slayer dreams #13--and, appropriately, thoughts on "Chosen"

[truepenny]

Not much coherence among my wide variety of BtVS dreams last night; there was one with two Buffys, both of whom had to be talked out of a kind of bad Buffybot impersonation so they could become one Buffy and defeat the Forces of Evil (and it was all tied up with S6 somehow, too). There was more than one dream about Spike, of which my favorite (and the only one I can remember anything about beyond Spike being in it) was the watching-TV-with-Spike dream: Spike's crypt, skanky furniture, little TV and all.

About the series finale ... I'm Spuffy to the core, so I'm really rather annoyed that suddenly the whole damn Angel thing is welling back up. And I'm tired, tired, tired of Buffy telling guys she loves them and having them say, No, you don't. (So, hey, good thing the series is over, huh?) But I loved Buffy in this episode for figuring things out--about herself, about the First, about what she had to do. The scene between Willow and Kennedy made me actually love rather than merely accept Kennedy. Dawn was perfect. Faith and Robin were PERFECT. Giles, as infinitemonkeys said, was adorable. (Although I'm pissed off, too, that we had schizo Giles all season and no freaking pay-off. heres_luck and I had Theories which turn out to have been completely wasted.)

I love the face-to-face Buffys. I love the fact that Sunnydale is completely destroyed. I love the fact that there's another Hellmouth in Cleveland. Xander and Anya were very sweet, and I'm sorry that Anya's dead, but not in the same way I'm pissed off about the failure to follow through on the whole Spike and the First watching Angel and Buffy--and nice retcon try, Joss, but that wasn't just a hello kiss.

The bit with waking every potential in the world was incredibly cheesball, but I loved very much the particular M.O. with which Buffy disposes of Caleb. I loved the visual references back not only to "The Yoko Factor" but also "The Harvest." The extreme snarkitude of Buffy's conversation with Angel ("Are you twelve?"), and with Spike (and Spike's picture of Angel), the Scoobies playing D&D ...

There were wonderful vintage BtVS moments; my problem is basically that the plot they were hung on wasn't enough support. Which has been kind of a problem with this whole season--an imbalance between plot and everything else. S7 is certainly not BtVS best season, and I have to say "Chosen" is possibly the worst season finale we've had. But, then, I realized recently that one reason I haven't been as down on S7 as most people is that, frankly, after S3, nothing was ever going to compare. My expectations just weren't as high, so I didn't have as far to fall.

But really "Chosen" wasn't, for me, as satisfying as "Grave." I think, though, that it suffers from having to be the end of everything. (Although it wasn't being treated with as much fanfare as "The Gift," which seems a little unfair.)

Angel's lame. His hair goes straight up, and he's bloody stupid.

Comments

Cleveland???

[libskrat]

There's a hellmouth in Cleveland?

You know what? I know where it is. I'm telling you. I used to work there...

Re: Cleveland???

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Yeah, suddenly it all seems so clear. Of course there's a hellmouth in Cleveland. It explains so much.

Re: Cleveland???

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Wishverse continuity. When Giles calls Buffy's Watcher, the other Watcher apparently tells him she's in Cleveland, where there's a lot of demonic activity.

Re: Cleveland???

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Yup. That's the OTHER reason I love the fact that there's a hellmouth in Cleveland.

[elisem.livejournal.com]

When Robin administered the conversational wake-up call to Faith, the loud noise you might have heard from the northwest would have been Juan. And me, too, joining in.

We also very much liked Dawn's greeting to Buffy when Buffy returned to the house. Very much indeed.

And yeah, Spike's drawing of Angel. Ooohyeah.

But I don't think Kennedy's up to Willow, for the long haul anyhow.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I don't think Kennedy's the Long Haul Girl, either. But at least I can leave the series believing that she's good for Willow and that they love each other. It's not True Love (*heart*Tara*heart*), but it's love, and it feels healthy and real. I'm happy about it, where previously I've mostly just been resigned.

And the other thing I adored was that my extreme fondess for Rona was validated. Who's third in line with the scythe? That's right. Bitchy, smartass attitude-girl.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Boy, howdy. Robin, still the prettiest.

buffy dreams

[loligo.livejournal.com]

I had a real beauty last night: http://www.livejournal.com/users/loligo/104232.html#cutid1

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I don't know if anyone has said this, so forgive me if it's repetitive, but a little fun Buffy continuity -

In The Wish, Buffy has been living in Cleveland, where there is a second Hellmouth.