Spoiler Slayer

Crystal Ball

Now with the first episode officially in the bag, it's time to start speculating on what might lie ahead in Season Seven.

Obviously, with the time and energy invested in the set, Sunnydale High is going to be a major fixture in Season Seven. Will it become Scooby Central? I think it's a distinct possibility. It doesn't mean that the gang's going to be gathering in the library (although it won't be too long before we revisit that set as well), but with Buffy stepping into Giles shoes as a member of the High School staff, it's yet another parallel between then and now.

With a new school comes a new principal, and he certainly is an enigma. Will he be clueless like Flutie, a non-demonic menace like Snyder, or something entirely different. I don't think he's necessarily evil, nor do I think he's an innocent. Somebody had to plant the talisman, but the Baddies weren't really that bad. School is all about tests, and I think that this is exactly what this episode was about. Could it be that Buffy passed her interview with flying colors?

Even though we've gotten a glimpse of a few new possibilities, there are questions that are still unresolved from last season. This episode did very little to develop Willow, Xander, or Anya's storylines. Willow has a permanent fix, Xander is king construction, and Anya is still miserable. While it's safe to say that all of the Scoobies will come back together in the first few episodes, I don't even want to hazard a guess at what might lie ahead for these characters. But I have a feeling that it's going to be similar to the path that Buffy, Dawn, and Spike are already heading down. Everyone needs to find their own way, and all of them are going to find different means to do it.

Okay, that's the easy speculation (or non-speculation), let's get on to the talk of the episode.

The question that I seemed to have been asked the most, is if I'm sticking to my earlier comments on Buffy and Angel having separate mythos. If so, does that mean that I still think that the 'First Evil' is something that we would only see on Angel.

The answer is yes, I have not changed my opinion, regardless of what we may have seen at the end of 'Lessons'. Of course, I could be wrong, but I have good reasons for sticking to my guns.

Yes, I admit that the Shapeshifter certainly looks like the 'First Evil' at first glance. But one of my mantras has always been, "Just because it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, doesn't necessarily mean that it's a duck".

It just doesn't feel right to have a 'Big Bad' introduced so early in the season. With the exception of Season One, we've never seen the real 'Big Bad' appear in the Season Premiere. It's even rare for a 'Little Bad' to make a showing in the first episode.

I still hold that 'Amends' was a nice episode, but mainly designed to set the wheels in motion for Angel to move to his own series. Let's be honest, would you really expect a 'Big Bad' to develop from a plot which was little more than a 'Next, On A Very Special Buffy the Vampire Slayer' episode? It was a nice little Christmas story, but didn't really answer the question of why Angel was back or who or what brought him back.

So I'm going to go further out on this limb that I'm standing on and say that the Shapeshifter or whatever it was, not only isn't truly evil, it might very well be good. Do we really know that it's trying to drive Spike insane, or merely preparing him for the trials that lie ahead. I wasn't the only one who wondered why Spike was referred to as 'Number 17', but maybe it's yet another indication to his state of mind. He's no longer considered a 'hostile', thus no longer evil. Could we be looking at another 'Helper From A Higher Power'? Remember that Whistler wasn't about 'right or wrong' either, he was there to keep things in balance. If a powerful evil is about to arise in Sunnydale (ala Becoming), certainly you would expect someone to make sure that as in the past, the Good Guys were ready to go toe to toe with it. Rather than focusing on a being like the 'First Evil', which openly admits it's all about evil and hatred, perhaps we should be looking more towards other creatures who have a more neutral POV, and are not above manipulating the playing pieces a bit.

We have to remember that when it comes to plots and storylines in this series, things are more often than not what they appear to be. Time and time again, the writers have led us in a certain direction, only to surprise us when we least expect it.

Which means I'm standing behind my belief that the 'First Evil' is not what we are seeing in these early episodes. Obviously, there is evil afoot, but I think it's a much more human evil. I haven't overlooked that there have been comments about power made several times in the past, not the least the speech Buffy made in 'Checkpoint' to the Council. We know that Slayer-In-Training are being stalked (I don't have any doubts that the casting reports are correct, the first scene in 'Lessons' pretty much ended that debate). With the news that not only will Faith return, but they are openly casting Slayers as well, I'm more and more convinced that the real 'Big Bad' of the season is going to be the Council. It's all about the power. Buffy and Faith have it, the Council does not. Though I don't think that the entire Council is corrupt. In fact, although many have pored through some of the Great Classics looking for a myth to fit the meaning, the answer might be better found in Pulp Fiction. Anne Rice didn't only write about Vampires. Her series about the Mayfair Witches not only dealt with the power of magic (and how it can corrupt), but also the desire for power itself. In her books, there is a group of humans who study the occult. They are called the Talamasca, and their motto is "We Watch And We Are Always Here". Sound familiar? Anyone care to guess what country they are based in? The interesting part of this series, is that a group of younger members forms a conspiracy to grab the power that lies in the occult. Seems we've been down that path before in 'Revelations', with another person who wasn't looking for right or wrong, but just wanted 'Power'.

Then again, it might not be the fault of the young. What about the older generation of Watchers, who have been training and working with Slayers for years. Now they have two Slayers, but can't control either of them. Maybe it's time for a change, time to find a Slayer that would be a little easier to control. Without the Slayers, the Council doesn't have Power (hmm, there's that word again).

As I said before, I think Season Seven is going to be all about the Slayers. They've already fought against the Hellmouth, Vampires, Government, Gods and Geeks. I think it might finally be time to face the real enemy, the 'Enemy Within'.