nerd4hire
Certified Uncloneable
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Messages
- 9,102
There's a quote by Joss Whedon that in my opinion isn't quoted enough. Here it is:
Q: How would you explain the message to fans who didn't understand season seven?
Joss: Watch it again when it comes out on DVD. I think not understanding it would be the worst, because it's almost didactic in its clarity.
http://actionadventure.about.com/cs/weeklystories/a/aa072803.htm
Just in case it isn't immediately clear what Joss is saying, here's a definition of didactic.
didactic
Fitted or intended to teach; conveying instruction; preceptive; instructive
To me this says the instuctions on what is going on in Season 7 are in the text, and they are clear. You can infer more from them, such as moral lessons, but basically the information given is what you use.
I think if you look at S-7 that way a lot of stuff that didn't make sense, all of a sudden does.
For example when the characters continually say and speak as if Buffy has been re-inserted in the slayer line so that it now passes through her, it's because it has.
When Anya and Giles come to the conclusion in Showtime this was caused by bringing Buffy back mystically from the dead in Bargaining 1 that's what happened.
When the first Turok-han we see appears to be more powerful than the Turok-hans of Chosen, it's because it was.
Here's how the reasoning goes in that particular case.
If summoning the first Turok-han requires a special mystic ceremony, with a special ceremonial knife and symbols, it's logical to infer from this that the magic done here is what gives the First Turok-han it's special power.
It goes like this. Joss Whedon tells us everything we need to find an explanation is in the text. The first ubie is superior to the ones that follow. The only difference we see between ubie # 1 and the others is the mystical ceremony required to summon him. Conclusion: That's why it is more powerful than the others.
You can apply that kind of logic sequence to any question you have about Season 7.
Example:
How does Buffy know where to look for the Guardians' temple?
* Buffy tells us in a conversation with Spike, she knows the temple is on unconsecrated ground. We never see how this information comes to Buffy.
Infer from that: The information was delivered off-screen.
Also infer: Information concerning on-screen events is sometimes discovered by the characters through study off-screen.
* Buffy spends a lot of time in cemetaries.
Infer from that: Buffy knows the layout of those cemetaries.
* Some cemetaries are on consecrated ground.
Infer from that: The area outside such a cemetary would be unconsecrated.
* Buffy walks through a cemetary, out a gate, and up to what looks like a crypt outside of the cemetary grounds.
Conclusions from all this: Buffy has gone from consecrated ground to unconsecrated ground. She was looking for a cemetary on consecrated ground with a crypt outside of it. This was decided off-screen as a result of study. She knew where to look because she's hung around in a lot of cemetaries.
So you see what I mean right?
The answers to all these questions people have concerning things that don't seem to make sense in Season 7 actually have answers embedded in the text. You just have to accept the answers are there, and look for them.
Joss tells us that's the way we're supposed to watch Season 7.
In fact challenge me on this if you like. Show me something that doesn't seem to make sense in S 7, and I bet I can show you how it does.
Q: How would you explain the message to fans who didn't understand season seven?
Joss: Watch it again when it comes out on DVD. I think not understanding it would be the worst, because it's almost didactic in its clarity.
http://actionadventure.about.com/cs/weeklystories/a/aa072803.htm
Just in case it isn't immediately clear what Joss is saying, here's a definition of didactic.
didactic
Fitted or intended to teach; conveying instruction; preceptive; instructive
To me this says the instuctions on what is going on in Season 7 are in the text, and they are clear. You can infer more from them, such as moral lessons, but basically the information given is what you use.
I think if you look at S-7 that way a lot of stuff that didn't make sense, all of a sudden does.
For example when the characters continually say and speak as if Buffy has been re-inserted in the slayer line so that it now passes through her, it's because it has.
When Anya and Giles come to the conclusion in Showtime this was caused by bringing Buffy back mystically from the dead in Bargaining 1 that's what happened.
When the first Turok-han we see appears to be more powerful than the Turok-hans of Chosen, it's because it was.
Here's how the reasoning goes in that particular case.
If summoning the first Turok-han requires a special mystic ceremony, with a special ceremonial knife and symbols, it's logical to infer from this that the magic done here is what gives the First Turok-han it's special power.
It goes like this. Joss Whedon tells us everything we need to find an explanation is in the text. The first ubie is superior to the ones that follow. The only difference we see between ubie # 1 and the others is the mystical ceremony required to summon him. Conclusion: That's why it is more powerful than the others.
You can apply that kind of logic sequence to any question you have about Season 7.
Example:
How does Buffy know where to look for the Guardians' temple?
* Buffy tells us in a conversation with Spike, she knows the temple is on unconsecrated ground. We never see how this information comes to Buffy.
Infer from that: The information was delivered off-screen.
Also infer: Information concerning on-screen events is sometimes discovered by the characters through study off-screen.
* Buffy spends a lot of time in cemetaries.
Infer from that: Buffy knows the layout of those cemetaries.
* Some cemetaries are on consecrated ground.
Infer from that: The area outside such a cemetary would be unconsecrated.
* Buffy walks through a cemetary, out a gate, and up to what looks like a crypt outside of the cemetary grounds.
Conclusions from all this: Buffy has gone from consecrated ground to unconsecrated ground. She was looking for a cemetary on consecrated ground with a crypt outside of it. This was decided off-screen as a result of study. She knew where to look because she's hung around in a lot of cemetaries.
So you see what I mean right?
The answers to all these questions people have concerning things that don't seem to make sense in Season 7 actually have answers embedded in the text. You just have to accept the answers are there, and look for them.
Joss tells us that's the way we're supposed to watch Season 7.
In fact challenge me on this if you like. Show me something that doesn't seem to make sense in S 7, and I bet I can show you how it does.
