Discussion of 7.22 "Chosen" - Aired 5/22/03 (UPN-US)

[FuzzyHandcuffs]

Is it just me or is Angel not nearly as... emo as he was when he was on Buffy full time? (I haven't watched much of Angel yet, that's the next thing on the list, I'm back at multi tasking.) I really like when Angel comes back but the last 2 times (this is the first time we've seen him on Buffy since Joyce died.) he always shows up for like 2-5 scenes and then... leaves. I'm not a fan. Wtf Joss?

Way to step up, Spike! I have a soft place in my heart for you.

Caleb, Go. Away.

Mount up, we're gonna win. I love confident Buffy!

I kinda like Wood and Faith together. He isn't afraid to take her ego down a few notches. They're pretty well meant for each other.

Kennedy annoys the crap outta me.

Hahahahaha Giles with the fantasy games. 'I used to be a highly regarded Watcher, now I'm a dwarf with the mystical strength of a doily.' Geez, I love him.

'No body cares, you little monkey.' Anya. I love you.

Ahhhh old time Scoobies! I love them.

Hahahah Giles, "Here I am, invisible to the eye... The earth is definitely doomed."

The seal, how CGI of you.

Buffy's speech as they're getting ready for battle, epic. Probably one of my favorite speeches (Number 2 behind Spike's I now have a soul speech.)

Ahhhh Willow! I loved it! Blonde and amazing! She's perfect.

Buffy! No!!! And commercial. Come on Hulu.

The passing of the big gun... or axe... Come on Faith.

Anya. No. No. No. Dear, sweet, Anya.

This music is pretty epic.

Spike, for the love of Pete, that was awesome. But I have a feeling all that power kills you

Buffy and Spike are amazing. Fire hands. FINALLY SHE SAYS I LOVE YOU. I am an avid Bangel shipper, but I have grown extremely fond of Spike.

And just like that, Spike is gone. So depressing.

Holy fakeness behind Buffy as the school collapses behind her.

And the entire city of Sunnydale is... gone.

Bonding moment over Anya. So sad. Poor Xander. Anya was so brave during that fight though.

HAHAHAHA There is another Hellmouth in Cleveland. How freaking fitting. There would be a Hellmouth in Cleveland. It basically is hell. I would know. I lived there for 7 years.

Not gonna lie, I cried when the end credits rolled. What an excellent show. I can't believe i didn't start watching it until 3 weeks ago. I can't believe I finished it that quickly. Now it's time to watch some Angel...

 

[white avenger]

I was a little unclear about how the power of Buffy's scythe was capable of transforming all of the potentials into slayers. What specifically about that scythe was capable of doing that? I'm sure I could find the details somewhere, but I figured I might as well ask here first. It kind of felt like the power of the scythe to turn potentials into slayers was something of a deus ex machina too (a too-convenient way to resolve the difficulties of the plot) but maybe not, I'm not sure. It felt a little like that though. Willow's magic abilities have always had that quality too (including the final spell to turn everyone to slayers). A little too easy and convenient.

I think that the scythe was just supposed to be a focal point for Willow to base her spell on, something that was,in a very real way, actually a part of the entire Slayer history, from the First Slayer all the way through Buffy and Faith, even though apparently few, if any, of the previous Slayers had ever used it. It would be sort of like taking a lock of Buffy's hair and using it to cast a spell on her. The Scythe served the same purpose, but for the entire Slayer/Potential history.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

[MENTION=6758]white avenger[/MENTION] thanks for clearing that up. I looked up some stuff/ideas about the scythe online too

 

[EVIL UU]

[MENTION=12670]AnthonyCordova[/MENTION]

I was a little unclear about how the power of Buffy's scythe was capable of transforming all of the potentials into slayers.

Basically, the slayer is a hybrid, a chimera created from human and demonic elements, kinda like Adam. So, to create a slayer you need human parts, preferably in the form of a living human, and demon parts. Shadow Men used a spirit and a heart of a pure demon and imbued Sineya the first slayer with it thus creating the slayer line. Human + demon guts = the slayer, got it? Damn, is this shit gross or what? Anyway, to activate the potentials Willow needed to do the same. She had the potentials - that's the human part. She also needed a demon part. Here's where the Scythe comes in. At some point a bunch of witches used a spirit of a demon to create the Scythe, a weapon for the slayer. Willow used this spirit to turn potentials into slayers. In the end it's Willow's power that activates the potentials, Scythe is just an ingredient of a spell, a glorified battery.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

[MENTION=11194]EVIL UU[/MENTION] thanks, that's the clearest explanation I've been able to find anywhere.

 

[Charmander]

I do like the little moments in this episode, such as when the scoobies all group together to chat about mundane things before the fight. This kind of thing had been lacking almost the entire season!
Xander called Anya "Sweetie", so I'm guessing they actually got back together. Which is why I hate the lame reaction he had to her death. I get that they didn't want Xander to be wallowing in grief in the last episode, but that's why it should have been longer. Also, the shot with Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Dawn and Faith would have been extra brilliant if Anya had been included in it. (And it would have been cool to see Cordelia there too) I just think it would have been a bad idea to kill any of the mains in a 40 minute finale episode because it isn't a good send off to a character.

I think Spike's ending is done brilliantly. It's heartbreaking when the camera pans out and we just see him disintegrate. Still gives me a lump in my throat.

 

[bespangeled]

I do like the little moments in this episode, such as when the scoobies all group together to chat about mundane things before the fight. This kind of thing had been lacking almost the entire season!
Xander called Anya "Sweetie", so I'm guessing they actually got back together. Which is why I hate the lame reaction he had to her death. I get that they didn't want Xander to be wallowing in grief in the last episode, but that's why it should have been longer. Also, the shot with Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Dawn and Faith would have been extra brilliant if Anya had been included in it. (And it would have been cool to see Cordelia there too) I just think it would have been a bad idea to kill any of the mains in a 40 minute finale episode because it isn't a good send off to a character.

I think Spike's ending is done brilliantly. It's heartbreaking when the camera pans out and we just see him disintegrate. Still gives me a lump in my throat.

Yeah, the world is definitely doomed - good callback. What a long journey it has been - peek back at WttH and they look like bitty babies.

I do love Spike's ending. I like the hand holding and I love you - no you don't. But most of all I like that it seemed, at least to me, that it was no longer about Buffy. He knew what he wanted to do, needed to do. It wasn't about atonement - you can't change the past - it was about what the present and the future needed.

And I love the very end - except for the fact that the sign that fell said Now Leaving Sunnydale. That's confusing because it always looks like they destroyed the area just past Sunnydale. Should have been the Welcome sign - that would make sense.

 

[GentlyBenevolnt]

Just rewatched from Storyteller to the end, because it's a bank holiday and we're both too knackered to move.
I love it as an ending, emotionally because of the epic Gladiator style music for the big fight and intellectually because it's the perfect resolution: rather than becoming less human (thanks to the Shadow Men in a consent-issue way) or just having a bigger weapon... the real answer personally and politically is to share your power with other women and to drop the burden of so much lone responsibility so young.
My only issue is that it would have been way more fun as a battle if they'd nicked some rocket launchers from the military base and used the oxygen tanks as bombs too, but hey you can't have everything x

 

[Give Us A Kiss]

During my first viewing of the episode, I was really nervous because I didn't know if any of the potentials or the slayers survive the final battle against the hellmouth.

And R.I.P Anya and Caleb

 

[gite63]

Rushed, but epic anyway.

Caleb sliced in two is something very cool to see. Good riddance.

So Angel arrives bringing the ex-machina trinket, and immediately smells Spike on Buffy; interesting that he doesn't get horrified or surprised by it - I mean, he doesn't know about the soul yet (and even the chip, would Buffy have told him about it when they met in S5 and S6???). And he is cute when he is twelve... And then Buffy admits that she has her non-boyfriend in her heart, and sends Angel away with a silly cooking dough speech. I like it.

Spike punching the drawing is hilarious, I mean, the drawing is, and saying that people don't use their tongues to say hello... cute. Him wanting to wear the trinket, and Buffy calling him a Champion - what a long and painful and beautiful journey for him till this moment!

Kennedy admits she is a brat, that's something...

Faith's indignation about Wood opinion on her bed skills... well, he has a point: he is really prettier (I love her reaction with her hands), and older, and more experienced than her...

Buffy's idea to make all Potentials Slayers have already been discussed and criticized as something that instead of being empowering was kind of a violation of girls around the world, Potentials that didn't have a choice in the matter. I agree that it was an imposition of a burden on those girls, but I don't see it as something wrong at that particular moment, when time was a factor, and they had no other alternative.

So, putting aside the moral implications for a while, the spell performed by Willow and the transformation of the girls at the Hellmouth seems to be something very... empowering. Willow going all godess instead of turn dark is heartwarming, after all predicaments Will had gone through (and had put people through).

The battle is epic and some Potentials die (and I still haven't learned their names). Buffy and Spike with their hands in flames - beautiful. And Spike dies in an effulgent glory, and thank goodness I knew at the time that he would be in AtS, if not, I would have cried myself to death.

Anya...

When Giles asks "what did it", Buffy says "Spike" and looks heartbroken at the crater.

The finale ends with hope in the future - and it couldn't be different - although we all know that things will get very messy in the comics...

I really like S7.

 

[bespangeled]

I always figured Buffy smiled at that crater thinking how much Spike would have loved seeing what he had done!

 

[gite63]

I always figured Buffy smiled at that crater thinking how much Spike would have loved seeing what he had done!

She smiles at the end; when she looks at the crater, she's sad, pensive; then, the Sunnydale sign falls - a homage to Spike.

 

[GoSpuffy]

I always thought she looks sad at first as she realizes she has lost Spike, and then happy because she realizes he has found his redemption. Put me on the list of season 7 lovers.

 

[Athena]

I think Chosen would have benefitted greatly from being a two-part ender. It wouldn't have felt so rushed that way.

I know it was episode 22 out of 22, but surely something could have given way in the season for an epic two-part series finale?

 

[Silverspike]

I'm afraid I've never been a big fan of Chosen. Too many plot holes for my liking. and I agree, it all felt a wee too rushed.

 

[PreferSpike]

I just finished the series for the first time and I thought the finale was kind of perfect.

I love Spike; he is my favorite character. Spike went out as a hero and I love that. And him saying "schools out for summer" was great and perfectly Spike. And the "no you don't but thanks for saying it" was funny. He died laughing and being kind of a bada** which was a great way to honor the character.

I also loved the scooby scene with xander, buffy, willow, and giles talking about the mall and then the trio walking away from an annoyed Giles. It was a perfect honor to earlier seasons.

Only 2 gripes, Her kissing angel didn't seem to fit. But I know Joss put that in there for Bangel fans and I get that. With all the Spuffy this season, Bangel deserved some love.

I also didnt like the insinuation of Buffy and Spike sleeping together without confirming whether they did or not. But after what happened in season 6, I get that. I love that the last thing Buffy says in the whole series is Spike and that Giles realizes Spike played a big part in saving the world.

Her smile at the end was great and I love the angle they took making the girls slayers.

I binged this thing way too fast, over about 4 weeks. It was an intense ride. I'm glad it's over. But I have to say it's one of the best shows I've seen. I keep hearing I should check out Firefly but I'm not sure I'm ready for more Whedon yet.

 

[Out for a walk]

So I have finally gotten to the end of my series rewatch. I was always satisfied with the ending. (Especially knowing that it wasn't the end for Spike). I do remember being very upset when I watched it "live".

That final battle reminds me of a Lord of the Rings type battle. You think how in the world will they win this?? Great battle and the sign falling at the end in honor of Spike's very first scene was perfect. I also love that Buffy's last line of the whole series was "Spike". He finally got to be her hero.


I love her smile at the end...got me teary eyed. She can finally have peace.

 

[white avenger]

Something that I have always wondered about the final battle is, why did Faith and Spike go into the hellmouth totally unarmed? Granted, they are two of the three most powerful fighters in the group, but, still, ubervamps can't be killed without weapons of some sort. The only explanation that makes any sort of sense is that there are so few weapons left available to Buffy and her team that there simply weren't enough to go around. (I distinctly remember seeing one of the Potentials armed with nothing more than a long sharp stick) Obviously, Buffy and Giles wouldn't have any sort of real arsenal in Sunnydale, since it would never have been needed.

 

[Athene]

Something that I have always wondered about the final battle is, why did Faith and Spike go into the hellmouth totally unarmed? Granted, they are two of the three most powerful fighters in the group, but, still, ubervamps can't be killed without weapons of some sort. The only explanation that makes any sort of sense is that there are so few weapons left available to Buffy and her team that there simply weren't enough to go around. (I distinctly remember seeing one of the Potentials armed with nothing more than a long sharp stick) Obviously, Buffy and Giles wouldn't have any sort of real arsenal in Sunnydale, since it would never have been needed.

I think that Spike and Faith are just very physical fighters who like to use their fists, but actually that was pretty stupid of them because it'll take a while to beat the vamps to death.

 

[Out for a walk]

Something that I have always wondered about the final battle is, why did Faith and Spike go into the hellmouth totally unarmed? Granted, they are two of the three most powerful fighters in the group, but, still, ubervamps can't be killed without weapons of some sort. The only explanation that makes any sort of sense is that there are so few weapons left available to Buffy and her team that there simply weren't enough to go around. (I distinctly remember seeing one of the Potentials armed with nothing more than a long sharp stick) Obviously, Buffy and Giles wouldn't have any sort of real arsenal in Sunnydale, since it would never have been needed.

I am with you on this. It would make sense if they were limited on weapons. They gave the weapons to the weaker ones.