The Best Buffy Season Finale?

[Mr Trick]

So from the seven seasons which aired on Television which one had the best final episode in your opinion? If you like you can include the two-parters as one episode.

It is Restless for me. It is my favourite episode of them all, and was such a different way to close a season. It perfectly forgrounded what was to come without giving too much away. It was such an advancement in terms of narrative, visuals and atmosphere. And since I like my cult TV on the surreal side just perfect for me. It is also a good episode due to all the different readings it opens up. The Gift would be a close second, as Glory was a proper big bad, and it gives Dawn a purpose, and the ending is really unexpected and shows just why Buffy is so heroic.

Restless
The Gift
Graduation Day (1&2)
Prophecy Girl
Becoming (1&2)
Chosen
Grave

Would be my order.

 

[Blaze]

Restless and the Gift for me, I have a hard time choosing. Probably a slight advantage to Restless, because it was so different and such a cool concept.

 

[VisionBoy]

Graduation Day and The Gift are my favourites. I'm leaning more towards The Gift, but that may be because I watched it recently.

 

[Lyri]

'The Gift' comes out top for me - it should have been the series finale. But I also love 'Becoming PT2', so I voted for that, too.

 

[thetopher]

Graduation Part 1/2- I prefer the more epic feeling two part finales. GD is just about perfect pacing- wise. Lots of memorable moments, the culmination of a season long plot arc, the Buffy/Faith fight, their intimate dream sequence, Willow/Oz sweetness, Angel bickering with Xander, the graduation class going to war, Angel kicking ass, Cordy staking her first vamp, Harmony getting bit...lots of awesome too much to mention.
The only thing that falls flat is the Mayor-transformation and how quickly he's dealt with. Still, big explosion.

S3 ending is both optomistic/happy and seems like an end of an era (no high school, no Cordelia, no Angel, no Snyder, etc) but with still plenty of good stuff to look forward too as the Scoobies start towards adulthood.

I also think S7 'Chosen' is good, lots of great moments, funny, great action, although I consider 'End Of Days' part 1 of that S7 two part finale.

'The Gift' goes down in my estimations every time I watch it (I used to love the hell out of it), since I know all of what comes after. It just seems like a warning for all the oncoming pain/horror.
Also some of the character stuff just seems so hollow knowing what's to come; Xander proposing to Anya (doesn't end well), Willow saving Tara's mind (ditto), Spike's touching declaration to Buffy that he knows that he's a monster (yeah, that realisation didn't really last did it?).

 

[Mr Trick]

Graduation Part 1/2- I prefer the more epic feeling two part finales. GD is just about perfect pacing- wise. Lots of memorable moments, the culmination of a season long plot arc, the Buffy/Faith fight, their intimate dream sequence, Willow/Oz sweetness, Angel bickering with Xander, the graduation class going to war, Angel kicking ass, Cordy staking her first vamp, Harmony getting bit...lots of awesome too much to mention.
The only thing that falls flat is the Mayor-transformation and how quickly he's dealt with. Still, big explosion.

S3 ending is both optomistic/happy and seems like an end of an era (no high school, no Cordelia, no Angel, no Snyder, etc) but with still plenty of good stuff to look forward too as the Scoobies start towards adulthood.

I also think S7 'Chosen' is good, lots of great moments, funny, great action, although I consider 'End Of Days' part 1 of that S7 two part finale.

'The Gift' goes down in my estimations every time I watch it (I used to love the hell out of it), since I know all of what comes after. It just seems like a warning for all the oncoming pain/horror.
Also some of the character stuff just seems so hollow knowing what's to come; Xander proposing to Anya (doesn't end well), Willow saving Tara's mind (ditto), Spike's touching declaration to Buffy that he knows that he's a monster (yeah, that realisation didn't really last did it?).

I do think Chosen gets a bad rap. Reguardless of what people might think about S7 the finale itself works really well for me. I guess the only slight thing against it is just because we have been so used to a big world saving battle to end a season by that point than it just feels like another one to add to the list. But, still it is the character direction which really makes the episode. And the final shot is beautiful.

 

[VisionBoy]

I like Chosen. Not my favourite finale, but I do like it and I think it's a good ending for Buffy; comics or no comics.

 

[sk]

I find many of these "which is the best..." questions to be hard to answer most times.
But on this particularly topic so do I have a clear favourite.
And that is the Season 2 finale. Becoming part 2.

/SK

 

[white avenger]

Undoubtedly, "Becoming," especially the end of Part 2. Every time that I watch it, I am saddened by Buffy's inescapable decision to send Angel to hell in order to save the world. I may argue as to whether or not Angel, in fact, actually died, or more accurately, died more dead than he already was, if that makes any sense, at the end of that episode, but I have no doubt whatsoever that that scene was the best few moments that David and Sarah shared in the entire series.

 

[Blaze]

'The Gift' goes down in my estimations every time I watch it (I used to love the hell out of it), since I know all of what comes after. It just seems like a warning for all the oncoming pain/horror.
Also some of the character stuff just seems so hollow knowing what's to come; Xander proposing to Anya (doesn't end well), Willow saving Tara's mind (ditto), Spike's touching declaration to Buffy that he knows that he's a monster (yeah, that realisation didn't really last did it?).

It's interesting, I get the complete opposite reaction. Instead of seeing it as a "what to come", I see it as the ultimate episode for future hope. Things turned to shit right after (and you're right, they screw up pretty much everything good that happened in the Gift), but I still can't help to see the episode as hopeful. The episode represents well the ups and the downs of life, and just because sometimes things go to hell and you didn't plan it, it doesn't mean that those moments of hope were not beautiful. That's how I would classify the Gift, it's a beautiful ending to that chapter of their life.

I agree about Chosen though, I think it's underrated. s7 was less than what I would have wanted for a final season, but Chosen was epic, it holds a special place in my heart.

 

[EVIL UU]

Personally, I like "Prophecy Girl" the most - tight script, lots of highly entertaining scenes and a great balance between high school drama and occult action.

 

[SiegePerilous02]

Voted for the Gift, which should have been the series finale. It was just such a perfect send off to the series. But I also really love Becoming, Graduation Day and Restless as well. I also really wish Joss had done Grave. A Joss-writen/directed Dark Willow episode would have been amazing.

 

[Pike]

While I could have picked nearly all of them I just picked Becoming Part 2.

This episode/finale is what got me hooked to the show back in 98(?). I had never watched
anything like it! Even after all of these years the episode is so good! It wraps up the season
so well. It has just enough lose ends, cries, and cheers.

I LOVE Season Six.. it's my favorite! While I love the tear-jerker, less grande finale road they
chose I love Becoming. My next choice would have been Graduation Day- another epic ending.
I will say I am not one for big fight scenes. I love good dialogue. So from here Grave slides in!

Becoming
Graduation Day
Grave
The Gift
Prophecy Girl
Chosen
Restless

 

[pixiedreams]

The Gift. Amazing ending, it'll always be my favorite.

 

[Nix]

I went with Chosen. Just loved that episode so much, for me it was a good ending.

 

[UndeadAmerican]

I could easily pick any of them, and have reasons for each one. They're all so good.

Gotta go with "The Gift". The past 3 episodes were just nonstop adventure and I think "The Gift" wraps them up perfectly. More than that it just seems so...hopeful? I don't know, it's such fitting end and every single character ends on a high note. Nothing has gone to hell yet, and while I'm glad we got 44 more episodes of Buffy (who wouldn't be?), there is just something that isn't quite the same after this episode. Kind of like the end of an era.

At the end of season 5, there really isn't any character where you can say "wow there story isn't done". Sure, it's not, because shit hits the fan in s6, but as of the end of s5, every character has come such a long way. Even side characters like Spike and Anya (Spike acting "human"/loving Buffy or Anya staying this time for this apocalypse instead of running way, etc) seemed to have an end.

Xander found love in Anya, Willow get's Tara back, Dawn's ready to take on the world to honor Buffy....Buffy got to save the world and her sister. It's such a bittersweet ending, but it just seems so...complete. It's sad knowing what's to come 🙁 but I digress. It just seems like such great ending to that era of their life.

That said, "Prophecy Girl" I think is a great prime example for what makes this show so great. >>

Personally, I like "Prophecy Girl" the most - tight script, lots of highly entertaining scenes and a great balance between high school drama and occult action.

Very well said!

 

[AnthonyCordova]

I chose Restless. The Gift would have been my second choice.

I thought it was brilliant to make the season 4 finale about the consequences of the slayer magic that the scoobies invoked in defeating Adam. It set the tone for the rest of the series and richly added to the legacy of the slayer line. It opened up a million interesting questions in an authentically artistic way. I like that it also managed to address so many features and issues of all of the main characters and also anticipate many future issues that would emerge later. It also changed the nature by which Buffy understood her calling as a slayer, as well as the understanding of the slayer for the audience. The nature and meaning of the slayer forever changed permanently afterwards, for both Buffy and me as the viewer. I consider Restless not just the finale of S4, but the finale to the first half of the series. You can divide the Buffy television series into two halves, before and after Restless, not because it is the midway point, but because it initiated a change in perspective for everyone involved. And many of the characters really began their big changes afterwards (which like I said, the episode anticipated them). That's how I view it.