Random disagreement a month after the fact. I just found this through Mutant_allies, so here goes.
While I don't (upon 8th viewing) dislike "Chosen" as series finale, I thought "The Gift" was perfect. It wrapped Buffy's story up completely. It took the girl we met in "Welcome..." and showed that she had become a strong, adult woman. Buffy gave of herself tirelessly throughout the first 5 years of her journey, and "The Gift" is the point where she realizes all the things that she can do for everyone. She discovers that she has true power. Not just for slaying demons (metaphor: her problems), but for helping others as well. I see Buffy's swandive not as the death of the being, but as the emergence of the fully formed adult from the life of the child. Her adolescence was over; it was time to grow up, and she did it beautifully and without looking back.
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While I don't (upon 8th viewing) dislike "Chosen" as series finale, I thought "The Gift" was perfect. It wrapped Buffy's story up completely. It took the girl we met in "Welcome..." and showed that she had become a strong, adult woman. Buffy gave of herself tirelessly throughout the first 5 years of her journey, and "The Gift" is the point where she realizes all the things that she can do for everyone. She discovers that she has true power. Not just for slaying demons (metaphor: her problems), but for helping others as well. I see Buffy's swandive not as the death of the being, but as the emergence of the fully formed adult from the life of the child. Her adolescence was over; it was time to grow up, and she did it beautifully and without looking back.