Finally got the trade and finished these up. I will say, that as a long-time fan of the show the fan service for TV fans was decent ("Out. For. A. Walk. Bitch," or Buffy becoming a police officer ala S3, for example--or even just bringing The Mayor back--it all really played on my sentimentality, at the very least, and I liked it).
As someone who hasn't read all of Angel or really any of Fray, I presume that all of the those-world-specific bits, like having a full page of talking to ooglie water dude about the nature of their relationship, were very relevant to emotional arcs in those comics and I'm attempting to not feel like they're an intrusion because clearly the storyline was designed to combine these three series into one mega-end for Buffy and Angel (no idea if Fray is ending). That said, it did become a bit intrusive from a purely-BTVS comic POV, especially since it lead to us having little to no personal time with Willow, Xander, and Giles. If only I'd known, I would have lingered a bit longer in Season 11 to enjoy the dynamic. That said, as
@Grace said earlier in this thread, I get it--there is no "core four" anymore--so maybe this was intentional. People change, relationships change, and Buffy has never shied away from that realism.
To toss in on the shipping debate, I think it's safe to assume that if Spike and Buffy broke up because they don't work in a calm world, that will probably transfer to Angel as well. It's likely that Buffy's desire to maybe even have kids came in on that, since she seems pretty into Dawn's baby, but I digress. I'd be super down for some Fuff, and may head-canon it, but who knows, maybe she'll fall for some rando at the academy/in the world at large.
So in the end here, we leave like we've really left every season. The gang has won, time to start their lives, for now. I guess this is a bit BIGGER than some other season ends (other than S7), as they were dealing with a reaction to their attempt to create a safer world (Willow's group), something they've not had the free time for before (I would say that the militarization of the slayers was more reactive than forward-thinking), and they defeated it (tbh a bunch of demons fighting because some women want to be empowered defo read as patriarchy smashing, which I don't mind). A bit anticlimactic, sure, but short of killing off a bunch of MCs (which I thought they would do) this is really how it has to be--you can't defeat evil with any level of finality, you can only kick it in the shins. If they had actually killed Buffy it would have made sense, but I don't know that I really need that sadness in my life. So, sorry, Illyria/Fred.
Oh, also, I really loved Faith trying to sacrifice herself. She has no ties and therefore less to lose and it made sense to offer and really highlights how much she's changed. I hope her and Buffy will be very happy together.
Sad to see these go, they were something I really looked forward to even when the quality was a bit lower than hoped. Like
@The Ferg says above, I'd really love to see them expand the universe (and I think they'd get some solid cash out of it--****, people would probably read a series on Harmony and Clem--they'd be stupid to not try it out) and will probably be looking into the Fray series to fill this hole a bit.
