Buffy has been separated from her friends and Riley has gone to Adam. A war is brewing and just as Buffy needs as much help as she can get, she’s alone. Will Adam win?
The whole season has been building up to this, and after much thought, yes, it has been worth the wait. In many ways, this is what the season’s been needing all along: a big fight, an unstoppable force and Buffy and her friends working as a team again rather than being split apart by their own lives.
Thankfully, Riley hasn’t suddenly turned evil, but is being controlled by Adam thanks to a chip implanted in him. Taken to a secret part of the Initiative, Riley discovers Adam’s plan but is powerless to do anything to stop it. This really is an explosive episode in several senses as the Initiative finally comes face to face with everything it’s been trying to avoid. And, despite their bragging, they simply aren’t ready for a full-scale demon war. There are fight sequences aplenty here, with each character having something important to do. Thankfully, it’s the core Scooby Gang who have the most to do, finally realizing that they can be more powerful as a team than on their own.
There are probably a few questions left unanswered at the end of the story, but with one episode still to go, it’s possible that the pieces can be picked up there. Where next season will go is anyone’s guess, but that’s why we love Joss Whedon: he keeps us coming back for more, and it’s never the same twice.
The early part of the episode is a little slow, although Spike’s efforts to do what Adam asks are a highlight as, try as he might, he can’t quite get things to work out properly. His desperate saving of Willow, Xander and Giles at the end is purely to save his own skin once again, and thank god he does. I was very worried that Spike was on the verge of being staked at several points.
The last 15 minutes make it all worthwhile, though. Watching Buffy and company enter the Initiative, the beautiful group hug which has been so long coming, and finally the showdowns with evil. Riley’s method for self-preservation is horrible but necessary and made me cringe, but the moment when all fights are going on at once (Riley v Forest, Buffy v Adam, The Initiative v The Demons) is really adrenalin-pumping. Even bigger spectacle-wise than last year’s finale, it doesn’t let up, and everyone takes some serious knocks.
But it’s Buffy that’s the centre of attention. Showing some impressive Matrix-style powers to beat Adam, she truly is as unstoppable as the creature she is fighting. And he throws everything he has at her. The effects are fantastic and it’s a great way to not only bring the friends back together but also to beat Adam: that he can’t be killed by one person, but a group working together can hold him. Aside from the borrowing from another source (and why not borrow from the best?), this is a really spectacular finish to the whole Initiative story. What’s next?
*****
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