Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 7 - The Ultimate Evil

So the end has come. In its seventh and final season, Buffy the Vampire Slayer wasn't at its strongest, but it still had a great story to tell, and with the knowledge that they were writing the end, the writers were able to successfully take the story full circle. In this respect, Buffy was extremely lucky; it is rare for shows to start the final season with the knowledge that it will be the last. Many times, the writers don't know until about halfway through the season. Episodic shows aren't hurt by this since they can still write a good finale, but serialzed shows like Buffy and Angel (which the writers did not know the fifth season would be the last) would prefer knowing from the beginning of the year to avoid having to wrap things up in an accelerated manner. From the season premiere, there were hints that the writers were gearing up for the end; we watched Dawn getting ready for her first day at the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High (the pilot saw Buffy's first day there), and there were hints that there was something sinister going on at the school, bringing the show back to the idea of high school as hell. But if viewers didn't pick on these subtle hints, there was a bombshell at the end. In one of the series' most memorable sequences, a slightly-insane Spike is tormented by an entity that takes the shapes of the previous Big Bads, starting with Warren and working back to the Master, and ending with Buffy...

But let's begin at the beginning. Buffy is training Dawn to be able to fight for herself, since Buffy won't always be around to protect her. Xander is the foreman of the construction crew rebuilding the school, and has finally become a success at something in his life. Anya is still a vengeance demon, but it's clear that her heart is not in it. Willow is receiving rehabilitation from Giles in England after she almost destroyed the world. And Spike is hiding out in the school's basement. Getting his soul back has had a powerful effect on him; like Angel, he is having a hard time adjusting to having a conscience and knowing about all the evil things he did. But what's worse, the aforementioned entity is not making things any better for him. It torments him, and drops hints that Spike is just a pawn in a big plan.

There are also a few strange things happening that don't seem to make any sense. The cryptic phrase, "From beneath you, it devours" (or "It eats you, starting with your bottom", depending on the translation) is heard a few times, and seemingly random scenes from across the world show people in robes systematically killing defenseless young girls. After Willow leaves Giles' care, we sporadically see scenes of him in England uncovering pieces of the conspiracy, which include the Watchers Council building being blown up, and an episode ending with one of the robed figures swinging an ax at Giles' head.

The entity behind these attacks and the torment of Spike is The First Evil, which first appeared in Season 3, when it tormented Angel. We actually learn a little bit about it this time around; usually referred to as the First, it is a manifestation of all the world's evil. It is not corporeal, and cannot physically hurt anyone on its own, but it can cause harm by channeling itself through physical beings. But it is also a master of deception, persuasion, and manipulation, since it can assume the form of any being that has died. This means any dead human, any resurrected human, and any undead creature, such as vampires. It takes advantage of Andrew by appearing to him as Warren, and later as Jonathan, and Dawn is traumatized when it appears to her as her mother (sadly, Whedon planned to have it appear to Willow as Tara, but due to certain circumstances, that didn't happen). But it hurts Spike the most by appearing to him as Buffy (remember, she has died twice).

As for the girls and the robed figures, the girls are potential slayers, girls who can be called when Faith is killed (Buffy has already led to a Slayer being called), and the robed people are called Bringers, who are servants of the First. The one consequence of bringing Buffy back from the dead that no one saw coming was that it tipped the balance of good and evil in favor of good, and this allowed the First Evil to begin amassing an army to end the Slayer line once and for all (though they never explain why this didn't happen the time Xander revived Buffy with CPR, I believe that since she was brought back through natural means the first time, it didn't upset the balance). Without the Watchers Council to protect the girls anymore, Giles begins to round up the girls that he can find and bring them to the Summers house in order to be trained for the inevitable fight against the First.

The potentials were one of the aspects of the season that some people had a problem with; it was a good idea, but the execution was a bit off. I didn't dislike them the way that some people did, but I can understand that some fans thought that they could be whiny or annoying or whatever. However, there was one potential that everyone agreed on hating: Kennedy. Now, I think that Kennedy's character was doomed to be hated from the start since she was Willow's first new girlfriend since Tara. I didn't watch the episodes while they were airing, so it is not like I could have followed the relationship week to week and discussed it with other fans. I think that a fair number of people were upset that Willow was in a relationship so quickly after losing the love of her life, and I'm also certain that there were some people who would have been willing to see Tara resurrected just so that she and Willow could be together again. Personally, I didn't mind that Willow had a new girlfriend, but I absolutely hated Kennedy. Kennedy was a self-described bitch, a spoiled rich girl who would have tormented Willow in high school. She never missed an opportunity to deride Buffy (Willow's best friend) and had zero likable qualities. I was never able to understand what Willow saw in her. Wow, I am getting way too involved with this, it's a TV show!

But as Buffy's army grows, they also learn that the threat is increasing as well. The First has unleashed a group of ancient vampires unto the world; they cannot blend in with humans, which takes stealth out of the equation. But they are also stronger and tougher than normal vampires, and they do not require an invitation to enter a dwelling. And then there's Caleb. Played by Nathan Fillion (Captain Reynolds on Firefly), he is a misogynistic ex-priest who was thrown out of the church for the way he treated girls. When the First found him, they struck up a partnership; he becomes its physical entity in the world and lends him some power, giving him strength far beyond that of a normal man. Though I had seen one or two of the episodes with Caleb before I saw Firefly, I hadn't seen the full extent of his character's power or nastiness. It was a bit of a shock seeing the man I came to know as Mal Reynolds (one of my favorite fictional characters) acting as one of the creepiest villains on the show.

This year, the character of Andrew began a path to redemption that was amusing to watch. After he was captured by Buffy and her friends, he went from prisoner to the guy-who-always-hangs-around-even-if-you-wished-he'd-leave to actual comrade in arms by the season's end. In fact, the Andrew-centric (and very funny) episode "Storyteller" is rumored to have been a test to see if a spin-off could have centered around him. Faith also returned to Sunnydale this year after a brief (but exciting) arc on Angel, and there were lots of talk of her getting her own series as well. Her story in Sunnydale finally allowed her to face the demons of her past, both with Buffy and (sort of) the Mayor. She had to find a way to work with the girl she hurt so badly as well as confront the First in the form of Mayor Wilkins, which was not easy.

Spike also had to confront his past. The First was using his guilt and his memory of his mother (twisted relationship if there ever was one) to make him kill for it, but he also must face his past with Robin Wood, the new principal of Sunnydale High. The Slayer Spike killed in 1977 New York, the one from whom he stole his trademark duster, was Wood's mother. The season followed his journey from tortured to champion, in a similar fashion to Angel. By the end, even though Buffy does not love Spike, she has come to respect him, and see that anyone can change.

Though Season 7 is not my favorite, I still believe that it is how Buffy should have ended. It is still wonderful television, and shows that, even though things may not always work out the way you wish they would, there will always be hope...

Up next: Sunny Los Angeles faces perpetual darkness...