Is Season Seven Worth Watching?

[u/reystreasure]

as a warning, this post will probably come off as Anti-Spike/Anti-Spuffy. I haven’t been apart of this community long enough to know if that’s a divisive opinion or not, lol. I’ve watched the show sporadically over the past two years. I really enjoy BTVS as a whole; characters like Buffy, Giles, and Cordy are what make it fun for me + the supernatural elements.

My fave seasons are 2-3 and 5-6, even though I know a lot of people don’t like how dark and depressing season six is (I liked it as an exploration of Buffy’s depression). I also know that’s the season where Spuffy really ‘begin’, and this was fine for me, since I didn’t see them as this epic, romantic ship to be rooting for; moreso like a vehicle for Buffy’s emotional deterioration. My issue comes with the assault in Seeing Red — and what I’ve heard about Season Seven. I’ve basically gotten a chunk of the final season spoiled and know it’s very divisive, but I do see that a lot of Spuffys adore this season. Personally, the relationship makes me uncomfortable because of Spike’s actions and I don’t know if I’d want to watch a season where their relationship is at the forefront. Spike as a character is irredeemable to me and I find it highly unrealistic that Buffy would keep him around, much less fall in love with him after 6x19.

I want to know if I should watch the last season despite this, or if it’s not worth it. Will I basically be miserable the entire time or should I power through anyway?

[u/sevenswns]

it’s unfortunately pretty realistic for buffy to keep him around actually. she’s incredibly forgiving, and has forgiven especially heinous shit done to both her and her friends.

[u/reystreasure → u/sevenswns]

Yeah, it’s just hard to watch personally. I wish she was at least given time to process what happened to her in s7, but from what I see that’s not the case? I hope my opinion changes once I’ve watched.

[u/smeghead1988 → u/reystreasure]

It's definitely a complex and controversial topic, but I would say that for Buffy her ability to forgive is her strength, not her weakness. She forgives not because people who hurt her need it, but because she needs it, she doesn't want to be a bitter person defined by how she was hurt. She forgives to be able to become stronger, more confident. And this theme, Buffy becoming more confident and accepting herself fully, trusting her own decisions, is central to S7. The resolution of the Spuffy arc is one aspect of this theme, but there are others too.

If it makes you feel better, Spike doesn't approach Buffy at all in S7. All their interactions were her own decisions, so it's not like he pushed and she yielded. But I admit that it's still technically her giving a second chance to her wannabe rapist, and this writing decision seems unforgivable to many people. For me it seems easier to digest because it's fantasy, and there's the fantasy factor of the soul that has no parallels in real life.

[u/yeahitsme9 → u/smeghead1988]

He approaches her, it's literally why he's back in her life, he shows up in her doorstep like "I've mysteriously changed"

[u/smeghead1988 → u/yeahitsme9]

This only happens after she stumbled upon him in the school basement where he was hiding from everyone, from her too, seemingly for weeks (we don't know how he got there and if it was his choice or not). And then he tried very hard to pretend that nothing has changed, that he's not insane and not ensouled. He didn't want her to treat him differently, and lowkey even wanted her to stake him. But then he panicked and lost it. Beneath You is a very complex episode, Spike's behavior there is very confusing. Some people consider it a confirmation that he hasn't changed and keeps harrassing Buffy. But even if you want to interpret it like this, you can't not notice that something's definitely off. Also, you can't say both that "he's not changed" and "he wanted to use his soul as an argument to get her". To admit the soul (which he tried to hide) means to admit the change.

[u/yeahitsme9 → u/smeghead1988]

I don't think he used the soul to get her. I don't think going there pretending to be soulless was good, actually, but it's understandable because of his state of mind.

But I've seen people say he never asked for help or look for her and it's not completely true and also I believe an oversimplification knowing Buffy's tendency to put things on herself.

[u/smeghead1988 → u/yeahitsme9]

It's really hard to understand his motives there. I would say he wanted her to know and didn't at the same time. And he knew she would have to find out what happened to him after she found him in the basement, so he tried to give her a false impression that it wasn't important. But I agree that if he truly wanted to hide and leave her be, he would just fuck off to somewhere else instead.

The thing is, turning up at her doorstep and showing off his shiny new soul was his initial plan. But he planned this before he got the soul. And the soul itself changed his worldview so profoundly that he understood this plan wouldn't work and would hurt her more... but also he couldn't come up with any other plan. Now he needed her to know because he needed her help. But he also knew he shouldn't put her through dealing with it... And the writers wanted them to interact one way or another, so they had to put them together, and some of it looks contrived (like how exactly he happened to be in this basement in the first place?)

[u/goober_ginge → u/reystreasure]

Without spoiling too much, Buffy unfortunately kind of has to get through her trauma with Spike quickly because of the impending threat and her need for Spike to help them in the fight. As a viewer, it definitely feels too soon, but narratively speaking you can see why it's necessary.

[u/sevenswns → u/reystreasure]

she isn’t given much time to process it at all, no, which is a pretty huge writing flaw imo. i do also agree that buffy’s capacity for forgiveness is one of her strengths, but i also think this storyline was massively blundered by the writers. all that said, i still think you should give s7 a go to finish up the series.