I prefer the finale episode "Chosen" over "Not Fade Away," for several reasons. Above and beyond all else, I DESPISE cliffhangers as season finales. They're bad enough as a lead in to the next season, but ending a series like that is, in my opinion, nothing short of sadism on the part of the writers. (And while we're on that subject, the bail out in the alley that resulted in "After The Fall" was about as lame as anything I've ever seen, but it does illustrate perfectly that Joss painted himself into a corner with the finale of "Angel," and didn't leave himself a decent escape. Then, when "ATF" became reality, he just plain couldn't figure a way out without a massive Deus Ex Machina)
"Chosen" ended on a note of hope. The load was off of Buffy's back, she could begin, as Faith said, "living like a normal person," the hellmouth had been closed (someone else could take care of Cleveland) Buffy had finally admitted to herself that she COULD actually love someone besides Angel. She and Faith seemed to have at last come to some sort of understanding, and showed, at least to me, signs of moving toward becoming real friends. No, it didn't end perfectly. People who we had come to know and appreciate were dead, exactly the way that always happens in a war, but we knew that their deaths most certainly were not in vain. The enemy had been defeated and the world was once more safe. The final scene was of something that we so rarely ever saw in the entire 7 years of the show. Buffy actually smiled.
