| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Save now on popular classic TV favorites such as Charlies Angels, Sanford and Son, Soap and many more. Offer ends May 31, 2013. |
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Special Features
None.
Watch Free Previews and Buy Episodes from Amazon Instant Video (Learn More)
| Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 7 |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The seventh and final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer begins with a mystery: someone is murdering teenage girls all over the world and something is trying hard to drive Spike mad. Buffy is considerably more cheerful in these episodes than we have seen her during the previous year as she trains Dawn and gets a job as student counselor at the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High. Willow is recovering from the magical addiction which almost led her to destroy the world, but all is not yet well with her, or with Anya, who has returned to being a Vengeance demon in "Same Time, Same Place" and "Selfless," and both women are haunted by their decisions.
Haunting of a different kind comes in the excellent "Conversations with Dead People" (one of the show's most terrifying episodes ever), in which a mysterious song is making Spike kill again in spite of his soul and his chip. Giles turns up in "Bring on the Night" and Buffy has to fight one of the deadliest vampires of her career in "Showtime". In "Potential" Dawn faces a fundamental reassessment of her purpose in life.
Buffy was always a show about female empowerment, but it was also a show about how ordinary people can decide to make a difference alongside people who are special. And it was also a show about people making up for past errors and crimes. So, for example, we have the excellent episodes "Storyteller", in which the former geek/supervillain Andrew sorts out his redemption while making a video diary about life with Buffy; and "Lies My Parents Told Me," in which we find out why a particular folk song sends Spike crazy. Redemption abounds as Faith returns to Sunnydale and the friends she once betrayed, and Willow finds herself turning into the man she flayed. Above all, this was always Buffy's show: Sarah Michelle Gellar does extraordinary work here both as Buffy and as her ultimate shadow, the First Evil, who takes her face to mock her. This is a fine ending to one of television's most remarkable shows. --Roz Kaveney
Product Description
As Buffy acompanies Dawn on her first date at the new Sunnydale High, Giles continues Willow's magic education in England. But while Buffy is surprised to be offered a guidance counselor job, Willow is shocked to experience a horrific future vision of the Hellmouth.
Willow returns to Sunnydale and Giles soon follows with word that the Watcher's Council has been destroyed. Determined to make one last stand, Buffy and her allies gather for the upcoming battle, yet nothing can prepare them for The First and his robed Bringers, who are killing all the Potential Slayers- and anyone else who gets in their way.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
156 of 165 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This six Disk DVD Set is extraordinary. The Picture and Sound quality are so very good that you feel as though you are watching it in a theater. The closed captioning and Audio come in other languages besides English. It's jam packed with all sorts of extra bonus special features, plus a special series end wrap party that is a whole lot of fun. Everything you ever wanted to know about Buffy, cast, The Brilliant creator, Joss Whedon and other staff members. I not only highly recommend this Season disk set, but the other six seasons as well. Quite a bit of quality work went into the making of all seven seasons. They are a necessary buy for any Buffy fan! It's completely impossible to be anything but extremely pleased with this purchase as well as the rest of the series. The writing, acting, directing, etc... are extraordinary. This is feature film quality at it's finest, instead of the plain old TV quality that most people expect. Each episode is like watching a movie. The last five episodes build to a finale that is as amazing as any feature film that I have never before seen on television. The final episode was extraordinary, the writing, the premise was ingenious. The acting was the usual above average talent. I believe that the music that Rob Duncan provided was the icing on the cake and made the episode EPIC. It was brilliant music. Of all seven seasons this is truly my favorite. If you don't own any then by all means at least purchase season seven.
Here's Season Seven's Line Up:
1. Lessons
2. Beneath You
3. Same Time, Same Place
4. Help
5. Selfless
6. Him
7. Conversations with Dead People
8. Sleeper
9. Never Leave Me
10. Bring on The Night
11. Showtime
12. Potential
13. The Killer In Me
14. First Date
15. Get It Done
16. Storyteller
17. Lies My Parents Told Me
18. Dirty Girls
19. Empty Places
20. Touched
21. End of Days
22. Chosen
Here's Season Seven's Line Up:
1. Lessons
2. Beneath You
3. Same Time, Same Place
4. Help
5. Selfless
6. Him
7. Conversations with Dead People
8. Sleeper
9. Never Leave Me
10. Bring on The Night
11. Showtime
12. Potential
13. The Killer In Me
14. First Date
15. Get It Done
16. Storyteller
17. Lies My Parents Told Me
18. Dirty Girls
19. Empty Places
20. Touched
21. End of Days
22. Chosen
349 of 383 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Unlike other seasons of BUFFY, one needs to defend either a low or high rating for this season. One can take either of two tacks with Season Seven. One could give it a low rating based on comparison with other seasons of BUFFY, because there is virtually no debate that this is the weakest season in the show's seven. On this criterion, I would probably give the set a three-star rating. On the other hand, one could base the rating not in comparison to BUFFY's other seasons, but to other shows, and on this basis I don't see how you can give the season anything less than a five. Yes, it is BUFFY's weakest season; yes, there are some serious errors made during the season; yes, the writing isn't as sharp or as consistent. Nonetheless, it was during the 2002-2003 television season, along with ANGEL (which had its own problems in its Season Four), FARSCAPE (which while superb was not as nearly sharp as Season Three), and ALIAS, among the finest shows on TV. It is my least favorite season of BUFFY, but given the option of watching either it or any season of LAW AND ORDER or FRIENDS or CSI, I would choose Season Seven of BUFFY in a nanosecond.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
So why do BUFFY fans find Season Seven to be so disappointing. I think there are a variety of reasons. Here are a few: 1) Although there is some very sharp humor during the season (e.g., a conversation about fast food delicacies between Spike and Andrew on a motorcycle, after which Spike warns that he will kill Andrew if he ever tells anyone about it; Anya's asking Andrew why he doesn't use the bathroom for the same purpose everyone else does [not the purpose one might first imagine]; and a phenomenal first encounter between Faith and Spike, when she doesn't know that he now fights on the side of the good guys, and tries to slay him, with the two of them debating on who has reformed and who did so first), the humor isn't as consistent. But the tone of the series changed. Even in Season Six, the show maintained a humorous tone most of the time. In Season Seven, there is a constant attempt to inject a sense of impending doom, which unfortunately alters the show's mood in unpleasant fashion. Buffy almost completely ceased her quipping. 2) Although Sarah Michelle has gained a number of detractors since the end of the series (I think mainly for her lack of interaction with fans), I always think she did a marvelous job in the only crucial role on the show. Unfortunately, in Season Seven she was asked to do something that her character wasn't well equipped to do: more or less be a great leader. Buffy in the first six seasons was always more of her own person, not quite a loner, but although the central figure in the Scoobies as the Slayer, not a leader either. But in Season Seven after the Potentials arrive, she is asked to be a leader. What is worse, she is asked to lead not merely by example but by giving morale-boosting speeches in every other episode. Unfortunately, the speeches were horribly written and awkwardly inserted into the episodes. I was more put off by her General Patton speeches more than I was by the notorious "cookie dough" speech she gives Angel in the final episode. 3) Worse of all, the Potentials completely altered the structure of the show. I know many people simply didn't like the individual actresses portraying the Potentials, but to me that wasn't what was so bad about them. Because there were so many of them, they gradually started eroding the screen time left to deal with the stories of the main Scoobies. Actually, Season Seven is very good up to the episode when the Potential start arriving. The episode where Anya slaughters as vengeance demon all the members of a fraternity, only to repent after failing to convince both others and herself that this was what she really wanted to be doing, and then walks off by herself at the end of the story is quite as good as what we had seen in the previous two or three seasons. But once the Potentials arrived, there simply wasn't room or time to deals with individual characters any longer. Xander, Anya, Dawn, and Giles more or less get squeezed out of the story. Only Buffy, Willow, and Spike, and later in the year Faith, get to have their stories told at all. In Seasons One through Six, four or five or six or seven was company, but twenty proved to be a crowd. 4) The lameness of The First as the Big Bad. Cementing this was the terrible use of the great use of Nathan Fillion (who was spectacular as Mal Reynolds in FIREFLY) as Caleb.
One other thing to lament about Season Seven was recently revealed by Joss Whedon, when he explained that they hoped to bring Tara back in Season Seven before contract negotiations broke down. In an early episode, Buffy would somehow manage to gain the ability to make a single reality-altering wish. Several alternatives are instantly imaginable: wishing her mother back, lifting Angel's curse, perhaps not even being the Slayer. Whedon imagined Buffy going to Willow and showing her new shoes, as if they were what she had used her wish for, Willow's incredulous reaction, and then Buffy telling her to look behind her, where Tara would have been standing. Now that is an episode I would have liked to see.
But sometimes the negatives seem to mask the large number of extremely good things in Season Seven. For instance: 1) Except for "Him" (where Buffy and Dawn fight over the attentions of the same high school student) there were no out and out from beginning to end bad episodes. The bad stuff largely took place within a show that features some good things. 2) A few absolutely stunning individual episodes, especially "Conversations with Dead People," the hysterical "The Storyteller" (centering on Andrew, who provided many of the funniest moments of Season Seven, and who is one of the odds on favorites to be in any BUFFY/ANGEL spin off), and the great episode where Spike deals with unresolved conflicts concerning his mother. 3) The struggles of both Willow and Spike in dealing with their respective inner demons, Willow with having killed in Season Six and Spike with his having a soul. 4) The return of Faith, which while BUFFY did not provide her with as many great moments as ANGEL did for three episodes preceding her return to Sunnydale, were great. The tremendous chemistry (more as kindred spirits than sexual) between Spike and Faith, especially in a long conversation they have in Buffy's basement, one of the highpoints of the season, has many people hoping for the demise of TRU CALLING (Eliza Dushku's current and lightly regarded show) so that Faith and Spike can head a spin off.
Then there is the ending. Many hate it. Many love it. Personally, I think it was a perfect end to the series. BUFFY was always a fictional representation about the empowerment of women. In the climax of the season-and indeed, the climax of the entire series-Buffy with Willow's help discovers a way to empower not merely the Chosen One, the lone Slayer, but all potential slayers, all over the world. Best of all, the show managed to resolve Buffy's central dilemma that was established in Season One and continued through to the end: How could she, whom fate had selected to be The Chosen One, ever manage to live the kind of life she dreamed of having? By empowering all potentials, and in effect creating dozens and perhaps hundreds of Slayers, Buffy ceased to be The Chose One. In the final seconds of the show, Faith says to Buffy "Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?" It seems to take a second before the question hits her, but when it does, you can almost feel Buffy's relief, and her face lights up with an extraordinarily happy smile. You can feel her relief at having triumphed over her fate.
I can't imagine a more perfect ending to what I honestly feel is the finest television series in the history of television.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
So why do BUFFY fans find Season Seven to be so disappointing. I think there are a variety of reasons. Here are a few: 1) Although there is some very sharp humor during the season (e.g., a conversation about fast food delicacies between Spike and Andrew on a motorcycle, after which Spike warns that he will kill Andrew if he ever tells anyone about it; Anya's asking Andrew why he doesn't use the bathroom for the same purpose everyone else does [not the purpose one might first imagine]; and a phenomenal first encounter between Faith and Spike, when she doesn't know that he now fights on the side of the good guys, and tries to slay him, with the two of them debating on who has reformed and who did so first), the humor isn't as consistent. But the tone of the series changed. Even in Season Six, the show maintained a humorous tone most of the time. In Season Seven, there is a constant attempt to inject a sense of impending doom, which unfortunately alters the show's mood in unpleasant fashion. Buffy almost completely ceased her quipping. 2) Although Sarah Michelle has gained a number of detractors since the end of the series (I think mainly for her lack of interaction with fans), I always think she did a marvelous job in the only crucial role on the show. Unfortunately, in Season Seven she was asked to do something that her character wasn't well equipped to do: more or less be a great leader. Buffy in the first six seasons was always more of her own person, not quite a loner, but although the central figure in the Scoobies as the Slayer, not a leader either. But in Season Seven after the Potentials arrive, she is asked to be a leader. What is worse, she is asked to lead not merely by example but by giving morale-boosting speeches in every other episode. Unfortunately, the speeches were horribly written and awkwardly inserted into the episodes. I was more put off by her General Patton speeches more than I was by the notorious "cookie dough" speech she gives Angel in the final episode. 3) Worse of all, the Potentials completely altered the structure of the show. I know many people simply didn't like the individual actresses portraying the Potentials, but to me that wasn't what was so bad about them. Because there were so many of them, they gradually started eroding the screen time left to deal with the stories of the main Scoobies. Actually, Season Seven is very good up to the episode when the Potential start arriving. The episode where Anya slaughters as vengeance demon all the members of a fraternity, only to repent after failing to convince both others and herself that this was what she really wanted to be doing, and then walks off by herself at the end of the story is quite as good as what we had seen in the previous two or three seasons. But once the Potentials arrived, there simply wasn't room or time to deals with individual characters any longer. Xander, Anya, Dawn, and Giles more or less get squeezed out of the story. Only Buffy, Willow, and Spike, and later in the year Faith, get to have their stories told at all. In Seasons One through Six, four or five or six or seven was company, but twenty proved to be a crowd. 4) The lameness of The First as the Big Bad. Cementing this was the terrible use of the great use of Nathan Fillion (who was spectacular as Mal Reynolds in FIREFLY) as Caleb.
One other thing to lament about Season Seven was recently revealed by Joss Whedon, when he explained that they hoped to bring Tara back in Season Seven before contract negotiations broke down. In an early episode, Buffy would somehow manage to gain the ability to make a single reality-altering wish. Several alternatives are instantly imaginable: wishing her mother back, lifting Angel's curse, perhaps not even being the Slayer. Whedon imagined Buffy going to Willow and showing her new shoes, as if they were what she had used her wish for, Willow's incredulous reaction, and then Buffy telling her to look behind her, where Tara would have been standing. Now that is an episode I would have liked to see.
But sometimes the negatives seem to mask the large number of extremely good things in Season Seven. For instance: 1) Except for "Him" (where Buffy and Dawn fight over the attentions of the same high school student) there were no out and out from beginning to end bad episodes. The bad stuff largely took place within a show that features some good things. 2) A few absolutely stunning individual episodes, especially "Conversations with Dead People," the hysterical "The Storyteller" (centering on Andrew, who provided many of the funniest moments of Season Seven, and who is one of the odds on favorites to be in any BUFFY/ANGEL spin off), and the great episode where Spike deals with unresolved conflicts concerning his mother. 3) The struggles of both Willow and Spike in dealing with their respective inner demons, Willow with having killed in Season Six and Spike with his having a soul. 4) The return of Faith, which while BUFFY did not provide her with as many great moments as ANGEL did for three episodes preceding her return to Sunnydale, were great. The tremendous chemistry (more as kindred spirits than sexual) between Spike and Faith, especially in a long conversation they have in Buffy's basement, one of the highpoints of the season, has many people hoping for the demise of TRU CALLING (Eliza Dushku's current and lightly regarded show) so that Faith and Spike can head a spin off.
Then there is the ending. Many hate it. Many love it. Personally, I think it was a perfect end to the series. BUFFY was always a fictional representation about the empowerment of women. In the climax of the season-and indeed, the climax of the entire series-Buffy with Willow's help discovers a way to empower not merely the Chosen One, the lone Slayer, but all potential slayers, all over the world. Best of all, the show managed to resolve Buffy's central dilemma that was established in Season One and continued through to the end: How could she, whom fate had selected to be The Chosen One, ever manage to live the kind of life she dreamed of having? By empowering all potentials, and in effect creating dozens and perhaps hundreds of Slayers, Buffy ceased to be The Chose One. In the final seconds of the show, Faith says to Buffy "Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?" It seems to take a second before the question hits her, but when it does, you can almost feel Buffy's relief, and her face lights up with an extraordinarily happy smile. You can feel her relief at having triumphed over her fate.
I can't imagine a more perfect ending to what I honestly feel is the finest television series in the history of television.
39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
From 1997 to 2003, Joss Whedon gave his audience some of the best episodes aired on television. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER showcased an empowered young girl saddled with the unintimidating name of Buffy Summers, who, with the help of her high school friends and her stuffy mentor Giles, faced sundry monsters and saved the world - a lot. Along the way, she managed to leave an indelible impact on our pop cultural consciousness.
Before its series debut, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, based on its promotional push on TV, seemed slated to be a straight-out horror series starring an erstwhile typical high schooler who battles vampires and demons. But, fairly quickly on, this unassuming little show, thanks to Whedon's intense and witty, pop-culture savvy yet very literate writing, met and surpassed the viewer's expectations. Whedon created compelling stories and characters who grew on the viewers; for seven years, we watched them strive to maintain a normal life as they navigated thru high school, college life, and then to adulthood, all the while frequently facing down supernatural threats. Which brings us to Season 7.
Possible SPOILERS follow: Here in the bittersweet and melancholy finale season, Joss Whedon attempts to provide closure to the show and also to bring it full circle to its origins. The opening episode "Lessons" has Buffy escorting Dawn, for her inaugural school day, back to good, ol' Sunnydale High, which has just been rebuilt on top of the old one. This, by the way, means that the Hellmouth is very much alive and again active. Somehow, Buffy is offered a job as a school counselor at Sunnydale High by the enigmatic principal, Robin Wood (24's D.B. Woodside). Back in England, Willow, under the tutelage of Giles and a benevolent coven of witches, has been recovering from her turn to the dark side (Season Six) and receives a horrifying glimpse of the future for Sunnydale. Meanwhile, Spike is found dwelling in the Sunnydale High School basement in a bonkers state of mind, influenced by his new soul and possibly also by...something else. Lessee, who's left? Anya is again a Vengeance Demon, though her heart isn't really in it. And Xander is still fixing windows...
The season's major story arc involves the return of the First Evil, the original and the source of all evil. The First's return is made possible by the instability caused by Buffy's having died and consequently being resurrected (again, Season 6). Very early on, we get a hint of the season's Big Bad as various Sunnydale denizens spout the ominous warning: "From beneath you, it devours." This season also increases the scope of Buffy's world even more as most of the Watcher Council are annihilated and Giles is forced to seek out Potential Slayers (who are also being killed off one by one by Bringers, no-eyed, murdering servants of Caleb and the First) and bring them to Sunnydale for protection. Now, more than ever, Buffy's leadership skills and methods are tested and even questioned as several of the Potentials prove to be uncowed and contentious free thinkers. Buffy has never been forced to deliver as many bracing, rallying speeches as she has been this season, which attests to her foe's overwhelming level of menace.
Because the First cannot enter our world in a corporeal form and can only assume the identities of dead people, this is an opportunity for a callback of Buffy's past uber-foes. For one last time, we get to enjoy cameos of the Master, Drusilla, the Mayor, Adam, Glory, and two of the Nerd Trio. Pretty neat. Besides the First, Buffy faces two despicable and truly hard-to-kill villains, who are themselves minions of the First: the Turok-Han, an early caveman type of vampire (thus, even more sturdy than contemporary vampires) and Caleb, the frightening, mysoginistic preacher who convincingly beats Buffy senseless in several encounters.
As ever, the writers do an amazing job. The episodes are obviously action-packed. But, underneath the surface, the show is laden with metaphors and symbolisms. Themes of isolation, the isolation of a leader, female empowerment, sacrifice, friendship, and humanity are touched on in great depth. This season is also about the quest for redemption. Most of the members of Buffy's Scooby gang, ironically, at one point or another, were evil or have turned evil in the past: Willow, Spike, Anya, Faith, Andrew...All these characters are trying to find their way back to atonement; it won't be easy.
This season has to be the one with the most recurring characters in it. Principal Wood and the Potentials are introduced. Season 7 also marks the return of Andrew, Faith, and, in one episode, Angel. With the glut of additional characters, the core Scoobies are given short thrift here, although Dawn does shine in "Potential" and Xander proves his worth in "Potential" and "Dirty Girls." One episode, "Selfless," really focuses on Anya and paves the way for her eventual return to the fold. Only Spike seems to maintain copious screen time throughout the series. The camera, of course, is ever on Buffy Summers.
The arrival of the Potentials does usher in a freshness to the series as it simultaneously takes the spotlight away from the Scoobies. The take-charge Kennedy (Iyari Limon), the feisty Rona (Indigo), and Amanda (Sarah Hagan) prove to be welcome additions to the cast, while the non-English speaking Asian Potential drops some instant funnies. "Conversations with Dead People" reintroduces Andrew (the very good, very funny Tom Lenk) as a possible good guy, while "Dirty Girls" marks the welcome return of sexy Faith (Eliza Dushku) as her encounters with Spike provide some of the high points of the season. The awesome Nathan Fillion, by the way, is scary good as Caleb.
The Special Features provide episode commentaries by various cast and crew members on "Lessons," "Selfless," "Conversations with Dead People," "The Killer In Me," "Lies My Parents Told Me," "Dirty Girls," and "Chosen." Disc 3 has the featurette "It's Always Been About the Fans." Disc 6 offers up four more featurettes (the 36-minute long "Season 7 Overview - Buffy: Full Circle"; "Buffy 101- Studying the Slayer" - various television critics talk about the show's influence; "Generation S" - interviews with the Potentials actresses; "The Last Sundown" - a look at Joss Whedon's top 10 favorite Buffy episodes and some of his thoughts about the series); an outtakes reel (not that funny); "Buffy Wraps" (the wrap party with cast and crew, but where was Sarah Michelle Gellar?); and for those who care, a DVD-ROM Willow Demon Guide.
Years ago, Joss Whedon wanted to shake things up by turning topsy-turvy the cliche of the hapless, little blonde damsel needing a hero to come to her rescue. Seven years of quality television has proven that audiences will accept a tiny girl being capable of slaying monsters while remaining quintessentially feminine. So, above all else, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is meant to be a feminist allegory. But, for those who aren't into that, there's still so much that this season has to offer: an us against the world mentality, superlative action sequences, shivery horror/fantasy elements, witty repartees, heartfelt dialogue, gripping, dramatic stories, and great acting. And, of course, great, iconic heroes in Buffy Summers, Spike, Faith, and crew. Five stars for one of my all-time favorite shows EVER.
Oh, yeah, and I like the slim set collection.
Before its series debut, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, based on its promotional push on TV, seemed slated to be a straight-out horror series starring an erstwhile typical high schooler who battles vampires and demons. But, fairly quickly on, this unassuming little show, thanks to Whedon's intense and witty, pop-culture savvy yet very literate writing, met and surpassed the viewer's expectations. Whedon created compelling stories and characters who grew on the viewers; for seven years, we watched them strive to maintain a normal life as they navigated thru high school, college life, and then to adulthood, all the while frequently facing down supernatural threats. Which brings us to Season 7.
Possible SPOILERS follow: Here in the bittersweet and melancholy finale season, Joss Whedon attempts to provide closure to the show and also to bring it full circle to its origins. The opening episode "Lessons" has Buffy escorting Dawn, for her inaugural school day, back to good, ol' Sunnydale High, which has just been rebuilt on top of the old one. This, by the way, means that the Hellmouth is very much alive and again active. Somehow, Buffy is offered a job as a school counselor at Sunnydale High by the enigmatic principal, Robin Wood (24's D.B. Woodside). Back in England, Willow, under the tutelage of Giles and a benevolent coven of witches, has been recovering from her turn to the dark side (Season Six) and receives a horrifying glimpse of the future for Sunnydale. Meanwhile, Spike is found dwelling in the Sunnydale High School basement in a bonkers state of mind, influenced by his new soul and possibly also by...something else. Lessee, who's left? Anya is again a Vengeance Demon, though her heart isn't really in it. And Xander is still fixing windows...
The season's major story arc involves the return of the First Evil, the original and the source of all evil. The First's return is made possible by the instability caused by Buffy's having died and consequently being resurrected (again, Season 6). Very early on, we get a hint of the season's Big Bad as various Sunnydale denizens spout the ominous warning: "From beneath you, it devours." This season also increases the scope of Buffy's world even more as most of the Watcher Council are annihilated and Giles is forced to seek out Potential Slayers (who are also being killed off one by one by Bringers, no-eyed, murdering servants of Caleb and the First) and bring them to Sunnydale for protection. Now, more than ever, Buffy's leadership skills and methods are tested and even questioned as several of the Potentials prove to be uncowed and contentious free thinkers. Buffy has never been forced to deliver as many bracing, rallying speeches as she has been this season, which attests to her foe's overwhelming level of menace.
Because the First cannot enter our world in a corporeal form and can only assume the identities of dead people, this is an opportunity for a callback of Buffy's past uber-foes. For one last time, we get to enjoy cameos of the Master, Drusilla, the Mayor, Adam, Glory, and two of the Nerd Trio. Pretty neat. Besides the First, Buffy faces two despicable and truly hard-to-kill villains, who are themselves minions of the First: the Turok-Han, an early caveman type of vampire (thus, even more sturdy than contemporary vampires) and Caleb, the frightening, mysoginistic preacher who convincingly beats Buffy senseless in several encounters.
As ever, the writers do an amazing job. The episodes are obviously action-packed. But, underneath the surface, the show is laden with metaphors and symbolisms. Themes of isolation, the isolation of a leader, female empowerment, sacrifice, friendship, and humanity are touched on in great depth. This season is also about the quest for redemption. Most of the members of Buffy's Scooby gang, ironically, at one point or another, were evil or have turned evil in the past: Willow, Spike, Anya, Faith, Andrew...All these characters are trying to find their way back to atonement; it won't be easy.
This season has to be the one with the most recurring characters in it. Principal Wood and the Potentials are introduced. Season 7 also marks the return of Andrew, Faith, and, in one episode, Angel. With the glut of additional characters, the core Scoobies are given short thrift here, although Dawn does shine in "Potential" and Xander proves his worth in "Potential" and "Dirty Girls." One episode, "Selfless," really focuses on Anya and paves the way for her eventual return to the fold. Only Spike seems to maintain copious screen time throughout the series. The camera, of course, is ever on Buffy Summers.
The arrival of the Potentials does usher in a freshness to the series as it simultaneously takes the spotlight away from the Scoobies. The take-charge Kennedy (Iyari Limon), the feisty Rona (Indigo), and Amanda (Sarah Hagan) prove to be welcome additions to the cast, while the non-English speaking Asian Potential drops some instant funnies. "Conversations with Dead People" reintroduces Andrew (the very good, very funny Tom Lenk) as a possible good guy, while "Dirty Girls" marks the welcome return of sexy Faith (Eliza Dushku) as her encounters with Spike provide some of the high points of the season. The awesome Nathan Fillion, by the way, is scary good as Caleb.
The Special Features provide episode commentaries by various cast and crew members on "Lessons," "Selfless," "Conversations with Dead People," "The Killer In Me," "Lies My Parents Told Me," "Dirty Girls," and "Chosen." Disc 3 has the featurette "It's Always Been About the Fans." Disc 6 offers up four more featurettes (the 36-minute long "Season 7 Overview - Buffy: Full Circle"; "Buffy 101- Studying the Slayer" - various television critics talk about the show's influence; "Generation S" - interviews with the Potentials actresses; "The Last Sundown" - a look at Joss Whedon's top 10 favorite Buffy episodes and some of his thoughts about the series); an outtakes reel (not that funny); "Buffy Wraps" (the wrap party with cast and crew, but where was Sarah Michelle Gellar?); and for those who care, a DVD-ROM Willow Demon Guide.
Years ago, Joss Whedon wanted to shake things up by turning topsy-turvy the cliche of the hapless, little blonde damsel needing a hero to come to her rescue. Seven years of quality television has proven that audiences will accept a tiny girl being capable of slaying monsters while remaining quintessentially feminine. So, above all else, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is meant to be a feminist allegory. But, for those who aren't into that, there's still so much that this season has to offer: an us against the world mentality, superlative action sequences, shivery horror/fantasy elements, witty repartees, heartfelt dialogue, gripping, dramatic stories, and great acting. And, of course, great, iconic heroes in Buffy Summers, Spike, Faith, and crew. Five stars for one of my all-time favorite shows EVER.
Oh, yeah, and I like the slim set collection.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
The season of the Walking Dead
I enjoyed the previous seasons of Buffy, but not so much when Dawn came along (I found her too whiny and needy). Season 6 had ups and downs. Season 7 just lost me completely. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Flatlander22
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic
The wife loves this show (and I do, too) and can watch them over and over! It's still funny and relevant.
Published 9 days ago by R. Justin Chan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Buffy goes out strong
Decent ending to a good series, but the story arcs got so muddled in previous seasons that I kept feeling like the show was struggling to find satisfying resolutions for many of... Read more
Published 10 days ago by W. Rowland
5.0 out of 5 stars
buffy the vampire slayer the complete seventh season
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of my favorite series! It's fun, and awesome; it has some crazy stuff that goes on.
Published 20 days ago by Jennifer nilius
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rocks!!
This was one of my favorite seasons of Buffy. I have watched them all and I love them all the same.
Published 23 days ago by Lisa H. Schnell
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite season!
Why? In a word: Andrew. This season has heart, soul and tons of laughs. What could be a better villain than Buffy herself (as the First)?
Published 23 days ago by S. Ackerman
5.0 out of 5 stars
buffy
It was a good show and had good picture and sound.
I would tell others about how good it is.
I would tell others about how good it is.
Published 1 month ago by lllsvd.ldgxxhd
5.0 out of 5 stars
Steve's Review
I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer thanks to Amazon Prime, season 7 is probably the best season ever as well as being the last. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Steven Epley
3.0 out of 5 stars
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I DO NOT like being required to type something. I rated the product and you should be satisfied with that. You make people NOT want to respond period.
Published 1 month ago by LORETTA DAMPIER
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tuff Girl
If you like strong women, this one is for you. It is a great video with lots of good verses evil. Good always wins.
Published 1 month ago by Rose
Look for Similar Items by Category
|
