Now Leaving Sunnydale (WARNING: Spoilers for the Final Epsiode of Buffy!)

Well. So that's it, huh? Bye-bye Buffy. Now there's really nothing left on television. *Heavy sigh*

For what is likely the last time, then, random Buffy thoughts follow:

I hate to say it, but here we are, at the final Big Climactic Moment, and the pacing's still off. I mean first we talk about Buffy's sex life for ten minutes, and then we cut away to the planning session where we're not actually told what the plan is, and then it's back to talking about Faith's sex life. Now, don't get me wrong, those were good, character-based scenes with lots of great dialog (in fact, the dialog throughout the whole episode was top-notch, absolutely classic Buffy). But all the way through I kept thinking, yes, this is all well and good, but isn't the time for this stuff past? Now is the time for Action! and Climax! and Triumphs! and Sacrifices! And then, suddenly, we had all those things, but after an entire season's worth of agonizingly slow buildup it all happened so quickly that it was difficult to appreciate properly. We were just drrrraaaaaged along for week after week after week, and then, suddenly, BOOM, ten minutes of climax, and now both the characters and the viewer (or this particular viewer, at any rate) are left with a sort of stunned "what the hell just happened?" feeling in the aftermath.

Lots of great individual scenes in here, though. That lovely moment when Buffy tells Giles she wants his opinion and he smiles at her and you know everything is OK between them again. The D&D game, which had me laughing in utter delight (especially as I'd actually started thinking about some of the stuff in this show in D&D terms in recent weeks: "Ooh, magic axe! +5 against ubervamps!"). Andrew's farewell speech (I care, Andrew!). The endearing optimism of "So, what do you want to do tomorrow?" and all that stuff about going to the mall. And, of course, the sight of Sunnydale as a smoking hole in the Earth, which, in retrospect, seems like the only way the series possibly could end.

OK, who had a "death pool" going on this one? The "surprise" with Wood at the end was kind of a cheap joke, but you just know that Whedon knew that people would practically be taking bets, and it's hard to blame him for giving in to the temptation to play with our heads a bit on that score. I wish I felt more... something... about Spike, but I don't. I did get a tiny bit choked up over Anya, especially when Andrew was talking about her saving his life. Which is odd, because, while Anya is -- er, was -- a cool character, I never really felt all that attached to her. Maybe it's because I've become so attached to Andrew. Speaking of Andrew, at some point during the battle prep I found myself thinking, "You know, Andrew is so convinced he's going to die that it's pretty much a sure bet that he's going to survive." I'm glad I was proven right.

On a completely frivolous note: Did you notice that Giles drove the getaway schoolbus on the left side of the road? There's something about that tiny detail that I find utterly, totally charming.

The idea of bestowing full Slayer powers on the wannabes is such a good one that I can't help but wonder why they didn't think of it before, if it was so easy to do. Once Buffy came up with the idea, it seemed to take remarkably little time for Willow to get the mojo together.

I know one of the things that Buffy has always been about, thematically, is female empowerment[*]. But usually they've been good about keeping the metaphors, well, metaphorical. This time, though, Buffy's speech about girls getting power feels very preachy. It feels like the show telling us what it's about rather than like the character talking. Not only was it overly obvious, but it actually threw me out of the fantasy for a few moments, reminding me rather uncomfortably that I was in fact watching a TV show. Which is somthing I really didn't need just then.

I was hoping for a bit more of Caleb, but I gotta say, the way he ultimately went down was extremely appropriate, if rather... disturbing.

So the First's motivation is that it wants flesh? I really wish they'd gone into that more over the course of the season, not just because it would have been nice to be clearer on what it was trying to accomplish in plot terms but because that sounds like a really interesting piece of characterization to have missed out on.

OK, maybe I'm just dense, but how the heck did Buffy recover so quickly from such a nasty wound? Was there something magical going on there?

And the ultimate question, of course: now what am I gonna do with my Tuesday nights?

[*] I hate the word "empowerment," with all its yuppie PC buzzwordiness, but I'm afraid I can't be bothered just at the moment to come up with a more original phrase.