WILLOW and MAGIC and TARA'S DEATH
WILLOW and MAGIC
"Willow's arc also looks promising in the early episodes. 'Same Time, Same Place' got me really excited. Maybe I forgot, I thought. Maybe they handle Willow's issues from Season 6 in a thoughtful drawn out way. 'Same Time, Same Place' does a number of insightful and successful things. It addresses Willow's avoidance of difficult situations and the way she uses magic, even subconsciously, to make that easier. Here magic is as it is at its most consistent. An extension of Willow's emotions. The scene with Willow and Buffy at the end is one of the few acknowledgments of their paralleled stories last season. But after that, Willow's struggle with controlling those around her and quick fixes is replaced with this generic "I lost control and killed someone". And her final scene in 'Chosen' is emblematic of these greater issues. Overcome by grief and on the heels of identity-based behaviour addiction, Willow's hair turns black when she absorbs magic in an attempt to stop feeling. Not only does she absorb magic but she makes a clear distinction between the self she is now and the self she's become and she starts talking in third-person to remove herself from the pain of what's happened. And then in 'Chosen' Willow's hair is white... because white is the opposite of black. She was bad when her hair was black and she's better now... so it's white. Get it? Even though we get no serious explanation as to how or why. And without dealing with the grief or the issue with control and quick fixes. The imagery alone isn't the problem. It's the fact that the imagery is a placeholder for what should have been a proper narrative undertaking. HOW did Willow's perception of magic and how it relates to her anxieties of usefulness change? How did she recontextualize her own helpfulness and even where that desire to be needed even comes from? Did she find other ways to prove her worth? Especially in relation to being Buffy's lieutenant. None of this heavy lifting is done. Imagery is great but it's not a substitute for actual themes it's meant to represent. Willow's main problem isn't that she was a murderer. It was her pathological insecurity, need for control and need to be needed."
TARA'S DEATH
"Tara's death is a big part of last season's debris that is brushed aside. Not only was it the catalyst for Willow's most extreme turn, but she was a big sister to Dawn and a support system for a depressed Buffy. Yes, there are bigger fish to fry. But the fall out from this doesn't feel like a Scooby was lost. The way that Tara's death is dealt (or not dealt) with feels disrespectful to what she would've meant to the team. Grief about her is scrapped and accelerated through. And what should be a significant character opportunity with the traumatic event of the loss of a Scooby becomes a footnote. 'The Killer In Me' is an excellent example of this half-baked execution and I might talk about it on its own at some point. Even though I really don't want to talk negatively just for the sake of it. It appears to be a character study but brings up questions without ever answering them. Think about it - what was the resolution? What was the problem solved by the end? In this episode Willow's grief is finally spoken of directly and how it relates to her hesitancy to use magic. Then in the last minutes of the episode Willow finally addresses her guilt, feeling like she's somehow responsible for what happened to Tara and that by even considering the possibility of moving on, feels like she's betrayed her. And she completely breaks down. And then as a solution, Kennedy kisses her. And it's over. And this is never spoken of again. The episode is so confused. It digs at an emotional truth, uncovers it and then rather than tackle it narratively cuts to credits. It feels like a slow chug-chug-chug to the top of a rollercoaster that has no descent. Why did you build this?"
This is an instant like because you said the way I feel about Season 7 precisely. Every issue I have with it you explained coherently and concisely. It could have been so good. And it just isn’t.