There's a lovely bit in the Spoiler version of POTN'S spoiler guide for Restless that talks about Xander's dream Vis a vis Hell's Bells 'I can understand why someone who had that baggage would run away from that even if he just ended up back in the cellar'.
At times there was bits of his dad that pops up whenever he berates Buffy. S10 comic run finally gave Xander the long overdue therapy he needed (even if it eerily mirrors Nicholas Brendan's own troubles complete with Dr Phil McGraw being immoralized as "Dr. Mike")
Principal Snyder in restless in the style of Marlon Brando says to Xander: “you’re a whipping boy, raised by mongrels, and set on a sacrificial stone.”
I've always felt that Xander's development was somewhat truncated and left out in the necessity of telling the overall story. There were some indications of which way he was heading with episodes like Bewitched, Bothered and Bedazzled and The Zeppo plus hints of his dysfunctional home life but these were few and far between. Then again the name of the series was Buffy the Vampire Slayer not Xander so it is understandable from that point.
I wouldn’t say that Xander’s issues came out of nowhere. Rather they were just very subtle and in the background. Xander is the type of character that uses humour to deflect from his trauma. That kind of person it’s often very difficult to know when they’re going through a hard time. As we see the show from Buddy’s viewpoint mostly the fact that she misses causes it to not be a main focus for the show. But it’s no less there. It just requires some meticulous attention to detail and maybe a bit of inference. Xander’s home life was crap. We don’t see much of it until Hell’s Bells but we know his mom is so oblivious of him that she doesn’t recognize his voice over the phone, his family regularly had drunken fights and his uncle became something of a sex fiend. Now from Xander’s father’s behaviour we can pretty soundly say he was verbally abused as a child but with what the show gives us it’s not much of a leap to think he was physically abused as well. In Restless Xander dreams of his father screaming at him in the basement before plunging his hand into Xander’s chest and ripping it out then becoming the First Slayer. The First Slayer killed each of the scoobies with their greatest insecurity. Willow with her fear that nobody valued her and she hadn’t changed since high school. Giles that he’d taken the wrong path in life. Finally Xander with an apparition if his father. But what killed the Others was merely a physical representation of their fear, not the literal manifestation. From that we can guess that Xander’s greatest fear wasn’t his father’s abuse but something deeper. We see that however badly his father behaves Xander’s mother takes the abuse and rationalizes it as her fault. Always looking to justify her husband and make him happy. As is disturbingly common in toxic relationships. I think that is what Xander fears, not his father himself but rather that Xander will become his father. After all look at the women Xander goes after, Cordelia who takes no shit from anyone, Buffy who has literal superpowers, Anya whose destroyed a thousand men like him. He wants to be with someone more powerful than himself because if he truly does go down the road he fears, if he becomes abusive like his dad these women won’t sit down and take it like his mom. They can put him in his place. Then we come to Hell’s Bells and Xander is shown his worst nightmare, a life where he did become his father and where the people he surrounds himself with like Buffy and Willow who he thought would always keep him in check we’re gone. In that moment of realizing what he might do to Anya if they got married he realized that he couldn’t go through with it. He still loved her, still wanted to marry her but he realized that he wasn’t ready. That he needed to grow more as a person before he could be with Anya in the way she deserved. I realize that it wasn’t at the forefront of everything going on but nevertheless I do think it believable with the information on Xander we have. Let that be a lesson, never propose because you think you are going to die, if you live you’ll have to go through with it.
We see their cold feet out in the open in Once More, With Feeling during I'll Never Tell. I always found it to be quite an unsettling song. It's so jaunty and Xander and Anya do laugh at the end but the message within and the issues left unresolved and undiscussed by the song's end sow the seeds of their relationship being doomed.
If I recall correctly Passion of the Nerd goes down all of Xander’s subtle family dysfunctional clues in the “Amends” breakdown. From when Cordelia straight up asks Xander if his family is having another crappy Christmas party where he’ll have to sleep outside again, and a scene with him calling his mom and it being implied that she asked “who’s is this?” And he had to respond “it’s Xander.” The clues were there that Xander had A LOT of family related issues. They’re just so subtle that it comes off as a big surprise.
One thing that always bugged me about Xander was that bit where he kept pulling military knowledge from that time he was made to think he was a soldier on Halloween. Now, I get it for things that generally don't change, like slang, strategy, etc... but what bugged me was when he pulled out current information like that nearby army base being quietly shut down or, I think in one case, duty rosters and the like. It was just weird. I also kind of feel like they should've just pulled the trigger and had him join the National Guard so he could be in the military and still around, mostly.
The genius of double meat palace is this: Buffy is a mythological warrior chosen by ancient powers to fight the forces of evil and protect the world, and she works in a burger joint. It's that everyone who works in a burger joint could be something special if circumstances were different. I found it to be very profound.
It goes with one of Whedon's first concepts of Buffy. "Rhonda the immortal waitress." A young woman who to the outside world seems ordinary but is actually extraordinary.
It's a brilliant parody of both the fast food industry and crappy, low-wage, part-time jobs in general. It also illustrates the dilemma so many young adults face: you can't get a decent job without experience, and you can't gain work experience without a job. And the experience you get slinging burgers doesn't count.
I can't help but think that Jane Espenson must have worked in the fast food industry at one time. I did, and so much of the send up parodies the industry to a tee, from the orientation video to the last-minute call to work a double shift, the vacant stares to the demeaning outfits, the customer 'regulars' - even the questionable 'Soylent Green' ingredients. It's all there man!
This is the season I truly fell in love with Tara. Even after her and Willow ended, she stuck around for Dawn and Buffy. She had grown to love these people and didn't abandon them when her relationship ended. Her praises are always sung for the Willow ship, but I never see anyone talk about how dedicated she was to the group as a whole. Season 6 is my second favorite season (S4 is my fav) and this video was a great retrospective. :)
Ok, I've got to stick my neck out for Dawn here. I really think she gets too much hate and she's actually a really well-written character - arguably one of the most realistic kid/teen characters in tv imo. Not only that, but her presence in the show and sibling relationship with Buffy adds even greater emotional depth to an already powerful show and again, I consider it one of the most accurate portrayals of a sibling relationship in tv. I think a lot of people who grew up as youngest siblings can relate to what Dawn goes through with Buffy. I'm not saying that she can't be pretty annoying at times, but so can a lot the other characters in the show (I mean, the vast majority of what Xander does in the first three seasons annoys me and I still like him) and frankly considering everything she goes through it's pretty understandable that she can be "whiny" at times. Finding out that she doesn't technically exist and everyone's memories of her are fake must have been bad enough, but when you add in everything and everyone she loses over the course of the show...I can't help but sympathise with her!
Thank you for this, I like Dawn a lot too and find her overhated. I agree with your assessment on her. I do think she can be annoying at times, but she's still a great character IMO. Not the best, but she's great.
Plus, like we see with so many other characters (Xander, Anya, Buffy herself) we get the opportunity to witness growth. If Dawn had remained whiny and needy to the end, I'd have given the last couple of seasons the boot, but in the end she becomes an integral contributor of the core group. In Xander's words, she's not special - she's extraordinary.
People also forget that Dawn was the creation of a bunch of old men, monks even. She is These guys, people who probably never engaged with a teenage girl in person before, She is created from the idea of what a teenage girl should be. Im sure they thought she should be over-emotional and angsty.
I totally agree. She's pretty annoying sometimes but when she immediately went to sacrifice herself at the end of The Gift to save humanity without a moment of hesitation (only stopping when Buffy grabbed her) I knew she was a genuinely good person
Also, thank you for your character study on Jonathan, I feel as if he's not given the credit from a lot of fans. He's the only one out of the three later to understand what the Trio have done (in my mind, Warren knew exactly what he was doing and that makes him no different to Angelus), and he knows to face the consequences. He's the only one to try and betray the Trio secretly, and to help Buffy to defeat Warren. Next to Drusilla, I would honestly call Jonathan the most tragic character in the show. In Earshot, he attempts suicide because of all the bullying around him. In Superstar, he only wanted to be in the spotlight and offer his own advice to everyone. And then in Conversations with Dead People, he dies, with the knowledge from Andrew that no one is remembering him, as well as the fact that he was killed by Andrew himself (which was one of the moments besides Doyle's death and Oz's departure where I was in absolute tears). If it wasn't for Storyteller (one of my personal favourites in both shows), I would have detested Andrew to the end of time, and even then, I would have preferred Jonathan as part of the Scoobies instead of Andrew.
I love Jonathan and strongly relate to him. I hated the way Buffy dismissed his offer to help in Two to go and never thanked him for telling her how to defeat Warren.
Yeah, poor guy is one of the many bystanders of Sunnydale who knew Buffy was involved in saving the day and wanted to be part of it. It's kind of sad but because he's the nerdy guy who was used in an episode which somehow made fun of self insert fanfiction characters before it became popular in the zeitgeist, some people see him as just annoying. He's too real for many.
the build-up to Hell's Bells was very subtle, you had to watch Xander's reactions to things throughout the season and consider the impact of his abusive parents.
Season 6 was one of the most accurate depictions of depression I've seen and coming into adulthood and the nihilistic/existential crisis it brings. The stark contrast of season 5 buffy who's been built up to defeat and overcome a literal GOD. Even though her death is tragic it's the tale of a perfect hero - saving the ones she loves and the world in a final act of her "gift". Upon being ripped from heaven buffy is a lost, depressed and PTSD ridden hero who's suffering from the aspect of eternal happiness (being with her mother too.). The brutal burden of being brought back into life, and having to deal with bills, finding a job, relationships and dealing with fighting evil and just questions the whole meaning of it all. She sings about "give me something to sing about" and nearly bursts to flames because of not knowing if its all really worth it. The whole season is Buffy's journey on living with the knowledge of heaven and knowing she will never truly be like herself before and the struggle with "walking through the fire" of working through the present and future, instead of the past. I know some buffy fans think buffy comes across as annoying or blunt but the true emptiness and candidness she expresses resonated as someone who struggles with depression. Overall one of my favorite buffy seasons, and it made me cry many a times since it stuck a cord within myself. 🖤
I kind of liked the fact that Xander never talked about his doubts. I've been in situations where everyone agreed with something and I just held my piece because I didn't want to rock the boat. It's hard getting carried along by people you love with things you don't agree with. It also shows how not talking about something important can force it to burst out at the worst possible moment
Good point. I think Stu's point about laying the groundwork for it doesn't mean - necessarily - that Xander had to talk about his doubts, however. They needed to show, somehow, that Xander had serious issues about making a committment as big as marriage, somehow, to make him do something as big as leaving Anya at the alter. It needn't be expressed with Xander fighting with Anya repeatedly, or even confiding in Willow or Buffy in a straightforward "tell don't show" moment. They needed to lay the groundwork by making Xander show, in a few more scenes, that he was not ready / unwilling for marriage (whether it be flirting with a girl, looking to go on a backpacking trip to Europe he'd be unable to do as part of a married couple, some kind of internship situation he could not afford supporting Anya, SOMETHING). I could (and I think Stubagful could) buy he didn't want to marry Anya (Kardashian-style) but leaving her (or anyone) at the altar is so over-the-top you would think he would show BIG, serious problems with Anya or the idea of marriage, not the everyday all-couples-fight stuff they did. Wow I wrote a book.
Buffy the Vampire slayer is literally THE only show where i love evry season....literally due to the fact that each season brings something incredible to the table and each season carries a different vibe and atmosphere... and Whedon clearly had a beginning middle and end for the narrative..... Season 6 gets such a lot of flack and criticism by fans but actually it is a masterpiece containing some of the greatest episodes and performances from the cast ever and for tackling such social isues head on in a downbeat and expressive way. Whilst Season 3 and 5 fight it out at the top spot for my all time favourite season..... Season 6 and 4 share equally comfortable second position as two experimental and important seasons. Thank you for more Buffy goodness
Season six was actually my favorite season. I first watched this season when I was ten years old. Watching this video made me realize that I related to and understood this season so well even at that age was because by then I had already experienced what it's like when life completely falls apart by the time I was five.
That's literally how I felt about season 6 too. Started watching the show during season 6 and I was 9 years old. I was going through a lot at that time, so was Buffy, so in a way, I understood her depression. Now at 28 my understanding deepened, and despite its flaws, remains my favorite season, probably of anything.
Personally, I love Willow's addiction arc, it's one of my favorite things about Buffy. It was dark, depressing and real, and it came from someone who you'd never expect would get addicted on the surface, but that's often how addictions go. I'm someone who's struggled with mental illness and addictive behaviors, and one of my favorite characters going through that was very relatable.
Yes, s6 is dark and grim and harsh. But the thing is: Xander is the one unraveling all this mess. The powerless, the not special one, the comic relief. That speaks the world of how there is light at the end of the tunnel and it never fails to get me. #yellowcrayons
Season 6 has always been my favorite, and I also really love Normal Again. I just happened to stumble upon you, anything Buffy equals instant sub. Edited to add, even if this is the only Buffy you ever do, I still subbed because you obviously have excellent taste.
My favorite season. It’s dark and emotional and shows what life can throw at you. I was older when I started watching Buffy but season six always resonated with me. Especially Buffys depression and behaviour with Spike.
I like the season 6, the struggles, the depression, Buffy experienced what was the adulthood, she couldn’t back in s5 because her mind was 100% against glory after joyce’s death. In s6 she took all the responsibilities, and her Duty of slayer. Nobody was here to take care of everything like before, she had too to deal with a lot and her resurrection.. maybe it wasn’t my favorite when I was young but now I understand the meaning that’s just life, and its harsh reality
I think i can understand how the tonal shift in seasons 6 and 7 really fucked with fans who loved the heavily comedic and standalone episode heavy seasons 1-4, but i LOVE seasons 5-7. I was a college sophmore or junior when those seasons aired, so being Buffy's age in the show made all of it super relatable, and I've found as Ive gotten older those seasons only become more relatable. The hardest part of world IS living in it, and life being the ultimate big bad of season 6 is super deep. I love it.
The 1 character for me that stood out most in season 6 was Tara. Seasons 4 and 5 she was more timid and within herself. Then season 6 came and she was far more confident, it wasn't just the scoobies she was friends with. She had friends at college which she never really had before. She even argued with Anya about willow doing magic to break Halles curse, whereas before she probably wouldn't have said anything. But for all season 6 was it did have some of the best episodes in the entire 7 series.
Really happy for you to talk about Buffy, you're now doing two of my favourite shows. It'd be great if you could do a video like this for each season of Buffy (and Angel). I'm also glad that there's someone else put there who really likes Double Meat Palace and Life Serial.
I'm so glad that you are talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For me, Buffy and Angel are some of my favourite shows ever. I think one show gives me that the other doesn't, and vice versa. I love the superhero supernatural horror teen drama of Buffy but I also love the superhero noire drama of Angel. I can't exactly separate the two shows from each other, I love them equally and view them as one product. And Wesley is hands-down my favourite character arc in any television show ever. They're both the only shows where I can find even one positive in the weakest episodes, which allow me to come back to them, and weirdly the Guide videos from Passion of the Nerd (his videos are marvellous) highlight more positives on episodes that I used to not care for. Angel Season Rankings: 5. Season 4 4. Season 3 3. Season 1 2. Season 2 1. Season 5 Buffy Season Rankings: 7. Season 1 6. Season 6 5. Season 7 4. Season 4 3. Season 2 2. Season 5 1. Season 3
Honestly I think part of the dislike for season 6 comes from the lack of subtlety with a lot of the story metaphors. Willow's lust for power and misuse of magic which had been underplayed and gradually built before gets turned into outright addiction. Buffy's continual story as a slayer struggling to live as a normal person is executed via an embarrassing fast food job. Dawn's feelings of abandonment and neglect are manifest in a rather mundane, Degrassi-esque running plot of shoplifting, etc. Not to mention the fact that while the emotional lows and darker elements are sometimes executed well (the encroaching darkness of the Trio's actions, the self destructive spiral of Buffy/Spike) things like the end of Xander/Anya are done in completely contrived fashion. So much so that it feels less like the tragic inevitability of their relationship and and more that the writers couldn't let one happy relationship exist lest the season lose its theme of angst. Its definitely book-ended with a strong start & finish and is probably the boldest season in terms of direction, but it feels guilty of mistaking darkness for depth at points.
I remain to this day befuddled by fandom's insistence that the writers somehow "owe" them "one happy relationship" for the sake of being happy, never mind that they somehow expected Xanya to be that relationship.
The argument I've seen is less that the fans were entitled a happy relationship and more that the character consequences of the breakup amounted to a direction that wasn't terribly interesting. Previous ends of relationships on the show typically led to more fascinating reprecussions. The end of Xander/Anya gets the latter a strong episode in season 7, but the immediate result feels lost in the bigger darkness of the season and lacks the intensity of something like Dark Willow or twisted dynamics of Spuffy's dissolution. No fan is owed a happy couple, but many were at least expecting a compelling aftermath.
I started seeing Buffy when I was 7 years old. I’m currently watching it again (I’m 35) I had forgotten many things about the series but by far it was always one of my favorites. Without a doubt, my favorite season is the 5th. In fact, we have to see the fact of how they are realizing the death of Buffy’s mom when in each episode she comes home and the first thing she says is “mom”, the same thing happened with Tara and willow in the sixth season. The way is that they get to have to deal with supernatural and everyday problems in adult life is incredible especially as they imply that personal problems weigh more than any end of the world.
Season 6 is my favourite season so agree with most of your points, except kinda for Anya and Xander; I agree that there wasn’t enough build up but I do think it was there. I’ll never tell for me was the foreshadowing to what happened in Hells Bells.
I'll never tell was a big one, Xander delaying talking about their engagement was another part, his clear problems with his parents, how fast Anya wants to move now that she's human. It wasn't on the nose, but I personally wasn't to happy about them getting married, so Hells Bells was hard, but not totally unexpected.
@@ApequH If Xander had been Alexandra, the other charactors would have been "your marrying the second person you've dated red flag". And your only 21 WTF
Buffy still remains my absolute favorite show even to this day (as if my RUclips handle wasn't an indication), and there are MANY shows I love just as much. I had a love/hate thing with Season 6 at first and even was put off by "Once More, With Feeling", but over time all of it did grow on me. Season 5 was when I started thinking more critically of the show as a whole, but I still enjoyed much of it, 6 and 7 despite my issues. I'll forever credit BtVS for giving me some solid entertainment during my teen years (also, I can't believe you're a few years younger than me! Thanks for making me feel a bit old. :P)
Dawn: I've eaten there, alot... One of the funniest moments in the entire run, for me. Michelle Trachtenberg's delivery was outstanding. She's criminally underrated
I actually got into the show, when it first started, and I was in my 20's. :) I can't remember which season it was but there was one where it felt like they were spending more time with Dawn and her friends and I had a weird feeling like they were going to hand the show over to them entirely OR give them a spin-off but, thankfully, neither of that happened.
I was an adult when I first watched Buffy the vampire slayer. I was in level 8, 9 or 10 pain for 6 months awaiting surgery. I was in abject agony from nerve pain and I was on a lot of really really strong drugs to try to handle that nerve pain. I had horrific side effects to the pain & to the drugs and I almost died multiple times during this time frame. I went from being a workaholic for my entire life literally from when I was in grade school entirely alone self sufficient independent etc… I went from being the state sales manager for a company located in another state being on my own living out of hotel rooms every week and only going home on the weekends To not being able to sit stand recline lay etc without horrific debilitating pain which took away my sleep for months on end, too. I was crawling from the couch to the bathroom to the bed afraid to take a bath for fear I would black out and drown Afraid to take a shower for fear I’d fall and break a limb… I did fall out of a shower unconscious due to the pain. I didn’t break anything, however. I’d never heard of it before I never watched tv at all I was always gone usually at work. BTVS was the first tv show I watched start to finish in order. The first 5 seasons were on daytime tv & syndicated reruns had them playing them in a loop every day on repeat so I saw them all repeatedly in a row. Some days i was in so much pain or on so many drugs with so many complications I was so outside my mind I could not follow the storyline… I was over 35 years old & an army vet from an elite corps, I had been a very accomplished ceo key person and or self employed my entire adult life. I couldn’t even follow a tv show written for high school kids. It was a humbling experience for me even without my narcissistic pathological lying using ex husband being there to hurt me on purpose every day “for fun” Being at home vs being gone to work 95% of the time even in my poor state of body and mind required me to see the truth if my own life For months When I finally was able to sleep enough to think enough to function I left that insane situation before my evil ex managed to kill me. I’ve always thanked Buffy for that🙏🏼 Seems a bit crazy more “magical thinking” than true stuff But? That’s what happened & I don’t think I would’ve figured out everything to do with what was killing me for years up until that point without BTVS✨
Season 6 of Buffy was pretty depressing and dark, sure. But it was great. And hey I liked Season 7 quite a bit actually! But my favorite season? 4. With 5 a very close second. Just so many interesting and funny episodes on S4! Like “Hush” as you mentioned. Just a fabulous, creative season!
Super late, but I only found your channel today. Love s06 (my bd was starting when I watched) and the anya/xander thing is the one that left thr least Memories. You are 100% right
Thank you for this video - it encouraged me to rewatch Buffy on E4 over this strange summer. Restless is an amazing episode. You are very right that this show has such great characters (it allows them to be morally complex and flawed ) and dialogue. As an aside Sarah Michelle Gellar still looks amazing almost 20 years after it ended
HELLO! Season 5 you get Dracula, Fool For Love (Spike's history and one of the top 10 best episodes), Triangle, Checkpoint, Crush (the return of Drusilla!!!!!), The Body (easily in the top 5 best episodes), and Intervention (one of my all time personal faves). I won't argue that season 4 is maybe the strongest season in the Buffyverse (though I think Season 3 could be the #1) Season 5 has a TON of incredible episodes.
Great video. Really well done. I don't think the Xander story line which leads to “Hell's Bells” is about cold feet - that's the misdirect. Same for all of the talk about addiction following “Wrecked.”. Addiction plays a part, a small part IMO, but Willow learning that she doesn't have to be “super Willow” to help fight evil or to just be noticed is an incredibly sad and tragic story.
Interesting observations. Season 6 was certainly a dark season. I did like it though, because the raw struggles seemed consistent with what people face when establishing their adult lives. Buffy was thrust into hardship with Joyce's death. Willow's journey through addiction, and subsequent Dark Willow episodes were a highlight of the series. It was difficult to see Xander and Anya break up. I absolutely love them as a couple. Buffy and Spike' relationship was a big WTF turn of events. Your description of why it happened makes a lot of sense. Loved the drawings in the video. Nice job.
I didn't like magic being used as a stand-in for drugs. I liked Willow abusing her power to alter people's memories but having her give up magic ruined her character for me. She started the show as a weak shy girl and turned into a powerful witch that used magic for good. Being a witch was an internal part of her character. And they drop that plot in season 7 anyway. Have her use magic for nefarious ways, break up with Tara, get back together, have Tara murdered and go on a vengeance spree, but don't have her quit magic. Her recovery period should have been her resisting the urge to use magic to control people. Power isn't bad, but the use of power can be. The lure of controlling everything in her life should have been the vice to overcome. But robbing the character with the most character development of her main power source felt wrong, both from a story perspective and in-universe didn't make sense. There was nothing wrong with using magic to put up decorations or change clothes. Sure she should have cleared the decorations with everyone, but the issue was that she was becoming a control freak and not listing to anyone else's opinions. I hated when they got stuck in the house, and she couldn't use magic to help. Just have her recover from being a control freak and being a partner abuser. (memory altering is extreme gas-lighting) Also, why is it such a big deal to kill humans? They kill demons all the time. And they are sentient beings with souls. (Anya lost only her power and became fully human. Treating her "ex-demon" form as human means that the only thing that separates demons from humans is power and intent.) Warren had power and evil intent. It should have been open season on him. On Angel, they never had a problem with killing evil humans. Always hated that double standard on Buffy.
Absolute MADNESS that they thought they were making the series finale with the end of season 5. That feels like proof enough that there is great evil within joss Whedon
I was the same age as the characters when it was airing. It eeally paralleled my life of finishing college in 99 and heading off to uni at the same time thet were going to college and geberally going through appropriate age related feelings and experiences - minus the vampires, of course. I xant decide between season 5 and 6, i love them both so much, followed by 3 then 2. It's difficult to compare season 7 and 1 because the first was done cheaply and was establishing itself, but 7 had losr some of its previous charm, with less amazing stand alone episodes... But completely redeemed by a fantastic series finale
In your defense, season 7 does feature Nathan Fillion as Caleb, one of his most dark and entertaining of roles (full disclosure to being a bit of a fanboi since Firefly). Though I am really partial to season 6, still probably my favorite, season 7 really ramps up the ominous turn the series took in 6 and it doesn't feel at all unnatural or forced (albeit maybe a bit rushed by the end).
Faith in Season 7 is pretty cool too. Ultimately I view Season 7 as 1/3 great 1/3 dull and 1/3 WTF. It's a very mixed bag and I don't really hate it or anything but a lot of it doesn't really hold up under scrutiny. It's kind of like The Dark Knight Rises in that regard.
@@defrostedrobot77 Hell the Dark Knight was not perfect either, Harvey let's thr guy who murdered his love go but is going go kill a kid over it wtf basically it should've ended with the Joker triumphant/Harvey burnt and Batman broken, setting up the next movie with Harvey and the Joker
I was going to submit my own review of season 6 but I won't bother since, Stu, YOU TOOK EVERY WORD OUT OF MY MOUTH! I think the key word you nailed is 'structure' and I believe that structure is season 6's strength - the many layers that play out concurrently as it tackles the heavy issues - addiction, murder, gang dynamics, rape, financial scrambling, an old flame, pimping, cold feet... The last 5 episodes roller-coaster to a deafening crescendo and probably one of the most powerful cliff-hanger endings ever. I can't believe Marti Noxon felt she had to apologize for 'ruining Buffy' with #6.
Eh, but there’s been more than a few references through season four and five that Willow jumps into Magic to Fox her problems. Need we forget the vengeance spell against Oz and Veruka? The will spell that was made in Something Blue? It didn’t really come out of nowhere.
imo the show has always had it's way over the top metahors. evil stepdad turns out to a robot, binge drinking is BAD, lol, but overall it. Crack Head Willow is relatable. Everybody knows someone with an addiction.
I was the age that Buffy was throughout its run so each season hit me at exactly the right time. Season 6 is my favourite. I think it's much deeper than the others. There's also this underlying theme of the dangers of overlooking casual misogyny and how it manifests itself in nerd culture. We've since had real cases of the 'incel' nerd who gunned down a load of people. I also like season 7. Sorry. Caleb is brilliant.
Season 6 is about depression. Buffy had resigned to death and sacrificing herself to save world after losing her mom and almost losing her sister. She is brought back from heaven and has to find herself again.
Although Doublemeat Palace is the one episode that is too gross for me, I agree with you entirely about Hells Bells I'm sure there was more foreshadowing. The fact that ppl are writing mini essays to explain what was in "Xander's mind" proves the point that it wasn't depicted well ON SCREEN. It is such a hard watch bc, as you said, he left her *at the alter* . That kind of life event would send one or both parties into therapy irl. It's just too big, considering that they don't really break up. Great video!✌
I personally think that the end of season five going into six. Was pretty relatable, it dealt with the reality of darkness, hardships, grief, loss, and depression. Even uncertainty on life, it’s relatable to where I’ve been personally in my late twenties early thirties watching the series and this season verses when watching it when I was in my teens and early twenties. I think that Joss Whedon did a really good job on the writing of this series and it’s different various stories. Watching and coming across this review and where I am personally makes me want to bring out this season and revisit it, which I think I may do...🥀👏🏽 Pretty review not to critical or biased and overall fair and very detailed I enjoyed this video.
@@Stubagful seriew six was my fav, the daek willow story line wws bad ass. I lost my dad suddenly like Buffy so it hit home. So much love for BTVS evenbif ut is cheesy at times. Your views on Who are on point fella
As a gay guy i've always had conflicting opinions about tara's death: - on the one hand it's yet another example of " bury your gay" and even though the script does itns best not to write it in the same way it has been written since the 30s(either as a way to put in minorities without having to deal with it or to punish them for being gay the way they would have been forced to do a few decades prior) but it's still *yet another* instance where a gay supporting character is killed out of the blue for shock value and is not brought back But on the other hand it's such a powerful thing to have (one of) everyone's favourite characters killed off at the moment when she was about to find true happiness, moreover a f*ing witch in the arms of the most powerful witch in the show to be killed by something as mundane as a bullet that wasn't even aimed at her shot by some random jerk who had some vague idea of who she was, it's so improbable and absurdly cruel that it has to be (at least one of) the most powerful death in the show, nay in the history of television
Probably the best commentary of Season 6 I've heard. One of my favorites because the show just became raw and real. The big bad was human. People want to say it's Dark Willow, but it's really just what life throws at you. For all of them. No mystical demon. Just real life.
Oh great critique of this season. Sadly season 6 Is one of my least fav seasons (season 5 is my all time love) but like you as the years have rolled on I've appreciated It more and more, especially as I'm a big Spike fan. lol
I like your video, but honestly I would have like to have seen more appreciation for Dawn! She was annoying, but you can tell she has a really good heart. Also, about your critique on the Hells Bells events, I don't agree. I believe that it was well hinted that Anya and Xander's relationship wasn't going to last. In Once More With Feeling, they sing a whole song about there lack of communication. "I'll never tell!" I never felt that they ever truly dealt with those feelings they were so desperately keeping from one another. A relationship thrives on open honest communication, so its no wonder to me that Xander couldn't go through with it! Honestly I think it was pretty well foreshadowed.
Great video, love hearing you talking about another show other than Doctor who. (though love hearing you talk about dw) I think the stuff with Xander is more hinted at the beginning of the show with brief scenes implying how disfunction his family is (him sleeping out in the snow in s3, can't remember the episode title) and him not wanting to end up like his father (the creature upstairs implied in Restless) however i do see your point about it not being all that believable in Hell's Bells.
On a completely unrelated note: I recommend Person of Interest on Netflix. It's a brilliant sci-fi crime drama that just loves the trope 'machine worship.'
Buffy Season 6 was her version of Hell and Willows realization that she sent her there thru her greed. Everyone spiraled into misery and torment until a sacrifice was made again and made the world normal again
The musical episode has Xander freaking out and worrying about the wedding, but I bet that it isn't tons. I liked the wedding episode, though, and thought Xander's fake future nightmare seemed fairly compelling, too. But I also think season 5 along with season 3 are their strongest. Hopefully the remake will also be fun, but I'm not sure they'd even settled on the cast before our covid nightmare started. Hoping it'll bring something good to the table, anyway.
Just discovering this. I love season 6. Likewise though, I was an adult by the time I realized how good it is. Also, I enjoy Double Meat Palace...I find it relatable. I worked in food service from 16 to 24.
I really love this takedown season six is Buffy's most contraversal season loved and hated by many and you beautifully described why it's both. That said I still don't like Doublemeat Palace but I never did that kind of shitty job. Instead I did pager messages so I guess I could relate to life serial.
I LOVED season 6 and it's still my favorite since I watched it for the first time 10 years ago. I saw s 1-2 as a kid and loved it but even then I loved dark shit. Like, when reality hits and stuff gets way too hard. It's best experienced with a lighthearted season before. I don't think I would've understand s 6 if i saw it as a kid vs when i saw it as an adult but i probably still would've loved it.
Season 6 did have Once More with Feeling and Tabula Rasa. Unfortunatly, it has Hell's Bells, which almost ruin's Xander's character for me. Xander wouldn't just abandon Anya at the alter. Xander would probably go up the alter and announce that "sorry for having to drag everyone here, but we've had a talk and we don't think that now is the time for us to get married". And the entire "Willow needs to stop doing magic" thing in Season 6 is completely abandoned in Season 7. If you're going to have a "magic is the drugs" style message, keep it consistent. Honestly, if Seasons 6 and 7 were wiped from existence, the way the series would end would be fucking perfect.
I don't blame Xander for calling off the wedding for the time being (I mean, he proposed to her as a last-minute resort in case if they would die, so I always thought that their proposal was too quick). Hell, I don't even blame him for thinking of the outcome that he would be abusive to Anya and their future kid. However I do blame him for ditching Anya in front of everyone, so she can make the announcement. That was so cruel on his character, and felt like a stepback considering how he had finally developed after Season 2 (him using Jenny's death as fuel for his hatred on Angel, and his lie to tell Buffy to kick Angel's ass are still his worst moments).
Season 1 was my least favourite (both on the first watch and on a rewatch), meanwhile S5-S6 are where show's at its strongest for me and always was. The only thing that bothers me about the whole late Buffy is how team treats Spike like shit. I know it makes sense in-universe, but they made Spike so likeable that it creates a pretty weird dynamic. But Angel is still a better show, Fight me.
While us, the audience have understood Spike's development, for the Scoobies, don't forget that he's a murderer. He was recorded as the second most malicious vampire next to Angelus, and until his soul got restored, he was still a vile manipulator that also tried to attempt to rape Buffy. As for Angel, it did give me the best message in the BuffyVerse ("can we truly defeat Evil" in Season 2), and my favourite character in the form of Wesley, because of how much I didn't like Season 4 and it's structure (the only BuffyVerse season I don't like), I can only say that I like parts of Angel more than Buffy.
@@englishgiraffe2124 I know Angel S4 has some problems, but I still liked a lot about it. Storyline especially (not to mention I only started to tolerate Connor there). My pick for the weakest Angel series (and the only which kinda bored me) would be 3, even though it had a great villian. I think S2 was phenomenal in pretty much every way. Easy pick for the most consistently good season.
I started watching Angel first I didn’t know he was from Buffy I thought it was similar and two different shows so when I was watching season 1 Sarah appeared aka Buffy I was like wait what totally ignored it kept watching then the other guy rocked up and Cordelia was already there so I’m into season 2 and realised wait Angel and Cordelia were in Buffy so I stopped with season 2 and had to watch Buffy first I’m currently into season 4 and really like the show but to me Angel is 100% better I really like Buffy but Angel is more my thing I’d just rather finish Buffy first then jump back to Angel I was also shocked to see Cordelia in Buffy since I watched Angel first for a bit and she’s nice on it I was godsmacked when I saw how mean she was in Buffy I’m definitely gonna pick Angel up again during the week
Okay, YAY you’re doing Buffy videos (and yay you started with Season 6, my personal favourite... although I will admit it’s pretty heavily flawed) - But how dare you like Season 7. Shame.
I'm not sure if Season 6 is as bad as some people say but I think it's a bit depressing compared to the previous seasons and the fact that all this bad stuff happens to such likeable and vibrant characters just isn't fun to watch. It's not terrible but not something I'd want to come back to regularly like the first 3 seasons.
Season 6 is my least favorite season. Buffy went from a a sci-fi adventure show to a primetime drama with a little sci-fi thrown in. Marti Noxon later admitted that drama was easier for her to write. Season 6 feels like any other show. It lacks that "fun" thing the first four seasons had. Plus, I hated the stuntwork from Season 5 onward. Sophia Crawford left.
Shame Joss and co couldn't have poach Koichi Sakamoto. The wire work would've been nuts. But yeah, under Noxon that type of drama made the show go off the rails. Becomes more apparent with S7 coupled with the mess Whedon makes with Angel immediately after Firefly got cancelled
I really did love the way that all of the scoobies collectively and individually were able to fight and defeat the biggest baddest monsters & stop whatever wicked big bad from destroying the whole world succinctly and even with satire & snarky quips😃😂 But entropy and the daily grind of just dealing with regular every day life? THAT IS WHAT REALLY EFFs them up Collectively and individually That was what made the series feel very REAL to me in spite of the obvious s I fi fantasy themes
I bought Xander bailing...there's a lot of hints that he's having second thoughts, though it's subtle compared to willows addiction and Buffy's depression. Also you can really tell Xander doesnt respect Anya, ever, even though he might love her.
Season 6 was one of my favourites, Once More With Feeling was the best stand alone episode by far. We finally got some real Spuffy action and Xander (the only 'normal' one, saved the world) Tabula Rasa was also great, Randy Giles still makes me laugh. Normal Again blew my mind. I normally skip Hells Bells and Double Meat Palace when I rewatch though. How can you say that Xander and Anya come out of no where?!!
I’ve been watching my way through Buffy, took a little break because season six gets pretty heavy and I was sort of depressed before hand. But personally a lot of things about season four I can’t stand. Mostly being Riley. I just to not like him, but that could be because of a lot of how he treats Buffy in season five with all the stuff dealing with her mom. Having been the young woman whose mother has health problems I understood her in so many ways and Riley‘s need to be the be The big strong man for her bothered me to no end. And I do actually think this season seven is one of the best seasons. I tend to love when a show or story really lets other characters into its world. Buffy might be the biggest baddest slayer there is, but being open to the idea of no longer being just her was so awesome. Meeting some of the other girls, and of course having a redeemed Faith stand next to her, along with Spike and his horrendous experience with his soul. I found the story to be powerful. It was both the perfect ending, and the worst. They brought the story full circle and showed you three people who seven years ago were a couple of high school idiots and are now out saving the world from the worst of the worst. But it was also so amazingly well done that you just wanted more.
Season 6 I not keen on it sorry I found far to bleak and depressing even though I find the Buffy/Spike relationship absolutely fascinating, and Normal Again and Once More With Feeling are amazing, I just Dawn completely pointless and I wasn't keen destroying the Willow/Tara relationship at this moment in the show, and really I completely agree about Xander leaving Anya at the altar just no it felt really cheap.
Развлечения
Hells bells works when you consider the fact that xander comes from an abusive home, and is afraid of becoming like his parents.
What about hell bent?
There's a lovely bit in the Spoiler version of POTN'S spoiler guide for Restless that talks about Xander's dream Vis a vis Hell's Bells 'I can understand why someone who had that baggage would run away from that even if he just ended up back in the cellar'.
At times there was bits of his dad that pops up whenever he berates Buffy. S10 comic run finally gave Xander the long overdue therapy he needed (even if it eerily mirrors Nicholas Brendan's own troubles complete with Dr Phil McGraw being immoralized as "Dr. Mike")
Principal Snyder in restless in the style of Marlon Brando says to Xander: “you’re a whipping boy, raised by mongrels, and set on a sacrificial stone.”
I've always felt that Xander's development was somewhat truncated and left out in the necessity of telling the overall story. There were some indications of which way he was heading with episodes like Bewitched, Bothered and Bedazzled and The Zeppo plus hints of his dysfunctional home life but these were few and far between. Then again the name of the series was Buffy the Vampire Slayer not Xander so it is understandable from that point.
I wouldn’t say that Xander’s issues came out of nowhere. Rather they were just very subtle and in the background. Xander is the type of character that uses humour to deflect from his trauma. That kind of person it’s often very difficult to know when they’re going through a hard time. As we see the show from Buddy’s viewpoint mostly the fact that she misses causes it to not be a main focus for the show. But it’s no less there. It just requires some meticulous attention to detail and maybe a bit of inference.
Xander’s home life was crap. We don’t see much of it until Hell’s Bells but we know his mom is so oblivious of him that she doesn’t recognize his voice over the phone, his family regularly had drunken fights and his uncle became something of a sex fiend. Now from Xander’s father’s behaviour we can pretty soundly say he was verbally abused as a child but with what the show gives us it’s not much of a leap to think he was physically abused as well.
In Restless Xander dreams of his father screaming at him in the basement before plunging his hand into Xander’s chest and ripping it out then becoming the First Slayer. The First Slayer killed each of the scoobies with their greatest insecurity. Willow with her fear that nobody valued her and she hadn’t changed since high school. Giles that he’d taken the wrong path in life. Finally Xander with an apparition if his father. But what killed the Others was merely a physical representation of their fear, not the literal manifestation. From that we can guess that Xander’s greatest fear wasn’t his father’s abuse but something deeper.
We see that however badly his father behaves Xander’s mother takes the abuse and rationalizes it as her fault. Always looking to justify her husband and make him happy. As is disturbingly common in toxic relationships. I think that is what Xander fears, not his father himself but rather that Xander will become his father. After all look at the women Xander goes after, Cordelia who takes no shit from anyone, Buffy who has literal superpowers, Anya whose destroyed a thousand men like him. He wants to be with someone more powerful than himself because if he truly does go down the road he fears, if he becomes abusive like his dad these women won’t sit down and take it like his mom. They can put him in his place. Then we come to Hell’s Bells and Xander is shown his worst nightmare, a life where he did become his father and where the people he surrounds himself with like Buffy and Willow who he thought would always keep him in check we’re gone. In that moment of realizing what he might do to Anya if they got married he realized that he couldn’t go through with it.
He still loved her, still wanted to marry her but he realized that he wasn’t ready. That he needed to grow more as a person before he could be with Anya in the way she deserved.
I realize that it wasn’t at the forefront of everything going on but nevertheless I do think it believable with the information on Xander we have.
Let that be a lesson, never propose because you think you are going to die, if you live you’ll have to go through with it.
THANK YOU (also the tendency towards addiction for Willow is present from season 1)
We see their cold feet out in the open in Once More, With Feeling during I'll Never Tell. I always found it to be quite an unsettling song. It's so jaunty and Xander and Anya do laugh at the end but the message within and the issues left unresolved and undiscussed by the song's end sow the seeds of their relationship being doomed.
If I recall correctly Passion of the Nerd goes down all of Xander’s subtle family dysfunctional clues in the “Amends” breakdown. From when Cordelia straight up asks Xander if his family is having another crappy Christmas party where he’ll have to sleep outside again, and a scene with him calling his mom and it being implied that she asked “who’s is this?” And he had to respond “it’s Xander.”
The clues were there that Xander had A LOT of family related issues. They’re just so subtle that it comes off as a big surprise.
I see a couple of The Passion of the Nerd's fans around here and definetly Xander's arch was built season by season in a very subtle way.
One thing that always bugged me about Xander was that bit where he kept pulling military knowledge from that time he was made to think he was a soldier on Halloween.
Now, I get it for things that generally don't change, like slang, strategy, etc... but what bugged me was when he pulled out current information like that nearby army base being quietly shut down or, I think in one case, duty rosters and the like.
It was just weird.
I also kind of feel like they should've just pulled the trigger and had him join the National Guard so he could be in the military and still around, mostly.
The genius of double meat palace is this: Buffy is a mythological warrior chosen by ancient powers to fight the forces of evil and protect the world, and she works in a burger joint. It's that everyone who works in a burger joint could be something special if circumstances were different. I found it to be very profound.
It goes with one of Whedon's first concepts of Buffy. "Rhonda the immortal waitress." A young woman who to the outside world seems ordinary but is actually extraordinary.
Hot take - Doublemeat Palace is a Lynchian masterpiece and teases horror out of the mundane in a way that nothing else in the show ever achieved.
Yaaaaas! It's arthouse McDonalds!
It's a brilliant parody of both the fast food industry and crappy, low-wage, part-time jobs in general. It also illustrates the dilemma so many young adults face: you can't get a decent job without experience, and you can't gain work experience without a job. And the experience you get slinging burgers doesn't count.
I can't help but think that Jane Espenson must have worked in the fast food industry at one time. I did, and so much of the send up parodies the industry to a tee, from the orientation video to the last-minute call to work a double shift, the vacant stares to the demeaning outfits, the customer 'regulars' - even the questionable 'Soylent Green' ingredients. It's all there man!
@@dayceem "My hat has a cow..."
This is the season I truly fell in love with Tara. Even after her and Willow ended, she stuck around for Dawn and Buffy. She had grown to love these people and didn't abandon them when her relationship ended. Her praises are always sung for the Willow ship, but I never see anyone talk about how dedicated she was to the group as a whole. Season 6 is my second favorite season (S4 is my fav) and this video was a great retrospective. :)
Ok, I've got to stick my neck out for Dawn here. I really think she gets too much hate and she's actually a really well-written character - arguably one of the most realistic kid/teen characters in tv imo. Not only that, but her presence in the show and sibling relationship with Buffy adds even greater emotional depth to an already powerful show and again, I consider it one of the most accurate portrayals of a sibling relationship in tv. I think a lot of people who grew up as youngest siblings can relate to what Dawn goes through with Buffy.
I'm not saying that she can't be pretty annoying at times, but so can a lot the other characters in the show (I mean, the vast majority of what Xander does in the first three seasons annoys me and I still like him) and frankly considering everything she goes through it's pretty understandable that she can be "whiny" at times. Finding out that she doesn't technically exist and everyone's memories of her are fake must have been bad enough, but when you add in everything and everyone she loses over the course of the show...I can't help but sympathise with her!
Thank you for this, I like Dawn a lot too and find her overhated. I agree with your assessment on her. I do think she can be annoying at times, but she's still a great character IMO. Not the best, but she's great.
Plus, like we see with so many other characters (Xander, Anya, Buffy herself) we get the opportunity to witness growth. If Dawn had remained whiny and needy to the end, I'd have given the last couple of seasons the boot, but in the end she becomes an integral contributor of the core group.
In Xander's words, she's not special - she's extraordinary.
Thank you! I feel like all of the characters are annoying in season six but people seem to give the other characters a pass and laser focus on Dawn.
People also forget that Dawn was the creation of a bunch of old men, monks even. She is These guys, people who probably never engaged with a teenage girl in person before, She is created from the idea of what a teenage girl should be. Im sure they thought she should be over-emotional and angsty.
I totally agree. She's pretty annoying sometimes but when she immediately went to sacrifice herself at the end of The Gift to save humanity without a moment of hesitation (only stopping when Buffy grabbed her) I knew she was a genuinely good person
Also, thank you for your character study on Jonathan, I feel as if he's not given the credit from a lot of fans. He's the only one out of the three later to understand what the Trio have done (in my mind, Warren knew exactly what he was doing and that makes him no different to Angelus), and he knows to face the consequences. He's the only one to try and betray the Trio secretly, and to help Buffy to defeat Warren. Next to Drusilla, I would honestly call Jonathan the most tragic character in the show. In Earshot, he attempts suicide because of all the bullying around him. In Superstar, he only wanted to be in the spotlight and offer his own advice to everyone. And then in Conversations with Dead People, he dies, with the knowledge from Andrew that no one is remembering him, as well as the fact that he was killed by Andrew himself (which was one of the moments besides Doyle's death and Oz's departure where I was in absolute tears). If it wasn't for Storyteller (one of my personal favourites in both shows), I would have detested Andrew to the end of time, and even then, I would have preferred Jonathan as part of the Scoobies instead of Andrew.
I love Jonathan and strongly relate to him. I hated the way Buffy dismissed his offer to help in Two to go and never thanked him for telling her how to defeat Warren.
I didn't like the comment because I like Andrew too.
Yeah, poor guy is one of the many bystanders of Sunnydale who knew Buffy was involved in saving the day and wanted to be part of it. It's kind of sad but because he's the nerdy guy who was used in an episode which somehow made fun of self insert fanfiction characters before it became popular in the zeitgeist, some people see him as just annoying. He's too real for many.
the build-up to Hell's Bells was very subtle, you had to watch Xander's reactions to things throughout the season and consider the impact of his abusive parents.
Season 6 was one of the most accurate depictions of depression I've seen and coming into adulthood and the nihilistic/existential crisis it brings. The stark contrast of season 5 buffy who's been built up to defeat and overcome a literal GOD. Even though her death is tragic it's the tale of a perfect hero - saving the ones she loves and the world in a final act of her "gift".
Upon being ripped from heaven buffy is a lost, depressed and PTSD ridden hero who's suffering from the aspect of eternal happiness (being with her mother too.). The brutal burden of being brought back into life, and having to deal with bills, finding a job, relationships and dealing with fighting evil and just questions the whole meaning of it all. She sings about "give me something to sing about" and nearly bursts to flames because of not knowing if its all really worth it.
The whole season is Buffy's journey on living with the knowledge of heaven and knowing she will never truly be like herself before and the struggle with "walking through the fire" of working through the present and future, instead of the past. I know some buffy fans think buffy comes across as annoying or blunt but the true emptiness and candidness she expresses resonated as someone who struggles with depression.
Overall one of my favorite buffy seasons, and it made me cry many a times since it stuck a cord within myself. 🖤
Buffy season 6 helped me understand my depression better.
Me: * tries turning up screen brightness *
Video: * stays dark *
Me: * remembers Buffy was just this dark and turning up the brightness won't help. *
It wasn't that dark though.
I kind of liked the fact that Xander never talked about his doubts. I've been in situations where everyone agreed with something and I just held my piece because I didn't want to rock the boat. It's hard getting carried along by people you love with things you don't agree with. It also shows how not talking about something important can force it to burst out at the worst possible moment
Good point.
I think Stu's point about laying the groundwork for it doesn't mean - necessarily - that Xander had to talk about his doubts, however. They needed to show, somehow, that Xander had serious issues about making a committment as big as marriage, somehow, to make him do something as big as leaving Anya at the alter. It needn't be expressed with Xander fighting with Anya repeatedly, or even confiding in Willow or Buffy in a straightforward "tell don't show" moment. They needed to lay the groundwork by making Xander show, in a few more scenes, that he was not ready / unwilling for marriage (whether it be flirting with a girl, looking to go on a backpacking trip to Europe he'd be unable to do as part of a married couple, some kind of internship situation he could not afford supporting Anya, SOMETHING). I could (and I think Stubagful could) buy he didn't want to marry Anya (Kardashian-style) but leaving her (or anyone) at the altar is so over-the-top you would think he would show BIG, serious problems with Anya or the idea of marriage, not the everyday all-couples-fight stuff they did. Wow I wrote a book.
Ah crap, now I want to rewatch all of Buffy again. Thanks Stuart.
Same
Buffy the Vampire slayer is literally THE only show where i love evry season....literally due to the fact that each season brings something incredible to the table and each season carries a different vibe and atmosphere... and Whedon clearly had a beginning middle and end for the narrative..... Season 6 gets such a lot of flack and criticism by fans but actually it is a masterpiece containing some of the greatest episodes and performances from the cast ever and for tackling such social isues head on in a downbeat and expressive way. Whilst Season 3 and 5 fight it out at the top spot for my all time favourite season..... Season 6 and 4 share equally comfortable second position as two experimental and important seasons. Thank you for more Buffy goodness
Season six was actually my favorite season. I first watched this season when I was ten years old. Watching this video made me realize that I related to and understood this season so well even at that age was because by then I had already experienced what it's like when life completely falls apart by the time I was five.
That's literally how I felt about season 6 too. Started watching the show during season 6 and I was 9 years old. I was going through a lot at that time, so was Buffy, so in a way, I understood her depression. Now at 28 my understanding deepened, and despite its flaws, remains my favorite season, probably of anything.
Personally, I love Willow's addiction arc, it's one of my favorite things about Buffy. It was dark, depressing and real, and it came from someone who you'd never expect would get addicted on the surface, but that's often how addictions go. I'm someone who's struggled with mental illness and addictive behaviors, and one of my favorite characters going through that was very relatable.
Xander had extreme anxiety about his marriage proposal since S6E1. He sang about his reservations in Once More, With Feeling.
The one thing you didn't touch on is how predictive of the whole incel /edgelord geek culture the nerds were and the differing ways that manifested.
Yes, s6 is dark and grim and harsh. But the thing is: Xander is the one unraveling all this mess. The powerless, the not special one, the comic relief. That speaks the world of how there is light at the end of the tunnel and it never fails to get me. #yellowcrayons
Season 6 has always been my favorite, and I also really love Normal Again. I just happened to stumble upon you, anything Buffy equals instant sub.
Edited to add, even if this is the only Buffy you ever do, I still subbed because you obviously have excellent taste.
My favorite season. It’s dark and emotional and shows what life can throw at you. I was older when I started watching Buffy but season six always resonated with me. Especially Buffys depression and behaviour with Spike.
I like the season 6, the struggles, the depression, Buffy experienced what was the adulthood, she couldn’t back in s5 because her mind was 100% against glory after joyce’s death. In s6 she took all the responsibilities, and her Duty of slayer. Nobody was here to take care of everything like before, she had too to deal with a lot and her resurrection.. maybe it wasn’t my favorite when I was young but now I understand the meaning that’s just life, and its harsh reality
Xander's doubts were definitely not out of no where. Been building up since before he even knew Anya in seasons 1-3.
Well, S3's The Prom til Hell's Bells
I kinda wish Joss would write an episode of Doctor Who
Joss Whedon said he would be interested once the Doctor is a woman. Now the odds of him writing an episode are far more likely.
No you don't
@Mark Guerrero I'm pretty sure he could pull off an English Doctor. Remember he went to school in England for several years...
@@jarjared3522 not anymore!
I think i can understand how the tonal shift in seasons 6 and 7 really fucked with fans who loved the heavily comedic and standalone episode heavy seasons 1-4, but i LOVE seasons 5-7. I was a college sophmore or junior when those seasons aired, so being Buffy's age in the show made all of it super relatable, and I've found as Ive gotten older those seasons only become more relatable. The hardest part of world IS living in it, and life being the ultimate big bad of season 6 is super deep. I love it.
The 1 character for me that stood out most in season 6 was Tara. Seasons 4 and 5 she was more timid and within herself. Then season 6 came and she was far more confident, it wasn't just the scoobies she was friends with. She had friends at college which she never really had before. She even argued with Anya about willow doing magic to break Halles curse, whereas before she probably wouldn't have said anything.
But for all season 6 was it did have some of the best episodes in the entire 7 series.
Really happy for you to talk about Buffy, you're now doing two of my favourite shows. It'd be great if you could do a video like this for each season of Buffy (and Angel).
I'm also glad that there's someone else put there who really likes Double Meat Palace and Life Serial.
Yay. Glad you’re talking about Buffy. I mean I pretty much love every series.
Just here to say, as someone who initially watched this season when suffering from depression, Season 6 is absolutely my favourite season of Buffy.
Yes! Same! It hit home so hard
I like Doublemeat Palace because you can feel your sanity draining away as you watch it.
Xander was never *really* in that relationship to begin with. It was Anya's relationship. He was just along for the ride.
I'm so glad that you are talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For me, Buffy and Angel are some of my favourite shows ever. I think one show gives me that the other doesn't, and vice versa. I love the superhero supernatural horror teen drama of Buffy but I also love the superhero noire drama of Angel. I can't exactly separate the two shows from each other, I love them equally and view them as one product. And Wesley is hands-down my favourite character arc in any television show ever. They're both the only shows where I can find even one positive in the weakest episodes, which allow me to come back to them, and weirdly the Guide videos from Passion of the Nerd (his videos are marvellous) highlight more positives on episodes that I used to not care for.
Angel Season Rankings:
5. Season 4
4. Season 3
3. Season 1
2. Season 2
1. Season 5
Buffy Season Rankings:
7. Season 1
6. Season 6
5. Season 7
4. Season 4
3. Season 2
2. Season 5
1. Season 3
Honestly I think part of the dislike for season 6 comes from the lack of subtlety with a lot of the story metaphors. Willow's lust for power and misuse of magic which had been underplayed and gradually built before gets turned into outright addiction. Buffy's continual story as a slayer struggling to live as a normal person is executed via an embarrassing fast food job. Dawn's feelings of abandonment and neglect are manifest in a rather mundane, Degrassi-esque running plot of shoplifting, etc.
Not to mention the fact that while the emotional lows and darker elements are sometimes executed well (the encroaching darkness of the Trio's actions, the self destructive spiral of Buffy/Spike) things like the end of Xander/Anya are done in completely contrived fashion. So much so that it feels less like the tragic inevitability of their relationship and and more that the writers couldn't let one happy relationship exist lest the season lose its theme of angst.
Its definitely book-ended with a strong start & finish and is probably the boldest season in terms of direction, but it feels guilty of mistaking darkness for depth at points.
I remain to this day befuddled by fandom's insistence that the writers somehow "owe" them "one happy relationship" for the sake of being happy, never mind that they somehow expected Xanya to be that relationship.
The argument I've seen is less that the fans were entitled a happy relationship and more that the character consequences of the breakup amounted to a direction that wasn't terribly interesting. Previous ends of relationships on the show typically led to more fascinating reprecussions.
The end of Xander/Anya gets the latter a strong episode in season 7, but the immediate result feels lost in the bigger darkness of the season and lacks the intensity of something like Dark Willow or twisted dynamics of Spuffy's dissolution.
No fan is owed a happy couple, but many were at least expecting a compelling aftermath.
I was a spike/buffy shipper so I think the actual meaning of their relationship went over my head.
I started seeing Buffy when I was 7 years old. I’m currently watching it again (I’m 35) I had forgotten many things about the series but by far it was always one of my favorites. Without a doubt, my favorite season is the 5th. In fact, we have to see the fact of how they are realizing the death of Buffy’s mom when in each episode she comes home and the first thing she says is “mom”, the same thing happened with Tara and willow in the sixth season. The way is that they get to have to deal with supernatural and everyday problems in adult life is incredible especially as they imply that personal problems weigh more than any end of the world.
Season 6 is my favourite season so agree with most of your points, except kinda for Anya and Xander;
I agree that there wasn’t enough build up but I do think it was there. I’ll never tell for me was the foreshadowing to what happened in Hells Bells.
It was there in All the Way too. In conversations with Willow and with Giles.
The show suffered from being the Buffy the Vampire Slayer show, in that practically everything was about Buffy's charactor.
I'll never tell was a big one, Xander delaying talking about their engagement was another part, his clear problems with his parents, how fast Anya wants to move now that she's human. It wasn't on the nose, but I personally wasn't to happy about them getting married, so Hells Bells was hard, but not totally unexpected.
@@ApequH If Xander had been Alexandra, the other charactors would have been "your marrying the second person you've dated red flag". And your only 21 WTF
@@ronaldfasshauer4390 Yes! That should have been big red flag as well!
Buffy still remains my absolute favorite show even to this day (as if my RUclips handle wasn't an indication), and there are MANY shows I love just as much. I had a love/hate thing with Season 6 at first and even was put off by "Once More, With Feeling", but over time all of it did grow on me. Season 5 was when I started thinking more critically of the show as a whole, but I still enjoyed much of it, 6 and 7 despite my issues. I'll forever credit BtVS for giving me some solid entertainment during my teen years (also, I can't believe you're a few years younger than me! Thanks for making me feel a bit old. :P)
Great review. And I love season 7, I hope you can make a video explaining why you love it, I find it very underrated.
Yeah me too - I get so fed up with people slagging it off.
Thank you for putting in the entirety of the funniest line delivery ever in double meat palace
Dawn: I've eaten there, alot...
One of the funniest moments in the entire run, for me.
Michelle Trachtenberg's delivery was outstanding.
She's criminally underrated
I actually got into the show, when it first started, and I was in my 20's. :)
I can't remember which season it was but there was one where it felt like they were spending more time with Dawn and her friends and I had a weird feeling like they were going to hand the show over to them entirely OR give them a spin-off but, thankfully, neither of that happened.
I'm rewatching Buffy right now and just watched Doublemeat Palace last night. Much better than I remembered.
i also struggle to get through seasons 5 & 6. faaar too heavy for me to casually rewatch. and i love season 7 too!
Since you're a huge Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fan I wonder what you thought of the Angel spin off?
11:43-11:46, probably one of my favorite parts of your video. You were talking about adding levity and then did so. *Applause*
I was an adult when I first watched Buffy the vampire slayer. I was in level 8, 9 or 10 pain for 6 months awaiting surgery.
I was in abject agony from nerve pain and I was on a lot of really really strong drugs to try to handle that nerve pain. I had horrific side effects to the pain & to the drugs and I almost died multiple times during this time frame. I went from being a workaholic for my entire life literally from when I was in grade school entirely alone self sufficient independent etc… I went from being the state sales manager for a company located in another state being on my own living out of hotel rooms every week and only going home on the weekends
To not being able to sit stand recline lay etc without horrific debilitating pain which took away my sleep for months on end, too.
I was crawling from the couch to the bathroom to the bed afraid to take a bath for fear I would black out and drown
Afraid to take a shower for fear I’d fall and break a limb… I did fall out of a shower unconscious due to the pain.
I didn’t break anything, however.
I’d never heard of it before
I never watched tv at all I was always gone
usually at work.
BTVS was the first tv show I watched start to finish in order.
The first 5 seasons were on daytime tv & syndicated reruns had them playing them in a loop every day on repeat so I saw them all repeatedly in a row. Some days i was in so much pain or on so many drugs with so many complications I was so outside my mind I could not follow the storyline…
I was over 35 years old & an army vet from an elite corps, I had been a very accomplished ceo key person and or self employed my entire adult life.
I couldn’t even follow a tv show written for high school kids. It was a humbling experience for me even without my narcissistic pathological lying using ex husband being there to hurt me on purpose every day “for fun”
Being at home vs being gone to work 95% of the time even in my poor state of body and mind required me to see the truth if my own life
For months
When I finally was able to sleep enough to think enough to function I left that insane situation before my evil ex managed to kill me.
I’ve always thanked Buffy for that🙏🏼
Seems a bit crazy more “magical thinking” than true stuff
But?
That’s what happened & I don’t think I would’ve figured out everything to do with what was killing me for years up until that point
without BTVS✨
Season 3 and 7 are amazing, not to keen on season 6 at the time but I love things full of darkness and despair. I need to re-watch it at some point.
Season 6 of Buffy was pretty depressing and dark, sure. But it was great. And hey I liked Season 7 quite a bit actually! But my favorite season? 4. With 5 a very close second. Just so many interesting and funny episodes on S4! Like “Hush” as you mentioned. Just a fabulous, creative season!
Super late, but I only found your channel today. Love s06 (my bd was starting when I watched) and the anya/xander thing is the one that left thr least Memories. You are 100% right
Your season 7 part at the end made me sub 😅
Thank you for this video - it encouraged me to rewatch Buffy on E4 over this strange summer. Restless is an amazing episode. You are very right that this show has such great characters (it allows them to be morally complex and flawed ) and dialogue. As an aside Sarah Michelle Gellar still looks amazing almost 20 years after it ended
HELLO! Season 5 you get Dracula, Fool For Love (Spike's history and one of the top 10 best episodes), Triangle, Checkpoint, Crush (the return of Drusilla!!!!!), The Body (easily in the top 5 best episodes), and Intervention (one of my all time personal faves). I won't argue that season 4 is maybe the strongest season in the Buffyverse (though I think Season 3 could be the #1) Season 5 has a TON of incredible episodes.
Great video. Really well done.
I don't think the Xander story line which leads to “Hell's Bells” is about cold feet - that's the misdirect.
Same for all of the talk about addiction following “Wrecked.”. Addiction plays a part, a small part IMO, but Willow learning that she doesn't have to be “super Willow” to help fight evil or to just be noticed is an incredibly sad and tragic story.
The creator of Bojack Horseman created a new Netflix show called Tuca and Bertie.
Have you seen it Stu?
And are you going to review it?
Interesting observations. Season 6 was certainly a dark season. I did like it though, because the raw struggles seemed consistent with what people face when establishing their adult lives. Buffy was thrust into hardship with Joyce's death.
Willow's journey through addiction, and subsequent Dark Willow episodes were a highlight of the series.
It was difficult to see Xander and Anya break up. I absolutely love them as a couple.
Buffy and Spike' relationship was a big WTF turn of events. Your description of why it happened makes a lot of sense.
Loved the drawings in the video.
Nice job.
Thanks, great analyses of my favorite season 6, I'm with you on all points.
I didn't like magic being used as a stand-in for drugs. I liked Willow abusing her power to alter people's memories but having her give up magic ruined her character for me. She started the show as a weak shy girl and turned into a powerful witch that used magic for good. Being a witch was an internal part of her character. And they drop that plot in season 7 anyway. Have her use magic for nefarious ways, break up with Tara, get back together, have Tara murdered and go on a vengeance spree, but don't have her quit magic. Her recovery period should have been her resisting the urge to use magic to control people. Power isn't bad, but the use of power can be.
The lure of controlling everything in her life should have been the vice to overcome. But robbing the character with the most character development of her main power source felt wrong, both from a story perspective and in-universe didn't make sense. There was nothing wrong with using magic to put up decorations or change clothes. Sure she should have cleared the decorations with everyone, but the issue was that she was becoming a control freak and not listing to anyone else's opinions. I hated when they got stuck in the house, and she couldn't use magic to help.
Just have her recover from being a control freak and being a partner abuser. (memory altering is extreme gas-lighting) Also, why is it such a big deal to kill humans? They kill demons all the time. And they are sentient beings with souls. (Anya lost only her power and became fully human. Treating her "ex-demon" form as human means that the only thing that separates demons from humans is power and intent.) Warren had power and evil intent. It should have been open season on him. On Angel, they never had a problem with killing evil humans. Always hated that double standard on Buffy.
Season six is the only season I actually bought on DVD, I liked it so much
Absolute MADNESS that they thought they were making the series finale with the end of season 5. That feels like proof enough that there is great evil within joss Whedon
Giles leaving never felt right to me and his reasoning in the world was worse.
I was the same age as the characters when it was airing. It eeally paralleled my life of finishing college in 99 and heading off to uni at the same time thet were going to college and geberally going through appropriate age related feelings and experiences - minus the vampires, of course. I xant decide between season 5 and 6, i love them both so much, followed by 3 then 2. It's difficult to compare season 7 and 1 because the first was done cheaply and was establishing itself, but 7 had losr some of its previous charm, with less amazing stand alone episodes... But completely redeemed by a fantastic series finale
In your defense, season 7 does feature Nathan Fillion as Caleb, one of his most dark and entertaining of roles (full disclosure to being a bit of a fanboi since Firefly). Though I am really partial to season 6, still probably my favorite, season 7 really ramps up the ominous turn the series took in 6 and it doesn't feel at all unnatural or forced (albeit maybe a bit rushed by the end).
S5 of Angel is really good too
Faith in Season 7 is pretty cool too.
Ultimately I view Season 7 as 1/3 great 1/3 dull and 1/3 WTF. It's a very mixed bag and I don't really hate it or anything but a lot of it doesn't really hold up under scrutiny. It's kind of like The Dark Knight Rises in that regard.
@@defrostedrobot77 Hell the Dark Knight was not perfect either, Harvey let's thr guy who murdered his love go but is going go kill a kid over it wtf basically it should've ended with the Joker triumphant/Harvey burnt and Batman broken, setting up the next movie with Harvey and the Joker
You see I really like both s7 and DKR.
I was going to submit my own review of season 6 but I won't bother since, Stu, YOU TOOK EVERY WORD OUT OF MY MOUTH!
I think the key word you nailed is 'structure' and I believe that structure is season 6's strength - the many layers that play out concurrently as it tackles the heavy issues - addiction, murder, gang dynamics, rape, financial scrambling, an old flame, pimping, cold feet...
The last 5 episodes roller-coaster to a deafening crescendo and probably one of the most powerful cliff-hanger endings ever.
I can't believe Marti Noxon felt she had to apologize for 'ruining Buffy' with #6.
Buffy literally saved my life when I was in High School.
Meh turning Willow from an insecure person with a lust for power into magic is crack junkie seemed a bit of a cop out to me
It initially seemed like her going power hungry was the plan with what was there in early season 6. Then suddenly it turns into a drug metaphor
Eh, but there’s been more than a few references through season four and five that Willow jumps into Magic to Fox her problems. Need we forget the vengeance spell against Oz and Veruka? The will spell that was made in Something Blue?
It didn’t really come out of nowhere.
imo the show has always had it's way over the top metahors. evil stepdad turns out to a robot, binge drinking is BAD, lol, but overall it. Crack Head Willow is relatable. Everybody knows someone with an addiction.
I was the age that Buffy was throughout its run so each season hit me at exactly the right time. Season 6 is my favourite. I think it's much deeper than the others. There's also this underlying theme of the dangers of overlooking casual misogyny and how it manifests itself in nerd culture. We've since had real cases of the 'incel' nerd who gunned down a load of people.
I also like season 7. Sorry. Caleb is brilliant.
Season 6 is about depression. Buffy had resigned to death and sacrificing herself to save world after losing her mom and almost losing her sister. She is brought back from heaven and has to find herself again.
Although Doublemeat Palace is the one episode that is too gross for me, I agree with you entirely about Hells Bells I'm sure there was more foreshadowing. The fact that ppl are writing mini essays to explain what was in "Xander's mind" proves the point that it wasn't depicted well ON SCREEN. It is such a hard watch bc, as you said, he left her *at the alter* . That kind of life event would send one or both parties into therapy irl. It's just too big, considering that they don't really break up. Great video!✌
I personally think that the end of season five going into six. Was pretty relatable, it dealt with the reality of darkness, hardships, grief, loss, and depression. Even uncertainty on life, it’s relatable to where I’ve been personally in my late twenties early thirties watching the series and this season verses when watching it when I was in my teens and early twenties. I think that Joss Whedon did a really good job on the writing of this series and it’s different various stories. Watching and coming across this review and where I am personally makes me want to bring out this season and revisit it, which I think I may do...🥀👏🏽 Pretty review not to critical or biased and overall fair and very detailed I enjoyed this video.
I honestly didn't watch Buffy until about five years ago and I absolutely love it, from start to finish. Can't believe it passed me by when it debuted
Always lovely to hear people discovering the joy of this show
@@Stubagful seriew six was my fav, the daek willow story line wws bad ass. I lost my dad suddenly like Buffy so it hit home. So much love for BTVS evenbif ut is cheesy at times. Your views on Who are on point fella
It's really my favorite season actually
As a gay guy i've always had conflicting opinions about tara's death:
- on the one hand it's yet another example of " bury your gay" and even though the script does itns best not to write it in the same way it has been written since the 30s(either as a way to put in minorities without having to deal with it or to punish them for being gay the way they would have been forced to do a few decades prior) but it's still *yet another* instance where a gay supporting character is killed out of the blue for shock value and is not brought back
But on the other hand it's such a powerful thing to have (one of) everyone's favourite characters killed off at the moment when she was about to find true happiness, moreover a f*ing witch in the arms of the most powerful witch in the show to be killed by something as mundane as a bullet that wasn't even aimed at her shot by some random jerk who had some vague idea of who she was, it's so improbable and absurdly cruel that it has to be (at least one of) the most powerful death in the show, nay in the history of television
I find I identify with S6 more and more as I enter my twenties.
Probably the best commentary of Season 6 I've heard. One of my favorites because the show just became raw and real. The big bad was human. People want to say it's Dark Willow, but it's really just what life throws at you. For all of them. No mystical demon. Just real life.
Oh great critique of this season. Sadly season 6 Is one of my least fav seasons (season 5 is my all time love) but like you as the years have rolled on I've appreciated It more and more, especially as I'm a big Spike fan. lol
I like your video, but honestly I would have like to have seen more appreciation for Dawn! She was annoying, but you can tell she has a really good heart.
Also, about your critique on the Hells Bells events, I don't agree. I believe that it was well hinted that Anya and Xander's relationship wasn't going to last.
In Once More With Feeling, they sing a whole song about there lack of communication. "I'll never tell!" I never felt that they ever truly dealt with those feelings they were so desperately keeping from one another.
A relationship thrives on open honest communication, so its no wonder to me that Xander couldn't go through with it! Honestly I think it was pretty well foreshadowed.
Hey Stu, have you seen spongebob? Because the ending of this video can also apply to that show to.
Great video, love hearing you talking about another show other than Doctor who. (though love hearing you talk about dw)
I think the stuff with Xander is more hinted at the beginning of the show with brief scenes implying how disfunction his family is (him sleeping out in the snow in s3, can't remember the episode title) and him not wanting to end up like his father (the creature upstairs implied in Restless) however i do see your point about it not being all that believable in Hell's Bells.
haha I love your end joke of season 7 is the best!!!
Never saw an single episode of Buffy in my life but my friend likes it a lot
On a completely unrelated note: I recommend Person of Interest on Netflix. It's a brilliant sci-fi crime drama that just loves the trope 'machine worship.'
Buffy Season 6 was her version of Hell and Willows realization that she sent her there thru her greed. Everyone spiraled into misery and torment until a sacrifice was made again and made the world normal again
Anyone who has worked in McDonalds will get double meat palace...lol
The musical episode has Xander freaking out and worrying about the wedding, but I bet that it isn't tons. I liked the wedding episode, though, and thought Xander's fake future nightmare seemed fairly compelling, too.
But I also think season 5 along with season 3 are their strongest.
Hopefully the remake will also be fun, but I'm not sure they'd even settled on the cast before our covid nightmare started. Hoping it'll bring something good to the table, anyway.
Just discovering this. I love season 6. Likewise though, I was an adult by the time I realized how good it is.
Also, I enjoy Double Meat Palace...I find it relatable. I worked in food service from 16 to 24.
I really love this takedown season six is Buffy's most contraversal season loved and hated by many and you beautifully described why it's both. That said I still don't like Doublemeat Palace but I never did that kind of shitty job. Instead I did pager messages so I guess I could relate to life serial.
I LOVED season 6 and it's still my favorite since I watched it for the first time 10 years ago. I saw s 1-2 as a kid and loved it but even then I loved dark shit. Like, when reality hits and stuff gets way too hard. It's best experienced with a lighthearted season before. I don't think I would've understand s 6 if i saw it as a kid vs when i saw it as an adult but i probably still would've loved it.
Are you going to do a review of season seven as I too am one of the few who loves ir indeed all
Season 6 episode 13 was the best episode in my opinion it really deleved into that darkness Buffy has.
Season 6 did have Once More with Feeling and Tabula Rasa. Unfortunatly, it has Hell's Bells, which almost ruin's Xander's character for me. Xander wouldn't just abandon Anya at the alter. Xander would probably go up the alter and announce that "sorry for having to drag everyone here, but we've had a talk and we don't think that now is the time for us to get married". And the entire "Willow needs to stop doing magic" thing in Season 6 is completely abandoned in Season 7. If you're going to have a "magic is the drugs" style message, keep it consistent.
Honestly, if Seasons 6 and 7 were wiped from existence, the way the series would end would be fucking perfect.
I don't blame Xander for calling off the wedding for the time being (I mean, he proposed to her as a last-minute resort in case if they would die, so I always thought that their proposal was too quick). Hell, I don't even blame him for thinking of the outcome that he would be abusive to Anya and their future kid. However I do blame him for ditching Anya in front of everyone, so she can make the announcement. That was so cruel on his character, and felt like a stepback considering how he had finally developed after Season 2 (him using Jenny's death as fuel for his hatred on Angel, and his lie to tell Buffy to kick Angel's ass are still his worst moments).
Season 1 was my least favourite (both on the first watch and on a rewatch), meanwhile S5-S6 are where show's at its strongest for me and always was. The only thing that bothers me about the whole late Buffy is how team treats Spike like shit. I know it makes sense in-universe, but they made Spike so likeable that it creates a pretty weird dynamic.
But Angel is still a better show, Fight me.
While us, the audience have understood Spike's development, for the Scoobies, don't forget that he's a murderer. He was recorded as the second most malicious vampire next to Angelus, and until his soul got restored, he was still a vile manipulator that also tried to attempt to rape Buffy. As for Angel, it did give me the best message in the BuffyVerse ("can we truly defeat Evil" in Season 2), and my favourite character in the form of Wesley, because of how much I didn't like Season 4 and it's structure (the only BuffyVerse season I don't like), I can only say that I like parts of Angel more than Buffy.
@@englishgiraffe2124 I know Angel S4 has some problems, but I still liked a lot about it. Storyline especially (not to mention I only started to tolerate Connor there). My pick for the weakest Angel series (and the only which kinda bored me) would be 3, even though it had a great villian. I think S2 was phenomenal in pretty much every way. Easy pick for the most consistently good season.
I started watching Angel first I didn’t know he was from Buffy I thought it was similar and two different shows so when I was watching season 1 Sarah appeared aka Buffy I was like wait what totally ignored it kept watching then the other guy rocked up and Cordelia was already there so I’m into season 2 and realised wait Angel and Cordelia were in Buffy so I stopped with season 2 and had to watch Buffy first I’m currently into season 4 and really like the show but to me Angel is 100% better I really like Buffy but Angel is more my thing I’d just rather finish Buffy first then jump back to Angel I was also shocked to see Cordelia in Buffy since I watched Angel first for a bit and she’s nice on it I was godsmacked when I saw how mean she was in Buffy I’m definitely gonna pick Angel up again during the week
You gonna be doing the Angel spin off show too ?
Okay, YAY you’re doing Buffy videos (and yay you started with Season 6, my personal favourite... although I will admit it’s pretty heavily flawed) -
But how dare you like Season 7. Shame.
Benedict Cooper my favourite too!
I personally saw nothing but red flags about their marriage from the moment he proposed.
One thing we should remember is that Xander was only 20 at the end of season 5.
I'm not sure if Season 6 is as bad as some people say but I think it's a bit depressing compared to the previous seasons and the fact that all this bad stuff happens to such likeable and vibrant characters just isn't fun to watch. It's not terrible but not something I'd want to come back to regularly like the first 3 seasons.
Season 6 is my least favorite season. Buffy went from a a sci-fi adventure show to a primetime drama with a little sci-fi thrown in. Marti Noxon later admitted that drama was easier for her to write. Season 6 feels like any other show. It lacks that "fun" thing the first four seasons had. Plus, I hated the stuntwork from Season 5 onward. Sophia Crawford left.
Shame Joss and co couldn't have poach Koichi Sakamoto. The wire work would've been nuts.
But yeah, under Noxon that type of drama made the show go off the rails. Becomes more apparent with S7 coupled with the mess Whedon makes with Angel immediately after Firefly got cancelled
I really did love the way that all of the scoobies collectively and individually were able to fight and defeat the biggest baddest monsters & stop whatever wicked big bad from destroying the whole world succinctly and even with satire & snarky quips😃😂
But entropy and the daily grind of just dealing with regular every day life? THAT IS WHAT REALLY EFFs them up
Collectively and individually
That was what made the series feel very REAL to me in spite of the obvious s I fi fantasy themes
I bought Xander bailing...there's a lot of hints that he's having second thoughts, though it's subtle compared to willows addiction and Buffy's depression. Also you can really tell Xander doesnt respect Anya, ever, even though he might love her.
Season 6 was one of my favourites, Once More With Feeling was the best stand alone episode by far. We finally got some real Spuffy action and Xander (the only 'normal' one, saved the world) Tabula Rasa was also great, Randy Giles still makes me laugh. Normal Again blew my mind. I normally skip Hells Bells and Double Meat Palace when I rewatch though. How can you say that Xander and Anya come out of no where?!!
I’ve been watching my way through Buffy, took a little break because season six gets pretty heavy and I was sort of depressed before hand. But personally a lot of things about season four I can’t stand. Mostly being Riley. I just to not like him, but that could be because of a lot of how he treats Buffy in season five with all the stuff dealing with her mom. Having been the young woman whose mother has health problems I understood her in so many ways and Riley‘s need to be the be The big strong man for her bothered me to no end.
And I do actually think this season seven is one of the best seasons. I tend to love when a show or story really lets other characters into its world. Buffy might be the biggest baddest slayer there is, but being open to the idea of no longer being just her was so awesome. Meeting some of the other girls, and of course having a redeemed Faith stand next to her, along with Spike and his horrendous experience with his soul.
I found the story to be powerful. It was both the perfect ending, and the worst. They brought the story full circle and showed you three people who seven years ago were a couple of high school idiots and are now out saving the world from the worst of the worst. But it was also so amazingly well done that you just wanted more.
Season 6 I not keen on it sorry I found far to bleak and depressing even though I find the Buffy/Spike relationship absolutely fascinating, and Normal Again and Once More With Feeling are amazing, I just Dawn completely pointless and I wasn't keen destroying the Willow/Tara relationship at this moment in the show, and really I completely agree about Xander leaving Anya at the altar just no it felt really cheap.