I'd say no if it were anyone else but Spike, I think...but with Cordy leaving, there definately needs to be some more female characters added...i mean all we are going to be left with is Fred and a dead Lilah

Kir,

"yeah, i didn't catch the preview...the local affiliate here didn't show it...they thought it would be better to show the preview for that damn model search show...i remember waiting for it and being disappointed"

That sucks! There aughta be a law...!

They don't really show exactly what Caleb's up to, tho. He's kinda just there, saying something mean, with a nasty look on his face and blood coming out of his mouth, not too much info on what role he'll play the next and last time, if I recall correctly. For all I know, it could've been The First, taking the "form" of Caleb, now that the nasty preacherman is dead. We'll have to wait and see.

---------------

joe,
"My favorite scenes were the hospital scene with Anya and Andrew; and the brief scene with Dawn and Xander. The two A's got an excellent chance to play their comedic skills off each other (the wheelchair scene was fabulous! The thing with Dawn was so great because it reversed so quickly-- boom, the taser, stop the car, turn it around."

Yeah, those were really good parts. I think the former was pretty important for both characters, especially Andrew, who needs as much room to develop as he can get, as he came onboard so much later than Anya. And the latter was SO Dawn. That's absolutely something I'd expect her to do.

"Ok, so Spike goes to the Angel show. So the spin-off could be Dawn, Anya, and Andrew, possibly with Faith, possibly also Xander. I'd watch it!"

Well, I thought I read on mbs somewhere that Caulfield definitely wants out of the Buffyverse; if that's true... And, above, when I listed my dream-cast for a spin-off -- Willow, Faith, Kennedy and Andrew -- I really should have included Dawn. I'd really miss her; I'll miss her if she dies or doesn't get carried over (IF the spin-off happens, even). Xander I didn't mention because I had been under the mistaken impression that Angel had already grabbed him.

He's always welcome with me. Those six would make me happy, but I doubt we'd get that. I imagine that if there is a spin-off, they'll try to create a cast of mostly hold-overs and one or two new characters. And the roll call I've outlined above already numbers six!

Matthew

So Spike is a lock on Angel. That's cool because his character remains interesting,unresolved issues with Angel,ect.,but it's a strange solution. I'll just state the obvious--TWO vampires with souls?! Talk about undercutting your lead character's uniqueness. I think only Joss Whedon would choose that direction and only he just might pull it off. The best news,of course,is that between the new season Angel and spinoff series,the Buffyverse continues.

So, with just a few days left...any predicitons on who doesn't survive the finale? I'm not talking spoilers here, I don't want to know for sure until I watch, but just speculation here.
I think Faith and Woods are not gonna make it...
and that buffy survives, but the slayer line passes out of her somehow.

I had this convo with a friend, and she had a much more brutal expectation... She had faith, giles, woods, andrew and possibly xander dying, or xander becoming a watcher (which i thought was interesting)...then she also had one (which i didn't really buy into) that spike vamps buffy

I was expecting Faith to be dead by now, Buffy to die in the finale, and all but 2-3 of the slayerettes to be dead. Now it's looking like Josh is less bloodthirsty than I am. (He won't even kill Spike! Argh!)

But I will stick with the prediction that Buffy has to die.

I suspect Buffy will die a third time. Somehow I want that to happen, but somehow I also really DON'T want that to happen.

I think Anya will die, because/if Caulfield wants out of Whedonville.

Part of me thinks that Andrew MUST die. That whole killer-life-for-a-life-balance-redemption typa theme of the last season or so, again. But, another part of me thinks we're being led to expect this, so that we'll be surprised when he lives. But that could just be wishful thinking, because I *REALLY* want Andrew to be a regular in a spin-off.

Speaking of which... They had better not kill Faith! Because I think that we need to act upon my little "Don't watch Heroine so it'll get cancelled and Dukshu will come back as Faith in the spin-off" initiative. C'mon, guys 'n' gals -- we can do it! (Let's put on a show...!) Of course, it's precisely how much I don't want her to kick the bucket that makes me think she will.

Somehow I don't think Xander will die. Don't know exactly why. Maybe because of the talk about him appearing on Angel (if only as a guest). Maybe because he's the guy who makes it thru when The Slayer dies -- even bringing her back to life, twice!

I don't think Willow or Kennedy will die, because Whedon and co. might not want to risk being labelled queer-killers or something, after Tara. Again, tho, just because I'm thinking this, I'm sure that... Andrew also might get saved because of this, as he appears to get crushes on both genders, and even once let it slip that he had been in love with Warren.

Unless Willow dies of old age. You saw her hair in the preview, right?

Dawn? Damn, I think she might be "expendable," just because she's the kid sister of the outgoing Slayer.

Spike is gonna make it, because of the Angel news.

Giles will turn out to be some kind of pawn/storm trooper of The First -- and either he'll already be dead somehow or he'll die.

We'll be surprised when relatively few of the Potentials die. Amanda will die, tho, because she's one of the most immediately likable, with that gangly, buck-toothish little-girlishness. (Side note: I'm already kinda missing Rona. I know none of The Slayerettes are collecting tons of fans, but I liked some of them, in small ways. Rona was one of them. She had... potential.)

But, really... I don't forkin' know! I feel like the only way to accurately predict who might live and die is to go by who is likely to appear in a spin-off. Specifically, to get actual news about casting. Because, if you just look at the matter in terms of the onscreen story, really... I believe Joss can and will do anything. Anyone can die in real war, and Whedon has often surprised us in many ways over the course of this show. So I don't doubt that he's willing to bring over the randomness of death into the series finale.

I wish this show wasn't ending! Hoo-boo. I'm gettin' sad...

Matthew

I'll agree with Matthew saying that Whedon has been a master of the unexpected with this series,zigging just when you're sure a zag is coming,but I somehow think Sarah Michelle Gellar will want to keep the door open to a future Buffy movie,reunion,ect. and twice dead's enough.
Willow's white hair? Good Willow (opposite of Dark),takes the place of the elder woman leader of the 'watcher watchers'killed last episode,new avatar of Gaia,or future Willow come to the past to sway the final battle? I'm sure Joss'll surprise us on this one too.
And,oh yeah,Dawn'll live. What kind of monster would write her death scene!?

Buffy's not gonna die. If she did, they couldn't do a feature film. As a matter of fact, I'll go out on a limb and say Anya is the only character to die. Otherwise, guest appearances on Angel would be difficult.

I'll go further out on this limb and say Giles isn't evil.

I'll go even further out on this limb and say that Willow's hair turning white is a result of her using good magic. See, black hair=evil magic, white hair=good magic.

There isn't going to be a spin-off anytime soon as just about all of the main actors have previous commitments. Hannigan's got to promote American Wedding and then get married in real life. Dushku and Brendon are both shooting Fox pilots and Trachtenburg is shooting Ugly Americans.

My final prediction is that by end of the final episode, the First is stopped, Caleb is killed and the Ubervamps destroyed. I know, that this is quite shocking to you all.

My "prediction" is pretty much the same as Ed's: I think Buffy will be depowered, not killed, so that logically she will be out of the loop as far as Slaying. It might not even be a permanent depowerment, but enough of one to make her leave Sunnydale, possibly with Dawn in tow, but obviously w/o Spike.

Poor Spike. Maybe he'll find another love on ANGEL. As I think Kiruaccara (sp?) said, ANGEL's cast of males who don't get along is already pretty heavy, and others have predicated that some new female characters will be added to replace Charisma as she leaves. (The electric girl, maybe.)

Another possibility for Buffy: someone mentioned the possibility of Willow inheriting the place of the Old Female Slayer-- but wouldn't it be more logical for Buffy, a former Slayer, to inherit it? It's not as much in her character to be a guardian of the mysteries as it is Willow's, but it would reinforce the frequently-made point that the Slayers are fundamentally alone.

Besides, I think Whedon would want to keep Willow "in play," while Buffy has to be given some setup from which she can materialize for the hypothetical "guest-starring roles," and into which she must disappear again. That COULD be death, but again, been there, done that.

Yeah, I think Anya will bite it (though probably not by biting, hah) because they've pretty much done everything they can do with her character. I tend to think Andrew is in roughly the same boat; I don't think his persona will translate into other plotlines not involving the First, the Geeks Club or his dweebish guilt. A character like Spike, Xander or Giles isn't tied to one major plotline, and so I could see them migrating to another show, but whether Andrew dies or not, I don't see him migrating to another show. Ditto the Slayerettes, aside from Kennedy, and her only if Willow becomes part of some new show.

Giles probably won't become part of any new show because the actor's tired of being Stateside. I think Faith's too popular a character for Joss to want to kill, and that he'll keep her character in reserve in case her new pilot bombs.

Just three days before we see for ourselves-- the suspense is murderous.......

Oh yeah, and since seeing last Tuesday's ep, I no longer think there will be a dramatic revelation that either Giles, Willow or anyone else will be, as I predicted earlier, a First agent. It's not that I think Whedon incapable of such machinations; I just don't think there will be time in one last lousy hour. (Sure wish they'd sprung for a 2-hour finale, though-- something tells me they're going to leave a lot of unanswered plotlines.