I get to say that I'd be willing to sacrifice Angel and Firefly for 4 or 5 seasons of great Buffy with Joss' head exploding at the end

You are dead to me.

sniff

I'm sorry, ita. Here's my perspective: I love A:TS, but it would have been alright for me if Angel had just walked away at the end of GD, if that meant more Jossian goodness in S4&5 (the ones that exist in my world). I've only seen a couple of eps of Firefly. I'm looking forward to the reruns starting here on September 8th (in their entirety because the Programmer at Space is a true SF guy and an excellent fellow).

But BtVS is the one true show for me. I'd sacrifice a lot more than Angel and Firefly if I could get do-overs on the last 3 seasons.

if I could get do-overs on the last 3 seasons.

A lot of it -- for me -- is The Dawn Factor. Now, I think she turned out to be a good actress and a reasonably interesting character *in S5* (although asspully, although being a mega-asspull was the point -- sister! out of nowhere!).

But I love the first 4 seasons beyond reason, and a big part of why I don't love S5-7 is the shift that occurred after Dawn came on the scene.

I just can't give up the wine cellar full of lawyers, or Tim killing people, or Zoe. I enjoyed Buffy, from extremely to enough, but I'm really glad I got to see the Jossian touch in different lights.

Wrod, Tep. I really didn't need to see Mom!Buffy...I thought those parts were a drag.(Not that I hated later seasons...I started watching off of a Season 5 ep, after all.)

Season 5 was great and would have been an excellent way to end the series. In Season 6, the show started to suffer but had bright spots. Season 7 was just frustrating and irritating.

You Dawn haters are all brutal, uncaring people, who have never had a thirteen year old sister mystically appear out of nowhere in your lives.

I can't believe I associate with such callous, heartless people.

My question about sacraficing Angel and Firefly for all-Joss-all-the-time on Buffy came back up! Kewl. (I was against it on grounds of not wanting a super crazy Joss BTW.)

I was actually just piping up to say I went from a serious Dawn hater to an extreme fan of the shiny haired one. I love me some Dawnie and one of things that pisses me off the most is how she got shafted in S7 (even down to all her great lines getting cut in Chosen - "Nobody gets me" should have been the One True Dawn Quote).

Yeah, from my perspective while no one season of any Mutant Enemy show post-1999 is as good as the first 3 seasons of Buffy, I've gotten more enjoyment from them collectively than I would have from a mere 2 additional years of All-Joss-All-the-Time.

And the individual high points (how not to hold a wine tasting, Cordy's "the Bitch is back!" speech to reclaim her apartment, diminutive lawyers brimming with subtext, Jayne in the airlock) hold their own against what went before.

I just can't give up the wine cellar full of lawyers

I work for the Attorney General, and I would still give that up. Yes, my love is strong.

On the other hand, I ain't getting wishes anytime soon, so I don't have to give it up and I still get all of Firefly to look forward to in 17 days.

You Dawn haters are all brutal, uncaring people, who have never had a thirteen year old sister mystically appear out of nowhere in your lives.

I can't believe I associate with such callous, heartless people.

ihsk.

Content?

eh. 3,2,4,1,7 (haven't seen all of 5 & 6) with s3 finale being my favorite end, closely followed by 4 and 2 in a dead heat. All the finales are pretty kickass, though.

I mind Dawn only which she shrieks. Which is(was) all too frequently. The scene where Xander is calling for Anya in Chosen lost some of its poignancy due to Shrieky!Dawn.

This reaction is probably due to the fact that I, much against my will, have been known, when violently surprised, to shriek.

I've gotten to the point where I at least shriek and go into a defensive stance simultaneously.