SummarySarah Michelle Gellar stars as Buffy Summers, The Chosen One, the one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to fight the vampires. With the assistance of her close friends, Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicholas Brendon), and her Watcher Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), she balances slaying, family, friendships, and relation...
SummarySarah Michelle Gellar stars as Buffy Summers, The Chosen One, the one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to fight the vampires. With the assistance of her close friends, Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicholas Brendon), and her Watcher Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), she balances slaying, family, friendships, and relation...
While the villain hits hard this season shows that life hits even harder. There is a fitting Rocky quote like this: You, me or nobody hits as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It is about how hard you can get hit and still keep moving forward. This could be written for this season. It is the best season of Buffy (Mabe tied only with season 7). We got the best villain, so much character development / interactions and lots of impact. This season introduces Dawn. She is a good addition to the cast and carries a burden she doesn't know yet. Spike is the hidden star here. He got so much development and all feels natural in a way you can fully relate. I would even call this the heroes journey. Then we have Glory. She is the best and most powerful villain(ess). It is so enjoyable to watch her because you don't know if she attacks at any moment or just want new shoes or a better dress;-). Then there is Ben. I cannot say much about him because of spoilers. He has a small but impactful role. This season is about relationships in all ways (lovers, family and friendship). We have Buffy/ Riley, Tara / Willow, the Summers family, Xander / Anya, Spike / Buffy and the Scooby gang. Everything is well done and has impacts. Many other series have tried and failed in this regard. I always left out Joyce in my seasons reviews and don't know why. She was the anchor for Buffy and the gang in previous seasons (I would say the team mother is Giles;-). Here it is shown what support she gave. This season is on a lot of favourites list and rightful so. I can not name many seasons of all series I watched that grabbed my attention and made me feel like this. It is a must see recommendation. Also the final and ending. It was good, bold, memorable and impactful. Lets go to my favourite episodes: Buffy vs Dracula. You know that this must happen. It is the opener and so funny. Each Slayer wants to be the one who defeats Dracula;-). The three episodes I was made for loving you, The body and Forever deal with a serious loss that impacts everything. Guest appearance by Angel. Blood ties but cant talk about it because spoilers. Checkpoint because of the Watchers council and resolve. Here they reveal the truth about Glory and it has some of the best moments. Tough love gets a furious Willow. You can see the glimpse of how powerful she will get. End of season 6 Willow vs Glory would be an interesting and unpredictable battle. The final episodes The weight of the world and The gift shows Buffy at her lowest and strongest. I like how the team gets together and gives no **** about the odds. The teamwork in the final battle is remarkable.
The series returns to its best with a bang here, with a truly epic season. It starts by introducing Buffy's sister Dawn in a very innovative, unique way and follows the story of the villain Glory, played by Claire Kramer and her quest to find a mysterious key. That is the main arc but there is also a subplot involving Buffy's mother Joyce and that is just as riveting as the main story and produces the episode ''The Body'', which is one of the best episodes of TV I've seen. The finale, ''The Gift' is another brilliant episode.
Excellent story-telling. Great Action and a decent enough villain. A definite step up from season 4, the whole show is bigger and the surrounding world now feels more fully formed than ever.
Another great season of Josh Whedon's show that yet again delivers real drama ("The Body" is just a devastating episode) as well as plenty of laughs to go with all the supernatural elements. Glory makes for a great nemesis ensuring the season long plot arc is more interesting than the Initiative from season four and there are also plenty of great stand alone episodes thrown into the mix as well.
An absolutely fantastic season. Deeply emotional. Shocking twists. Excellent writing. Wonderful character development. Even the inclusion of Dawn was really well done and very believable (did have me scratching my head at first.) Michelle Trachtenberg is a welcome addition to the cast and it's almost a pity she wasn't there from season 1 (well, in a way she was, but we didn't get to see that reality.) Glory is just a perfect villain and really well played. Overall: Season 5 is by far the best season that really come to a great end that does Buffy's character justice. I think this was the only time I have ever cried watching a TV show.
The addition of Buffy's sister, and her incessant whining, make this season the worst so far. They spent more time trying to keep an eye on Buffy's vapid sister, it takes away from the story line. It's also a season, like season 6, which begins to take itself too seriously. I loved this show. I've watched it through a couple of times, but this season, I picked and choose which episodes to watch.