Vampires Beware! She Bites Back! (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Member Name: GramiWay

Product:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Date:	07/08/09 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful characters, dialogue, writing, appealing to everyone

Disadvantages: Some unsuitable scenes

I know that during my time on Dooyoo I have provided a review on each individual season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer but this is an overview of the entire show in the hopes that it will entice new viewers and open up a world to them which at times has been a friend, a comfort, a confidant and a general output of humour for me. I hope I haven't over done this or missed anything!

- History & Conception -

Buffy began in the form of a movie, aptly titled 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'. The 1992 box office flop stared Kristy Swanson as the fashion conscious vampire killer, Donald Sutherland as her watcher and Luke Perry as her love interest.

Joss Whedon was the creator of the character and the mythology that surrounded both the film and the TV show, but felt that the movie wasn't done justice. Fortunately, he was given the chance to bring Buffy back from the dead four years later when American network the WB expressed interested in a show focused on the slayer.

Sarah Michelle Gellar took the title role gaining international stardom in the process whilst unknown actors Alyson Hannighan, Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head and David Boreanaz all breathed life into the show as various other characters. The show premièred in Spring 1997 with a 12 episode season. It gained a huge fandom and went down well with critics and went on to run for 144 episodes spanning seven seasons before culminating in 2003.

The show has also spawned a wide variety of merchandise from a role playing game, to stand alone novels, figures and most notably the spin off show 'Angel' revolving around Boreanaz's character. Buffy has also recently returned once again, this time in comic book form which officially picks up after the end of the TV series to show fans what happens next.

- Why I Love It? -

The great thing about Buffy is that the show was vibrant and exciting and turned people's pre-conceived opinions on their heads. The title itself is very outrageous and the idea of a blonde, school girl killing all sorts of terrible creatures from nightmares is laughable but pretty damn amazing that Whedon managed to pull it off in the way he did.

I love the characters. The characterisation on the show has always been incredible. The doomed relationships and the realistic drama that each character faces in their personal lives is always dealt with and touched upon in a wonderful way that allows the audience to really feel what's going on and relate the situation and it's very rare I get that involved in a show. Usually they're just something I watch to amuse myself but 'Buffy' uses modern day issues people face like sexuality, losing your virginity, drug addiction and death and puts a supernatural spin on them whilst still being believable.

The witty language created just for the show is extremely entertaining. 'Buffy' is a show drenched with references to pop culture such as The X Files, Spiderman, Star Trek and even things like Hitler.
It's fresh and exciting and the writers are always finding new ways to use everyday metaphors and twist them into a brilliant story.

- Structure -

The show deals with stand alone episodes usually revolving around 'a monster of the week', whilst also adding to larger story arcs which play out over longer periods. Buffy is forced to confront a new foe and uses her friends to 'research' whatever event or monster is in town, before battling it.

Each episode is between 40 - 45 minutes in length and each season usually contains a 'Big Bad' that is the primary antagonist Buffy has to defeat. The show deals with the character's lives with these issues sometimes being related to the main story of the episode or dominating entire episodes with little emphasis on the actual supernatural.

The show has also done episodes in the style of a silent movie, a musical and an episode focusing entirely on the character's dreams amongst others. Personal favourites include the gang losing their memories and an episode in which everybody becomes what they're masquerading as for Halloween.

Whedon is a huge fan of the plot twist which on first viewing always keeps you in suspense. I used to love thinking I knew what was going on only to be side tracked when the story took an unexpected turn!


- Seasons -

A breakdown of each season to wet your appetite:

- Season One -
Buffy Summers is just like any other 16 year old girl. She wants to have fun, have a boyfriend and grow up - NORMAL. But as we soon discover she is anything but normal. Buffy is the latest in a long line of chosen female warriors known as the Slayer. It is her destiny to battle the forces of darkness - in particular vampires.

The series starts with Buffy and her mother Joyce moving to the town of Sunnydale which just happens to be on a Hellmouth. A Hellmouth is a portal of tremendous energy that leads to another dimension and causes all sorts of odd and paranormal things to occur in the town and is also why Sunnydale has so many undead inhabitants. Buffy meets her best friends Willow & Xander, future love interest Angel and her watcher Giles and spends most of the season trying to juggle school and her slaying duties and take on an extremely old and powerful vampire known as The Master. I love how innocent and happy the characters are in this season. There are one or two dark episodes but it's just nice to see Buffy not as depressed as she becomes over the course of the show.

Season Two
Buffy's romance with the ensouled vampire Angel continues to blossom but an event causes Angel to lose his soul and resort to his evil persona Angelus. As Angelus terrorises Buffy and her friends, the slayer struggles to deal with his mind games and come to the point where she is able to kill her. Throw in the usual high school traumas, a new batch of creepy demons to take on and the arrival of two very sexy and evil vampires Spike and Drusilla and Buffy has a lot to handle.

Season Three -
This year sees the show focus around the gang's senior year at high school and all the usual trials that brings with it. Buffy is forced to embrace her destiny as her relationship with Angel deteriorates and rogue slayer Faith [played by the brilliant Eliza Dushku] throws a spanner in the works. As graduation approaches the gang also struggle to find a way to stop Sunnydale's evil mayor and his 'acension'.

Season Four -
Buffy feels dwarfed by her new college environment as the gang drift apart and struggle to find themselves in the big bad world. Willow starts to question her sexuality whilst Xander bounces from one pointless job to the next. Buffy also starts dating Riley Finn only to discover he is part of a secret government organisation experimenting on supernatural creatures. However, the Initiative has a much more sinister purpose: a human, demon, machine hybrid by the name of Adam.

Season Five -
Buffy moves closer to Spike who declares his love for the slayer as her relationship with Riley crumbles. Buffy is torn between her destiny and her family as her mother is taken ill and her bratty sister Dawn is suddenly thrown into the mix. It turns out Dawn is actually a mythical key sent to Buffy for protection from the mentally unstable hell god Glory.
Can Buffy keep the world intact when everything close to her is falling apart?

Season Six -
The year of the infamous musical and also the depressing and dark shadows that took over the characters. As Xander prepares to marry Anya, Buffy returns from the grave and into an abusive relationship with Spike, Giles leaves for England and Willow's reliance on magic begins to spiral out of control. Three nerds also try to take over Sunnydale and their comical ways lead to them inadvertently creating the true danger of the series...

Season Seven -
It's all hands on deck as Buffy and her friends face the source of all evil - The First. With allies new and old jumping on board, Buffy finds herself burdened with raising an army of potential slayers before the Hellmouth, The First and its inhabitants swallow her whole...



Characters -
I loved Sarah Michelle Gellar's performances even though the character of Buffy got very unlikeable and hard in later seasons. She always added a bubbly, high spirited tone to her voice and the serious moments of the show demonstrate some flawless acting.
I don't see the hype around James Marsters, other than he looks sexy as bad boy vampire Spike. The character became overused and whilst is a great example of the show's excellent characterisation, I felt he tried to take over the show too much and ruined quite a lot of the final two seasons.

Anthony Stewart Head stars as Giles, Buffy's watcher and father figure and his very 'British' manner always amused me. Every episode he is in has at least one line from him that makes me laugh, whilst Alyson Hannighan's Willow steals every scene she is in. Her very outgoing, quirky and geeky nature in the early seasons makes her adorable though she becomes rather obnoxious and cast aside towards the end as does the other principal character Xander.

Inclusions to Buffy's gang of supernatural fighters over the years include Charisma Carpenter as bitchy, rich girl Cordelia Chase. She lights up the first three seasons with her acid tongue an over reaction to everything but grows on you and even more so on the spin-off 'Angel' in which she joins Boreanaz after Buffy's third season.

- Suitable For Kids -

I'd recommend watching the show with younger children as even though the DVDS generally get a 12 or 15 rating, some of the scenes in various episodes are very violent or frightening. Not a lot of the demons are too scary though there are exceptions and especially in season six, the show is very dark and disturbing and has some graphic sex scenes and other violent moments which are unsuitable for a younger audience. Overall I'd say Buffy can be a family show if you're prepared to explain everything to your kids!

- Conclusion -

'Buffy' combines the supernatural world with romance, tragedy, drama and comedy. The acting and writing is always on fine form and though the show does become a bit disjointed in its later years it becomes more mature and grab a more adult audience with its themes. I love how the characters progress realistically and the depths Joss will go to to keep on bringing incredible stories the screen.

The introduction of Dawn was annoying to me as Michelle Tractenberg is a terrible actress who became pretty irrelevant to the show's plot after her initial story arc was over only to serve as a winging background ornament every now and again.

There are great fight scenes and some brilliant special effects for a show airing in the late 1990s. Some of the demons can be quite frightening and the vampire dusting technique continues to evolve over the course of the show.

Joss Whedon turned the vampire world on its head and never stopped bringing outlandish and captivating monsters and relationships to the show. The fact that the show still has a hardcore and dedicated fan base 15 years on proves that 'Buffy' is one of the best TV shows of all time.

With wonderful, witty dialogue, interesting and loveable characters and the perfect partnership of talented writers and actors 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' is the best TV show ever in my opinion and it's well worth checking out. You can catch it often on Sky One/Two/Three or more regularly on FX. You can also buy on DVD with each box set being crammed with extras and available for as little a £13.00 each on sites like Amazon.



* For more information on individual seasons, check my reviews on them.

Summary: Television with an added punch