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Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season

List Price: $59.98
Your Price: $44.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Mixed Bag (but still wonderful in my eyes)
Review: Buffy Summers died saving the world at the end of the fifth season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, so the sixth season had a lot on its hands when it started up the next fall.

Season 6 spends much of its time delving into the darker sides of the characters. Buffy has to deal with being alive and suddenly having the responsibilities of family caretaker. Willow finds out just how addiction can ruin a life. Xander and Anya realize that they're not as ready to be grown up as they thought they were. Spike lets his worser half get the better of his love for Buffy. Dawn explores her bad girl side by shoplifting and sneaking out ever more.

In some ways, this darkness gets a little too big for the show. It's the dark sides of the characters themselves that turn out to be the Season 6 "Big Bad", not the Geek Trio of Andrew, Warren and Jonathan. (The geeks are amusing if you enjoy seeing geeks extensivey mocked, however, they do start to grate as the season progresses.) The season follows the depression of the characters. At the beginning, before things start to fall apart, it's interesting to watch. Almost every one of the first 8 or 9 episodes of the season are at least good, peaking with the amazingly underappreciated (at least by the Emmy powers that be) musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling". The problem is that after that, the season plunges into the steaming pile of dung that makes up the middle of Season 6. (This contains two of my least favorite episodes EVER, "Doublemeat Palace" and "Normal Again". "Hell's Bells", however, is a worthy exception to the rest of the mid-season rubbish.) Things pick back up with "Entropy", and the season manages to redeem itself through an amazing, if heartbreaking, turn of events in the end (which I'm trying hard not to spoil with this review).

However difficult the middle of the season is to watch, this DVD set will be worth it for "Once More, With Feeling" alone. It's Joss Whedon's (BUFFY creator and ruling lord) masterpiece. With little to no music writing experience, he manages to write a 50 minute musical that plays to the strengths of his non-musical cast. The cast, ever the troopers, sing and dance their way through with enthusiasm and finesse. It's often clear that they are not singers or dancers by trade, but they are all so charming (especially Emma Caulfield as Anya) that it's easy to forgive them their occasional off-key notes and missteps. And then there's Hinton Battle, the demon villain of the episode. He dances. He sings. He's probably the most charismatic thing to hit Sunnydale since Spike crashed into town in Season 2. It's a shame that he only got to have the one episode, but what an episode to have!

There are other gems in the season. Check out "Tabula Rasa" and "Life Serial" for some of BUFFY's funnier moments. It's a shame that the middle of the season is so hard to stomach, but I think that it all pays off in the end.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Different is GOOD
Review: OK, it is not my favorite season, but alot of important and interesting things happen. If you look at the season as a whole, it does not compare to a season 2 or 5, but it is interesting and is key to the development of Willow, Xander and Buffy. It is darker and at the same time manages to be silly as only Buffy can be. Let's face it, you have to have it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Like an ABC After-School Special
Review: The Scoobies have graduated from the perils of high school and are now on their own. They've faced the first year of college as well as a demonic super soldier. They've coped with the added introduction of a little sister and stopped a hell god from wreaking havoc on the world. Now, they're about to face their toughest challenge yet... Life without Buffy.

When we last left our Slayer, she risked her life to save the world, dying in the process. For the whole summer, they've been trying to handle the Slaying duties in order to stave off any sort of demonic uprising. They've even enlisted the help of Buffy-bot, Spike's former "toy".

The theme of this season is "Adulthood". The Scoobies have had it easy thus far, but now they have to live without parental support. They have bills to pay and can't rely on Giles forever. There are also things that are dealt with during this season like Willow's thirst for magic and Xander's status on marriage. Dawn is even feeling left out after being the center of attention last season. But where will Spike and Buffy's relationship travel? Also, someone's death will ultimately spell doom for the world.

The beginning of the season sees the Scoobs, desperate for help, trying to resurrect Buffy as a demonic biker gang invades town. But as the saying goes: "An eye for an eye." As one life is brought back at the beginning, another is taken away near the end.

This season marks the first season on its new home in the US, UPN. Some of the standout eps are: Once More, With Feeling; Tabula Rasa; Seeing Red; and Two to Go.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The year of brave decisions.
Review: As other reviewers have said, ask any fan of "Buffy" what the worst season is, and more than half will answer season 6. But don't be fooled. Many didn't get the message behind the season, or what it was trying to accomplish. Needless to say, it was widely misunderstood. Nevertheless, the worst season of Buffy is still the equivalent of the best season of any other show.

This will always be remembered as the year the show made its bravest decisions. After switching to the UPN network due to legal trouble, Buffy came back, and it was a lot different.

Fans will tell you this is the darkest season, and I agree.

But the writers sure did take a lot of risks.

For one, Giles leaves the series. This upset many people and forced the viewers to accept that Buffy and the gang were adults now.

Then, in perhaps the boldest decision of all, Joss Whedon decided to create a musical hour of Buffy. It could have been disaster, but it was pulled off with near brilliance and became an all-time classic episode.

This season also features the most controversial scene in the entire series: the Buffy/Spike rape scene.

What else was risky about this season? How about making the new "Big bad" just a bunch of geeks? Or having Buffy and Spike enter a sexual relationship?

The season concludes with another shocker as a member of the Scooby gang itself, Willow, becomes an evil murderer bent on destroying the world in an incredible two-part finale that would have repercussions throughout the 7th season.

While this isn't the best season of Buffy, one can't look back in retrospect and deny its power. The season took a different path, and really wanted to say something. And it did that so well. By the time the 22nd episode rolls around, you realize the amazing journey you've been taken on...

All the characters go through the darkest places of all only to resurface into the light, all of them changed forever.

This was the year it could have all crumbled. The decisions the creators made seem like they were crazy. But they worked.

And we got another damn fine season of television.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Trials of Season Six
Review: When we last saw our heroine, she jumped from a tower, into mystical energy, and died for the people she loved!

Now, as Season Six takes "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" into a deeper, darker chapter of the series, it opens with one of the most greatest Season Premier ever, "Bargining"! The two hour episode, (which seems alot like a movie), opens with the Scoobies
dealing with the loss of Buffy, and learning how to live with BuffyBot as their heroine, we see Giles moving back to England and bidding "goodbye" to the Scoobies he's loved for 6 years. And the most important of all, Willow hatches a plot to bring Buffy back from the grave,and on that night, as Willow does her spell, the Scoobies' plans are interrupted by demons who want Sunnydale as their own! In this episode, we see Buffy resurrecting from her coffin, digging her way out, and finding the Scoobies,defeating the bad guys, and forming a special bond with Dawn, as they jump from the falling tower that Buffy jumped only months before. In this season, the Scoobies go farther into their life, that takes them into dark places, we learn that Willow's spell jerked Buffy from Heaven, instead of Hell, we see Giles return. We see the side of Willow that we've never before, as she grows dangerously strong with her magic. Xander isn't having a good time either, we see Anya pressuring him on his engagement proposal from the last season, and we see Buffy, learning that its hard to be a grown up. As the season progress' we see the evil Trio, the former characters Jonathan, and Warren, and newbbie, Andrew. Their plan, rule Sunnydale and hot chicks, and make the Slayer pay with her life. We have a glimpse of the finale, as Giles and Willow discuss what she did, leaving Willow giving Giles a deadly warning. Also in this packed season, we have the the "Buffy" famous episode, "Once More With Feeling", as all of Sunnydale becomes a musical number because of a demon, summoned to Sunnydale by one of the Scoobies, causing everyone to sing their deepest feelings to all! Also this season, we see Giles finally coming to terms with parenthood, by doing whats best for Buffy, which is letting her grow up, without his help, as he returns back to England. This is where the season gets, dark, so hold on.....Buffy and Spike consumates their relationship, causing each to experience the dark side of the both, we see Tara break up with Willow because of Will's misuses of magic, Dawn becomes a kleptomaniac,Willow bringing Amy back, causes her to become addicted to magic, for Amy takes her to see a Warlock named Rack, who pumps dark magic into her in a very [physical] way, which takes Willow into a dark place, that wakes her up when she almost puts Dawn's life at risk, as the Trio becomes more violent as Warren murders a human being, and blames it on the Slayer. Xander leaves Anya at the alter, Anya becomes a vengence demon again, Anya and Spike have a moment together, Xander catches them, tries to kill Spike, Buffy stops him, he finds out they too have been having an afafair, which leaves Buffy and Xander's friendship broken up, but we see Willow and Tara make up, but in a tragic rememberance. As the season closes, Buffy finally beats down the Trio, she and Spike are broken up, he leaves Sunnydale, she tries to make amends with Xander, as Willow and Tara share one last kiss, as for Warren shows up, shoots Buffy,and Tara in a surprising episode that leads Willow filled with vengence, hate, and the lust for the kill, which turns her into becoming Dark Willow! Buffy is taken to the hospital, as Tara dies in Willow's arms, which makes Willow suck all the black magic from books at the magic shop, she can't save Tara, but she can Buffy, and when she does, she heads for vengence! As she scopes Warren out, Buffy, Xander and Anya try to stop her, as they catch her in the forest, flaying Warren alive! The two hour Season Finale has the Gang running from the wrath of Willow, as they try to save Jonathan and Andrew from Willow's wrath, Willow killing Rack for more power, Buffy and she having a smack down fight, as Giles steps into the fight to battle Willow. The final episode of the season has Spike fighting trials with a demon to receive what he's asked for, we see Willow become for powerful, that Giles and Buffy can't defeat her, and as she begins to end the world, Xander's love of the now "scary dark haired, veiny, Willow", saves the world in an emotional scene as she gives up and falls in his arms, crying over the loss of Tara, and Buffy and Dawn realising their departure of sisterhood, and swearing to never let that happen again, and the season closes as Spike wins his trial, and receiving a soul, so he can give Buffy what she needs...love!

This season is a must have for all fans, its a very good season, one of the strange, but best ones of the series! I also encourage buyers to buy the "Once More With Feeling" soundtrack too, to own with this excellant season! Pre-Order NOW!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buffy Season 6
Review: Buffy died at the end of season 5. Now Willow figures out a way to resurect her. That process takes up the first couple of episodes. The rest of the season focuses on everyone's personal hells. Buffy's resentment of the gang pulling her out of heaven; Anya and Xander's wedding; Terra and Willow being pulled apart by Willow's over reliance on magick (a drug abuse metephore); Dawn, being ignnored, turns to cleptomaia; and Spike dealing with his feelings for the Slayer; and Giles left for most of the year, leaving the kids with no parental guidence. This season is the darkest since season 2, because it remembers who the worst Big Bad is, a member of it's own. The other major bad guys are a group of nerds featered seperatly before, but now they have a bad super villian complex (they think they're bad guys out of a James Bond movie). They all have to grow up in this season. Buffy has to get a job and raise a sister, and be the slayer, and fight a growing attraction to Spike.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my Favorite Seasons!
Review: As many Buffy fans hail this to be one of the worst seasons, I liked it alot. It is a slow paced season overall, but it has clear metaphors the I think are coveyed ingeniously. Each season has a "big bad." And each season, they progressively got bigger and badder: The Master, Angelus, The Mayor, Adam, Glory...Now Glory was an evil goddess. How do you get bigger and badder than that? No, not three nerds. That doesn't cut it. The Scoobies were the big bads. All season they were on a head on collision course witht themselves. Willow's story line just happened to be the one that manifested as the evil in each one of them. All season, they had to deal with real life and sometimes that is NOT all that much fun. "Doublemeat Palace"...I think I can safely say that I actually did not mind that episode. Having worked in a fast food joint myself, I can relate to the horrors of grease and "what is this stuff actually made of" questions. Overall, I enjoyed the entire season. The finale double feature was...no IS a smash. Buy this season!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Way Too Under Rated!
Review: Many argue that season 6 is one of Buffy's worst seasons...but I find it to be one of the best, for many reasons.

Season 6 is indeed a very dark season. It delves into some places that Buffy hasn't explored before. These things include Buffy's violent, turbulent, and self-deprecating relationsdhip with Spike, and Willow's dangerous addiction to magic. The season opens with Buffy's friends bringing Buffy back from the dead. For a long time she keeps them under the illusion that they pulled her out of hell, when in fact she was in heaven. From here on, Buffy isn't the same. She lives in a world of darkness now - tainted by her experience in heaven. She makes some decisions that are less than stellar, and goes through many things that people can relate to. It's almost liek she slips into a bad case of depression. On the other side...Willow and Tara's relationship is rocked because of Willow's addiction to Magic, and the Xander/Anya engagement is tested. The whole season brings all of these relationships into light as they go through tough times. Many things change, and the scoobies are having toruble adjusting to their propultion into adulthood. This is portrayed excellently, through heartbreak and drama. Action and humour.

This season includes great episodes such as Bargaining, Tabula Rasa, Seeing Red ..., and Grave (The season finale that makes everyone reconsider their actions after an evil Willow almost ends the world). And...um...oh yeah. The very best epsiode of Buffy ever: Once More With Feeling, the Buffy musical. This single episode is absolutely the best hour of television ever.

With a great plot twists, this fresh season of Buffy on DVD is a must in your collection. See what happens when the scoobies enter adulthood...when some people grow up too fast, and some too slow. See what happens when you are forced to start making grown up decisions. See what happens when that backfires. And most importantly...see what happens when life becomes the big bad.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Speed it up!
Review: I love Buffy, But I haven't seen any farther than season 4.. Because I don't have cable and.. It's a long story.. I'm glad that season five is coming out Dec 9th and even more glad that the sixth season is already in the stages of being relesed.. I'm dying to own the entire series now! Especially since it's off the air and all.. But yeah.. Faith comes back in season seven.. Gotta have that.. They need to release the last few seasons a little quicker though! Like release 6 around March and release 7 in July (When this is supposed to street) Us eager fans are anticipating this.. Don't even get me started on the Simpson Season sets.. Those Mubs will be a dozen years in the making.. Yeah.. So hurry up already! Taa Taa..

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Most Misunderstood of Seasons...Buffy at it's darkest!
Review: I was recently going through Buffy withdraws and rewatched Season 6 in my free time. (I have every episode on videotape, and am slowly moving those tapes into storage as the seasons become available on DVD). After rewatching all 22 eps., you know what? It turned out to be a really, really good season. Even eps that bothered me before like "Flooded" and "All the Way" were really fantastic in retrospect. Even the geeks were less annoying (and in much fewer eps than I had remembered). This is really Buffy at its darkest. The geeks are really a smokescreen (even though Warren did kill his ex-girlfriend and Tara, and tried to kill Buffy)--the real "demons" that Buffy & Co. faced this season were themselves. Willow gets heavily addicted to Magic, Buffy is morose about coming back and gets addicted to Spike, Xander's insecurities about himself causes him to lose Anya, and Dawn's percieved loneliness causes her to get into quite a few jams (stealing, lying to Buffy, etc.). By the season's end, everything comes full circle, and everyone involved learns quite a few things about themselves.

It is interesting to note too, that two of the Buffy episodes that usually make viewers' favorite lists are in this season: "Once More With Feeling", and "Tabula Rasa." It can be argued that the strength of Season 6 lies in the sum of its parts, rather than the finished product as a whole. Buy it today--this season is really worth a second chance!


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