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Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy 7x22 Chosen - Sarah Michelle Gellar Explains The Cut Scene

Sunday 24 October 2004, by Webmaster

DRE: Were you happy with the way Buffy ended?

SMG: Yes and no. I believe the finale of Buffy should have been two hours. I think a lot of the characters, specifically Xander, didn’t get enough screen time. But I loved the idea that she was going full circle and sharing her power. I know some stuff had to get cut like a scene where I was walking down a hall in the high school having flashbacks so it was fun seeing all of us from eight years ago.


12 Forum messages

  • OMg that would have been so cool!
  • If it is to be true, I’m glad they decided to cut the flashbacks scenes. Flashbacks are so tacky. Whedon achieved full circle with the story in a great way. but Sarah is right, the finale should have been longer, and they didn’t really express well the death of their friends - Hello, Xander, anya is DEAD! show emotion or something.
  • That’s too bad about the cut scene... but the choices you make when you _have to_ cut something out are usually the most logical ones for the story. Joss did the best he could with Chosen and it is extraordinary!!

    To those of you who misunderstood season 7 and think it "sucked", well... Trust me, it gains in strength with every re-watch!! The whole theme of Power is so well thought through and used in every single episode of the season.

    As to Xander, his storyline was there too - as the foundation of the household. Him being injured in Dirty Girls led to the house falling apart. His relationship with Anya also developed throughout the season, leading up to a place of closure. And her death was not in vain! She used to not care about humans, but now she gave her life for the world. Xander knew that and the emotions he displayed at the end of Chosen were signs of admiration and love. Andrew: "She was incredible. She died saving my life." Xander: "That’s my girl. Always doing the stupid thing." =)

  • Season 7 sucked because buffy, the main character became this aloof, unsympathetic bitch, who didnt deserve to get such a glorious ending. if she hadnt been alienated, then maybe i would have liked it, and it would have resonated with me, but it didnt. because buffy suddenly became this cruel perosn, who deserved everything that was thrust upon her in that episode where she got kicked out of the house- ESPECIALLY anya’s speech about her not being BETTER, but LUCKIER. oh yeah, and conversations with dead people- cool episode, again, HATED the bit where buffy announced that she thought she was superior. xander and willow, who started off as normal kids were the superior ones- she had super-powers to start with! it was her destiny. THEY are the ones who risked life and limb to help their friend, because it was the right thing to do, rather than them having some great fate to adhere to...
  • I want to see the flashback parts.
  • I reckon they should bring out a dvd with all the bloopers and scenes that were removed...including this part of Buffy walking the halls and rememer-ing back........That would be soooooooo kool .

    See online : Buffy 7x22Chosen-Sarah Michelle Gellar Explains The Cutted Scene

  • I disagree, season 7 was one of the stronger seasons of BtVS. It not only portrays the accumulation of the development of all the characters in the past seasons, it also gave the viewers a chance to see the true essence of each basic character. Buffy as a protector, a bit of a leader and as a mother. In some way you can compare Buffy to the First Slayer. As all slayers came forth from the death of the previous slayer, the First could be considered as a mother or Eve in biblical terms. Buffy like the First Slayer has spawned other slayer, like Kendra and Faith. The Potentials turning into slayers makes the circle round: Slayers coming forth, not from the death of a slayer, but from the life of a slayer. Willow is just like we saw her in the first season. A person with strong doubts and fears, but some times also a glimpse of the power and courage that resides in her. Season seven turns that around and lets her fight those fears and doubts, culminating in the activation of all slayers and Willow achieving (temporarily?) Goddess status. Xander, what can i say? Most people liked him because of his warmth, his normalness. Season seven stresses that fact. i mean, he is the "normal factor" surrounded by slayers, witches, ex-demons, ex villains and potentials. it is also in the Potential episode, where this fact is stated and said during the episode. How warming was it. when he gave that speech to Dawn about giving away the power? Furthermore season 7 gave a new perspective. We have seen villains using psychological warfare to battle the Slayer. but this season is the first where it is almost entirely about psychological warfare. I mean, battling a non-corporeal entity which seems to be one step ahead of you everytime? Doesn’t get more psychological than this. it also shows the growth of the series from the beginning, where every problem was solved with pure brutal physical force. Every season final has showed how Buffy uses more of her cunning and wits, instead of just relying on her strength, like in Season 1 when she defeated the Master. So now you know my opinion.
  • I think that Joyce meant something entirely different from what we all think when she said "Buffy is not gonna choose you". I think that, like prophecies, they can be tricky, it is very difficult to interpret what they really mean. My guess is that the First/Joyce really told the truth, but gave too much importance to it. I think that the meaning is more: "Buffy is not gonna choose you" .... to die. Didn’t she ask Xander to take Dawn somewhere safe, out of Sunnydale? In the end she chose for Dawn to stay alive and not stay in Sunnydale to fight with the others and problably die.
  • I like Xander because of his warmth and normalness too, but he didn’t get enough screen time in season 7 and all of you know it, even SMG admitted it. That what is bugging the fans who like him the most, the lack of him in the last season.
  • > Buffy 7x22 Chosen - Sarah Michelle Gellar Explains The Cutted Scene

    27 October 2004 00:31, by Angel Aficionado

    Season Seven was spectacular. The Buffy/Giles story did not end badly, they very clearly reconciled in Chosen, with one short, beautiful and totally BtVS exchange Giles: “I think it’s bloody brilliant...if you want my opinion" Buffy: “Really do" The look between them is one of complete respect and love for one another, with no animosity at all, and that means a thousand times more to me, than if they had spent half an episode talking around it. As for the subject of Xander not getting enough screen time, Xander didn’t need huge chunks of an episode to make a mark on the season, even when he was quietly sat in the background, taking things in, it’s clear he truly is the heart of the group. From the way the others act around them, to the way he addresses people, how he unequivocally stays loyal to the people he loves, regardless of being left out of the loop at times, Xander’s presence is always felt whether he has 2 lines or 20. Xander had a huge storyline last year, and this was ongoing throughout the season, unlike Buffy and Angel, or Buffy and Spike, Xander and Anya quietly got on learning how to interact with each other once more. This wasn’t given major focus throughout the season because that would be unrealistic, when you break up, or divorce someone, generally the couple, and those around them accept what has happened, acknowledge it’s importance and begin to move on. This was shown in season 7, and the fact that it wasn’t constantly forced into the foreground, only makes it more real and effective.

    People should also start getting used to the idea that people change, these guys aren’t same teens we met in Welcome to the Hellmouth, they’ve been through too much, lost too many loved ones; their outlooks on life have changed. Buffy is not cold and unsympathetic, she understands her destiny, her calling and, rather than fight it, embraces it and helps the potentials to do so also, people like her make amazing teachers because they tell it how it is, not sugar-coating it to make it more palatable.

    Willow can’t stay perky and fun forever either, she’s lost her true love, killed people, hurt loved ones and tried to destroy the world, to be honest I think her handling of her situation in S7 is astonishing, to remain calm, focused and thoughtful after all that, that speaks of true maturity and humanity. Also beautiful is her relationship with Kennedy, who helped Willow release all the grief and guilt she had been holding on to for so long. Kennedy, with her fresh eyes, saw things for what they were, Tara was amazing, wonderful and beautiful, but you can’t hold on to a ghost, and Willow had to understand that, Kennedy was the perfect person to help Willow out of her purgatory because she wasn’t loaded with emotional baggage from the past 6 years, and this made her accessible and fun for both Willow and the audience. Xander can’t crack stupid jokes until he dies because he’s seen when being serious and heartfelt is important e.g. Into the Woods, Grave etc. He also understands that he doesn’t need to say anything, because the rest of the group get comfort from just knowing he’s there and ready to help them in any way he can

    Spike distanced himself from most of the group because he wasn’t sure how to act around them any more, given the events of “Seeing Red” and the restoration of his soul, only Buffy, who he connects with on so many levels, Xander, who he never really had much of a friendship with anyway and who understood that Spike was a different man than the one who tried to rape Buffy, and Faith, whom he never really knew anyway, really spent any time with him in a non-hatred capacity. Spike couldn’t talk to Dawn or Giles or most of the other Scoobies, because of their emotional irrationality when it came to Buffy. His storyline, like Buffy’s, was one of accepting one’s true self and discovering what it means to be a hero, but in a quiet, beautiful manner, rather than Buffy’s in-the-forefront- training of the potentials.

    Another thing, new characters honestly needed to be introduced, because it gave us the chance to see how the Core Four (although I always maintain my belief that Cordelia was an original Scooby, but that’s a different argument) reacted to an influx of fighters and new Scoobies, making them all much less “special” and putting their battle against evil into perspective. This was summed up beautifully in Potential, with Dawn accepting that she is not a superhero, she’s just regular person, doing what’s right because she wants to, not because she was “called” or made to, which in Xander’s and my own eyes, makes her a true heroine.

    Faith came back and demonstrated that she had truly taken that rocky redemptive road, by, in her own words, “do[ing] right, however it works”. She wasn’t there to make waves, and force things to revolve around her, she was there because she wanted to avert the apocalypse any way she knew how, she always accepted other ideas (unless they sucked) and, after a brief spell, realised that she wasn’t capable of leading because she still needed to guide herself, and quietly, and unashamedly, handed the reigns back to Buffy, with a full understanding of how Buffy’s life is and how lonely the girl she has envied all this time, truly feels.

    The potentials, like Vi, Rona, Molly and Annabelle, cast new ideas and opinions on a familiar scenario, because it honestly can’t be too surprising for the Scoobies to be facing yet another apocalypse. Their reactions gave us a sweet and subtle reminder of where we’ve come from, with Vi as a mirror to what Willow was, Rona’s constant pessimistic attitude vocalising what most of the viewers would be saying, if thrust into that situation and Molly’s British perkiness demonstrating that sweet and funny side of Giles we occasionally saw on the days when the world wasn’t in great peril.

    Season Seven was astounding because it did all this whilst in the throes of a major apocalypse and dealing with the need to wrap the show up nicely. It maintained its sense of inappropriate humour in bad situations, but it also knew when to shut up and “get it done”. The sense of impending doom was always palpable in the later episodes and the growing ranks of both good and bad guys let us understand that this was THE BIG ONE. The final episode said everything that needed to be said about the show and its achievements, with no time for grudges or agendas. Conflicts, such as the final one between Buffy and Dawn, are put into perspective with lines as simple as “Dumbass.”, “If you get killed, I’m telling.” And “Anything you say is just gonna sound like goodbye”. These are the reasons I fell in love with Buffy and haven’t fallen out of it yet, the ability the show has to take “complex issue and boil it down to it’s simplest form” yet still keeping it beautiful. That’s just my opinion though.

  • I didn’t love the final but I didn’t hate it. To bad the flashbacks were cut out and to bad the episode only lasted for as long as it did. I’m with Sarah on this, I really wanted to see all the caracters from eight years back, from were it all started. It might would’ve been a little to emotional though. Still, I can’t stop crying when I’ve seen Chosen.
  • yes i do agree that the last episode should have been 2 hrs and yes zander should have beeb in the episode more often. though joss whedon os a great directer and buffy was a brilliant idea to come up with he has great taste in picking such grat characters! tommy d.