I-I-I-I-I-I-I-T'S SHOWTIME!!!!!!!

Well, we're starting to hit some virgin territory for the group. We have, in my opinion, left the realm of the Scoobies, and entered the realm of the X-Men. Checking off the list, Buffy has her nifty mutant healing factor, which seems to work as well as Wolverine's, the gang are having mental conversations with eachother, Anya and Giles went to another dimension to talk to an oracle, and the episode ended with a battle royale with wires and everything. Now, let's be fair. Much of this stuff is perfectly within the realm of possibility for the BUFFYVERSE.

I just can't shake the feeling that for a show that has promised to take us back to the beginning, we've been sold on a raw deal. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad or anything, but I think that we were led down the wrong path on this one. When we were told that the show was being taken back to the beginning, we thought it meant back to how the show was in the first few seasons, versus the heavier stuff that came later. What we got, for the first few episodes, seemed to fit the bill. But slowly, things got more and more heavy, until now it's so thick that you COULDN'T cut it with a knife, you'd need a chainsaw.

A few weeks ago, I was concerned that Giles was really the First in disguise. Especially because he was putting so much pressure on Buffy. Now, I think it just happens to be the tone of what is going on. I suppose that I could be proven wrong, but really it can only be taken so far.

Recently, as evidenced below, I read a bunch of reviews of FIREFLY on jumptheshark.com. (I will return to the point in just a moment.) One of them piqued my interest because it said that fans of FIREFLY are giving the show much more latitude than it deseves because they are fans of Joss. If they hadn't been, if they had just been normal TV viewers, they would have turned the show off long ago. Personally, I don't feel that way about FIREFLY. Not one bit. I think that it is great writing, great acting, and all around good fun. I shared these reviews with Brian because I felt that after surrounding yourself in praise, it's always nice to hear a dissenting opinion or two.

Having read that last review, though, I am tempted to wonder if I would have stuck around through all this if it weren't Buffy. The answer........yes. Of course I would. I've stuck out worse than this before. The WHOLE of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine comes to mind, as well as most of Voyager and Enterprise. I can't stress enough that no one does crappy TV like the STAR TREK people do nowadays.

What was my point? Simple. This is getting bad. The BUFFYVERSE I mean. I guess it's OK because the end always feels bad. I think they already know they're not coming back and are going to try to end with a bang. They're keeping us guessing to the end. Maybe they're subscribing to the philosophy that only when things get so bad that you can't stand it anymore will the final release be so sweet that it will impact heavily on viewers everywhere. Maybe not.

All I can say is this. In the depths of my heart, when BUFFY does end, I want it to be on a high note. Not the convoluted way that DS9 ended on, but a truly happy note. These people deserve it. Buffy deserves to be let go from her duties and live a normal life with her friends. Willow deserves some happiness. Xander has achieved a level of success, despite his failings and his past, he just needs to resolve his issues with Anya so that he can truly be happy. Dawn......she can take over the Slayer's responsibilities. And so the SUPERHERO circle would be complete. Dawn would be the BATMAN character, with Buffy being Alfred, Willow being Dr. Leslie Thompkins, and Xander being Comissioner Gordon.

And what, you ask, about Giles? Why, he could either become Dawn's new Watcher, founder of the new Council, or just a guardian angel. And as for Spike? I hear that Vampires with souls are all the rage in Los Angeles.

  posted by J @ 09:17