.......Let there be pomp. And circumstance. And, because this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer's graduation, demons and monsters and mayhem all around. We wouldn't have it any other way. But if we'd truly had our way, we would have had it alot sooner than July 13.
.......In a beyond-rare-example of network programmers showing perhaps too much sensitivity, WB executives held back Buffy's grand and gloriously gripping season finale for seven weeks out of deference to the national outcry over teen violence, in the immediate wake of the Columbine High School tragedy.
.......WB probably was right in thinking that if the episode had aired on schedule May 25, the usual lineup of congressional blowhards and knee-jerk moralists would have taken the explosive climax out of context.
.......Clips of students bearing arms, albeit of a peculiarly medieval nature (flame-tipped arrows, crossbows and the like), might have demonized Buffy instead of acknowledging the show for what it is-a clever, hip allegory of good versus evil where ignorance is never bliss and wit always conquers barbarous brutality.
.......But even if, as fans argued, the wait wasn't necessary, it was worth it. Not so much for the haphazardly edited "big finish" (as Sunnydale's malevolent mayor puts it before he morphs into a giant computer-animated serpent) as for an emotionally resonant, satisfying capper to a first-rate season.
.......If Emmy voters weren't such snobs about the fantasy and youth genres, Buffy and it's gifted creator Joss Whedon (who wrote and directed the finale) would merit recognition. The writing is that sharp, the performances that good, the tone that consistent-a unique blend of ironic whimsy and tumultuous passion amid the carnage.
.......In this piviotal Buffy episode, after several characters will migrateto the Angel spin-off as all face life after high school, many of the best moments involve kisses: one comic, another tender and one-a life-altering embrace between Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her beloved undead Angel (David Boreanaz)-that ranks among the year's most sensual and disturbing love scenes.