Love Is All You Need

Aww, look at little Willow, all grown up. And, ok, so she’s destroying the world and putting the rest of the season’s baddies to shame, but still, it’s impressive, right? Anyway, it’s amazing to see where her character has gone since the beginning, as Xander and the dorks discuss while fleeing her wrath. Willow went from a dorky high school student who was too shy to talk to boys to an eminently powerful, confidently homosexual, and amoral super witch. Among other things.

The end of this season has a very “5 year reunion” feel to it, not just for Willow but for all the characters. Although they’ve been together, they’ve all had separate adventures, and I get a real sense of them showing how far they’ve come in their lives. Willow has obviously gained power that would knock the socks (and probably the feet too, depending on her mood) off her former classmates. The super dorks were stretching for a sense of this empowerment too, when they banded together to become Buffy’s arch nemesis..is…eis. Any nerd or social outcast has probably dreamt of returning to high school with an impressive job (like ruler of Sunnydale) and trophy wife (preferably not a robot). Their attempts to say “how do you like me now?” to the rest of a world that has marginalized them fail miserably though. In each of these cases, with great power comes a greater opportunity to abuse it and make everyone’s live a living nightmare.

No matter how cheesy it may have come across, I thought the ending of season 6 was appropriate, or at least, much-needed brake from the doom and gloom. Come on, can’t love conquer all on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, just this once? It was nice to see that, yes it can, with Xander stepping up and saving the day. It’s his ability to love with an almost juvenile disregard for the circumstances that reminds Willow of her humanity. It’s love and friendship and acceptance, not slayer strength, Giles’s knowledge or an abstract sense of duty that keeps the world spinning.