Perhaps ME lost "the courage of it's convictions"?
Well, there really wasn't a lot of room in s7 to add dark!Giles* on top of everything else... It would really have had to happen (or at least be set up) earlier, back when Buffy still depended on Giles. S7 Buffy can just shut Giles out; s3 Buffy would have had a much harder time doing that, precisely because he'd set himself up as a better authority figure than anything else on offer.
* Or perhaps boss!Giles or respect!my!authoritah!Giles would sound better. Giles' interest as a villain really would be the exact opposite of Ripper - he'd be the authority figure who Just Wants What's Best for Buffy. It's For Her Own Good. Pretty much LMPTM as an arc.
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Well, there really wasn't a lot of room in s7 to add dark!Giles* on top of everything else... It would really have had to happen (or at least be set up) earlier, back when Buffy still depended on Giles. S7 Buffy can just shut Giles out; s3 Buffy would have had a much harder time doing that, precisely because he'd set himself up as a better authority figure than anything else on offer.
* Or perhaps boss!Giles or respect!my!authoritah!Giles would sound better. Giles' interest as a villain really would be the exact opposite of Ripper - he'd be the authority figure who Just Wants What's Best for Buffy. It's For Her Own Good. Pretty much LMPTM as an arc.