When I first saw BTVS all the way through, season 6 was actually my least favourite season of them all. In addition to the Spike/Buffy relationship (which I wasn't a huge fan of), I found the Trio storyline to be almost unbearably cheesey and seeing the scoobies slowly going downhill was leaving me more depressed after watching an episode than anything. With the exception of Grave, I was a firm believer that season six was the weakest collection of episodes in the show's 7 year run.
That being said, I was pretty young when I watched it at first (about 14 or 15 I suppose), and I think that because I wasn't at a point in my life where I could relate to any of the characters, that may be why I thought it to be so dissapointing. Our beloved heroes were all kind of having a fall from grace; and moreso than in any other season I think we saw them encounting real life issues (money troubles, taking a less than glamourous job to make ends meet, dealing with growing responsibilities to your family, relationships based on sex, addictions, etc). Now when I watch that season I can better identify with what some of the characters went through and I'm finding myself appreciating a lot of the episodes like I hadn't before. The writer's took an approach that really changed how viewers saw the characters we'd grown to love, and in turn started to appeal to an older audience that they may have had in Season 1.
It was a little depressing, but that's how real life is sometimes too. In the end the (surviving) characters of BTVS came out of the season a lot stronger, and that kind of gives me hope for my own life ahead. Somehow amongst all that destructive, chaotic behaviour in season 6, I found myself with a sense of optimism at the end.
