"Waitin' For The Hammer To Fall"

[white avenger]

Just a few scenes from Buffy and Angel's new universe to set the mood...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYKK71yEqoc[/ame]


This isn't a discussion of the events in Issue 39, or even the general events of the season as a whole, as much as it is about how you feel, personally, that Season 8 if finally coming to a close, whether with a bang, a whimper, a cheer, or just a sigh of relief.

Personally, I find myself somewhere between the sigh and the cheer. Whoever winds up betraying who, whoever winds up killing or dying, whoever winds up snuggled up against who when the final curtain falls, it's been a fun ride, but it's a relief to finally put this baby to bed.

 

[LyteHouse]

As much as I constantly pan Season 8, I'll still admit there's been a lot to like about it.

The Long Way Home was a good read - although the countless cameos made me groan a bit - it was still brilliant to see the Scooby Gang back in an official continuation of the series.

No Future For You gave us a glimpse at what a Faith TV series might have looked like and the dynamic between her and Giles was fascinating.

Wolves At The Gate was a pretty kick-ass story. And almost every line Dracula spoke was comedy gold.

Time Of Your Life was a fun read but it felt a little too much like fan-pandering and it seemed like the writers of the season were just spinning their wheels.

Predators And Prey was where the suck crept in. Utterly pointless and completely banal filler.

Retreat has to be one of the most shockingly inept pieces of story telling I've ever read. Boring beyond belief and completely disengaging due to some pretty moronic character motivations and plot developements. The season went from this trash to....

Twilight. Ho-Lee Shit.

(Remember after Issue 30, everyone was speculating that Buffy had absorbed the combined powers of all the other slayers? Wouldn't that have given the Retreat storyline an actual point? Wasn't that a much cooler idea than the bullshit we ended up with? *sigh*.....)

As for Last Gleaming, I'm curious, of course, to see where this all ends up. But I've really lowered my expectations by this point.


Despite all the suckage, its still nice to see this universe and its characters continue in some form or another. And there's always at least one laugh-out-loud line in every single issue.

I just hope eveyone gets their act together for Season 9.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I had been getting really worn down by season 8... not that it's a bad story, just that it's dragged on soooo long. But now I'm pretty keyed up with curiosity to see what horrible things will happen to these poor characters next issue.

 

[Moscow Watcher]

(Remember after Issue 30, everyone was speculating that Buffy had absorbed the combined powers of all the other slayers? Wouldn't that have given the Retreat storyline an actual point? Wasn't that a much cooler idea than the bullshit we ended up with? *sigh*.....)

Sorry, but... huh? Buffy did absorb the combined powers of all the dead slayers, and that was the point - or, at least one of the cornerstones of the arc. At least that's how it seems to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Overall, I think I got used to this new medium. I started losing my interest at P&P, thought about dropping season 8 during Retreat - but leaked Bangel covers reawakened my interest, and this year was quite a ride. I'm very curious how it turns out. And then , when it's over, I can happily return to fanficland.

 

[Kean]

I'm honestly kinda exhausted by it and my interest has lessened a lot over the last few months. I'm not sure how much is that because the story or as a means of survival in this fandom lol

Anywho, I'm eager to see how it all turns out but I am equally eager to put this season to bed and move on.

 

[LyteHouse]

Sorry, but... huh? Buffy did absorb the combined powers of all the dead slayers, and that was the point - or, at least one of the cornerstones of the arc. At least that's how it seems to me.

I'm really sorry but you're wrong....

Buffy and Angel's powers were apparently a gift from the Universe so that they could super-shag a new reality into existence and survive the coming apocalypse.

Uhhh... yeah. I don't blame you for being confused because the story is utterly stupid and makes no sense.

 

[sosa lola]

I have really enjoyed S8, and I'm thankful is exists. I'm probably the only one who likes Retreat. However, I'm happy to see it end. Four years is way too long. Though I think if someone is going to read it now from the beginning to the end, they won't find it as long, and the stories will feel more connected.

 

[Moscow Watcher]

Lytehouse - yes, I remember that line. But I don't believe Angel. It's his word against Willow's word, and I believe Willow.

First of all, everything else he says here is wrong. Buffy wasn't waiting for this. Buffy didn't earn this. Buffy didn't need this.

Secondly, in NFFY he hired Roden to select the strongest and the most amoral slayer to train her to kill other slayers. I see only one logical explanation of his actions: he wanted to test the mechanism of the slayer empowerment and then get rid of a slayer who could compete with Buffy. Which he finally did using Giles and Faith. Otherwise his actions don't make sense.

And even if he sincerely believes that Buffy's superpowers don't have anything to do with the other slayers deaths, he may be tricked into believing it by Kitty Twilight. He didn't know that space-frak will unleash the apocalypse (judging by his reaction); he may as well not know about the real source of Buffy's superpowers.

 

[LyteHouse]

It's not just Angel, Giles confirms it too.....

​

All the other slayers now have their powers returned and Buffy still has her superpowers.


I had to read all these issues dozens of times before this nonsense made any sense! 😀


As I said before, having Buffy's abilities being the result of her absorbing the power of all the other slayers would have been a really cool idea and would have at least given the Retreat arc some kind of point.

But thats not what it turned out to be. She would have gotten those powers sooner or later anyway.

Stupid, lazy, nonsensical writing at it's most absurd.

 

[citiegal17]

It's not just Angel, Giles confirms it too.....

​

All the other slayers now have their powers returned and Buffy still has her superpowers.


I had to read all these issues dozens of times before this nonsense made any sense! 😀


As I said before, having Buffy's abilities being the result of her absorbing the power of all the other slayers would have been a really cool idea and would have at least given the Retreat arc some kind of point.

But thats not what it turned out to be. She would have gotten those powers sooner or later anyway.

Stupid, lazy, nonsensical writing at it's most absurd.

Actually I agree with Moscow, Angel is not nearly as credible as Willow is. Angel didn't save the world like he thought he would, Twilight(is on the side of evil) and I don't think Twilight was the least bit honest with Angel about the truth, Angel was played by Twilight, and now Angel is literally Twilight's bitch. If I'm going to believe anyone based off of their expertise, Willow is the expert, and there are clues that back her up in the comics. Buffy feeling Faith when she was kidnapped, the slayer clothes Buffy was wearing in the Twilight arc, Allie did mention the clothes were important, Willow did the actual slayer spell with the scythe, and has years of magic backing her up, the scythe was being held by Buffy when she was grabbed by goddess, the scythe connects to the slayers powers because Willow used it to give them powers in Chosen, and she glowed just like Buffy. Also in WATG, Alwuyn showed Willow the scythe and the city burning, the scythe connects to the slayers, so the scythe will be very important in the next issue, and I wouldn't be surprised at all that Willow is right. Also Joss Whendon is very much the writer where should you should expect that not everything is at seems, and if I have trust someone based off of credibility alone its Willow.

 

[LyteHouse]

Actually I agree with Moscow, Angel is not nearly as credible as Willow is.

As I said in my previous post, its not just Angel. Giles confirms it as being an ancient prophecy he's always known about.

Buffy and Angel's superpowers are the same. Identical.

If Buffy absorbed her powers from other slayers in a completely unconnected magical occurrence, then why are her abilities identical to Angel's?



My entire point is that in the "Retreat" arc, all the slayers with Buffy give their powers back to the Earth. At the end of that story we were left speculating that perhaps that pool of slayer power had been returned solely to Buffy - making her Super Buffy™.

That would have been a cool idea. And it would have given "Retreat" a point of some kind. But the writers threw it away.


The slayers that gave up their powers now have them back which makes "Retreat" the biggest waste of time since Windows Vista.


Willow's theory that Buffy's powers were absorbed by other, murdered slayers from around the world is pure conjecture on her part. And she is standing right beside Giles when he debunks her theory.

 

[Moscow Watcher]

Giles doesn't confirm it. "Evolution" is a broad term. Buffy could take dead slayers abilities to evolve into a goddess.

I agree - the situation is very confusing. Maybe it was deliberately written that way. But if Buffy really absorbed superpowers from dead slayers, it means that

a) Retreat has a point

2) Angel's plan in NFFY has inner logic

I hope Allie will participate in a Q&As one more time so that we could ask him who's right - Angel or Willow.

 

[LyteHouse]

I agree - the situation is very confusing. Maybe it was deliberately written that way.

lol yeah.

Its just bad storytelling whichever way you look at it.


The second half of Season 8 has been an utter disappointment for me. So much sloppy writing and so many missed opportunities.


Buffy and Spike's reunion should have been a HUGE moment in the Buffyverse and we got robbed.

Whedon and Allie really shat the bed.

 

[Tome]

Like some others have said before, my favorite parts of s8 were at the beginning. 🙂 It was actually a lil bit more interesting than s7 was. But once we reached 'Time of your life', it got pretty boring, up until around now. Now I'm interested to see how it all conclude! I'm just hoping s9 will go back to a smaller scale and smaller number of characters, kinda like the first seasons of BtVS. My biggest wish is for Cordy to come back in some form. 🙂

My favorite character through this season has been Xander, without a doubt. He was MUCH more interesting than in s7, and it was great to see him actually play a leader role. I just hope he doesn't betray Buffy, nor die.

As for my least favorite... It's been Angel. I just CANNOT understand how this *dude* who was first passing as Twilight, is the same character I watched grow on AtS. He is also different from how he was in AtF. I just hate what they did with his character.

 

[white avenger]

Buffy and Spike's reunion should have been a HUGE moment in the Buffyverse and we got robbed.

Whedon and Allie really shat the bed.

I agree. I, and I have no doubt a whole lot of other fans, both Spuffy and non-Spuffy, were looking forward to some real fireworks when "the moment" finally occurred. Instead, we didn't even get a "No time for this now, but once this mess is over, buster, we're gonna get some things straight." Instead, we get, "Yeah, I knew you were back all along. Where's the bathroom?"

"Robbed" isn't a big enough word for what Joss did to us. Try "violated," "betrayed," or maybe even "f**ked over." You can be sure of one thing right now. He is DEFINITELY off of my Christmas card list this year!