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.

Sunday Soapbox

 

SPOILER ALERT: If you have any intention of reading Buffy Season 8 and you want to be surprised, stop reading now.

As we approach the end of Buffy Season 8, I am sad to say that I’m glad it’s ending. Before the series began I was literally counting the months with excitement, and in the beginning it was just what I wanted. The witty sarcasm, geeky Xanderisms, and of course new awkward situations that translate better through comics than through television.

The earlier multi-issue arcs and one-shots were great. I loved when Buffy was in the future with Fray dealing with evil Willow. The Harmony one shot was quirky and fun. Faith and Giles off on their own adventure with evil debutantes, and the guest appearance by Dracula made me smile. I even liked the love story between Xander and Dawn. Who knew?

Unfortunately, the over-arching story of season 8 suffered by getting way too broad. I think the writers were so excited to have a new playing field, they did too much. Honestly, I was enjoying it until the gang/army went to see Oz. Then the magic and the giant muppet-like gods went over the top, okay if that had been that I could have dealt, but then came the reveal of Twilight. The character of Twilight had been dancing around the story for quite a while as the major villain in the background and I didn’t pay much attention to him because he was boring. So the reveal that Twilight was actually Angel…anticlimactic and maddening. I had been waiting for Angel the entire run and I would have welcomed him in any other context. I won’t even go into the sex scene in the sky, or double agent Riley (or was it triple agent? I lost count). It was what happened after that where I was rubbing my eyes and shaking my head. I just don’t buy that Angel would believe the drivel that he’s spewing to Buffy about why he did it. And then to bring in Spike?!?!? How is that necessary? Buffy and Angel have no chemistry in this story and don’t tell me it’s the medium, because comic book characters can absolutely have chemistry. Dinah Lance is a perfect example of that. (Are we seeing a pattern here? Is it obvious that I’m a Black Canary girl?)

I know this is a downer of an entry, so let me leave it at this. Simplicity is a good thing when you have such strong and well-developed characters and a story can be charming and thought provoking without being convoluted. Do I still love Joss Whedon? Of course. Will I read Season 9? Most likely.

-Jac