Pretty isn't beautiful
Pretty is what changes
What the eye arranges is what is beautiful...

t /Sondheim

Bwah, Hec. I forgot that...I loved that show, though.

I think she's pretty, but not that pretty.

For class review:
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ETA: You would have to right click and copy link location, then paste it in your address window to see them. Argh.

If Becoming, Pt. 2 loses a deathmatch to anything in S6 or S7 then I quit. (I know that will break a lot of hearts.)

Well not trying to make you quit, but my number one Buffy is and will always be Once More With Feeling. And I'm not even sure Becoming Part 2 would make my actual top 10 (though it would certainly make my top 20 top 10). I know I'd rate The Body, Hush, The Gift, and Passion (along with OMWF) ahead of it.

For me, Becoming part two loses points for the same reason The Gift loses points - they took back the death that made it meaningful. The Wish doesn't lose points for its reset since the ending is still powerfully heartbreaking on its own terms.

For me, Becoming part two loses points for the same reason The Gift loses points - they took back the death that made it meaningful.

You know, I never saw Becoming Pt. 2 until after Angel had his own show, and it still gets me in the gut every time, and I'll tell you why. It's not *just* Buffy having to send Angel to hell even though he's been re-souled -- it's the fact that she's been expelled from school, she just saw Kendra's corpse, and her mother basically threw her out.

The combination of all that, plus seeing the emotions that cross her face when she realizes Angel is re-souled, is what makes it such a damn good episode for me.

For me, Becoming part two loses points for the same reason The Gift loses points - they took back the death that made it meaningful.

But her death -- esp. the shot of the gravestone -- is all "The Gift" had going for it. Worst season ender in the canon. If she kills herself because she's weary (weight of the world & all that) fine; but the it's all Summers blood & I can sacrifice myself instead of her... what a load! And moreover what an un-setup, unjustified load. I don't care if Joss wrote it it was a big cheat and a poorly executed one. Call Angel's return a cheat if you want to but Becoming was brilliantly executed. And Buffy didn't know she wasn't killing him (cf. your comment on the end of The Wish): "When I killed him, Angel was cured... but i-it was... it was too late, and I, I had to. So I, I told him that I loved him... and I kissed him... and I killed him." When I watch it it still has that oomph because she does what she has to do even though it's tearing her apart to do it.

I don't care if Joss wrote it it was a big cheat and a poorly executed one.

You betcha. I wasn't crazy about The Gift even the first time I saw it.

Well, you both have a point. The key to Becoming pt. 2 is that Buffy makes the choice to kill Angel, that's the hinge to the story. And that hard choice and all it means isn't undercut by Angel's later (never explained!) return.

Daniel, your links don't take me to pictures. is it me?

And that hard choice and all it means isn't undercut by Angel's later (never explained!) return.

Angel's return was orchestrated by the First. But, through true love for Buffy (and a mysterious snowstorm), Angel overcame the First and everybody was happy. For about two episodes.