At the beginning of season six Willow resurrects Buffy with a powerful spell. Although her friends believe that they have taken her out of Hell, Buffy had actually been in Heaven since her death. Now the Scooby Gang must do the best they can without her.
Tara's death completes what has become a rather homophobic and pathological representation of lesbian desires and relationships over the course of the past season.
Depressing though the season may be, it is also the most ambitious in its scope - it tried to show how bad life could become, without the sugar-coating. While it may have succeeded in its nihilistic goal, it also lost that good old Buffy feel.
I was frustrated and disgusted that Giles got a salary for being a Watcher but Buffy risked her life sans stipend and had to work shitty jobs. I know it's supposed to be a metaphor for being a college dropout and sudden caregiver, but it annoyed me.
But where Willow leads them, and where this season opener leads them all, looks to be a dark and scary place, with a few of the characters due for very major changes and conflicts. That's nothing new for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
