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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Seventh Season (2002)


Commentaries on this disc:

Commentary 1: "Lessons" -- Writer/executive producer Joss Whedon and director/producer David Solomon Rating:7.1/10 (18 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by aph86 on October 27th, 2006:Find all reviews by aph86
What a disappointment this was. It's safe to say this is the only bad commentary Joss Whedon has ever done. I thought this would be like the rest of Joss Whedon's commentaries(informative and funny). This was neither. I hate to say it but this commentary sucks. All Joss and David do it point out the obvious and say what fans thought about the episode.

4/10
Reviewed by The Cubist on October 30th, 2006:Find all reviews by The Cubist
I thought this was a pretty solid track. Joss’ trademark dry, sarcastic wit is evident as he and Solomon playfully make fun of each other. Joss mentions that at the start of the season they weren’t sure the direction Principal Wood’s character was going to take until D.B. Woodside really made the character his own. Definitely one of the better tracks on this set if only for entertainment value.
Commentary 2: "Selfless" -- Writer Drew Goddard and producer/director David Solomon Rating:6.3/10 (7 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by aph86 on July 23rd, 2007:Find all reviews by aph86
An entertaining commentary. They spent to much time saying how good the episode is and how good the cast are. Worth a listen if you are fan of the show.
Commentary 3: "Conversations with Dead People" -- Director Nick Marck,co-writer Drew Goddard, co-executive producer/co-writer Jane Espenson and actors Danny Strong and Tom Lenk Rating:7.9/10 (19 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by aph86 on October 27th, 2006:Find all reviews by aph86
This is the best commentary on the set. I was surprised that a commentary with 5 people on it would be this great. All five people give a good amount of info and giving a good insight into making this episode. The most interesting info from this commentary was that each of the four character stories where written by a different person.(Buffy's by an uncredited Joss Whedon, Dawn's by Jane Espenson, Andrew and Jonathan's by Drew Goddard, and Willow's by an uncredited Marti Noxon). Highly recommended.

9/10
Reviewed by talkjawking100 on May 14th, 2010:Find all reviews by talkjawking100
Not bad. Has it's uninteresting parts, but worth a listen. 6/10
Commentary 4: "The Killer in Me" -- Director/producer David Solomon and writer Drew Z. Greenberg Rating:4.3/10 (7 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by The Cubist on October 30th, 2006:Find all reviews by The Cubist
This is kind of a dry, boring track as they joke and try to think of interesting things to say but end up narrating much of what we are seeing. Yawn.
Reviewed by aph86 on July 10th, 2007:Find all reviews by aph86
All they do is joke for 40 minutes. Only listen to if you have nothing to do.
Commentary 5: "Lies My Parents Told Me" -- Co-executive producer/co-writer/director David Fury, co-writer Drew Goddard and actors James Marsters and D.B. Woodside Rating:7.7/10 (17 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by aph86 on October 30th, 2006:Find all reviews by aph86
This is a very informal commentary. Fury and Goddard talk about how the episode was written. Fury, Woodside, and Marsters talks about how the episode was filmed. I was a little disappointed that James Marsters didn't say a whole lot, most of the time he just laugh at things the other guys said. But I still recommended it.

8/10
Reviewed by talkjawking100 on May 14th, 2010:Find all reviews by talkjawking100
Very fun to listen to. As another poster mentioned, I had wished Marsters would've spoke more, but I would surprised at the interesting things DB Woodside had to say. A worthy listen.
Commentary 6: "Dirty Girls" -- Writer Drew Goddard and actor Nicholas Brendon Rating:7.7/10 (20 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by aph86 on October 30th, 2006:Find all reviews by aph86
This is a pretty good commentary. Goddard talks about how the episode was writen and what was changed over the course of writing it. Brendon is funny and talks about his experience making this episode and the show in general. Highly recommended.

9/10
Reviewed by SAMHG33 on November 4th, 2007:Find all reviews by SAMHG33
The best commentary on the set nick is extreamly entertaining.
This commentary mixed with the episode
10/10
Reviewed by talkjawking100 on May 14th, 2010:Find all reviews by talkjawking100
As others have said, Nicholas Brendan is very entertaining to listen to. Just by listening to him talk you can see why he was always the perfect choice for Xander; very charismatic and funny. A worthy listen.
Reviewed by BerkeleySteve on June 16th, 2014:Find all reviews by BerkeleySteve
This commentary is good for the joking between Nick Brendan and writer Drew Goddard.

Also sorta good for informative discussion of how BtVS episodes are made, or insight into the big themes, but the commentary often descends into Mystery Science Theater 3000.

A few themes, though:

Drew: the episode theme of the Male Gaze: each act started with another way men can objectify women.

Nick: for season 1, the cast and crew had to wait 5 - 6 months to get an audience reaction, since the season was all shot before BtVS aired in the second half of the season.

Nick: his first real TV role.

Nick: in the last seasons twin brother Kelly did a lot of his stunts.

Drew: writing evil Buffy (as the First) was fun, and he thinks Sarah enjoyed it.

Drew: Season 2 villain was the bad boyfriend, season 3 villain was the male authority figure, season 5 was the extravagant female, and 7 was about the way men try to take the power away from women, so Caleb was the evil side of religion that keeps people down.

Drew: When he had to describe for the editors what he wanted for the Faith flashback montage, he could name from memory every scene from every episode he wanted (such a Buffy nerd).

Drew: Buffy has never been a show that comments directly on current events, so the Buffy/Principal Wood dialog on war was distancing the war in the Buffyverse from the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Drew: the Faith/Spike basement scene was written with an eye to a possible Faith spin-off.

Drew: all through the season, Xander is the one who (literally and figuratively) keeps the house together. When the writers asked, "What's the worst thing that happen to Buffy and this group?", what they came up with was, if the villain can take Xander down, the house falls apart.

Drew: this is the beginning of the end, the last five episodes.

Drew: exploring how Buffy strains under the burden of leadership. Season is about passing the power on, going from the Chosen One to a leader of many. Hasn't quite figured it out yet, makes mistakes.

Drew and Nick: Xander and Andrew are funny together because Xander has always lacked a guy to talk guy stuff with, and now he has Andrew, who's an even bigger comic/movie nerd.

Nick: first few seasons, was doing Homer Simpson (?).

Nick: favorite episodes are Once More With Feeling, Hush, the Body, Restless, and The Zeppo.

Drew: had to fight to get the wine gushing out on Spike effect included.

Some disappointments:

Drew started to describe what shooting was like on the day of the pillow fight scene, but Nick stepped on it with something facetious.

Worst, Nick was telling how he prepared for his big scene versus Caleb, and Drew stepped on his conclusion with a wisecrack, so we never hear the end of the story.

Hope I avoided spoilers!
Commentary 7: "Chosen" -- Executive producer/writer/director Joss Whedon Rating:8.0/10 (21 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by Andrew Tom on February 18th, 2006:Find all reviews by Andrew Tom
As usual to Joss, a very interesting and funny commentary. It feels a little sad though, being the end of the series, but it's very well worth a listen. And the final line is perfect.
Reviewed by The Cubist on October 30th, 2006:Find all reviews by The Cubist
I agree with the previous reviewer about the tone of this track. Joss talks about how exhausted he was by the time they made this episode. He had to work through many pages of the screenplay in a short amount of time. This is an oddly bittersweet track as Joss criticizes his own work with his amusing, self-deprecating humour. It is also a very thoughtful commentary from the show’s creator. A must-listen.
Reviewed by aph86 on January 7th, 2007:Find all reviews by aph86
Just like most of Joss’ commentaries very funny and informal. And Andrew Tom’s review is right about the last thing Joss says on this commentary, it will give your goosebumps, just perfect. Highly recommended.