What is your favorite BTVS season finale and why?

[FaithLehane16]

I chose Prophecy Girl because I liked the battle between Buffy and The Master and I like how this episode highlighted The Master since I thought he was a pretty cool villain even though I wanted to see more of him, his past, and his relations to Darla, Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike. Buffy wears her iconic prom dress. It was so bad-reared how Cordelia drove her car into the school just to get to the library. Sarah showed some amazing acting skills in this episode and delivered one of the most iconic lines "I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you." I liked how Xander and Angel teamed up. This was the first episode that shown Giles's fatherly love towards Buffy. Xander has shown that even though things between him and his friends aren't great, he would still be willing to save them to work for the common good.

 

[Priceless]

They are all so damn good, but I went for Chosen because the metaphor is important to me. Prophecy Girl is about Buffy feeling stronger and more empowered, while Chosen is about all of us feeling that. It works so well as a series finale and is a perfect ending to the show.

 

[burrunjor]

Hard to say. You made a great case for Prophecy Girl. I agree with everything you said, but in hindsight I might go for Becomming. My opinion on this changes so often as they were all so good.

Becomming however is great in terms of how brutal and bleak it is. From Angelus' torture of Giles, to Kendra's death, to Buffy being kicked out of her school and her home and being wanted, to Xander deliberately not telling Buffy the truth, to the cruel twist of Buffy having to send Angel, rather than Angelus to hell. It was a classic piece of tv all around and absolutely shocking the first time I saw it.

Also Spike was at his best that finale. He was like an earlier Crowley, playing everyone against each other for his own benefit and then ****ing off LOL.

Even Drusilla having sadly been pushed to the side during that season got to play a big role and show how dangerous she was in killing Kendra.

Buffy's speech at the end of The Gift is the best bit of dialogue in the series however, whilst Restless is the most experimental, I agree that the metaphor in Chosen by and large is a fitting end to the show, whilst Grave might be the most touching in the last scene between Xander and Willow. Graduation Day meanwhile features the best showdown between Buffy and one of her enemies (her fight with Faith. It's even better than her showdown with the Master. As much as I like him, with Faith it's a lot more personal and nasty on both sides. "All that killing and you're afraid to die.")

Prophecy Girl meanwhile I think plays up the end of the world idea better and the Master is the best villain of all the Big Bads in his finale. He doesn't just feel like the final boss like the other big bads do in their finales. The Mayor, Adam, even Glory all just kind of felt like they were beaten too easily. (I know Glory caused her death, but even then it did feel like "hey if only we'd figured out we had all this stuff earlier we could have just killed her before" same with Adam.

The Master however isn't like that as Buffy is genuinely pushed to her limits when she fights him and loses at first. You can see why she didn't fight him before. Also beating him doesn't just feel like something they have to get out of the way. Finally his death is the most satisfying because of how much he's tormented her before hand and how scared she seemed.

They were all excellent finales.

 

[Athene]

I chose graduation day because it's hard to choose between Becoming and The Gift since their main attraction is the emotional endings.
Graduation Day is just well written in every way and it does have a touching ending with Angel leaving and the characters graduating from high school it's the end of an era.

 

[spikenbuffy]

The Gift.

1 All the characters are great in it, the scoobies also are such a great team in this finale, they all do some part in the last fight against Glory, her minions & Ben. Giles is also great in taking the responsability to kill Ben to protect the world because Buffy can't do it.

2 There's also great closures about the relationships : Tillow (Tara's recovering), Xanya (the wedding proposal) & Spuffy (The sympathetic scene at Buffy's house).

3 And then, there's the last scene of Buffy's death. Even the opening is freaking good.

4 There's also some references of the past such as Willow's lines about her relationship with Xander "You couldn't have figured out that in tenth grade".

5 Buffy's character makes me emotionnal. It is intense & It just FEELS like THE END. A great end, IMO.

6 After Glory being unbeatable all along the season, it was good that Buffy did succeed to finally beat her up.

The Gift is seconded by Becoming though.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

This is a much harder choice than the best beginnings because they are all so good. But I picked "Chosen" because Buffy finally makes a difference - it is no longer "one girl in all the world" or two girls due to Buffy's resuscitation at the end of Season 1 - it's all the girls who were earmarked as potentials were now slayers and those who didn't want to take on the task of slayer could finally refuse it. Slayerhood was slavery because it was a job you could never quit but after Chosen, the slavery was ended.

 

[Puppet]

Definitely The Gift. For so many reasons that @spikenbuffy already mentioned and I still wish it was the series finale.

 

[CHK DeWilSon]

Well like the series/season openers, each series/season finale brought something unique and different from the previous one.

Prophecy Girl was the finale where for me I was like, 'yes', this show is starting to feel like it could be something great because that was a fantastic ending to the series.

And 'Grave' was good and emotional even if it is my least favourite series/season.

'Restless' was a bit of a mind trip that I was expecting considering 'Primeval' kind of felt like the traditional series ending.

'Chosen' for me was a satisfying ending on terms of the message I felt it was trying to say and do with activating the Potentials plus of course the continued appearance of Angel and his and Buffy's interaction.

'Graduation Day pt 2 was the amazing ending to a brilliant and consistent series and while sad with the ending of BAngel, I was still looking forward to what was next for the scoobies plus I had ATS to also look forward too!!

So it comes down to the finale for series 5 and series 2....

'The Gift'. I. was. not. prepared.
Never imagine it would end like that but even if I would necessarily agree with Buffy's choice, I do understand why she made that decision. And my belief is that the events of what previously happened for her made the choice clear to her in that moment...

Which brings me to the series finale of BTVS that shines a little brighter than the others in terms of the most emotional impact it gave me when I watch it the first time and how it still resonates with me..
'Becoming pt 2'. Didn't even contemplate about Angel coming back in the way he did, what Buffy still had to do and how it broke her.
Well it broke me too. And even now when I watch it, I still finch slightly at the sound when she put the sword into his body.
Just an Epic series finale IMO.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

Becoming- It was the culmination of the best season on the show.

 

[FaithLehane16]

There has got to be another person or other people who would agree with my choice.

My order is:
Prophecy Girl
Becoming
Graduation Day
Grave
Chosen
The Gift
Restless

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

My vote goes to Becoming, even though I also love Prophecy Girl and Chosen. I also like The Gift.

Becoming was extremely raw and powerful for me, from Buffy admitting to her mum that she's a Slayer to her having to kill Angel. When Buffy and Angel were fighting and he says ''No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all of that away and what's left?'' and she replies me - that was one of the most empowering scenes in the show for me. And Full of Grace playing in the final moments of the episode is engraved so deeply into my memory.

Funny story - I was very young when I started following Buffy and back then internet, media and access to information weren't really a thing in Croatia, so I never knew if the show is coming back for another season or no until I saw the TV infonotes for the next season. I wasn't aware Angel is getting his own show and I didn't buy their goodbye at the end of the season 3 (I was super convinced he will be coming back again), so imagine my surprise when I saw a commercial for the TV show Angel. And when I saw The Gift, I was deadass convinced that this is how the show ends. I was whimpering and depressed for days, my family was super concerned.

 

[Oromous]

Becoming Part 2 so far, with Restless being a close second.

Becoming just has so many layers in terms of Buffy's character development. To me, as of the end of season 4, it was still the strongest Buffy character development yet. Moreover, I've always been fascinated by the tragic hero who has to struggle insurmountable odds and sacrifice his/her own happiness for the betterment of others (Spider-Man 2 is one of my favorite movies of all time due to the same reason). Then there's the tragic love story of Bangel played out so powerfully. Star-crossed lovers that could never be, with one killing the other. It's like a Greek tragedy or a Shakespearean play. Very epic stuff.

And looking back, I don't think I've liked Buffy as much as the end to season 2. Don't get me wrong, I still love the show, but it never really felt as dramatic for me ever since, that kind of life-or-death struggle to kill your one true love. Perhaps the end of season 5 might change my mind though.

Restless being the runner-up is due to its complex metaphors that speak so much about each character of the Scooby Gang, plus that awesome ending speech of Buffy. There could be entire essays written about that episode alone. It's just brilliant, as if Whedon poured all his effort into that one episode alone.

 

[Faded90]

Graduation Day for me

I love how the first episode has that dark feel to it. The Mayor coming into the library just felt so intrusive and I love the follow up scene with Joyce ‘you’re running away again.... and you’re taking my clothes’ plus how she’s become oddly blasé about the slayer thing ‘oh after everything that’s happened. Maybes I should have sent you to a different school’ 😂

the Buffy v Faith showdown which is exhilarating but then the music instantly changing when Faith is stabbed and Buffy realises what she’s done is so emotional. It’s like Buffy has been running on pure adrenaline and now she’s came crashing back to earth

Buffy quitting the council and then Wes the Watcher coming to HER to ask for orders in p2 is amazing and signals Buffy becoming a leader that continues throughout the series

the shared slayer dream between Buffy and Faith. I always see this as Faith’s subconscious choosing Buffy over The Mayor. Plus the way they look at each other when Faith says ‘just take what you need’ always gets my Fuffy heart fluttering. Then the forehead kiss feels like a simultaneous thank you and I’m sorry

The library scene with the gang all together discussing Buffy’s plan is amazing and I love the flipping scenes of Buffy and The Mayor both giving their teams their briefs

The Mayor’s speech just feels so eerie and I love the camera showing us the scoobies facial expressions throughout. It’s so bizarre that they’re literally just having to sit and wait for a demon to show up then the transformation. I lovr seeing the parents all running away but the students standing their ground and I never fail to get goosebumps at Buffy’s ‘now!’ And the reveal they’re her army. I always find the student army more of a feel good moment than the slayer army (likely because the students weren’t Kennedy or Rona 😂). The fight and chasing sequence are amazing as well as blowing up the school. Burning a school building down being why she came to Sunnydale and now why The school is no more. She came full circle

Bangel goodbye 😭

I love the final scene of the scoobies bantering and walking away with the closeup of the yearbook ‘the future is ours’ 😭

 

[r2dh2]

I’m going with Becoming.

I see a lot of empowerment at the end of S1 and S7 (“I flunked the written” and the speech of Chosen are iconic). The Gift produces in me a lot of mixed emotions and contradictory thoughts, I’m not done sorting through them yet. And S3, S4 and S6 make feel warm inside, family and friends working together, unconditional love, mutual support and all that… But for me, S2 feels like giving up the fantasy, or leaving childhood behind, it’s deeply powerful and intensely sad at the same time.