 The final season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (newly out on DVD) was filled with throwbacks to the past and more potential slayers than you could shake a stake at. But primarily, as Buffy tells Dawn in LESSONS, it was about the power. Power becomes the theme of the entire season, as we see sources of power, uses of power, types of power, and, finally, empowerment.
Not that it was a smooth road from start to finish. "From beneath you, it devours!" and "The big bad is coming!" were phrases used repeatedly, to the point where viewers began to exclaim "All right, I get it, you're evil," much as Buffy did in the third season episode AMENDS. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the villain in AMENDS, The First Evil, was the primary Big Bad of this final season. It made a fantastic return in LESSONS, as it taunted a less-than-sane souled Spike with familiar faces. And, really, how cool was it to see it morph through Warren, Glory, Adam, Mayor Wilkins, Drusilla, and the Master, all in the space of a few minutes? Very.
But, as the season began, the worst thing on the Scooby radar was the rebuilt Sunnydale High School. The gang had made quite a journey over the previous year: Dawn and Buffy had regained a bond that they lost in the sixth season. Xander and Buffy were close friends again, something we hadn't seen in a long time. Buffy, Xander, and Dawn created a family unit, becoming the core trio (instead of the usual combo of Buffy, Xander, and Willow). Willow continued her recovery from veiny-ness in London, thousands of miles away from her friends.
Not everyone's status was as good, as Anya remained in the vengeance demon fold and the newly-souled Spike was, well, insane. By the end, some characters were dead (none of them named "Buffy" this time) and all of them were homeless.
BUFFY
Our Heroine started the season as Buffy-like as she’d been since Joyce’s death in season five. She had finally stopped protecting Dawn from her Slayer Life (mostly), the Summers sisters had a great family vibe going with Xander, and Buffy even landed an unexpected job at the new (but still hellmouthy) high school. Apart from the occasional magical letterman-jackets and giant worms, life was good for the Buffster.
 Well, there were a few issues. "From beneath you, it devours" first surfaced in her dreams, and Spike, who tried to rape her at their last meeting, was both back in town and insane. But more about Captain Peroxide later.
As the season progressed and the warnings and problems kept appearing, Buffy became more and more distant. An early example is SELFLESS, in which she was ready to kill Anya after she, as D’Hoffryn said it, granted a wish that looked "like somebody slaughtered an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog." Only her return to humanity (once Willow got D’Hoffryn into the picture) stopped Buffy; Xander’s protestations certainly didn’t.
Buffy opened up to Holden Webster the psychoanalyzing vampire, a fabulous and hysterical character who was staked far too soon (what would have made the season better? More Holden!). Once we knew her true feelings about herself (inferiority complex about her superiority complex, etc), her choices and attitudes weren’t surprising. Most importantly: in the third season, which was also the last time she faced The First, she had objected to Faith’s pronouncement of "We are the law" (CONSEQUENCES), but in the seventh season, she had embraced this idea, stating, "Human rules don't apply. There's only me. I am the law" (SELFLESS).
Somewhere in there, she decided that the Slayer would always be alone. Nobody could share her burden. But there’s a problem with that line of thought: Willow, Xander and Giles had shared her burden since the beginning. That’s what had made her so successful. It seemed Buffy was still afraid to let her friends see the bad in her, even though they would support her. Therefore, teamwork stopped being a priority.
As the potentials began to appear on Buffy’s doorstep, she took on a mentoring role beyond the one she was doing at the high school. The Mentor became The General after the first Potential died, as Buffy decided to go on the offensive ("Anyone else who wants to run, do it now, 'cause we just became an army. We just declared war." – BRING ON THE NIGHT). As General Buffy, she was fully devoted to "the mission," shutting people out and pushing them to be the best weapons possible. She still cared about her friends (such as when she tried to take Dawn and Xander out of the battle in order to save them in END OF DAYS), but the focus was the war. She had to lead, because she was the Slayer. People would die. This was her burden.
 It got to be too much. When Faith questioned her leadership, the Potentials quickly agreed. Even Willow, Giles, Xander, and Dawn were feeling it. They deposed her in favor of new leadership: a different Slayer. But the show is called BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, so Buffy’s plan turned out to be right. She got the Super Scythe, came up with the Master Plan to turn every Potential into a Slayer, and the enemy was defeated (with a little help from a mystical amulet from Los Angeles).
But what about Spike? His reappearance in LESSONS disturbed her, but she didn’t mention anything to Dawn or Xander. This is somewhat understandable, as the subject was difficult, but it still was a bad call. Then, she learned about Spike’s soul. Imagine the position that puts her in: a vampire went and got a soul and was suffering for her? Gee, no pressure.
Giles stated in FIRST DATE that, "Your feelings for (Spike) are coloring your judgment… And that way lies a future filled with pain." He was absolutely right. Her feelings for Spike were confused. She used him in the sixth season, feeding her self-loathing by doing so. When refused, his obsession with her made him try to rape her. A few months later, he was back as a vampire with a soul, like her first love, Angel (although Spike was quick to point out that "Angel's dull as a table lamp. And we have very different coloring." – DIRTY GIRLS). Spike got the soul for her. She believed that he could "be a good man," and she went so far as to have his chip removed. The least trustworthy- person she knew became the most trusted, the one she believed was the only one watching her back (which she was wrong about). Buffy could not have started caring for him without his soul.
There has been a lot of discussion on whether Buffy meant what she said when she told Spike that she loved him in CHOSEN. At Comic-Con 2003, someone asked Joss Whedon this question. Whedon stated that Buffy did not, in fact, love Spike, although he was "in her heart." Other reports from panels since have stated otherwise, but I do believe this to be true. Whatever the case, a relationship between Buffy and Spike could not last, just as one between Buffy and Angel could not either. Of course, if there’s something Shanshu-ish, then all bets are off.
But in a season about power, it’s an incredibly empowering statement that she didn’t need to be with a man to be complete. She could be "cookie dough" as long as she wanted and be perfectly content. Good for her.
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