Finished Buffy season 7 (the last) again. It's a curious season; 6 and 7 are probably the weakest of the whole series (and I can't quite tell which of the two I prefer, they're both flawed). There's generally a lot to like, with a very strong central arc (much stronger than 6) and some very good individual episodes and characters (Nathan Fillion all but steals the last 5 episodes as super-powered psycho preacher Caleb), yet a lot of the regulars seem ill-served (Xander and Dawn in particular) while Spike gets arguably too much attention. As a result the character development of most of the regulars seems far more lax than ever before, and even Willow (who gets more attention than, say, Xander) still seems ill-served; the initial fall-out of her going batshit nuts at the end of season 6 is well enough handled, but her relationship with Kennedy is very poor indeed, with almost no build-up (Kennedy flirts with her maybe twice and then in one episode they're suddenly a couple) and basically zero attention (aside from a couple of snogging scenes) afterward. Compared to her relationships with Oz and Tara, it all feels very lukewarm indeed, and the fact that Kennedy is not a particularly likeable character (or well-suited to her) doesn't help either. So it's a strange season, though I think the positives probably just about outweigh the negatives. Far prefer seasons 1-5 though.
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