Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 1: Becoming

Season 2, Episodes 21, 22
First Aired May 12th and 19th, 1998

So we've had a silent episode, a musical episode, and three season finales. What could possibly be my favorite episode(s) of Buffy? The Season 2 finale, "Becoming, Parts 1 and 2" may have the greatest fight sequence I've ever seen. After watching Buffy and Angel fall in love, only to be torn apart by the reawakening of Angelus, the only way this season could end was with a fight between Buffy and Angelus. But the buildup was just as intense.

Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla found the remains of an ancient demon that, if awakened, would be able to suck the world into a hell dimension. Desperate to stop Angelus from fulfilling his goal, Buffy walked into a trap, and Giles was captured by Drusilla, Kendra (a vampire slayer called when Buffy was momentarily dead in the Season 1 finale) was killed by Drusilla, and Willow was injured while trying to perform the spell to restore Angel's soul. These events finally made Buffy realize that Angel would not be coming back, and it gave her the resolve to finally take him on.

However, she couldn't take on Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla by herself... but Spike wouldn't be a problem. He didn't want to destroy the world, and he wanted Angelus out of the picture, so he offered Buffy a truce. The two foes worked together to try and prevent Angelus from awakening the demon, but they failed. Once Angelus performed the ritual, Buffy had to reverse the spell by offering Angelus as a sacrifice to it. As she was ready to perform the finishing blow, Willow was able to restore his soul. Buffy was instead forced to send the man she loved to hell, rather than an evil vampire. Sarah Michelle Gellar hit it out of the park, and she tearfully did what she had to in order to save the world. This sacrifice was slightly cheapened because Angel came back (The WB ordered the spin-off Angel, and if Angel didn't come back, the show wouldn't have a leading character), but the scene still tugs at my heartstrings every time I see it. This was truly the best episode of the series.

Up next: Angel #10...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 2: Once More, With Feeling

Season 6, Episode 7
First Aired November 6, 2001

Speaking of episodes that could be bad gimmicks, we come to the #2 episode, "Once More, With Feeling", the famous musical episode. Whedon is a huge musical fan, and he always wanted to do some kind of musical, and this episode was his first foray into the genre (he would do it again with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog). When I first heard that there was a musical episode, I thought it was a silly idea, but as you can see, I no longer think that.

The arrival of a demon has caused the citizens of Sunnydale to sing their secrets to each other. Xander and Anya sing about their nervous attitude toward their upcoming wedding, Spike reaffirms his feelings for Buffy, and Buffy tells all her friends the truth about her afterlife experiences. The events of the episode are pivotal, and set the course for the rest of Season 6, but the episode wouldn't be memorable if the songs weren't good. I'm actually listening to "Walk Through the Fire" as I write this. The songs are well-written, well-performed (especially for the fact that all of the actors do their own singing, and most of them aren't trained singers), and are both humorous and dramatic.

This episode is kind of the gold standard of musical episodes; when the rare musical episode is produced, it is invariably measured against this. I remember when the Scrubs musical aired, every reviewer brought up "Once More, With Feeling". And, this episode is always brought up whenver people discuss Buffy. Season 6 was very polarizing, but I have not met a fan yet who dislikes this episode.

Up next: Buffy #1...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 3: Hush

Season 4, Episode 10
First Aired December 14, 1999

Joss Whedon knows how to write incredible dialogue, and the only major Emmy nomination Buffy ever received was in the writing category. Ironically, the episode that was nominated, "Hush", used very little dialogue. More than 2/3rds of the episode was done without characters saying a word. A group of monsters, called the Gentlemen, come to Sunnydale, and because their only weakness is the human voice, they magically steal the voice of everyone in town.

Without their voices, the actors had to use their faces and their bodies to convey what their characters were feeling, and they did an incredible job. I still don't know why some of the Buffy actors are relative unknowns, because they certainly know how to use everything at their disposal to play their parts.

The music was also instrumental (sorry) in telling the story. The musical cues helped express the way characters were feeling, and it added to the sense of dread the residents of Sunnydale felt. Also, the Gentlemen were some of the freakiest villains ever to appear in the Buffyverse (this includes monsters from Angel).

In the hands of a lesser writer, "Hush" would be a bad gimmick episode. With Joss Whedon, we have one of the series' best episodes.

Up next: Buffy #2...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 4: Graduation Day

Season 3, Episodes 21 and 22
First Aired May 18th and July 13th, 1999

After three years at Sunnydale high, where Buffy and her friends faced the horrors of high school, graduation day arrived, and Buffy finished high school with a bang. She was an outcast from the moment she stepped on campus, but she spent her time protecting her classmates from vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. In an unexpected twist the week before, at the prom, Buffy's classmates gave her the greatest honor imaginable: they thanked her all she did. Meanwhile, throughout the season, Sunnydale's mayor was preparing for a bizarre ritual that would transform him into a gigantic, demonic serpent. And he revealed that the transformation would occur during his speech to the graduating class of Sunnydale High.

Buffy and her friends needed to find a way to stop the Mayor from doing too much damage, but they also had to find a way to deal with Faith, who had gone dark after she accidentally killed a human. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, her new watcher, tried to capture her instead of talking to her about what happened, and she lost faith in her friends. In an effort to take out both Buffy and Angel, she shot Angel with an arrow coated in a vampire poison. Angel became very sick, and Buffy became obsessed with curing him. When Buffy discovered that the only antidote was the blood of a slayer, she went to great lengths to make sure Angel got some before it was too late.

Eventually, Buffy was able to formulate a plan to take out the Mayor, and it invovled the entire school. For one night, the entire graduating class was able to put aside their differences and come together to fight their demon(s). The sequence was incredible, but unfortunately, the Columbine tragedy had recently occurred, and Part 2 was delayed for a few months due to fear of being insensitive. The fight ended with Buffy blowing up the school to kill the Mayor (like I said, she left high school with a bang), and the network was afraid of that, plus all the school kids with weapons, wouldn't be positively received. Fortunately, the end was extremely satisfying and was one of the best sequences from the entire series.

Up next: Interlude...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 5: The Gift

Season 5, Episode 22
First Aired May 22, 2001

This is the second season finale to make the list, and I assure you, there will be more. Unlike many shows, Buffy didn't always wait for the season finales for major events to happen; people could die unexpectedly at any time, and huge plot developments could occur in any random episode. However, the season finales were usually pretty awe-inspiring; they were the culmination of all the huge events throughout the season, so although I don't want this list to be "The Season Finales of Buffy the Vampire Slayer", the ones that are on the list are here for a reason (strangely, although many of Angel's season finales were contenders for that list, not a single finale made the final Angel list).

I think that Seasons 2, 3, and 5 are my three favorite seasons of Buffy; I'm not quite sure how to rank them because each of them brings something different to the table. I liked Season 5 because it helped transition the show into a metaphor for life itself (the high school seasons were incredible, but high school ends, and Whedon embraced that idea with the later seasons) and Glory, the Big Bad, was incredible. Her story was mythic (she was a goddess) and personal because of Dawn. Even though Buffy and Dawn weren't actually sisters, the feelings that go with having a sibling were still present for Buffy, and an attack on Dawn was an attack on her. "The Gift" was the series' 100th episode, and the writers feared it would also be the last, so they decided to throw in as much greatness as possible.

The entire season comes together in this episode, and some things that seemingly were meaningless suddenly become important. Olaf's troll hammer becomes an integral part of the battle against Glory, as does Warren's Buffybot. All of the crazy people who were victims of Glory's "brain sucking", including Tara, lead Buffy and her friends to the kidnapped Dawn. Doc, played by Joel Grey, reveals his true intentions, and the First Slayer's message to Buffy, that "death is [her] gift" is given its true meaning. The fight with Glory is fantastic, but Buffy's gift is what fans remember about the episode. In order to save both the world in general and her sister in particular, Buffy makes the ultimate sacrifice: herself. By throwing herself into the portal opened by Dawn's blood, Buffy is able to close it, which stops all the destruction that it was causing (and the only other way to close it would be by killing Dawn). One other thing I want to mention is the way Giles finally ends the threat posed by Glory. The only way to kill her was killing Ben, her human host body, but because Ben is (for the most part) an innocent, Buffy couldn't bring herself to do it. She made a choice that showed how much she valued human life; even though killing Ben would likely prevent future death, she couldn't possible kill in the name of the greater good. But Giles can...

Up next: Buffy # 4...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 6: Surprise/Innocence

Season 2, Episodes 13 and 14
First Aired January 19th and 20th, 1998

By the time these episodes aired, Buffy had found its groove and had proved it was something worth paying attention to (I think that by "Prophecy Girl", the show was firing on all cylinders). However, if anyone had any lingering reservations, this two-night, two-part event showed everyone that not only can Buffy be entertaining, it is willing to break all the rules.

Up through "What's My Line", I'm guessing that we were supposed to think that Spike and Drusilla were going to be the season's Big Bads (Spike was originally set to die, likely in that episode, and I think the final shot with a restored Drusilla rescuing him was a near-last minute revision in response to Spike's popularity). These episodes revealed who the true Big Bad was. "Surprise" started with Buffy dreaming that Drusilla was still undead, and she fears that she will reappear in their lives. The episode then starts the "Buffy's birthday" tradition that would happen every year through Season 6; this year, while at Buffy's party, the group stops one of Spike's minions who was carrying a strange box containing an arm. Angel and Jenny explain that it belongs to the Judge, a seemingly immortal demon who was powerful enough to destroy a room full of living beings with only his thoughts. Angel realizes that Spike and Dru are trying to reform the Judge (because he couldn't be killed, he was dismembered and his pieces were scattered across the globe), and decides to take the arm as far away from Sunnydale as possible. Jenny is all too eager to assist him, and we learn that she is actually a gypsy and member of the same tribe that cursed Angel with his soul. Unfortunately, Angel fails, and the Judge is reformed. Buffy and Angel barely escape with their lives, and in the heat of passion, they make love for the first time.

The ending of "Surprise" was very tender, as the two of them finally released all of their pent up feelings... but then it turns out that that wasn't the end. As thunder cracks outside, Angel wakes up, seemingly in a lot of pain. He runs outside into the rain and yells out the name of his lover. "Innocence" picks up from there, when a random woman sees what she thinks is a man in pain. She walks up to him and asks him if he's ok. Angel whips around, with his vamp face, and feeds on her. Angelus is back. The rest of the episode is about Buffy dealing with not only the loss of her boyfriend, but the addition of an enemy, Giles dealing with Jenny's betrayal, Willow dealing with the revelation that Xander is dating Cordelia, and of course, taking on the Judge. Actually, taking out the Judge wasn't really the climax; Xander came up with a brilliant plan that worked as expected. The climax was a fight between Buffy and Angelus, a fight that Buffy actually WINS. But when she raised her stake to finish him, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, all she could do was kick him in the groin, but Buffy would come to regret her weakness in the weeks to come.

Up next: Buffy # 5...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 7: Restless

Season 4, Episode 22
First Aired May 23, 2000

Season 4 was an interesting year; some fans think it was amazing, others classify it as the worst of the series. The Big Bad was criticized for being uninteresting (I think that's unfair; he was supposed to represent the faceless military/technology, and succeeded) and showing up too late in the season, and it had some of the worst episodes of the series ("Beer Bad" being the prime example). However, it does have some incredible episodes, and it served as a transition of sorts; the three previous years were about high school, the three subsequent seasons would be about life after school, but this year was about college. The core four (Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles) suffered from what many high friends go through when they all go to different colleges; they all began leading different lives (Buffy joined the Initiative, Xander entered the job market, Willow started exploring her sexuality, and Giles struggled being unemployed). So it's fitting that the season finale was different than all other season finales, in that, instead of resolving the Big Bad storyline, it was an epilogue to the season that both served as a coda to the season and foreshadowed much of what was to come in Season 5.

Each act of the episode is a different character's dream, exploring his or her fears and feelings about life and their place in the group. In college, Willow flourished, but she still had insecurities about being "outed" as the nerd she was in high school. She also feared being outed as a lesbian to her friends, who she feared wouldn't accept her anymore. Xander fears that his friends are passing him by because of his lowly dead-end jobs. When he meets Giles in his dream, he desperately asks for an explanation, only for Giles to begin speaking French. And worst of all, no matter what he does, or where he goes, he always ends up back in his parents' basement, where he had been living all season. Giles struggles with his fatherly feelings for Buffy and his unemployment. And Buffy tries to figure out what's next and what it means to be the Slayer. Tara acts as a kind of spirit guide, and gives vague hints about what is to come for her ("Be back before Dawn" was one of her lines, and the 730 riddle, which foreshadowed her death, from "Graduation Day" was brought back). Buffy's confrontation with the First Slayer, who said that the Slayer must always be alone, set up the Slayer Lore that would come back in Seasons 5 and 7.

Joss Whedon describes the episode as poetry, and that is certainly the best description. There is little narrative structure, and the bulk of the episode never actually "happens" to the characters. However, that doesn't mean the dreams are insignificant; the viewers are given an insight into the characters' feelings, and the dreams help the characters overcome these fears in the coming years.

Up next: Buffy # 6...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer # 8: Passion

Season 2, Episode 17
First Aired February 24th, 1998

Until this episode, Angelus was certainly a thorn in Buffy's side. He was a formidable opponent, and Buffy would have a hard time killing him because of her love for Angel, but until "Passion", Angelus hadn't done anything to give credence to all the "worst vampire in history" stories that had been told about him. Then came "Passion". The episode opens from Angelus' perspective as he hides in the shadows and watches as Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Cordelia go about their night, trying to have some fun amid the chaos of dealing with Oz's new werewolf affliction, the Cordelia/Xander love spell, and of course the lingering threat of Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike. Throughout the episode, Angelus orchestrates his mindgames from the shadows, making his presence known without ever being seen. Buffy awakes one morning to an envelope containing an elaborate charcoal drawing of herself, a reminder from Angelus that he can enter her home whenever he chooses. Willow gets a similar message when she returns home one night to find an envelope full of her pet fish (she invited Angel in earlier in the season). One more person gets such an envelope, but that will be explained later.

Giles and Jenny are still reconciling after the revelation that she isn't exactly who she claimed to be, but this episode gave us hope that they would end up together after all. Furthermore, Jenny finally found a way to restore Angel's soul; until this episode, the correct spell had been lost, and no one thought that they would ever see Angel again. Unfortunately, before Jenny could tell anyone about her discovery, Angelus intervened. He met her at the school one night, taunted her, destroyed her computer (which had a file of the translated spell), chased her through the hallways, and finally killed her. However, he chose not to feed on her; instead, he snapped her neck, meaning that he would have to kill again that night in order to sustain himself.

The final mindfuck and evelope went to Giles; Jenny had asked to meet him that night, and when Giles returned home, he saw an open bottle of wine, an envelope with a note that said "Upstairs", and a trail of rose petals leading to his bedroom. And in his room, waiting for him, was Jenny's body. His violent reaction reminded us that he had a turbulent past, and forshadowed his dark move toward Ben in "The Gift". The episode had humor, but it also had some of the best drama and thrills of the entire show. I still get chills every time Giles walks up the stairs.

Up next: Buffy # 7...

Buffy The Vampire Slayer # 9: Conversations With Dead People

Season 7, Episode 7
First Aired November 12, 2002

Speaking of The First, this is the episode that may have tipped fans off as to what Buffy and her friends would be dealing with in Season 7 (I never watched the show when it was on, and I knew The First was the Big Bad long before ever seeing this episode). This is also the only episode to not feature Xander and the only episode to show the title onscreen. The episode followed various characters interacting with people were dead, and each dead person passed themselves off as something different. Buffy simultaneously fought and conversed with a vampire she went to high school with. He was a psych major in college, and he evaluated why she has such trouble fitting in with her friends, even after readjusting to life on Earth (the previous season dealt with her resurrection). Willow spoke to Cassie, a recently deceased Sunnydale High student, who told Willow that she was a kind of spirit guide who brought a message from Tara (originally, the script was written to have Amber Benson show up as "Tara", but there are conflicting reports as to why this was changed). Dawn was haunted by images of her mother in one of the series' most terrifying sequences. Spike WAS the dead person who spent the night wooing a woman at a bar (there was no dialogue in his scenes). He eventually fed on her, which was an incredible turn because (1) he had a soul and (2) he still had his violence-inhibiting microchip in his head. And finally, Andrew and Jonathan returned to Sunnydale. As Jonathan spoke to Andrew of redemption and joining Buffy, Andrew conversed with Warren, who was killed by Willow (or, as we would "learn" in Season 8, temporarily killed, only to be revived by Amy). "Warren" was able to goad the weak-willed Andrew into doing his bidding by telling Andrew that the ghost of Warren was speaking to him, and that by killing Jonathan, the three of them would ascend into god-like beings. As it turned out, "Warren", "Cassie", and "Joyce" were all manifestations of The First who had a purpose for each of its victims.

The episode is one of Season 7's highlights (I think that many people who detest the season admit this episode as one example of Buffy's latter-day glory). It is extremely dark, humorous at times, and sets the course for the rest of the season (and series).

Up next: Buffy # 8...

Buffy The Vampire Slayer # 10: Amends

Season 3, Episode 10
First Aired December 15, 1998

Ok, let me start by mentioning how hard it was to make these lists. There are so many great episodes from each show, and I guarantee that people will be wondering why certain episodes made the cut and others didn't. I think that I eventually went for more dramatic episodes than comedic ones (although I cut a dramatic episode from the Angel list to include "Smile Time"). Also, if I can justify including two episodes together as a two-parter, I do that. Anyway, here we go!

"Amends" was important because it showed us just how much Angelus' deeds tore at Angel's soul and it introduced us to the First Evil, who would go on to be the Big Bad in the seventh and final season. The episode divulged very little information about the First in order to keep it mysterious, (this also allowed for it to reemerge in Season 7 without revealing itself too soon). The First spent most of the episode in the form of Jenny Calendar, who Angelus killed the year before, and it tried to goad Angel into killing Buffy. Angel sensed he was weak, so to avoid doing the unthinkable, he decided to kill himself.

I'll come back to that in a second, but the episode was also about Willow and Oz rebuilding their relationship after Oz and Cordelia walked in on Xander and Willow kissing (they were Spike's prisoners at the moment, so adrenaline was coursing through their bodies). Willow tried to overcompensate by offering herself to Oz, and Oz reaffirmed that he is a different kind of rock-n-roller when he told her that he didn't want her to feel compelled. That's not exactly sexy.

Buffy and Angel, meanwhile, have spent most of the season trying to deal with the fact that Angel is back in Sunnydale. After Angelus' reign of terror in Season 2, Buffy was forced to send him to hell, only to end up sending ANGEL when Willow restored his soul. Things got even more complicated when Buffy's friends found about Angel's return; Xander had almost limitless ammunition for his not-exactly-irrational hatred of Angel, and Giles, who had once trusted the vampire with a soul, could barely stand hearing Angel's name. But Buffy showed just how much Angel mattered to her... and Angel returned the favor, even his his method was a little extreme. The episode ended in a rather unexpected manner, and became pretty much the only Buffy Christmas episode (I think the only other episode that used the holiday as part of the plot was a Season 7 episode in which Buffy realized that the First was back).

Up next: Gleeful...

Crossover

I thought about this idea about an hour after finishing my big LOST Season 5 finale post, but didn't think too much of it until I saw the same theory in IGN.com's review of "The Incident". I then talked about it with a friend of mine and decided to put it up here. I think that in light of certain things that happened this season, coupled with what we already saw in previous seasons, it is safe to say that the Smoke Monster (which may or may not be Titus, but if it isn't, it is certainly his subordinate) is akin to the First Evil from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Think about it; it has appeared to various characters in the guise of dead people (it was Yemi for Eko and Alex for Ben), and it seems to have knowledge of people's pasts and inner thoughts. The biggest difference is that the Monster is able to physically touch (and kill) people. Hopefully, this will allow the producers to bring back Nathan Fillion, who played a character who was briefly married to Kate, so that Nathan can serve as the Monster's emissary.

Up next: Buffy #10...

The List: #1 Buffy the Vampire Slayer

#1
Number of Seasons: 7
Years Active: 1997 - 2003
Network: The WB, UPN

Come on. Could it have been anything else? My complete adoration for the works of Joss Whedon is referenced throughout The Other Worlds, so how could any show besides his magnum opus have filled the #1 spot on this list? As I said in the last post, the quality of the two shows that are set in the "Buffyverse" are pretty much equal. I chose Buffy the Vampire Slayer to occupy the #1 spot alone because it is a more important show than its spin-off.

Buffy the series is itself spun off from a pretty awful movie (I could only watch the first 30 minutes before turning it off in disgust). The film Buffy was Whedon's first solo project, but due to a scared studio and difficult director, the movie became the exact opposite of what Whedon wanted. A few years later, Whedon was offered the option to make his failed film into a series. He agreed on the condition that he'd have full creative control, and the rest is geeky history.

Over the course of seven years, the story of the Slayer and her friends captivated critics, intellectuals, geeks and teenage girls alike. Although most mainstream audiences wrote the show off as teenage girl-power fluff (like they would later do again with Veronica Mars), the people who took the time to actually watch the show were rewarded with stories about great characters and full of incredible metaphoric lessons.

Don't get me wrong, this show is not perfect (but what is; I could probably find 5 negative things to say about each series on this list) but it is damn close. The writing and acting were consistently superb, and the serialized storytelling still allowed for excellent stand-alone elements. Buffy the Vampire Slayer struck a near-perfect balance between serial and episode, and Whedon's incredible gift for storytelling is responsible. Furthermore, big events could happen in any episode. While most series wait for episodes before big breaks (season and mid-season finales) to reveal information or kill off a character, anything can happen at any time on Buffy, and believe me, it does.

Joss Whedon once compared this show to a symphony (he was referring to the nature of the Angel series final compared to Buffy's final episode), and I can't think of a more appropriate description.

Up next: Broken chronologies...

Buffy and Angel: After Television

In 2004, the final episode of Angel aired, and the Buffyverse ended. But the fans stayed loyal, and most likely grew in amount. I didn't become a fan until after Buffy ended, and I only saw one season of Angel on television, and I'm certain that there were scores of others like me. And though I was able to enjoy 12 amazing seasons, I wanted more. And so did everyone else. And in 2007, we finally got our wish. Dark Horse Comics, which owns the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, which, unless otherwise stated, are non-canonical, announced that Joss Whedon himself would be writing and "executive producing" a canonical Season 8. In addition to Whedon, a group of other great writers, both Buffyverse vets and not, would write story arcs as well. A few examples include Jane Espenson, Doug Petrie, Drew Goddard (who all wrote for the shows), Brian K. Vaughn (Runaways, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina), and Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween).

So far, about 13 issues have been released, with a plan of about 40 or 50 (the original plan was around 25), and the situation has changed for Buffy and her friends. With Sunnydale gone, and every potential now a full-fledged Slayer, Buffy serves as a general to the Slayer army, with Xander running tactical. Now based in Scotland, they run missions worldwide to try and fight the forces of evil. Giles is a sort of diplomat, while Willow is doing various things around the world for the cause. And Dawn? Well, she should be in college, but when she lost her virginity, she gained about 50 feet of height (the Summers girls tend to have strange experiences their first times). And the Big Bad of Season 8? A strange being known as Twilight who has convinced government leaders that the Slayer army will eventually attack humanity.

Although that is the main storyline, there have been some other plotlines, including a rogue Slayer who is using her powers for personal gain (maybe humanity isn't wrong in their fears). The current storyline blew my mind when the villains found a way to remove a Slayer's powers.

As for Angel, it turns out that Los Angeles suffered a comparable fate to Sunnydale, except it didn't occur until after the final shot of the television series. LA wasn't destroyed, but the Senior Partners banished the entire city to a hell dimension to punish Angel for attempting to bring them down. The comic series is called, "Angel: After the Fall", and is put out by IDW Comics (Dark Horse sold the rights to Angel comics a few years ago). For this series, Whedon only serves as "executive producer", while a writer named Brian Lynch actually writes the series. However, Lynch and Whedon work closely together, and this series is considered canon.

As of now, the first 5 or so issues have been released, out of a total of 12 (it seems that Angel will always be slightly short-changed when compared to Buffy). The upcoming three issues will be subtitled, "First Night", and will show the events that happened directly after the final fade to black of the show. But so far, we've seen that Angel, Connor, and two other characters who appeared from time to time on the show are running a kind of underground railroad to keep humans safe. Spike, Illyria, and Lorne are acting as demon lords and set up their domains as safe havens for humans. Gunn is a vampire (a plot twist Whedon said would have occurred in a televised Season 6), and Wes, still bound to work for Wolfram and Hart, is a ghostly adviser to Angel. And if all of this weren't crazy enough, there was one little twist that came out of nowhere, and was incredible, but you'll have to read up for that one...

As long as Whedon's alive, it seems like the Buffyverse will never fully die, and that is a great thought. Even after he dies, I'm sure that the non-canonical comics will continue to sell, but for now, it's great to know that our love for this universe is what keeps it going.

Up next: All frakked up...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 7 - The Ultimate Evil

So the end has come. In its seventh and final season, Buffy the Vampire Slayer wasn't at its strongest, but it still had a great story to tell, and with the knowledge that they were writing the end, the writers were able to successfully take the story full circle. In this respect, Buffy was extremely lucky; it is rare for shows to start the final season with the knowledge that it will be the last. Many times, the writers don't know until about halfway through the season. Episodic shows aren't hurt by this since they can still write a good finale, but serialzed shows like Buffy and Angel (which the writers did not know the fifth season would be the last) would prefer knowing from the beginning of the year to avoid having to wrap things up in an accelerated manner. From the season premiere, there were hints that the writers were gearing up for the end; we watched Dawn getting ready for her first day at the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High (the pilot saw Buffy's first day there), and there were hints that there was something sinister going on at the school, bringing the show back to the idea of high school as hell. But if viewers didn't pick on these subtle hints, there was a bombshell at the end. In one of the series' most memorable sequences, a slightly-insane Spike is tormented by an entity that takes the shapes of the previous Big Bads, starting with Warren and working back to the Master, and ending with Buffy...

But let's begin at the beginning. Buffy is training Dawn to be able to fight for herself, since Buffy won't always be around to protect her. Xander is the foreman of the construction crew rebuilding the school, and has finally become a success at something in his life. Anya is still a vengeance demon, but it's clear that her heart is not in it. Willow is receiving rehabilitation from Giles in England after she almost destroyed the world. And Spike is hiding out in the school's basement. Getting his soul back has had a powerful effect on him; like Angel, he is having a hard time adjusting to having a conscience and knowing about all the evil things he did. But what's worse, the aforementioned entity is not making things any better for him. It torments him, and drops hints that Spike is just a pawn in a big plan.

There are also a few strange things happening that don't seem to make any sense. The cryptic phrase, "From beneath you, it devours" (or "It eats you, starting with your bottom", depending on the translation) is heard a few times, and seemingly random scenes from across the world show people in robes systematically killing defenseless young girls. After Willow leaves Giles' care, we sporadically see scenes of him in England uncovering pieces of the conspiracy, which include the Watchers Council building being blown up, and an episode ending with one of the robed figures swinging an ax at Giles' head.

The entity behind these attacks and the torment of Spike is The First Evil, which first appeared in Season 3, when it tormented Angel. We actually learn a little bit about it this time around; usually referred to as the First, it is a manifestation of all the world's evil. It is not corporeal, and cannot physically hurt anyone on its own, but it can cause harm by channeling itself through physical beings. But it is also a master of deception, persuasion, and manipulation, since it can assume the form of any being that has died. This means any dead human, any resurrected human, and any undead creature, such as vampires. It takes advantage of Andrew by appearing to him as Warren, and later as Jonathan, and Dawn is traumatized when it appears to her as her mother (sadly, Whedon planned to have it appear to Willow as Tara, but due to certain circumstances, that didn't happen). But it hurts Spike the most by appearing to him as Buffy (remember, she has died twice).

As for the girls and the robed figures, the girls are potential slayers, girls who can be called when Faith is killed (Buffy has already led to a Slayer being called), and the robed people are called Bringers, who are servants of the First. The one consequence of bringing Buffy back from the dead that no one saw coming was that it tipped the balance of good and evil in favor of good, and this allowed the First Evil to begin amassing an army to end the Slayer line once and for all (though they never explain why this didn't happen the time Xander revived Buffy with CPR, I believe that since she was brought back through natural means the first time, it didn't upset the balance). Without the Watchers Council to protect the girls anymore, Giles begins to round up the girls that he can find and bring them to the Summers house in order to be trained for the inevitable fight against the First.

The potentials were one of the aspects of the season that some people had a problem with; it was a good idea, but the execution was a bit off. I didn't dislike them the way that some people did, but I can understand that some fans thought that they could be whiny or annoying or whatever. However, there was one potential that everyone agreed on hating: Kennedy. Now, I think that Kennedy's character was doomed to be hated from the start since she was Willow's first new girlfriend since Tara. I didn't watch the episodes while they were airing, so it is not like I could have followed the relationship week to week and discussed it with other fans. I think that a fair number of people were upset that Willow was in a relationship so quickly after losing the love of her life, and I'm also certain that there were some people who would have been willing to see Tara resurrected just so that she and Willow could be together again. Personally, I didn't mind that Willow had a new girlfriend, but I absolutely hated Kennedy. Kennedy was a self-described bitch, a spoiled rich girl who would have tormented Willow in high school. She never missed an opportunity to deride Buffy (Willow's best friend) and had zero likable qualities. I was never able to understand what Willow saw in her. Wow, I am getting way too involved with this, it's a TV show!

But as Buffy's army grows, they also learn that the threat is increasing as well. The First has unleashed a group of ancient vampires unto the world; they cannot blend in with humans, which takes stealth out of the equation. But they are also stronger and tougher than normal vampires, and they do not require an invitation to enter a dwelling. And then there's Caleb. Played by Nathan Fillion (Captain Reynolds on Firefly), he is a misogynistic ex-priest who was thrown out of the church for the way he treated girls. When the First found him, they struck up a partnership; he becomes its physical entity in the world and lends him some power, giving him strength far beyond that of a normal man. Though I had seen one or two of the episodes with Caleb before I saw Firefly, I hadn't seen the full extent of his character's power or nastiness. It was a bit of a shock seeing the man I came to know as Mal Reynolds (one of my favorite fictional characters) acting as one of the creepiest villains on the show.

This year, the character of Andrew began a path to redemption that was amusing to watch. After he was captured by Buffy and her friends, he went from prisoner to the guy-who-always-hangs-around-even-if-you-wished-he'd-leave to actual comrade in arms by the season's end. In fact, the Andrew-centric (and very funny) episode "Storyteller" is rumored to have been a test to see if a spin-off could have centered around him. Faith also returned to Sunnydale this year after a brief (but exciting) arc on Angel, and there were lots of talk of her getting her own series as well. Her story in Sunnydale finally allowed her to face the demons of her past, both with Buffy and (sort of) the Mayor. She had to find a way to work with the girl she hurt so badly as well as confront the First in the form of Mayor Wilkins, which was not easy.

Spike also had to confront his past. The First was using his guilt and his memory of his mother (twisted relationship if there ever was one) to make him kill for it, but he also must face his past with Robin Wood, the new principal of Sunnydale High. The Slayer Spike killed in 1977 New York, the one from whom he stole his trademark duster, was Wood's mother. The season followed his journey from tortured to champion, in a similar fashion to Angel. By the end, even though Buffy does not love Spike, she has come to respect him, and see that anyone can change.

Though Season 7 is not my favorite, I still believe that it is how Buffy should have ended. It is still wonderful television, and shows that, even though things may not always work out the way you wish they would, there will always be hope...

Up next: Sunny Los Angeles faces perpetual darkness...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 6 - Life Sucks

Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a season of firsts. It was the first season on UPN, the first season that did not have Giles as a regular character, the first season to not feature Angel (since Angel was on a rival network, crossovers weren't allowed this year; fortunately, this was changed for the final season), and the first season to not have a traditional Big Bad. Many people believed that it was the Evil Trio, while others claimed that it was Dark Willow. The person who got me into the show stated that Buffy's friends were the Big Bad. These are all valid ideas, but Joss Whedon has said that this year, the Big Bad was life itself.

Sounds a little depressing, right? This is generally considered the darkest season of the show, utilizing the darkest metaphors and plot points (there is one scene in this season that one friend of mine can't even watch). It's not hard to think that the season that begins with Buffy being dead would be a bit more heavy than what has come before; one of the show's most important messages is that all actions have consequences proportional to the action, so imagine what could result from the act of resurrection (in fact, the true ramifications won't even be explored until Season 7, but there is a doozy of one this year).

The year began by showing us what the group has been doing since Buffy's passing. Knowing that Sunnydale would become overrun with demons upon hearing the news that the Slayer was dead, they've reprogrammed the Buffybot to slay vampires and keep up the image that Buffy is alive. Giles is planning on returning to England because he feels that, since his Slayer is dead, he is no longer needed there. Unbeknownst to him, Willow and the rest of the Scooby gang are planning a spell that will bring Buffy back to life. They are afraid that, due to the nature of her death, she is suffering in a hell dimension, and they believe that they will be doing her a favor. The only person who doesn't know about this (besides Giles) is Spike, who has been fighting beside Willow, Xander, Dawn, etc. in a way to honor Buffy. When Buffy is brought back, she awakens in her coffin six feet under the ground and is forced to dig her way out. Her first few days of life seem surreal to her, and once she regains her composure, she reveals that she was in fact in heaven (or a heavenly dimension), and being back is like being in hell. The twist: she only tells this to Spike. She thanks her friends for "saving" her, knowing that the truth would only make her friends hate themselves.

So why is life the Big Bad? In addition to life feeling like hell, without Buffy's mother around, Buffy is forced to become the breadwinner to support Dawn and herself (and possibly Willow and Tara, who are living in Buffy's mom's room). A few of the early episodes show her trying to get a loan (only to have to fight a demon in the bank) and her attempt at finding a job. Eventually, she gets one at a fast food joint (interestingly enough, I first saw that episode, "Doublemeat Palace", the same day I saw the movie Supersize Me; after that, I pretty much swore off fast food). Funny trivia: the only episode that advertisers threatened to pull funding from was the one where Buffy started her job there, believing that the show was trying to send an anti-fast food message. After this, her job there was barely referenced. Buffy also began a physical relationship with Spike this year. However, unlike with Angel or Riley, she was with Spike to feel something and escape the numbness that became her life.

But Buffy wasn't the only one dealing with life getting hard. Willow's journey this season was almost as painful as Buffy's. Willow's skills as a witch continued to grow this year, and she began to abuse her abilities, using more and more for trivial things. When Tara confronts her about this abuse, Willow casts a spell on her to make her forget... twice. This causes them to break up, leading Willow spiral downwards in a drug-use metaphor. In the series' trippiest episode, Willow became so high that she almost got herself and Dawn killed, leading to Buffy and Xander losing their trust in her. Xander and Anya also experience problems when, on their wedding day, Xander gets cold feet and leaves Anya at the altar. This results in Anya becoming a vengeance demon again and creating a rift between her and the rest of the Scoobies.

If these internal problems weren't enough, the first candidates of corporeal Big Bads were a constant thorn in the side of Buffy and her friends. Jonathan Levinson, Warren Mears, and Andrew Wells, three nerdy guys (two of whom have been recurring characters in the past; originally, Tucker Wells, the boy who summoned the hellhounds on Prom Night, was going to be the leader, but when the actor who played him was unavailable, his little brother Andrew was created, and Warren became the leader, which explains why he became much more sinister than he was in Season 5) formed the Evil Trio in an attempt to take over Sunnydale. Each one has their own area of expertise; Warren is an engineer, Jonathan is an amateur sorcerer, and Andrew, like his brother, is a demon summoner. In early episodes, they come off as wannabe villains; in a flashback to their first meeting, they came together almost as a way to pass the time. However, as the season progresses, they become more and more competent. It also becomes clear that Jonathan is beginning to have doubts about how evil the trio should be, while Warren slowly becomes more and more psychotic. Andrew is sort of caught in the middle; he is not a bad person, but he is a weak person, somewhat comparable to Wormtail in the Harry Potter series. He attaches himself to people stronger and smarter than himself for protection (though one would think that he would go over to Buffy, who is much stronger than Warren). He develops an attachment to Warren (though it is never explicitly stated, there are strong indications that he is gay and attracted to Warren). Eventually, there are signs that Warren is planning something big, but when Buffy foils the plan, he escapes, leaving Jonathan and Andrew to take the punishment from the cops.

And it is Warren who brings about the other corporeal entity that could have served as Big Bad. Towards the end of the season, Willow and Tara get back together. In the episode "Seeing Red", possibly the darkest episode of the series, Tara finally achieves regular status by appearing in the opening credits. However, the episode ends with Warren showing up at the Summers home to get revenge on Buffy. He fires a gun at the Slayer and wounds her. But an errant bullet kills Tara, and causes Willow to go absolutely apeshit and go on a revenge spree (the episode is also notable for having the aforementioned scene that my friend can barely watch). The final few episodes deal with Buffy, Xander, Anya, and Giles trying to stop the deranged witch from destroying the world when one of her attempts to draw power connects her emotionally to everyone on Earth, causing her to feel the pain of the world. In one of the show's most beautiful scenes, an unlikely hero succeeds in stopping her...

In a side story in these last few episodes, Spike travels to Africa to confront a demon. You see, in this scene that I keep referring to, he attempted to rape Buffy after she refused to be physical with him any more. Obviously, this is completely shatters that fragile relationship they shared, and she tells him she never wants to see him again. In Africa, Spike performs a series of brutal trials for reasons that are never stated but alluded to be the removal of his chip. However, the last scene of the season shows the demon granting Spike his soul back. I have had debates with one of my friends over whether this was Spike's intention or not. I think that it was since he never actually said that he was trying to get his chip removed. Although many viewers would be lead to believe that his remarks about going to be able to give "the Slayer what she deserves" have to do with hurting her, they also make sense in the context of getting his soul back. However, my friend believes that no vampire would ever try to willingly get his soul back, and the demon gave him something that would allow Buffy to get what she deserved, even if it wasn't what Spike asked for (a kind of "Monkey's Paw" resolution).

Of course, I can't talk about Season 6 without talking about the phenomenal musical episode, "Once More With Feeling". In a season dominated by darkness, this episode brought some much-needed humor. The episode still had some dark elements and perfectly fit into the storyline, but it was executed so perfectly that it stands as one of the best and most beloved episode of Buffy. The entire cast did their own singing (which is why Willow has so few singing lines), and for the most part, everyone did great for being people who are not professional singers. The songs successfully moved the story forward and reflected the inner natures of the characters singing them. But most importantly, there was a good reason for why it was happening; the demon Sweet was summoned through a pendant and his presence forces the entire town to sing their inner-most feelings. This leads to comedy ("I'll Never Tell) as well as tragedy (the reprise to "Under Your Spell/Standing").

Though this season is often criticized for its darkness, I believe that it was necessary, because it showed that life can (and will) get pretty bad sometimes, but it is possible to overcome it.

Up next: Surprises, betrayals, and a powerful contrast in Los Angeles...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 - Extravagance And Siblings

And so we come to Buffy's final season on The WB network. To some fans of the show, this was the last season worth watching. Personally, while I thought that this season was definitely one of the best (3, 5, and 2 are so hard to rank), the final two seasons are great as well. This year featured the most powerful Big Bad to date, a Goddess from a Hell Dimension, as well as the introduction of someone that threw the fan community for a loop: Dawn Summers, Buffy's sister.

Unfortunately, since I didn't start watching the show until after the final episode aired, I had been told the story behind Dawn in advance (the person responsible for getting me into Buffy gave away nearly every major plot twist in the show). The season premiere did not have Michelle Trachtenberg in the opening credits, and her very first appearance at the end of the episode threw viewers for a loop. Whedon intended for the audience to be confused by her appearance; throughout the episode (not to mention the series), Buffy has always been an only child. So who is this girl that everyone refers to as if she'd been around since the pilot episode?

Well, like the guy who got me to like Buffy, I'm going to delve into Dawn's origins. However, you have a choice to read this; if you have not yet seen the show, I don't know what you're waiting for. Go and see it, and then catch up with these posts, since the Whedon series is meant as a kind of fond reminiscence.

Anyway, Dawn and Glory, this season's Big Bad, are tied together. Glory (short for Glorificus) is a banished Hell Goddess; after she started becoming more powerful than her fellow ruling deities, they banished her to our realm, due to fears of a takeover. They forced her into the body of a newborn child, believing that her essence would be suppressed by their magic. However, as the years went by, Glory continued to gain strength, and was able exert her true form, which allowed her to have all of her godly powers (including invulnerability and strength beyond even that of Adam). However, our reality has a detrimental effect on her; she cannot maintain her sanity, and must "suck" the sanity out of innocent people to withhold her own. Her mission is to make it home, but she needs a "key" to open the portal back to her own dimension.

Glory also represents an extravagant lifestyle. She lives in a beautiful penthouse, and to the unknowing observer, comes off as a spoiled princess. She sends her minions out to buy/steal her dresses, shoes, and people to harvest sanity from. Whatever Glory wants, Glory gets. The idea behind this is that she is a goddess with worshippers; they do what she tells them because they see her as divinity. I think that many of the spoiled people that are currently the subject of our tabloid news get what they want because the people giving it to them elevate them above normal people due to their wealth and looks (though the person that most likely comes to mind when we talk about this is kind of strange-looking in my opinion).

So what does Dawn have to do with this? As it turns out, Dawn is the key that Glory needs to go home. Before Dawn was a corporeal girl, she was a well of energy that could tear down the gateways between dimensions. The Key was the charge of a group of monks who transformed her into Dawn and put her under the protection of the Slayer when Glory got too close to finding their order. The monks created memories not only for Dawn, but also created an alternate timeline in the minds of Buffy and everyone she knew that incorporated Dawn into their lives. Whedon gave Buffy a sister this year so that she could have a relationship with someone who wasn't a boyfriend. With Dawn, Buffy had her share of arguments and fights, but at the same time, they loved each other the way sisters do, which allowed Dawn a safe haven, since Buffy would do everything she could to protect her.

Speaking of boyfriends, things continue to go downhill with Buffy on that front. Her relationship with Riley is quickly degenerating, and she actually needs Xander to point it out (I will come back to Xander later; his life begins to change dramatically this year). Since Riley is no longer with the Initiative, he is now a normal human. Without the drugs that made him a superstrong demon hunter, Buffy begins to subconsciously view him as boring and someone she needs to protect. Before he leaves about halfway through the season, he began going to see vampires and allowed himself to get bitten in order to feel something. In other words, Riley went emo. Spike, meanwhile, moves into a new character territory, when a sex dream about Buffy makes him realize that he is beginning to fall in love with her. Spike has always been a bit off as a vampire; he is one of the few vampires we've seen to feel genuine affection (Angelus never truly loved Darla, nor did she love him, and as Angel, he did love, but he had a soul). The presence of the behavior chip in his brain has forced him to fight alongside his former nemesis throughout Seasons 4 and 5, and he likely gained a certain respect for the Slayer. Eventually, in his own twisted way, he came to love her. This development obviously freaks out Buffy and her friends, but every now and then, they do tend to ask him along on fights.

Spike begins to become as important a character as Angel this year, which is evident through the use of flashbacks detailing his past. Suddenly, the name "William the Bloody" takes on a new meaning, and we learn the origin of his leather duster. Drusilla also makes her first appearance on Buffy since Season 2, and while Drusilla is always a treat to watch, especially with Spike, her parallel storyline on Angel was much more incredible. However, in Sunnydale, we see how committed Spike is to his love for Buffy when is willing to kill Dru to prove his love.

Xander, meanwhile, begins to turn his life around this season. After finally holding down a steady job in construction, Xander learned a lesson this year about confidence. When a demon's spell misfired and hit Xander instead of Buffy, two sides of his personality were manifested into two bodies. One was cool and confident, a side rarely seen but always appreciated, while the other was the goofy but self-deprecating Xander that can sometimes be an annoyance to his friends. The success of the confident Xander showed him that he needs to stop looking down on himself and trusting his abilities. By the end of the season, he has moved into his own (really nice) apartment, is moving up in the construction world, and even proposes to Anya.

As I alluded to earlier, Xander was the only person besides Riley who saw the implosion of the relationship coming, and this is evidence of his own "superpower". By this point in the series, nearly every major character has or has used some kind of special ability. Buffy is the Slayer, Willow and Tara are extremely powerful witches, Angel and Spike are vampires, Riley had drug-induced strength, and Anya was a demon at one point. But Xander is, and always will be, "only human". And this is exactly what makes him special. The spotlight is never on him, so he can stand back and observe what is going on with his friends. Though he may not figure it out for another season or two, his observations will be able to help his friends through tough times, and at one point, will even save the world from destruction...

One complaint sometimes made about the fourth season is that there was no "central location" for the action to occur. Giles' house served as the de facto meeting place, but for some reason, people never really accepted it as such. This year, Giles and Anya go into business together when they buy The Magic Box, a local magic shop that has gone through numerous owners over the course of the show's run (not because business is bad, but because there is a high mortality rate). Like the library in the first three seasons, the Magic Box serves as Slayer Headquarters for the next two years.

A brief note: in addition to Dawn, a character named Warren is introduced this year. He appeared in two episodes, and was shown to be a mechanical genius. However, he lacked common decency. Although he didn't really seem evil or important, all that will change next year...

The season ends with the 100th episode, and is one of the most loved episode of the show. Titled "The Gift", which is a reference to a cryptic line from an earlier episode (which introduced the hilarious Buffybot), it deals with how deep Buffy's love can be, and how far she will go to protect her loved ones and the world. It ends in a way that would most likely make for a series finale. This would be the last episode to air on The WB, and I'm fairly certain that the show's fate was up in the air. If this had been the end, "The Gift" would have made a satisfying ending. But Joss Whedon had at least two more grand stories to tell, and lobbied to get the show picked up on another network. Fortunately, UPN took the show for the upcoming season. Now, viewers had to spend a few months wondering, how would Buffy come back if Buffy was dead?!

Up next: The nature of good in Los Angeles...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4 - Shadowy Government Agencies and Science Gone Awry

The fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the subject of some debate amongst fans. Some people believe that it ranks as one of the best seasons of the show, while others claim that it is the worst. I know people who make both claims, but personally, I see it more in the middle. The people who love it point to knock-out episodes like "Hush" (one of my all-time favorites), "Primeval", and "Restless". The detractors say that the season-long arc took too long to get going and claim Big Bad Adam is an uninteresting villain. And both sides hate Riley.

I'll get in to all of these issues throughout the post, but let's begin at the beginning. Buffy, Willow, and Oz are now students at the University of California at Sunnydale, while Xander chose to go directly into the job market (a running joke throughout the season shows Xander in a new crappy job almost weekly). Right away, we see that things at college are going to be similar to high school; grumpy professors, annoying students, and vampires and demons a-plenty. However, by the end of the season premiere (which ranks as one of the worst premieres, along with "When She Was Bad" from Season 2), we see that there is a big difference: someone else is hunting vampires on campus.

Early on in the season, Oz departs the show and is replaced by Spike. In the episode "Wild At Heart", Oz (who I believe that I forgot to mention is a werewolf) encounters a female werewolf who tries to seduce him away from Willow. Oz leaves not because she succeeds, but because he is afraid that he'll hurt Willow if he stays. Meanwhile, Spike returns to Sunnydale to get back at Buffy for making his life hell, but as he is delivering a soliloquy from a rooftop, he is apprehended by the other faction hunting demons.

This group is called The Initiative (short for The Demon Research Initiative, but that name isn't revealed until one of the final episodes of Angel), and they are a part of the United States government. The Sunnydale unit is headed by Maggie Walsh, who has the day job of psychology professor (Buffy and Willow are her students). Riley Finn, a TA for Walsh by day, is one of the top members of the Initiative. His strength and speed have been enhanced (without his knowledge) through drugs given to him by the Initiative scientists. The stated goal is to make the world safer for humans by eradicating dangerous demons. Although they have a much more sinister secret agenda.

The scientists run experiments on the demons they catch for two purposes: one is to test their limits and threat level, and the other is to harvest their parts to use for super-soldiers. Their prototype is named Adam. Adam is a Frankenstein's monster-esque being, part man, part machine, and part demon. He was created to be the ultimate fighting machine for the United States military. Unfortunately, he killed his creator (sorry, Maggie) and went into business for himself. SHOCKER! Although instead of going on a killing spree and/or speaking in incoherent grunts, Adam is simultaneously one of the most childlike and most sophisticated character on the show. He tries to find his raison d'etre, and believes that since he was built to kill, there must be a reason for doing so. Eventually, he takes up the work of his creators, building an army of super-soldiers like himself to repopulate the planet. He has a child-like innocence that allows him to kill in the name of research (how many children haven't killed insects just to see it happen, only to eat them to experiment with taste?), but he is also incredibly smart. Since he is part machine, he can upload data files into himself and learn about anything he wants.

Personally, I liked Adam as a villain, but I felt he was severely underused. He wasn't even introduced until after the halfway point of the season, and even then, he was given probably the least screen-time of any Big Bad (except for Season 6, but that's a more convoluted situation). However, there are tons of people who thought that Adam was one of the worst villains. Complaints against him include the belief that he had no personality and had no motivation since he could not function outside the parameters set by his programming (so then how did he betray his creators?).

Speaking of character development, there were a few huge changes this year with Spike and Willow. The last vampire in the regular cast, Angel, had a soul (for the most part). If Spike was to be a regular and not get old as a villain (think Sark from Alias; he was a cool character, but if I had to watch him inexplicably escape one more time, I was going to smack J.J. Abrams), what do you do? The Initiative provided the answer. When they captured him, they implanted him with a special behavior modification microchip that prevented him from harming any living creature. The reveal was hilariously depicted in a manner recalling sexual impotency. Granted, Whedon and co. still weren't quite sure what to do with Spike this year, making him a sort of "wacky neighbor" character for the middle part of the season, but let's just say that big things are in store for him next year.

Willow, on the other hand, made a sexual discovery about herself. She is gay. After Oz left her, she was in a rut for a few episodes, which is understandable, since the man she loved and lost her virginity to up and left in order to find himself, but when Tara came into her life, things picked up. The two met in a Wicca group made up of girls who were basically posers. I will get into the details in a few minutes, since it has to do with "Hush".

In addition to Tara, the other major character introduced this year is Riley. He is Buffy's first long-term boyfriend since Angel, and of the three main love interests she has throughout the show, he is the only human (and the only non-vampire). It is arguable that he was also the best match for Buffy, since he could have given her a normal life, but this is why many fans disliked him. Since he was reliable and not a bad boy, he was seen as boring. These factor into his departure, but that is a discussion for next season.

While she wasn't introduced this year, Anya becomes a major character this year. She left Sunnydale avoid the destruction that would come with the Mayor's ascension, but has returned to start a relationship with Xander. Once again, he is apprehensive at first, but eventually, the two begin a relationship that may be the longest one ever on the show.

As for Giles, since he no longer has any job (he was fired as a Watcher, and he is no longer the school librarian, since there is no more school), so he is a bit lost this year, which helps factor into the "Yoko Ono" situation at the end of the season, but fortunately, he has a purpose again in Season 5.

And so, "Hush". This was the first (of a small number) of episodes to earn an Emmy nomination in a major category, in this case writing. The twist: there is very little spoken dialogue in the episode. The plot features a group of creatures called The Gentlemen, who come to towns to steal hearts. Their only weakness is the human voice, so they magically steal the voices of everyone in the town. Over two thirds of the episode is done without speaking, and the actors had to rely on facial expressions and gestures to communicate. The musical score also was a very important aspect of expression in the episode. The episode features some extremely hilarious jokes, but is also deemed one of the scariest (I know more than one person who says that the Gentlemen freak them out). The episode is also important because it introduces Tara. One of the first things that happens with her is that when she speaks up, another member of the Wicca group told her to quiet down (heh), and she was portrayed as mousy and quiet. But she when she lost her power of speech, she took the initiative to find Willow and try and find a way to stop the Gents. As the season progresses, Willow and Tara begin falling in love, using magic as a metaphor for sex. I have to admit that I absolutely HATED Tara this year, due to her mousy nature, but by Season 5, I'd fallen in love with her myself.

Season 4 was neither the best nor the worst season of the show. There were plenty of things that could have been done better (let's not go into "Beer Bad"), but there were some incredible moments as well. However, it is a very important season, because it sort of sets the tone for the rest of the series. Only one more major character will be introduced, so the characters seen here are, for the most part, the ones who will go all the way to the end, and most of the relationships here will last until the end as well.

Up next: Heading to the City of Angels to help the helpless...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3 - The Corrupt Politician

And so we get to Buffy Summers' senior year at Sunnydale High School. Personally, this was my favorite season. We meet Faith, Wesley, and Anya this year, Mayor Wilkins is the big bad, Jonathan Levinson gets his first big role, episodes like "Band Candy", "The Wish", and "Doppelgangland" are present, and even the First Evil rears its ugly head for the first time. After one of the shows greatest season finales in Season 2 ("Becoming, Parts 1 and 2" are two of my favorite episodes of the series), everything is in shambles. Buffy left Sunnydale after many important things happened, but here is a short list: her mom found out about her being the Slayer, Giles was nearly tortured to death, the world nearly ended, and she was forced to send ANGEL (not Angelus) to a hell dimension to save it. At the end of her rope, Buffy hopped the first bus to Los Angeles without telling anyone where she was going, and never looked back.

Season 3 begins a few months later. Willow, Xander, and Oz have been patrolling for vampires at night with mixed results; about half of their prey gets away, but they do their best to keep people safe. Giles and Buffy's mom are each separately trying to locate Buffy, who is doing her best to stay hidden in LA. Going by Anne, her middle name, she has been earning her living as a waitress in a seedy diner. She ignores her destiny and lives in a tiny apartment. But when a teenage girl comes to her for help, she is pulled back into her life of fighting the forces of evil.

This year, the Big Bad is the mayor of Sunnydale, Richard Wilkins. He embodies both an untrustworthy authority figure (two new watchers would also embody this idea this season, and one of them is NOT evil) as well as a twisted father figure. Despite his appearance of a hometown guy with an "aw-shucks" demeanor who has the city's best interest at heart, he is in fact a man with a plan to become a pure demon. He is the man responsible for founding Sunnydale. He made a pact with the demons he met near the Hellmouth; in exchange for building a human town on a Hellmouth (thus supplying countless demons with easy prey), he would be granted eternal youth and the ability to transcend humanity and become a demon. Throughout the season, he has various underlings, but none of them are more important than Faith.

Back in Season 1, when Buffy was killed, Xander promptly resuscitated her. However, she was biologically dead for less than a minute, and this led to a woman named Kendra to be called as the next slayer. For the first time ever, there were two slayers, but Kendra's inflexible nature (she could not stray from a "by-the-book" style of slaying) led to her downfall when she was put into a trance by Drusilla and then killed. With her death, Faith was called, and Faith's attitude is the complete opposite of Kendra's. She is the antithesis of "by-the-book"; she is rash, she often gets in fights for pleasure, and completely bucks authority. Buffy shares aspects of both Kendra and Faith. She can be insubordinate at times and doesn't always do things the way Giles would like, but she recognizes that he does know what he's talking about and he often will have good plans.

Season 3 tests how far a lot of the characters will go in the struggle between what is right and what they are told. Giles is fired from the Watchers' Council when he (eventually) defies orders regarding a test that is to be carried out on a slayer's 18th birthday. Buffy constantly has to try to find a balance between defending Angel (who her friends are all weary of, since they experienced him at his worst last year); she knows that Angel is good again, and he is a powerful ally, but her friends never stop telling her about his dangers (and in this case, who is right?). Faith serves as example of someone who lets these choices destroy her; her methods may be rash, but she is ultimately out for good. But when Wesley Wyndam-Pryce shows up to be her new Watcher, everything goes to hell. Wesley is 10 times the uptight prick that Giles was (Wesley's arrival marks the beginning of Giles' transformation to cool older guy). With Wes, rules are rules, and theoretical learnings work exactly the same in the field (he claims to be adept at vampire hunting due to his extensive training... which was done under controlled circumstances). When this man tries to control Faith's erratic behavior, she loses it, and becomes so obsessed with killing the undead that she begins staking everything in sight. This ends with her accidentally killing a human. When Wes calls the Council and arranges to have this rogue slayer sent to England for punishment, she is driven right into the arms of the Mayor, who takes her on as his new assistant. She ironically trades one Watcher for another, but her new one encourages her destructive nature. She is still told what to do, but she is allowed to do it her way.

Season 3 saw the introduction of Anya, a woman introduced as a vengeance demon. She grants wishes to women who have been wronged by men, and when Xander and Willow give in to their urges and betray their respective romantic partners by making out (in their defense, they were being held captive by Spike, and thought that their lives were almost at an end), a hurt Cordelia accidentally invokes her powers and creates a Sunnydale in which Buffy Summers never arrived. After reversing the wish and destroying Anya's power base, the demon becomes human, and develops a crush on Xander. Although at first Xander wants nothing to do with her (she used to be a demon after all), he eventually starts to see that he kind of likes her back.

Another major character introduction involves a character who has been around since the second season. Jonathan Levinson was introduced the previous year as a tertiary character; he never had more than two or three lines and wasn't even named until his third or fourth appearance. This year, he is given a prominent role in an episode that was unfortunately delayed, along with the second part of the two-part finale. Tragically, the Columbine shootings occurred around the end of the season, and Jonathan's episode involved the idea of a school shooting. Fortunately, the episodes eventually aired, and the audience finally saw Jonathan in the forefront. He would go on to have another big episode in Season 4, and became a very important character in the final two seasons.

As I said, Season 3 is probably my favorite season of the show. Strangely, none of my absolute favorite episodes (I'd say there are about 4, but two of them comprise a two-parter), but the overall story is fantastic. The Mayor is one of the best Big Bads because of the way his jovial nature is juxtaposed with his sinister plans, and Faith's fall from grace is such a beautiful tragedy to watch. Sadly, this was the last season in which Angel would be a regular, but he went on to have his own great show as well.

Up next: the shadowy government agency and the folly of playing God with science...