Okay, folks... let's do a little pre-emptive work in the face of a likely snub by Slayage.
Here's the "teaser," with HTML codes already in place so you can copy and post to posting boards around the web. I guess you'll have to do a bit of conversion to get the UBB code equivalent, but at least this is a start:
<b>Season 6, as it might have been...</b>
Before the seventh season of <u>Buffy</u> descends on us, Id like to take one more look at the sixth. Specifically, Id like to look at the death of Tara in Seeing Red and Willows subsequent change into her Dark Magic persona. Weve heard repeatedly from people at Mutant Enemy that the needs of the story required things to happen this way. To do it any other way would have put large inconsistencies into the story.
But theres a problem here. The way Season 6 unfolded, there was <i>already</i> an inconsistency that had been introduced into the story, namely Willow's reasons for using magic and the effect magic had on her. Before "Wrecked," magic was never depicted as a metaphor for addictive drugs. Willow was never shown going to a magical crack house or performing spells for the sole purpose of feeling high. Even people who were not fans of Willow or of the Willow/Tara relationship noticed it. Many spent the better part of last winter complaining about it. It didnt feel right, and a lot of <u>Buffy</u> fans knew it.
Before Wrecked, magic was a challenge that gave her a feeling of accomplishment. It allowed her to become a vital part of Buffy's fight against evil. And eventually it became a crutch that she used to shortcut her way through the rough patches of life. What if Joss had kept that initial depiction? What would Season 6 have looked like then? Heres my take on what we might have seen:
For about the first third of the season, things wouldn't have been all that different. Perhaps, though, we might have seen the beginnings of some friction between Buffy and Willow. After all, Willow had been in charge of the Scooby Gang for months, and there was Buffy moping around instead of taking the leadership role back. Perhaps Willow would have tried to step in - just to help until Buffy was back on her feet, of course. Perhaps she would have used magic to make up for the fact that she didn't have Slayer strength. The forget-spell on Tara would still have occurred. Tara would still have left in "Tabula Rasa."
Around the time of "Smashed" or "Wrecked," instead of seeing Willow turn into a crackhead, we might have seen the friction between her and Buffy become more open and deliberate. Instead of trying to help Buffy, perhaps Willow might have begun to feel like she could replace Buffy. Perhaps Willow might have seen the attempts to reduce her magic use as a threat, an attempt to remove her from being in charge. Perhaps she wouldn't have wanted to give up being in charge, because perhaps she felt like her magical methods really were the best way to go about fighting evil.
Around the time of the February sweeps, the strained relationships between Willow and the other Scoobies could have reached a breaking point. Perhaps a crisis would have come up - possibly involving the three nerds - in which Willow thought the only solution required her to delve even deeper into dark magic. Perhaps Buffy would have objected, and Willow would have angrily done it anyway. And in that moment, perhaps something would have happened to bring about Dark Magic Willow.
Think about it. Dark Magic Willow appearing during the February sweeps. Not with a mere three episodes remaining in the season, but with roughly one-third of the season still to go, with agonizingly long stretches of reruns before the conclusion. That's how long Angel got to be evil in Season 2, after all. Think of what Dark Magic Willow could have done with all that time. Perhaps she would have killed all the nerds, or taken them over and made them her henchmen. Imagine the irony of having Warren the misogynist bowing down to her instead of being flayed alive by her. He could still have died eventually - a victim of his own resentment over being controlled by a woman - but it wouldn't have been necessary. Perhaps Willow would have kept Amy around as well. Perhaps Willow would have made little "adjustments" to her, changing her hair color or her personality to resemble Tara, the lover she had lost and still missed. Imagine what Alyson Hannigan could have done with a part like that.
Meanwhile, Buffy would have been faced with the task of figuring out what to do. Fight Willow? Join her? Bring her back? Instead of moping around until some miraculous unmotivated revelation in the last five minutes of the finale, she would have been forced to come out of her depression in order to meet the challenge. And what about Spike? Buffy could still have been sleeping with him - perhaps his attempts to have her join him as a "creature of the dark" would have prompted him to argue with her about what she should do, or even about whether or not Dark Magic Willow was right. Buffy and Spike could have had a relationship that was about more than the alternating cycles of violent sex and sexy violence that we ended up seeing.
And Tara? Sooner or later, Buffy would have needed a magic expert to counter Willow's powers. The fact that Tara wasn't as powerful would have added suspense and drama to the story. The fact that Dark Magic Willow might have turned on Tara would have added even more suspense and drama. But none of that would have required Tara to die. In fact, Tara's presence when Dark Magic Willow was ultimately defeated could have been the thing that began Willow's healing process, and her eventual return to the Scooby Gang.
And there you have it - a way to achieve Dark Magic Willow and give Joss the cool Dark Phoenix imitation he so dearly wanted without killing Tara. Something Mutant Enemy insists couldnt have been done. Would it have been better than what we saw? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But aren't you at least a little sorry that we'll never get to find out?
Want to know more about Joss Whedon, Willow, Tara and their fans? Click below and read on...
The Executive Producers New Clothes
Now, the next question - should we hit the boards tonight, this weekend, or wait until Monday morning? Use your best judgement.
by emma peel » Thu Aug 22, 2002 4:28 pm 
