Buffy the Vampire Slayer

by James Miller

Let's face it we've all heard of this series as over the past few years it has increased in popularity and has become for all intense purposes.....a phenonoem!

Created originally back in 1992 as feature length movie starring Kristy Swanson as the said heroine, it basically flopped bigtime and wasn't to make a comeback till late 1996 - early 1997, when the creator Joss Whedon (all hail to the king), resurrected the character and persuaded the American company, Warner Bros, to produce a TV show about her. Thank God they did because BtVS became a smash hit after just 12 episodes in its first series and the rest is history, but in case you need a reminder or are just new to it (where have you been??), then here's a recap of the Buffyverse so far................

Character Background

Our main heroine is Buffy Summers, a 16 year old high school student who just recently moved from LA to the town of Sunnydale hoping to escape her troubled past and lead a normal life. But since she's moved to Sunnydale then this is not going to happen. The town is situated on a focal point of evil energy and demonic goings-on, called the Hellmouth. Buffy is a vampire slayer, the chosen one, and with every slayer there is a Watcher. This is the one who guides and instructs her in the ways of fighting the demons and vampires, and in this case is the school librarian, Rupert Giles. She soon makes friends with two people who become an integral part of her life, Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg. With there help, she takes on her duties of being a slayer again and starts to rid the town of vampires. Sunnydale isn't just inhabited by vampires as we soon find out. As Buffy tries to juggle the duties of being a slayer and going to high school, she comes across a mysterious stranger who appears to give her information or warnings. His name is Angel. This one person will become such a major part of her life in more ways than one. We later find out that Angel is not all that he seems, just as Buffy and him become closer and closer, he reveils his true self after a kiss from Buffy.....he's a vampire. Not just any vampire though, sired by a woman named Darla centuries ago, he killed many and caused devastation wherever the pair went. But after one day feeding off a gypsy girl, he was cursed by the tribes elder and his soul was restored. Angel was forced to remember his past deeds and the killings he made, so tortured by this, he vowed never to kill another human again.

So that's your main characters in a nutshell. Throughout the seasons Buffy and her pals face anything and everything ranging from ancient powerful vampires to very small Fear demons!! Each season has a major plotline that isn't apparent from the beginning so you have to keep watching to find out how it unravels. The first season involved a powerful vampire called The Master and his attempts to break free from his underground prison and open the Hellmouth. This introduces all the main characters nicely and sets up a few story lines for the next series.

Season 2 was were Buffy really came into it's own. With the arrival of Spike and Druscilla, a pair or nasty vampires sired by Angelus (Angel's vampire persona), things start to hot up around Sunnydale not mention Buffy relationship with Angel. This takes a major turning point halfway through the season setting up the back half of the series. According to the gypsy curse Angel must never reach any moment of true happiness else he reverts back to his old self. And on Buffy's 17th birthday the inevitable occurs and its bad boy Angelus back to bring a little destruction to Buffy and her friends lives. The season final is a must see for anyone as it revolves around Angelus's attempts to bring forth Armaggedon and centers on a showdown fight between Buffy and her former squeeze. Stand out episodes to watch out for are "Innocence", "Passion" and the season two-part finale "Becoming"

Season 3 focues on Buffy's attempt to carry on with her life after the events of the previous year and is just starting to get back on top of things before Angel turns back up and throws her life into disarray once again. Were are introduced to a new slayer in the form of Faith and she is pivotal in her role as becomes more wild and abandoned on her ways that she teams up with the Mayor who is intent bringing on his Ascension ,where he will transform into a Demi-God. Throughout the season, Buffy struggles with her feelings towards Angel and they both realise that they can never have a normal life together so Angel makes the decision to leave if they survive the coming Ascension. Season 3 contains some of the best episodes so far including the heart-rendering episode "The Prom". After coming through the final battle, Buffy can only look on as Angel leaves Sunnydale for LA.