TVSquad

(S08I04) And thus ends the first arc of the new season of Buffy. This issue was a bit all over the place. Some sections seemed to jump a bit too much, particularly in the first half of the book, though you could almost get the feeling that it wouldn't be done much differently had this been actually on television.

I will say this much for the series, though -- the "big bad" of the season is something of brilliance. Well played, Mr. Whedon.

I wasn't sure what to think of the convenient story Warren had for the reason he's still alive. If I read it right, Amy saved Warren by masking a different spell within Willow's disappearing spell, the one she used to get rid of Warren's skinless body. Is that how the rest of you understand that? Maybe you can help me understand what Warren meant about "that time we came up with the spell for you and your new girlfriend." Does he mean something with Kennedy that we haven't seen yet?

The Willow torture scenes were brilliantly done, not having to show us anything, yet we get a very clear idea of what's going on with her through ... what the heck are those things? Here's where I'm a bit put off. What are those "things" Willow seeks refuge from her pain with supposed to be? Some sort of outward, alternate plane or dimension? I'm not sure I cared for what they looked like -- they seemed like something out of, well, a comic book. They just seemed a bit out of place in the Buffyverse to me. But ew, Willow was being lobotomized!

An interesting turn was the revelation that a part of Willow is with Buffy, which seemed to allow Willow to control Buffy or give her some power, or at least that's how it looked. I'm also sad to see Ethan Rayne dead; there goes my story idea.

And as I said, the best part of this arc is the reveal of what seems to be the new "big bad": Buffy and the slayers (cool name for a band!) The government isn't out to be evil, they're out to stop what could be the inevitable: a world of people with a never satisfied thirst for slaying. Once all evil is gone from the world, what will they slay next? The fear here is that they'll turn on us next. As the issue concludes, we see this is something Buffy's going to have to chew on for a little bit.

Next issue's out August 1. See you then!

Quote of the issue:

Xander: "Okay, let's stop patting ourselves on the back till we have extraction. And someone ask Dawn to stop jumping up and down."