The Fruitpunch Speech kills me on every watch.

One of the most spiritually resonant moments for me is the end of S6 and we get Sarah McLaughlin's song at the end. It's not the S2 ending by a long-shot, but it was music with the right temperament.

The long stretches of silence in The Body -- caused by the combination of shock, sorrow, fear and despair -- that sticks with me.

I almost tear up when I watch the Gift when we hear what Buffy tells Dawn before she jumps into the abyss. You also feel the visceral pain -- even if we can't hear it -- when we see Spike wail.

Now that I've dragged this thread down by quoting Buffy in "The Gift", let's switch directions. I've been thinking about episode enders that close with maximum impact (not counting season-ending epsiodes). You know, like the end of "Intervention",(..."that was real. And I won't forget it.")

Here's what I come up with on an initial run-through:

The end of "Lie to Me" -
Giles: "The good guys are all stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats and we always defeat them and save the day. Nobody dies -- and everybody lives happily ever after."
Buffy: "Liar."

The end of "Bad Girls" -
Buffy: "Faith, you don't get it. You killed.a.man."
Faith: "No, you don't get it. I don't care."

The end of "Pangs" (for the funny) -
Xander: "Oops."

The end of "Two to Go" (quoted earlier upthread) -
Willow: "And there's no power in the world to stop me now."
Giles: "I'd like to test that theory."

The end of "Storyteller" -
Andrew: "Here's the thing. I killed my best friend. There's a big fight coming, and I don't know what's going to happen. I don't even think I'm going to live through it. That's, uh, probably the way it should be. I guess I'm--" (turns camera off).

[EtFC]

Baseball!Slayer pinged me just because I've played it my whole life.

I only played for a few years, but it pinged me because I love baseball and I'm just that much of a tomboy, for always. And the girl just nailed the transition from scared of the ball, self-conscious in front of everyone watching, to pro just waiting for a fastball across the plate.

And I'd like to order a few extra hours in my day so I can write that fanfic about Baseball!Slayer as a young woman.

I'm afraid I'm also of the not moved by the baseball player. (Those who read my fic may have already guessed that.) "Enemies" was on tonight, and as well as though glorious Angelus moments, you get Faith's "I'm the world's best actor," followed by Angel's very quiet "Second best." I knew it was coming and I still got the shiver of delight.

The Xander to Dawn speech in "Potential" got me pretty teary. I really don't have time to list all the instances that this show got me that way for one way or another but season 7 did it quite a bit, probably just knowing in the back of my head that it was the end of the show, but I think I do like S7 a great deal more than the rest of you guys. Just me.

Speaking of things people don't like I just saw Iyari Limon on an "Always" Tampon commercial tonight in the break room at work. Pretty much scrapping for work when you hit that point aren't you? Doesn't being on Buffy give you some clout in the industry. Guess not seeing how some of the characters from the past (Larry, Jenny Calendar) are now relegated to whoring products.

I happened to like Kennedy, I just didn't like her with Willow. I was happy to see that she admitted to being a brat and didn't hold back anything while she was on the show. Then again I really didn't like anyone with Willow all that much, except Xander. Then again I like everyone with Xander. Except Giles. After a while I got used to the idea of Willow/Oz and then Willow/Tara came along and I got used to it pretty quick.

I happened to like Kennedy, I just didn't like her with Willow.

Why do you feel that way? I'm speaking as someone who never quite got the hatred directed at Kennedy (I do think the potential storyline got too much screentime in general, but that's not the characters' fault).

I don't think it's twoo wuv always or anything, but it was probably good for Willow to have a relationship that wasn't all super-involved and bound to end in tears. Plus, Willow needed someone to hit on her, or she would have never gotten laid again, and of course NGA is a major tragedy.

Also, I cannot remember what ME moments have made me cry. Maybe I'm just heartless.

Why do you feel that way? Speaking as someone who never quite got the hatred directed at Kennedy (I do think the potential storyline got too much screentime in general, but that's not the characters fault) I don't think it's twoo wuv always or anything, but it was probably good for Willow to have a relationship that wasn't all super-involved and bound to end in tears. Plus, Willow needed someone to hit on her, or she would have never gotten laid again.

For me, that (too much Potentials static-to-noise ration) is the source of the feelings about Kennedy. I don't hate the character. I don't even hate her with Willow. But I found her whiny, uncompelling, and she got way too much screen time for little reason other than that she was Willow's squeeze. There were scenes where the Scoobies were together, and Dawn wasn't there, but Kennedy was, and for no reason.

She didn't bring anything to the story (for me). Everything I appreciated about it (mostly what you mentioned about Willow's need for a relationship that was lighter, and need for someone to hit on her), I appreciated because it was happening to Willow, not because it happened with Kennedy. I also thought her performance was a little wooden. Truthfully? I found R*ley more compelling.

I liked that someone chased Willow. I think IL is very attractive. But the character left me cold.

I wave my baseball bat (the one I keep under my bed, in case anyone breaks in and decides they don't want an intact ribcage) threateningly in your direction....

Baseball!Slayer pinged me just because I've played it my whole life.

Tangentially, I'll note that I just bought Emmett his first baseball bat today.

Excellent.

I didn't like Kennedy, I thought she was arrogant, whiny and a liar. I never bought for an instance that she was wealthy and always assumed she was telling tales to try and impress the others, especially Willow.

The baseball Slayer didn't ping with me, except a sense of dread. All my PE teachers seemed to love making us play softball/baseball and I dreaded it. I can't track objects being thrown at me very well and occasionally I'd end up getting hit by the ball or even worse the teacher would decide I should stay at bat until I hit the ball at least once.