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Chosen is the twenty-second episode of the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the one-hundred and forty-fourth episode overall. It is the series finale.

Special Guest Star: Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles), Eliza Dushku (Faith), Nathan Fillion (Caleb)

Guest Stars: David Boreanaz (Angelus), Tom Lenk (Andrew Wells), Iyari Limon (Kennedy), Sarah Hagan (Amanda), Indigo (Rona)

And: DB Woodside as Principal Wood

Co-Stars: Felicia Day (Vi), Mary Wilcher (Shannon), Demetra Raven (Girl at Bat), [[Katie Gray) (Indian Girl), Lisa Ann Cabasa (Injured Girl), Ally Matsumura (Japanese Girl), Kelli Wheeler (School Girl), Jenna Edwards (Trailer Girl), Julia Ling (Potential With Power #2)

Contents 1 Plot Overview 2 Notes 2.1 Monster of the Week 2.2 Body Count 3 Arc Advancement 3.1 Happenings 3.2 Characters 3.3 Referbacks 4 Trivia 4.1 The Show 4.2 Behind the Scenes 4.3 Allusions and References 4.4 Memorable Moments 5 Quotes 6 Reviews

[edit] Plot Overview

[edit] Notes

[edit] Monster of the Week

• There's no monster of the week in this episode, because it's the final episode. It's entirely centered around the plot.

[edit] Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Caleb	Buffy	Cut in Half	Tomb
2	Anya	Bringer	Cut Down	Sunnyvale High
3	Amanda	Turok-Han	Stabbed	Hellmouth
4	Spike	—	Sunlight	Hellmouth
Countless unnamed potentials, Turok-Han and Bringers

[edit] Arc Advancement

[edit] Happenings

• Back to the Beginning: There are several "back to the beginning" references in this episode because it is the last. They're as follows:
  • The First taking the form of Buffy recites the oft-heard description of the slayer which was heard in the introduction for the first season. The full quote is as follows: "In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer."
  • After the new characters go to their respective posts, we're left with the core Scoobies and Giles, the original characters.
  • After the camera spinning and the four discussing what they'll do tomorrow, Giles recites a quote from the second episode, "The Earth is definitely doomed."
• Slayer Mythos: As of this episode, every potential slayer that will ever exist is granted the powers of the slayer. Instead of one slayer in every generation, basically every girl in the world has slayer powers.
• Sunnydale: The entire city of Sunnydale is destroyed at the end of the episode, definitively putting a close on Buffy's chapter in history.

[edit] Characters

• Willow: Willow finally redeems herself and her magic usage by transforming into the exact opposite of evil Willow (i.e. bathed in white light and glowing softly).

[edit] Referbacks

• Amends: Angel references the time that the First appeared to him in the form of the people who he killed in the past in order to make him commit suicide.

Angel: The First evil. The power that tried to convince me to kill myself.

• The Prom: Andrew makes a reference to his brother Tucker, who released a horde of hellhounds on the Prom.

Andrew: Um, a shout out to my brother Tucker, who gave me the inspiration to summon demons...

[edit] Trivia

[edit] The Show

• Music: A variation of the main theme to the series by Nerf Herder can be heard playing in the background of the final scene of the episode.
• Survivors: The only survivors of the Hellmouth collapse were Buffy, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Giles, Andrew, Kennedy, Faith, Robin, Rona, Chao-Ahn and Vi.

[edit] Behind the Scenes

• Original Ending: In the DVD commentary Joss Whedon said that he originally intended to have the Scooby Gang wiped out saving the world, but decided that was too downbeat. However, there had to be a 'toll' and this was supplied by the deaths of Anya and Amanda (in addition to various red shirts).
• Cut Scene: In the script, Joss shot a scene with Giles and Wood sharing a "hand-rolled cigarette" (meaning a joint) before battle.
• Original Draft: Originally, the conversation with Angel was much more complex, in which he referenced several things that happened in his own series (Angel), including his love for Cordelia and his having a son.
• Grr Argh: On the Mutant Enemy production studio card at the end of the episode, the monster turns and looks at the viewer instead of just the crudely animated shamble across the screen. This was meant as sort of a good-bye.
• Ratings: This episode attracted 4.9 million viewers. Although this is significantly lower than many of the earlier episodes, it is still one of the highest (if not the highest) rated episodes of the season.
• Emmy Award: This episode was nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series at the 2003 Emmy Awards. Incidentally, it lost to Firefly, another series by Joss Whedon which also has Nathan Fillion in it.

[edit] Allusions and References

• Dawson's Creek: Buffy refers to a WB drama called Dawson's Creek which also was ended during the season that this episode first aired. The series was a teenage melodrama about Dawson, who was constantly pining over his "soul mate," Joey Potter.

Buffy: Are you just going to come here and go all Dawson on me every time I have a boyfriend?

• Dungeons and Dragons: Before the fateful late battle, Giles, Xander, Amanda and Andrew all play Dungeons and Dragons, a famous role playing game played with pen and paper. Referenced in this game is Trogdor the Burniator, which implies that this is one of the early versions of the game. Trogdor is a chaotically evil dragon and has since been brought back to popularity by the Homestar Runner cartoons.

• School's Out: Spike quotes a line from the Alice Cooper song School's Out. The song was released in 1972 on the album of the same name. The lyrics to the song not only are about summer vacation, but school being out forever because it was blown up.

Spike: I think it's fair to say school's out for bloody summer.

[edit] Memorable Moments

• The simple, understated, raprochement between Giles and Buffy ("It's bloody brilliant").
• Buffy's "Here's the part where you make a choice" speech.
• Baseball Girl's knowing smile, Trailer Girl stopping the punch.
• Buffy rising from the 'dead' ("Get out of my face").
• Buffy's half formed smile at the end ("What are you gonna do?").

[edit] Quotes

• Buffy: Are you ready to be strong?

• Anya: So that leaves me and the dungeon master in the north hall?
  Andrew: We will defend it with our very lives.
  Anya: Yes. We will defend it with his very life.
  Xander: And don't be afraid to use him as a human shield.
  Anya: Good, yes! Thanks.

[edit] Reviews

• Overall Grade: no reviews yet
• Review Breakdown: A+: 0 A: 0 A-: 0 B+: 0 B: 0 B-: 0 C+: 0 C: 0 C-: 0 D: 0 F: 0