Is this season just objectively bad and I never realized?

Joan the Vampire Slayer

Joan the Vampire Slayer

Carpe Spuffy!
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So, maybe this is the flu meds talking, but is this season just objectively bad and I never realized it or was willing to admit it because I'm such a big fan of the show? I've been sick for days and have been rewatching this season. For years I've always argued "more Buffy is better than nothing" but I'm starting to genuinely believe we could have absolutely gone without this season.

As much as I enjoy the scenes between Buffy and Spike, and the few good standalone episodes, am I the only one in believing that this season is by far the overall worst of the series?
 
I don't think Season 7 is the worst, in fact I think coming on the back of Season 6 makes it look better than it is. Season 6 is by far the worst season to me, far too depressing, and I detest the Trio. Season 7 at least has some good stuff, Anya has some good episodes, Faith returns, D.B. Woodside does a good job. There's at least some things to like.
 
It is bad, although whether or not it is worse than S6 is hard to judge. Both are objectively terrible, but by and large they are terrible in different ways, making a direct like for like comparison hard.

Both, however, do have some overlap in badness. Both are incoherent messes, and neither is about Buffy. I'd say that you could remove Buffy from both seasons without it making any difference, except that it would, because S7 in particular showed the world was a better place with Buffy dead. So, congratulations writers on making having the main character alive be a bad thing. That takes real talent.

If they'd simply taken a year after S5 had ended to actually come up with a plan, both could have been better. But there's no plan for either season and it shows. Joss's original plan had ended, he'd lost interest and instead of something decent - you could have made the First, who also needed fixing as it was a terrible, terrible monster for Buffy as done - part of a two season arc.
 
Could it be you were so focused on Spuffy that you didn't notice everything else going on around them in s7?

We're all fans of the show, but even when we love something so much, it doesn't mean it's flawless, and it's perfectly OK to critique it and not blindly support it 'just because'.

It definitely lends to the argument that the series should've ended as intended, at s5. Don't get me wrong; s7 has some great elements, some great standalone episodes, and the arc itself (fighting the First evil) was an interesting idea, but unfortunately it wasn't executed properly. It fell flat on its face.

S7 is bloated with unnecessary storylines, relationships, too many new characters, speeches, and an evil that twiddles its thumbs. It's very, very problematic, and would rank as one of the lowest in the entire series.
 
Depends what scale you're using. Season 7 is brilliant measured against everything else on television. It is bad for a Buffy season though. Even then it's not all bad. Quality tanks when the potentials arrive (not exclusively because of their arrival).
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
So, maybe this is the flu meds talking, but is this season just objectively bad and I never realized it or was willing to admit it because I'm such a big fan of the show? I've been sick for days and have been rewatching this season. For years I've always argued "more Buffy is better than nothing" but I'm starting to genuinely believe we could have absolutely gone without this season.

As much as I enjoy the scenes between Buffy and Spike, and the few good standalone episodes, am I the only one in believing that this season is by far the overall worst of the series?
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Nope not just you. Definitely the worst season. Mind you season 6 wasn't good either.
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The Bronze said:
Depends what scale you're using. Season 7 is brilliant measured against everything else on television. It is bad for a Buffy season though. Even then it's not all bad. Quality tanks when the potentials arrive (not exclusively because of their arrival).
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Might've somewhat agreed had you said on that network or most of TV, but the rest? Compared to West Wing or Sopranos? 🤔
 
It's a matter of gravity. Season 7 is when the show runs out of ideas, creative burnout is in full swing, everyone is nearly a decade older, et al. So, it was a series in decline. The First was always going to be a difficult villain to maintain interest in over the course of an entire season. It also has this weird part where it feels like 7 episodes worth of plot extended into 13 episodes, except for the time when two seasons get crammed into five episodes?

It's not bad, it's just not as good as the rest of the series.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
As much as I enjoy the scenes between Buffy and Spike, and the few good standalone episodes, am I the only one in believing that this season is by far the overall worst of the series?
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You're not the only one. I've never enjoyed S7 because it's a mess. All over the place, questionable writing...but I loved Beneath You. Mainly because of the Sluggoth Demon...and Anya being completely hilarious throughout the episode.
 
Season 7 is weak, but it is better than the season that came before. Although its weaknesses are different than 6's; it has better pacing, but the pacing is still all over the place, it has too many characters and not enough for the main characters to do (apart from Spike who gets too many subplots), the story is rushed and patchy but also static and frustratingly vague at many points...before rushing headlong in those last 5 episodes where so much is happening and many of the characters have to act OOC for the plot to happen.

The only commonality with the previous season is that the Buffy/Spike stuff is pretty naff, just in a different way.

And instead of making Buffy weak and irrelevant to the finale like in S6, S7 made her stupid, reckless and...also pretty much irrelevant to the finale.

But overall there is more to enjoy in S7, Buffy herself starts out better, Xander's pretty okay, Dawn improves greatly, uh, there's more Giles, Faith shows up eventually and the action set pieces are better than S6's (rather woeful) ones.
 
B
Btvs fan
The Giles is he or is he not the First was a terrible subplot
I've honestly known s7 was one of the weakest. Even with s4, which is notoriously known as one of the silliest and 'worst written', at least s4 has some interesting subplots. It also felt like s4 rewarded the viewers with fun filler episodes, Briley, Tillow, etc. Versus s7 where everything just went to shit and Spuffy continued their toxic ways.

The lack of Angel didn't help either. It took awhile for him to show up.

Also one of the main reasons why I didn't like it was Buffy's stupidity. You'd think that since she's been doing this for years atp she'd know better! She kept making stupid decisions, that in my opinion didn't feel believable. The writers wanted more conflict so they just made Buffy the cause of the it. Felt very poorly written!

I like that we can see some of Buffy's flaws, but you just cannot convince me that she f'ed up that badly.

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thetopher said:
But overall there is more to enjoy in S7, Buffy herself starts out better, Xander's pretty okay, Dawn improves greatly, uh, there's more Giles, Faith shows up eventually and the action set pieces are better than S6's (rather woeful) ones.
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Also have to mention that 'The First' is cool and unique villain. Though not executed well in my opinion, it was something to look forward to.
 
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B
Btvs fan
Angel had his own spin off on another network
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
So, maybe this is the flu meds talking, but is this season just objectively bad and I never realized it or was willing to admit it because I'm such a big fan of the show? I've been sick for days and have been rewatching this season. For years I've always argued "more Buffy is better than nothing" but I'm starting to genuinely believe we could have absolutely gone without this season.

As much as I enjoy the scenes between Buffy and Spike, and the few good standalone episodes, am I the only one in believing that this season is by far the overall worst of the series?
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Its bad but in a different way than Season 6. Season 6 had some decent ideas that were executed terribly. Plus the whole depression plot line and AR, well thats not what I watch for entertainment.

Season 7 is bad because Joss is creatively bankrupt by this point (hes even admitted he was burnt out) and they're relying on old plots and just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. One example being Wood burying Jonathan which goes absolutely no where. Others like the is Giles the First subplot pure bait and switch.
The writers even admit they didn't realise that the First not being corporeal was a problem as you need something for Buffy to hit, hence Caleb.
By the second half you're throwing Potentials at the wall in the hope one generates a spin off.
The First is another problem. He was a 1 episode villain from S3 that was mocked in that episode (I get it your evil) but now it's the main threat even though its plan and aims don't make any sense.

That all said the first half of episodes at least until Bring on the Night Is pretty decent. Drew Goddard was a breath of Fresh Air and its no accident the best episodes or parts of episodes where written by him.
Its only when the Potentials walk through that door in Episode 10 does the season fall apart.

Also Budget saving for the finale so you spend much of the whole season in Buffys House gets old as a backdrop too.
 
@Btvs fan

I know about the spin off just saying that so much happened that his absence was more noticable
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Btvs fan said:
Also Budget saving for the finale so you spend much of the whole season in Buffys House gets old as a backdrop too.
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I also got tired of seeing 100 teenage girls holed up in one house all the time.
 
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