I thought season 6 was great at first but I hated that Debra fell for Dexter. It seemed too strange for me. I'll give season 7 a chance though. I didn't expect seasons 5 and 6 to top season 4 for me but I expected them to at least be as good as season 1 and 2. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
Thanks! Yes, I agree with you. There were definitely some great episodes in seasons 4 and 6. Hush, Restless and the Musical episodes were all great but I didn't like that one of my favorite characters, Spike, fell for Buffy. I really liked him as a villain. I also liked it when he came back in season 3 and was depressed about Drusilla.
I also felt that the cast was stronger in the first 3 seasons. For instance, I didn't like Dawn very much and yes I admit that I was pretty sad when Angel and Oz left the show. The show didn't seem to have the same vibe when some of the original cast members left but it is true that seasons 4 and 6 did have some strong episodes. I just preferred the show as a whole before season 4.
I pretty much agree with you except that one of the great things about the show is how it was constuntly changing and playing with the format so personally I thought it was an interesting twist to have a realtionship between Buffy and Spike the stuff with him and Angel trying to out do each other was a joy.
Dawn was a weak character when first introduced but I think in season six she did come into her own.