Buffy Time: Review of Season Six

I know, it’s been forever since I wrote a good Buffy review, and I’m sure you’re all in withdrawal. One of the reasons for the hiatus is that I’ve been otherwise occupied. Denisa and I have just been too busy to have time for Buffy. But we’ve returned to our current favorite hobby: staying up too late devouring pop culture. And what a fun hobby it is.

Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer has to be my personal favorite so far. The character arcs for all of the characters were really well done and mostly believable. The great thing about sticking with a show this long–a show that actually knows what it’s doing–is that the payoffs just keep getting better. You know the characters, and you know their histories. Because of that, the actions of the characters mean a whole lot more. If someone betrays a friend, you understand just how harsh a betrayal that is. That’s what really appealed to me about the later seasons of Lost, and it’s what made this last season have such oomph for me.

Favorite (spoiler-free) parts?

Spike’s arc was really well handled. As a character, he’s been one of my favorites from the very beginning, and it’s always entertaining to see where he ends up next.

The Trio as bad guys–consistently funny. I loved the endless stream of pop culture references. A lot of the time in my writing, I hold back on pop culture (despite how many people see nothing but pop culture in the end result). With the Trio, the writers held nothing back. Those guys are immersed in pop culture. The references were quick and as obscure as possible. Good times.

Anya–I really like her character and the set up of it. I enjoy her performances and was involved in her story every time it took

The core three–Buffy, Willow and Xander all had nice developments in this season. This isn’t some static soap opera, where the same issues are dealt with week after week after endless week. Where in earlier seasons I had criticized the pacing at times–how it seemed some plot arcs took forever to develop and come to a resolution (Buffy and Angel, anyone?), in this season, everything seemed well placed. The writers never dwelt on a topic for too long, and they never ignored an issue for too long, either.

It all adds up to a great season. Not sure if it would be the same if I had started with this one, but that’s okay. A show like this depends on faithful viewers. Buffy is worth the time investment, no doubt about it.