I'm talking about the refusal to have Buffy define her future by choosing one potential romantic partner over another; about having Buffy remind us that she's still a young woman with her whole life ahead of her (and as such "I'm not finished becoming whoever the hell I'm going to be"). I'm talking about the spell to activate the Potentials, and Willow's central role in that, and how that manages to both work as both an end to the story of Willow's ambivalence around her magical powers while also finally giving Buffy a way to break free from the shackles that have been tying her down since the start of the show ("In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone...").

I'm talking about the way the show finally gives Buffy a chance to make her own path. To stop being "she alone" without dying or giving up her powers or knowledge of the supernatural. I'm talking about the show finally taking seriously the ideas of multiple Slayers it's been playing with since Season 2; I'm talking about the shots of new Slayers being called all over the world. I'm talking about the Core Four all making it out alive; I'm talking about the symbolism of all of Sunnydale collapsing into a crater; I'm talking about the last spoken words of the show being Dawn asking her sister what they're going to do next, and Buffy smiling without answering as she imagines a previously impossible tomorrow.

Motif from Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny   -     Gerhard Nordstrom

Swedish, b.1925-