So. We've been discussing character death to exhaustion since CoE aired. Was it good, was it horrible, was it necessary, was it satisfactory, and so on
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Buffy sacrificed herself to save Dawn -- otherwise Dawn would have been sacrificed to avoid all hell breaking loose (literally). The whole thing was built up to really well, with Buffy exploring, thorughout the whole season, what it meant to be a Slayer (which was tied in with death), and also coming to terms with Dawn, who as the key to the hellmouth was intserted into the show at the beginning of that season. It really felt like her death served the character -- it was about her character development and... it was brilliant.
Tara's death -- well, I'm not sure it was necessary. It was done to bring about the "dark Willow" storyline, which didn't seem compelling enough to me to justify Tara's death, but in other ways I can see why they needed dark!Willow to complete S6 (it's tied up with the way the big bad for that season was fairly ineffectual, except insofar as they did kill Tara -- with a bullet meant for Buffy) -- still, I think they should have found a way that didn't involve killing Tara, because her presence brought more to the show than her absence. I think it was cruel of Joss to include Amber Benson in the title credits for the first time in her death episode -- that's just playing with your audience, and it's Not Cool, and I think Joss should have known better than to do an evil/dead lesbian storyline. However, I do take some comfort from the fact that Tara's last day on earth was pretty damn awesome (she and Willow spent the whole day in bed having amazing make-up sex), and I don't feel like Joss was disrepsectful to her character -- and regardless of evil/dead storyline, I don't think that anyone who watched Buffy could doubt the love and depth of affection that existed between Willow and Tara. It was always shown on an equal footing with any of the het relationships on the show (even when Joss was restricted by the network from having them kiss on screen), and I don't think that Tara's death mitigates that.
I've seen a lot of people comparing Tara's death to Ianto's. I don't know, I haven't seen it, but I tend to dislike the deaths that are used as triggers to other characters. It doesn't usually work for me, because it's never about the character, always about someone else. It's a little like the noble sacrifice thing, it doesn't rly impress me either, although sometimes it can be really awesome.
I guess I like when the death has a build-up that leads invariably to it, and you realize that it couldn't be different. That it makes sense, that it's inevitable. When it involves sacrifice, I tend to like it more when the character isn't completely resigned to his fate, 'cause most of the time they are. I liked the Doctor's death, I liked Sam Tyler's death, I liked Mark Greene's death. They were all different, but they had something in common: they were the climax of something. The story developed in a way that their death was the ultimate resolution. And I liked it.
I also liked Owen's death. Tosh's, not so much. It didn't add something to the show, I don't think. Yeah, it was a beautiful scene, blablabla. But the story could've been the same without her death. It wasn't particularly special. Owen's was better, IMO, in a lot of ways.
Tara's death -- well, I'm not sure it was necessary. It was done to bring about the "dark Willow" storyline, which didn't seem compelling enough to me to justify Tara's death, but in other ways I can see why they needed dark!Willow to complete S6 (it's tied up with the way the big bad for that season was fairly ineffectual, except insofar as they did kill Tara -- with a bullet meant for Buffy) -- still, I think they should have found a way that didn't involve killing Tara, because her presence brought more to the show than her absence. I think it was cruel of Joss to include Amber Benson in the title credits for the first time in her death episode -- that's just playing with your audience, and it's Not Cool, and I think Joss should have known better than to do an evil/dead lesbian storyline. However, I do take some comfort from the fact that Tara's last day on earth was pretty damn awesome (she and Willow spent the whole day in bed having amazing make-up sex), and I don't feel like Joss was disrepsectful to her character -- and regardless of evil/dead storyline, I don't think that anyone who watched Buffy could doubt the love and depth of affection that existed between Willow and Tara. It was always shown on an equal footing with any of the het relationships on the show (even when Joss was restricted by the network from having them kiss on screen), and I don't think that Tara's death mitigates that.
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I guess I like when the death has a build-up that leads invariably to it, and you realize that it couldn't be different. That it makes sense, that it's inevitable. When it involves sacrifice, I tend to like it more when the character isn't completely resigned to his fate, 'cause most of the time they are. I liked the Doctor's death, I liked Sam Tyler's death, I liked Mark Greene's death. They were all different, but they had something in common: they were the climax of something. The story developed in a way that their death was the ultimate resolution. And I liked it.
I also liked Owen's death. Tosh's, not so much. It didn't add something to the show, I don't think. Yeah, it was a beautiful scene, blablabla. But the story could've been the same without her death. It wasn't particularly special. Owen's was better, IMO, in a lot of ways.
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