All Good Things...

With the final episode, "Chosen," comes many questions and ideas to discuss. What is the overarching theme/ideal in Buffy? Kaveney (and one of the featurettes on the DVD) suggest the possibility of Buffy as revisionist feminist mythology. But can a feminist myth be created by a man? Perhaps. Another idea suggested on the DVD featurette intrigued me more, however. That was the idea of community. Throughout the series, we are shown Buffy as a solitary figure, despite her band of loyal friends. Her battles always seem to boil down to just Buffy and the Big Bad. The writers worked so hard to show Buffy as lonely that they did everything but play the sad-going-away-music from "The Incredible Hulk" TV show. Yet with Buffy's realization that much of her solitude was self-inflicted ("Touched") comes a greater understanding: she can do something about it. When the Potentials are empowered as Slayers, Buffy becomes one of many. She is no longer special in the all-by-myself sort of way. She is no longer the one-woman doorstop against the portal to Hell. Ideally, the community of Slayers can work in tandem to defeat evil. Not only is Buffy no longer alone, she is now linked in a very special way to something that is worldwide. Her horizons just got a lot bigger than Sunnydale and its pesky Hellmouth.

I argue for community as the overarching theme because it is the one thing that has been present from episode 1 ("Welcome to the Hellmouth.") Buffy, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and even Joyce were each looking for community, their own circle of friends and acceptance, a place where they can find identity. Even the monsters that the Scooby Gang faced during the "high school is hell" phase of the series were manifestations of the fears of students who were simply looking for a place to belong. For Buffy, finding community took the entire series. And why shouldn't it? If that was truly her quest as the hero, it seems only right that she only find it at the end of everything.

As for Dr. Berry's suggestion that Buffy is the television version of the Romantic novel, well, I remain unconvinced. For one thing, it seems to me as a writer that each season has its own narrative arc with climax and conclusion. While I realize that the sprawling Romantic novel has many subplots and crests and troughs of conflict, I think there are too many in a seven season series to make one giant novel. Perhaps, Buffy is more of a seven-book set. Another factor that hurts the massive-Buffy novel idea is the number of continuity errors in the series. Buffy has more dates of birth than anyone I've ever read about. If vampires don't breathe, why does The First hold Spike underwater to torture him? Why is there an episode about how The First's rise is all resurrected Buffy's fault, and then it is never mentioned again? While I realize that it is often best not to ask these questions and just sit back and enjoy the fun, I do think that these inconsistencies detract from the whole novel idea. To say that Buffy is Joss Whedon's attempt to televise his great, novel-like vision would be to suggest that he had a clear plan for a seven season series when he wrote "Welcome to the Hellmouth." I find this unlikely. A sprawling, Romantic novel may have many subplots and side characters, but ultimately, it should all tie together.

The Cheese Stands Alone

All of the conflict and dissension that has been building amongst the Scooby Gang in Season 7 comes to a climax in "Empty Places." As the town of Sunnydale is emptied of all its residents, the Summers home is going through its own expulsion. After the badly executed attack on Caleb, Buffy proposes yet another open attack on the winery. The Gang and Potentials revolt, and Buffy is kicked out of her house...and out of the club. The scene of the mutiny resembles some sort of Slayer intervention, and in many ways, it is. While the motives of The Gang seem somewhat less than pure, the resulting solitude for Buffy serves a greater purpose. Perhaps the opportunity to be physically alone gives Buffy the chance to contemplate her lonely status as the Slayer ("Touched.")

Once again, we have Spike as Truth Speaker. This is a role that is played by multiple characters over the entire series (Anya, Cordelia, Spike, Andrew, etc.) While Buffy's epiphany about her own culpability in her solitary status is something she comes to on her own, it is Spike who reminds her of the power and nobility in her role as Slayer. After deciding (with Spike's prompting, of course) to return to her Potentials, Buffy finds the Super Scythe (my name for it, anyway) and rescues the remaining Potentials. ("End of Days") Her return to the group seems to equal her return to power and clear-thinking because she is soon full of ideas, a plan not to hold back The First, but to defeat it.

Divided We Fall

In the three episodes we watched for Tuesday ("Potential," "Lies My Parents Told Me," and "Dirty Girls"), we see the Scooby Gang and their army of Potentials become increasingly divided. While it may be argued that they shared the same overarching purpose (fighting evil, or at least, The First), they vary widely on methods and motives. The Summers House is so full of anger, jealousy, revenge, confusion, and loneliness that it threatens to implode without any help from The First.

"Potential" focuses on Dawn and her neverending search for identity. When she is told is a Potential Slayer, however, she does not greet the news with joy or relief. Later, when she realizes that it is not her, but Amamda, who is the Potential she seems even broodier. Though Xander tries to soothe her wounded feelings with a heart-to-heart, Dawn feelings about her "nobody" status remain ambivalent. This seems ironic to me. Dawn was very disturbed (understandably) when she was told in Season 5 that she was The Key. She insisted time and again that she was just a normal teenage girl. Now, suddenly, that's no good either. Perhaps Dawn serves a reminder of how all humans crave what they cannot have. Regardless of any deeper meaning her inner conflict may provide, however, Dawn's discontent is just one example of the rising emotional chaos at 1630 Revello Drive.

In "Lies My Parents Told Me," the Scoobies' lack of unity makes its first major manifestation. When Giles is unable to remove Spike's trigger, he allows himself to be influenced by Wood, whose motives are far from pure. Giles lies to Buffy (could Giles be another of the "parents" referred to in the episode's title?) and keeps her occupied while Wood attempts to kill Spike. Though Giles is not always around, he has always been viewed as at least an ally, if not leader. This betrayal of Buffy for what Giles deems the greater good is further evidence of the breakdown of the Scooby Gang in a way we've not yet seen. Unlike Angel, Willow, or any of the other Scoobies-Gone-Bad, Giles is under no spell. He is not possessed by some demon. He simply decides that he is right and Buffy is wrong and acts on it. His actions foreshadow further rifts in the Scooby Gang unity.

"Dirty Girls" serves as a sort of culmination of the deterioration of the Gang and Buffy's status as Fearless Leader. With the Potentials and Giles questioning her judgement and Faith being added to the already volatile mix, Buffy leads her gang of misfits into a fight with Caleb. When the confrontation ends badly, Buffy is left with the blame. But is it really all her fault? Has she become some power-crazed dictator? I think not. Once again, the Gang has forgotten the pressures of being, not only the Slayer, but also the glue that holds the fight together. In addition to those pressures, Buffy has also temporarily lost her biggest supporter, Xander, and by association, Willow. Xander's loyalty will be shaken by his life-changing injury, and Willow, always soft-hearted when it comes to Xander, will go the way of her one-eyed friend.