Have to say, Buffy annoyed the hell out of me in Season 7, and her getting verbal smackdown was a good moment for me. Getting that out of the way, I'm a little biased on this episode.
I do, however, have opinions on some of the criticisms levelled at the others, and the "praise"/whatever of Buffy that I've seen on this thread, that I will try and explain without so much bias 😛
- "General Buffy" It has been established several times in the show how different Buffy is from most "normal" Slayers, how she has a support network of family and friends, and how that is part of why she has stayed alive as long as she has- she has people who are there for her, she has a normal life to fight for, and she can think outside the box. The Watcher's Council are frequently lambasted throughout the show for advocating the very opposite view, that the Slayer is essentially the tool of the Watcher's Council, and is just a soldier, if you will.
Now, these Potentials arrive, and yes, a lot of them have probably had some training, but they have no Slayer powers at all, as Buffy had when she began battling apocalypses, they have, with exceptions like Amanda, been moved away from their family, friends, and even country, in a lot of cases, away from everything they know. And instead of taking her own experiences into account, Buffy treats them like "just soldiers", she calls the girl who commits suicide weak (been a while since I saw Season 7, so I'm a bit fuzzy on names), she gives never ending rounds of speeches, and that's pretty much it. Yes, I'm sure it would have been harder for her to learn their names, get to know them, and then see them die. But I'm sure as hell the alternative wasn't any easier for them.
-Faith/Potential bonding- As far as them going to the Bronze goes, yes, they were at war, yes, they should take it seriously, but they were also frightened, probably pretty depressed after heavy losses, and perhaps one night of normalcy and fun would have been more useful and morale boosting than another lecture from Buffy at that point.
-Buffy and her friends- Yes, we've seen The Wish. We know that without Buffy, Sunnydale went to hell, Willow and Xander were vampires, etc. And what happened to Buffy, the warrior, the business-like Slayer who seemed far more battle-focused and lonely than the Buffy we know? Oh, yeah, she handled it fine, not like she ended up with the Master snapping her neck and killing her with relative ease... ohwait! OK, that came out a lot more sarcastic than intended XD But still, my point is, that what I took from that episode is, without the setup of Sunnydale as it was (Buffy there, a friendship group there for her), everything there was screwed, including Buffy. Yes, she saved the world, many times, and credit where credit is due. But it is still a relationship of mutual give and take. So yes, I think they did have a perfect right to disagree with her. They've all lost things, helping Buffy in this war against the darkness, and while that wasn't Buffy's fault directly, and whilst they could have left, they stayed loyal, by and large. Giles lost Jenny to Angel, to hurt Buffy, and his job to Wesley. Willow lost Tara because of a stray bullet meant for Buffy, etc.
Also, I do feel the whole thing was handled badly, by all parties involved. Proposing just charging into the site of their biggest defeat, where people had died, and Xander had lost his eye, and then just saying "that's the plan", in front of everyone, that was not well handled. Everyone having a go at Buffy at once, then kicking her out, that was not well handled. What should have happened, was that Buffy should have taken the other "key players" (Giles, Willow, Xander, etc.) aside and told them the plan first, so concerns could be registered in private. The others, equally, should probably have taken Buffy to one side to explain why everyone was so pissed off, and why this might be a bad idea, or even just to have a go at her- if it happened in private, then it might not have opened the floodgates of everyone in the building turning against Buffy.
That said, I think this episode needed to happen. There was a lot of tension in that house in Season 7, I think perhaps it was neccessary for Buffy to realise just how much she had alienated, not only the Potentials, who she doesn't really seem to care for much, but also her close friends. And also for those characters to be able to air their grievances rather than nursing them all the way through the Season, so that when Buffy returns, at least the air is... well, clearer than it would have been, anyway. And Buffy becomes less of an annoying ... woman... than she was previously, IMO.
Sorry if I've annoyed anyone with this, I mean, of course, no offence to members of this forum, I merely have a differing opinion than some 🙂
Just out of interest, I remember just before this episode aired, there was some talk that when Giles "argues" with Buffy in this scene, he was actually meant to bring up Jenny's name, but it was cut from the final episode. Anyone else remember hearing anything like this, or have I just imagined it in my old age?
