Below is a Review of the Season/Series finale along with a spoiler. Also a interview with Josh Whedon at the bottom.
A great ending to a great show
Long time viewers and new comers were left with an amazing, touching and thought provoking ending. After a inconsistent season where the main struggle was always changing, it was all wrapped up into a hour of finalization. The main plot of the season/series finale was "ending" no matter what was happening, it was all gonna come down to the ending.
From the beginning of the episode you could tell it was gonna be one of the best. Almost every episode where they review whats happen in the last few weeks is and important episode. In the finale they review whats happened in the last five years with a short mess of clips that show the struggles of the slayer.
The episode starts off with buffy saving the day again only to remind us all that it's what she does becasue she has to not because she wants to; reminding us all just how hard this is on her. The entire show led up to the final battle against the demon God "Glory". At the very start the marbles are laid out for all to see; Buffy's sister, will die if they can't reach her. Glory will regain all her strength if they can't stop her. The world as we know it will be destroyed by a flood of demon deminsons into our world if they fail. And no matter; live, die, save the world or fail, Buffy was done with it all after this.
Giles: If..my calculation are right...but Buffy.
Buffy: No..no you don't understand, we are not talking about this!!!
Giles: Yes!!! we bloody well are...if Glory begins the ritual. if we can't stop her...
Buffy: Come on..say it, we're bloody well talking about it....tell me to kill me sister................
Giles: If the ritual starts, then every living creature in this and every other deminson imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death, including Dawn.
Buffy: Then the last thing she'll she is me protecting her.
Giles:You'll fail and you'll die, we all will.
From the beginning the decision are hard and strike close to home for all of the viewers who have been watching.
Dawn is all buffy has left. Now she'll have to save the world again; the twist she may have kill her sister to do it.
Dawn:Or mayber you just can't take her...
Glory: Funny thing you've been here for a few hours now and I have'nt seen big sis gallaping in to save you. She proabably knows what a terrible mistake that'd be.
Dawn: She's not afraid of you.
Glory No.. sweety baby...i'm talking about the ritual.
Cause you know I bleed you, the portals open... but once you die they close. The faster you die the better for your sorry species. I'm betting Buffy knows that, since she's not really your sister I'm guessing she isn't gonna show. And if she does...it might not be to safe you!!
In a dense scene full of emotion and self doubt for the slayer. Buffy questioned herself. There's even conflict between her and friends in this time of stress.
Buffy:This is how many apocalypses for us now?
Giles: Six at least.....feels like a hundred
Buffy:: I've stopped them...always won...
Giles: yes!!
Buffy:I sacrficed angel to save the world, I loved him so much, but I knew I was right.....I don't have that anymore, I don't understand I don't, I don't know how to live in this world if these are the choice if everything gets stripped away. I just don't see the point
So!!! is she Dead
You came this far and even if you enjoyed reading anothers fans view on what you thought was a good or bad finale, Your real question or intrest may not have been satisfied.
IS BUFFY REALLY DEAD?
I a fan since the Buffy movie, promise that the truth of the matter is that........yes!!! Buffy is dead.
The last episode airing on televison was the Season/Series finale. No, new episodes of Buffy will air...on the WB. Wait...wait....all of you who now the truth and think I'm spreading false info.
Here it is....Buffy the series will no longer air on the WB network. Becasue their moving to UPN. Will they be new episodes?
YES!!.........How?....if Buffy's dead how can there be new episodes. I"m gonna let Josh whedon himself answer that one.
Below is Josh Whedon in and interview with TV Guide Online.
TVGO: First off, is Buffy really dead?
Whedon: Yes. She's rotting in her grave even as we speak.
TVGO: But Sarah's coming back?
Whedon: Yes.
TVGO: You can understand how some people might be confused...
Whedon: Yes.
TVGO: Are you worried about alienating viewers by bringing her back from the dead? I mean, we saw the tombstone.
Whedon: Yes, I'm always worried about that. The point is, you have to take it seriously and pay it homage and make it as hard and strange for the people in the show as it is for the audience to accept. Then you earn it.
TVGO: If you bring Buffy back, then why couldn't you also bring back Joyce?
Whedon: You could, but we'll explain why.
TVGO: What's the craziest Buffy resurrection scenario you've heard in the last 48 hours?
Whedon: Buffy shows up in an alternate universe, but I don't think that's a good idea.
TVGO: You already know how this will be resolved, then?
Whedon: We've had next season planned out for a long time — before we even knew we were changing networks.
TVGO: Do you think, in retrospect, it's a little confusing? First Buffy leaves the WB, and now Buffy is dead. Some fans are wondering if the show is over.
Whedon: It's our job this summer to make people aware that Buffy — starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy — is coming back on UPN next fall. And I'm just gonna keep saying it to everybody I meet and every chance I get, and UPN is going to start advertising it today. We'll get the word out.
TVGO: Do you think the WB purposely added that farewell message at the end of the episode to further confuse people?
Whedon: You know, it was sort of incredibly classy and slightly underhanded. The whole "Series Finale" thing has been a little cheesy, but actually, I was pretty touched when I saw the message. The fact of the matter is they didn't say, "Goodbye. It's over." They said, "Thank you." So, at the end of the day, I thought that was kind of nice.
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TVGO: If and when the day comes that Sarah leaves the show, would you retitle it Dawn the Vampire Slayer?
Whedon: What I would do with it is hard to say, but that's certainly a show I'd watch. Michelle [Trachtenberg] is a powerhouse. I have the best ensemble that I could ever hope to work with. It could happen, but if it did, it wouldn't be for years because Sarah's coming back.
TVGO: Did anyone else die during the climax? Anya looked like she was in pretty bad shape.
Whedon: She's OK, she made it.
TVGO: What was up with Giles killing Ben? Is that going to be the beginning of a trend?
Whedon: No, that's just the thing he had to do. And you know, Giles will be recurring next year instead of a regular because [Anthony Stewart Head is] going to live in England. We're working on a BBC [spinoff] show for [that character]. So, it's a side of Giles you're more likely to see on his show than you are on Buffy. But, it's not like he's going to become an evil killer or anything.
TVGO: Does Ben's death mean Glory is dead too?
Whedon: Yeah, it does.
TVGO: Whose voice was telling Spike to go rescue Dawn? It was a very Star Wars-type moment.
Whedon: It was Willow... Just yet another example of how Willow's power is increasing.
TVGO: Given that Buffy's death factored into Angel's finale, won't you have to kick off the season with some type of WB/UPN crossover?
Whedon: No, I really won't. And I'm not entirely sure that either network would want to. Not that Angel won't be dealing with the idea of Buffy's death and her rebirth, but the fact is, he's on his own now. He's at the big scary network by himself and he's going to have other very pressing matters to deal with.
TVGO: So you won't pick up Angel next fall where the season finale left off?
Whedon: No. Like we usually do, it will be a few months later.
TVGO: Do you know the date of Buffy's two-hour premiere?
Whedon: I don't know the date. I believe we're looking at early October, but nothing's been set.
TVGO: Will Amber Benson (Tara) be added to the opening credits next season?
Whedon: No, Amber's going to stay at a recurring status. But she will, like this year, be in most of the shows.
TVGO: Any other cast changes on Buffy?
Whedon: Apart from Giles becoming a recurring character? No.
