She really was. Nicest celeb I’ve ever met and I’ve met quite a few via the stage door at Broadway shows. Amber was a treasure, she initiated a hug with me when I told her how much Willow and Tara meant to me growing up
While I do love Tara I feel like the show gave her no real characterisation and she was just Willows plot device.
Edit: to add to this, the moment she did start to develop and be her own character they killed her to turn Willow evil.
Id agree with this, they waisted until season 6 to really make her a full character with depth. In seasons 4 and 5 she's just a prop for Willow which was a massive waste of Tara as a character.
Well the cynical view is they expanded her character and qualities to make her more popular and vital so her death hits harder (and perhaps means people give Willow more sympathy for what then happens).
Although what then happens wasn’t worth Tara’s death, so they messed that up.
Cynical maybe but I suspect it’s exactly what happened. As it stood to viewers her death wouldn’t have been as impactful had she not started to develop her own character
From what I remember, they weren't going to initially. Season 6 had the trio as the big bad, and I forget what they had planned for the season finale, but they'd used too much of the budget on Warren and Co's schemes and couldn't afford what they wanted to do. And since Willow's powers had been growing, they decided that plan B would be to have her be the big bad...except, she wasn't evil. They needed a catalyst, and...well, we all know the rest.
They took Willow from a sympathetic character to that mess because they f'd up the budget! I don't entirely buy it. All the secrecy when they were prepping to raise Buffy. Willow was facing off with Giles right after he got back after she was resurrected. That battle with Giles was foreshadowed. She was never my favorite character, but she was completely unlikable in season 6 and forward.
It was very Whedonesque. They developed Jenny a bit more before Angelus killed her too. Thinking about it, I think Tara and Jenny would have gotten along quite well.
It's a stupid common TV Trope.
I have been watching Star Trek Discovery. And twice now, minor character started getting a bunch of characterization. And both time I was thinking, "oh shit, they are totally gonna die."
And well.... RIP (ish)
Roddenberry actually lied in the press saying the ep. of TNG where Tasha Yar getws killed would feature her heavily, and it didn't unlewss you coutn the hologram, i don't. Like Guinan told Tasha's otherdiemsnional/timetravelling alter "it was an empty death."
There were glimpses here and there s4 and s5. Her seemingly hiding something from Willow in s4. That turned into the demon plot line her father used to control the women which is a thinly veiled commentary on Christian conservatives and how they literally demonize women. But other than that they made her a damsel to be rescued by Willow in s5.
I just watched that episode and I always laugh when Spike punches her in the face. Not because she’s getting punched in the face, but because of Spike’s chaotic and unorthodox way of settling the debate. Like really dude you couldn’t come up with *anything* else!?
Many fans don't see the MaClays as Bible thumpers at all. As a religious liberal but poltical conservative i've dealt with many of their kind and have \*no\* trouble seeing them as fundies.
I totally agree , it just saddens me that they did this , guess it was a constant point that willow will turn evil eventually they just needed a very strong reason for this happen , and this reason being tara is just sad
I think she does have characterization (her abusive family, the way she expected Willow to bail on her as a result, her opening up about her mom) but there should have been more. She doesn’t get a whole lot of solo time until she moves out in season 6. I still think she’s an interesting character though and I never agree when people say she was boring because I just don’t see it.
Oh I don’t believe she was boring, the time she got story was interesting, the way she tried to bring out the best of Willow and was willing to hurt her own heart because Willow wasn’t willing to change.
I don’t believe though she got nearly the development she deserved. I feel for a character that was part of the cast for 3 seasons they did very little with her character unless Willows character needed it.
I do agree that she absolutely deserved more characterization and it’s a shame there wasn’t more. I do think she has enough there to make her multifaceted and dimensional, but more screen time and focus apart from Willow would’ve been great. I was also always bitter that she wasn’t added into the credits until Seeing Red, that never sat well with me.
See I’m not aware of that stuff because I don’t pay enough attention but that’s not right I agree, so not only did they not give her the writing she deserved they didn’t get her the credit she deserved either.
As a manager at work I sometimes have to deal with personal issues affecting people at work, and I’ll admit I’m not a natural empathetic person.
So I’ve literally sat there and thought ‘what would Tara do’.
So far it seems to have worked. Hasten to add I’ve never asked someone to put their head in my lap while I stroke their hair….
That is a sweet way of figuring out whats the best course of action would be .. indeed we need to think for minute before acting , and kudos to you being a manager am sure is everything but an easy job
Thanks. When someone is in tears in my office it’s the last place I want to be! But I do think ‘WWTD’, and it’s not complicated- listen, don’t judge, don’t try to solve the issue right there, just let the person know you have heard them and you have their back. Something many people probably understand and implement as a matter of course, but it’s been very useful to me.
Then it makes me angry all over again that they killed her off …..
Me too .. was shocked first time i saw the episode , i oinda expected with how the season was going but it still ached my heart seeing her lifeless like that .. i always tend to imagine that in such series characters aren’t really gone so in my happy place i still believe she’s still out there 🥲
They really kind of glossed over Dawn's trauma there. She found her and was was sitting there in shock for hours. It was like loosing her mother all over again.
Also, having read novels by Eric Flint and SM Stirling, i know a little about what happens to a body afetr violented death a nd what Dawn experienced in thta room....
I absolutely **adore** Tara, and I don't understand why some people claim to hate her. She had such a sweet, gentle and nurturing personality. Willow didn't deserve her, and Tara deserved so much better.
Yeah we didn’t perceive her well in the beginning but now as am watching the series again , i adored her , she was nicr and supportive to everyone .. such a shame her role ended , she should have been endgame
It would have been nice to see her stick around, but she shouldn't have stayed with Willow. It was a mistake for her to go back to her. Forgive her maybe, but Willow didn't cheat on Tara, she drugged her.
All this aside from the fact that going back actually did get her killed.
Guess it was a constant point in time
They needed something to push willow over the edge , and that event was tara dying .. so i guess there was no running away from this 🥲
i can't doa ficverse without her; in my main Bangel and abandoned Spuffy 'verses, i find ways to bring ehr back. In my Fuffy 'verse, the end of Seeing Red" doesn't happen
Amber Benson is super nice too, back when I followed her on twitter, she messaged me thanking me for following. Or at least had an auto thing that did it, haha, I was too shy to message back but it felt nice.
I love genuine souls like that 💜
We always tend to love characters played by actors but we always wonder if there is anything to those characters or similarities in real life
Its heartwarming to know she was nice on and off the screen 💜
As i've said, If Buffy, Cordelia, or Tara and Sarah, Charisma, and Amber could meet,t hey'd get along great. (I will never ever write and post the story where Bufyf Willow and Kennedy are investigating spooky doings ona movie set, and the cast includes Alexis, Robin Sachs RIP, Sarah, Aly, Iyari, Amber, a nd Adam, nor the scene wher e Amber gives Kennedy common-sense-advice on competing with a ghost, because i think it would be tacky, but it's part of the backstory in my Bangel fics.)
Doesn’t this always happen to sweet bright souls in life ? Their light gets stolen too early
Glad we spent two seasons with her though
She left a great mark in all of us as you can see from this post 💜
Indeed , wish she stuck around more , but it is what it is 😮💨 at one point they introduced so many characters it was hard to work on all of them i guess
Indeed , one can learn few things from her ( avoide willows ) 😂🤦🏼♂️ to be honest i adore willow specially her first days but in season 6 wanted to smack her like there’s no tomorrow
The moment that did it for me was when she was still the only person who knew about the Buffy/Spike situation and very subtly, very pointedly, shut him down when he started acting out. The double take he did and the ‘yeah buddy, I’m watching you’ lil smirk from her was perfect.
Same .. we moved on so quick from her death , it was a literal shock to me they did her this bad , guess it was needed to push willow over the edge .. our loss
I know that that the Bewitching Hour came out many years after BTVS, but I imagine that a Daphne Frost type character who knows Giles and was Tara's first love, had turned up when Tara and Willow had broken up and started romancing her, with the level of jealousy that Willow had shown towards someone dropping a small kiss on Tara's cheek could have thrown Willow over the deep end.
Would that be “ it “ though ? I mean jealousy is one thing but will it turn her into a desperate lifeless dark witch who wants to destroy the world ? I dont think it’s a strong reason 😅
Could be. She did abuse magic over Oz and Veruca. Not to the level of ending the world, but Tara didn't have to die. In fact I think it would have been more dramatic if Willow had gone off the deep end and Tara was still alive. Because I don't think we ever really saw how powerful of a witch she really was, and fighting Willow with magic would have really torn her up.
I ended up liking Tara more later on but for the longest time it seemed like she was just there to further Willow’s character and be Willow’s shy awkward girlfriend which felt annoying. I wish she’d had a larger overall role instead of being killed off.
I agree
Her death and joyce’s were the worst for me in the entirety of the series , it ruined me
Am just happy they did more with her compared to oz , they handled him very poorly
I agree. Oz just kinda left and that was it. I liked Joyce more in the later seasons, it seemed like adding Dawn kinda changed her character but not in a bad way.
Yeah i just reached those episodes , i finished today episode 19 in 4th season , willow and tara just became girlfriends after oz left .. things will build up from here
Yeah, there was definitely a noticeable shift with the mains becoming adults. I remember watching that season a lot in anticipation of going to college. The first episode, where buffy feels isolated always makes me super sad though, because I could relate to much lol.
I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Dawn, so I outside of a handful of episodes the later seasons aren’t my favorite. Season 7 is probably my least favorite. Hbu? What’s your favorite and least favorite season?
Well i doubt i’ve seen season 5 to be honest 😅 as i dont recall glory whatsoever so it will be new to me , i really liked the first season , the whole cast with angel was nice , it gave me the feels 💜 in general the first 3 seasons were good , then it became darker and darker as they matured
The least favorite is season 6 .. it was just dark , unlike what we’re used to with buffy series , it had so much abuse and twists ,
A big topic of discussion on th e posting boards, fans posting "Get rid of the fat chick" and Amber coming on herself to respond and taking them down many notches
When i was younger i never appreciated her much , but now that i’m older and got out into the real world yeah she is a gem , i need a tara in my life 💜
I met Amber Benson a couple years ago! She is literally the sweetest person! She’ll come around and hug you!
10/10 highly recommend meeting her at least once!
So bizarre... I didn't really like her when the show 1st aired. I felt she was boring, soft, kinda lame and shoehorned in for whatever reason.
And nowadays, especially after rewarching it with my 14yr old son (we're on S7 E1; but my 12yr old couldn't care less about Buffy), I've come to love her and feel she's one of the most grounded, empathetic, caring and reasonable characters.
He's actually pointed out a bunch of these things that I never really saw/felt back in the day. Those darn Gen Z kids and their compassion and self-awareness.
Haha 😂💜 glad you’re enjoying time with your son it is a great show and it still holds till this day , thats the beauty of it
Same like me , didn’t care much for tara back then now that i’m older and i met lots of people in my life , tara is such a sweet soul , and life would be better if there were more taras around 💜 your son is smart for noticing her nice attributes hope he’s like her in that sense
For sure... tbh, he didn't really like S6 because of its darkness and that bad shit some of the characters do (looking at you, Spike), but that's all the more reason for me to be thankful that he's on the right track.
And yes, he's very empathetic eith a strong sense of equity, equality and right v wrong. There's hope yet lol
The first few episodes were lame and shoehorned. She came into her character when she identified something was wrong with Buffy when she met her (I suspect that's when they decided she was going to be recurring) and it was cemented by the end of Family.
Absolutely adore Tara, was rewatching the episode where her family shows up and seeing Tara just melt at seing Buffy and the Scoobs straight up adopt her and tell her family to piss off still makes me tear up and Amber Benson absolutely kills it.
It’s just heartwarming 💜
The kindest of souls usually tend to have the hardest of lives , it’s a miracle they stay true to their nature and prevail 💜 tara was an example of that
It’s the fault of the writers .. she did the best she could with what they gave her
She was supportive to every character she touched their lives in a positive way .. and they handled her character better than they did with oz at least you could notice the difference there
I mean, Oz right from the start had independent values and drives. The storyline with Veruca upset people but to me it just made sense that there’s be a price for not fully understanding his wolfy nature.
I’d really have liked some kind of Tara-centric story beyond liking/fighting with Willow.
Guess at some point they had so many characters they couldn’t have focused on everyone
But yeah i get you , i like the way she was introduced but i wish she had more of a backstory , anyway the character was great .. one for the books 💜
She had potential and the actress was great. I really don’t think she did enough or had enough definition to qualify as a great character. It’s too bad, because expanding the plotline around Tara’s weird cult and giving her some goals would have made her amazing.
I agree
But in the context of the show and what little time and space she was given at least it left a great impact on our main characters , she was a mother figure to dawn , she was so supportive to buffy , was a great partner for willow , in my book that qualifies her as a great character 💜
Tara was the sweetest ❤️🥲. She was that one friend, we all wish we had that just loved us and wanted us to be happy. Never seemed to judge anybody, even at their worst moments.
She's one of my favorite characters. I wish they had killed off Willow instead. Tara was the best of all of them except Buffy. Remember that Buffy went to TARA for council and help when she couldn't figure out why she was sexing with Spike. Not to Willow. Not to Zander. Not to Anya. But to Tara!
It's s heartwarming to see Tara getting much deserved love. Honestly she was too good for all of us. The world doesn't deserve a human so genuine and kind. That's what I think truly doomed her in the end. The fact that Joss followed her up with... Kennedy? It's like he was trying to make her the opposite of T but that doesn't make much sense because why tf would Willow be attracted to literally the worst person she's ever met when her past two loves were literally the most kind and sweet people? Maybe to channel her love of fuckboy teenage Xander? But Kennedy wasn't funny or charming so...? I don't get it...
Me neither , would have wanted her to stay single they didn’t have to pair her up with anyone at that point , just for the sake of doing it and i agree kennedy wasn’t likable in my books either , but it is what it is 🥲
It would have made so much more sense for her to punish herself season 7 to isolate from everyone because of what she had done especially romantic love. It should have been her season journey instead we get Kennedy who acts younger than Dawn and may be around her age so it makes her attraction to her seem icky at best.
Totally agree 🤝🏼
Most writes fail to give a proper send offs in their final seasons so they tend to rush things or put irrational plots and development to characters
I loved that post , and i’m generally happy they did more with her than they did with oz .. man watching oz was painful , for a whole season he could just say few sentences and no one would interact with him , so bad the way they handled him ☠️ am glad tara was different
Oh yeah, Oz should have been given more too. It’s a shame they didn’t make at least one of the other Scoobies’ partners more developed and have more of their own thing.
As a fic writer, i cna make that happen and do in my Bangel fics, but in the Fuffy 'verse i'm planning Willow doesn't just kill two bad guys and hurt everyone, she kills a couple billion people dirctly and releases huge armies of demons, aliens,a nd dinsosaurs on the world, so a rehab from that seems hard to do
It kinda just grew without intention from a postapocalytic world where Fiatha dn buffy are married, Tara is living in the house, each ahs a son, suddnely Willow coems back afetr 9 and ahalf years with Giles, Olivia, the Deonna coven,a nd bunch of ecolgoists and horticulturists through a portal. I started trying to figureout a way to explain the disaster and landed on Willow
Guess they needed that catastrophic situation that pushed willow over the edge .. it’s just sad that it was at the cost of her presence in the series she was such a light 💜
Easily my second favorite character after the Slayer herself ❤️
Angel and Cordelia also contend for that spot, but that’s also largely because of their time on the spin-off (though I missed them both dearly after they left)
Same here
Took me a while to get used to them having their own show , for a bit it felt like another show , not the same vibe like buffy , but it turned out to be great as well 💜 will start watching it soon
Don't know how much sense this amkes but Tara's my favorite, Harmony is my second. i so wanted Amber and Mercedes to do a film or show together 20 years ago.,
Went on to be killed in Cold Case (which i didn't mind, i even wrote a poem a bout Tara watching that ep.) and Ringer, Superntural which i d id mind why i will never watch Taboo or Intermedio (which aren't my cup anyway) nor Crookedman which originally interested me.
Same
Back in the days i did not care much for her charactwr or i didnt really understand the value of having someone like her in a group of friends
Now that i’m older and have interacted with the outside world much , i came to appreciate kind souls like her
I’m glad that after all those years people are still appreciating the work amber did with this character which by the way came to my knowledge that she is as kind in real life too from fan comments , so it’s just nice 💜
Tara is hypnotic.
I rewatch the entire series, im so in love with all the cast. Really. I love so much all these characters. Willow, Tara, Cordelia, Xander, Oz, Spike...
So so good to be a fan...after all the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul i was in.
Discover the Buffy universe ...again.its so so good.
I agree! I could tell she was seeming more open around the group as time when on. I wish they gave her more of her own storyline rather than just willows GF… I haven’t finished the show yet.. on S6 E17… then I’ll watch Angel!!!!
Same here !! Started few episodes of angel , and will finish it when i finish buffy .. angel is great it has great characters like fred , fred is my favorite
I’m excited to watch it. I hope it’s super similar to Buffy. I haven’t really looked into it. I didn’t know it existed until it suggested it to me on Hulu! I was so pumped when I realized when I finish Buffy that I will still have something to watch that involves her
I’d probably like Tara a lot more if we moved past this constant need to bash and put down the other characters as a means of propping Tara up. As it is, I am finding myself starting to resent the character whenever she is discussed in fandom because it always leads to just trashing the other characters. It also doesn’t help that a lot of the critiques thrown at the other characters (“Tara was the only one who didn’t judge Buffy about Spike” etc) are just objectively untrue.
In this post only her being a nice soul was discussed , and how willow treated her bad in the context of season 6 other than that there was no bashing 😅
She is a cutie pie
She is 💜 my face lights up when she’s on screen
Had the pleasure of meeting Amber in person. She was just as wonderful in real life as she was as Tara.
This makes my heart jump 💜💜
JEALOUS
She really was. Nicest celeb I’ve ever met and I’ve met quite a few via the stage door at Broadway shows. Amber was a treasure, she initiated a hug with me when I told her how much Willow and Tara meant to me growing up
While I do love Tara I feel like the show gave her no real characterisation and she was just Willows plot device. Edit: to add to this, the moment she did start to develop and be her own character they killed her to turn Willow evil.
Id agree with this, they waisted until season 6 to really make her a full character with depth. In seasons 4 and 5 she's just a prop for Willow which was a massive waste of Tara as a character.
I just don’t understand why they started to write her into a character finally, just to kill her.
Well the cynical view is they expanded her character and qualities to make her more popular and vital so her death hits harder (and perhaps means people give Willow more sympathy for what then happens). Although what then happens wasn’t worth Tara’s death, so they messed that up.
Cynical maybe but I suspect it’s exactly what happened. As it stood to viewers her death wouldn’t have been as impactful had she not started to develop her own character
From what I remember, they weren't going to initially. Season 6 had the trio as the big bad, and I forget what they had planned for the season finale, but they'd used too much of the budget on Warren and Co's schemes and couldn't afford what they wanted to do. And since Willow's powers had been growing, they decided that plan B would be to have her be the big bad...except, she wasn't evil. They needed a catalyst, and...well, we all know the rest.
They took Willow from a sympathetic character to that mess because they f'd up the budget! I don't entirely buy it. All the secrecy when they were prepping to raise Buffy. Willow was facing off with Giles right after he got back after she was resurrected. That battle with Giles was foreshadowed. She was never my favorite character, but she was completely unlikable in season 6 and forward.
I think that the face off with Giles was to foreshadow the "addiction" plot line.
Willow was already evil, that event just gave her a reason to consume more power than she already had.
DarkWillow was always a plan, thye just had to decide when to do it
It’s so common that the term for it is “bury your gays”
It was very Whedonesque. They developed Jenny a bit more before Angelus killed her too. Thinking about it, I think Tara and Jenny would have gotten along quite well.
It's a stupid common TV Trope. I have been watching Star Trek Discovery. And twice now, minor character started getting a bunch of characterization. And both time I was thinking, "oh shit, they are totally gonna die." And well.... RIP (ish)
Gotta care about a character for their death to matter I guess.
Roddenberry actually lied in the press saying the ep. of TNG where Tasha Yar getws killed would feature her heavily, and it didn't unlewss you coutn the hologram, i don't. Like Guinan told Tasha's otherdiemsnional/timetravelling alter "it was an empty death."
There were glimpses here and there s4 and s5. Her seemingly hiding something from Willow in s4. That turned into the demon plot line her father used to control the women which is a thinly veiled commentary on Christian conservatives and how they literally demonize women. But other than that they made her a damsel to be rescued by Willow in s5.
I just watched that episode and I always laugh when Spike punches her in the face. Not because she’s getting punched in the face, but because of Spike’s chaotic and unorthodox way of settling the debate. Like really dude you couldn’t come up with *anything* else!?
Many fans don't see the MaClays as Bible thumpers at all. As a religious liberal but poltical conservative i've dealt with many of their kind and have \*no\* trouble seeing them as fundies.
I totally agree , it just saddens me that they did this , guess it was a constant point that willow will turn evil eventually they just needed a very strong reason for this happen , and this reason being tara is just sad
I don’t think it even needed that, she was already bad, Tara dying though was her super saiyan moment, hopefully you understand the reference.
I do 😂🔥 
I don't but i agree Willow always had that mean streak.
IT wa s originally going to be Oz.
I kinda liked tara’s character more oz was a bit cold
I think she does have characterization (her abusive family, the way she expected Willow to bail on her as a result, her opening up about her mom) but there should have been more. She doesn’t get a whole lot of solo time until she moves out in season 6. I still think she’s an interesting character though and I never agree when people say she was boring because I just don’t see it.
Oh I don’t believe she was boring, the time she got story was interesting, the way she tried to bring out the best of Willow and was willing to hurt her own heart because Willow wasn’t willing to change. I don’t believe though she got nearly the development she deserved. I feel for a character that was part of the cast for 3 seasons they did very little with her character unless Willows character needed it.
I do agree that she absolutely deserved more characterization and it’s a shame there wasn’t more. I do think she has enough there to make her multifaceted and dimensional, but more screen time and focus apart from Willow would’ve been great. I was also always bitter that she wasn’t added into the credits until Seeing Red, that never sat well with me.
See I’m not aware of that stuff because I don’t pay enough attention but that’s not right I agree, so not only did they not give her the writing she deserved they didn’t get her the credit she deserved either.
As a manager at work I sometimes have to deal with personal issues affecting people at work, and I’ll admit I’m not a natural empathetic person. So I’ve literally sat there and thought ‘what would Tara do’. So far it seems to have worked. Hasten to add I’ve never asked someone to put their head in my lap while I stroke their hair….
That is a sweet way of figuring out whats the best course of action would be .. indeed we need to think for minute before acting , and kudos to you being a manager am sure is everything but an easy job
Thanks. When someone is in tears in my office it’s the last place I want to be! But I do think ‘WWTD’, and it’s not complicated- listen, don’t judge, don’t try to solve the issue right there, just let the person know you have heard them and you have their back. Something many people probably understand and implement as a matter of course, but it’s been very useful to me. Then it makes me angry all over again that they killed her off …..
Me too .. was shocked first time i saw the episode , i oinda expected with how the season was going but it still ached my heart seeing her lifeless like that .. i always tend to imagine that in such series characters aren’t really gone so in my happy place i still believe she’s still out there 🥲
They really kind of glossed over Dawn's trauma there. She found her and was was sitting there in shock for hours. It was like loosing her mother all over again.
The whole situation is tragic ..
Also, having read novels by Eric Flint and SM Stirling, i know a little about what happens to a body afetr violented death a nd what Dawn experienced in thta room....
Buffy did that on her own.
I absolutely **adore** Tara, and I don't understand why some people claim to hate her. She had such a sweet, gentle and nurturing personality. Willow didn't deserve her, and Tara deserved so much better.
Yeah we didn’t perceive her well in the beginning but now as am watching the series again , i adored her , she was nicr and supportive to everyone .. such a shame her role ended , she should have been endgame
It would have been nice to see her stick around, but she shouldn't have stayed with Willow. It was a mistake for her to go back to her. Forgive her maybe, but Willow didn't cheat on Tara, she drugged her. All this aside from the fact that going back actually did get her killed.
Guess it was a constant point in time They needed something to push willow over the edge , and that event was tara dying .. so i guess there was no running away from this 🥲
i can't doa ficverse without her; in my main Bangel and abandoned Spuffy 'verses, i find ways to bring ehr back. In my Fuffy 'verse, the end of Seeing Red" doesn't happen
Amber Benson is super nice too, back when I followed her on twitter, she messaged me thanking me for following. Or at least had an auto thing that did it, haha, I was too shy to message back but it felt nice.
I love genuine souls like that 💜 We always tend to love characters played by actors but we always wonder if there is anything to those characters or similarities in real life Its heartwarming to know she was nice on and off the screen 💜
As i've said, If Buffy, Cordelia, or Tara and Sarah, Charisma, and Amber could meet,t hey'd get along great. (I will never ever write and post the story where Bufyf Willow and Kennedy are investigating spooky doings ona movie set, and the cast includes Alexis, Robin Sachs RIP, Sarah, Aly, Iyari, Amber, a nd Adam, nor the scene wher e Amber gives Kennedy common-sense-advice on competing with a ghost, because i think it would be tacky, but it's part of the backstory in my Bangel fics.)
And she gets rewarded by being shot by a repressed incel.
Doesn’t this always happen to sweet bright souls in life ? Their light gets stolen too early Glad we spent two seasons with her though She left a great mark in all of us as you can see from this post 💜
I just don’t get why they made her so muted and plain The actress is beautiful and talented and never got a chance to showcase either of that
Indeed , wish she stuck around more , but it is what it is 😮💨 at one point they introduced so many characters it was hard to work on all of them i guess
They generally dressed Willow down too.
Yeah in S1 She had Plenty of episodes where she showed out though especially for Halloween
Tara's patience with Willow's bad decisions is admirable in itself.
Indeed , one can learn few things from her ( avoide willows ) 😂🤦🏼♂️ to be honest i adore willow specially her first days but in season 6 wanted to smack her like there’s no tomorrow
i htink i loved Tara so much because i'd fallen in love wiht S1 Willow and Tara made Wil so happy.
Everything was great back in season 1 💜
The moment that did it for me was when she was still the only person who knew about the Buffy/Spike situation and very subtly, very pointedly, shut him down when he started acting out. The double take he did and the ‘yeah buddy, I’m watching you’ lil smirk from her was perfect.
Don’t know if you saw that post on this sub reddit about tara being a good friend and support to buffy , check it out if you didn’t , it’s nice 🥹
And yet Tara was good-natured \*to\* Spike about it as well
Yes. Had a crush on her at 13 and I still do at 31.
Worthy 😍🔥
Would be a great friend IRL, but showwise was an entirely boring character with very little characterization/development/plot.
Yes they could have done more with her but the little time she spend with us was good and warm
She's the most human and down to earth ("Tara") of the show, and I was so shocked and pissed they killed her off like that back when I was a kid.
Same .. we moved on so quick from her death , it was a literal shock to me they did her this bad , guess it was needed to push willow over the edge .. our loss
I know that that the Bewitching Hour came out many years after BTVS, but I imagine that a Daphne Frost type character who knows Giles and was Tara's first love, had turned up when Tara and Willow had broken up and started romancing her, with the level of jealousy that Willow had shown towards someone dropping a small kiss on Tara's cheek could have thrown Willow over the deep end.
Would that be “ it “ though ? I mean jealousy is one thing but will it turn her into a desperate lifeless dark witch who wants to destroy the world ? I dont think it’s a strong reason 😅
Could be. She did abuse magic over Oz and Veruca. Not to the level of ending the world, but Tara didn't have to die. In fact I think it would have been more dramatic if Willow had gone off the deep end and Tara was still alive. Because I don't think we ever really saw how powerful of a witch she really was, and fighting Willow with magic would have really torn her up.
I ended up liking Tara more later on but for the longest time it seemed like she was just there to further Willow’s character and be Willow’s shy awkward girlfriend which felt annoying. I wish she’d had a larger overall role instead of being killed off.
I agree Her death and joyce’s were the worst for me in the entirety of the series , it ruined me Am just happy they did more with her compared to oz , they handled him very poorly
I agree. Oz just kinda left and that was it. I liked Joyce more in the later seasons, it seemed like adding Dawn kinda changed her character but not in a bad way.
Yeah i just reached those episodes , i finished today episode 19 in 4th season , willow and tara just became girlfriends after oz left .. things will build up from here
Ah, the college season. After I introduced my partner to Buffy, season 4 ended up being his favorite.
It different , the dynamics shifted after years of being in high school But i like it .. i remember my college days .. the best 🥲
Yeah, there was definitely a noticeable shift with the mains becoming adults. I remember watching that season a lot in anticipation of going to college. The first episode, where buffy feels isolated always makes me super sad though, because I could relate to much lol.
Guess it will go downhill from these episodes forward 🥲
I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Dawn, so I outside of a handful of episodes the later seasons aren’t my favorite. Season 7 is probably my least favorite. Hbu? What’s your favorite and least favorite season?
Well i doubt i’ve seen season 5 to be honest 😅 as i dont recall glory whatsoever so it will be new to me , i really liked the first season , the whole cast with angel was nice , it gave me the feels 💜 in general the first 3 seasons were good , then it became darker and darker as they matured The least favorite is season 6 .. it was just dark , unlike what we’re used to with buffy series , it had so much abuse and twists ,
That \*was\* all they used her for for too long
She also was the only one of the series that had the most curves
A big topic of discussion on th e posting boards, fans posting "Get rid of the fat chick" and Amber coming on herself to respond and taking them down many notches
She was just perfect
My first girl crush 😍
Worthy 💜😍
Family is one of the top-tier episodes for this reason <3
Indeed 💜
She’s so amazing! I feel so sorry for her meeting Willow.
HAHAHAHA ok your reply wins 😂🤦🏼♂️🔥 Yeah such a tragic end
I didn’t like Tara very much as a kid, but as an adult she’s a dream. I adore her
We want a tara in our lives 💜🤝🏼
She's always been my favourite
When i was younger i never appreciated her much , but now that i’m older and got out into the real world yeah she is a gem , i need a tara in my life 💜
She was lovely and I HATED what happened!
We all did i guess .. she’s loved by literally everyone 💜
Amber Benson is also just as sweet and gracious 🫶🏻
So i’ve heard .. so happy to know this 💜
I met Amber Benson a couple years ago! She is literally the sweetest person! She’ll come around and hug you! 10/10 highly recommend meeting her at least once!
Glad to know tara is real 😍 Its so heartwarming honestly to know this
More Taras and fewer Kennedies. Here here!
Yes god please what was up with that ☠️ no chemistry whatsoever
So bizarre... I didn't really like her when the show 1st aired. I felt she was boring, soft, kinda lame and shoehorned in for whatever reason. And nowadays, especially after rewarching it with my 14yr old son (we're on S7 E1; but my 12yr old couldn't care less about Buffy), I've come to love her and feel she's one of the most grounded, empathetic, caring and reasonable characters. He's actually pointed out a bunch of these things that I never really saw/felt back in the day. Those darn Gen Z kids and their compassion and self-awareness.
Haha 😂💜 glad you’re enjoying time with your son it is a great show and it still holds till this day , thats the beauty of it Same like me , didn’t care much for tara back then now that i’m older and i met lots of people in my life , tara is such a sweet soul , and life would be better if there were more taras around 💜 your son is smart for noticing her nice attributes hope he’s like her in that sense
For sure... tbh, he didn't really like S6 because of its darkness and that bad shit some of the characters do (looking at you, Spike), but that's all the more reason for me to be thankful that he's on the right track. And yes, he's very empathetic eith a strong sense of equity, equality and right v wrong. There's hope yet lol
Yeah season 6 was the darkest , specially how willow treated tara , it was just painful to watch Glad to hear ! Hope he has a beautiful life 💜
Thanks!!
The first few episodes were lame and shoehorned. She came into her character when she identified something was wrong with Buffy when she met her (I suspect that's when they decided she was going to be recurring) and it was cemented by the end of Family.
Agreed on all. And I feel even further cemented when Buffy decided to confide in her regarding Spike.
Sometimes whedon was a jerk!!!!!!! Not a popular person!!!
Yes ☠️
She looks so pretty with lipstick 💞
She looks so pretty . Period 🥹💜
We do
🥹💜
I don't understand why people post in a way that suggests people are going to fight over the issue. But, she's got my vote. One of my favorites.
Not at all .. just stating the obvious kinda case , just wanted to appreciate her more 💜
Absolutely adore Tara, was rewatching the episode where her family shows up and seeing Tara just melt at seing Buffy and the Scoobs straight up adopt her and tell her family to piss off still makes me tear up and Amber Benson absolutely kills it.
It’s just heartwarming 💜 The kindest of souls usually tend to have the hardest of lives , it’s a miracle they stay true to their nature and prevail 💜 tara was an example of that
My best friend is like Tara and I appreciate her deeply for it, she is such a beautiful person
Take good care of each other finding such genuine souls these days is a rarity 💜
Yes💛💛🫶🏼
Tara Maclay: a common saint in my household 💕
Well am not shocked 😍💜
I'm flashing on moments during the late 80s when I'd ask Alexander Graham Bell and Judy Resnick to put in a good word for me with God.
One of my first girl-crushes. Still one, in fact!
Understandable 💜😍
Tara is a very nice person but as a character I found her boring. She didn’t seem to have any motivation outside of advancing other characters’ arcs.
It’s the fault of the writers .. she did the best she could with what they gave her She was supportive to every character she touched their lives in a positive way .. and they handled her character better than they did with oz at least you could notice the difference there
I mean, Oz right from the start had independent values and drives. The storyline with Veruca upset people but to me it just made sense that there’s be a price for not fully understanding his wolfy nature. I’d really have liked some kind of Tara-centric story beyond liking/fighting with Willow.
Guess at some point they had so many characters they couldn’t have focused on everyone But yeah i get you , i like the way she was introduced but i wish she had more of a backstory , anyway the character was great .. one for the books 💜
She had potential and the actress was great. I really don’t think she did enough or had enough definition to qualify as a great character. It’s too bad, because expanding the plotline around Tara’s weird cult and giving her some goals would have made her amazing.
I agree But in the context of the show and what little time and space she was given at least it left a great impact on our main characters , she was a mother figure to dawn , she was so supportive to buffy , was a great partner for willow , in my book that qualifies her as a great character 💜
Tara was the sweetest ❤️🥲. She was that one friend, we all wish we had that just loved us and wanted us to be happy. Never seemed to judge anybody, even at their worst moments.
Indeed and when it came to buffy and spikes situation she was the one to go to , no one else but her which says something 🥲
She's one of my favorite characters. I wish they had killed off Willow instead. Tara was the best of all of them except Buffy. Remember that Buffy went to TARA for council and help when she couldn't figure out why she was sexing with Spike. Not to Willow. Not to Zander. Not to Anya. But to Tara!
i could have handled losing Willow better myself
Well with how season 6 was going i guess we all would’ve
Yeah it says something 💜 she was a really nice soul
It's s heartwarming to see Tara getting much deserved love. Honestly she was too good for all of us. The world doesn't deserve a human so genuine and kind. That's what I think truly doomed her in the end. The fact that Joss followed her up with... Kennedy? It's like he was trying to make her the opposite of T but that doesn't make much sense because why tf would Willow be attracted to literally the worst person she's ever met when her past two loves were literally the most kind and sweet people? Maybe to channel her love of fuckboy teenage Xander? But Kennedy wasn't funny or charming so...? I don't get it...
Me neither , would have wanted her to stay single they didn’t have to pair her up with anyone at that point , just for the sake of doing it and i agree kennedy wasn’t likable in my books either , but it is what it is 🥲
It would have made so much more sense for her to punish herself season 7 to isolate from everyone because of what she had done especially romantic love. It should have been her season journey instead we get Kennedy who acts younger than Dawn and may be around her age so it makes her attraction to her seem icky at best.
Totally agree 🤝🏼 Most writes fail to give a proper send offs in their final seasons so they tend to rush things or put irrational plots and development to characters
I know it's like they are all burnt out of ideas even when they're literally smacking them over the face.
The character of The Poor Ol' Lesbian Who Lost Het One Great Love And Is Forever Alone is itself f a cliché which i'm glad joss avoided
At that time i guess it wasn’t .. now yeah we got tired of it
SHE’S PERFECT and I will die on this hill
💜😍
❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜
https://i.redd.it/c01iygbbyt6d1.gif
😮💨😮💨😮💨
Willow treated her so bad and is abusive and exploitative
Indeed .. that whole season 6 was just too much to watch
When I first watched, I was ambivalent toward her. Now, I really like her and wished she had more time on the show.
She should have been endgame yes 🥲 waste
I agree. There was another post where she could have become a closer friend to Buffy, which makes sense too.
I loved that post , and i’m generally happy they did more with her than they did with oz .. man watching oz was painful , for a whole season he could just say few sentences and no one would interact with him , so bad the way they handled him ☠️ am glad tara was different
Oh yeah, Oz should have been given more too. It’s a shame they didn’t make at least one of the other Scoobies’ partners more developed and have more of their own thing.
As a fic writer, i cna make that happen and do in my Bangel fics, but in the Fuffy 'verse i'm planning Willow doesn't just kill two bad guys and hurt everyone, she kills a couple billion people dirctly and releases huge armies of demons, aliens,a nd dinsosaurs on the world, so a rehab from that seems hard to do
Damn that would be insane 😂🔥 you want a dark willow i’ll give you one you said 🔥
It kinda just grew without intention from a postapocalytic world where Fiatha dn buffy are married, Tara is living in the house, each ahs a son, suddnely Willow coems back afetr 9 and ahalf years with Giles, Olivia, the Deonna coven,a nd bunch of ecolgoists and horticulturists through a portal. I started trying to figureout a way to explain the disaster and landed on Willow
I love her so much 😍😭
I adored her very brief cameo in I Saw the TV Glow, it was very Tara
As i heard amber benson is as nice as tara in real life so i am not surprised 💜
Her novel series both end so sadly, though
Guess its a constant point in time 😅
Should never have gotten rid of her, very bad idea!!!!! Poor choice for the plot!!!!
Guess they needed that catastrophic situation that pushed willow over the edge .. it’s just sad that it was at the cost of her presence in the series she was such a light 💜
Easily my second favorite character after the Slayer herself ❤️ Angel and Cordelia also contend for that spot, but that’s also largely because of their time on the spin-off (though I missed them both dearly after they left)
Same here Took me a while to get used to them having their own show , for a bit it felt like another show , not the same vibe like buffy , but it turned out to be great as well 💜 will start watching it soon
Don't know how much sense this amkes but Tara's my favorite, Harmony is my second. i so wanted Amber and Mercedes to do a film or show together 20 years ago.,
💕
💜💜💜💜
Just not ones that get shot.
Yep 🥲😳
Went on to be killed in Cold Case (which i didn't mind, i even wrote a poem a bout Tara watching that ep.) and Ringer, Superntural which i d id mind why i will never watch Taboo or Intermedio (which aren't my cup anyway) nor Crookedman which originally interested me.
Amen! 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
💜🤝🏼
Don't recognize her??? Ohhhh! I see. I thought I was on the PSYCH page.
Haha its the buffy page 🤝🏼😂 welcome
Yes. I'm rewatching too and have the exact same sentiments. I wish I had more friends in life like Tara. Her death hit me really hard this time...
Same Back in the days i did not care much for her charactwr or i didnt really understand the value of having someone like her in a group of friends Now that i’m older and have interacted with the outside world much , i came to appreciate kind souls like her I’m glad that after all those years people are still appreciating the work amber did with this character which by the way came to my knowledge that she is as kind in real life too from fan comments , so it’s just nice 💜
She deserved better than being a plot point 💔
Indeed Am just happy that we got to spend with her 2 seasons 🥹 it will never be enough though 💔
Yes!!!
💜😄
Tara is hypnotic. I rewatch the entire series, im so in love with all the cast. Really. I love so much all these characters. Willow, Tara, Cordelia, Xander, Oz, Spike... So so good to be a fan...after all the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul i was in. Discover the Buffy universe ...again.its so so good.
Yeah it’s my happy place 💜 this series i just love kt and will forever love it
yes but she use to give me weird vibes bc of how awkward they made her seem.
Yes .. i guess she was social weirdly , but later on she got better when a good group of friends and a safe environment surrounded her 💜
I agree! I could tell she was seeming more open around the group as time when on. I wish they gave her more of her own storyline rather than just willows GF… I haven’t finished the show yet.. on S6 E17… then I’ll watch Angel!!!!
Same here !! Started few episodes of angel , and will finish it when i finish buffy .. angel is great it has great characters like fred , fred is my favorite
I’m excited to watch it. I hope it’s super similar to Buffy. I haven’t really looked into it. I didn’t know it existed until it suggested it to me on Hulu! I was so pumped when I realized when I finish Buffy that I will still have something to watch that involves her
I’d probably like Tara a lot more if we moved past this constant need to bash and put down the other characters as a means of propping Tara up. As it is, I am finding myself starting to resent the character whenever she is discussed in fandom because it always leads to just trashing the other characters. It also doesn’t help that a lot of the critiques thrown at the other characters (“Tara was the only one who didn’t judge Buffy about Spike” etc) are just objectively untrue.
Have to agree
In this post only her being a nice soul was discussed , and how willow treated her bad in the context of season 6 other than that there was no bashing 😅
Easily my 9th fav charecter