Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season Seven

Finished season seven. The series ending was moving. The open road before them, the rubble of Sunnydale behind them. All of them together, the first glimmer of hope that the future might have something for them after all. Good times.

The tray of cheese slices made a reappearance in the dream sequence of Andrew and Jonathan during "Storyteller." Season seven was the season where I finally got the whole UC-Sunnydale logo bit. It's a UC followed by a sun, then the letter 'D.' I was thinking, we already have a UCD (UC-Davis), that doesn't make any sense. Oh.

The series finale left a few things unresolved for me. One thing that never made sense to me was why a new slayer did not arise when Buffy died at the end of season five. Maybe a male slayer to be a love interest to Buffy, but nobody showed up. The apparition of Joyce to Buffy and Dawn early on seems to have been The First, though I don't remember it getting explicitly stated. Why didn't the Bringers bomb the Summers home like they did the Council? Not for lack of explosives. In the end The First turned out to be an omniscient apparition, a possessed preacher, and an army of ancient vampires and Bringers -- there was no physical battle between Buffy and The First.

Episodes I didn't like: "Him," the episode where Buffy seduces RJ.

Favorite season seven quotes: From "First Date," after Xander's romantic date turns out to be a demon intent on using his blood to open the seal, he renounces dating women, exclaiming, "Willow, gay me up;" Xander's confession to Dawn in "Potential":

"Seven years, Dawn. Working with the slayer. Seeing my friends get more and more powerful. A witch. A demon. Hell, I could fit Oz in my shaving kit, but come a full moon, he had a wolfy mojo not to be messed with. Powerful. All of them. They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary;"

Spike's vulnerability to Buffy in "Touched":

"I've been alive longer than you and dead longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine. I've done things I preferred you didn't. I've never had a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain… A hundred plus years and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of…you…I've seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity what you are. You're a hell of a women. You're the one, Buffy;"

"I get that." This is one quote I noticed the characters say frequently. Must be a favorite of the writers to express understanding.

I felt a lot of disappointment with Amanda dying in the final battle. I was really happy to see Olaf make a cameo in Anya's flashback. Andrew's daydream where he imagines himself, Jonathan, and Warren as gods was hilarious -- togas, harps, dancing, and singing effeminately in a brightly-lit field of flowers. Juliet Landau as Drusilla is amazing. "Grrrrruff" -- I love it.