BtVS Season 7

[shipperx]

Maybe it's a rubbing salt in re-opened wounds thing, or maybe it's just masochism. If I were in a better mood I'd pull out my brand new X-Files DVDs. But all the Season 8 talk has inspired me to pull out the Season 7 DVDs. (Wherin I find that Him has some creepy parallels to Season 8)

I'm not a big fan of Season 7. If I chose my favorite season, it would be BtVS Season 5. I... have problems with Season 7. But, for whatever reason, I chose to marathon several episodes of BtVS 7 (which does help with one of the things that drove me most insane, that everything took so damn long.)

And just as soon as I started writing I realized that though I'm listing the episodes one at a time, I'm actually ping-ponging through them in my head. Re-watches aren't truly linear because you already know what lies ahead. So...

• Lessons - Honestly, I was mostly bored by this one.Yeah, yeah, got the "It's about power" speech but to be perfectly honest, Buffy's speech about it felt mostly like gobledy-gook. It's muddled writing and Whedon is capable of better dialog than that. I think the far better explanation for this whole "power" thing, one that actually does resonate through the season is Xander's words to Willow later in the season (see what I said about ping-ponging?). As Xander talks to Willow after she's returned from England he gives the hammer analogy. That if you hold the handle near the end, you can drive the nail in with (he says a couple of strokes but if you've ever watched some old-school roofers, it's more like one) the problem is, if you're that far back on the lever, you have power but not a lot of control. Choke up on the hammer head and you have control, but not a lot of power. I actually do see that reflected in several episodes. I'm not entirely sure what Buffy said about power or what it was talking about.
  
  Other stuff. I'm perfectly okay that we never saw Dawn's newfound friends again. They too were dull. And a positive thing of note is that Buffy's sudden new job offer doesn't play nearly as WTF as it did at the time. I mean, the girl is a college drop-out who was what? 21? She didn't qualify for that job (without any training!), especially after the year of being suicidal. But, thankfully, that plate is now covered by the fact that Principal Robin Wood had an agenda (it also makes it just a tad bit creepy). The montage of Big Bad's (that's sadly missing Angelus and would have been cool had he been there) was an exciting bit. Poor Spike (though crazy looked good on him). However, The First's speechifying, like Buffy's, wasn't nearly as resonant as Xander's later analogy.



• Beneath You - I don't, and never have enjoyed the bi-polarism of this episode. The shifts are too hard and too inexplicable. And, frankly, some of it is just damn clunky. That said, the last scene is still heartbreaking, with lots of character to explore. You (okay, I) always wonder what Buffy was thinking. We'll never know. We're never told. We do see the shock as she intuits exactly what Spike has done. At first she's shocked, then sad, and then... there's this look on her face that I swear looks disgusted. As I listen to Spike's words, it's really pretty overwhelming what he's done. He did the impossible. He did what they said could not be done. He, a soulless demon who loved her, felt remorse, felt guilt, and felt love... enough to go out, torture himself, do the impossible, and win back his soul. And I always see that brief look of disgust on Buffy's face as a momentary acknowledgment of exactly what Spike did, and by that I mean, that Spike did what Angel/Angelus never did and never would do. It completely short-circuits her mind.
  
  But really, my heart in the scene goes out to Spike... or rather, to William, because it's William who is speaking when he says "everyone will forgive and love..." William was always a romantic, though a rather doomed one. The power/hammer analogy is there with Spike's words in the alley about both of him as Spike argues with himself, with the parts of himself (and, I'm guessing with The First... that is devouring him from beneath). Too far back on the handle, and there is no control. Choked to close and there's not enough power. There has to be some balance... somewhere.



• Same Time, Same Place - I'm... not sure I watched that. Somehow I must have skipped it (or found it quite forgettable).



• Help - I actually really liked this episode. I liked Cassie, and I liked the tone of the episode. It's a really sad episode. I found Cassie's words about wanting to live her life to be very Prophecy Girl season 1. Cassie sounded a hell of a lot like young Buffy there. But there's also this dark underbelly of the ep as it seems to foreshadow (or post-shadow given that I'm getting the vibe because I already know) that Cassie wanting something she'll never have (because she's going to die) seems tied to Spike. That's Spike's fate. Wanting something he'll never have. It makes me cry when Cassie looks at Spike and says "Someday she'll tell you..." knowing that, yes, someday Buffy will say the words, but it's too little too late. Someday she'll tell you, Spike... and you won't be able to believe. And in Season 8? Looks like you were right not too.:( Still, Help is one of the more moving episodes of the season.



• Selfless - Another of the better episodes of the season. I always loved Anya. The title is a bit of a fake out though. We read "selfless" and we think about someone being selfless. Instead it's lack of self, as Anya explains near the end that she hadn't found out who she was and so clung to whatever came along. I do have to admit to wanting to smack Buffy, saying "get over it!" Cher to Nick Cage Moonstruck style, when she belts out the line that she'll "never love anything in this life" like she loved Angel. Good god, you were seventeen years old! Hell, she was only twenty-one or two when she's giving that sad, pathetic line. The pinnacle of life is not at seventeen! Or if it is, it's very sad and there's something very wrong. And it is and will always irk the hell out of me that even at that late date, Buffy actually believes it. (And I'm not even touching Season 8). That said, I do have great sympathy with her confronting Xander that she had to kill someone she loved (just good god, not the pinnacle of your life's existence. YOU HADN'T HAD A LIFE YET! It's tragic, because she loved Angel. And she did love Angel. And it was big and it was true. And it was heartbreaking and tragic. But it was then, Angel been back for a very long time and, sure, he was the first. First =/= only. First =/= teh pennacal of your existence. Want to know who the 'love of your life' is? The one you spend your life with, whoever that may be. I just really hate that OTP trope especially if it's hooked into adolescent predestination delusions. But that's all a quibble compared to what's a good episode overall. I understand her point even if I dislike her words. She did what she hated because it was the right thing to do. ) And it does go back to Xander's hammer metaphor. There is a scene with Willow where she halls Darth Willow up. She goes a little far at first, and then has to throttle back. Same with Anya who went a lot too far, and had to ratchet back.



• Him - So, um, 'the coat' = glowhypnol? Seriously, all this "But I lurrrve him!" crazycakes is so off the charts. And, can I say here that Fatherly Xander kind of wigs me out since he's now Dawn's love interest? It's all too Daddy Long Legs for me. ::shudder:: Speaking of, Buffy's the freaking counselor of the school. The Buffy/RJ hookup is seriously inappropriate and don't know why they went there. And, yeah, the coat = glowhypnol, makes it skeevy on both ends. (Oh, and Willow-- who did note his ass, I've seen this RJ actor naked on Nip/Tuck, and let me tell you, it's a great ass) ::ahem::
  
  On a slightly different subject, it's sadmaking watching Spike turn the angels around to keep them from watching him (when it's Dean over on Supernatural, it's pragmatic )with Spilliam, it's quite sad.) Also, the way that they handle people's reactions to Spike's soul in this season still kind of ticks me off. It's mainly comparison contrast how they all flip-out and it's all okay when it's Angel's we're talking about (and I like Angel -- not Twangel so much, but the actual Angel over on AtS? That guy? Loves. But the differing sets of rules applied to the two vampires really ticks me off. Wet towels. Bah! ...Speaking of Angel, remember "When I kiss you, I want to die." We get that with Dawnie's OOT wuv of RJ. Buffy, who just last episode was saying that 17 was the pinnacle of her romantic life, is telling Dawn that no guy is worth dying for, especially not as a kid. Buffy doesn't listen to herself much, does she? Anyway, bazooka scene? Still awesome. (Although Dawn asks Buffy if she loves Spike at all and Buffy says no. So, yeah, this is basically a mini-Season 8 isn't it? We even have Spike stopping Buffy from killing people over her 'wuv.) Hmm... this is making me not like this episode very much (which, honestly, I never did like it much... except for the bazooka. Which rocks. Always.).



• Conversation with Dead People - And now I can't helping thinking that the vampire that Buffy's talking to is the bastard who killed Fred! (not literally the same character, but, you know. It's the same guy.) Other than that, can I say that this season is so much better without potentials?! Anyway, this ep. Why was The First torturing Dawn again? Simply for the jollies? (Oh, and Don Draper hired Not!Dead Jonathan last week for Sterling Draper Cooper Pryce. They'll be okay, though. Connor is around. >;) Wow, poor Andrew is dumb. He really bought that killing Jonathan would be like ObiWan and Yoda dying. Guess he missed the part where ObiWan and Yoda weren't evil (and were fictional even in the Whedonverse).



• Sleeper Yep. Still painful. But, can we talk about the "plan" The First mentions here? I'm not sure I know what The First is talking about. "Plans" are not a series of apparently random mayhem making. That's called 'winging it'. Plans usually involve what George W. would call 'strategery.' So what was this 'plan'? That Spike change a bunch of people into vampire minions and they vamp Buffy? Not such a bad plan so why didn't The First just do it? Why abandon it at the first hurdle? Was it a Spike-specific plan? Other vampires could do it after The First screwed it up with Spike. And, yeah, The First screwed it up with Spike.
  
  See, here's the problem, why have Spike make minions one vampire at a time? Why not be efficient? I mean, the girl on The Bronze Balcony and Holden Webster were both free. Have mindwiped Spike turn one vampire. Then, keep Spike in the batting box not raising suspicion. Have new vamp make other vamps. Have minion army. Then re-awaken Spike to turn Buffy (if it had to be Spike). See, the less that Spike is out unconsciously hunting, the less chances of being caught! And thus stopped! Hey, if the 'plan' is to demoralize Spike and Buffy as well as turn Buffy, why not, take the aforementioned plan, except rather than have the Bronze vamp turn a bunch of people, just have her collect them. Then mindwipe Spike, forcing him to turn the huge collection of people. This en masse procedure would be efficient! Denoralization complete! And would decrease the chances of Spike being caught somewhere between 800 - 1000%! (Depending on how many people he turned in one go). Then have the vampire army capture Buffy, etc. The advantage would be that she'd still be demoralized over what Spike had done, she'd still be turned into a vampire, and once Spike was unmindwiped he'd be suicidal. And the chances of being caught and thus stopped would have been decreased 1000%! Actually, this is such a good plan, why did the The First abandon it? Why not return to it with... oh, I don't know, maybe a really demoralized vampire in L.A. who just lost everyone he loved? Or, you know, any vampire they pick up off the street. 'Plan' - I think The First no haz one.