5. Not Afraid to Make Risky Choices
Buffy Season 8 ends but not without a big bang (almost literally). A lot of awesome but controversial stuff happens, which changes Buffys world forever. Arguably, the changes at the end of this season are the biggest changes a Buffy finale has ever had (maybe not quite as big as Season 7). People die a lot of people. But more importantly, one of the core 4 Scoobies die (and no, it isnt Buffy again). Considering Joss said that it was important to keep Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles and Dawn together at the end of the television series, the choice to kill off one of these characters, in a fairly surprising, brutal, undignified manner, was one of the most risky and brave choices Joss has ever made (on the same level as killing Wash in Serenity or Fred in Angel). Not to mention he completely changes the lives of pretty much every single main character, particularly Angel and Willow- and more on Xander and Dawn later