Now Leaving Sunnydale

Series Stats:
Dead Humans - 186
Dead Undeads - 361
Dead Potentials - 11
Dead Flashbacks - 24
Giles Unconscious - 17
Giles Cleans His Glasses - 29
Buffy Breaks a Door - 30
Evil Reveal - 54
Unevil Reveal - 21
Shenanigans Called - 146
Apocalypse Called - 10

Season Seven Stats (including comparison to previous season):
Dead Humans - 31 (+22)
Dead Undeads - 80 (+20)
Dead Potentials - 11 (new stat)
Dead Flashbacks - 15 (+15)
Giles Unconscious - 0 (-3)
Giles Cleans His Glasses - 1 (-5)
Buffy Breaks a Door - 3 (-2)
Evil Reveal - 8 (+4)
Unevil Reveal - 3 (+2)
Shenanigans Called - 17 (+7)
Apocalypse Called - 2 (+1)

Top Season Stats:
Dead Humans - Season Five: 45
Dead Undeads - Season Seven: 80
Dead Potentials - Season Seven: 11
Dead Flashbacks - Season Seven: 15
Giles Unconscious - Tie: Seasons One, Two, and Three: 4 each
Giles Cleans His Glasses - Tie: Seasons Five and Six: 6 each
Buffy Breaks a Door - Season One: 6
Evil Reveal - Season Two: 17
Unevil Reveal - Tie: Seasons Two and Three: 5 each
Shenanigans Called - Season Two: 26
Apocalypse Called - Tie: Seasons One, Two, and Seven: 2 each

Season Seven certainly upped our body count, taking top place in Dead Undeads, Potentials (fine fine, a contest of one), and Flashbacks, while failing miserably at Giles statistics, since he abandoned us and moved back to pip pip land. We are pleased to see a return to our bitter skepticism, with an uptick in Shenanigans Called. And I think we can all agree that we've ended in triumph if our Dead Undeads count is nearly double that of Dead Humans. Take THAT, First Evil!

Zelda's Thoughts:

I don't know how much I have to say about Season Seven that I haven't already said, honestly. A lot of it reminds me of Season Four, in terms of being set up for one kind of conflict, then meandering around with distractions through the middle of the season, before arriving at a strong enough finish. I wish the Potentials had been either better written in order to justify their distraction from our core Scoobies, or that they, you know, hadn't been A DISTRACTION FROM OUR CORE SCOOBIES. I love that Anya got her own "Fool For Love" origin episode, and hate how much she disappeared into unimportance afterward. I hate how the show made me hate Giles (and hate the writers themselves with the fakeout about his being the First). I hate "Empty Places." I don't much care for Kennedy, though I do like seeing how much healthier Willow's gotten post-dark-and-veiny. I like that Xander actually seems to be approaching functional adulthood even if he's still a bag of tools sometimes. I love Dawn's growth???? This rewatch made me realize I've stopped hating her by the end of Season Seven. I hate Buffy's isolation from the group, though at least I understand why and how it happens. I love the beauty of Buffy finally having freedom, being able to share the weight of saving the world with others so it's not just about she alone saving the world (dying twice is quite enough, thank you). And yes, I enjoyed the Spuffiness that Season Seven gave me, even if it was at the expense of the writers just not knowing how to handle the events of "Seeing Red" or their outcome. And you know what I loved? How Season Seven, knowing it was the show's final season, threw in more shoutouts and throwbacks to earlier seasons than ever before - from invisible loners at school to calling Xander out on "kick his ass" to the Scoobies parting ways before the battle and Giles concluding the world is definitely doomed. That felt like the best kind of fan service, and I'm grateful for it.

Speaking of gratitude, for all its faults (which we've spent the past few years pointing out), I really love Buffy, you guys. I think it's a fantastic and ridiculous show that I can't quite believe exists sometimes, full of dialogue I quote freely to this day, full of characters I love, full of pain and joy and vitality, full of remarkable achievements like "The Body," "Hush," and "Once More, With Feeling." I'm grateful Joss decided to write a musical episode, without which it would have taken much longer for me to get around to watching this show and realizing how special it is. I'm grateful for the friends I've made because of it (especially Daniel!). I'm grateful to you guys for sticking around to read us talking about it. This is basically me:

Daniel's Thoughts:

Ditto.

Zelda's Rebuttal:

You dork.

We'll be back in two weeks with the pilot of Veronica Mars! Be sure to take Backup.