r/buffy • u/reystreasure • Jan 02 '25

Content Warning Is Season Seven Worth Watching?

Post image

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?

285 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

371 comments sorted by

View all comments

113

u/dviolinistka Jan 02 '25 edited Jan 02 '25

Yes for two reasons

  1. While it’s not the best season and it has a couple of infuriating moments, the way the story ends is masterful in my opinion. I believe it was the best possible concept for ending the Slayer’s journey, and you should absolutely experience it.

  2. Spuffy is not in the center of it. Buffy and Spike relationship has some solid moments, but i actually was surprised how little of them we got in the last season. It’s more of Spike’s redemption arc than a Spuffy thing i would say. Also, he gives one of my favorite TV speeches near the end.

38

u/dviolinistka Jan 02 '25

Oh and i just thought of a third reason. While the main villain of the season was meh, his acolite became my favorite villain of the show after Glory. He scares the crap out of me and is very well portrayed. He’s just in a few episodes and if it was me, I wouldn’t want to miss him.

8

u/vichan Jan 03 '25

He is the perfect villain for the final season.

-1

u/Technical_Moose8478 Jan 02 '25 edited Jan 02 '25

That was Nathan Fillion, fyi.

12

u/dviolinistka Jan 02 '25

I know. I didn’t want to spoil it for the OP.

8

u/Technical_Moose8478 Jan 02 '25

Ah, fair enough. Added spoiler tags.

3

u/PintToLine Jan 03 '25

If you haven’t, maybe watch Firefly.

1

u/dviolinistka Jan 03 '25

I have, loved it

3

u/Glitch1082 Jan 04 '25

That was the first thing I ever saw him in and took me a long while to get past it and enjoy the wonder that is Firefly because he creeped me out soooo bad

2

u/dviolinistka Jan 05 '25

I know, right? I kept waiting for his Firefly character to start acting evil and was able let it go only on rewatches.

7

u/sashby138 Jan 03 '25

I’ve never been so happy to see a series finale in my life. The Buffy series finale is one of my favorite episodes of television.

1

u/Disastrous-One-7015 Jan 03 '25

I like it as well. My favorite show finale of all time was Angel. Live to fight on another day!

-5

u/reystreasure Jan 02 '25

This makes me feel better — even though I’m not that interested in a Spike redemption arc either, it makes it easier to get through. I didn’t want their relationship to prevent me from finishing the show especially since I love Buffy.

23

u/goober_ginge Jan 03 '25

There really is no romantic relationship between them in season 7. Spike doesn't expect Buffy's forgiveness and knows that she can never truly love him. He got a soul so that he would never do anything like that to her again (which tbh, the whole "soul" or "no soul" thing is pretty muddy imo when we see evil rapist shits like Warren who has a soul do some fucked up things regardless).

I completely understand not feeling the same way about Spike after Seeing Red, and as someone who has experienced SA, the scene itself is incredibly difficult to watch, but Spike still remains one of my favourite characters on the show. A lot of characters on there do shitty and irredeemable things, but I can still enjoy them as characters.

Willow SA'ed Tara and when they (briefly) reunited people went bonkers for it. If anything, Willow's SA of Tara is even more insidious, as she's an ensouled human who chose to repeatedly violate the mind and body of her partner, one who very recently had her mind completely violated by Glory.

12

u/user9372889 Jan 03 '25

Also Faith did everything she did with a soul as well. For some ppl a soul isn’t a big deal. At least in the buffyverse.

5

u/Bri_IsTheMeOne Jan 03 '25

That is accurate for the humanverse as well.

6

u/Bri_IsTheMeOne Jan 03 '25

I think the difference with say, spike and angel when they had their souls returned vs douche canoe warrens soul, is that spike was a decent man before he became a vampire. Angel was a douche canoe also pre vamp but that combined with the horrific things he did as a demon too torturing his returned soul made him a better “man” who wanted to make amends for the evil he was. he was maybe a decent human pre vamp at some point too. Maybe before he became a drunk.

Spike for sure was the most decent human out of all of them.

10

u/Gizwizard Jan 02 '25

If you love Buffy, you should absolutely watch season 7. It’s a really wonderful ending for her.

10

u/gildedbluetrout Jan 02 '25

No it’s fine that way. Basically it drags a lot in the middle. But it’s totally worth it for where they land the show.