Spoiler! The Fate of Tara

[BananaBuffy]

From a narrative sense I completely understand where Joss was coming from. It was a good way to end Season Six and it was a really good way of finally grounding Willow. It made her understand even more what the power could do to her and show her that she never wanted to go back there agian. So from a narrative point of view it was a good idea. But I am a Tara fan and so I was devestaed. I love her as a character and Willow and Tara were finally happy again. Joss has always said that he can't allow characters to be happy for too long on his show and he's right.

But as I said, I understand why it happened. I do wish that they had brought Amber Benson back in Conversations with Dead People but I understand why that didn't happen too. It's sad.

 

[Justme]

Hmmm I voted on the side of her being killed although I don't feel it was necessary. I just really liked Willow being evil I thought it worked really nicely given the theme of season six etc.

Reading the interview with AB has made me go "mu-uh?" I had no idea this was for Willows character development. If this is true Joss Whedon is such an utter jack ass.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

That's the thing, I'm not saying IT was necessary, in a particular way. But something had to happen, and since that happened, it's what it should be. They could find another way, but why? Just 'cause they were happy, just because Tara was a good person, just because Willow is in love, just because it will hurt Tara's fans? I have nothing against Tara, but come on, something had to happen, excuse or not, that's what story is. And that's how Joss choose it to be told. So what's the big problem here? I mean, I didn't wish, or am wishing Tara to day in this horrible way, I don't think ANYONE really truly wanted that. But story wise, why not?

 

[TheVoid68]

The problem with Tara's death isn't that she died, but that she died in such a stupid, contrived and random way that reduced her to little more than a plot device. Compare Doyle's death - now we all loved Doyle, but you rarely hear people complaining about his death, I certainly haven't ever. That's because Doyle's death meant something for his character. It was the culmination of his journey from coward to hero. His death was all about him, while Tara's death was all about Willow. It meant nothing for her character, it was only important to Willow's journey, and it is insulting to treat Tara like an extension of Willow.

Adding to this is a lack of focus on her death in general - they just breezed past it. Compare to Fred - her death was also quite random and meant little to her character, but she had an entire episode dedicated to her and her death. There was real focus on Fred, and her death was given the screentime it deserved to explore it. Tara didn't get an episode, she didn't even get the cliffhanger - again the focus was on Willow and her evil black eyes.

It's not that Tara dying is an inherently bad storyline choice, but I thought that the way her death was done was terrible.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

There are many kinds of deaths. Not all of them are creative (is that the word I'm looking for?). Some die (on the show) by vampires, some die of natural death, etc. Why is Tara's death has to be a major one? She's not even a regular, she doesn't appear in all her seasons' episodes. Willow is a major character, and Tara is only completing her. I'm sorry, but that's my opinion. I have nothing against Tara, I didn't like her dying, but why should all major deaths on Buffy be a big deal to the dying characters themselves?Can't a death be just death? Just because it's this kind of show people die in doesn't mean they all should die "better" than this.

Also, about the other matter, I did think she got focus afterwards. She was in Willow's heart, still, all the time, and she talked about her, she went to visit her grave, she talked to "her" in CWDP, she talked about her with Kennedy. She was always there, and her death, she wasn't overlooked at all. After all Tara is on the show because of Willow, she's her, she's part of her. I'm not saying she's not a characte by her own, but the focus should be on Willow, since she is the one (along with Buffy) who this season is about. Tara is not a major enough character to make a whole season for her. She did get some episodes here and there, she did get storylines. Again, not against her, this is just how I see her character. To each is own. I just don't see why a character should's get a less big of a death. Which I don't think it was, because her death wasn't over looked at all IMO.

 

[TheVoid68]

There are many kinds of deaths. Not all of them are creative (is that the word I'm looking for?). Some die (on the show) by vampires, some die of natural death, etc. Why is Tara's death has to be a major one? She's not even a regular, she doesn't appear in all her seasons' episodes. Willow is a major character, and Tara is only completing her. I'm sorry, but that's my opinion. I have nothing against Tara, I didn't like her dying, but why should all major deaths on Buffy be a big deal to the dying characters themselves?Can't a death be just death? Just because it's this kind of show people die in doesn't mean they all should die "better" than this.

A death should not just be a death, no more than a line should just a be a line, a smile just a smile, a look just a look. What makes great writing is the deeper meaning, the message, the metaphor, the symbolism, the meaning behind the fact. We should be able to probe writing, to explore it and discover new things. We don't want shallow writing, especially for something as huge as a major character's death.

Also, about the other matter, I did think she got focus afterwards. She was in Willow's heart, still, all the time, and she talked about her, she went to visit her grave, she talked to "her" in CWDP, she talked about her with Kennedy. She was always there, and her death, she wasn't overlooked at all. After all Tara is on the show because of Willow, she's her, she's part of her. I'm not saying she's not a characte by her own, but the focus should be on Willow, since she is the one (along with Buffy) who this season is about. Tara is not a major enough character to make a whole season for her. She did get some episodes here and there, she did get storylines. Again, not against her, this is just how I see her character. To each is own. I just don't see why a character should's get a less big of a death. Which I don't think it was, because her death wasn't over looked at all IMO.

I'm talking mainly of her death itself in S6. The repercussions in S7 were handled... acceptably. But in S6, her death was nothing but a footnote to Dark Willow. Her death should be more than a trigger.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

A death should not just be a death, no more than a line should just a be a line, a smile just a smile, a look just a look. What makes great writing is the deeper meaning, the message, the metaphor, the symbolism, the meaning behind the fact. We should be able to probe writing, to explore it and discover new things. We don't want shallow writing, especially for something as huge as a major character's death.



I'm talking mainly of her death itself in S6. The repercussions in S7 were handled... acceptably. But in S6, her death was nothing but a footnote to Dark Willow. Her death should be more than a trigger.

I think Tara's death was big enough, even as a trigger. If that made Willow - the goodest girl on earth, go off this way, it must be REALLY REALLY big death. I think that what made this death greater than you say it was. No one had really stayed indifferent.

About the others, there was so much going on after the death, and what the death has caused. Stopping Willow from destroying the world (and of course killing Warren) was first priority. There is no time to mourn yet, everybody's lives were in danger. There would be more deaths if they would have been dealing with Tara's. I just don't agree with the saying that Tara's death wasn't big enough, or well made. It caused a chain reaction that affected everybody, not just Willow. I'm sure that after Willow was stopped and everything got a little more calmer, they all had a big talk about what happened, and mostly about Tara. So I don't see it as "just death" after all. But I also don't think that in reality all deaths are such a world changing thing (metaphorically). Good script has to be realistic in some way. Even in fantasy shows. And in life, deaths can be "just deaths".

 

[Icarium]

Also, about the other matter, I did think she got focus afterwards. She was in Willow's heart, still, all the time, and she talked about her, she went to visit her grave, she talked to "her" in CWDP, she talked about her with Kennedy. She was always there, and her death, she wasn't overlooked at all.

Only if you happen to think that Willow was the only one who cared about Tara. In S6 the show clearly presented Dawn as very close to Tara and devastated by her death. Fast forward to S7 and surprise - Dawn never mentions Tara and is generally much more cheerful and competent than in previous seasons. WTF? I am not saying Dawn should suicidal or anything but it's hard to shake off the impression that only Willow was "allowed" to mourn Tara. I also find it grossly out of character that Buffy won't feel at least somewhat guilty for not catching Warren earlier, especially since Warren came to the house to kill Buffy, not Tara.

Not that this is the first time the show pulled off something like this, mind you. At least Tara got to be mentioned after her death, which is more than I can say for Jesse. 🙂

And the other major repercussion from Tara's death was also handled horribly, IMO. Willow's rampage should have had way bigger consequences. Morality-issues aside, one can't just write crap like "Willow can be tempted to try to destroy the world given the right (or maybe I should call them wrong?) circumstances" and then turn Willow into a secondary character with close to nothing impact to the plot of most episodes next season. I mean, The First tries once to make Willow kill herself in CWDP, then concentrates on Spike and Buffy for some unknown reason. Why does he need them if Willow is strong enough to do the job and supposedly totally fragile mentally? I know The First is a moron but come on...

I am sure I have said it before but I will repeat it - when a writer comes up with daring plot developments they need to follow things through and deal with the consequences of the characters' actions. When it doesn't happen, the viewers start thinking the writer did it just for cheap shock value.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Only if you happen to think that Willow was the only one who cared about Tara. In S6 the show clearly presented Dawn as very close to Tara and devastated by her death. Fast forward to S7 and surprise - Dawn never mentions Tara and is generally much more cheerful and competent than in previous seasons. WTF? I am not saying Dawn should suicidal or anything but it's hard to shake off the impression that only Willow was "allowed" to mourn Tara. I also find it grossly out of character that Buffy won't feel at least somewhat guilty for not catching Warren earlier, especially since Warren came to the house to kill Buffy, not Tara.

Not that this is the first time the show pulled off something like this, mind you. At least Tara got to be mentioned after her death, which is more than I can say for Jesse. 🙂

And the other major repercussion from Tara's death was also handled horribly, IMO. Willow's rampage should have had way bigger consequences. Morality-issues aside, one can't just write crap like "Willow can be tempted to try to destroy the world given the right (or maybe I should call them wrong?) circumstances" and then turn Willow into a secondary character with close to nothing impact to the plot of most episodes next season. I mean, The First tries once to make Willow kill herself in CWDP, then concentrates on Spike and Buffy for some unknown reason. Why does he need them if Willow is strong enough to do the job and supposedly totally fragile mentally? I know The First is a moron but come on...

I am sure I have said it before but I will repeat it - when a writer comes up with daring plot developments they need to follow things through and deal with the consequences of the characters' actions. When it doesn't happen, the viewers start thinking the writer did it just for cheap shock value.

Tara's death was at the end of the season, following by what I said - that they had other things to worry about at the moment, so I really suppose there was Tara loving and mouring after the season ended, and before season 7. Actually I'm SURE they were dealing with the death at that time-after season 6 and before season 7. We just didn't see it, but I have no doubt in that! All the things you've said I believe DID happen, who said they didn't?

I think the shock was more of an end of a season shock, that's cool IMO, end of season SHOULD be a big deal. So it's okay if they tried to shock us, but I also think they didn't do it just to shock us. It's not like they did it in the middle of the season. The biggest things happen by the end of a period. Also, I think Joss was fully aware of the fact that Tara was very loved by the fans, so I can see where he's coming from. He likes hurt and pain. So I think it came in the right time, a shock that will carry us to the climax of season 6.

And I have to add something, I kinda hated the whole Dark Willow arc. I think THAT was a little out of character. I think it's something, no matter how much Willow loved Tara and how much she was into bad magik, very extreme. So to get THAT extreme you gotta make some trigger that is very extreme. Tara was probably Willow's life, heart and soul. So that's where Tara's death came from: to get to somewhere extreme, there must be an extreme trigger, and I think it was.

About Jesse... Wow, so correct you are! Now THAT wasn't written well, how they've just forgotten him like that. THAT was unreal and stupid! Completely agree with that. But that's also the reason I don't agree about Tara. I see a whole difference script wise.

 

[Icarium]

All the things you've said I believe DID happen, who said they didn't?

Well, I do. 🙂 Seriously, that's a rather weak argument. Maybe these things happened but I don't think it's too much to ask for them to be at least referred to, if not shown. There is no law saying the show had to make a few months time-skip every time a season ended. If the Dull Willow storyline wasn't for shock value only then they absolutely should have shown more of its fallout and aftermath, IMO. For instance, many of the first episodes of S3 deal with the aftermath of the Angelus storyline, even if there is still a few months time-skip. Pushing Willow that far and then refusing to deal with the consequences is bad writing, IMO.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Well, I do. 🙂 Seriously, that's a rather weak argument. Maybe these things happened but I don't think it's too much to ask for them to be at least referred to, if not shown. There is no law saying the show had to make a few months time-skip every time a season ended. If the Dull Willow storyline wasn't for shock value only then they absolutely should have shown more of its fallout and aftermath, IMO. For instance, many of the first episodes of S3 deal with the aftermath of the Angelus storyline, even if there is still a few months time-skip. Pushing Willow that far and then refusing to deal with the consequences is bad writing, IMO.

I do think it makes sense, not a weak argument as you say. It's real in the sense of people don't keep talking about what happened 3 months or so later. It's not forgotten, it's just time that passes by, and everybody moves on. They could mention it, and they did as I said earlier, Willow talked about her, the death was mentioned, what else could you ask for? I'm sure they talked it out.
I'm not saying anything about laws of end of season time skip in general. But we're talking about the end of s6 and the start of s7, and there was obviously a time skip there. There is no law, that's just what happened, that's how Joss wrote it (in most if not all of his seasons).

Willow herself dealt with Tara's death for the entire season. It's obvious she was still thinking about her. She was dealing with the consequences, we see it throughout s7.

About Angelus, get ready for my "weak argument", but that again, makes sense and that's how I see it and think that happened, they weren't too used to all that yet by season 2. Jenny's death was the first meaningful death on Buffy, and everything that came afterwards wasn't obvious anymore. Angelus thing was a very big thing by then. And by the end of season 6, they're kind of "used" to all that death and bad things. They're not indifferent, but they do take it in a more obvious way. Not because they didn't care for Tara, but the Angelus thing was a bigger shock since it was the first. That's my argument anyway.

 

[NY State of Mind]

I don't know...I kind of see both...not sure so I'm not gonna choose

 

[Icarium]

I do think it makes sense, not a weak argument as you say. It's real in the sense of people don't keep talking about what happened 3 months or so later.

So let me get this straight - three months later Willow trying to destroy the world suddenly becomes no big deal for her "friends"? Because she does it every year, I guess...I am not talking just about Tara's death, the show was always sloppy with characters who died or left the show most of them were lucky if they were mentioned once per season. But Willow's sudden reduction to a character of little importance and no depth other than "I am afraid to do magic, because if I do, I will snap my fingers and all enemies will die and the season will end" does tell me that the point of Dull Willow wasn't to explore any "darkness" in her, it was to get some shock value and then largely ignore Willow because why would the viewers want to see her when they could watch Buffy give all those fun speeches...

And by the end of season 6, they're kind of "used" to all that death and bad things.

They are used to Willow murdering people and trying to destroy the world?

 

[Misty]

I'm a big Tillow shipper, but I did vote "made sense from a narrative point-of-view," because I still loved season 7 even if Buffy, Xander, Anya, and Willow were the only scoobie members then. I was upset, but Tara at least died happy because she was with Willow.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

So let me get this straight - three months later Willow trying to destroy the world suddenly becomes no big deal for her "friends"? Because she does it every year, I guess...I am not talking just about Tara's death, the show was always sloppy with characters who died or left the show most of them were lucky if they were mentioned once per season. But Willow's sudden reduction to a character of little importance and no depth other than "I am afraid to do magic, because if I do, I will snap my fingers and all enemies will die and the season will end" does tell me that the point of Dull Willow wasn't to explore any "darkness" in her, it was to get some shock value and then largely ignore Willow because why would the viewers want to see her when they could watch Buffy give all those fun speeches...



They are used to Willow murdering people and trying to destroy the world?

I'll start with the last one. No, not used to this, they're used to bad things happen, and that ANYTHING can happen.

About the first one, I didn't mean the whole "Willow destroying the world" as something they're not making a big deal of. Because clearly they are, no doubt. I was talking, yes, about Tara's death. Again, they obviously dealt with it, talked about it. But after all that time they moved on and stopped talking about it. It happened, moving on. Willow clearly had harder time moving on. They don't talk about killing Angel anymore right? Willow's not talking about Oz's leaving anymore right? And they don't don't about the fact that Buffy died in season 1.
And at last, Willow wasn't ignored at all. I didn't see it like this at all. Nobody did. It was there, hanging, not forgotten. We don't see everything that happens in the characters' lives.

 

[zobothehobo]

They are used to Willow murdering people and trying to destroy the world?

The entire run of the show, since Willow started practicing magic, she has been told she's REALLY powerful. She always said "no, I'm not." She never believed her power and/or understood it the entire run of the show (to this point). That *little* detail had been POUNDED into our heads since season 2 when Willow starts practicing magic (and may I remind everyone Willow's first spell was an incredibly difficult and powerful restoration spell). In season 6, she starts to use all the power she's got without really trying to understand it. That's why she went dark... because she didn't understand her power... and more than that, she didn't want to. She hadn't even admitted it was there (I believe she knew it was there and had probably admitted it to herself, but no one else). Dark Willow wasn't about Willow murdering people and trying to destroy the world, it was about an addict going off the deep end after a tragedy in the middle of their cold turkey recovery period. It was about Willow's power... and how much she really had. It was about her and everyone around her seeing and understanding what that power was... which is consistent with the previous seasons. And then there's the "magic addiction" metaphor made the entire run of season 6, which also made sense with this story arc.

 

[Icarium]

They don't talk about killing Angel anymore right?

They do actually, in Selfless.

And at last, Willow wasn't ignored at all.

Sure she was. Name five S7 episodes in which Willow is vital for the plot developments. One can easily take Willow out off most of S7 and the main plot won't change one bit. Right after CWDP, Buffy hears how The First tried to get to Willow and her only reaction is "OMG, we have to help Spike!". Nice friend, that Buffy, really caring...

I'll start with the last one. No, not used to this, they're used to bad things happen, and that ANYTHING can happen.

Really, so why the shock then? Why not shrug it off if they are so used to it? We are still talking about Buffy and Xander, who view the murder of any human being as the line that must never be crossed. They are (maybe) used to the bad guys doing it. Not their best friend.

 

[Justme]

I actually really liked Season 6 as a whole. I thought the idea that "life" was the bad guy was a good concept and it was mostly executed quite well. The magic=drug analogy was perhaps taken too far but I actually don't see the problem with this turning out to be wrong in S7. I don't see it necessarily as retconned, they just didn't understand it.


As Icrium has been saying in this thread the major problem with Season 6 is Season 7. So much focus on Buffy Emoing at the expense of everybody else. Seriously what the hell were they thinking.

 

[LadyLavinia]

The real problem with Tara's death is that she was a popular character, whose death many fans did not want to accept. Her death was planned by Whedon a long time ago. Or whomever Willow was dating at the time. If Seth Green had remained on the show around Season 4, his character would have ended up dead, instead of Tara.

Personally, I found Tara's death necessary. Going cold turkey on magic wasn't really helping Willow. She wasn't addressing the real problem - namely her tendency to use people or even magic to make her feel better about herself and hide from her insecurities. Tara's death and her meltdown finally forced her to face that issue.

 

[Lilah]

I love Tara, and Tara and Willow as a couple but I find Joss's decision to rid of Tara was perfect. The couples we all fall in love with Joss loves to break up, and it develops the character and the plot for the better.