This Show's Got Bite! (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Member Name: wyrdsister

Product:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Date:	30/12/01 (259 review reads)
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the spin off from an entertaining but mediocre film starring Rutger Hauer as head vampire complete with tasteful white grease-paint face effects (please!), Donald Sutherland as the watcher and some blond girl playing Cheerleader Buffy. Needless to say, Buffy kills all the vampires, half the school is wrecked in the process and she saves LA from the grip of the Undead.

The TV series version starts more or less where the film ended, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) got expelled for violence and arson, the family, minus the dad, has had to move to Sunnydale, Buffy tries to hide her “heritage” and start her new life. Unfortunately, destiny has a habit of catching up with you and before long, her new watcher Rupert Giles, played by Anthony Steward Head, is intent on reminding her of her duties. “In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of Darkness. She is the Slayer” well, not quite alone: along for the ride is computer geek Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Mr unpopular Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendan) who inadvertently discovers the true identity of their new friend. And of course there is the love interest, Angel (David Boreanaz), the tortured vampire with a soul who has vowed to make amends for the atrocities of his past. Occasionally and reluctantly part of the action, is superficiality personified: Cordelia Chase(Charisma Carpenter).

There we have it. Buffy, the reluctant hero surrounded by a gang of misfits fights against the vampires and well the fighting was probably the most interesting thing to watch. The first series was almost purely based around the supernatural element and the desire of Buffy to be a normal school girl. The Scooby gang served as a foil to the central character and it seemed to me that it was kill vampires, kill vampires, teenage angst, kill more vampires. I know, I know, she is the Vampire Slayer.



As the series progressed, Joss Whedon (writer & producer) must have realised that there was more to the show than Buffy and the peripheral characters began to have more influence in the show. Although he does not depart completely from the vampire element, he introduces more effective and inventive foes (Spike and Drusilla for exemple), the stories began to move towards a more complex arc format and focused more on the character’s interactions and evolutions. Willow, for example, takes a new direction as she discovers an affinity for magic. Most of series two however focuses on the relationship between Buffy and Angel and its consequences. Whedon manages to incorporate the “enemy within” concept brilliantly, and the second half of this season makes for compelling viewing. The show certainly progressed towards darker, more grown up story lines with more challenging foes for Buffy and her crew. The bonds between the characters grew stronger, the choices became harder and the price for winning dearer.

Series three sees Buffy coming home after her disappearance two months earlier. When Angel returns, Buffy faces some difficult times and she has to lie to protect him from the judgement of her friends. This leads to some nice relational developments within the group, notably between Giles and Buffy. A new Slayer has come to town. Her name is Faith and she doesn’t play by the rules. This season also marks the departure from the main vampire theme, as new and more refreshing challenges were needed. The introduction of a seemingly invincible enemy made it a lot more interesting and finding ways to succeed became more obscure and required more thinking about, giving the team more input. New members join the gang: amongst others, the literal minded ex-demon Anya (Emma Caulfield) and Willow’s boyfriend Oz (Seth Green), the stoical musician and part-time werewolf. The arc story is well crafted and again, Whedon uses the enem
y wit
hin idea to great effect; the sacrifices made by the characters have deep repercussions in the following seasons.

It’s a new and exciting time for Willow as she and Buffy move out of their homes to live on the campus of Sunnydale University in season four. However Buffy feels isolated in this new environment and alone without Angel. But the team reunites once again in their new setting to carry on the fight. There’s a new man in Buffy’s life, Riley Finn (Mark Blucas). As the pair slowly hit it off, watch out for some superb Oz and Willow moments as their relationship is put to the test. Spike (James Marsters) is back to cause trouble for the Slayer, but before he has the chance to do anything, he is “apprehended” by a secretive military group: the Initiative. When it is revealed that Riley belongs to this organisation, it seems Buffy has found a new ally. But having escaped his captors and been rendered harmless, Spike seeks refuge with Giles; the group then learn that the Initiative may just have been too good to be true.
Season three is the most complex yet. Whedon makes interesting use of the Frankenstein myth and manages to incorporate it nicely into a modern context. Willow also starts to take a more dominant role within the group and surprises everyone with her relationship with girlfriend Tara (Amber Benson). There are some really innovative stories in this season (“Hush” springs to mind) as well as some interesting crossover with Buffy’s sister series Angel that are worth a look.

Season five will probably have you glued to your seat. After a thankfully brief encounter with Dracula, Buffy realises that she needs Giles to help her find out more about who she is. He decides to stay and acquires the Magic Box, Sunnydale’s occult shop. When her mother Joyce becomes ill, Buffy becomes suspicious of her younger sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Slightly confused? After a dan
gerous enc
ounter with a nasty piece of supernatural bimbo work called Glory, Buffy discovers Dawn’s true identity: she is the Key, a mystical energy matrix, in human form and she must be protected at all cost: Glory wants it and will not stop until she finds it. As if things were not complicated enough, Riley and Buffy’s relationship is breaking apart, and she seems unable to stop him leaving. And when Spike reveals his feelings for her, it only seems to make matters worse. As Buffy’s world slowly crumbles around her, it becomes apparent that Glory is unlike anything she has faced before. Although there are some flaws in the arc story (the knights in armour would be one and I’m afraid robots don’t really do it for me) it is nevertheless one of the most compelling and intriguing story line to hit Buffy. The characters are really put through their paces and Buffy’s emotional evolution is brilliantly acted by Gellar. What first appears to be a rather pathetic sub plot really serves to give Spike more depth and allows a refreshing departure from his comic relief role. As the season draws to its conclusion, the pace picks up dramatically and there are some good twists thrown in the mix to make what is the best of Buffy so far.

At the start of season six, Buffy has been gone for three months and the gang is struggling to keep the forces of darkness at bay in Sunnydale. When Buffy is brought back by Willow’s spell, she is changed by her ordeal, and it seems she is having difficulties readjusting to life in Sunnydale. Unable to speak to her friends, she finds solace with her old foe, Spike, who is uncertain how to react to her attentions. Giles, meanwhile, feels that he can do no more for his protégée and finally leaves Sunnydale. Willow’s continual use of magic is finally taking its toll. Unable to give it up, Willow finds herself alone, heartbroken and addicted to magic. In the meantime, Xander and Anya are ge
tting busy plan
ning their wedding, and the tension is rising. While Buffy tries to get a grip on her life and her guardianship of Dawn, she is constantly harassed by the annoying trio of would be super villain geeks: Jonathan, Warren and the other one. Determined to put an end to their pathetic schemes, Buffy finally takes on the trio. In turn, Warren tries to put an end to the Slayer. Little did he know that he would inadvertently unleash a force so powerful that it could destroy the world. Spike, meanwhile leaves to find a way to be his old self again, so he can take revenge on the Slayer and give her what she deserves. But as they say, be careful what you wish for…Season six started with a bang, and the first episode is first rate, however, after the massive arc in season five, it seems Whedon opted to get back to basics and employ the old season one format. The arc here seems concerned with the emotional evolutions and tribulations of the characters, which is fine, but falls a little short in my opinion. The season really misses the input of Giles, as well as a genuinely challenging antagonist. The main baddies, in the form of the trio, are a pale follow up to the Glory days, and if the end of season is impressive, it comes a little late to effectively pull the season together.

Still, there are tantalising and unexpected developments revealed in the finale, which provide an interesting appetiser for the next season. The rumour is that season seven will see the end of Buffy as a series. Let’s hope that Whedon manages to bring the show back to its former, higher standard and ends the series with a bang.

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