Joss Whedon (the Buffy creator) is interviewed in the New York Times. He is always funny and somewhat flip, but now that the series is over, maybe it is the strain of all the interviews, or just general tiredness, or who knows, but he is getting a little more mean/upsetting and less funny…

He talks about how a lot of plots are really just played out for convenience, and tries to downplay the deeper meanings. I think this could very well be because the plot points being discussed are season 6 and 7 episodes that Joss probably didn’t have much of a hand in, and, I’m kinda hoping, didn’t really like. Because I didn’t really like them…

One good quote, though, comes during talk about redemption:

I think the mistakes I’ve made in my own life have plagued me, but they’re pretty boring mistakes: I committed a series of grisly murders in the eighties and I think I once owned a Wilson-Phillips Album. Apart from that I’m pretty much an average guy, yet I have an enormous burden of guilt. I’m not sure why. I’m a WASP, so it’s not Jewish or Catholic guilt; it’s just there. Ultimately, the concept of somebody who needed to be redeemed is more interesting to me. I think it does make a character more textured than one who doesn’t.

You go Joss! He also gives a very telling statement about Sarah Michelle Geller and the rest of the cast. He is talking about how the actors influence the characters, and after a bit about Willow and Giles, he throws this one in:

Sarah’s [character] became more thoughtful and intelligent. Buffy also became a little bit closed off from the other characters, in the same way that a star is kind of separated from an ensemble, so we dealt with the idea of the isolation of the Slayer, of the person who has to lead.

Interesting, that.

Finally, the interviewer asks Joss what he would like out of another season, if he could have one. In the previous answer he had made it quite clear already that ending the show after seven seasons was his decision, despite what Sarah Michelle Geller might have said, and he responds (and ends the interview) with:

Honestly, if I had a strong answer for that question there probably would be another season. I think it’s time they all went their separate ways. And so my answer is, I can’t possibly think of anything, I’m simply too tired. That’s the end, thanks very much.

Aww. Go get some rest, Joss. You deserve it.