k-vichan:

I can’t believe I’ve been watching Buffy repeatedly for as long as I have and this little nugget only recently sunk in.

The opening credits changed throughout the years, but they ALWAYS ended on a shot of Buffy herself. 

But check out the last two seasons.

Season 6 – 

Season 7 – 

Neither one is actually Buffy. 

(One is the Buffybot, the other is the First.) 

Yeah. The last two seasons’ credits both ended on shots of things that looked like Buffy, but weren’t actually Buffy.

That’s kinda interesting on a bunch of different levels. That’s when the show switched networks. Those are the two seasons that took place after Buffy died. Those are the two seasons that a lot of people hate (your truly NOT included) and said it didn’t feel like ‘Buffy’ anymore. Those are the seasons when Whedon started stepping away (and Jane Espenson and Marti Noxon started stepping up more, although Noxon had to leave before the series concluded, IIRC… to work on Still Life starring one Jensen Ackles).