The way I understood Season 7 Buffy was in context to Season 6 Buffy.
In Season 6 she hit rock bottom. Got fucked up. Let interpersonal relationships go to hell. Let the slaying go to hell. The world she fights to protect was nearly destroyed by one of her friends. The enemy was in HER camp, and she didn't (didn't want to) see.
Recriminations ensue.
Therefore, when Season 7 rolls around, Buffy is ready to be responsible again. She's stopped fucking about, has a new job, an adult job. She's trying to handle her life, to be an adult. Spike comes back and throws everything for a loop. Because she doesn't know what to do, she ignores him then foists him on Xander. She's acting, but is afraid to make him her problem because she is so new and tenuous in this adult role.
And then the Big Bad comes along, and Buffy sees a chance to atone for the cock-up that was all of Season 6. After shirking her slaying responsibilities all last year in favour of wallowing in her own personal misery, she's gonna do it right. This is the biggest of the big bads and she feels a tremendous amount of pressure.
So she becomes Slayer with a Capital S. She sees all these young girls, looking to her for guidance, and she molds herself into the ideal Slayer, the one that the Watcher's Council wanted, the one that's read the handbook, the one that Kendra might have been. She knows she's the ONE so she must be a leader. And if she's not, she'll have all this blood on her hands. She's already lost Tara. She's not going to lose another innocent through her carelessness.
(And here I'd like to point out that while much has been made of Willow's reaction to Tara's death, it has not been heavily discussed what affect this would have on Buffy. Tara was very important to Buffy in Season 6. And she died because of Buffy's (implied) negligence towards dealing conclusively with the Trio. I can't help but feel that this would have a tremendous effect on her need to solve problems immediately, and her impatience with those who don't understand that she is doing what she's doing because lives are at stake. How can she relax and be Buffy Summers, when people might die if the Slayer doesn't save them?)
She learns that leading is hard. And being Buffy, she internalizes all her stresses, which makes people think she's being cold.
Buffy isn't cold. She is not cold. She just draws all the tension inside her; believes that she can only rely on herself or people will die.
As Holden put it, she has an inferiority complex about her superiority complex.
Unfortunately, she ends up alienating those around her. Again, (to her mind) the only person who can fully emphathize with her is Spike. He knows that to be the Slayer is to forever be Other. And so as they get closer, she further alienates her friends, who could never approve of this relationship.
If Buffy is seen as being "cold" in Season 7, all the Scoobs must play a part in making it so.
Was Buffy arrogant? Yes. But she's always been arrogant. Was Buffy wrong on many occasions? Yes. But as always, she dealt with the consequences; not always gracefully, but she got it done.
I think Buffy in Season 7 was perfectly understandable. The thing about her is that she's not easy to love. Just ask Spike.
But I do believe that in the end, it's worth it.
PHEW! I think I'll post this in my journal ;)
And Laura, this is in no way meant to be critical of your position, I was just laying out my own thoughts on Season 7!
My take on Season 7 Buffy
In Season 6 she hit rock bottom. Got fucked up. Let interpersonal relationships go to hell. Let the slaying go to hell. The world she fights to protect was nearly destroyed by one of her friends. The enemy was in HER camp, and she didn't (didn't want to) see.
Recriminations ensue.
Therefore, when Season 7 rolls around, Buffy is ready to be responsible again. She's stopped fucking about, has a new job, an adult job. She's trying to handle her life, to be an adult. Spike comes back and throws everything for a loop. Because she doesn't know what to do, she ignores him then foists him on Xander. She's acting, but is afraid to make him her problem because she is so new and tenuous in this adult role.
And then the Big Bad comes along, and Buffy sees a chance to atone for the cock-up that was all of Season 6. After shirking her slaying responsibilities all last year in favour of wallowing in her own personal misery, she's gonna do it right. This is the biggest of the big bads and she feels a tremendous amount of pressure.
So she becomes Slayer with a Capital S. She sees all these young girls, looking to her for guidance, and she molds herself into the ideal Slayer, the one that the Watcher's Council wanted, the one that's read the handbook, the one that Kendra might have been. She knows she's the ONE so she must be a leader. And if she's not, she'll have all this blood on her hands. She's already lost Tara. She's not going to lose another innocent through her carelessness.
(And here I'd like to point out that while much has been made of Willow's reaction to Tara's death, it has not been heavily discussed what affect this would have on Buffy. Tara was very important to Buffy in Season 6. And she died because of Buffy's (implied) negligence towards dealing conclusively with the Trio. I can't help but feel that this would have a tremendous effect on her need to solve problems immediately, and her impatience with those who don't understand that she is doing what she's doing because lives are at stake. How can she relax and be Buffy Summers, when people might die if the Slayer doesn't save them?)
She learns that leading is hard. And being Buffy, she internalizes all her stresses, which makes people think she's being cold.
Buffy isn't cold. She is not cold. She just draws all the tension inside her; believes that she can only rely on herself or people will die.
As Holden put it, she has an inferiority complex about her superiority complex.
Unfortunately, she ends up alienating those around her. Again, (to her mind) the only person who can fully emphathize with her is Spike. He knows that to be the Slayer is to forever be Other. And so as they get closer, she further alienates her friends, who could never approve of this relationship.
If Buffy is seen as being "cold" in Season 7, all the Scoobs must play a part in making it so.
Was Buffy arrogant? Yes. But she's always been arrogant. Was Buffy wrong on many occasions? Yes. But as always, she dealt with the consequences; not always gracefully, but she got it done.
I think Buffy in Season 7 was perfectly understandable. The thing about her is that she's not easy to love. Just ask Spike.
But I do believe that in the end, it's worth it.
PHEW! I think I'll post this in my journal ;)
And Laura, this is in no way meant to be critical of your position, I was just laying out my own thoughts on Season 7!