My "Chosen" Summary & Analysis

So first of all, it's a final – a tender issue on its own, a final is always judged much more than a regular episode, no matter how good or bad that episode might be. The Buffy final, a show that has millions of fans worldwide and is studied in universities and God knows what else, has to be one to leave its mark on the world. And in my opinion, it did.

The acting was flawless, all the actors (and I do mean all) gave their absolute bests, put everything into this episode. I even managed to not (completely) hate Dawn, and I kinda liked Kennedy in this episode, so I guess they did something right. I have to say though that some stuff did leave some questions unanswered, some things did not necessarily make sense, but even now as I think of it – that's only when you watch the episode for the first time. Because afterwards… everything comes together and makes perfect sense. This episode, although much easier to explain as a stand-alone than others, is still, like all others in BtVS history has to be rewatched and then rewatched a few more dozen times to be understood, so it's safe to say it carries on the BtVS trademark legacy.

It really took me by surprise when people expected another version of "The Gift" from "Chosen". I only wish I knew how, or why they even connected these two episodes, that have absolutely nothing in common except for them both being a final. "The Gift" came to symbolize an ending; in this episode, Buffy died, the Buffy we'd known for five years died in "The Gift" and in spite of popular belief, never came back afterwards. The Buffy that returned in season 6 was not the same, and though she became lighter in season 7, she was still not the same. I myself was mourning over the fact we didn't get the flashbacks in "Chosen" we've been waiting for, but then I understood – we weren't supposed to (as much as I'd still love to have them there). We got flashbacks of Buffy's past in the opening of "The Gift" because it was what it was – the beginning of the end. It's what happens when you die – you get your entire life flashing before your eyes, isn't that what they say?

Buffy was going to die in "The Gift" and the flashbacks were the first sign to it. "Chosen", however, was not about despair, or death, it was about bravery, about the good fight, about challenging destiny and changing it. You saw how confident Buffy was in the fact they were going to win, there were no tears, no sacrifices here, nothing. And don't count Spike and Anya as sacrifices, because they weren't.
Spike chose to do what he did, there was no sacrifice on his side, he was complete with this decision, it would not be the same as to say Buffy sacrificed herself to save Dawn. Spike had a choice, letting your sister die is not a choice. Spike chose to die that way and it was a good death. He sought peace to his soul and I think he found it.
As for Anya – she wasn't a sacrifice either. Remember "Graduation", when Anya split in the sight of danger? Well Anya took her 4 years to grow up since then, she turned into a person, with feelings, emotions, and the truest understanding of right and wrong. She had love, pain, disappointment, joy, she experienced everything and again, the most important thing she experienced as a human was growing up. Anya was always the one to see the truth and say it while no one else did, when she wanted something, she just did it, or said it or whatever. Andrew told her to imagine bunnies, that was a cute comic relief, a nice push to replace her true mortal enemy with another, but we know Anya was not fighting bunnies and so did she.
Like I said, she always saw the truth, she had the most open eyes of all the Scoobies, she knew what she was fighting and why. She was fighting ubervamps to save the humans she came to love and be a part of, and she was scared, and she was fighting ubervamps to save Andrew, who was not more to her than a guy she knew. And she died doing that. Not to say Anya meant to die, but I think it was the way in which she'd want to go. Anya completed a full circle, she died as a human, doing the most human thing you can do, and some human that was.

And Xander's reaction to her death was priceless. I've had people asking questions like why there were no tears. But I don't think there should have been. First of all, if there were, he'd make poor Andrew (who also came full circle in this episode) feel even worse about himself. Instead, he just put his hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner of understanding and said what he said. Xander loved Anya, and Anya loved Xander, there was never a doubt about that, but that's not what his reaction was about. It would be completely off character for Xander, the guy who's been stomped over more than a human can endure and smiled all the way through it, to cry now.
He has his own way of dealing with this sort of things, and he will. It was not the time though. It was really beautifully tear-jerking when we saw Anya's body amid the ruins in the school while Xander was searching for her, and she was on his blind side…

Now, on to the eternal triangle – Angel/Buffy/Spike. Say hello to the drama.

Buffy's scene in the beginning with Angel was, well, priceless. Though the two of them took only several minutes of the episode, it was still worth it. It was so natural and so beautiful, I felt like I was watching a missing scene from season 2 or 3, as if the two of them were never apart and everything that happened, everything they've been through in the past 4 years didn't happen. Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz slipped into the roles of Buffy and Angel of Buffy&Angel so well they were just perfect. Now, you did notice that with the end of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Buffy and Angel is not just the only major couple that started with this show and also ended with it, but it was also the first couple that was created and the last one to remain standing. And it's also the only one that received a sound promise for a future reunion. And by the way, it's nice that joss did it in the cemetery, just like he did the scene in "Bad Eggs" (when I look into the future, all I see is you) when they first promised their future to each other.

Let's do a little history checkup to confirm the 'only couple' thing now. –
Buffy and Angel – began in the beginning of season one and together until the end of season 3, seasons 4-6 all having crossovers to show us the love and the passion is still there (with the exception of season 6, where the crossover was off-screen but we were told it was 'intense'). In season 7, the final, they meet again, this time to promise a mutual future to each other, a future they both still dream of, no matter whom they might be with in the meantime, Buffy is Angel's true love and Angel is Buffy's.
Willow and Oz – began in mid season 2, ended in mid season 4.
Xander and Cordelia – began in mid season 2, ended in mid season 3.
Buffy and Riley – began in mid season 4, ended in mid season 5.
Willow and Tara – began in mid season 4, on and off towards its end, ended with Tara's death towards the end of season 6.
Buffy and Spike – began in mid season 6, with more off's than on's, ended in the end of season 7 with Spike's death.

That's it, here's your list of major BtVS relationships. Buffy and Angel by far outlived them all. We, B/A shippers, got what we wanted and so much more. Talk about true love now.

Now as for Buffy and Spike… well, their relationship was put in its rightful place once and for all – we saw her reaction to the fact Spike saw her with Angel, she knew there was no way she could convince him there was nothing going on (unless he's really stupid and which he's not), so she chose a different approach. She put her entire self into convincing him she needed him with her. And she really did, she needed him to help her become 'cookies', like she told Angel, only when she's finally cookies, she can be with him, she'll feel complete enough to be with her true love, the one she wants to spend her life with. She told Spike 'I love you' in the end (she even slept with him before that). I don't know about the sex thing, but the 'I love you' came to give him something to hold onto. She wanted him to know she appreciated his death and that he didn't die for nothing – she wanted to strengthen his self-confidence regarding her and Angel. Of course he didn't believe her 'I love you', he wasn't supposed to, and as we see, she never expected him to, because she didn't really mean it. Not in the sense he loved her, anyway.

The punching bag thing was hilarious though. I actually laughed in "Chosen", here you go, and Buffy's reaction to that… O my God.

Now on to Faith and Wood. Well, did I mention this couple never quite clicked for me? But either way… I was happy to see that he got through to her in a way no other guy (except for Angel) ever could. In my opinion, this was the point of their first scene and their second scene was either plainly pointless or just not so well done. It's jut that in spite of everything, I have serious trouble seeing an actual future for these two. I just think he's looking for his lost mommy-figure in the very wrong place. I think Faith was awesome in this episode though. In my opinion, her best scene was when Buffy (thought she) was dying, and she told Faith to lead. She was torn between the will to help Buffy and the need to be a Slayer and fight and Eliza was… she was purely amazing. The way she played out that scene was amazing.

I think I'll make a little filler here and insert a little nod for Willow's character development in "Chosen" – she also came full circle. She overcame her fear of abusing magic again and she pulled through – she was great. I loved seeing old Willow in action again, she even reminded me of that lady Buffy met in the previous episode that told her about the scythe. Though I gotta admit I was sort of disappointed the newly chosen Slayers didn't get a bit more screen time.

Another thing I want to mention is the scene of the original four in Sunnydale high. It was just beautiful. Buffy Summers, Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris - I'm so glad Joss decide to make one final moment with the four of them together, it was really needed – it was one of the moments that really wrapped up seven years for me. I think it was also one of the moments that gave "Chosen" the 'back to the beginning' feeling rather than to any other episode this season, because chosen was all about – and I've probably said it a million times by now – making a full circle. Remember in the end of "The Harvest," when the same original four were discussing only the beginning of it all post their first battle together -

Buffy: What exactly were you expecting?
Xander: I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly.
Giles: People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't.
Buffy: Believe me, I've seen it happen.
Willow: Well, I'll never forget it, none of it.
Giles: Good! Next time you'll be prepared.
Xander: Next time?
Willow: Next time is why?
Giles: We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning.
Willow: More vampires?
Giles: Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different.
Buffy: I can hardly wait!
Giles: We're at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction.
Buffy: Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!
Xander: Oh, yeah, that's a plan. 'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths.
Willow: Maybe you could blow something up. They're really strict about that.
Buffy: I was thinking of a more subtle approach, y'know, like excessive not studying.
Giles: The Earth is doomed!

And then in "Chosen" we get their last conversation before their final battle, after having seen pretty much it all in seven years and experienced almost everything, they face their last battle on the Hellmouth just as they did the first – together.

Buffy: So. What do you guys wanna do tomorrow?
Willow: Nothing strenuous...
Xander: Well, mini-golf is always the first thing that comes to mind.
Giles: Well, I think we can do better than that.
Buffy: I was thinking about shopping. As for usual.
Willow: There's an Agnes B. in the new mall!
Xander: I could use a few items.
Giles: Well, aren't we gonna discuss this? We're saving the world to go to the mall?
Buffy: I'm having a wicked shoe craving.
Xander: Aren't you on the patch?
Willow: Those never work.
Giles: And here I am, invisible to the eye, not having any vote...
Xander: See, it's the whole eye-patch thing.
Buffy: Oh, you go with the full black secret agent look…
Willow: Or the puffy shirt pirate-slash-poet feel…
Giles: The earth is definitely doomed.

And note that just like in "The Harvest", towards the end of the conversation, Giles remains behind as he watches the other three go ahead. And in the end, they all go their separate ways, each one has a different role in the final battle. I just wonder if it also means, given the fact it's the end, they will go their separate ways in life, too. I hope not.

And now, finally – Buffy. Well, that was it for her – another full circle and probably the biggest and most notable one of all. She is no longer the only Chosen, the only Slayer. She fought her greatest enemy so far – the First Evil, and she won. The fact that the First chose to appear in her form before her shows that she was actually having an inner battle, a battle with her inner doubts and hesitations and fears, and she won, she overcame everything. I think it's a bit far fetched to say she overcame all of her inner battles, but the biggest ones – she sure did. She was no longer scared, or insecure or helpless, she was Buffy, the Slayer, the winner, the girl that knows she can do anything and everything if she only wants to and puts her heart and mind into it.

The speech she gave the potential Slayers was beautiful. She opened a world of possibilities before them – she gave them the chance to be somebody, instead of potentially-somebody. She made everyone Chosen, everyone special, she was not the only one anymore. This speech was not an ending-speech, it was a beginning, a beginning of a new time for everything and everyone, everything changed with the chance she gave these girls - she changed everything.

When she gave her power to the other girls, the other Slayers, she didn't only win a war against evil, she changed something huge – she changed destiny. Remember destiny? The thing Buffy has been fighting against ever since she was fifteen, how she always wanted to be a normal girl, how she didn't want the burden of a Slayer on her shoulders? Well, her battle is now finally over. Now she doesn't have to choose between 'Buffy' and 'Vampire Slayer', she doesn't have to give up one to be the other, a theme that led her through most of the series; now, she is finally 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and that's okay, that's normal. She made being a Slayer normal. There was no longer such thing as one girl per generation carrying all the burden. Now there were thousands, maybe more, to share it with her, and either one of them, was a normal girl. She won, not only in the fight against evil, but in the fight against destiny, too. It took her seven years, but she won.

In the end, she was complete, and happy. She has a future now – something she never thought she could have as a Slayer, and as Dawn perfectly put it in words, she can now do whatever she wants, be whomever she wants. Nothing stands in her way to have a normal life anymore. There is still evil to be fought, it didn't go away within seven years of BtVS, but she is not alone anymore, she is not the only one.

Now as for the last line of the series – the last line went to Dawn. But personally, even though it kinda brings you back to her line in "Once More With Feeling", I think it would fit better with one of the original four instead (though Willow amended a little for that loss;)).

"What are we gonna do now?"

Well, you know what? I think that the last line did go to Buffy after all. You know how they say that a picture is worth a thousand words? Well same with silence, and Buffy's silence and her smile towards the end spoke volumes. I think she got more than the final words, I think her smile captured the very essence of Buffy, of "Chosen" and of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as they all come to an end – and to a resolution.

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