What would you have changed about the portrayal of The First in season 7?

[itssmiletime]

A lot of the flaws with season seven that a lot of people mention include the heavy plot, buffy turning into a militant, the boring high school, the unlikeable potentials, too much focus on spike and buffy, etc. Most people find the concept of the First to be fascinating, yet the execution to not be satisfying. So my question is what you would change about the portrayl of The First.

I would have made Caleb appear in around ten - fifteen episodes, as a sole representation of The First. I like the concept of a looks human but kinda isn't- like the Mayor in season 3. As well as, instead of the Bringers and The First just merely killing the potentials, perhaps the more psychological kind that was seen in "Conversations With Dead People''- and perhaps a more subtle way of telling whether or not someone was dead or not- being not be able touch things was a bit unoriginal.

 

[Robb Stark]

This is a hard one. It's difficult to take a villain that the hero can't touch, and who can't touch the hero, and make it really special and memorable.

I would have brought Caleb into the show way, way earlier. Re-watching it, sometimes it feels like Caleb was introduced late because people were losing interest in The First. 22 or 23 episodes is a long time to build a franchise villain who can't be hurt physically. I would have pushed Caleb far more. Don't get me wrong, "Dirty Girls" is probably the best introduction for a new bad guy I've ever seen, and I would have kept it, but I would have done it earlier, and made Caleb, I don't know, a part of The First (even though I know they did that later on).

Also, and this is another thing I realize would have been tough to accomplish with actor schedules and network entanglements, I would have made The First transform into more characters, or at least, more meaningful characters. I loved the episode (forget the name) where all the seasonal big bads returned. That was awesome. I would have gone a step further, and assuming they could be brought in, had Jenny Calender, Tara, Joyce, Ben, and especially, more than anyone else, Angel AND Angelus become avatars of The First.

 

[Taake]

Less talky talk... I would have preferred for Caleb to appear sooner as well and I guess I would have liked it better if we had seen less of the First wandering around in the form of dead folks. It was cool when they showed all the bads through out the seasons but that was about enough... just seeing The First wander around, talk talk talking endlessly to Caleb and plotting... ugh... it just made him/her/it seem less threatening and kind of silly, just sitting around basically (and "merging" with Caleb... ew). Why create a threat like that if their main purpose is gonna be to walk around and whisper in peoples ears... constantly pointing out that their evil and powerful...

 

[EVIL UU]

I'd give The First a valid, meaningful reason to operate and a clear goal.

 

[Tueuse de Vampires]

I'd give The First a valid, meaningful reason to operate and a clear goal.

Well there was a valid reason: the Slayer line had just become vulnerable, so it was a good opportunity to destroy it.


A clear goal was also not necessary, in my opinion. The First was pure evil, not like all the other demons we have seen. Evil does't need a reason or goal to do evil, it's just its essence and nature.

I agree with [MENTION=9799]Taake[/MENTION] though. The first got an awful lot of dialogue for not really having to say that much. That was a bit annoying.

 

[Kendra371]

I would've had the 1st manipulate Dawn in the form of Joyce. I think the biggest mistake, was when the First decided to appear to everyone at once in "Conversations With Dead People" making its presence known. After that I felt that psychological impact they were aiming for was lost or better yet wasted. It was obvious the dead people weren't real.I would've had it be more secretive. Dawn was very gullible... And I think it would've gave the character an interesting storyline.

I also didn't like how the First kept appearing to Buffy as Buffy. I felt like if they wanted to really get into Buffy's psych, why not Have it appear in the form of Joyce? (Yes they started to dabble with the idea with her appearing in her dreams... but that was dropped after Bring on the Night) Have the dramatic affect like when it appeared to Dawn, with the glowing lights. Like the basement scene when she woke up and walked to the window from Spike. I felt like it would've been far more creepier if the First took the form of Joyce at that moment. But Buffy didn't know the First was present yet.

Basically - Be more believable in presence and manipulation.

I would've brought Caleb in way earlier into the season. I really didn't like those Uber Vamps.
After the First imbued Caleb with its strength I felt Caleb should've underwent some transformation to look more sadistic or evil. Not just the black eye effect. And for some reason, he was supposed to be stronger, but seemed to have gotten weaker 😕

I would've made Willow's magick useless, as a matter of fact, I would've had the First try to manipulate Willow through her power. Since she was still struggling with that "Dark Power" in her, The First could've been using that "Evil side" against her. Making her struggle within herself even more. Since "Evil is apart of us" and Willow had that ecil in her.

Idk really. I would just change the execution of how the First was implemented onto the show. I felt it was kinda sloppy and poor. It didn't feel menacing or scary. There should've been more buildup, or have it appear in dreams at first, then the big reveal later. Having the big reveal right away totally blew it.

 

[dexeded]

The First was supposed to be a master manipulator, which worked well in CWDP because it was... well, chilling and mysterious. After that it was just a talker, and a rather stupid one at that. So I would've made its exchanges with the main characters more meaningful and rooted in character/past rather than plot, appealing to their dark sides as such. Caleb, as fun as he was after the disappointment of The First, kind of defeated the purpose The First started out with (this applies to the ubervamps too)--they were a corporeal enemy. Buffy just beats The First by beating the army it has and Caleb. So there should've been a more clever resolution to its defeat as well.

 

[OutForAWalk]

I also didn't like how the First kept appearing to Buffy as Buffy. I felt like if they wanted to really get into Buffy's psych, why not Have it appear in the form of Joyce? (Yes they started to dabble with the idea with her appearing in her dreams... but that was dropped after Bring on the Night) Have the dramatic affect like when it appeared to Dawn, with the glowing lights. Like the basement scene when she woke up and walked to the window from Spike. I felt like it would've been far more creepier if the First took the form of Joyce at that moment. But Buffy didn't know the First was present yet.

Basically - Be more believable in presence and manipulation.

I totally agree with you. I think that having the First appear as someone who Buffy would have an emotional reaction to would be much more devious and manipulative. Joyce would work, or Angel, since the First has shown that it can appear as vampires. I even think that Cassie would have an emotional effect on Buffy, since she tried so hard to save her. Appearing as Buffy to taunt Buffy doesn't really seem to be the best idea. But I guess pure evil doesn't have to be smart to be evil... lol.

 

[white avenger]

What happened:

The final scene with Wood and Faith in "Chosen." Faith thinks he dies, and reaches to close his eyes. Wood comes back awake, eyes snapping back and fourth, and says, "Surprise."

And then:

While Faith joins the others at the back of the bus, surveying the crater that had only moments before been Sunnydale, cut back to Wood, who is now sitting up, staring at his hands. He reaches out and lightly touches the steering wheel, slides his hands along it, savoring the feel of the cool plastic. An evil gleam lights his eyes and he chuckles. "To be made flesh. To touch. To feel," a soft moan from behind him as one of the injured girls returns to consciousness. Wood rises and heads back towards her. "To feel a young neck snap in my hands..."

Fade to black.

Any questions?

 

[Tuppence]

I think Buffy had it right in Chosen when she said to the First "they should call you The Taunter" and I think that was the point they were making; it may be the First Evil but because it wasn't corporeal it could only do so much. It wasn't as powerful as it liked to think. And for those who said it wasn't very sinister or manipulative later on but just said stupid things, well, it's kinda like Agatha Christie once wrote "criminals are stupid; that's why they commit crimes". Well it's a similar case with the evils; they are never as bright as they like to think.

But as for how I would have changed it, like a lot of you said, I would have made it more about manipulation. Joyce would have been a weapon. Maybe kinda had her as though she were going all Guardian Angel with Buffy and Dawn but they'd be all these seeds of badness sewn so everything fell apart. And use of Cassie would have been great to make them feel truly hopeless, as they all seem to be really hit my Cassie's death. And probably brought Caleb and the UberVamps in earlier as the muscle power because those UberVamps really creeped the hell out of me!

 

[ILLYRIAN]

The First had to appear flawed, so that it could be beaten. Now if elements of The First had been introduced in season 6.

 

[Lilac1]

Also, and this is another thing I realize would have been tough to accomplish with actor schedules and network entanglements, I would have made The First transform into more characters, or at least, more meaningful characters. I loved the episode (forget the name) where all the seasonal big bads returned. That was awesome. I would have gone a step further, and assuming they could be brought in, had Jenny Calender, Tara, Joyce, Ben, and especially, more than anyone else, Angel AND Angelus become avatars of The First.

Brilliant. Angel/Angelus would have been the perfect choice to get at Buffy.

1) As far back as season 1 Angel always just shows up randomly with messages of impending danger. The First could have appeared as Angel and given Buffy misinformation to lead her INTO danger.

2) Also The First could have appeared as Angelus making Buffy think he was evil again. She would spend all her time trying to find and kill him, leaving the potentials and scoobies vulnerable.

So many possibilities.

 

[heidiisablonde]

I read the original script with Tara coming back in conversations with dead people. I still feel like they should have gone that route.

 

[Blaze]

Like most I would have made the first come back as about every character that died that we cared about. To me it`s almost a plot whole that it doesn`t come back as Tara, Jenny, Joyce etc. I realize it`s probably because the actors weren`t available or declined, but it doesn`t make sense for the first to not come back as those people.

If they could have gotten those actors in, the mental torture aspect would have been awesome!! How to defeat something that is cruel and mentally hurtful and that you can`t touch!! I would have loved it! And it would have been an opportunity to bring back Willow, Buf, Xander and Giles closer.

Then remove all the potential, remove the bringers, keep Caleb, keep the ubervamp, and just remodel the story a tad so that the potentials aren`t needed (ok that changes the whole season but it would have been my perfect vision of s7). Bring Giles back earlier as well as Caleb!

[MENTION=12316]heidiisablonde[/MENTION] Totally agree! It's too bad Amber Benson declined. I understand her reasonning but even as the biggest Tara fan, I would have LOVED that storyline. They could have done so much with the dead characters they had, and it would have taken over the potentiel storyline.

 

[white avenger]

Angel/Angelus would have been the perfect choice to get at Buffy.

1) As far back as season 1 Angel always just shows up randomly with messages of impending danger. The First could have appeared as Angel and given Buffy misinformation to lead her INTO danger.

2) Also The First could have appeared as Angelus making Buffy think he was evil again. She would spend all her time trying to find and kill him, leaving the potentials and scoobies vulnerable.

So many possibilities.

Having the First Evil appear as Angel, Angelus, or both would have been great, but most likely the WB Network was limiting the amount of time that Angel could appear on "Buffy." If that actually was the case, I think that Joss made the best of the limited time available to him. I feel safe in saying that no Angel fan would have wanted the last scene that he and Buffy were ever likely to share together to have been her being taunted by the First Evil. As it was. we saw:

1) Angel and Buffy have one last completely vertical snuggle puppy scene together

2) Buffy and Angel talk about "someday" and agree that is a long, LONG way away, if ever

3) Angel gets to find out first hand that Spike is now good and is fighting on Buffy's team

4) Angel gets to find out first hand that Buffy is sleeping with Spike, even if all that they ever do is sleep

5) Angel finds out first hand that he is no longer the only vampire in the world with a soul

And, most importantly,

6) Angel gets to find out first hand that Buffy already has a Champion, and that he should go on back to "his" city and get his own team geared up in case Buffy isn't able to contain the menace there in Sunnydale.

Did I miss anything? Oh, yeah

7) Angel gets to learn first hand that, though Buffy may not be willing to admit that her feelings for Spike are really love, he is, indeed, "in her hart."

But seriously, and I do hope that you all recognized the above as just kidding and poking fun at a certain favorite Bangel friend of mine, I think that Joss' use of Angel in Season 7, limited though it was, by that very brevity, was pretty close to perfect. But I do have to admit that I would have loved to see Angel, and maybe even his whole team, there in the hellmouth with all the others. Not only was this Buffy's swan song (so we believed at that time, anyway) it was her greatest battle against a a foe who, in addition to being the most powerful Big Bad in existence, was literally untouchable. Something that important should have had almost a full episode just devoted to the fight. That, given the proper time and budget, could have been a battle to equal Troy, Thermopylae, or the Alamo, with the added bonus of having them actually survive.

Course, the same thing could be said for "Not Fade Away" a year later.

 

[YummySushiPJs]

I read the original script with Tara coming back in conversations with dead people. I still feel like they should have gone that route.

I'd very much like to read that. If you could provide a link I'd be grateful. 🙂

 

[Yosso]

I'd make The First corporealise pretty much instantly after Conversations with Dead People, after that he/she/it/whatever it is got boring. It could have merged with Caleb sooner.

I'd also give The First an identity and character of it's own. It never really had defining characteristics, which made it a pretty disappointing Big Bad. I know it's meant to be a representation of evil in general, but it would have been nice for it to have a character. The Mayor worked well because of his 50s, dad-like quirks, Glory worked well because she was vapid, vain and self-absorbed yet still kicked arse, Angelus was sadistically evil, callous and funny at times.