Buffy The Vampire Slayer S07E11/12 ''Showtime/ Potential'' REACTION/COMMENTARY 

Dawn would make the best Watcher. She was smart and liked schooling almost as much as Willow (until she started skipping). She dabbled in magic and seemed to have a keen interest in learning. She's already been shown to be great at researching monsters. She's had some combat training from Buffy, though it would be nice if they kept it up more. And she already has a great understanding of the Slayer life, having lived with the best Slayer, and has had some raising by the best Watcher.

I always felt they should have had dawn become a witch/watcher

In the comics doesn't she play a similar role to a watcher at the slayer organization?

@@trevor3013 yes she becomes a watcher in the comics 💜

@@trevor3013 the watchers council in the comics is xander, dawn, Giles and Andrew

And what the Master told his order of Vampires in season 1.

Did buffy hear him say that, though? ​@@arc7375

​@arc7375 but buffy didn't hear the master say this.

They’re all callbacks to Sean Connery’s line in “The Untouchables.”

I caught that too!

Unfortunately not great character/ships development...too many new characters,too little time. X-/

Yep it's my fav also ❤

Buffy never loved spike. James Marsters was actually frustrated at fans that kept shipping them due to how horrible spike is. The writers kept making do worse stuff to get fans against him romantically. So eventually they gave him a soul in order to give him a real romantic arc but James said the final line from spike "No you don't but thanks for saying it anyways" was meant to tell the fans subtly that she in fact does not truly love him. As she said. She has feelings for him. She cares about him. But she's only ever loved angel. In the comics she ends up with spike to appease the fans but even then it doesn't work out between them.

@trevor3013 Joss Whedon, the writer of the show and the creator of buffy the character confirmed that she loved spike. So, just stop.

​​​@@grrrrbabyverygrrr8165This season is hard for hardcore bangels. They can't see what sofie just saw (15:20).

​@eduardofilippi7698 yeah and they just try to gaslight everyone 😂

​@@grrrrbabyverygrrr8165it's really hard. Love how some bangel reactors cut all those scenes lol it's like they never happen.

Anytime someone criticizes or even hates Xander I remember this speech.Unfortunately not word for word because,since in S6 they changed his italian voice actor and I *deeply hate* his new voice I haven't rewatched the last seasons as much as I did with most of the previous,but I remember the core concept of the speech and it's amazing.💙 #Justice4Xander

Right there, a new tale begins.

That scene was peak Xander, one of his best moments

HELL YES

@@Nicamon A speech here and there doesn't really change every single time that he's said the exact opposite to her, or made some other snide comment, or pretended he knew everything and Buffy was just some idiot that needs a man to explain to her how things are. And it definitely won't change what he does in the future.

This season is where Spuffy is a good, caring, giving team... and exactly the relationship Buffy needs. Spike is her equal in power so there's no resentment like with Riley, and he's not brooding and cursed like Angel so their relationship can be a complete one. I think Buffy's relationship with Spike in this season is the first truly adult, honest, and trusting one that she's ever had - and I love it! Sofie is right though, boy do those two be giving off hella sexy vibes!!❤

@@Kayjee17 I like their relationship in this season too. It's nice to see it like this after everything that's been there. But I regret that they didn't have enough time since it was the end. They had to show a lot about the big bad and the final battle etc since that's the series finale. And I am not interested in that, they had these big bads every year, they always come and go, it doesn't matter to me. To me the story of these two will always be a story that had huge potential, but was not used properly. They deserved so much more. Despite how hard the series was promoting Angel he just played another daddy of hers, always trying to be patronizing, someone who thinks that he knows better what is good for you. But who ran away too eventually. And since she was a teenager who grew up without a father she had a thing for that. But she is not a teenager anymore. It's time to grow out of this. And Riley was just like some neighbor guy who can be nice but he is not your guy. And they were pushing both of them for her so hard. While Spike was the only one who actually can be an equal partner. Even Sarah said that at some point. That he's the only one who can understand her. He can be her 'daddy' too but in completely different way. Despite all the crap they threw at him and their story it was still rivaled the most romanticized story they've created (with Angel). It tells you how strong it was and what potential it had.

Originally said by The Master in season 1.

@@arc7375 episode 5?

Yes, something about Sophie just hits different

Nicely said!

Ooh. I like the specificity of the spell including "the warrior of the people" as the cause of all the shenanigans. Good call.

Yeah that have always been my headcanon. Evidence of this is #1 Spike could suddenly hurt her without the chip complaining (and perhaps it only works on pure humans, not slayers, Spike never hit another slayer once he got his chip so we don't know). #2 the disturbance that happened by resurrecting her the second time and #3 Willow resurrected Buffy using magic and used the words "THE warrior of the people" in her spell.

It's a bit of a grey area - intentionally ambiguous. The First appears in S03 specifically to get Angle to kill Buffy. In that season, when Faith appears, it confirms that the Slayer line is going through her. There's two slayers, but if Buffy's dead, it's back to one. However, what if Faith were able to "loophole" it the same way Buffy did - dying, activating another Slayer, and then coming back - would there then be 3 slayers? Is there a potential for, maybe, multiple slayers? I think you can read it as the First starting to ponder that back in S03, as a result of Buffy's first death creating the "anomaly" of 2 Slayers at once.

well I for one believe that it goes beyond just bringing her back with power, in the spell that Willow used there was the line "THE warrior of the people" so my head-canon is that Willow accidentally brought her back as The Slayer again, and the simultaneous existence of two active slayers at the same time is what opened the door for the first.

@@Henrik_Holst I like that idea, too ... but I still think there's a key in her first death. When Giles asks the Eye why now, the Eye implies that the First is responding to something specific that changed the order of things. That change definitely could be a result of her magical return, but I still get stuck on the First's appearance in S03. When Giles asks the question, he also mentions the First having had this power all along, so why didn't it act on it earlier? In the context of the question's framing like that, it implies to me that the First began its activities in S03, so after Buffy's first death. But I love hearing other takes on this - it's is one of my fave unanswered Buffyverse questions to discuss!

@@AaronHunter good point. It tried to get Buffy killed by way of Angel back in S3 and it must have had a reason to do so, but if it already back then had the opening it needed (the disturbance in the Slayer line) then why no hunt of potentials, no move against Faith and no attack on the council. Perhaps the Beljoxa's Eye, by being a demon, isn't 100% trustworthy or it does not really see all that is claims it can. Or perhaps the first simply had it in for Buffy since start, took the opening of Angels return to get rid of her and that this was completely disconnected with what happens now. Or perhaps it was more a move to get rid of Angel (the first probably have a stake at the outcome of the final fight against evil where a vampire with a soul is to play a key role).

@@Henrik_Holst well...in amends we got some eyeless goons..maybe the first needed hands..and it took time to create a army of eyeless and cale....lalala its only a few years since her first death...the first cant touch...it has to coerce ...like with angel it takes time to break someone..

15:20 is priceless :D That is how you do a reaction video!

I remember, when the show first aired, how much us fans *hated* the potentials. 😂 If I remember correctly, Kennedy and Rona were particularly disliked.

A take that I approve and appreciate and I'm glad to hear!👍🖤 #Justice4Kennedy

@@Nicamon agreed, it's only controversial to the people who are wrong about her :P

@@Nicamon 💯

​@@jeffkoenig7402Wrong about hee? She is very bad written!

@@DaveVampireSlayer thank you for the comment, I needed my dose of irony.

💯

They're all terrible. All of the potentials. It was just a mistake to add them all.

YES!! True. Thank you

She is very bad written character, un-symphatetic and she has not a good chemiistry with Willow. An inexperienced Buffy? Probably, but she has not what makes Buffy special.

​@@yourfluffyvegancinnamonrol2772 You are Three!? 😮😮

@@DaveVampireSlayer you think men can be slayers; your opinions are invalid, dave.

@@sirmoonslosthismind I did not said nothing about this. Only that Kennedy is a bad written character

Buffy was clearly in love with Spike . She even say "why everybody in this house think im still IN LOVE with Spike" and Willow was looking shock because of the way she said it

Also Hook in"Once Upon a Time".🙄💢

Eh, I doubt they would realize something was up with Buffy. Giles, Willow, and Xander didn't realize that Faith did a body switch with Buffy in season 4. Only Tara knew something was off, and she never met Buffy beforehand. Then, in season 5, NONE OF THEM realized that Buffy was a Buffybot even though the gang was able to tell right away that Warren's ex was a robot just a few episodes prior to that😂

canon has always been that the council locates "most" potentials (probably thru magic) but it's imperfect and some fall thru the cracks. i'm not aware of anything definitive on exactly how buffy's return changed the slayer line.

I mean, their friendship is cute by the end, but she doesn't love him.

At least you're not a Spuffy shipper because of some previous season. That would have been bad!!X-P

@@Nicamon Haha. Yeah. I'm not a Spuffy fan, but I can get behind anyone who becomes one because of S7. But the people who see S6 and think it's a good thing and something to support - even before Seeing Red - worry me a little . Like, I can understand enjoying the arc itself (I don't, I hate seeing Buffy suffer so I can't stand it, but there are plenty of people who find Hurt/No Comfort cathartic) but when I see people portray it as a positive relationship and something to aspire to IRL, it gets concerning.

@@Nicamon For sure!😂 But in all seriousness, if “Angel” and “Angelus” are considered two different beings because of the presence or lack of a soul, so should souled and soulless Spike. And it’s definitively the former being I ship with Buffy.

@@xyex I would say the way it’s depicted leaves it ambiguous and open to interpretation either way. I personally interpret it that she does, but I understand those who disagree.

Most people seem to be theorizing that bringing Buffy back through magical means allowed her to become a 2nd line for slayers, which is one of the reasons the first is able to do this.

And he saved Buffy in Prophecy Girl!

After all being the Slayer was never a matter of"blood".The Slayers are activated randomly,not from a single family.

@@Nicamon not to mention Dawn technically isn't human and has a whole other set of mystical "DNA" in her origin story. I like the writer's choice for the show to treat her like a regular person after season 5 instead of making her some new kind of supernatural warrior a la Fred, but that doesn't mean there's wasn't the option for Dawn's mystical origin to play out differently, or, technically, for that origin to actually prevent her from being a slayer just as much as it could have made her one. In the end the whole thing could have gotten really convoluted and we wouldn't have gotten Xander's speech, so I don't overthink it and just stay glad we got the story we got.

When Buffy came across that vamp, she wasn't sleeping. She was running on exhaustion. That's how it beat her so easily. So this time, she was more rested and prepared to fight the vamp.

Lol, he just kinda worms his way in, doesn’t he?🤣

no

@@Heldemon This is absolutely the case. The entire show centers around this Slayer being the first one to buck tradition, fight the patriarchy, and defy expectation and fate because she refuses to give up herself or her friends, family, and relationships. The season 1 finale is where that comes to a head, Prophecy Girl, where she fulfills her prophecy to die and a new slayer is called. Any other slayer, her story would end there. But the reason there's a show about Buffy and not any of the Slayers before or after her in the endless line is because she has friends, Xander and Angel, who bring her back. It's at that point where the power imbalance starts. The Slayer line is now twice as strong, the balance is thrown off. And the backlash to that imbalance, to having two slayers in the world, is in the opposing force of evil getting that much stronger. Buffy's death in season 6 didn't change any power dynamics at all, no new slayer was called. No prophecy was subverted. And the First was already well along the way at that point. **SPOILERS** - - - Caleb talks about working with the First to kill potentials for years. Something that doesn't track at all if Buffy's resurrection in S6 was the catalyst, as S7 takes place only a few months after that point in the timeline.

This comment will only be my opinion, I can understand what you're saying, and also others. But... What I think is, that we have no proof that no slayer was activated at Buffy's death in season five. I understand a lot of people think Faith is the one carrying the slayer line. And I can understand parts of it/why. But we can't say for sure, because there are things that contradicts that in the show, and there is no real proof of it. - When Buffy died in season 5, we didn't see a slayer, yes. But we didn't see Kendra for a long time after Buffy's death in season 1 ! She was activated and we had no idea ! And we wouldn't have if she didn't come to Sunnydale. Who's to say, that there isn't a slayer somewhere else in the world, and she has a lot to deal with, even a hell mouth and just didn't show up in Sunnydale ? (Especially with how it ended for the last two slayers who came to Sunnydale...) Plus, like you said, everyone seems to think Buffy's death will activate a new slayer. They say it a lot, but that's not new. They were saying it before she died in season 5, and even with Kendra or Faith already activated. Buffy told her mom in season 2, when she was about to fight Angelus, they said it when the council tested her against Kravick... - Also, Willow's spell called her 'THE warrior of the people' aka THE slayer, and it worked. She was brought back. So it means she's considered to be the slayer, not only by her friends, but also the god Osiris. - Buffy's powers are also what make me think she is still carrying the line (along with Faith). Because she is stronger than Faith, for what we've seen. She also has the dreams, but Faith doesn't have them (if she had, she would have seen the same things as Buffy aka the First killing the potentials. But she didn't, since she said it herself, she knew something was happening only because she was attacked by someone with a knife. Never saw the deaths Buffy saw, never said she had any slayer dreams, ever. Kendra didn't either !). - My idea on this was always that it is indeed the magic that caused the disruption, allowing the first to act and attack the slayer line. Not because she carries the slayer line again (because in my opinion she always has been), but because THIS time, it wasn't natural. Last time, Buffy got saved by human means. It was natural and in the order of things. That first time, Buffy wanted to live even if she sacrificed herself. And she was brought back very fast, with no magic involved. But this time, it's different. Willow forced fate, she partially changed the way the slayer line works by bringing her back. Buffy was not dead for a few seconds. She was dead for months, she was in heaven. Her journey was over, and she was finished. Buffy said it, the first slayer said it when saying "death is your gift". By changing that, she disrupted the slayer line. Because that time, Buffy was actually finished. Not only because she was in heaven, but also because she wanted to be there, and chose to sacrifice with peace of mind.

@@Sytrylt I get what you're saying, but I think it was Willow's phrasing in the resurrection spell that made Buffy part of the succession line again. She didn't summon back just Buffy, she summoned back *the Slayer.* As for the lack of a third Slayer, if one HAD existed they would have come up during S7. The First was attacking the entire line. A third Slayer would have been targeted. If they were killed, another potential would have been activated. If they weren't, they would have come to, or been sent to, Sunnydale for the war. The lack of any reference to them tells me they don't exist.

@@xyex I get what you mean. But in my mind the words of the spell are meant to "direct" the spell. To make known who she wants to resurrect more than how she wants to ressurect her. If that makes sense ? I also get what you mean about a New slayer and her not being here in season 7. But it's still conjectures to me. Especially when other things suggest the opposite. Also with the slayer line being messed up by Buffy's ressurection who's to say that a new slayer was not affected by that ? I mean, i she was called because buffy died, But then buffy's not dead because of magic making the slayer line week... what if Buffy took her power back making her a potential again ? One that Buffy saw dying ? What if that's part of how the slayer line has been affected ? I trully think all those theories are possible and that makes it even better, in my opinion ^^.

@@Sytrylt That... is an interesting idea, actually. I don't think it's likely, but it's interesting. We have only limited information - the show was more concerned about the what than the how or why - but from what we do have I still think the most likely scenario is Willow framed the spell as wanting Buffy the Slayer back, and not just Buffy the person (who happened to be a Slayer), and so got a "new" Slayer in the bargain. But, with the limited info we have there's no way to confirm that one way or the other.

@@xyex sorry I never got the notification. Yes, we'll never truly know and I kinda like that ^^

Except this episode just told us the rules changed. Faith *was* the only one who could activate a new Slayer, pre S6. Then Willow brought Buffy back, and now she can, too. There's no new writers. Whedon's less involved, but Marti and Jane have been around from the start. You're just overlooking facts.

I concur.

Funny. I watched the series mostly dubbed in Italian and for me what makes S6&7 particularly hard to re-watch is that they changed Xander's voice actor and I *HATE* his new voice. So..not a matter of _accent_ really,but still a matter of _voice._ X-[

No,please, *DO* like Kennedy!!The fandom has hated her too much for too long for no real reason!! #Justice4Kennedy 🖤

@@Nicamon there's two kinds of people -- those that love kennedy, and those that are wrong.

Please,don't taint 1 of Xander's best scenes with real life facts that aren't really correlated. X-[

i've seen vague insinuations that whedon wasn't allowed to be alone with trachtenberg, but there are many possible explanations of that. we don't have to jump to the worst possible interpretation. unless there's actually something more substantial from someone in a position to know?

⁠@@sirmoonslosthismind It was confirmed by members of the staff.

@@arc7375 not that i can google