Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 7

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Also caught the Graduation Day episodes today...cheesy ending, but the Mayor is so the man. Would love him to pop up somewhere in the last ep, just to torment Faith again.

[Guest fazzle]

Yeah, that's why I erased my post and said never mind. Plus there was the delay of the finale. The season 3 finale was supposed to air May 25th, while the season 5 was May 22nd, so, that's close enough to 730 days.

 

In closing, I was just being an ass and realized it.

[Guest Mole]

Also caught the Graduation Day episodes today...cheesy ending, but the Mayor is so the man. Would love him to pop up somewhere in the last ep, just to torment Faith again.

It was just cheesy because he talked when he was the big worm thingy. I could of gone without that.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

"Well gosh"

*BOOM!*

 

I don't get the point of being a big snake in the first place. Sure you'd have power, but in human form you'd seem like you could do more stuff.

 

PRINCIPAL WOOD MUST GET EATEN!

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

yeah the whole "well gosh" thing was a little cheesy.

[Guest Mole]

Ha, I hope he gets eaten.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Ha, I hope he gets eaten.

He stopped being cool after you found out he wasn't evil anyway. EAT HIM!

[Guest Cavi]

I have never been too fond of the CGI for Snake Wilkins. Understandible though considering they had such little time to do it (plus they sort of shoot on themselves in one of the Season Three DVD extras about it).

[Guest fazzle]

Just looked through the eBay seller list for the Buffy official items. Was looking for the item that was selling the cheapest, but, there's a few questions...

 

What the fuck is it? and what episode was it used in?

 

 

Edit: Yeah, all Buffy snake CGIs have sucked. At least the Wilkins snake looked a bit better than Glory's key sniffer.

[Guest Sakura]

Cavi and I were talking about snake Wilkins and the point of it a few weeks ago. I think we both ended up agreeing that he can change back into his human form at will after his ascension, because he was telling Faith about how they would live togther.

[Guest Mole]

I have never been too fond of the CGI for Snake Wilkins. Understandible though considering they had such little time to do it (plus they sort of shoot on themselves in one of the Season Three DVD extras about it).

No, it isn't just the fact that they didn't have that much time because they had all season to work on it. I am sure Joss knew what was going to happen at the end of the season, and he could of told the crew to start working on it from the beginning. Plus, they delayed the episode 2 months, so they could of worked on the 5-10 minute segment to make it look better.

 

It just cost a lot of money to make something that looks real. I don't think the Buffy crew would go through ILM to make the snake. Buffy's special effects crew probably doesn't use the best program out there, probably just something like Livewave or something. It just looked WAY to fake for it to be a expensive program. That is just my opinion though.

[Guest Sakura]

Cavi is right. It was time. In the season 3 dvd commentary they admit that even as close as "Choices" they had no idea exactly what the Ascension was going to end up being.

[Guest raptor]

What the fuck is it? and what episode was it used in?

 

I think that the robot is a random object in Buffy or Dawn's room. It looks familiar, but I just cannot place it.

[Guest Mole]

Cavi is right. It was time. In the season 3 dvd commentary they admit that even as close as "Choices" they had no idea exactly what the Ascension was going to end up being.

Really? I must of missed that part of the DVD. So, Joss didn't know what he was going to write? Or they didn't know what he was going to look like? If they didn't know what the snake was going to look like, then that is laziness of the show itself. They should of known long before that because it was building up for a long time before the "Choices" was made.

 

I believe they could of made a better snake in two months. When the filmed it, they didn't have the snake there the whole time, they put it in later. Maybe it was time, but you have to give me the fact that the program they used wasn't all that good. I mean, the snake looked SOO fake. If they had a better program to make it, then the snake could of been much better.

 

This is all speculation on my part, I really have no idea.

[Guest Cavi]

Really? I must of missed that part of the DVD. So, Joss didn't know what he was going to write? Or they didn't know what he was going to look like? If they didn't know what the snake was going to look like, then that is laziness of the show itself. They should of known long before that because it was building up for a long time before the "Choices" was made.

They didn't know anything about what it was going to be/look like/etc., whether Joss had a clue or not (I don't know if I recall him speaking on the subject). Whatever the case, it was handled badly.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I haven't watched much of the season 3 DVD commentarys yet, they won't tell who they're by. I watched on by Noxon and it bored me.

[Guest fazzle]

Noxon? Boring?

 

 

I'm SHOCKED~! Shocked and dismayed!

[Guest Lil Naitch]

Dammit, my Season 3 DVD's have a big freaking scratch or mark or something on the last DVD- it interupts the Graduation Day part 2 (during the hospital scene) and the FX's special feature. And I can't return it, cause I got it over e-bay and it was still brand new and sealed.

Any Ideas anybody?

[Guest Lil Naitch]

Anybody else think that Evernescene would be a great Buffy band? I just bought their CD and their music just fits so well with the show.

[Guest LaParkaMarka]

You can try mailing the manufacturer maybe? Sometimes they do exchanges on faulty products.

[Guest Mole]

Dammit, my Season 3 DVD's have a big freaking scratch or mark or something on the last DVD- it interupts the Graduation Day part 2 (during the hospital scene) and the FX's special feature. And I can't return it, cause I got it over e-bay and it was still brand new and sealed.

Any Ideas anybody?

Open another at the store and take the last disc.

 

Or do what Parka said.

[Guest Mole]

This is the review from EW about Buffy's last episode. I'm putting it in spoiler form because some people don't want to be spoiled at all, even though there isn't really any spoilers.

 

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

Final episode; no room for niceties, so I speak in Buffy code: Slayerettes stop whining, become feminist army to vaquish The First, even as orginal core Scooby Gang reassumes its ultimate centrality. Spike is tragic hero, Angel provides a cool Raymond Chandierish cameo. Buffy ueses unbaked-cookie-dough metaphor to describe her gradual maturity; many characters die. Regeneration through violence, set to music. Here endeth a magnificent series, magnificently.

 

For those who don't want to read it, he gave it a A+.

 

From last weeks EW, they give a little section talking about the last episode. They said one thing about the finale that is a tiny spoiler. Basically, who the climax features:

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

"Buffy's head explodes like a pumpkin" jokes Whedon, who won't disclose who survives but says the climax hinges on the orginal fantastic four: Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles. "You wanted to have that moment in the last episode. You needed it-- the completion of the circle."

 

Can't wait till next Monday when I can watch it...

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Short interview The Hollywood Reported did with Joss

 

------------------

 

From The Hollywood Reporter today

 

May 16, 2003

 

By Steve Hockensmith

 

Virtually no one thought that the show with the funny name on the then-fledgling WB Network would ultimately become a critical darling and cult favorite. Yet somehow, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" did exactly that during its seven-season run. With the series signing off next week, creator Joss Whedon spoke with Steve Hockensmith for The Hollywood Reporter about the show's legacy and what his future might hold.

 

The Hollywood Reporter: With "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" about to end its run, what kind of legacy do you hope the show will leave behind?

 

Joss Whedon: Honestly, I hope the legacy of the show would be that there's a generation of girls who have the kind of hero a lot of them didn't get to have in their mythos and a lot of guys who are a lot more comfortable with the idea of a girl who has that much power.

 

THR: How did you arrive at the decision that this would be the last season for "Buffy"?

 

Whedon: The decision came about largely because I was like, "I can't do this anymore! I'm so sleepy!" (Sarah Michelle Gellar's) contract was up, and I knew that she wanted to branch out. She always gave her best and was very professional, but at the same time, I knew that she was getting worn down by it, and so was I. Just physically, not mentally. I feel like the show could run forever in terms of the stories you could tell, but it's just that eventually the process grinds you down; you're going to start letting things slip. I didn't want that to happen. So this whole year was designed to be the last year of the show.

 

THR: Would you say the series has had something of a bumpy ride?

 

Whedon: I would say probably less than most shows in the sense that wherever we were, we got to make the show we wanted to make. We were never really clamped down on. It's very difficult to make this show. It took a lot out of us because in a show that does every genre -- sometimes simultaneously -- it's very hard for a director to get it right. So you have to be ever vigilant if you want it to be what it can. But actually, the biggest problem a show can have ultimately comes from the network or the studio or from the stars. We didn't have those problems. I would say it was actually a pretty smooth ride. So smooth, in fact, that "Firefly" (which Fox canceled during its first season on the air) was such a slap in the face to me because I just assumed this is how it worked.

 

THR: But the ratings did drop during "Buffy's" run on UPN. Was that something that concerned you?

 

Whedon: I stopped (paying attention to) ratings at a certain point. I thought (that) if we're not being canceled, then I have more important things to do. But the last year came in for a huge amount of criticism. People always (say), " 'Buffy' is great except for Year 6." I believe that as time passes, people will look at Year 6 as part of the whole and realize how important it was. It was a pretty dark year, so I get why people didn't respond to it.

 

THR: There's been a great deal of talk about a spinoff series. Is that something you're planning to do in the future?

 

Whedon: What happened was, I came up with a premise, and then Eliza Dushku (Faith) landed in our laps. We talked about the possibility of a spinoff, but that fell through. Although it was a good premise, it would've required a great deal of energy on the part of a lot of people, most of whom were like, "I feel the need to do something new." When it didn't happen, we realized that we were clutching our stomachs with relief. Even those of us who might be involved in another spinoff -- and I think there's great potential in a lot of different directions for spinoffs -- we need a breather.

 

THR: What happened to the plans for the animated series?

 

Whedon: We just couldn't find a home for (it). We had a great animation director, great visuals, six or seven hilarious scripts from our own staff -- and nobody wanted it. I was completely baffled. I felt like I was sitting there with bags of money and nobody would take them from me. It was a question of people either not wanting it or not being able to put up the money because it was not a cheap show. One thing I was very hard-line about was, I didn't want people to see it if it looked like crap. I wanted it to be on a level with "Animaniacs" or "Batman: The Animated Series." And that's a little pricier. But I just don't think it's worth doing unless it's beautiful to look at as well as fun.

 

THR: Do you think you'll take a year off and then jump back into the franchise?

 

Whedon: I don't know. Everything is completely misty right now, which is very nice for me. I'll obviously be working on "Angel," but I have such a good team there that it won't rule my life the way "Buffy" has for seven years. Beyond that, there's movie potential, there's spinoff potential, there's all sorts of potential.

 

THR: How does it feel to say goodbye to something in which you've invested so much of yourself?

 

Whedon: I had dinner with the writers the other night, and we listed the title of every single show, which was hard. Just the weight of the thing, the bulk of the thing -- every single one of those episodes had a message and a meaning and a very specific purpose. It wasn't always completely realized; it wasn't always as tight as it could have been. But the fact that 144 times we sat down and broke our backs to make a story worth telling is something that makes me feel enormously proud.

[Guest Mole]

An interesting short read, thanks Youth.

[Guest Lil Naitch]

thanks for the suggestions, guys

[Guest Mole]

2 days till the finale...

[Guest Lil Naitch]

And damn if I didn't pick up an extra shift on Tuesday... damnit.

[Guest brokentusk16]

If they won't do the Faith or Ripper spinoffs, I say do a brand new character. A demon hunter whose family has fought demons for a long time (similar to the Belmonts in Castlevania). Make it more mature and with less "Whedon dialogue."

 

Hey, Ben Browder is free these days! You think SMG can do multi-ranges, you ain't seen NOTHIN' yet!!!

[Guest Mole]

Then it wouldn't really be a spin off then. Besides, 'Buffy talk' is what makes the show so good.

[Guest LaParkaMarka]

The humor of Buffy is what sets it apart from a lot of other shows on tv. Buffy without the humor would just be depressing, you know?

 

It's too bad that we won't get a Faith spinoff. A Ripper spinoff would still be really cool though. I don't think it'll be a new Slayer though...who else is left? The Adventures of Xander the Pirate? My Big Fat Greek Clem?