Did we lose a little of the Buffy we know and love in season 7?

[Chosen Enemy]

Up until season 7, Buffy was very human, very girly with superpowers who really cared about her friends and her family. And in season 7 I get the feeling she lost some of that, and she became too slayer-y. It was all about the mission in season 7 that she lost some of her lovely humanity. She was just a Slayer, no play and fun (like Kendra maybe?). In the beginning she was still very her. But I think we lost some of her all of a sudden during that season.

I'm not saying she didn't care about her family and friends anymore, but all of a sudden she put the mission first. Like, in season 5, she put Dawn before the fate of the world. But in season 7 it wasn't like that at all. She was willing to sacrifice Dawn for the world.

Did Buffy lose her humanity and became a slayer only girl?

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think Buffy did lose a little of the softness she showed in earlier seasons. She seemed a little more hardened, a little more Slayer Buffy in Season 7- except when it came to Spike.

 

[brinkster130]

I don't think she truly lost any of her humanity, but she did have to put her slayer duties first more often than she ever needed to before. Up to that point Buffy had never gone up against anything as strong as The First and fighting it took more preparation, skill and thought than any of her previous adversaries. I think Buffy was hiding her emotions more than she ever had done before in order to get the job done.

 

[Nix]

I think she had to harden up to be able to deal with what she had to do.

 

[Kean]

I think she lost it when her mother died. She had taken a lot and bounced back but I think losing her mother, having to raise Dawn and then choose between her or saving the world just emptied her of a whatever hope she had left that she could do both: be the woman and the slayer. The Buffy who jumped off that tower and came back from the dead was not the Buffy we had known before.

"I don't know how to live in this world if these are the choices we have to make."

Every year after that chipped away at her even more.

 

[This Year's Girl]

No, I think Buffy was still very much human. I think it was the circumstances in season 6/7 that just forced her to view the world a bit different and act on other things. I also agree with [MENTION=10582]brinkster130[/MENTION] that she hid a lot of her emotions away 'cause it was required.

 

[Ripper666]

I think we didn't lost a Buffy-part. We just saw another-new one. A Buffy who is afraid, who loses her aim and forget that others need a little break and fun too! A Buffy who is scared about the future and who thinks that she has to handle all problems alone. The fear corrodes her. She lost the human side to safe others from the inhuman-anything. That's something what will always happen if human beeings have to much stress or pain or fear. Look how people commanded each other in the world wars.

 

[SlayerFest]

I think that's somewhat understandable. After everything that happened...I would have found it unbelievably lame if she was still the same Buffy from the previous seasons. It's kind of sad 🙁 I remember I once watched all of the seasons backwards and it was so strange, seeing her go from "general Buffy" in season 7 to mini skirt wearing Buffy in the first season. Buffy kind of got on my nerves towards the end, but I was still peeved when I watched Empty.Places. 😡

 

[Living Dead Boy]

I agree with the fact that Buffy changed during the course of the season, and we did lose a little bit of the Buffy we know and love, but in a way I loved that about the series. The characters changed, just like they would in real life. After all the things they went through, if they would've turned out any different, or more of the same, I would have been highly upset. I loved the fact that Buffy make some rash decisions (like the suicide mission to the vineyard). She was thrown into this role of general, and she had to make some quick decisions, whether they were smart or not.

 

[Dagenspear]

I actually love and prefer the Buffy from s7. General Buffy is stronger, more confident, more focused, more independent, and less whiny. She's just better.

 

[Miss Kitty]

I love Buffy in season 7, I think she just grew and changed through the time. She has been through a lot, especially in the last seasons, and season 7 had a different context, since she was sharing her home 24/7 with potential slayers and her friends. She had to take her role as a leader/slayer more seriously because of those specific circumstances and those had an impact on her attitudes. She was more professional because the situation required it.

But I don't think she lost anything which was making her human. She just handled the situation differently in this season. She had more responsabilities and a lot of lives were depending on her decisions.

 

[Aloverssoulz]

No, I think she was the same Buffy we know and love. She was just a leader of a bunch of teenage girls that were likely to replace her at some point (or Faith in this case)

She had to be a bitch and cold at times to show the teens that it is life and death. That a Slayers life isn't very long and is lonely. Her house became a boot camp. Plus the "First" was coming and she knew how deadly it was. She couldn't mess around, there was no break for her like past seasons. She was forced to be on constant watch of the girls to make sure they wouldn't get murdered every single night.

 

[patriot1123]

She didn't have to be a bitch to Giles, though. I think the train wreck that was the Giles character in season 7 wasn't all Giles's fault - it was also partly Buffy's fault when she forgot everything he had done for her and kicked him in the teeth - repeatedly - for doing something he thought was right.

 

[white avenger]

I don't think it was that Buffy lost as much in Season 7 as it was a whole lot more was dumped on her all at once than she was expecting to have to handle. Her little sister was beginning to grow up, with all of the problems that come with that, Xander wasn't the "step n' fetch it" character that he had been, Willow was trying to adjust to the realization of just how powerful she had actually become, one of her friends had reverted to being a vengeance demon, her former lover and would be rapist had returned to town slightly insane and was trying to adjust to a brand new soul and all of the guilt that came with it, Giles as traveling all over the world, finding these strange girls and bringing them back to Sunnydale, and, oh, yes, in case we forget, there was a literally unstoppable evil force that was trying to destroy the entire Slayer line so that it could dominate the world with an army of eyeless assassins and neolithic vampires, being led by a super powerful, woman hating, serial killer who dressed like a priest. She was just starting a new job working for the son of w former Slayer who had devoted his life to the location and destruction of the newly ensouled vampire who was under her personal protection. The only other Slayer in the world, who she had just a few years earlier tried to kill in order to save yet another ensouled vampire was dropping by for a visit, and the people who she considered to be the closest thing to her actual family in the world were going to conspire to throw her out of her own home. Luckily, the plumbing had all been fixed the year before, because a leaking faucet on top of all that other stuff would have just been more than Buffy could have coped with.

It amazes me that Buffy actually DIDN'T lose something very precious to her during Season 7. Her freaking mind.

 

[Andrew2080]

I think she got a bit overshadowed by the other characters. (Spoilers) They admit Willow now is more powerfull than her, she is just one among many slayers and in the end shes left to holding back ubervampire mobs while Spike does the final act. Also Buffys on and off relationship with Spike was a bit dull compared to the deep vampire romance of Angel of season 2 & 3, now being copied in "twilight" and others.

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[riceballalien]

Buffy is very different than her usual self. I think that all started when she came back from the dead. It seems like Buffy is finally realizing she is back for good and its not going to change anytime soon. Seems like she blocks a lot out...and thus becomes emotionless. She went back to the one thing that always came easy to her. Of course that would be slaying. Relationships, school, bills, and everything that comes with her new life. I think for anyone it is overwhelming to deal with. Throwing in supernatural things, it was even harder. I think it is a natural side effect of life. Very reasonable why she would become the way she did. It makes it more real life possible.

Also, it has a lot to do with her realizing...she isn't the only one with power. Willow and the other slayers have the same or maybe more power to her. So I guess, it would be more trying to prove herself to everyone. So in conclusion, yes and no.

 

[Andrew2080]

I agree with riceballalien... She did become much more emotionless. Before that Buffy had two sides, cheery normal Buffy and serious slayer Buffy. In season 7 she had kind of embraced the slayer Buffy side. Maybe she realised her destiny, and gave up the cheery normal Buffy that didn't worry. I missed that cheeryness.

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