy and Faith never shared 'til Graduation Day

• The enjoining spell

• The great power sucks of season 6 (and I'm not referring to B/S here)

It was less of an asspull than "the monks made her from me" (which I got and kinda dug, so I'll admit I do have a high asspull tolerance), and way the frig less of an asspull than Olaf's ascension to Trollgod (yes - a god, even though Anya created that particular version of Olaf).

They are always in a seemingly impossible position. They do research, get a source, find something (or find something out) that helps them save the day.

Okay the thing about JM's hair: it wasn't even remotely cool to have a big ol' fro like that when he was in high school.

I don't know. He would have graduated in about 1980. Depending on what year that is - it's possible.

Did his "real" voice bother anyone else during the A&E thing? Everytime he came on the screen and started talking, he wasn't so...Spike...anymore. Did not likey.

Yes. I know real Brits make fun of his British accent, but when I hear JM sound like a valley dude, it bothers me.

and apparently except for the above, I'm Mary Mary Quite Contrary, today, because...

justkim, I still disagree. The desire to see justice be served is justified, but since vengeance isn't justified, the desire isn't. A character can attempt to justify it with both excuses and even reasons. That doesn't make it just. What the desire for vengeance is in the cases you mentioned, is completely natural, sympathetic, and understandable - be it Dawn's, Cordelia's, Giles's, Wood's, etc. I'm wondering if you missed where I did say I do not think (paraphrasing myself) that the desire (alone - without action) for vengeance is serious, certainly no where nearly as serious as the action. I did say that what matters is if and how someone acts upon that desire.

By the way, Giles attempting killing of Angelus was justified despite his motives, not because of them. If Xander had just decided to kill Jenny and Giles went to kill him, that attempt would not be justified. Catching Xander and seeing him brought to trial would be. Because season 2 Angelus (prior to the Scoobies getting a hold of the restoration curse) is a time bomb, guaranteed to kill unless he is stopped (and the only way to stop him as far as they know at that time - is to kill him), attempting to kill Angelus is justified, regardless of the fact that Giles is motivated by his anger over Jenny's murder.

To me, you're missing one of the points of The Wish if you think Cordelia's desire for vengeance was justified.

JM played Thoreau in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, a play I was in back in high school. (I was Ralph Waldo Emerson's wife, Lydian.) Loved that play to death. It makes me very weirdly happy to know that JM was in the same play.

Me too. I played Deacon Ball in a college production of the play.

He's 40, right? So he woulda started HS in either '79 or '80 I'm guessing. If memory serves me right, that 'fro look was worn but no longer cool. Surfer was cool. Punk was even cooler. Airsupply was not.

Modesto is always a bit behind the times.

JM sans accent reminded me of David Duchovny. Weird.

And it would have been especially nice if Caleb hadn't been doing anything with it - if he'd been smart he'd have either immediately destroyed or kept as far from Buffy as possible. He was the very confident type, but he seemed brighter than that.

It seemed to me that for some reason Caleb and the FE thought they could use the axe when the first started after it - wasn't it when he saw the inscription that said it was only for her use that he started rampaging on the monks? So by that point, it was probably already unearthed. But it was never made explicit or mentioned again, so who knows?

Caleb wants the axe, doesn't he? And it doesn't come out of the rock without her, so there were a limited number of ways to get what he wanted.

So by that point, it was probably already unearthed. But it was never made explicit or mentioned again, so who knows?

The bringers were removing the stone from around the axe. Sort of like the modeling clay one used to remove in those kits with a statue inside of the clay.

Only, you know, harder.

500!!

CNN.com has a brief non-spoilery interview with Joss. My favorite quote:

THR: How does it feel to say goodbye to something in which you've invested so much of yourself?

Whedon: I had dinner with the writers the other night, and we listed the title of every single show, which was hard. Just the weight of the thing, the bulk of the thing -- every single one of those episodes had a message and a meaning and a very specific purpose. It wasn't always completely realized; it wasn't always as tight as it could have been. But the fact that 144 times we sat down and broke our backs to make a story worth telling is something that makes me feel enormously proud.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall during that discussion.

I know Joss asked each writer to name the favorite ep they had written and why. I don't know who mentioned what, but isn't that a lovely thing to do?

I know Joss asked each writer to name the favorite ep they had written and why. I don't know who mentioned what, but isn't that a lovely thing to do?

Yes, it is. And something pretty much impossible to imagine on any other show.