55 Days of BtVS: Day 6
I've been looking forward to this one...
Day 6: Favourite Season
Hands down, season 5. So many reasons!
Cut for length, images and major spoilers, obvs (kylathelurker I am looking at you)
First of all, there’s Dawn and the whole plot revolving around her origins as the key. Doesn’t matter how many times I watch it, I still think it’s super cool. I also like what she added to Buffy’s arc, not just the extra responsibility and the drama that brought, but also an additional outlet for that love the first slayer tells her she’s full of. Their relationship is antagonistic and loving and very real, and I really enjoy that.
Then of course there’s Spike, who embarks on his Courtly Love odyssey this season, gradually coming to the side of light. What I love about his arc is that it’s not written as a smooth progression - he fights it, and he falls down even when he’s making the effort, and he ultimately fails to be the hero in a way that will probably haunt him for the rest of his days. But by the end it’s clear he’s changed, and it happens believably, which is rare and very cleverly done on the writers’ part.
Next there’s Glory, my favourite villain of all the seasons. She’s fabulous, over the top and not too bright, but scary powerful, and I still get chills from the reveal of her godhood. Unf.
Not to mention, she’s female, and that brings the gender ratio of main or recurring characters to 7:4, female:male (and that’s before Riley leaves). When else has that ever happened in a TV show, let a lone a popular one like this?
What else? Well, Xander was mostly bearable, Willow and Tara’s relationship was presented as just another romance (which is still pretty unusual even now lbr), Anya really started coming into her own as a character, and Giles got some purpose back in his life (whoop!) Oh, and Spike and Dawn became my platonic OTP with their outsider bonding and mildly illegal shenanigans.
Hee! :)
For me, the show’s humour is at its best in the final three seasons, which of course starts with season 5, and part of the reason imo is the way it’s contrasted with what are some pretty heavy themes. The big season arcs are all about responsibility and identity, growing up and figuring out who you are, what your purpose is. Joyce dies and Buffy finds herself having to care not just for herself but her little sister. Dawn finds out she’s only existed for a handful of months, and only then to thwart an evil god. Xander struggles to figure out his place in the group, what to do with his life in general, and the future of his relationship, while Anya is bombarded from all sides by reminders of her new humanity and the fragility inherent in being alive. Spike is forced to realise that if he wants Buffy to give him the time of day, he has to bloody well earn it, and Giles restyles himself from midlife crisis guy to business owner and Buffy’s mentor once more.
The writing is incredibly tight, every episode feeding into these arcs as well as echoing back to previous seasons in a very satisfying way. The pacing is rapid, the highs and lows tightly controlled, and the emotional buttons get pushed again and again. It’s one of the finest seasons of TV ever produced imo, and thusly contains within it one of the finest episodes of TV ever produced with The Body.
Ugh. I have seen The Body countless times, both when it first aired and the last couple of years since I rediscovered the show, and there are so many moments that still move me. Anya’s speech, Dawn’s breakdown, Willow losing it over her shirt. But the one moment that never fails to bring me out in chills every single time is Buffy’s plaintive “Mom? Mom? Mommy?” Iconic. TV. Moment. Got goosebumps just thinking about it now. There is some quality acting on this show - James Marsters and Alyson Hannigan are universally incredible - but SMG just does not get enough praise because she is amazing in this, just amazing.
Finally, something that’s so great about this season is the way it serves as a jumping off point (yikes, no pun intended) for the next two. Buffy really dies at the end, and her friends really grieve, and we the audience feel sad but satisfied that her arc has come full circle, that she’s reached a place of acceptance over her calling, and acts from a (beautifully in character) place of love and perhaps a bit of despair to meet her fate (the fate of all slayers). And then they bring her back. And then they have to deal with it.
Index of 55 days
Link to original tumblr post
Day 6: Favourite Season
Hands down, season 5. So many reasons!
Cut for length, images and major spoilers, obvs (kylathelurker I am looking at you)
First of all, there’s Dawn and the whole plot revolving around her origins as the key. Doesn’t matter how many times I watch it, I still think it’s super cool. I also like what she added to Buffy’s arc, not just the extra responsibility and the drama that brought, but also an additional outlet for that love the first slayer tells her she’s full of. Their relationship is antagonistic and loving and very real, and I really enjoy that.
Then of course there’s Spike, who embarks on his Courtly Love odyssey this season, gradually coming to the side of light. What I love about his arc is that it’s not written as a smooth progression - he fights it, and he falls down even when he’s making the effort, and he ultimately fails to be the hero in a way that will probably haunt him for the rest of his days. But by the end it’s clear he’s changed, and it happens believably, which is rare and very cleverly done on the writers’ part.
Next there’s Glory, my favourite villain of all the seasons. She’s fabulous, over the top and not too bright, but scary powerful, and I still get chills from the reveal of her godhood. Unf.
Not to mention, she’s female, and that brings the gender ratio of main or recurring characters to 7:4, female:male (and that’s before Riley leaves). When else has that ever happened in a TV show, let a lone a popular one like this?
What else? Well, Xander was mostly bearable, Willow and Tara’s relationship was presented as just another romance (which is still pretty unusual even now lbr), Anya really started coming into her own as a character, and Giles got some purpose back in his life (whoop!) Oh, and Spike and Dawn became my platonic OTP with their outsider bonding and mildly illegal shenanigans.
Hee! :)
For me, the show’s humour is at its best in the final three seasons, which of course starts with season 5, and part of the reason imo is the way it’s contrasted with what are some pretty heavy themes. The big season arcs are all about responsibility and identity, growing up and figuring out who you are, what your purpose is. Joyce dies and Buffy finds herself having to care not just for herself but her little sister. Dawn finds out she’s only existed for a handful of months, and only then to thwart an evil god. Xander struggles to figure out his place in the group, what to do with his life in general, and the future of his relationship, while Anya is bombarded from all sides by reminders of her new humanity and the fragility inherent in being alive. Spike is forced to realise that if he wants Buffy to give him the time of day, he has to bloody well earn it, and Giles restyles himself from midlife crisis guy to business owner and Buffy’s mentor once more.
The writing is incredibly tight, every episode feeding into these arcs as well as echoing back to previous seasons in a very satisfying way. The pacing is rapid, the highs and lows tightly controlled, and the emotional buttons get pushed again and again. It’s one of the finest seasons of TV ever produced imo, and thusly contains within it one of the finest episodes of TV ever produced with The Body.
Ugh. I have seen The Body countless times, both when it first aired and the last couple of years since I rediscovered the show, and there are so many moments that still move me. Anya’s speech, Dawn’s breakdown, Willow losing it over her shirt. But the one moment that never fails to bring me out in chills every single time is Buffy’s plaintive “Mom? Mom? Mommy?” Iconic. TV. Moment. Got goosebumps just thinking about it now. There is some quality acting on this show - James Marsters and Alyson Hannigan are universally incredible - but SMG just does not get enough praise because she is amazing in this, just amazing.
Finally, something that’s so great about this season is the way it serves as a jumping off point (yikes, no pun intended) for the next two. Buffy really dies at the end, and her friends really grieve, and we the audience feel sad but satisfied that her arc has come full circle, that she’s reached a place of acceptance over her calling, and acts from a (beautifully in character) place of love and perhaps a bit of despair to meet her fate (the fate of all slayers). And then they bring her back. And then they have to deal with it.
Index of 55 days
Link to original tumblr post