Sept. 26-Oct 3 Discussion - led by caintaintdead

[Buffy Summers]

caintaintdead you can post your topic here.

🙂

 

[caitaintdead]

Topic: Would The Gift have made a better series final than Chosen?

Episodes to Review: The Gift, Chosen (please feel free to watch the final 3 episodes of each Season to get an overall feel)

You've got plenty of time to watch two episodes, so get watching and I'll see y'all on the 26th!

 

[Buffy Summers]

I think The Gift had a better sense of finality than Chosen...though of course I would have been sad to have only 5 seasons of Buffy...

 

[TaylorSwift]

I love both finales but they're pretty different from each other so that's understandable. The Gift was a great finale because Buffy does her ultimate sacrifice, she finds out what her gift, to her friends and world, is. She got that part of herself done, complete and she jumps, accepting her role and everything she is. So whoa..amazing character growth, especially since it's THE main character. But The Gift wold have made the finale of all finales? Honestly, I don't think so. Buffy had so much to discover about herself at that point (love,friends,work) and she never experienced hitting a really low point as we see in season 6 (as much as I hate this season, I think they needed to show her down that path because characters in Buffy are never one-dimensional) and all the characters got introspection and growth..let's think of Willow. Joss and the writers wrote about her magic inclination and powers more and more, giving hints of what was to come and if it would have ended all in season 5? What a waste. As Darla said, Th Gift has a better sense of finality but it's not really the end, the journey is so not complete. Chosen, even if it could've been A LOT better, gives me chills and it gives me the mood for a proper finale. Buffy and the cookies speech which fits her journey so well, Angel coming back, everyone fighting for what's right and one big, world-altering decision. The characters and the relationships between them are defined and that's why I think Chosen is a better finale then The Gift..it has more closure and more development (from season 6 and part of season 7 of course).

 

[msfantastico87]

I think the Gift was a better finale. It was a lot more dramatic. If there was a way to have them swap positions, it would have been better.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

As an episode, I like The Gift better. But I'm really really glad they didn't end the series there. Of course there is the reason of wanting it to continue, and second, I don't want Buffy dead in the end, because if it would have ended there, that was it. BtVS without Buffy it's just wrong and impossible to me. Dead Buffy means it won't continue. Also, I like her usually, I don't want her dead. So although S5's ending was better script wise, I'm glad Chosen ended the show and not The Gift, it was right, it felt right. Except I didn't want Spike and Anya to die either, but it got good because, "Hello, Spike, you're back!"

I know the ratings was much better in season 5. But I don't give a damn on ratings, I care for the show that I love no matter what. Even if less people watched it by S7, I don't care as long as the show continues. Same for the comics. I don't care how bad it is, at least the Buffyverse is still alive!

 

[BuffyElevated]

While I really like the open ending of "Chosen", with all those girls getting their Slayer calling, I think overall "The Gift" would have been a better series finale. For one thing, because Buffy would have ended on a sad note, but we would have known that Buffy finally got some peace after all the good she had done for the world. Also, Spike and Anya wouldn't have died. 😉

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

I loved both of the finales. The Gift was really a better episode then Chosen, but I don't think I could live knowing Buffy is dead. Maybe if season 6 was done differently I wouldn't have doubts.

 

[Thursday]

If I had to choose between these two, I'd pick The Gift.

It was better constructed as an episode. It may have had some deus ex machina (Buffy figuring out that she and Dawn had the same blood was a revelation that came out of nowhere/super-powered troll hammer?), but, IMO, it's crimes weren't nearly as egregious as Chosen's were.

And, I liked The Gift's overall message more. The idea of Buffy and Willow activating The Potentials is, well, I just really don't like it.

 

[paks]

I like both episodes. The Gift is one of my all time favs. But I am happy the show did not end there. I will compare it to my other all time favorite show Xena. I hated how Xena ended and have never watched the final two episodes again. With Chosen you have a very good ending where the main character lives on to fight another day, or just get to be the normal girl she wanted. I thought the show ended well.

 

[Willow-Tree]

I would have to say "Chosen," because I didn't want Buffy to end there. I know it's sad that Spike and Anya died, but if there wasn't a Season Six or a Season Seven, Anya and Spike wouldn't have gotten, really, enough character development for us to really care if they've died.

The characters' journeys were not over at that point ("The Gift") and I would have been disappointed to see it end there.

 

[caitaintdead]

Okay, so if we could have seen The Gift as a Season 7 finale I think most people would have preferred The Gift as a finale. Why is this? What issues did you have with Chosen? Do you feel that Chosen may have been a better show if we hadn't have seen Season 8?

Personally I feel that Season 8 cheapens Chosen to me. I preferred to be left with the audience imagination aspect. Considering what happens in Season 8, I would have preferred Buffy to die a noble death in Season 5.

 

[Willow-Tree]

Okay, so if we could have seen The Gift as a Season 7 finale I think most people would have preferred The Gift as a finale. Why is this? What issues did you have with Chosen? Do you feel that Chosen may have been a better show if we hadn't have seen Season 8?

But with everything that happened in Season 6 and 7 leading up to the finale, I don't see how The Gift could have worked at that time...

 

[StarSlayer]

I think I'm in the minority here, but if I had to choose between a better finale, I would pick "Chosen." It's not just because Buffy keeps on living, but I like the messages. I like how Buffy's describes herself in the cookie dough speech because she's being honest with herself. She still wants to grow not just as the Slayer, but as a woman. I also like how Buffy shares her power with the potentials, and in the process, with every other girl/woman out there. It's time for all of them to stand up and be strong. Plus, Buffy fights her battle with a mortal wound and wins. I love watching her succeed after everything she goes through in s7 🙂

 

[caitaintdead]

So do any bangel fans think they may be biased because in The Gift Buffy doesn't think about Angel at all? Or have any time for him really? If The Gift had have ended the show would bangel shippers been disappointed that the last we saw of Bangel was the graveyard scene in Forever?

 

[msfantastico87]

What issues did you have with Chosen? Do you feel that Chosen may have been a better show if we hadn't have seen Season 8?

ok for me, Chosen felt like the writers had nothing left up their sleeves. Nothing to impress us with. The idea of having a bunch of girls turn into potential slayers is kind of the easy way out. I think they did that so that they could kind of leave Buffy with some sort of happy ending, so that we can see that Buffy no longer has to worry about carrying the weight on her shoulders all by her lonesome. However, they failed miserably. The idea of the potentials was really needed to make a season 8. I can think of many things they could have done instead of having the potentials.

The message the Gift gives out is that of sacrifice. She sacrificed herself over her sister. She knew that the only way to make things right is for her to jump, instead of Dawn. She was actually quite smart about it in the long run. Not like the world would be doomed without Buffy, because eventually, a new slayer would show up at Sunnydale and everything would go back to the way it was. Yes it would suck to have an ending where Buffy dies, but at least it will clarify things a lot more and it won't give us such a stupid cliffhanger.

 

[caitaintdead]

See I don’t know if I like the idea of a cliffhanger, but I don’t think I would have liked to be left not knowing what happened to the scoobies. If they were going to finish the show at Season 5 I would have definitely wanted a spin off about the scoobies to be caught up on what was happening. This is the complete opposite to how I feel about Season 8 of Buffy. Chosen left me not wanting to know what happens, and when I did find out what happened, I was disappointed.

 

[msfantastico87]

ummm sorry..lol I think i did a typo or something...I meant to say that the potentials were'nt really needed for season 8. And I agree about not liking what s8 brought us. It's why I don't really consider it part of the actual series(although Dawn and Xander are really cute together =])

 

[caitaintdead]

Haha, I was wondering why you thought having the potentials was necessary! It's not a very common opinion. I wonder if people would have preferred the idea if there were less potentials, they were older, or they were written better? I mean, I kinda could have handled watching Dawn (as a potential), Amanda and Vi I think, with Dawn taking more of the Kennedy boss role.

Are people's problems with Chosen as a finale more to do with the entire of Season 7 or the episode itself? I actually find Chosen quite a strong episode, but the lead up to it is quite weak. If you compare the stories surrounding The Gift to Chosen I think most people would find they prefer The Gifts side story lines.

 

[msfantastico87]

Haha, I was wondering why you thought having the potentials was necessary! It's not a very common opinion. I wonder if people would have preferred the idea if there were less potentials, they were older, or they were written better? I mean, I kinda could have handled watching Dawn (as a potential), Amanda and Vi I think, with Dawn taking more of the Kennedy boss role.

To be honest, mostly Kennedy pissed me off. I really enjoyed seeing Dawn develop into a potential and Vi was awesome.

Are people's problems with Chosen as a finale more to do with the entire of Season 7 or the episode itself? I actually find Chosen quite a strong episode, but the lead up to it is quite weak. If you compare the stories surrounding The Gift to Chosen I think most people would find they prefer The Gifts side story lines.

I agree with you here. The finale is very strong, but not only was it presented at the wrong time, but the journey to that point was pretty much stupid and pointless.