We have seen Buffy, the Slayer, fighting evil for two seasons now. We were introduced to her in Welcome to the Hellmouth, as she introduced us to the show. In Killed by Death, we saw her experiencing some vital firsts: her first brush with the supernatural, her first acts of heroism, and her first experience with death. We got a full non-canonical-but-informative prequel story in 1992. But this episode, right here, is where we finally get it. Buffy Summers’ origin story. This is the start of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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He’s A Vampire – He Should Die (Becoming: Part Three)
This is the third of four essays on Becoming. The first focused on Willow’s arc; the second on the journeys of Angel, Spike and Drusilla; the fourth will focus on Buffy’s arc and final choice. I feel like we should acknowledge, at this point, two big clouds of controversy hanging over this episode: the debateContinue reading “He’s A Vampire – He Should Die (Becoming: Part Three)”
I Hate It When They Drown Me (Go Fish)
Guillermo Del Toro’s 2017 masterpiece The Shape of Water – a film built around the love story between a human woman and the “monstrous” Amphibian Man she finds a kindred spirit with – closes out its runtime with a shot of two lovers submerged beneath the water, and a poem that the narrator tells usContinue reading “I Hate It When They Drown Me (Go Fish)”
When I Look Into The Future, All I See Is You (I Only Have Eyes For You)
My love must be a kind of blind love. I can’t see anyone but you. Are the stars out tonight? I don’t know if it’s cloudy tonight. I only have eyes for you dear. The moon may be high. But I can’t see a thing in the sky. I only have eyes for you. OnContinue reading “When I Look Into The Future, All I See Is You (I Only Have Eyes For You)”
Girls Are Going To Die (Killed by Death)
“You can’t fight death.” This episode opens with Buffy pursuing a vampire on a regular patrol, while visibly hampered by disease (the flu, as we quickly learn). She insists that she can fight, that she must fight, because she can’t handle the idea that someone might die as a result of any inaction by her.Continue reading “Girls Are Going To Die (Killed by Death)”
No-One Ever Dies and Everybody Lives Happily Ever After (Passion)
Part One: The Body “Sorry, Jenny. This is where you get off.” There is a moment in the timeline of every piece of media – every show, book, film series, comics run, radio play – where it declares its relationship to death. Sometimes this happens in the opening seconds. You put on an episode ofContinue reading “No-One Ever Dies and Everybody Lives Happily Ever After (Passion)”
The Wolf Is Inside Me All The Time (Phases)
With Angel making the switch from Love Interest to Big Bad last episode, the show switches its central focus too. The first two thirds of the season were concerned with Buffy’s burgeoning romanticism, and asking questions about it.Would she would commit to a sexual relationship with Angel? If she does, how will that go forContinue reading “The Wolf Is Inside Me All The Time (Phases)”
A Person Doesn’t Just Wake Up And Stop Loving Someone (Innocence)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer always has very thoughtful episode titles, often working on multiple levels to indicate a thematic throughline, but it is rare that a title so completely captures an episode’s many ideas as Innocence. The concept of innocence defines this episode, in the manner of all its definitions. I don’t want to startContinue reading “A Person Doesn’t Just Wake Up And Stop Loving Someone (Innocence)”
The Bestest Buffy Birthday Bash In a Big Long While (Surprise)
At the climax of What’s My Line? Part Two, Drusilla rises from the ashes of a destroyed church, restored to full strength in a floor-length black dress – a true gothic phoenix. She carries Spike in her arms, Pieta-style, in the same manner as he carried her back in Part One, which makes the meaningContinue reading “The Bestest Buffy Birthday Bash In a Big Long While (Surprise)”
You Seem A Bit Young To Have A Grown-Up Daughter (Bad Eggs)
In case you haven’t noticed, season two is about sex. A teacher underlines the point at one point in this episode when they literally underline the word on a chalkboard, harkening back to when another teacher underlined season one’s central theme – death. There is little that Buffy’s high school years like doing more thanContinue reading “You Seem A Bit Young To Have A Grown-Up Daughter (Bad Eggs)”
Insect Reflection 