Buffy
I posted this on a mailing list, but thought I'd share my feelings about last Tuesday's episode with everyone here.

{SPOILERS AHEAD}
Carla and I missed the last couple of episodes and I got home Tuesday night half of the way in to the latest episode. The first thing that struck me was how easily it was to follow everything. Usually, if you miss afew episodes on a show like this, when they are doing such big things as what they are trying to do now, it would take a little time to get caught up. However, having missed the first half hour of the episode, I walked into see the only change being that Faith was there. Everyone was still doing the same things they've been doing most of this season.

I heard they were going back to the first season's feel with this episode. I guess I'm missing that. This season has been even darker and more depressing than last, even with Buffy's "uplifting" speeches.

She did the speech again last night! I thought after spoofing it in the Andrew episode that they realized how bad it was getting, but Buffy was still there last night doing the speech thing....and Xander even got into the act!

Going in, I knew there would be slayerettes dying. It just seems to fit this season. The whole theme of this season seems to be Buffy acts as the grown-up, only to get beat down. She makes a risky decision in Tuesday night's episode and we get all sorts of speeches about it, while Giles worries that she's sending them into a slaughter (and she is).

...and what's up with Giles!? Where did his backbone go!? He meekly tells Buffy he doesn't approve of the plan and when she says she's going ahead with it he backs down. I know he isn't her Watcher anymore, but she still (somewhat) respects him. He should have pulled her aside and given her hell.

I don't know what to say, but the ending left me feeling sick. I don't mind a dark ending, but usually when there is a dark ending on a show like this, there is some feeling as why the storyteller decided it was needed and often you're left with some feeling hope, but this episode leaves me with no feeling of hope that this show is going anywhere I want to see it go. Sure, I know that the season will end with the world being saved, but I have a feeling I'll have to suffer more scenes like the last couple from the last episode.

Maybe, it's the war in real-life affecting the writers. Maybe they feel the need to show that the good guys are going to lose some while saving the world to make Joe America feel better about the guys and girls dying in Iraq. Maybe a gritty world where images of terrorist attacks have filled the public's imagination have turned the writers of Buffy to make the show more horrific.

I really liked the first couple of episodes this season, but as it got further in, I've liked it less than the last season.