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Date Posted: 15:30:06 01/07/06 Sat
Author: Constance
Subject: Re: The Season 6 blues
In reply to: Kevin 's message, "The Season 6 blues" on 18:17:45 01/05/06 Thu

I must be contrary - I feel like season 6 was the first one to really address the emotional toll of the last five years, and the first that showed that real life isn't just cute quips and puns. I think Buffy was more than due some situational depression, considering that she had lost her mother, gained a sister (who, while nice enough, still required a huge amount of adjustment), lost two boyfriends, had to give up a "real" life because she had to stay in Sunnydale instead of going away to college like she wanted to, then had to leave school and... died. And been ripped from a paradise to be returned to a coffin, underground, with muted senses and forced to again fight for her life. I also think that in season five (as in seasons one, two, three and four), she was still feeling pretty ambivalent about her life as a Slayer and questioning whether she really was happy with the vocation that had been thrust upon her. At the end of The Gift, she has the opportunity to make a decisive action that will both affirm her commitment to her vocation, her sister et al, and relieve her of the burdens of all of the above. As has been said in many other contexts, being the Slayer requires at least a streak of nihilistic acceptance - the job comes with only a single exit strategy (at least until Willow redefined it).

I think it would have been out of keeping with where the story was going if Buffy hadn't been depressed and unable to see the good points of being alive. For anyone who has ever suffered major loss, we have a tiny taste of what her return to earth must have been like but in the context of the story arc, we can't know. I really think that playing season 6 with Buffy in the midst of depression (and thus seeking out whatever stimulation she can that lets her feel real) is the only way to let it play out honestly. It is a depressing season, but it is also an emotionally honest season and for me, that counts more than hijinks and goofiness.

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