Which season is better? Or is it the movie you prefer?

I missed the first two seasons, except for a few repeats when our lousy cable company finally got the WB last year. I've been hooked on Buffy since then, and consequently Angel, but I've not gotten into the other WB shows.

The first season is the best! There is no better baddie than THE MASTER. The orginal line up. The mysterious Angel and a plot ran through the season. Okay so Season 3 had the whole maor thing. But still..

I would say Season 3 and 5 are the best seasons to date. I unfortunately missed most of season 4 because WGN stopped carrying the show. I finally caught up with the syndication.

My favorite seasons are probably season two and season three, although I think all six seasons were well done.

Season one was very good, but it had some major problems, in my opinion: (1) Angel's character wasn't well-written, (2) Cordelia's character was underutilized, and (3) the episode scoring was bland. I also wish season one had been more than 12 episodes, but that's mostly a quantity issue, rather than a quality issue.

Regarding Angel's character, in season one, the writers had Angel functioning as little more than a mysterious guy who would approach Buffy every once in a while and offer her cryptic warnings about "big things a'happening." Then he would disappear. I would wonder, if Angel's got information on what the bad guys are up to, and if Angel's one of the good guys, why doesn't he just tell Buffy in plain terms what the bad guys are up to? Additionally, for some reason, in episodes 1 and 2, Angel comes off as a much cockier, more laid-back character than he would be later in season one. Also, for the entire season, the writers didn't give Angel much fighting skill, which helped conceal (until its revelation in episode 7) the fact that Angel was a vampire, but which also wasn't consistent with season two, or with later revelations about the history of the character.

Regarding Cordelia's character, if Charisma Carpenter hadn't been a regular cast member in season one, I wouldn't have had a problem with the sparse utilization of the Cordelia character, because I think that in season one, the show did a good job of establishing the character and laying the foundation for Cordelia's much stronger presence in the show in seasons two and three. However, since Charisma Carpenter was a regular cast member in season one, along with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendan, Allison Hannigan, and Anthony Stewart Head (but not David Boreanaz), I would have liked to see a much stronger Cordelia presence in season one. There were several episodes in season one in which Cordelia's screen time seemed to consist of only the obligatory scene in which she insults Buffy, Willow, and/or Xander, and then walks away, usually with her "cool" entourage.

As for the scoring of the episodes in season one, at times the music has a "cheesy horror flick" sound to it, other times it has a "Nancy Drew Mysteries" sound to it, and other times, it just sounds like stock music from any number of TV suspense dramas.

Even with those problems, season one was still very good, because (1) the good mix of drama and humor was there, as it has been in "Buffy" ever since, (2) the characters of Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles were well drawn and well used, (3) the episode plots were good and varied in subject matter, and (4) The Master was thankfully slain in the season finale. Regarding The Master, that arch-nemesis of Buffy was good for season one, but he would have become tiresome soon thereafter. There needs to be different types of super-villains rotating in and out of the show, just like there needs to be different types of run-of-the-mill villains rotating in and out of the show. Otherwise, the show would just repeat itself, as Buffy fights vampires every episode.

So why do I like seasons two and three best? Well, my reasons for liking season two so much are as follows:

1. Angel changed from a recurring character to a regular character.

2. Cordelia finally joined The Scoobies, which gave the character more to do than just insult Buffy, Willow, and Xander.

3. Spike was introduced as a villainous recurring character.

4. Spike killed The Annointed One ("The Annoying One") early in season two.

5. Oz was introduced as a recurring character and romantic interest for Willow. He also turned out to be a werewolf.

6. Giles was revealed to have a darker side to his character than his "watcher" status implied. This darker side was revealed after the introduction of Ethan Rayne as a recurring character.

7. Kendra the Vampire Slayer was introduced. I liked this, not because I found the character of Kendra interesting, but because I liked the concept of Buffy's slayer replacement having been "called" when Buffy "died" in the season one finale. Of course, this concept set up the season three introduction of Faith the Vampire Slayer, after Kendra was killed in "Becoming, Part I" (season two, episode 21).

8. Angel turned evil, which was tragic, but it made for great drama. Poor Jenny Calender.

9. Willow began to dabble with magic.

10. Buffy's mom finally found out that Buffy is a vampire slayer. Eventually, this had to happen. Either Buffy's mom was going to look like an idiot for not unraveling this mystery herself, or Buffy was going to look like idiot for allowing herself to get in trouble with her mother over and over again, when she could have avoided it by using the great excuse of being destined to fight the forces of evil and save the world.

11. Additionally, "Lie to Me", "Ted", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" and "Passion" were very good episodes not directly or indirectly referenced earlier. "Passion" was especially good. Poor Jenny Calender.

My reasons for liking season three are as follows:

1. Oz's character changed from recurring status to regular status.

2. Faith the Vampire Slayer was introduced. Even before Faith was seduced by the dark side, she was an interesting character just because of how she differed from Buffy. And though the idea of an allie becoming an enemy wasn't original, it played out well over the last few episodes of season three.

3. Angel returned from Hell. He seemed to be more assertive, and a more formidable fighter than he had been in season two. The groundwork was laid for Angel's departure for Los Angeles (and the spin-off, "Angel") at the end of season three.

4. Mayor Wilkins was the major villain for the season. His wholesomeness, despite being evil, made for good humor.

5. Wesley Wyndam Price was introduced as Buffy's new watcher toward the end of season three. This was due to Giles having been fired by the Watcher's Council after his actions in "Helpless" (season three, episode 12). Wesley added good humor to the show with his appearances, and the mutual attraction between he and Cordelia played out for good laughs.

6. Additionally, "Lovers Walk", "The Wish", "Gingerbread", "Helpless", "The Zeppo", "Dopplegangland", and "Earshot" were very good episodes not directly or indirectly referenced earlier.

Season 3: The plot was long in the making. The Scooby gang was at full power, the villians were great. The three breakups made for interesting developments. The Season Finale was the best of the show, tieing up the High School years.
Season 2: "A little less ritual, and a lot more fun." Spike's words describe up this dark season. The scoobies matured from Season 1. Angelus, Drusilla and Spike are the best villians the show ever had.
Season 1: This season still kept the charm of the film. The High school factor still seemed there, and the element the supernatural, was still odd and mysterious. The Master was a great villian.
Season 5: The drama in this season was great. The Supernatural was a little over the top.
Season 4: Umm, it was planned well, Scooby isolation and all, but the villian(s) were taken from old 60's films.

No season 6 comments? Understandable. I'd put it above 4, just because of the musical, but I can't find too much else good to say about it. Everyone's character was horribly slandered (except, oddly, Anya), the plotting and pacing was WAY off (and I'll be posting something quite a bit longer than this describing how the plot *should* have unfolded), and instead of having a dramatic, character-driven finale, they turned it into WWF (World Wicca Federation) Smackdown. There were good ideas present throughout the season - even the geeks could have been good - but they all failed to develop in a decent direction.

I applaud the creators for trying something different with season 6, There was only onething I really hated and that was the Buffy/Spike relations. If they had not shoved this down our throats all season, I would have considered the season a success. Alot of people liked the relationship, but I absolutely hated it, and it ruined alot of episodes for me.

Buffy/Spike actually started out believable for me, but after a while it got too repetitive. Again, it was the pacing problems that ruined it, not the idea itself.

I just could not buy into the realtionship, because he is evil and with out a soul he never had a chance at redemption. Of course the writers have turned him into an Angel clone, so I expect more of this terrible relationship. Also did we need to see that much sex, I used to let my nephew watch it with me, but I no longer can.

Go back and watch season 5 - I think they did a fairly good job there of showing that, even without a soul, Spike's still higher on the "Good/Evil" scale than, say, Angelus or Drusilla. Angelus never even *thought* about doing good, for any reason, while he didn't have a soul. Spike, on the other hand, protected Dawn and the Slayerettes on n+1 occasions (where n is a large integer), and by all accounts acted like a fairly sensitive guy. I think he actually did love Buffy, loved her enough to work at throwing off his century of amorality in an attempt to make himself into someone good enough for her.

But then she comes back, and she wants him the way he *was*, because the passion he exhibited for violence and evil attracted her. Not because it was evil, but because it was the only feeling she could relate to after her resurrection. With Buffy encouraging this kind of behavior in him, it's understandable that he runs with it - it's what he knows best.

I'd have thought he'd have more sense than to try to rape the Slayer, though.

Anyway, who says that Spike with a soul is going to be anything like Angel with a soul? We've seen in various flashbacks that William the Bloody, as a human, wasn't anything like Liam the Naive Thrill-Seeker. We know from watching both vampires operate that Spike is completely differently from Angelus. Spike always exhibited control; Angelus was just manic. They're two different characters, which pretty much guarantees that they'll have two different reactions to the same event. (I imagine that Spike's soul also doesn't have the "perfect happiness" clause attached to it, which should take care of a lot of the brooding and self-pity issues. Unlike Angel, Spike should be allowed to be happy.)

I wonder if he'll go back to William now?

Re: Spike - Seasons Five, Six, and Seven

Spike has hardly been (through season six) and will hardly be (with his human soul) an "Angel clone". Besides the "vampire with a soul" thing, and the "Buffy" thing, how much else do they have in common with each other? Not a whole lot, in my opinion. Of course, all remains to be seen regarding the effect Spike's newly restored soul will have on him. However, I don't see any reason why Spike would return in season seven as a being closely resembling Angel in personality, manner, and style. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the show's writers go out of their way to show Spike (w/soul) as "not broody", which might be an issue with Buffy, who might wonder why Angel felt all that extra guilt over his killing days, while Spike merely regrets it, but seems to have made his peace with it. Additionally, there are the major differences between Angel and Spike regarding (1) "the chip", and (2) "the curse". Spike's got a "can't hurt humans (Buffy excepted) without experiencing intense neurological pain" chip, while Angel doesn't. Angel's got a "lose my soul if I experience a moment of pure hapiness" curse, while Spike doesn't.

I didn't see most of season 6, my area dosen't get UPN. I did however see the other 5 seasons at least 3 times each :-) It sounds like "Funky Winklebean" without the cheer.

My thoughs on Spike? He's tamed.

Season Four:

I still like seasons two and three best of the six to date, but I also very much liked the other seasons. As for season four, it seems a lot of "Buffy" fans had big problems with it. However, this is the season that actually got me hooked on the show. I missed the first three seasons when they originally aired (except for season three's "Earshot"), because at the time, I was under the erroneous impression that "Buffy" the show was basically "Buffy" the 1992 movie, except an hour every week. In other words, I expected the show to be campy, and I thought Buffy would fight vampires every week. I also had never heard of Sarah Michelle Gellar. So I ignored the show. But when "Buffy" spun off "Angel" after its third season, I figured that there had to be more to the show than I thought. So I tuned in to "Buffy" and "Angel" in the fall of 1999, I realized my preconceptions about "Buffy" were wrong, and I've been watching both shows ever since.

What I now know about "Buffy" season four, but did not know then, is that season four had two major obstacles to overcome that other "Buffy" seasons didn't. First, there were the cast/character changes between the end of season three and the end of season four. The character constants were Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles. However, two characters, Angel and Cordelia, who had pretty much been regulars from seasons one through three of "Buffy", departed after the season three finale to become regulars on "Angel", which premiered at the start of "Buffy" season four. Additionally, Oz, a recurring character in "Buffy" season two, and regular character in "Buffy" season three, departed as a regular after season four's sixth episode, "Wild at Heart". Those three characters needed to be adequately replaced, which was a tough task. To accomplish that task, season four introduced four new regular or major recurring characters. Riley Finn, the Initiative soldier and eventual Buffy love-interest, made his first appearance in season four's first episode, "The Freshman," and the character became an official regular from episode eleven on. Anya, the ex-"vengeance demon" and eventual Xander love-interest, who had appeared in season three's "The Wish", "Dopplegangland", "The Prom", and "Graduation Day, Part One", became an unofficial regular character (recurring character) with season four's third episode, "In The Harsh Light of Day". Spike, the vampire archnemesis of Buffy from season two (last seen in season three's "Lovers Walk"), returned to Sunnydale in "In The Harsh Light of Day" and became an official regular character from episode seven on. And Tara Maclay, the Wicca and eventual Willow love-interest, made her first appearance in season four's tenth episode, "Hush," and became an unofficial regular character from then on. I think that the season four additions of Riley, Spike, Anya, and Tara as regular or recurring characters did by season's end fill the void left by the departures of Angel, Cordelia, and Oz. However, it took a little time to get used to the new or relatively new characters - Riley, Anya, Tara; and to get used to the newly de-fanged old character - Spike. When season four first aired, I was a bit jarred by the cast/regular character changes, and that was without having gotten used to Angel, Cordelia, and Oz, as would have a longtime "Buffy" watcher. However, after having since seen all six "Buffy" seasons in chronological order, the transition from the days of Angel, Cordelia, and Oz to Spike, Anya, and Dawn, with Riley in there for a season and a half, seems natural enough. I think the show should be credited for not completely following the model of most other shows that start out centered on a group of teenaged friends that attend the same high school. In that model, the group of friends remains completely intact for several years after high school, as individual plans to go to college out-of-state are conveniently abandoned, and everybody decides to either enroll in some fictional local university created at the last minute, or get a local job. "Buffy" followed the model in many respects, but at least the show had the courage to let three of seven regulars depart in a sensible manner. I also give "Buffy" a bit of a pass on this issue, given the fact that Sunnydale is on the Hellmouth, which gives Buffy and the Scoobies extra incentive to stay in Sunnydale (seeing as how they've taken it upon themselves to fight the forces of evil and save the world every now and then).

The second major obstacle for season four to overcome was the replacement of the Sunnydale High School setting with the U.C. Sunnydale setting, which created the problem of how to get the regular characters together as needed. When Sunnydale High School featured prominently in the show, you'd see Buffy and the Scoobies getting together all the time around the campus, inside and outside, whether they'd talk about Slayer matters or anything else. If something big popped up, the Sunnydale High library was right there for a Scooby meeting with Mr. Giles, who was Buffy's watcher and also the school's librarian. However, when the show shifted from Sunnydale High School to U.C. Sunnydale, much of the interaction between the major characters had to be reworked. For one thing, Giles wasn't going to become the U.C. Sunnydale librarian (or more likely, "one of" the U.C. Sunnydale librarians), and the "we can have our Scooby meetings in the library because nobody else ever goes in there" gimmick from the Sunnydale High School days wouldn't have been plausible with U.C. Sunnydale. For another thing, Xander didn't enroll in U.C. Sunnydale (understandable, given his poor high school academic record), which would have made it silly and weird to have Xander hanging around U.C. Sunnydale all day. As for Buffy and Willow, who were both enrolled at U.C. Sunnydale, their class schedules should have precluded them from getting together much during the day, given they'd be in different and far-flung parts of the campus at different times, and given one might have a class, while the other had free time. So for the fourth season of "Buffy", we saw the major characters less connected with each other than in any previous season. Giles was usually at his apartment, and he went through the entire fourth season without officially being Buffy's watcher, and without having a paying job. Xander spent about the first third of the season in and out of a series of bad jobs, until he found his calling, construction work, in "Pangs". And Buffy and Willow didn't even get to room together in a dorm at U.C. Sunnydale, which was odd, but then that was the only way there could be an episode like "Living Conditions", which dealt with clashes between roommates. Another drawback of Buffy moving into a dorm room was that we didn't get to see as much of Buffy's mom, Joyce Summers, as we had in previous seasons. As for how the new characters (Riley, Spike, Anya, and Tara) fit in with the group, none was fully integrated into the Scooby circle. Riley became close with Buffy, but hardly got to know anyone else, because he was still wrapped up in The Initiative. Spike was still a villain, so none of the other major characters trusted him. Anya became close with Xander, but her oddness made it hard for her to connect with the others. And Tara, who became close with Willow, was deliberately kept by Willow apart from the others during most of their association during the fourth season.

To me, season four managed to overcome those two obstacles because of the strengths of the "The Initiative" story arc, some other good stand-alone episodes, and the way Spike's character was used in season four. Regarding The Initiative, I liked the idea that there was a covert government agency out there that knew about the existence of demons and such creatures, even though that agency really didn't know exactly what they were or how dangerous it was to get involved with them. It was refreshing to see that people could be aware of the existence of these creatures without having anything to do with slayers, watchers, wizards, orders of monks, etc. Just ordinary government bureaucrats, scientists, and soldiers. It also made sense that The Initiative's headquarters would be in Sunnydale, obviously a hotbed of demon activity. However, the location of the headquarters (underneath U.C. Sunnydale), and the dual lives of Maggie Walsh (U.C. Sunnydale psychology professor, and also Initiative director) and various Initiative soldiers, including Riley Finn (students or teacher's assistants, and also Initiative soldiers), seemed highly unlikely. Cool, but highly unlikely. My highlights of that story arc didn't have much to do with the part focusing on Adam, the human/demon/robot supervillain created by The Initiative, although I thought Adam was a reasonably formidable supervillain. Instead, I most liked the initial mystery surrounding the presence of Initiative operatives in Sunnydale, the capture and "chipping" of Spike, Buffy's discovery that Riley was an Initiative operative (in "Hush"), Riley's discovery that Buffy had superpowers (also in "Hush", at the same moment as Buffy's discovery), Spike's attempts to conceal his identity from Riley after Spike escaped from The Initiative, and Maggie Walsh's actions toward Buffy after Walsh found out Buffy was The Slayer (this was contemporaneous with Buffy finding out that Walsh ran The Initiative). With respect to Spike, I liked that we got to see a side of Spike that we hadn't seen before, which was a frustrated and somewhat helpless side, which showed Spike as a much more humorous character than he had been before. Previously, the writers had generally given Spike snappy lines that would make me crack a smile here and there. But in season four, Spike's predicament and lines of dialogue supplied a high percentage of the laughs. Season four also had some non-Initiative centered episodes that I thought were really good, such as "Something Blue", "Hush", "This Year's Girl", "Who Are You?", and "Superstar". "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You?" made up a two-part story centered on the return of Faith (the bad vampire slayer) to consciousness after having spent months in a coma, and a body-switch between Faith and Buffy. "Something Blue" was very funny, "Hush" was spooky and creative, and "Superstar" was a clever alternate reality story. There were some episodes which I thought were mediocre, such as "The Freshman" and "Beer, Bad". Looking back on "The Freshman", after having seen the first three seasons of "Buffy", Buffy's difficulty with Sunday and her gang of campus vampires seems contrived. "Beer, Bad" suffered from predictability and lack of an interesting story. And then there was the season finale, "Restless," which was a good episode, but which was anticlimactic as a season finale. Yet overall, and especially in retrospect, I think season four did a fine job transitioning the show from the high school years to the post-high school years.

Revised list:

Season 6: Season six was actually pretty good. The season did the theme of Buffy's return from the dead, the consequences of our actions, and the slow painful process that is maturity very well. Sometimes life is painful, and the solution is to deal with it and continue onward. The only part I didn't like is the Dawn's rather painful yelping. Even the Dark Willow saga went pretty well. She was the only villian whom had to be stopped now or else. It was supposed to chart Buffy's slow return from Heaven, and it did that with the proper pain. And if nothing else, it had the best use of music on the show.

Season 7: I've barely seen any of this season. From what I have read, it seems to start off with atonement themes, then passes into hiding out in dark places waiting for battles to happen. Everything sounds like it had great potential, but no one could carry it through. Still, it made more sense than Angel did.

b{She was the only villian whom had to be stopped now or else.}

I don't know. I think Angelus had to be stopped now or else. If Angelus wins the sword fight and kills Buffy, the entire world is sucked into Hell.

Though I have to agree with that assessment of Angel's fourth. That season seemed all over the place.

Where would I rank the seasons at this point?

Season 1 - Seventh

Principal Characters – Buffy, Xander, Willow, Cordelia, Giles
Big Bad - The Master
Big Shocker – Angel’s a vampire!
Hello – The Master, Darla, Amy the Witch, Principle Flutie, Principle Snyder, Harmony, Angel, the Anointed One, Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers, Hank Summers, Sunnydale, CA, Sunnydale High School, the Sunnydale High School Library, The Bronze, Buffy’s house
Goodbye – The Master (killed by Buffy), Darla (dusted by Angel; resurrected in human form three years later on “Angel”; later sired by Drusilla), Principle Flutie (supposedly eaten by hyena spirit possessed students, more likely gored to death by those students)

Season 2 - Fourth

Principal Characters – Buffy, Xander, Willow, Cordelia, Angel, Giles
Big Bads - Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla
Big Shockers – A second slayer, Angel loses his soul, Buffy sends Angel to Hell!
Hello – Spike, Drusilla, Ethan Rayne, Chanterelle (later known as Lily, later known as Anne), Oz (a.k.a. Daniel Osborne), Devon (lead singer of Dingoes Ate My Baby), Kendra the Vampire Slayer, Willy (proprietor of Willy’s Place), Jonathan, Angelus, Larry (suspected werewolf), Giles’ apartment, Tuesday nights on The WB
Welcome Back – Amy the witch, the Anointed One, Principle Snyder, Harmony, Jenny Calendar
Goodbye – Angelus (on “Buffy”; to return five years later on “Angel”; re-ensouled by Willow), Jenny Calendar (killed by Angelus), the Anointed One (dusted by Spike), Kendra the Vampire Slayer (killed by Drusilla), Monday nights on The WB

Season 3 - First

Principal Characters – Buffy, Xander, Willow, Cordelia, Angel, Oz, Giles
Big Bad - The Mayor, Richard Wilkins
Big Bad's "Number 2" - Faith, the Vampire Slayer
Big Shockers – Angel returns from Hell, Faith turns to the dark side, Angel leaves town!
Hello - Faith, Mr. Trick, Scott Hope, Anyanka the vengeance demon, D’Hoffryn, Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins (formerly Anyanka the vengeance demon), Quentin Travers, Mayor Wilkins, Deputy Mayor Allan Finch, The First Evil, The Bringers, vampire Willow, Wesley Wyndam Price, Angel’s mansion
Welcome Back – Chanterelle (now known as Lily), Angel, Ethan Rayne, Spike, Amy the witch
Goodbye - Mr. Trick (dusted by Faith), Harmony (killed and sired), Larry (killed by Mayor Wilkins), Mayor Wilkins (blown up), Deputy Mayor Allan Finch (fatally stabbed by Faith), vampire Willow (dusted by alternate reality Oz), Principal Snyder (eaten by Mayor Wilkins), Angel (gone to help the helpless), Cordelia (gone to be an actress), Wesley Wyndam Price (gone to be a rogue demon hunter), Sunnydale High School (as a functioning school)

Season 4 - Third

Principal Characters – Buffy, Xander, Willow, Oz, Giles, Spike, Riley
Big Bad - Adam
Big Grey Area - The Initiative
Big Shockers – Spike gets a chip in his head, Willow is gay!
Hello - Riley Finn, Tara Maclay, Buffy's roommate Kathy, Parker Abrams, Veruca the werewolf, vampire Harmony, Professor Maggie Walsh, Forrest, Graham, Adam, the spirit of the first slayer, Olivia (Giles’ sometimes girlfriend); U.C. Sunnydale
Welcome Back - Spike, Angel, Ethan Rayne, Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, Faith the Vampire Slayer, Jonathan, D’Hoffryn
Goodbye - Oz (a.k.a. Daniel Osborne; gone to master his inner wolf), Buffy's roommate Kathy (sucked back into the Hell from whence she came), Veruca the werewolf (killed by Oz during a full moon), Professor Maggie Walsh (fatally skewered by Adam), Forrest (fatally skewered by Adam, or blown up, depending on whether the skewering really killed Forrest), Adam (killed by the Buffy/Willow/Xander/Giles super-being), Willy (proprietor of Willy’s Place; turned Willy’s Place over to new management)

Season 5 - Fifth

Principal Characters – Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Riley, Spike, Dawn, Giles
Big Bad - Glory, a.k.a. Glorificus, a.k.a. ... I can't remember!
Big Shockers – Buffy has a sister, Spike is in love with Buffy, Buffy’s mom dies, Buffy dies!
Hello – Glory a.k.a. Glorificus , Ben (“whom we suspect has some connection to Glory”), various minions of Glorificus, Dawn, Warren, Katrina (Warren’s soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend), Buffy-Bot, demon played by Joel Grey, The Magic Box
Welcome Back – Graham, Harmony, Drusilla, Quentin Travers, Angel, the spirit of the first slayer
Goodbye – Joyce Summers (died from a brain hemorrhage), Ben (killed by Giles), Glory (died when Giles killed Ben); Buffy (killed while closing the opening between dimensions unsealed by the blood-letting of Dawn – The Key; dead for 147 days); The WB

Season 6 - Second

Principal Characters – Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Spike, Dawn, Giles, Tara (one episode)
Big Bad - The Trio, a.k.a. Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew
Super Bad - Willow, a.k.a. Dark Willow
Big Shockers – Buffy has sex with Spike (more than once), Tara gets killed, Willow turns evil and tries to destroy the world, Spike gets his soul restored, most of the cast can sing!
Hello - Andrew, Clem, Halfrek the vengeance demon, Rack, UPN
Welcome Back – Buffy (resurrected from the dead by Willow workin’ the mojo), Warren, Jonathan, Katrina (Warren's ex-girlfriend), Riley Finn, Hank Summers (Buffy's dad; fake alternate reality), D'Hoffryn; Buffy-Bot; Anyanka the vengeance demon
Goodbye - Tara Maclay (fatally shot), Katrina (fatally struck), Warren (fatally flayed); Buffy-Bot (badly damaged, possibly beyond repair; left for scrap), Rack (killed by Dark Willow), Evil Spike (re-ensouled after The Trials)

Season 7 - Sixth

Principal Characters – Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Spike, Dawn
First Bad - The First Evil
First Bad's "Number 2" - Caleb the Preacher Man
Big Shocker – They’re canceling the show!
Hello – Good Spike (except when being controlled by The First Evil), Principle Robin Wood, Kennedy (slayer-in-training; Willow’s new girlfriend), various other slayers-in-training, Caleb the Preacher Man, Turok-hans, the brand new Sunnydale High School
Welcome Back – Jonathan, Andrew, The First Evil, The Bringers, Faith the Vampire Slayer, Angel, D’Hoffryn, Halfrek the vengeance demon, Amy the witch, Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, Quentin Travers
Goodbye – Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins (killed by a Turok-han), Caleb the Preacher Man (killed by Buffy), Jonathan (killed by Andrew), Halfrek the vengeance demon (killed by D’Hoffryn), various slayers-in-training (killed by The Bringers and Turok-hans), Spike (or so it seemed), Clem (left town), Quentin Travers (blown up), The Magic Box (closed for business by Anya), Sunnydale, The Show