Episode Report Card Sep: B+ | 10 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT I wonder what the return policy is?
By Sep | Season 5 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.21.2001
Buffy almost smiles and then turns to Dawn, who wears a look of horrified realization. Dawn shakes her head, but Buffy insists she must go. She grabs Dawn's shoulders and begins to tell her something. We can't hear, however, and the camera pulls away from them. Dawn sobs. Buffy strokes her sister's face, looking serene, kisses her, and then turns. She runs, and then swan-dives off the end of the deck into the portal. Buffy writhes in pain as the zappy portal electricity courses around her body. We then get a voice-over of her final message: "Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. This is the work that I have to do." Buffy seems to lose consciousness, and then the portal condenses and slams shut. The sun rises. Down below, really terrible sad music plays as the Scoobies gather. Willow and Tara stumble forward, hugging each other; Giles walks beside them, and in the background, Xander carries Anya. Buffy VO continues, "Tell Giles, tell Giles I figured it out and I'm okay." We see that the Scoobies are converging near Buffy's corpse, artfully laid out and not bloody on a pile of rubble. What's that they say? Live fast, die young, and leave a pretty corpse? Must have been Buffy's motto. Oh yeah. I’m cool. Nothing wrong here. It’s only allergy season. Just like every February and May in the Buffyverse. In the corner of the screen, Spike walks forward, encounters the sunlight, and cowers down, shielding his head like a vampire in a classic monster movie. "Give my love to my friends," continues Buffy, as we see Willow sobbing, and Tara hugging her in anguish. "You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other." Dawn comes down the stairs in the background. Giles looks on, seemingly in shock. Xander looks blank, and Anya, who appears to have survived, lays her head on his shoulder. "You have to be strong." Spike breaks down into huge sobs and covers his face in pain. ["Sniff. Snerf. Waaaaaaaah!" -- Ace] "Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me." Dawn holds her side and stares at her sister's corpse. Fade out on that scene and onto a grave under a willow tree. We move in close and see that the headstone reads, "Buffy Anne Summers, 1981-2001. Beloved sister. Devoted friend. She saved the world. A lot."
What a cliffhanger! I mean, whaddya think Dawn wanted with those earrings?