The Long Awaited End

Buffy Season 8
Issue # 40
Written by: Joss Whedon
Art by: Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, and Michelle Madsen

The end of Buffy Season 8 came and went last week and I’m sure many people thought I would let it go unnoticed, but no.  Truthfully, I needed to stew on it for awhile because I found it frustrating on a number of levels.  First and foremost, because of how desperately I wanted to dislike it, and I didn’t.  Secondly, because while I was happy that it the writing crew brought back simplicity there were a few moments that I didn’t find very believable in terms of how the characters responded.  Let’s just jump right in shall we?

I’ve been very vocal with my main complaint that the story got too big and I’m not going to even go into the Angel/Twilight travesty again.  With the last issue there was a MAJOR time jump *did I mention SPOILER ALERT*, months in fact, so that we were able to see how each character settled in after the war.  The whole issue felt more like an epilogue and I liked that about it.  All the magic in the world is gone and Buffy is on everybody’s hit list, both literally and figuratively.  She’s back to working on her own, patrolling and saving people from everyday baddies.  Giles is gone of course and while I didn’t agree with the whole reading of the will scene, I understand the reasoning behind it.  It solidifies Buffy’s calling and returns her to her comfort zone.  I'm not happy with where Angel is at the moment, but what else were they going to do after the aforementioned travesty?  He was always broken, but now he is BROKEN.  I’m really curious about where the writers are going to take Willow in the next series.  I appreciated the reference to her techno-genius, which had really fallen by the wayside and I love that part of Willow.  I’m not so thrilled about the new love interest, if you missed that part you should go back and look at it, because it’s…odd.  Xander and Dawn are all domestic and by gum, that’s what Xander deserves.   And Spike is Spike which was so refreshing. 

The writers brought the story back to its roots in preparation for Season 9 and I hope that they continue on this path with our beloved Scooby's.  We’ve already been introduced to a new villain as well as how Buffy is going to deal with the other slayers who feel betrayed by her and are making her life miserable.  I’m not going to say that my faith is restored, because I don’t think I will ever recover from the giant Muppet gods, but I’m staying positive.  So now we wait.  I will either throw my hands up in the air and roll my eyes to the heavens in bafflement or I’ll really like the direction Season 9 takes, either way I know I will enjoy myself.