The problem with "The Gift" -- the season finale -- is that it's a lie. So much is built up to the climax, yet, in truth, Buffy doesn't die. Or...to be more accurate...she does die...but is brought back by Willow's black magic in season 6. But regardless, it's a lie to play on those emotions of the viewers. It's a lie to do it once. But the writers of BtVS have the audacity to do it twice. How many times can they kept stacking the deck and pulling the rug out from under the viewers? It's as if it were a game to them. All it does is cheapen the show and what would otherwise have been a stellar season ending finale.
Maybe the most profound thing ever to leave Buffy's lips were the words: "Dawn...the hardest thing in this world is to live in it". Then she seemingly sacrifices herself rather than follow the proscribed course which would have been to kill Dawn. That in itself, however, according to her own words, makes her a coward, not a hero. People are too easily deceived by cheap emotion and sentimentality. The perfect example is this season finale. It's the exact opposite of what it should have been. And to play the "Buffy's dead/no she's not" card -- twice in 5 seasons -- is simply unconscionable. Shame on Whedon. And shame on the fans who don't call him out on this. It makes an absolute mockery of BtVS, whether or not anyone sees it or has the courage to call Whedon out on it.
Maybe the most profound thing ever to leave Buffy's lips were the words: "Dawn...the hardest thing in this world is to live in it". Then she seemingly sacrifices herself rather than follow the proscribed course which would have been to kill Dawn. That in itself, however, according to her own words, makes her a coward, not a hero. People are too easily deceived by cheap emotion and sentimentality. The perfect example is this season finale. It's the exact opposite of what it should have been. And to play the "Buffy's dead/no she's not" card -- twice in 5 seasons -- is simply unconscionable. Shame on Whedon. And shame on the fans who don't call him out on this. It makes an absolute mockery of BtVS, whether or not anyone sees it or has the courage to call Whedon out on it.