Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a series that has ingrained itself deeply in pop culture with seven season of a television show, two in canon seasons of a comic book making up seasons eight and nine, and various other spinoffs including the companion series “Angel and Faith.” With the debut of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 10” and “Angel and Faith: Season 10” from Dark Horse Comics We the Nerdy decided to do a series recap to bring you up to speed to jump head first into these two great series.
Season One: The One About New Beginnings
While this season marks the beginning of the series, it doesn’t quite mark the beginning of Buffy. If you can recall, there was a movie released years prior to this that almost shares no resemblance to this version of Buffy but that still seems to have happened. At the end of that movie, Buffy defeated the bad guy, but also left her high school in Los Angeles in shambles. That became the reason for the move Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her mother, Joyce(Kristine Sutherland), made to Sunnydale.
With this first season we are introduced to the Scooby Gang, as they come to call themselves. There’s Willow(Alyson Hannigan) and Xander(Nicholas Brendon), her soon to be best friends; Giles(Anthony Stewart Head), her very British Watcher tasked with teaching her to fight against vampires and other evils; Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter), the popular girl in school she’s frequently at odds with; and Angel(David Boreanaz), the mysterious man who helps her in her fight and eventually becomes her boyfriend.
It’s all about changes, literal and metaphorical. Buffy’s biggest concern is no longer vampires as demons come onto the scene. All the boys at the high school find their hormones supercharged when a preying mantis entices them to fertilize their eggs. Kids get infected with demons, and others become invisible. Buffy’s world changes and leads to a final battle against an impossibly old vampire known only as “the Master.”
Season One Highlight:
The episode “Prophecy Girl” is the season one finale and while everything in Buffy’s life causes her to try not slaying, she goes on to do what she needs to try to save the day. This episode sets the tone for her behavior across the entire series and any medium in which she exists.
Season Two: The One About New Arrivals
After the events of the season one, voids were left on the sides of both good and evil. This season sees the arrival of Spike(James Marsters), a vampire and big part in the series to come, Drusilla(Juliet Landau), Spike’s other half and all around crazy vampire, and Kendra(Bianca Lawson), a vampire slayer that shouldn’t exist.
This season is all about the new. Spike and Drusilla roll into town and immediately set their sights on the one and only slayer. They are the old big bad that the Master was, but are the hip new things looking to add a notch to their slayer belt. Giles gains his own villain this season with the arrival of an old friend by the name of Ethan Rayne(Robin Sachs), a man with magic bent on making Giles’ life hell. The biggest arrival this season comes from someone very close to Buffy who shows a new side that works to tear down everything good in Buffy’s life.
It isn’t just the big bads arriving on the scene, there are evil robots dating Buffy’s mother, egg laying demons controlling the whole town, resurrected mummy that sucks the life force out of you, nightmare demons that can only be seen by sick people, and a werewolf by the name of Oz(Seth Green) who becomes an important part of not only the Scooby Gang as a whole, but in the life of a certain member.
Season Two Highlight:
The episode “Ted” not only sees greatness with the guest appearance of John Ritter, but also gives Joyce, Buffy’s mom something interesting to do. Joyce gains a love interest in John Ritter’s character, but since it’s Sunnydale, something isn’t right and it’s quickly discovered that perfect men are created, not born. Buffy and Joyce come to odds with each other like they frequently do and will continue to do. She’s mostly the center of the story and it becomes the first time Joyce and Buffy really speak to each other that isn’t just a teenager talking to an adult.
Season Three: The One About Faith
The title of this season can be taken to mean the character or the concept. Every season sees change, but this bring in a lot for the titular slayer. Along with Giles, a new Watcher by the name of Wesley(Alexis Denisof) is brought on to train Buffy and aid her in her quest. And along for the ride, is the new slayer Faith(Eliza Dushku), who was activated after the events of season two. Also making their first appearance is Anya(Emma Caulfield), a vengeance demon who becomes a mainstay in Buffy’s world in the future.
The season opens with Buffy having run away to Los Angeles and living on her own. While she quickly returns to Sunnydale, her relationships with her friends and family are rocky and there is this sense of faith that things will work out. This also comes into play later on in the season in the episode “Helpless” Buffy is “stripped” of her powers and is tested on the things she knows to slay an evil creature.
The concept of faith comes into play with the sudden arrival of Angel who was thought lost in the events of the last season finale. After everything he put Buffy and company through, she still attempts to rehabilitate him because there is still a good person there. Although, through all of this Angel is being tormented by the First Evil, a being that can take the form of any dead person.
The big bad of the season comes in the form of Mayor Wilkins(Harry Groener) and his plot to ascend to a higher state of being. His paths with the Scooby Gang cross in the form of Faith who eventually defects from the Scoobies and starts working with the Mayor. These event start the long road Faith has ahead to right her wrongs as the series develops.
Season Three Highlight:
No episode in the third season exemplifies the concept of having faith in someone than “Graduation Day: Part Two.” With the Ascention near, the Scooby Gang not only comes together to defeat the Mayor, but they also recruit the entire graduating class to enter the fight for the town. It makes for a great final battle that should give you the biggest of chills.
Season Four: The One About the Truth
Graduation has come and gone and the entire Scooby Gang, minus Xander, has gone on to attend college. It’s about partying, hook ups, and a whole new world. We meet Riley(Marc Blucas), Buffy’s new love interest in the wake of Angel relocating to Los Angeles. We also meet the Initiative, the government agency that hunts and captures demons for study.
The truth plays a big role this season as Buffy isn’t the only one leading a double life, but her boyfriend as well. They both do their “saving the day” thing but keep those secrets from each other for a time until they find themselves fighting the same battle. But we also see good secrets revealed as Willow meets Tara(Amber Benson), a girl that reveals herself to be a real witch just like Willow. A friendship and more soon develops.
The big bad eventually presents himself as a product of the Initiative. The life form Adam, a being cobbled together from the parts of many demons escapes and tries to discovers the truths of life and it works while also trying to take down Buffy.
Buffy, in her attempt to defeat Adam(George Hertzberg), gains the attention of the First Slayer(Sharon Ferguson) and sees the origin of her lineage in that First Slayer.
Season Four Highlight:
The episode “Hush” has to be the most memorable episode of the entire series. The Gentlemen, beings that steal your voice so you can’t scream while they take your heart are absolutely terrifying. Not only is this episode masterful for its story, but for it’s execution. The majority of this episode is related without dialogue and instead through body language alone.
Stay tuned to We The Nerdy for part 2, where we get to look at Season 5 through to 9
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Ten #1 is available now.
Angel & Faith: Season Ten #1 is available April 2nd.
