Chosen (Buffy episode)
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
|---|---|
| “Chosen” | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 22 |
| Guest star(s) | Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) D.B. Woodside (Principal Wood) Eliza Dushku (Faith) Nathan Fillion (Caleb) Sarah Hagan (Amanda) David Boreanaz (Angel) Tom Lenk (Andrew) |
| Writer(s) | Joss Whedon |
| Director | Joss Whedon |
| Production no. | 7ABB22 |
| Original airdate | 20 May 2003 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "End of Days" | "none (series finale)" |
"Chosen," the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is Episode 22 of Season 7. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
"Chosen" depicts the events leading to and including the final battle between the potential Slayers, organized by Buffy and her associates, and The First Evil.
[edit] Expanded overview
A bloody Caleb rises and Buffy finally kills him with the scythe by apparently slicing him in two from the crotch up. Angel gives Buffy an amulet intended to be worn by someone ensouled, but more than human. He tells her he will fight alongside her, but she turns him down. She asks him to organize a second front in case she loses to The First. They discuss Spike, his soul, and Buffy's feelings for him. When Angel asks about the future, Buffy explains that she still needs to grow up. As he walks into the shadows, echoing his very first appearance, Buffy tells him there might be a future for them. He tells her he will wait.
Back at the house, Buffy arrives where Dawn is back and angrily kicks Buffy's leg for having Xander try to take her away from Sunnydale. Spike is in the basement, working out his anger on a punching bag with a crude drawing of Angel's face on it. He asks for the amulet, whose exchange he had seen, and she explains that it is very powerful and meant only for a champion. She then hands it to him.
Buffy tells Spike coyly that Faith is staying in her bedroom. He pretends to reject her, but stops her when she is about to leave.
Late at night, The First appears, first as Caleb, and then as Buffy where it taunts Buffy. When Spike wakes up, Buffy tells Spike that she now knows that they will win. Buffy then goes to her confidantes with her plan.
The next morning, Buffy unveils the plan to the potentials. The audience does not hear the details. Afterwards, Willow expresses to Kennedy her concerns about using magic again. She says this is the most powerful magic she will have attempted and asks Kennedy to kill her if it turns bad. Faith and Principal Wood also have a discussion while preparing the school for the battle. Wood demonstrates that he understands her defensiveness over getting emotionally involved with men and asks her to give him a chance after the battle.
The next morning, everyone arrives at Sunnydale High in a yellow school bus. The Potentials head to the seal in the basement while Kennedy heads to Principal Wood's office to set up Willow's stuff. After trying to give a farewell speech, Andrew is dragged off by Anya. Dawn leaves to set up her post with Xander, determined to see her sister again. Principal Wood leaves to wait at his post for Giles. The core four share a moment before each one peels off, leaving Buffy walking alone to the seal. The Potentials, Faith and Spike are waiting, and the potentials/slayers cut their hands to open the seal with their blood. They climb down the hole in the ground and come face to face with the army of Turok-Han. The Ubervamps spot Buffy, Faith and the Potentials, and attack. "Come on, Wil," Buffy pleads.
In Principal Wood's office, Willow sits in front of the scythe chanting a spell, touches it, and both it and she turn into a radiant white. In a flashback to Buffy's final speech to the Potentials, we find explaining that the tradition of the Slayer was decided by three men. Willow is more powerful than them combined. Willow was to share the scythe's strength amongst all the Potentials in the world. As Willow performs the actual magic, Kennedy tells Willow that she is a goddess. "And you're a Slayer," Willow replies. Kennedy takes the scythe to Buffy, who is deep in the fight with Faith and Spike against the army of the Turok-Han, numbering in the thousands.
As she pauses to give orders, Buffy is stabbed through her abdomen from behind by one of the Turok-Han and falls to the ground. She passes the scythe to Faith and asks her to hold the line. As she lies on the ground, she sees several Slayers fall, including Amanda. In the halls of the school, a few Turok-Han make it to the surface and attack the group guarding the entrances. A small group of Bringers also appear and attack. During the battle, Anya is bisected by a Bringer. Andrew fights until he is overwhelmed. Principal Wood is brutally stabbed by a Bringer who is then killed by Giles. Xander and Dawn take on some Turok-Han who are disintegrated by sunlight when Dawn throws open a skylight window, but more still come after them. In the Hellmouth, the First then appears to Buffy as a mortally wounded Buffy herself, saying "What more do you want?". Buffy says, "I want you to get out of my face!", she then arises with renewed determination. Other Slayers are reinvigorated as well. Just then, Spike's amulet consumes him in blue light and blasts a hole upward into the sky. The sunlight is channeled through the amulet and in powerful rays that begin dusting the ubervamps. The ground begins to shake and rocks tumble. The few surviving Slayers start to flee. Buffy tells Spike to do so as well, but he insists on finishing it. They share a quiet moment as the world crumbles around them. She tells him that she loves him. He thinks she does not mean it, but thanks her for saying it anyway. She leaves and he disintegrates as the Hellmouth collapses.
On the way out of the school, the Slayers find Andrew crouched in a corner. Xander yells for Anya, whose dead and mangled body lies nearby. Dawn pulls him out. Faith is the last onto the bus and it pulls away, with Dawn looking through back for Buffy. Buffy, in the meantime, has climbed to the roof of the school and is running along rooftops trying to outrun the enlarging crater. She leaps onto the top of the bus. Watching as the bus speeds off out of town, the entire town collapses into itself.
The ground stops shaking. Everyone gets off the bus. Xander asks Andrew about Anya's death. He comforts Xander by telling him that Anya died saving him. Faith looks after a wounded Principal Wood. While Kennedy, Vi and a few others tend to the wounded newly made Slayers, everyone joins Buffy as they look at the large crater which was once Sunnydale. Dawn asks, “what are we going to do now?” Buffy slowly begins to smile as she contemplates the future.
[edit] Acting
[edit] Main cast
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
- Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
- James Marsters as Spike
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
[edit] Special guest stars
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Eliza Dushku as Faith
- Nathan Fillion as Caleb
[edit] Guest stars
- David Boreanaz as Angel
- Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
- Iyari Limon as Kennedy
- Sarah Hagan as Amanda
- Indigo as Rona
- D. B. Woodside as Principal Robin Wood
[edit] Also starring
- Felicia Day as Vi
- Mary Wilcher as Shannon
- Demetra Raven as Girl at Bat
- Katie Gray as Indian Girl
- Lisa Ann Cabasa as Injured Girl
- Ally Matsumura as Japanese Girl
- Kelly Wheeler as School Girl
- Jenna Edwards as Trailer Girl
- Julia Ling as Potential with Power #2
[edit] Dialogue
[edit] Quotes
- The very last line of the episode, and thus of the series, is: "Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?" (spoken by Dawn). The first line of the series (spoken by Darla in "Welcome to the Hellmouth") is: "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
[edit] Cultural references
The writers of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" frequently integrate pop-culture references into the characters’ dialogue.
- Trogdor - Giles, Andrew, Amanda and Xander played Dungeons & Dragons, a popular role-playing game. They made a reference to the character Trogdor the Burninator from Homestar Runner in the process.
[edit] Promotional advertisement
[edit] TV spots
The 30 second television ad begins with the mention of sponsor Acuvue Cam, cutting to a montage of clips from “Chosen,” such as Caleb threatening, Buffy and Spike in the Hellmouth, Willow enchanted, and Buffy knocking three Turok-Hans off a cliff.
It also features clips from previous episodes of the season, such as Xander lighting a match (“Get it Done,”) the Hellmouth seal (“Storyteller,”) and Buffy rising from the floor in (“Never Leave Me.”)
Throughout the ad, the voiceover utters:
The end is here… Be there when the Slayer takes her last stand. Will this be Buffy’s final hour? Or her finest hour? The earth shattering series finale…
The ad concludes with a final mention of Acuvue Cam.
[edit] Episode stills
The subsequent images have been professionally taken to endorse the episode or the series. They are available to all media who wish to present a production relating to the series, such as in magazines, novels, or websites.
 Buffy and Angel reunited. |
 Anya Jenkins listens to Buffy's speech. |
 Buffy and Angel. |
 Buffy looks out at what's left of Sunnydale. |
[edit] Production
[edit] Filming
Emma Caulfield stated at the beginning of season 7 that she wanted to leave the show, but didn't want Anya to have to die. She changed her mind when it was announced that the series was ending and Anya's death ensured Emma would never be called to appear on Angel or any other spin-off shows.[citation needed]
Creator Joss Whedon said on the DVD commentary of this episode that there was barely time for David Boreanaz to film his scenes.
For the first and last time, the Mutant Enemy monster logo is animated in this episode, as opposed to just a paper monster walking across the screen. He growls at the viewers, in a way saying goodbye to them as well.
[edit] Music
- Robert Duncan - "Every Girl A Slayer"
- Robert Duncan - "Slayer Victory"
- Robert Duncan - "The Final Fight"
[edit] Translations
- French title: "La Fin des temps" ("The End of Times")
[edit] Technical errors
The production of Buffy is pressed within eight to ten days of shooting, so it is probable for it to contain production errors or continuity inaccuracies.
- You can clearly identify the wires attached to Felicia Day when Vi leaps in the air.
[edit] Ratings
"Chosen" attracted 4.9 million viewers on its original first run.
[edit] Awards and nominations
The episode was nominated for a 2003 Emmy in the Category of Special Visual Effects for a Series. In addition, SFX, a British sci-fi magazine, called "Chosen" the 8th best episode of Buffy (number one was "Hush").
The episode was nominated for Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse: January 2003 - Spring 2003 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.11 Showtime |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.12 Potential |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.11 Soulless |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.13 The Killer in Me |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.14 First Date |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.12 Calvary |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.15 Get It Done |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.13 Salvage |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.16 Storyteller |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.14 Release |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.15 Orpheus |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.18 Dirty Girls |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.16 Players |
| L.A., 2003 | Angel book: Nemesis |
| L.A., 2003 | Angel book: Book of the Dead |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.17 Inside Out |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.18 Shiny Happy People |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.19 Empty Places |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.19 The Magic Bullet |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.20 Sacrifice |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.20 Touched |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.21 Peace Out |
| L.A., 2003 | A4.22 Home |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.21 End of Days |
| Sunnydale, 2003 | B7.22 Chosen |
[edit] References
1 - Restlessbtvs.com - Trivia for this episode
