Oh, yes, Willow should not have gotten over Tara so quickly. At the very least--granted, I didn't watch S7 as closely as I watched others--someone should have been annoyed with Kennedy for slithering in so blatantly.

So, you're saying "The Replacement" was a year too early?

Well, Nick and Kelly have made out with each other on national television... though I imagine that's a place none of the writers would have been comfortable going, regardless of how accommodating the actors might have been.

I wank it as a combo of Tara's low self-confidence and a "Willow's my girlfriend who brought me back from Glory's mindwipe" mindset.

I don't think Tara's complicity can be blamed entirely on Willow. She had a lot of affection for Buffy herself, and made it clear that although she knew the resurrection attempt was wrong, she still wanted to do it.

I'll always be convinced that by the time season 7 rolled around, the writers hated SMG and reflected that hatred in the writing of Buffy (the character).

That's my impression as well, though I'm sure it's colored by the gradual lowering of my own opinion of SMG post-Season 4.

At the very least--granted, I didn't watch S7 as closely as I watched others--someone should have been annoyed with Kennedy for slithering in so blatantly.

They abandoned Dawn's petulance right at the point that it would have had in-story justification and coincided with the feelings of the majority of fans.

Well, Nick and Kelly have made out with each other on national television... though I imagine that's a place none of the writers would have been comfortable going, regardless of how accommodating the actors might have been.

Actually, Matt, I was thinking of follow-up to Anya's "Double the Xander, double my fun" line of thinking.

Right, I was just saying that given their Hollywood Squares performance, the actors probably wouldn't have balked at anything the writers threw at them.

Oh, yes, Willow should not have gotten over Tara so quickly. At the very least--granted, I didn't watch S7 as closely as I watched others--someone should have been annoyed with Kennedy for slithering in so blatantly.

That was a conscious decision by Joss and the writers to repair/address some of the Dead Lesbian Cliche of Tara's death. They purposefully wanted to show that Willow being with a woman wouldn't be punished by killing off the character. They had contemplated her mourning for Tara all year, but then feared that kind of mopeyness would drag the show down and be the wrong arc for her character for storytelling purposes.

I agree with those decisions. I thought Willow's arc through S7 was handled pretty well considering it didn't get a whole lot of time. She mourned for Tara, she tried to learn to control her powers instead of just being cold turkey, they went away from Crack!Magic, there were checks on her power (the FE acting through her), she explored a new relationship (and significantly it was initiated by somebody else) and when the chips were down she was able to do mighty Mojo without corrupting herself.

But... but... did it have to be Kennedy?

Couldn't it have been Vi?

She was grieving. Didn't have her head on straight. and partway wanted to be punished.

But... but... did it have to be Kennedy?

Couldn't it have been Vi?

Vi would've been good, but she started off tentative. The character had to be assertive because they didn't want to make it look like Willow was past grieving, but that the other character pushed it to make it happen. Hence, Kennedy was pushy.

Especially now that I've been watching Freaks and Geeks, I wish they hadn't killed Amanda (Millie on F&G, Sarah Hagen). She was just gloriously fierce in battle in an unexpected way. Now that could have been an interesting combo with Willow, because she was already a little aggressive, but not bratty like Kennedy.

They thought Willow mourning her lost love would drag the show down? Did they see the rest of the plot lines?

t /heavy sarcasm