Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 6 [DVD] [1998]

The DVD is fine. Good picture sound and subtitles with extras as ever. But...What have the writers done to our Scooby's? Dour, deprssing storylines. A Buffy who is permantly unhappy (not surprising really!!!) The introduction of the 3 idiots who, we are told present a real danger to "the world" yet look icapable of wiping their own..... Of course it isn't all bad. Willow is deveoping into something scary. (Tara is still soft though). Michelle Trachtenberg is developing nicely, and it is good to see Giles back. Anya and Xander are funny, and, last, but not least...Spike is beginning to rule the roost. Hit and miss episodes, but after series 1-5 this is a disapointment

I have recently decided to watch Buffy again from the beginning, this to me is the most irritating season of them all.Buffy and Spike, WIllow and her whining cold turkey, Dawn screaming all the time get out get out get out, Xander and Anya almost wedding, oh and Giles leaving, the monsters were pants and worst of all are the arch nemisises their words not mine of the 3 amigos being warren, andrew and johnathon.Once more with feeling was however brilliant and the arrival of Dark Willow kicked total butt, however for me this is the weakest Season.I like Spike, i just dont like Spike with Buffy.I was glad when the season was over.

Spoiler alert...Buffy is arguably the funniest, sharpest-written, best-cast, most consistently well-acted, best blend of comedy, drama, horror and farce you will ever see. Across its 7 seasons it raised the bar to an extraordinary level, which even Joss Whedon's sister show (or should that be brother show) Angel struggled to match throughout its own successful 5 season run.This, season 6, was bought to complete my set after my 'old' discs started to play up. It's one of the darkest, sitting in the run between the suddenly sober season 5 (where poor Buffy lost her Mum, gained a sister (to the annoyance of much of the fanbase ) and the elegy-like season 7. Here, Buffy battles not so much external enemies (like the simple but terrifyingly powerful, diva-like Glory in season 5, and the equally unstoppable and equally merciless natural causes ) but her own darker impulses and those of her friends, making it arguably the series' most introspective and 'internal' season. Unlike the bright, blinding but harsh sunlight that permeated season 5, season 6 mostly takes place in the dark, with previously much-loved characters turning on each other in shocking ways. Xander, for so long the willing butt of the jokes, suddenly has cold feet about his wedding, which threatens to completely shatter a happy and unsuspecting Anya. Willow's love of the power and respect that comes from her magic use, finds herself unable to stop, threatening the people she loves and most of all her relationship with the loyal, responsible and concerned Tara. Giles departs for England at arguably the worst possible moment, leaving those who always looked to him for advice and wisdom rather lost. Dawn, Buffy's sister, while mostly free of the danger she experienced last season, feels neglected. And then of course there's Buffy herself, unwillingly brought back from the dead into a world where she has to once again thanklessly fight evil, delving into a self-destructive and miserable relationship with a still-soulless Spike simply in order to feel, and worst of all having to work endless double-shifts in a fast food joint, just to keep a roof over her sister and herself.Despite all this though it's still Buffy, one of the wittiest series to hit TV, and of course there are moments of light amid the darkness - personally I found more to laugh at in the 1st half of season 6 that all of season 5 put together. The Trio, for instance - robot-designer Warren who Buffy clashed with in season 5, shy wannabe illusionist Jonathan (familiar to long-term fans as a recurring character), and weak-willed Andrew ('the other one') seem to be almost a parody of a set of camp, technology-obsessed geeks who are out of their depth acting as 'arch-nemesises' to Buffy. But when a shocking accident happens later on in s6, things get very dark indeed - expect bloodshed of several characters, and a heartrending but oddly cathartic conclusion where 1 much-loved central character finally embraces their grace, 1 finally embraces life, and 1 - well - that would be telling!My advice? Buy s1 to s7, watch them in order (as i did) and experience a brilliant show with depth, themes, story arcs mixed with great one-offs, and enjoy. Lots!

Challenging, ambitious, courageous, daring and not particularly good, the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a curious paradox, boasting some of the most quotable dialogue (the supergeek supervillains argument over the best Bond, Spike's every other line) and one of the most fondly remembered episodes but never being able to shake the feeling that they really should have left the gal and the show in their grave. There are some intriguingly dark ideas - torn out of Heaven by her friends, Buffy spends much of the season trying to come to terms with being brought back to a life of fear, loss and uncertainty while the leader of the initially comic geek trio displays an ugly undercurrent of misogyny - but too many episodes are just lazy. Always boasting smart writing, the temptation at times veers to settle for smartass, only just dodging the bullet. Not only is the fun gone, but the often unremittingly joyless tone of the season ensures that none of the intended dramatic highs stand out - when everything is one-note miserable, what's another crisis more or less? There's not even much slaying going on as it piles on more soap opera angst, turning it into a veritable Sunnydale 90210. There's little of the real emotional power that enabled some of the supporting players to show their strengths as actors here: they have character arcs, many of them interesting, but it can't shake the feeling that they've been doing this too long to really be enthused by it. And yet it has one of the smartest episodes - Once More With Feeling, where creator Joss Whedon almost seems to turn the show into a mirror on conflicting emotions to its return with songs like Going Through the Motions. Still, it rallies for the finale, though.Decent but insubstantial extras on the boxed set, but once again the UK set is cropped widescreen rather than (as per the US edition) the original fullframe.

Buffy fans will already know this was an excellent season on a par with any of those preceding it. I just wanted to post this review to make buyers aware that the musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling", which was (I believe) the only episode filmed to be shown in widescreen (as opposed to filmed in widescreen but designed for viewing in fullscreen 4:3, like the other episodes) is definitely presented in widescreen in this box-set. However, the upper and lower black bars have been burned in so that it will present in 16:9 but very small. If your playback device has a video zoom feature, use this to make the main feature fill your screen, and you'll be fine. The resolution is unaffected.Enjoy!