An interesting dichotomy

That, to which I refer, being a minor difference of opinion that Brian and I have regarding the requirements for a season finale. Now, I'm going to try to cite where I think we differ, and pray that I haven't missed the point.

Brian said:
"I think the only reason that it falls to third in my estimation is that the Big Bad (the Mayor) and the resolution (the war at the high school) wasn't as painfully, devastatingly personal as in the aforementioned two seasons"

With regards to the Mayor, I kind of thought that of all the Big Bads, he was one of the most frightening. He is one of those characters who is frightening for the same reason that quiet guy in the corner is. While everyone else around him is screaming and shouting, he just sits in his little cubicle, keeping his cool, quiet as can be. What you really fear about that quiet little nobody is when HE actually explodes. You want to duck and cover immediately, if ever that should happen.

The Mayor fell into that same category. He spent most of the season calm and cool. He was actually jovial throughout most. Even when things were going bad, he would just offer Faith some "Miniature Golf." Regardless, his most terrifying scenes were few. Two are when he comes to the school and encounters the Scoobies (first to trade Willow for the Spiders, and again in the library to just gloat.) They weren't terrifyling in the "Oh my God there's going to be blood" kind of way, but more in the vein of "what is he going to do?" Then, and this hits my former point beautifully, is when he discovers Faith's "death." That took the "what is he going to do" a thousand times further, and I for one began to fear for our characters. He showed that underneath his cool exterior he was a force to be reckoned with. I don't know whether to give more credit to the actor or the writing staff, but whichever, this was more cool meance than I have seen from most other big bads. Angel was psychotic, but being a simple Vampire, you felt that he and Buffy could be on an even keel. Especially as the season moved on. Again, I can't say that the Mayor, or season 3, are better than Season 2. As I stated in my last entry, these two seasons run neck and neck for me.

But, moving on to the guts of my opinion, I do not feel that a season finale needs to be "painfully, devastatingly personal." To me, unless we are talking about a cliffhanger, a season finale is at it's best (in an on-going arc) when it is the cathartic release of all the stress that we have been building over the last season. Season 2's finale didn't quite fit this bill, which is why in my mind I think of it as a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger being "when and how does Buffy return?" Season 3 was exactly what the name implied. Graduation. It worked symbolically as well as literally. It had the hard-to-attain "Yes! Moment" that good Season finale's have. And in the grander scheme of things, it paved the way for a fresh start in the next season, which made the season premiere that much easier to swallow. With no loose ends to tie up from the season before, the whole hour could be concentrated on taking us to where Buffy and the gang needed to be, versus having to rehash where we were in order to get to the set-up for where we were going to be going.

And my final point, which I would like to address, is to my feelings regarding BTVS and comedy. Yes, I love the humor of Joss and the gang. Yes, some of my favorite episodes showcase this humor. To me, it is a byproduct of the intelligent writing that goes into this show. It's one of the things that separates this show from the myriad other dramas on television. Yes, actions and consequences are another essential ingredient. I cannot and will not deny that. To me, these spontaneous points of comedy serve to humanize our characters. One big problem with many (but not all) action heroes is that they have no inner demons. They take all the hell that the enemies/monsters/aliens throw at them and just shrug it off. The better of the action heroes are affected by the constant insanity that happens around them.

Now, to expand on that, one way of dealing with all this insanity to make light of it. It's a natural defense mechanism, like a nervous laugh. It's part of what keeps the characters from scratching out their own eyeballs under pressure.

Finally, when the comedy disappears, it's a good barometer for when things get so bad that we are REALLY in trouble. Like the old saying "Don't worry until you see me worried." Well, we won't have to worry too much until we see that the characters are worried. My problem comes from when we go episodes on end being worried, without some sort of catharsis. The size of the catharsis should be in direct proportion to the amount of stress we've had to endure. And so comes my problem with this season. While Andrew has been providing some nice comedic effect throughout these past few episodes, his shenanigans have not been in direct proportion to what has been going on. It's been aggravating to the characters, which doesn't make it terribly helpful. That is why I haven't judged this season totally yet. I am waiting for the catharsis to happen. Like I said in an earlier post, what I would like for that catharsis would be a truly happy ending, that maybe we could experience for a moment or two. If the season/series ends without a catharsis, that is when I would call the season a wash. Season 6 had no such catharsis. Neither did Season 5. And that is probably where my problems lie.



  posted by J @ 15:12