Buffy's dealing with the fallout of having destroyed all (or most) magic in existence. Every formerly magical creature is out to get her, Willow's barely talking to her, and newly turned vampires are slavering zombie-like creatures instead of the somewhat rational beings she's fought before. And something's coming for Buffy, something deeply angry about the Seed, something that wants her head. . . . 
 After the insanity of season eight, this was actually pretty refreshing. Buffy's back to her roots, more-or-less: fighting vampires, being awkward with Spike, not listening to her friends' advice, getting in trouble with the police. There's none of the crazy it's-a-comic-so-we-can-do-whatever-we-want runaway magic stuff going on here. The writers are back to examining how being a Slayer is difficult and requires choices not asked of mortal folk, as well as how the fallout of those choices affects those around her. Since I gave up on season eight about halfway through out of disgust and annoyance, finishing it grudgingly only because I don't like to leave things unfinished if I can help it, I'm liking the direction this is going and look forward to more.