Buffy the Vampire Slayer Doesn't Suck After All
Series Overview - Loved and Loathed, The Reasons Why Buffy Worked
Jun 23, 2009
On paper the premise for Buffy the Vampire Slayer reads like a car crash outside a goth nightclub after one too many glasses of Kool-Aid. Buffy Summers (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), the appointed Vampire Slayer in the small backwater US town of Sunnydale, is “chosen by fate to battle against vampires, demons and other forces of darkness.”
Laughable indeed, echoing the shockwave of ick that accompanied the 1992 cinematic bomb of the same name starring Kristy Swanson in the lead role.
By rights the TV adaptation never should have worked given its comic book-ish serial camp approach to the whole good versus evil schtick – a factor that was established in the first few episodes – but the naysayers never counted on creator Joss Whedon being a skilled writer and director or a cast that could turn his work into gold.
A Laughing Matter… Most of the Time
Make no mistake; there were numerous episodes during the series’ seven season run that offered up varying degrees of god awful. This is especially true of installments that saw the scripts dance outside the established vampire circle, offering up such “gems” as Buffy the Disgruntled Wannabe Prom Queen, Buffy the Beer Swilling Caveman Slayer and Buffy the Burger Joint Girl. When the writers were on their mark, however, the material was downright impressive.
The show tackled subjects such as responsibility, sexuality, commitment, sacrifice, addiction, and love as applied to lives of teen angst, but the serious aspects were almost always accompanied by tongue-in-cheek humour. Not so much to downplay the often heavy subject matter, but more a case of Whedon acknowledging the show’s premise was indeed ridiculous on the surface and thus should remain a fun little weekly exercise.
And there were times when it wasn’t fun. A nightmarish episode entitled The Body, for example, centered on the un-supernatural death of Buffy’s mother, made for a brutal wake up call: “It’s not all fun and games; this can happen to anybody, how would you deal with it?”
Whedon wasn’t shy about classic geekdom references to Star Wars, X-Men and assorted works of science fiction / fantasy even though they were likely lost on a large portion of fans, figuring the ones that got the joke would explain it in the aftermath (it wasn’t a show viewed alone… not as much fun).
Well worn myths were likewise mocked (“You’re Dracula? As in ‘Count’? Vun, two, three victims! Ha ha ha…”), often to laugh - out - loud effect. Nothing was taboo for Whedon and the stories were better for it.
Casting is Everything
Ultimately it was the cast that made the writing work. Alyson Hannigan as the goofy, off - kilter Willow often overshadowed Gellar, able to flow from one role to another (innocent teen to horny vampire to lovestruck lesbian to magic addicted witch) like water, delivering some of the best comedy relief of the series.
James Marsters as the snot-nosed Brit punk vampire Spike dominated every time he appeared on screen in the early seasons as a guest act, delivering much needed attitude to the show on a level that turned him into a fan-favourite mainstay. He was so effective in his role that most fans never figured the British accent was a put-on (Marsters is American).
Likewise, the character of Drusilla - played to the hilt by Juliet Landau - was a work of psychotic art. Her “vampire with more than a few screws loose” approach endeared her to many, and truly deserved to be on a much bigger screen.
Honourable mention goes to The Trio, the embodiment of the side of Whedon’s brain that still likes playing with action figures and loves the idea of a year long Star Trek Universe marathon. And the rest of the cast certainly had their moments of glory; too many to list here.
Perhaps the only dismal failure in the Buffyverse was the lovesickness that often infected Gellar’s character. Not that it didn’t have its place, but it was a theme beaten into the ground, to the point that the series threatened to become Beverly Hills 90210 for the Black #1 set more than once.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer stumbled and fell from time to time, but viewers mature enough (read: old enough) to understand the humour, and savvy enough to appreciate the writing and a cast capable of making a ridiculous idea work were sorry to see it end.
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