Time of Your Life

Okay so what if i had another post planned for today? The release of Buffy's latest comic required my attention and review so we better get started with it.

I have never been a huge fan of Fray, mainly because I was never a big supporter of “end all things magical” , sure it sounds interesting and from a writer's point of view exciting but it just doesn't seem appropriate for Buffy . Sure if Joss Whedon ever wanted to pull the plug on Buffy once and for all the whole End of Magic would sound great for it would leave him with a pretty good excuse to stop writing any Buffy related stories.

Enough with my ranting about Fray's uselessness , time to get to business and review the last part of the “Time of your Life” series. When one reads one of Joss Whedon's stories one can surely expect witty dialog , very ingenious writing and eerie plot twists and tangles, even when something is pretty much predictable Joss makes it exciting to read or watch , the result of this is that when one comes a across an issue or an episode where these elements are pretty much limited one feels the urge to feel a bit disappointed, That was my first reaction when I finished reading the latest issue of Buffy's season 8 . The TOYL arc or what I call Joss's “ Back from the Future” tribute begun exciting , its climax during the 2^nd and 3^rd issue was pretty much foretold but it nevertheless took our breath away, it stirred questions as to where the story was heading to , left the reader the bittersweet feeling of something that is foretold and to make long story short created the impression of a bone crushing final issue . Personally I feel a bit disappointed , I think that given Joss's talent and abilities he could have delivered us with a better issue, sure he cannot reveal everything due to the continuity of the series , future spoilers etc but he did not provide answers to the essential questions raised in and for this arc, sure we were given the identity of the mysterious person who Buffy was supposed to meet in New York but we were treated very poorly in regard of the whole Future Dark Willow storyline. He did introduce a short lived character, someone who was meant to be used just for this arc, he never showed us any of her true motives, except for the vague assumption that she either wished Buffy or herself to die, other than that we know nothing of what drove that character to develop such a hatred and be a triple spy . I absolutely understand that some extra information may ruin the flow of the series but given its current status things are way to lucid for their own sake.

We saw Buffy kill Future Dark Willow and then return to the modern day New York via the assistance of contemporary Willow , instead of storming off or walking away in disbelief she cries and hugs her friend that for me was the turning point of this issue, it showcases the bond between the two women and the fact that our characters have grown in numerous ways than we last saw them in season 7. For if anything similar had occurred during these days it would have created a rift between them but the glimpse of a rather pessimistic and horrid future caused Buffy to believe -or so I assume- that in order for that to be prevented she must work closely with the ones she holds dear and trusts . Which brings us to two things that the majority of the reading audience - the ones known as sheep- considers to foretell the destruction of all things magic , the first being the existence of Fray and her sister after Buffy returned to 21^st century New York and the other is the destruction of the future slayer's scythe. What has “Back from the Future” taught us? That one can only alter the future if only he/she commits an act that will change things up , or of course is moments away from committing it, Buffy has done nothing of the sort yet, she has only embraced her old friend, she has not begun taking actions yet. When it comes to the

Scythe, it was merely an act of depriving Melaka Fray of her status as a slayer, she does not deserve to bear the legacy and the abilities that Buffy has and that the Scythe stands for ,it was not an extraordinary action for it was pretty similar to her confronting Faith in season's 3 finale. Also it provides as with an insight as to what she plans on doing with those rogue slayers that are currently committing atrocities .

As expected when reads the dialogues he/she can actually see on his mind Sarah Michele Gellar or any other cast member uttering their lines on screen and as one expects they hold the usual Whedonic quality as far as originality and coherence -as well as pop culture reference. It did have some comic relief when it was needed, especially during the last pages with Kennedy's faux-jealous comments on Buffy pulling Willow into what appeared to be a rather tight embrace which was right after FDW's death . The pacing was solid, it was fast when it was supposed to and slow when it was requested of it.

Oh what would Buffy be without pop culture references, in this issue we had a rather bizarre combo tribute to Lord of The Rings and the Wizard of Oz , the first being with the Ent like creatures going to war against some devilry spawned by dark magical forces and the second one being with Xander's helmet which did hold a rather nice appearance to the Hay man .

PS Willow followed the Snake Lady's instructions on not to look what's going on on the other side, the only person whose advice did Willow so blindingly follow was Tara's ... Food for thought?