Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 6 Review

Now that the tiers have changed, I'm going to be taking a little break from being your Patron, Liam. I realize it's only a few more dollars a month to keep seeing the Buffy reactions, but I AM on a fixed income [Social Security] and other subscriptions. Please don't think I no longer adore you, as that's not the case. This is without question my favourite reaction channel, and I fully intend to return , and at that higher tier .. If I take a break for a few months, having a healthy backlog of juicy reaction goodness on which to gorge & play catch-up will truly float my (man-in-the-) boat, upon my intended return. 'BYE FAM!

Doublemeat Palace has grown on me over the years. Didn't like it much at all when it first aired, but I was able to relate to the world of fast food employment. But I've realized after a number of rewatches that it is pretty sharply written.

Jarrod Wild

I still feel like everyone misses the point, even though Spike reminds us of it often in the show. He is evil. Does he do a lot of good things? Yes. I love him when he punches Tara in the nose. (What an odd sounding statement.). But the point is that no person or character is 100% evil. I’m sure there are serial killers out there, the worst of the worst, who are still kind to their grandmothers. So having settled on the fact the Spike is an evil create, that often does good, I look at the scene this way: Spike didn’t go there with the intention to rape Buffy, and even while it was happening, I don’t think he intended that. What he did intend was to get what he wanted without thinking or caring about what Buffy wanted, an evil act that including him attempting to rape her. I don’t think he wanted to do that, and the look of shock on his face when Buffy fights him off tells me that as well. But even if he didn’t intend it, it’s still what he did. And I can absolutely see the character doing it in just that way. He loves Buffy too much to ‘rape’ her, but without a soul, he’s stumbling through doing the best he can at being ‘good’ and is often found wanting. Including here where he did try to rape Buffy, to try to recreate the ‘magic’ they had before. And I by it, but not accepting no means he is a rapist. Having said that, I love Spike. It just hurts me when I see him do this, or allowing Dru to kill the couple dancing and then feeding off the girl, just like it hurts me when Willow bespelled Tara, or fucked with innocent people at the Bronze. So I have to accept the writing choices in ‘Seeing Red’, even though it’s ugly and brutal. Season 6 is my second favorite season after 5. I thought the trio worked, the nerd stuff, Jonathan’s still culpable innocence, Warren’s evil stupidity. (Here is a guy who could be selling robots for hundreds of thousands of dollars.). I didn’t like Willow killing him. I wanted to see him stand trial and go to jail for Katrina’s attempted rape, and murder. But this isn’t SVU. And Dark Willow was AMAZING, from start to finish. (But I still miss Tara!). Sorry for rambling on so long.

Richard Lucas

Had to watch it in 3 sittings lol. Several random points I wanted to make: -Regarding "As you were", I don't think it's ranked that low for most fans, it's just that is not a favorite for almost anyone. For me it feels like a season 4 episode, I don't mind Riley, I like Sam, love Willow in that one, but the background initiative-like plot of the episode falls flat for me again -When people talk about the themes of addiction on the season, they usually talk about Willow and Buffy, but Spike's addiction to Buffy rarely gets mentioned, -I used to roll my eyes at the Duo's escape to Mexico, but the I realized it was probably the best thing to do for everyone. If they stayed, they wouldn't have gone to jail, they'd have been horribly murdered, probably along with anyone that was trying to protect them, and Willow would have crossed the point of no return. Not that that was the motivation behind them running away, but still... -The more I rewatch "Doublemeat Palace", the more I like it. Please somebody stop me

Khanach

I liked Riley as well, so you aren't alone

TheyCallMeJeff

Interesting fact: Seeing Red was the only episode of the entire show that had to air at a later time in Canada due to the controversial content.

Salv Mancuso

Thanks so much as always Liam, so appreciative of the time and effort you put into your reactions and reviews. Can't wait for you to watch Season 7, even though it will also be really sad to see you finish it. I planned to keep supporting you on Patreon when you're finished the show regardless, but hearing you talk about doing the comics now has me intrigued for and excited for that too. I've never read them, so will be very interested in following along as you react to those!

Dentarthurdent

Amy came back so that was kind of big and she was an early Season 1 character. As long as you count her as "gone" while she was a rat lol. So you were right on that prediction albeit she was not a huge character. I don't like the trio in s6 either altho I agree Warren is a legit villain. However, your point that they were misogynistic men who never mature is really a theme in and of itself isn't it? And they are super 1 dimmensional, but some people just refuse to grow and that also can be real. The contrast between them and all the other more 3 dimmensional characters in Buffy is so stark. I do find them individually more interesting than they are together. As a trio of pseudo-villians for me they are also a fail. As a woman, I do enjoy misogyny being framed as evil bc so often it is framed as the opposite so I respect the concept even if it was not well realized. And on that note showing misogyny is evil by also having attempt rape is not effective, it's traumatizing and to use that to push just the [attempted] rapists story forward both cheapens it and abuses the reality of it. So I agree with your thoughts and I say that as a big fan of Spike. My critique is of the writing choices.

Dutchkel