Buffy The Vampire Slayer is set to return to screens in the near future, but are some things better off left in the past?
Warning! This article contains spoilers for all seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Buffy Summers was – and is – a role model for millions of people who came of age in the late 90s and early 2000s. She was a normal high school student who battled demons, vampires and sometimes bugs as she navigated more mundane teen problems like boys, parents and school. Buffy was the one girl in her generation chosen to fight the forces of evil, whether she wanted to or not.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon – who is a bit of a persona non grata in Hollywood these days – came to an end in 2003. But as we reported on 3rd February, a new sequel series is in the works at Hulu. Sarah Michelle Gellar is rumoured to be reprising the lead role, and other regular cast members are also set to return. Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals) is currently in talks to helm the pilot episode.
The news came as a bit of a shock. Hollywood has tried to resurrect Buffy from the dead a couple of times now, but it’s never previously worked out. Could this finally be it? And, more importantly, do we really need or even want a new Buffy?
Whedon’s name has somewhat tarnished Buffy’s name and legacy. Buffy’s voice was Whedon’s voice, and the pace of the dialogue rivalled Gilmore Girls – another early 2000s show known for its writing. Even if Whedon isn’t directly involved in the new sequel, he’s likely to get some royalties as the showrunner and writer of not just the TV show, but the original 1992 film the series was based on.
Across its seven seasons, there were highs and lows in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Episodes like ‘Hush’ and ‘The Body’ have made a noticeable dent in TV history, but watching the show now, you’d have to admit it’s a product of its time. Buffy followed the usual TV format of the period; aside from season 1, which had 12 episodes, all seasons had 22 episodes that clocked in at about 40 minutes each (that’s 144 episodes in total).
Each episode saw Buffy battle a different monster while a bigger foe lurked in the shadows, leading to a big battle later on in the season. Most of today’s high profile shows tend to favour longer episodes with seasons that only have between six and 10 episodes. In fact, today’s shows seem to have more in common with movies than those of the past.
Even in the 90s, Buffy was a campy show, and now that we’ve entered this age of prestige TV that rivals movies, that might not fly anymore. That’s not to say Buffy didn’t delve into some more profound themes. Season 5 saw Buffy deal with her grief following her mother’s death, and season 6 found the Slayer harbouring some unpleasant feelings for her friends after they brought her back from the dead, accidentally ripping her from the pearly gates of heaven.
Not to mention, Willow’s girlfriend Tara met an untimely, horrible end, turning Willow evil in her grief. Only Xander was able to bring her back to her old, real self.
There’s also the slightly traumatising, completely out-of-character moment where Spike tries to rape Buffy. No, I’m not kidding. That was a heavy episode, and one that hasn’t aged well – even for actor James Marsters, who admitted to needing therapy after filming the scene.
The strange, fascinating balance between the campy elements and the larger than life themes of death and being the world’s lone saviour seems a difficult one to hit again. We’ve pointed out before that the TV game has changed enormously and simply isn’t what it was back in the 90s and early 2000s. With shows like Succession, The Last Of Us and Severance topping the charts, is there room for something as tonally peculiar as Buffy?
Even if the new series manages to capture the spirit of the original show and somehow adapt it to modern times, there’s still the question of whether it’s needed. The final season, in which Buffy fought The First Evil, remains a controversial one among fans. It lacks the zing of previous seasons and the storyline didn’t quite hit the way it should have. In the series’ final moments, Willow notes that Slayers are awakening everywhere, giving the world more than one hero.
That final episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, titled ‘Chosen’, gave Buffy something rare: a happy ending. The episode is full of beautiful, full-circles moments, like Angel returning and promising to wait for Buffy and Spike sacrificing himself to save the world. At the end, Hellmouth and Sunnydale come crashing down and Buffy’s sister Dawn asks what they do now. Buffy simply smiles, full of hope. It was the perfect ending and it felt earned. Won’t the new sequel series just ruin that sense of closure?
It was a wonderfully cheesy ending, but then again, the entire series was full of it, and that’s what made it so special. I’m just not entirely sure how Buffy fits into today’s TV. We’re arguably living through an excellent era for television, with movie stars hopping between screens small and large, but something like Buffy feels out of place. If the writers go for a more modern, serious tone, why even bother bringing Sunnydale’s best Slayer back?
We won’t know how it will go down until the series debuts – if it debuts. This is a good time to remind everyone that the series hasn’t actually been confirmed yet, just believed to be close to a pilot order. Some exciting names are attached, and Gellar is clearly keen to return to play her most iconic role. There’s at least some hope that it will prove to be a decent, even essential sequel series.
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