So there is no more Buffy, at least for me. I finished the last two episodes yesterday evening, after waiting a couple of days, stringing them out. The seventh season seems somewhat maligned, though I'm not quite sure why. It certainly isn't as focused as, say, seasons five and six, giving off the vibe of a victory lap almost, even while ratcheting up the stakes, at least according to the scripts. And there are some moments of questionable characterization nearing the end, which almost never happened before. But, I found the first half of the season exceedingly tightly plotted, a great little action movie leading up to the defeat of the first ubervamp. Spike's story, to me, was really moving, though some might miss the bad, bad boy he once was. Much fun with Andrew. Just devastated by the death of one particular character and another's reaction to it. Great to see Angel and Faith. And the Mayor! Probably still my favorite villain. It ended right, with the original gang still side by side. I could go on. But I won't. It took me well over a year; it's hard to believe how attached one can become to fictions. Then again, it isn't.
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I need a haircut. I look like one of the Ramones. The non-dead ones, I mean.
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I love Kenneth Koch's poem "Permanently."
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Tell me about your fake memories of me. ;)
About Me
- Paul
- Paul Guest is the author of four volumes of poetry and a memoir. His debut, The Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World, was awarded the 2002 New Issues Poetry Prize. His second collection, Notes for My Body Double, was awarded the 2006 Prairie Schooner Book Prize. His third collection, My Index of Slightly Horrifying Knowledge, was published by Ecco Press/HarperCollins in 2008. His fourth collection, Because Everything Is Terrible, was published by Diode Editions. His poems have appeared in Harper's, The Paris Review, Poetry, Tin House, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. His memoir, One More Theory About Happiness, was published by Ecco in May 2010 and selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. The recipient of a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2007 Whiting Writers' Award, Guest lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
16 comments:
I was sick this week and also watched most of season 7 on my sick day(s). I agree with you about the season; it's the most serial-like of all of them--especially the second half of it, in which the episodes seem to occur back-to-back-to-back. Highlights for me are Him, Storyteller, Get It Done, and The Killer In Me.
Those are all great episodes and highlights for me as well, esp. Storyteller and Killer.
Another great moment was the conversation Spike and Andrew had on his motorbike about onion blossoms.
"Permanently" is one of my top 100 Billboard-with-a-bullet poems.
I don't have any fake memories of you, but I love your book. I felt guilty about having it a week before everyone else. (It must have been in the front seat).
One of these days, I will have to watch Buffy.
Pamela, your copy was the first one I got ready to mail. Then I ran out of tape, to stick the mailing label on, so I went ahead and mailed yours.
Glad you enjoyed the book.
LOL.. I'm sure I have some safari pictures. Then there was the time you were the king of Italy.
Remember? ;)
When I decreed that nougat was the new national currency?
Good times...
Season 7 is a paradox.
It is possibly the best season and it is possibly the worst. And even more paradoxically so, possibly both.
It doesn't seem like the different writers and directors spoke to each other. Possibly even the writers and director of the same episode.
When Anya and Giles find out the answer to the "big mystery" from the omniscient transdimensional eyeball, yeah, that never comes up again.
It is ignored so unabashedly, I had to look at the episode again just to be sure that it actually happened.
I could go on. and maybe I will on my livejournal.
Good day to you sir.
Oh yeah, the eyeball. That is curious. I forgot about it. I took it to mean that what it implied, that there was something wrong with Buffy, was the failings in her personal relationships and leadership style.
But that could have been better handled.
I think it's obvious Whedon's attentions were elsewhere. Was this when Firefly was beginning?
One of his particuliar geniuses was in the usually deft construction of each season, down to the fine details. At that level, S7 has some problems. It's still perfectly enjoyable, with a lot that's great.
A couple of other issues: too much time spent on the Potentials; it seemed to undermine the storylines of everyone else. And Tara, aside from the few early episodes, seemed to evaporate from everyone's minds, Willow included. I didn't particularly believe there was really any credible chemistry between her and Kennedy.
Still, I never felt there was a clunker episode, and was with it the whole time.
Well, the message of the eyeball thing was that all the unrest with the hellmouth was because Buffy should not be alive. That they had upset the natural order by bringing her back (Season 5).
At this point, I'm thinking, WOW, they're going to have to kill Buffy. But, nothing of the sort happens. Nothing really happens at all in relation to that.
But, yeah, it's still Buffy complete with Giles saying (as reported by Xander) "No more fun and games, Xander"
I e-mailed your UTC account.
My favorite fake memory is when we shared a bottle of cognac in Istanbul, where you read my poetry and chided me on verb/subject agreement while I made fun of your constant use of the word 'farrago.'
In the meantime, I received your book and am entranced and delighted with it- I also got issues of Rattle and 32 Poems, but you win the 'read-me-first' lottery.
Glad you got the book, Shann!
I love all things buffy, but Willow's "love interest" (is her name kennedy?) drives me nuts. And Buffy's friends never would have turned on her like that. I blame marti noxon.
Agreed on both points. Of the various flaws in S7, the only one that is almost a deal breaker for me is how Buffy's friends do turn on her, as you say. There's just no way. Never would happen. I was so livid I nearly stopped watching. But I couldn't do that, and things turn out right in the end.
My favorite fake memory is when we went to Bora Bora. As I recall, I was a Romanian movie star and you were on the run from an overzealous fan.
Long time, no write. Hope you're well.
Ah, Bora Bora. I was in love then....
I liked the last episode of Buffy a lot, despite the disappointed hardcore fans. It seems to have more of an impact when you obsessively watch it, the way I did last year, 3-4 episodes in a row. I mean, I spent more time with the Scooby gang than my friends! HA.
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