Some people think Buffy the Vampire Slayer should have ended after season 5. I get that. Season 5 is one of the best seasons, 6 and 7 aren't as good. (Although, season 6 is good and if you think otherwise it's because you have no taste.) The season 5 finale, "The Gift" was a very good finale! And, although sad, one could definitely feel content after watching it. The show is wrapped up, no loose ends. (Unlike Girlfriends... but that's a different blog post!)
But, despite how good the season five finale was, I couldn't be satisfied with that alone. The series finale, season 7 episode 22, is the perfect ending to the show. The entire arc of the show since season 1 culminates in that finale, and it ends just as it should.
I'm not talking about the fact that the finale is the perfect f*ck you to patriarchy. That's a given! Others have already written about that. No, I'm talking about how the finale is a rejection of individualism and an argument for the shared power of the collective, as is the entire show.
Into every generation a slayer is born. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer.
Here's the thing... Buffy never fought alone.
Remember when Buffy died? The first time? We often gloss over that one, because compared to the other time she died, it was no big deal. She was out for a few minutes, got brought back. Wasn't gone for five months, didn't have to crawl herself out of a grave... Pretty small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.
But! Buffy was prophesied to die. She was supposed to die, and then Kendra was supposed to be called. And if Kendra died, Faith was gonna be called. And if Faith died, someone else would be called... etc. etc.
Buffy was prophesied to die. She was not prophesied to come back! And why did she? Because her friend, Xander, brought her back. If Buffy fought alone like a slayer is supposed to she would've died and stayed dead at sixteen years old. And other slayers would be called, and they would probably die young too.
There are literally countless times in which Buffy's friends are the reason she continues to live. I don't just mean the big apocalypses, and I don't just mean the times they bring her back to life. Even with the regular demons of the week! There are times that Buffy would not make it out of there if she was fighting alone. It's because she had friends that she survived at all.
Of course, because she died and came back, there are two slayers at once. First, Buffy and Kendra, then Buffy and Faith. That's not supposed to happen. There are never supposed to be two slayers. But if there are two, then why not more? Why not all the girls who have the potential?
In the series finale, after Buffy tells her friends about her plan to activate all the potential slayers, Giles says that it flies in the face of everything they've ever done. But it doesn't, really. Yes, it's the first time they attempt something this big, but no it's not the first time they ignore what a slayer is "supposed" to do. Giles refused to finish the evil Watchers test without informing her, when she turned 17. Buffy eventually quit working for the Watchers, period. Buffy turned down additional power from the shadow men, even though they told her it was her only chance of winning. She repeatedly said "No, I won't do this the way you want me to do it; I won't do it alone."
So in Chosen, when she comes up with the idea to turn every potential into an active slayer, it's the realization of what she's been working towards all along. In the season 3 finale, they get the whole school to help them fight Mayor Wilkins. In the season 4 finale, Buffy literally merges her essence with her friends in order to fight Adam. And in the series finale, she says, Not only am I not gonna fight alone. I'm not gonna be the chosen one.
And doesn't that make more sense? If there are countless demons and darkness... why should it only be one person?! She can't even be everywhere at once. She's this Hellmouth's guardian... so the one in Cleveland is just going unprotected? Why not share the power? Because Western Individualism tells us we're supposed to go it alone? That's already bad enough when it comes to taking care of ourselves, raising our children... but fighting all the demons and darkness in the whole world? Come on!
The choice to make all the potential slayers all over the world into active slayers during Chosen is the perfect realization of what the show was doing since the first episode. Buffy is prophesied to fight alone; she never does. Because she doesn't fight alone, she lives. Way longer than she ever should have. Her existence beyond season one is an aberration of its own. She's already existing outside of the margins, which makes her the perfect person to bring an end to this silly, backwards, exploitative, patriarchal system once and for all.
There's enough power to go around. One person doesn't have to hold it all.
Are you ready to be strong?
An earlier version of this blog post said "Mayor Wilkes" instead of "Mayor Wilkins." I was thinking about girlfriends too much.
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