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8.40 Last Gleaming, Part V Faith: "You're the only slayer. You always were." Synopsis: San Francisco. Buffy is waitressing at the "Pick Me Up," a coffee/book place. A customer trips her, but she manages to maintain the tray of hot stuff upright and serve the customers anyway -- with her foot. The customer is a former slayer who hates Buffy. Kennedy's place. Buffy and Kennedy are talking as Kennedy packs. Kennedy is furious and crying. She says Buffy literally f%$#ed everything up. Buffy says Willow needs Kennedy now more than ever since Willow no longer has powers, but Kennedy says no, that Willow dumped her. Golden Gate Park, sunset. Buffy and Willow sit on the grass and talk. The slayers that had their powers before still have them, but no new slayers will be called. Willow, who has no magic any more, broke up with Kennedy because she believes Kennedy really liked being with a superhero. Willow says that there is someone else. Someone she'll never see again. Buffy is dreaming. She's reliving the moments after Giles' death and the destruction of the Seed. Angel is saying, "Buffy, what happened? Did we... did we win?" (A little flashback to the end of season two. Angel doesn't remember what he did.) Dawn pokes Buffy and wakes her up. Buffy is on the couch of the apartment she shares with Xander and Dawn. Xander goes off to his carpentry job, and Buffy and Dawn talk. There are still plenty of vampires and vamp wannabes in the world. Without her army, Buffy is no longer a leader; Dawn says she's just back to being bossy. A military place. The General is talking on a cell phone to his significant other, whoever that might be. He's been pensioned out, the slayers have dispersed, he thinks everything has worked out for the best. Elevator door opens and rogue slayer Simone Doffler steps out and shoots the General in the head. Cemetery in the rain. Coffin lowered into the earth. Lawyer's office, where Buffy and Faith learn that Giles left everything to Faith Lehane. All Giles left Buffy was an old book with the word "Vampyr" on the cover. (And we're back to the pilot again.) Giles' flat. Faith tells Buffy she is the only slayer and always was. That Giles must have thought Faith needed help, and Buffy didn't. Faith says she is the only one who can stand looking at Angel, who is sitting alone in a room of Giles' flat in the dark, still covered with blood and with a blank look on his face. Faith is willing to take care of Angel because she's all about forgiveness. Later, back at Xander and Dawn's apartment in San Francisco. Spike is outside on the fire escape knocking on the window. Buffy can't invite him in, it's not her house, but she reaches out the open window, caresses his hair, and calls him Blondie Bear. She comes out onto the fire escape, and they talk. Spike is keeping his ear to the ground. He says someone is coming for her. He doesn't know who yet. They talk about the recent mess and he says Buffy did what she always did -- she saved the world. It's just that people noticed this time. Spike takes off on his bug dirigible (it was parked on the roof). Buffy goes to bed on the couch alone. She hears Dawn and Xander loudly making it in the bedroom and longs for her own place. Except that it's not -- it's Dawn on the other side of the door faking it, while Xander is in the shower. Buffy goes out patrolling and is attacked by three angry former slayers. They're angry because she betrayed them. She cut off the line of slayers, who don't call themselves slayers any more, destroyed the Wiccan community, tainted the earth, let all of her friends down. The three ex-slayers (should I know who they are? Comics are hard) attack Buffy. She takes all three of them down. She leaves them and in the last few panels, she goes on patrolling, fighting, taking out vampires, because that's what she does. Review: This was the first issue that felt like Buffy in a long time. It was rather good, in a reset-y sort of way. The story wasn't outlandish, the characters felt like Buffy characters, and I laughed out loud more than once. Buffy, Willow, Xander and Dawn retained their closeness, to some extent. Buffy and Faith are friends again. And hey, Willow finally dumped Kennedy. Joss Whedon's somewhat apologetic letter at the end did clear stuff up. He admits he got too into creating something epic and went too far afield from the characters we love, and that he hopes to do better and get back to the basics with season nine. It also seems that he was trying to reconcile the end of season seven with the Fray comics. That probably makes sense for a story that will stay in the comic book universe, but since I don't care at all about Fray, it doesn't mean anything to me. As I wrapped up the final nine reviews these past few weeks, I've thought a lot about why season eight hasn't worked for me. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my absolute favorite show, ever, and I desperately wanted more of it. This comic series, spearheaded by the series creator that I so deeply admire, should have -- okay, maybe not blown me away, but it should have at least kept me interested, made feel that I was indeed getting more of what I loved so much. It could have been the ultimate in creativity for Joss Whedon and his band of writers, with no limits to his imagination, no actors to sign, no network to satisfy. Instead, it has been a long-strung-out personal disappointment. Did I expect too much? Are other Buffy fans out there satisfied with what we got? Are you? There were several things that were obviously set-up for season nine. Angel's condition, of course. Spike said someone was coming for Buffy. (Simone?) The death of the General, the angry ex-slayers. I'm surprised but pleased that they even left us with the possibility that Buffy will get involved with Spike again. So I hope season nine goes well, truly I do. But it will do it without me. I'm not going to buy it, and I'm not going to read it. And as God is my witness, I will never review a comic again. Bits and pieces: -- Faith finally has a last name: Lehane. Ooh, I got it! After Dennis Lehane, the best-selling author from Massachusetts, right? -- Spike's sphere ship is a dirigible. We still don't know where he got it, although I'm sure it was explained somewhere. -- Isn't Giles' flat in England? How did they get Angel to England? How could a broke waitress pay for a plane ticket to England when all Giles left her was a book? -- My favorite volume was the early Faith and Giles one, "No Future for You." My favorite standalone was "The Chain." Interesting how early both of these were. -- I did love the cover art for some of the issues, particularly the ones by Jo Chen. Quotes: Buffy: "Come on, I'm rooting for Kennedy here! That deserves special consideration. And possibly a plaque." Willow: "You... you're never not you, are you?" Dawn: "Nightmare?" Buffy: "What else?" Dawn: "Is this the one where Angel and Spike get it awwn?" Dawn: "Everybody knows I was the Scrappy-Doo of that gang." Buffy: "At least Harmony's show got canceled." Dawn: "She's doing Dancing with the Stars." Buffy: "Balls." Spike: "If you'd invite me in, I wouldn't have to crawl about, would I?" Buffy: "Not my house, Blondie Bear." Spike: "I've begged you not to call me that. Reminds me of that moron who -- among other things -- has completely ruined Dancing with the Stars this season." Buffy: "You getting this, breathless? I'm Buffy, the vampire slayer, and you're a bunch of whiny thugs." Two out of four broken scythes for "Last Gleaming." And that's it for me. Over and out, Billie View all comments or post a comment. |
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