Which Buffy Is Your Least Favourite & Why?

[TriBel]

Season 5 onward is when I prefer her. Season 1-3 she's a hero (and I think probably a male fantasy). Season 5/6/7 she's a heroine.

@Puppet - yeah...I was hoping no-one would notice but while I've been watching Lucifer I've managed to come up with a logical reason for the omission. It's kind of a transition stage. 😏

 

[The Bronze]

willing to kill Faith for a vampire (no matter how much she luvs him), then willing to give her own life (when she knows the Mayor is planning to destroy the city and/or world) just so her vampy-luver can continue existing, it doesn't get more selfish than that.

She shouldn't sacrifice herself because of the Mayor but it's wrong to kill faith who's working for the Mayor to save Angel who's trying to stop him. Surely can't have it both ways?

 

[vampmogs]

Can't really pick my favourite Buffy. It changes absolutely all the time because I love her so much. But if I had to choose, I think S2 contains most of the moments that immediately come to my mind whenever I see her character mentioned (the rocket launcher, lying on Joyce's lap, "me", running down the hallway etc). Whilst Prophecy Girl is probably the episode I am in most awe of her as a hero and a human being.

My least favourite Buffy is definitely S7 Buffy approximately between First Date to Empty Places. It's not all bad but there's moments (practically the entirety of LMPTM) where she behaves not only unpleasantly but just (and it pains me to say this) stupidly in a way I really resent as a fan because I think she's much smarter than she's written there. Other than that, I think it's really obvious how over it SMG was at that point and can never shake the feeling that the tension between her a Joss ("grumpy 7 year actress" etc) is really coming through onscreen by that point.

 

[Btvs fan]

Can't really pick my favourite Buffy. It changes absolutely all the time because I love her so much. But if I had to choose, I think S2 contains most of the moments that immediately come to my mind whenever I see her character mentioned (the rocket launcher, lying on Joyce's lap, "me", running down the hallway etc). Whilst Prophecy Girl is probably the episode I am in most awe of her as a hero and a human being.

My least favourite Buffy is definitely S7 Buffy approximately between First Date to Empty Places. It's not all bad but there's moments (practically the entirety of LMPTM) where she behaves not only unpleasantly but just (and it pains me to say this) stupidly in a way I really resent as a fan because I think she's much smarter than she's written there. Other than that, I think it's really obvious how over it SMG was at that point and can never shake the feeling that the tension between her a Joss ("grumpy 7 year actress" etc) is really coming through onscreen by that point.

Her performance wasn't good at all in S7. In fact she seemed actively bored on screen. At the time of airing I remember people joking online that you can tell the difference between normal Buffy and First Evil Buffy by her folded Arms. She was that bland.

 

[FaithLehane16]

She was a hypocritical mess in Season 7 with a more superior personality that was in a higher level than the previous seasons. Plus I don't like how she picked her attempted rapist over her father figure and brother figure of years. That wasn't well handled.

 

[TriBel]

She was a hypocritical mess in Season 7 with a more superior personality that was in a higher level than the previous seasons. Plus I don't like how she picked her attempted rapist over her father figure and brother figure of years. That wasn't well handled.

Sigh...she was a hypocritical mess because she's a woman serving an ideology (patriarchy) that oppresses women. The awareness has been slowly dawning since S5. What you get in S7 is effectively what you had in Intervention - two Buffys: the automaton/stone-like Slayer and the young woman. Figuratively, she's being ripped apart and she knows it - it's a replay of the moment she saw the Bot torn apart in S6. The slayer's dismissive of Xander - the woman's distraught - we see it. She has a superior complex because she's the Slayer - the Slayer is superior in every way and most of those ways are coded as masculine. The Slayer is The Law. In theory, the Law is "masculine". It's phallocentric. She can't afford to be compassionate (a trait associated with woman) because the Mission is what matters. She also has an inferiority complex and that's because she's a woman - the second sex. The line "Hot Chicks with super powers" is perhaps the saddest line in the whole of the series because those are the only two subject positions open to her and Faith.

her father figure and brother figure

. You've kinda made my point for me - where's the sister? Where's the mother? It's Giles who tells her to be a General. Why should she be a General? How many female Generals do you know? Go back to Tabula Rasa - don't you think there's a reason she's called Joan? She's torn apart because of history - because capitalism and patriarchy pit women against each other. Because patriarchal psycho-social structures require a female child reject the mother and identify with the father. Joyce appears. Is it the First Evil in the guise of her mum or is it really her mum trying to comfort here? It's difficult to tell because "Mother" is a bifurcation. Lies My Parents Told Me figures this. In Anne there's the mother who makes the child the centre of her world and the mother who gives her child up to the symbolic father. Both are unhealthy for the mother and the child. We see this in Spike and Wood. Neither of these woman are "evil" or "bad" mothers. They had no choice.

The two Buffys are reconciled as "One" through Spike and she gives the Potentials a choice. Spike in the end becomes what's been called "the imaginary father" - he's a screen for the mother's love.

S7 isn't a mess. If it's perceived as a mess it's because it's too clever for its own good (seriously, you could write a book about its critical engagement). Buffy isn't a mess and if she is it's because she's battling with a problem that's defied better minds than hers - What is it to be a woman? Seriously, S7 is one of the best deconstructions of woman I've ever seen.

@Priceless - it's tempting. I thought of putting a book proposal forward but I'd need co-authors. 🙂)

 

[vampmogs]

Her performance wasn't good at all in S7. In fact she seemed actively bored on screen. At the time of airing I remember people joking online that you can tell the difference between normal Buffy and First Evil Buffy by her folded Arms. She was that bland.

I probably wouldn't go as far to say her performance wasn't good at all. In the "big moments" (the church scene, flamey hands etc) she still mostly delivers. At the very least, I always thought she was competent and never bad. But, yes, there definitely appeared to be a spark missing and a lot of her line deliveries and facial expressions felt kind of flat. She mostly seemed to switch between angry/pissed off, blank and expressionless, or wide-eyed/teary and traumatised. That said, it's hard for me to parse what we know was happening behind the scenes (SMG wanting to quit, feuding with Joss, Freddie getting involved, tension between the cast) with how her character was being written at the time and it probably does colour my view a bit. If the script isn't calling for you to show a greater variety of emotions then there's only so much SMG can reasonably do.

I did just rewatch Prophecy Girl again this week though and my mind immediately wanders to scenes like this. I mean, the whole episode in general showcases what an unbelievable talent she is and gives her a lot of different material to work with (badass Buffy, traumatised Buffy, sweet Buffy, scared Buffy, funny Buffy, stoic Buffy etc) but even in this tiny little moment she's given so much to do;

https://datherinebangeldairmosbatsky16.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188859139465

I *LOVE* this scene. Her smirk as she slips out the stake from behind her never fails to make me smile. ICONIC.

 

[Btvs fan]

I probably wouldn't go as far to say her performance wasn't good at all. In the "big moments" (the church scene, flamey hands etc) she still mostly delivers. At the very least, I always thought she was competent and never bad. But, yes, there definitely appeared to be a spark missing and a lot of her line deliveries and facial expressions felt kind of flat. She mostly seemed to switch between angry/pissed off, blank and expressionless, or wide-eyed/teary and traumatised. That said, it's hard for me to parse what we know was happening behind the scenes (SMG wanting to quit, feuding with Joss, Freddie getting involved, tension between the cast) with how her character was being written at the time and it probably does colour my view a bit. If the script isn't calling for you to show a greater variety of emotions then there's only so much SMG can reasonably do.

I did just rewatch Prophecy Girl again this week though and my mind immediately wanders to scenes like this. I mean, the whole episode in general showcases what an unbelievable talent she is and gives her a lot of different material to work with (badass Buffy, traumatised Buffy, sweet Buffy, scared Buffy, funny Buffy, stoic Buffy etc) but even in this tiny little moment she's given so much to do;

https://datherinebangeldairmosbatsky16.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188859139465

I *LOVE* this scene. Her smirk as she slips out the stake from behind her never fails to make me smile. ICONIC.

You're right she was fine in the Church scene but that was more James in that. For that Sarah was more crying in the background as he gives the Soul reveal. That turned almost into a trope in itself with Sarah and crying scenes mainly because she did do it so well the writers kept giving them to her. Now she did them well dont get me wrong but it doesn't give a full range like other performances did. I mean the Buffy Bot was done as much to give Sarah a comedy role and as a break from constantly being sad.

I agree that Sarah was fantastic in Prophecy Girl in the range of emotions she was playing that was fantastic. I think the difference between the 1st year on the job and the 7th year does show. Let's face it from her perspective when you know the writers don't care it's hard for you to care too. You look at the back end of S5 on Angel and James pretty much gives up on his accent.
And no it wasn't meant to be bad (ridiculous idea) they just didn't care. Joss on the commentary kind of admits it to about the UberVamps and there killability levels "dont tell people that"

Regards the backstage stuff. wasn't it Alison Hannigan who said Sarah was bored by S3 or something like that. Now they've made up since and seem friends again but that must have been a nasty comment to take back in the day.

 

[Serenityrose]

I really love Buffy all through the show. She's my favorite female character on the show.

If I had to choose specific seasons where I liked her less, I think for me I'd just have to base it on story elements.

Season 4 Buffy at times because of the Riley relationship. Seeing Buffy invest time into what I found to be a pretty dull relationship kind of made her a little less exciting for me.

Season 7 Buffy I actually loved her but there was such a redundancy with her giving speeches and teaching the potentials. It didn't help that I disliked most of the potentials and seeing as it was the last season I hated seeing so much time wasted on characters I didn't give a damn about. I certainly didn't care to see Buffy spend time with them.

Since my least favorite season is season 1 (just because i feel like most series they are still trying to get their groove), it's probably when I was least invested in the character.

 

[Angel6]

Season 6. I just don’t buy Spuffy at all. I can’t believe it’s canon.

 

[emspace]

Season 5 annoyed me with the introduction of Dawn.
The character of Dawn annoyed me.
The deus ex machina that was required to introduce her into the show annoyed me.
The complete 90-degree turn all the character arcs had to take because of her introduction annoyed me.
The way the first half of the entire season (maybe I'm exaggerating, I don't know) had to be entirely about Dawn in order to catch us up on her previously non-existent character and arc annoyed me.

Then I had to either get over it or stop watching, so I chose to get over it.

 

[CHK DeWilSon]

I love Buffy and she is my favourite character from BTVS.
However because of the change in her from her sacrifice for Dawn and coming back from the dead, it's not quite the same as it was for the previous series/seasons so it's a toss up between series six or seven but I most probably go with series six as it that Buffy being my least favourite and yes it does ABSOLUTELY have to do with the direction in which her character went and the 'love interest' that she had because if I don't like a character, I'm not going to enjoy watching them with a favourite character of mine.
It's not about me wanting her with a character who I adore but just more about not wanting to see her in any sort of 'relationship' with a character I loathe.
I just found it unbelievable that it would happen at all and that Buffy HAD to die and come back all screwed up for it actually be possible.
I just find that I am not as emotionally invested in the last two series/seasons as I was in the previous five series/seasons.

 

[darkspook]

Season 7 Buffy hands down.

She is almost unrecognisable to earlier Buffy say S1 & S2. The same Buffy who encouraged Willow to talk to Oz, who pouted "I wasn't gonna use violence. I don't always use violence. Do I?" and bantered with Giles was gone sadly replaced by someone rather cold and distant. While I accept that she's been highly traumatized with various events and really, the fact that she's still standing by the end of the series speaks to me of some incredible inner strength she just became very distant to those around her. She keeps repeating the same mistakes and treated her closest friends as an army. Considering the makers were quick to say Buffy had been gone too long (ala season 6) and this was her reawaking in (season 7)... they dropped the ball.

 

[Faded90]

S4 Buffy

I know a lot of people criticise S7 Buffy but I always think the whole ‘S7 Buffy is a cold dictator’ is majorly overblown. I’d only describe her as this in Get it Done and Empty Places, outside of those episodes I think she’s perfectly normal Buffy, she’s kind to the potentials and despite what the later scripts try to tell us she DOES know their names. We see this multiple times. Honestly I have major issues with both the build up and total lack of aftermath to Empty Places which tells us a story rather than shows us it. She gets kicked from pillar to post, constantly having people snarking at her in her own home that she’s opened up to them and is largely expected to take it but not allowed to have her own say. I want to give S7 Buffy a hug 😂 I could rant about Empty Places and Touched for paragraphs 😂 (Touched actually makes me feel worse about everyone bar Buffy, Faith and Spike than Empty Places does) . I do however hate the continuous ‘Spike has a soul now. His slate is wiped clean’ but that’s a hatred i direct to the writers rather than Buffy because of their desperation to make the season about Spike and telling us ‘oh remember the AR scene, well you aren’t allowed to say anything because he’s a brand new Spike. It basically didn’t happen’ Buffy is used as the mouthpiece of this to the audience and that doesn’t sit right with me

Anyway sorry I digress! I don’t dislike Buffy S4 she doesn’t do anything wrong it’s just by far her least complex season. S4’Buffy is made a side character in her own show for big chunks because of it shoving Riley down our throats. Buffy for a chunk of the first part of the season is written as the silly love interest who needs to get over liking bad boys because here’s our dashing hero she should be in love with! Oh but Buffy has concerns about being with him, oh Buffy just needs to stop being self involved apparently. Why wouldn’t she want to be with the man who wants to court her and grew up in a painting. We never really hear Buffy’s thoughts on the relationship it’s all about Riley and his POV and I don’t care. Buffy spends far too much of this season having to take care of puppy Riley while he sits on a bed staring at the floor waiting for Buffy to give him a life purpose. This is why i just love This Years Girl and Who ArenYou so much because the show is finally back to our characters and Buffy feels like Buffy again. These two episodes are the delicious sorbet I’ve been needing to wash away the taste of pate of Riley I never wanted

Honestly mostly I just think S4
Buffy is far too passive in her own story. She has some great moments but I think it’s why I just don’t connect to the season. It’s like everything’s going on around her and they don’t connect her to anything

 

[Faded90]

S4 Buffy

I know a lot of people criticise S7 Buffy but I always think the whole ‘S7 Buffy is a cold dictator’ is majorly overblown. I’d only describe her as this in Get it Done and Empty Places, outside of those episodes I think she’s perfectly normal Buffy, she’s kind to the potentials and despite what the later scripts try to tell us she DOES know their names. We see this multiple times. Honestly I have major issues with both the build up and total lack of aftermath to Empty Places which tells us a story rather than shows us it. She gets kicked from pillar to post, constantly having people snarking at her in her own home that she’s opened up to them and is largely expected to take it but not allowed to have her own say. I want to give S7 Buffy a hug 😂 I could rant about Empty Places and Touched for paragraphs 😂 (Touched actually makes me feel worse about everyone bar Buffy, Faith and Spike than Empty Places does) . I do however hate the continuous ‘Spike has a soul now. His slate is wiped clean’ but that’s a hatred i direct to the writers rather than Buffy because of their desperation to make the season about Spike and telling us ‘oh remember the AR scene, well you aren’t allowed to say anything because he’s a brand new Spike. It basically didn’t happen’ Buffy is used as the mouthpiece of this to the audience and that doesn’t sit right with me

Anyway sorry I digress! I don’t dislike Buffy S4 she doesn’t do anything wrong it’s just by far her least complex season. S4’Buffy is made a side character in her own show for big chunks because of it shoving Riley down our throats. Buffy for a chunk of the first part of the season is written as the silly love interest who needs to get over liking bad boys because here’s our dashing hero she should be in love with! Oh but Buffy has concerns about being with him, oh Buffy just needs to stop being self involved apparently. Why wouldn’t she want to be with the man who wants to court her and grew up in a painting. We never really hear Buffy’s thoughts on the relationship it’s all about Riley and his POV and I don’t care. Buffy spends far too much of this season having to take care of puppy Riley while he sits on a bed staring at the floor waiting for Buffy to give him a life purpose. This is why i just love This Years Girl and Who ArenYou so much because the show is finally back to our characters and Buffy feels like Buffy again. These two episodes are the delicious sorbet I’ve been needing to wash away the taste of pate of Riley I never wanted

Honestly mostly I just think S4
Buffy is far too passive in her own story. She has some great moments but I think it’s why I just don’t connect to the season. It’s like everything’s going on around her and they don’t connect her to anything

@katmobile sorry I don’t know how to reply to comments. If you watch Empty Places without watching any other episodes you would absolutely think ‘wow Buffy’s a dick, they’re right she’s asking too much and being too reckless’ and you’d be right of course. But there’s been no build up to it or at least very little. Buffy is apparently a dictator who gets everything wrong except she’s killed the Ubervamp and closed down the seal and between her and Willow have handled everything pretty much alone. Robin Wood ‘you’re asking too much of us’ she’s asking nothing of you mate because you’ve done nothing so far, he can get in the bin. Buffy doesn’t care about us or knows our names, Buffy is shown multiple times speaking to them personally and being perfectly kind to them (outside of Get it done) . Outside of the final scene I’m supposed to believe she’s an evil dictator because she asked a group of girls who are sitting around doing nothing to help with research. Buffy herself gets some (rightful) criticism in this episode but where’s my scoobies of S5 gone who aren’t looking at pointing the finger of blame even when Tara loses her sanity (they have every reason to believe this is permanent) Giles nearly dies, Dawn gets taken and Buffy goes catatonic, all of this happened and we still get a peppy Anya ‘come on guys think outside the box!’ I understand the potentials being bratty teenagers because ‘Mommy’s given me chores isn’t she awful!’but where’s my proactive scoobies of S5 gone

Plus don’t get me started on the terrible continuity in Touched.Five minutes before Buffy leaves - how dare she want to come up with a plan on Xander’s homecoming. Five minutes after Buffy leaves - right guys no time to waste new plan needed and we need to get serious now!

Sorry I’m aware I’ve went off topic but I absolutely despise a lot of Touched 😂

 

[katmobile]

@katmobile sorry I don’t know how to reply to comments. If you watch Empty Places without watching any other episodes you would absolutely think ‘wow Buffy’s a dick, they’re right she’s asking too much and being too reckless’ and you’d be right of course. But there’s been no build up to it or at least very little. Buffy is apparently a dictator who gets everything wrong except she’s killed the Ubervamp and closed down the seal and between her and Willow have handled everything pretty much alone. Robin Wood ‘you’re asking too much of us’ she’s asking nothing of you mate because you’ve done nothing so far, he can get in the bin. Buffy doesn’t care about us or knows our names, Buffy is shown multiple times speaking to them personally and being perfectly kind to them (outside of Get it done) . Outside of the final scene I’m supposed to believe she’s an evil dictator because she asked a group of girls who are sitting around doing nothing to help with research. Buffy herself gets some (rightful) criticism in this episode but where’s my scoobies of S5 gone who aren’t looking at pointing the finger of blame even when Tara loses her sanity (they have every reason to believe this is permanent) Giles nearly dies, Dawn gets taken and Buffy goes catatonic, all of this happened and we still get a peppy Anya ‘come on guys think outside the box!’ I understand the potentials being bratty teenagers because ‘Mommy’s given me chores isn’t she awful!’but where’s my proactive scoobies of S5 gone

Plus don’t get me started on the terrible continuity in Touched.Five minutes before Buffy leaves - how dare she want to come up with a plan on Xander’s homecoming. Five minutes after Buffy leaves - right guys no time to waste new plan needed and we need to get serious now!

Sorry I’m aware I’ve went off topic but I absolutely despise a lot of Touched 😂

I think you're misunderstanding me as I was going to say thanks for being more nuanced than your stances on previous subjects would have lead me to believe you were. I actually think that no one was entirely in the right in Empty Places but all were in a difficult situation and a lot of people - Anya, Rona, Kennedy and probably Wood can frankly eff off - weren't entirely wrong either.