Buffy > The Gift > Review

[OllyB]

*SPOILLERS INCLUDED!*


"Death is your Gift"

An excellent end to an excellent series, i think.....

The episode started well with the "previously on Buffy the Vampire slayer" look at the whole series and a succession of flashey images. This was then follwed by a bit of old style vampire slaying.
The emotion was running high from the very start with Giles's outburst and then came Xanders Proposal to Anya. Even though I suspected this was coming soon, it still came as a bit of a suprise! Spike was great throughout the episode and hes seems to fast be becoming one of the scoobies. (I doubt that this will last longer that the next series.) The action was pritty cool, with Buffy pounding Glory with the big ass hammer and then Xander hitting her with the the wreking ball which was funny. :)

I thought the ending to the episode was beautifully done, although the actual Buffy Dieing shocker I have mixed feelings about. The idea of Buffy having to make the huge sacrafice to save her sister was brilliant. The quality of the ending in that respect can be compaired to the amazing "becoming" episode where Buffy has to kill Angel in order to save the world.
The trouble is Buffy is now dead and i hate seeing characters killed, only to return later on. Death is a major thing and if a character come back then it make the whole thing seem like a waste of time. I hope Joss Wheldon has a belivable and original way of bringing her back in store.

So how will Buffy be resurected?

"With great difficulty, of course. And pain and confusion." says Wheldon. He also states that it wont be cheezy. (I hope not!)
*We can rule out Angel being involved (no crossovers)
*Joss has said no to Buffy's mind in another dimimetion
*She still will be a vampire slayer so no ghosts :)
*Shes going to come back different somehow
*er..it wont be cheezy
*Willow and a spell. I think that would be classed as cheezy and it cant be done again after Tara being 'brought back'

[GrimBlade2K]

Hmmm...I want to watch this episode again tonight because I must admit to being slightly distracted while I had it on, but I have some misgivings.

Firstly, I don't think anyone can say it was as good as Becoming, or possibly even Graduation Day, and I think the lesson here is: a much better pace can be established over a two-part episode.

That was my fundamental problem with the Gift. After the oddly sedate pace of the penultimate episode, I don't know about you, but I was hoping for a rollercoaster ride of a finale, especially considering the Glory's strength relative to Buffy's. But what did we get? The first half was awkward pre-amble (as sweet as the Xander/Anya thing was, I felt it was timed poorly), and although there was some good drama between Giles and Buffy particularly, couldn't we have done this LAST week? As with Angel, this is essentially a three-part end of series...so why were we STILL at the talking stage until thirty minutes into this one!

Next up...Glory. Didn't we do this LAST season? Adam, physically stronger than Buffy, Scoobies on the ropes...spell cast, Buffy gets stronger and beats the crap out of Adam. This season, Glory physically stronger than Buffy, Scoobies on the ropes...spell cast, Glory gets weaker and Buffy beats the crap out of her.

ENOUGH WITH THE DEUS EX MACHINAS! It's a cheap trick to get to this point with the "she's a Hellgod, she's immortal line" and then say "Huzzah, we've found a spell, let's go to work". Admittedly, it was far more blatant last year, but it was still obvious enough this time.

Which leads me up to the focus of this episode, Buffy's sacrifice. I have to say, I thought the idea behind it was excellent, as was the continuity (death is your gift, Summer's blood etc etc). But I have one point about the way she died...she threw himself from a gantry, having said goodbye to the person she loves most in the world, into an abyss that would literally drain the life out of her, in the ultimate sacrifice gesture. Sound like anyone else we know? I accept that the writers are now treating Doyle as if he never existed, but to me, it looked like exactly the same scene, which is disappointing.

That said, it was a suitably adult end to an ever-maturing season, which is good. However, while angst-rise, I'd say Buffy is at it's peak, I think Joss may have, in some ways, outgrown the roots of the series...Restless is more the kind of thing he WANTS to be doing, I wonder, but due to poor fan response, he ended up doing The Gift more under duress than actual desire. By no means a poor episode, but greatness was in its grasp.

[Reality]

Always think its possible to over analyse these programs, as entertainment this series was top class with a classic ending.

I don't really want to look for comparisons with previous episodes, as with a show thats been running for this long there are bound to be some, I'd rather enjoy it, for the episode it was which ended a really emotional series that had it all, action ,drama laughs and plenty of :bigcry:

[GrimBlade2K]

Really goes to show how you should concentrate on some TV programmes...I watched it again tonight, giving it my undivided attention, and loved every minute of it...I still maintain the Doyle comparison, but aside from that, this really was a great episode 100/season finale :)

[OllyB]

Originally posted by GrimBlade2K
I accept that the writers are now treating Doyle as if he never existed, but to me, it looked like exactly the same scene, which is disappointing.

I didn't notice that but now you come too mention it, they were very similar.

[marinelv]

they were quite simliar. But Doyle died in style, better than Buffy.

Ps. the difference was that buffy's body was still there, his...

:)