Anya Jenkins

“It’s an omen! It’s a higher power trying to tell me through bunnies that we’re all gonna die! Oh god!” – Anya Jenkins

Anya is one of the most hilarious characters on Buffy, in my opinion the only person who truly rivals her wit and humor is Andrew at the end of Season 7. As i mentioned previously, Willow and Anya are with out doubt my two favorite BTVS characters. Ever since Buffy, Emma Caulfield has been one of my favorite actresses. I am pretty sure i have seen everything she has been in. Granted that isn’t a whole lot of other things, but still. Its the thought, right? I don’t really think that Anya would have worked well with anyone else besides Emma. She just IS Anya. She has that witty and sardonic sense to her, that is the purest essence of Anya. So in order to properly understand Anya, we have to start at the WAY beginning, in 88O AD.

Aud.

Its weird to ever see Anya holding a bunny and looking happy, but apparently before she was Anya, before she was Anyanka, she actually loved bunnies. Her bunny fear, as far as we know, is really quite irrational. Joss never gives us a true solid reason why a girl who used to love bunnies, now is deathly afraid of them, but something happened in her thousands of years, something happened that turned her off of bunnies. Back when Aud was in existence, she was dating an awful boorish man named Olaf. He ended up cheating on her with one of the bar matrons in their small pre-civilized village. Aud was so upset and tourn up, that she conducted a strong curse that turned him into a troll, and he wrecked havoc onto their village. Loving her unique way to punish men, D’Hoffryn, a demon lord, came to her and offered her a position as a vengeance demon. She would be avenging all heartbroken women out there, and she would be living forever, with certain powers and abilities. Aud took the job and became Anyanka: Patron Saint of the Women Scorned.

Anyanka.

From 880 to 1998 Anyanka teleported around the world, causing untold pains to evil scumbags that betrayed girls. Although Anya brings up many of her previous ‘successes’, the only one that was really was important to her character or the plot of the show is in 1199, when she traveled to some strangely obscure land to curse some unknowing guy, when she saw a sorcerer’s ascension. This made her the only living person to know anything about ascensions when The Mayor planned to ascend in season 3. Anyanka lost her powers in the episode ‘The Wish’, where she came to Sunnydale to avenge Cordelia’s heartbreak when she caught Xander and Willow kissing. Giles ended up defeating her by smashing her power source, which was a necklace with a huge green pendant. After her power source was destroyed, her vengeance powers were gone, and she was stuck as a high school student.

Anya.

The two main loves of Anya’s life, are Xander and money. Not in that particular order. 🙂 Now that i have officially announced the launch of me blogging BTVS episode by episode, i don’t want to get into to many specifics with these character blogs because i feel as i might almost run out of things when i get to certain episodes, (but lets be honest, i doubt i could ever run out of things to say about BTVS). So lets just talk about the key elements that make up the true essence of ANYA JENKINS.

Her many names

1. Aud

2. Anyanka

3. Anya Emerson

4. Anya Jenkins

5. Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins

(Just a hopeful thought) 6. Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins Harris

Anya and Xander.

As i have mentioned in the Willow post, although i truly love Anya and Xander, Willow and Oz v Willow and Tara for the best BTVS couples, in my opinion. However, much like Willow and unlike Xander, Anya’s relationship drastically changed her characters personality. Xander and Anya are linked together since her very first appearance as Anyanka. She came to Sunnydale to get Cordelia to wish some sort of gruesome pain upon Xander. (As tempting as it is, I’m not going to get into ‘The Wish’ just yet, but holy guacamole will it be a super fun episode to blog about!) Anya is just a reoccurring character up until season 4, where she joins the cast officially. Anya’s relationship with Xander is what really ended up making her, ever so slightly, human. Now you might be saying, that when her power source was destroyed, that’s when she became human. But, you my friend, would be wrong. When her power source was destroyed, it made her mortal. There is a vast gap of difference between being mortal and being human. (In my opinion at least) Being Human is having emotions, and feeling compassion. Knowing something is stupid and reckless, but doing it anyway to save a friend. Being mortal is just being able to be bruised, broken and killed. I can’t exactly pin-point the exact moment that Anya became human, but as the series progressed, she became more and more human. Joyce’s death is a prime example of this, as it was the first death of someone she cared about that she had ever had to deal with in her 2000+ years.

Being with the Scoobies, saving the world, being exposed to humanity, all of that is what makes Anya’s humor come out. One of my all time favorite Anya lines is in Season 7, in the midst of all things evily and The Firsty; Anya, Dawn and Xander decide to play ‘The Game of Life’, (some of you are finally putting the pieces together (; ) and Anya just goes, “Can I trade the children for more money.” That line cracks me up every time. I just can’t get enough of it! Anya’s money-loving nature is part of where her whit and humor come from, she’s always just so straight forward about things, saying “Thank you for your money, now please leave.” to customers at The Magic Box. She is so remarkably un-knowing about how what she says can affect people, its hilarious. I think it was a fantastic idea to add her into the show, for starters, Xander needed a non-Cordelia girlfriend, and the show really needed that extra layer of humor to keep the show a little bit lighter.

Hells Bells. Such a sad episode. It angers me greatly, but *deep calming breath* we will get to that another day. In the mean time, lets talk about how Xander’s duchy decisions effected Anya as a person. First thing, it convinced her to no longer be a person, and go back to her vengeance days as Anyanka. This time, her reign as a demon of terror to all men is short lived, especially compared to her previous reign. Of course this horrible decision by Xander, triggered a chain reaction of shit-faced decisions. For example….

This makes me so angry because of how it made Buffy feel. I mean, i know her and Spike weren’t really together, despite the fact that i really wish they were. But Spike was mad at Buffy, slept with Anya in the Magic Box, in front of The Trio’s secret hidden cameras. Buffy and the gang saw, and pretty much cast them to semi-group exile. I hated it. Made me so mad. It shouldn’t have happened.

———-

As sad as i am that Anya dies, i’m glad that she died when she did. It was the end of the very final episode. She maybe missed like 5 minutes of screen time. For the longest time i absolutely hated the way Anya died, it drove me crazy how meaningless and almost insignificant it was. However, when i was doing some research for this blog, i came across a quote from Emma Caulfield, the actress who plays Anya. She said this, “She didn’t get a big, maudlin send-off, it was very quick and to the point – very Anya in that respect.” And i realized just how right she was. The way Anya died was so very Anya. It was sort of perfect in that sense, and that made me cope with the way Joss hacked her in half with a Bringers sword.

Anya Jenkins, our favorite vengeance demon. Lover of money and capitalism, brilliantly hilarious, perfectly cynical.

“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <https://www.google.com/search?num=10&gt;.

Whedon, Joss, and Marti Noxon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Los Angles, California, 1997-2003. Television.

Faith Lehane

“I didn’t come here to take anything away from you, but I’m not gonna be your little lapdog, either” – Faith Lehane

Faith, oh Faithy Faithy Faith. Some people dislike this bad girl gone evil, then gone good. But me? Oh good golly i love her. Part of me knows that i love Faith SO much because i love Eliza Dushku SO much. As a whedonite i have (of course) watched Dollhouse (like 20,000,000 times) and i love it. It almost rivals the wit and creativity of BTVS. Almost. I was once in the same room as Eliza at New York Comic Con 2011. I never actually met her, but i did however make eye contact with her boyfriend Rick Fox. It was a little bit epic. He was soooooo tall! And all i kept thinking was “Holy crap, Eliza Dushku has sex with this man.” Then i watched where he walked, and he went behind this tenty thing and BOOM there was Eliza. She looked so beautiful, i totally fangirled out. So now lets talk about Eliza’s character Faith in the much beloved show Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Faith comes into play in Season 3’s episode Faith, Hope and Trick. Faith’s slayer powers were bestowed upon her after Kendra the Vampire Slayer was killed by Drucilla in Season 2’s final episodes. (And as we all know Kendra came into play when Buffy died briefly with her fight against the Master in season 1’s final episode.) Faith is one of those people who just captivates your attention. She is confident in herself and she is hella hot. She looks at life as a game, and is fairly care free about 99% of things going on. Faith is a breath of fresh air for Buffy. She shows Buffy a slightly more fun life style, she opens Buffy’s eyes to the power they have and influences her negatively. (You know, convincing her to ditch school and go clubbing. Just your normal crap). And as we all know, this is where things begin to go down hill, in the episode Bad Girls.

The thing that angers me the most about this episode is… no, let me build up to this. Okay, so yeah, Faith has always been reckless, and yes she doesn’t really ever make the best choices, but that is who she is. Although we never get a definitive look into her past and her family life, we do know that she lives alone, she craves attention and she refuses to admit to any type of emotions. There is another show i watch, and there was a quote on it that i really liked, “As long as we treat [her] like a criminal, [she] will always believe that [she] is one.” (For all of you who are wondering, this is a revised quote from the show White Collar, which ironically enough, Eliza Dushku guest stared in an episode of). When Buffy confronted Faith at the end of this episode about the innocent human she accidentally killed, it set off a trigger in Faith. The way Buffy was treating Faith made her feel like she was bad, and on top of that it caused her defensive trait to kick into overdrive, and she said things just to get Buffy off her back. I FIRMLY believe that Faith killed that man, and felt bad about it, knowing her horrible mistake. Buffy and Faith were in a dark alley, late at night, and had just had an intense fight with a bunch of vamps. This guy, Allan, came out of no where and startled a girl with super fast reflexes and a pointy piece of wood in her hand. Im sorry, in what world does this scenario end well? Further proof of it being an accident that she felt bad about is after her and Buffy split off in different ways, Faith came back to the body, and just stared at it. A PERSON WITH NO GUILT WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT. UGH, okay that rant is over.

So now, because of stupid stupidity, Faith has turned from a rebellious slayer to a dark slayer. While everybody she (sorta) made friends with in Sunnydale had turned against her, leaving her all alone at a time when she probably needed them the most, The Big Bad of Season 3 comes waltzing in and makes her feel appreciated, makes her feel important, makes her feel powerful. Despite her hard exterior, i always saw Faith as the most vulnerable character (only in the earlier seasons, later on she just becomes fucking awesome) she is so emotionally unstable, and she allowed herself to change into a horrible person, because that was the only way she got any slice of respect. {|| Let me just take a slight moment to admit to my biasness. When i re-watch these episodes, i see season 7 Faith, and i see Echo and i just feel so bad for her. I know the end outcome, and that makes me feel sympathetic towards Faith opposed to sympathetic towards Buffy and the Scoobies.||} As much as i HATED The Mayor, (you know for being evil and ascending)  out of all of the Big Bads he is one of my favorites. He is the only one who we see a sympathetic side to. We see seemingly human qualities in him. His attachment to Faith, no matter how it started, was a very Giles and Buffy-esque relationship, but the evil version of Giles and Buffy. Mayor Wilkins was an evil father-figure for evil-Faith. He taught her his evil trade, he made her feel important with his evil missions, and he made her feel loved with his evil presents.

Granted in a Buffy Universe, we know all evil things must come to an end. Faith goes too far when she poisons Angel, and Buffy is dead-set on revenge. So she sets out to bring Faith to Angel so Angel can suck Faith’s blood, and the poison will be gone. Good plan, until Buffy accidentally throws Faith off the roof of a building and onto a moving truck during their fight. So Angel drinks Buffy’s blood instead, and Faith slips into a coma. Causing the Mayor to have real, actual human emotions. (i.e. Sadness) Faith’s coma puts her out of the picture for, a good year or so. Resurfacing in the episode ‘This Year’s Girl’ in Season 4.

Faith has just gotten out of her Coma in this episode, and is extremely displeased when she discovers that Buffy and her gang had stopped the Mayors ascension, leaving Faith nothing to go back to. So she beats up some random girl, steals her clothes and sneaks out in the middle of the night. Causing a scare for Buffy and the gang, because well, Faith is kinda evil and psycho at the moment. And if i just woke up from a year long coma to find that my entire world had fallen apart while i slept, i would totally want to put the person who put me into a coma into their own coma. (Point: They know Faith will come after Buffy as revenge). So Faith goes to the Mayor’s old office-y place and finds a VHS recording waiting for her, with a really sentimental message from the Mayor on it, and he leaves her one last evil present, with very vague instructions on how to use it. So Faith shows up to Buffy’s house, where she finds Buffy’s mom, and no one else. (Dawnie isn’t in existence as of yet) As Faith threatens Joyce, taunting her about how Buffy had left her, how Buffy wasn’t gonna show up and save the day because Buffy didn’t care anymore, Buffy jumps through the window and tackles Faith. They duke it out, obviously equally matched, and Faith finally whips out her new toy and KAZOWIE! BODY SWITCH!

I love this episode, because i think it very clearly illustrates to both Buffy and Faith how the others life really is. At first, Faith has fun in Buffy’s body, she pretends be Buffy in a mocking way, and treats Buffy’s life like a joke. She is carefree, she is mean and she is  manipulative. She is like this until the scene with Riley. Faith-Buffy decides to get all sexy with Riley and proceeds to have sex with him, and while there doing it, Riley looks into her eyes and tells her her loves her. Needless to say, Riley thinks that he is talking to real Buffy, not Faith-Buffy. This makes Faith realize that Buffy has a good life. Buffy had built herself a life worth living, she has people who actually care about her, and this scares Faith. I don’t know if it is jealousy, or if it is guilt, but either way that moment with Riley changed Faith. Thats the moment when she started to realize that being good has its rewards. Being good makes people look up to you, and makes people want to spend time with you, and i think that is something Faith craves.

Meanwhile, Buffy is trapped in Faith’s body, and she has been captured by the Watchers Council and is in the process of being shipped off to England for some sort of Watcher-y Slayer trial type of a thingy. (That part was always kinda vague in my opinion) I don’t think that Buffy-Faith has as big of a revelation as Faith-Buffy has, but i think she does understand Faith’s struggle a little bit. Once she escaped, she goes to Giles and blah blah blah blah blah (this is not important to the Faith aspect of this blog, so we don’t care. I’ll be blogging episode by episode after i finish Character analysis’) Long story short, Buffy and Faith team up to kill a bunch of Vamps who are holding hostages inside of a church, they have a bondy moment before they switch back into their respective bodies.

We do not see Faith (in BTVS) again until Episode 18 of Season 7. Where she comes back from L.A. with Willow to help train the Potential Slayers as well as help in the battle against The First Evil. We know that Faith has served time in jail, and despite not seeing her actual transformation, we can almost immediately tell that she is back to her old self. She is the Faith we knew in the beginning of Season 3, but she is more mature, she is more like Buffy, yet she still has her good ol’ Faith charm and humor. She is not exactly welcome back with open arms, but everyone knew that they could use all the help they could get. So Faith steps in where she is needed and helps save the day.

Now, lets take an uber short moment to talk about Faith’s relationships. 1. One night Stand with Xander. 2. Chemistry with Robin Wood. Oh, and thats it. Faith gets the least amount of action out of all of the characters. Even Giles had a girlfriend! I wish we got to see more of Faith and Robin, i feel like they could have been super cute together, and i do feel like the way it ended opened a door up for them, and (although not depicted in Season 8 of Buffy) I like to imagine that Faith and Robin got together and he helped her transform into an even better person.

I feel like Faith’s hook up with Xander was really awkward. They were both kinda vulnerable, and i feel like she used him just to prove to herself that she could use him. Even though i LOVE Joss and i accept and agree with every decision he has made with all of his projects, deep down i wish that after the Buffy-Faith body switch thing that Faith stayed in Sunnydale, got good and became part of the Scoobies again. This way we could watch her character progress and maybe even see her in a real relationship. Who knows, either way, i love Faith.

Faith Lehane: Emotional Mess, former evil murderous person, witty and funny as hell.

“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <https://www.google.com/search?num=10&gt;.

Whedon, Joss, and Marti Noxon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Los Angles, California, 1997-2003. Television.

Spike (William the Bloody)

“Saw a man about a girl. I went to seek a legend out. Traveled to the other side of the world, made a deal with a demon” –  Spike

Alright, i am just going to come out and say it. I am totally and completly in love with James Marsters Spike. He is the only one of the Buffy cast-members that i have gotten the pleasure to meet, and may i just say that those cheek-bones are just as jaw-dropping in person. And his real eye color is this stunningly beautiful blue, and the eye-brow scar… yeah, thats real. Okay, now that i have properly swooned over this beautiful man, i shall get onto talking about the magnificent character he has played in the phenomenon that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Spike’s character, believe it or not, was only scheduled to be a one-episode villain that was supposed to be dusted at the end of that episode. Obviously, Joss Whedon made the super smart choice to keep in on, eventually becoming a regular on the show, and later on Angel. In an interview with James Marsters he says that he originally auditioned for the character with the full knowledge that the character would only last for one episode. He says that the next week he received another script for a new episode, and kept thinking that this week will be my last episode, yet he continuously kept receiving more scripts. I for one, am very happy he was kept onto the series.

Spike is without a doubt a very complex and dynamic character, evolving constantly through the series, and beyond (on the spin-off Angel). His first appearance in the show he is very clearly perceived as a bad-boy, rebel vampire who truly embodies the whole, ‘vampires are evil and kill for fun’ mentality that Angel despises, immediately making them polar opposites. So when his past with Angel is reveled, it makes them more like dramatic foils then just complete opposites. Spike always keeps his bad-boy mentality in tact, yet evolves beyond the rebellious, evil being that he was at first glance.

Spike is first introduced to us in ‘School Hard’, which is the third episode of season one. He is a bad-boy who only follows rules he sets for himself. He is dating the vicious Drusilla, and they are engrossingly adorable. You know, in that “Aww…(then go puke)” kinda way. Dru is fairly crazy (all thanks to our lovable Angelus), but Spike actually treats her fairly well, all things considered. This shows us Spikes sensitive and loving side. One that constantly proves to be only of benefit to him, (plus its the one main thing that he kept from his human ‘poet’ life). His relationship with Dru is very important in the first few seasons, causing him to do things and make decisions he probably wouldn’t have if it was not for her.

Drusilla is the vampire who sired Spike. They couple up immediately, and be come a super-bad vampy team with Angelus and Darla. The four of them wreck havoc through out a vast bulk of the 18th century, up until Angelus became Angel, all brooding and soul-having. This tore the group apart, needless to say, yet Spike and Dru remained a couple, continuing out their evilness, while Darla (at some point) joined forces with the Master, as we learn in the first episode of the series. Spike and Drusilla had hundreds of years to be in love, touring around the world, bringing torture wherever they went.

The first time Spike crosses over  from the dark side to the good side, was in season 2 when Angel became Angelus after him and Buffy got a bit frisky. 😉 Angelus and Drusilla were getting closer and closer (shining back to how Angelus drove Dru crazy, killed her family in front of her, then turned her into a vamp, just like him), and this bothered Spike. Dru’s increasingly close relationship with Angelus wasn’t helped at all by the fact that Spike was in a wheel-chair due to the church collapse in season 1. Spike begins to realize that he doesn’t really agree with Angelus’ and Drusilla’s plan to end the world because he says, “We like to talk big. Vampires do. ‘I’m going to destroy the world.’ That’s just tough guy talk. Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I like this world. You’ve got… dog racing, Manchester United. And you’ve got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It’s all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. With a real… passion for destruction. Angel could pull it off. Goodbye, Piccadilly. Farewell, Leicester Bloody Square. You know what I’m saying?” After he has this interesting chat with Buffy, the two of them team up, against all conceivable odds to try and save the world from their lovers. After Spike and Buffy successfully save the world, Spike goes off to win Dru back, not to come back until the 8th episode of season 3. When Spike comes back in season 3, it is just for that one episode, at the end he leaves again to find Drusilla.

Spike is most popular in Seasons 4-7. The introduction of the initiative and his chip that prevented him from harming humans was the reason he ended up teaming up with the Scoobies. He isn’t trusted at first (and let’s be honest why should he be, it literally used to be his mission to make the Scoobies lives a living hell). Having Spike kept almost like a pet, tied up, fed from a ‘Kiss The Librarian’ cup, and sometimes chained up in the bathtub are some of the most humorous moments of season 4. His role in the show becomes more complex once his feelings for Buffy begin to appear. She obviously never truly falls for him the way he has fallen for her, but she keeps him around during Season 5, mainly because she could use all the help she can get at that point, feeling helpless to Glory’s power. In my opinion, the first moment when the audience sees that Spike is in love with Buffy, and not just amused by the idea of being with her, is the end of Season 5, when Buffy sacrifices herself for Dawn, and you see all of her friends crying, and you see Spike drop down to his knees and just start sobbing. THAT is when i knew, without doubt, that Spike truly was in love with her. In Season 6, Buffy is so wounded from her friends pulling her out of Heaven, that she confides in Spike, knowing he was the only one who had no true part in bringing her back, and would not have been okay with bringing her back. Deep down, i think Spike always kinda knew that Buffy never loved him, i think he hoped she would, but i think he was just taking advantage of her vulnerability and her willingness. But that glimpse of being with her, that glimpse of happiness he could have, is what drove him to go out and seek his soul. I think Buffy should have given the poor bloke a chance after he got his soul. She should have seen his willingness to change as proof of love.

At the end of Season 7, after Buffy has been kicked out of Slayer base-camp, she confides in Spike once again. At this point, I am somewhat angry that she is stringing this poor guy along, but i also really want them together, so screw it. They have this big meaningful talk, about how they feel and it kinda sorta totally brings tears to my eyes. I am not joking when i say that i have the speech on my Ipod. Its so sweet and meaningful, he explains his love so well, he explains that he doesn’t expect anything back in return, but that he is just so captivated by her, and what she is, and who she is, and how she tries (yes im paraphrasing, i love this part, so shhhh) and how he just knows that she is the one for him. Although she never says that she feels even a little bit the same way, i think the fact that Buffy let Spike spend the night with her (in a non-sexual way) made him feel a little bit better, made him feel that she at least trusted her, and that’s a start.

Season 7 definitely ends with a bang. Spike, in all his chosen glory, kills the uber vamps, destroys the Hellmouth, the First and Sunnydale, and saves the world. Of course he dies in the process, but we all kinda knew that was coming. BUT WAIT, THERES MORE! I don’t really think anybody was expecting Spike to show up in the fifth and final season of Angel. It was the first season of Angel that aired without a Buffy counterpart. I love the way Joss introduced Spike, making him a ghost at first was really cool, and of course once he gained corporeal form, he was ready to kick some ass on the side of good. Of course there was a Spike Angel conflict, but the way their relationship as partners, and antagonistic friends progressed was really kinda heartwarming.

Spike. British. Hot. Surprisingly insightful, and always humorous. Oh, yeah, he’s also kind of a bad-ass. 😉

“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <https://www.google.com/search?num=10&gt;.

Whedon, Joss, and Marti Noxon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Los Angles, California, 1997-2003. Television.

Rupert Giles

“All right, I-I’ll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show.” -Rupert Giles

Rupert Giles is obviously an extremely important part of the Buffy series.  In the beginning, he serves partly as an informant, and honestly does for the rest of the show. He informs the viewers on the slayer and watcher dynamics, the legacy of the slayer and of course the various demons, witches, vampires and other tragedies that pop up in Sunnydale, of couse including the Hellmouth and the demonic force behind it.

Rupert Giles is portrayed by Anthony Stuart Head, and he is in fact from England so for the most part, his British accent is real (unlike counterpart Spike played by James Marsters). In interviews, Anthony clearly has a different British accent then Giles does, because the accents in England vary on regions, and Giles and Anthony are from different parts of England. Rupert more of a sophisticated accent while Anthony’s is more like Spike’s fake accent. (For those of you who can’t understand my jibber-jabber, which is most of you, heres the jist. The guy who plays Giles is really from England! 🙂 ) I think the actor chosen for Giles was absolutely, 100% perfect. Honestly i don’t think i could imagine anybody else fitting into his incredibly British shoes. 🙂

 Giles is often eluted to being a father-figure to Buffy Summers, which is definitely true, as proven in his song ‘Standing’ durring the ‘Once More, With Feeling’ episode in season 6. Giles is without a doubt a dynamic character, he goes from a nerdy anti-social librarian to a much more suave and liberal man. And through back-stories being told, we learn that Giles was quite the rebellious bad-boy in his ‘Ripper’ days in college. I wouldn’t say that there is really anyone who helps Giles change, but it could be argued that he wouldn’t have evolved into what he is today if it wasn’t for Buffy, Willow and Xander. The Scoobies mixed in with the everlasting stress that comes with both trying to save the world and deal with unwilling, unappreciative (for some parts) young adults would honestly cause anyone to change.

The only real relationship Giles has had is with Jenny Calendar, who we know is later found out to be a Gypsy Spy (that sounds like a good movie, haha) and later killed by Angelus. Unlike almost every other relationship the show has held, I really don’t think that Giles and Jenny benefited from each other in a drastic way, or in a way that altered the story. Yes, we saw a slightly vengeful side to Giles that we hadn’t before after Angelus killed Jenny, but it isn’t any where near as spectacular as how Oz changed Willow, for example. Never the less, I really loved Giles and Jenny. Most of the time Joss Whedon had really valid reasons to kill off his characters. He has a tendency to kill off his characters when they are finally perfectly happy, or have gotten what they truly wanted deep inside. (Tara; a solid non-witchcraft with Willow. Spike; an accepting and emotional relationship with Buffy…etc.) But (i mean correct me if im wrong) neither Jenny or Giles had reached that point in their lives when she was murdured.

Okay, im obviously very well aware of the ‘Band Candy’ fling between Giles and Joyce Summers, but i honestly don’t really think that it really counts as much. Yeah it made Joyce’s death more touching and sentimental to Giles, but other then that it just caused really awkward moments between Giles, Joyce and Buffy. Entertaining, and remotely endearing. Yes, of course. But it was irrelevant,  in the long run, to the development of Giles’ character.

       Of course it goes without saying (almost) that Buffy Summers is the most important               person in Giles’ life throughout the entire series. I have already mentioned how he acts as a father-figure to her, and it is both mutually beneficial and mutually deteriorating. It is difficult to pin point the exact moment where their relationship turned from watcher-slayer towards a more father-daughter light. But my best presumption is around the time of the Angelus terror. (AKA mid-to end of season 2) That is when i feel it begins, because at this point Buffy has already died once and come back, beaten the Master, and multiple other horrific demons, and she is still a relatively normal teenager.   (Relatively being the operative word.) The dynamics of their attachment go through various ups and downs from that point on, and just when their bond is at it’s strongest, in the true light of all things Joss Whedon, it begins to go downhill. Very obviously when Buffy leans on him tremendously following her mother’s death. Causing him to wonder/fear that she cannot do anything on her own anymore, which is what originally sparks his want to move back to England until he sees fit.  But as we know, the death of Buffy at the end of Season 5 is really what sent him away, he couldn’t handle it, and used the excuse that he was now ‘un-needed’ as he had been truly ‘relieved of his watcher duties.’

When Season 6 picks up, Giles is off in England and he doesn’t return until he is summoned back by Willow after the successful resurrection of Buffy. Giles, like many other people, were upset and almost disturbed with the fact that Buffy has been brought back from the dead, yet he also feels the need to help things get back to the way they were. Because everyone can clearly see how unhappy Buffy is. (But thats because they think she had been in an untold hell dimension, not heaven) From that point on, i would definitely say that Giles’ and Buffy’s relationship becomes very strained, and tense in progression towards Buffy not needing Giles there to lean on so much.

All in all, Rupert Giles is an extremely importnat part of the entire Buffyverse. He makes the show what it is in my opinion. He definitely adds an unintentional witty and humorous feel to the show, and i absolutely love him.

Rupert Giles. Intelligent. British. The rock that holds the Scoobie’s together.

“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <https://www.google.com/search?num=10&gt;.

Whedon, Joss, and Marti Noxon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Los Angles, California, 1997-2003. Television.

Xander Harris

 “Whoa! Giles has a TV! Everybody… Giles has a TV, he’s shallow like us!” – Xander Harris

There is so much to say about the marvelous Xander Harris. He’s such an important part of BTVS. Not only does he provided much needed comic relief through out the series, but he is the heart of the Scoobie Gang. He, (along with Dawn & Principal Wood) are the only members of the gang that do not ever develop any kind of special or supernatural talent. Yet, Xander proves to always be an important member to the gang.

Xander never really goes through a huge dramatic plot. Nothing nearly as intense as Willow, Buffy or even Spike, but he is always involved with every thing. In my mind Xander is the glue that holds everyone and their sanity together. He is the guy who is always there for his friends, no matter what the situation. He has a unique insite to the group because he is often on the outside even though he is on the inside also.

Xander: They’ll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn’t chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody’s watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You’re not special. You’re extraordinary.

Dawn: Maybe that’s your power.

Xander: What?

Dawn: Seeing, knowing.

Xander: Maybe it is… Maybe I should get a cape.

Xander’s relationships are also key points to his plot in the show. Beginning with his relationship with Cordelia Chase. The significance of their relationship was that it broke down some social boundaries, making it remotely acceptable for a social nerd (Xander) to date a queen bee (Cordelia). Their relationship also began to soffen up Cordy, which is more promptly shown in later episodes, but mostly in the spin-off series Angel.

 This relationship didn’t really alter Xander’s personality, the only thing that could be argued is that he developed a little more confidence and jumped slightly in social ranking. Compared to Xander’s next relationship with Anya, his short time with Cordy is really unimportant. 

   Xander and Anya are the longest lasting couple on BTVS. With their first date (Prom) in season 3, lasting all the way until the very end of the series, only truly ending because Anya died. Yes, although one may argue that their relationship ended when their wedding was called off in Hell’s Bells towards the end of season 6. But they do get back together towards the middle-end of season 7.  Without question, Anya and Xander’s relationship is very abnormal, mainly on Anya’s part. Neither of Xander’s relationships truly changed his character. That is not to say that Xander has not changed, but rather that he did it on his own, by helping others and observing their reactions. 

Xander’s costume choices in various Halloween episodes show the audience his desire for macho credence: he comes, variously, as a cowboy, a soldier and as James Bond. As a soldier, he was in fact magically turned into his costume, and got to retain his macho status along with the useful military knowledge. Following this incident, his choice of costume represents explicitly whom he would like to actually become. Various episodes highlight Xander’s intense bravery; for example, he faces down evil Angelus at Buffy’s hospital door in the episode “Killed By Death”, and he offers his life in place of Willow’s in “Inca Mummy Girl”. When Buffy prepares to face Angelus in the season two finale, he arrives with a rock in hand saying “Cavalry’s here. Cavalry’s a frightened guy with a rock, but it’s here.” Stephens argues that this makes up the essence of Xander’s character; though powerless, he is always both loyal and brave. As his relationship with Dawn in “Potential” and his support of Buffy show, Xander finds that his real calling seems to be in his role as the “eternal supporter”. One journalist describes the character as a modern-day Greek Chorus, always an outsider looking in, and a version of Joss Whedon himself. One author writes that the focus of Xander’s character development has always been his quest for maturity. Joss Whedon has often commented that many aspects of Xander were based upon himself. Nicholas Brendon (who plays Xander) often jokes that that is why Xander ‘always got the best lines’.

With Buffy and Willow i have mentioned how important casting was. As fantastic as Nicholas Brendon was, i don’t believe casting was as important. Believe it or not, Ryan Reynolds was originally offered the job, but later turned it down for another project. Danny Strong (Jonathan) also had auditioned for the role. Joss Whedon loved his enthusiasm, and when he was casting for Jonathan, he called Danny for the role.

In the DVD commentary for the episode “Dirty Girls”, writer Goddard mentions there was talk of killing off Xander towards the end of Season Seven and having the First assume Xander’s appearance when conversing with Buffy for the remainder of the season. This was ultimately rejected since Xander was thought to be too important to the series, and his death occurring so late in the season would leave little time to deal with it correctly, and that throughout the series’ run, Xander was the one character who never wavered, and to punish that characteristic with death would send a message the staff wasn’t trying to convey. Instead of killing Xander, he was blinded in one eye.

Which one is Nicholas Brendon? 😉

For the episode ‘The Replacement’ Nicholas’ identical twin brother, Kelly Donovan (Brendon and Donovan are the twins’ middle names, Schultz is their real last name.) played the other half of Xander. Donovan played the clean-cut Xander, while Brendon played the sloppy, ill-mannered Xander. Donovan is also his brothers stunt double, whenever needed. (Not that Xander gets involved with many fights.)

Xander Harris; Funny, observational; (kinda hot 😉 )

“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <https://www.google.com/search?num=10&gt;.

Whedon, Joss, and Marti Noxon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Los Angles, California, 1997-2003. Television.

Willow Rosenberg

“You’re the Slayer, and we’re, like, the Slayerettes!” – Willow Rosenberg

For me, Willow Rosenberg is probably my favorite character (With Anya a close second).  Although the show is primarily based on Buffy Summers and her conquest of they with sharp teeth and pale skin, Willow is the most diverse. She goes from dorky high-school student, to innovative cool lesbian Wicca college student, to black-haired crazy ‘i want to end the worlds sufferings by ending the world’ evil villain. Not even the infamous Buffy Summers can top that.

I mentioned with Buffy/Sarah Michelle Gellar, that casting was really key to her character being so wonderful, and i truly believe that. It blows my mind that for one unaired pilot episode the lovely Alyson Hannigan did not portray our loveably dorky Willow. I have never seen this episode, and most of me never wants to. I cannot immagine Willow being anyone else. Alyson Hannigan, Unlike SMG was compared to Willow more because of how remotely realistic the character could have been (minus destroying the world.) Alyson quickly broke from the character by singing onto the American Pie series, where she was a little dorky, she was definitely far from Willow. Now we can see her on How I Met Your Mother, just as hilarious as ever. (Who else thinks it’s awesome that she found her husband via. Buffy? 🙂 )

Any blog about Willow Rosenburg would be incomplete without answering a few major questions and addressing many key points in the characters development. And i most definitely will be addressing them! Why don’t we start from the beginning. Willow is first shown to us when Cordelia Chase is attempting to show Buffy the popular ropes of Sunnydale High. At first, it looks like Willow is just a background extra drinking from a fountain, until Cordelia makes fun of her and we are given an idea of how weak and polite Miss.Rosenburg is, even to her bully. Still, as a first-viewer your unsure of where her character stands. Bu the end of the first episode its completely clear that Willow is probably going to be around for a while.

Willow, although she does evolve a lot, she stays surprisingly the same. Willow has always and will always be the super smart one in the group. This is important not only because it helps save the day in just about every episode, but also because it glorifies knowledge. Willow’s character encourages the young girls and women watching that smart can be sexy, and fun. Something that Buffy never really displays that message, and it’s a super important one!

  I personally believe that Willow is a part of two of the BEST BTVS relationships to date. Yes, i love Buffy and all of her men just as much as the next person, and Anya and Xander are the longest going couple, but for me its Willow and Oz vs. Willow and Tara for best couple..

Willow was a shy nerdy girl who had a crush on her best friend when we first met her. I firmly believe that the Willow that we know at the end of Season 7 would not have been possible if it was not for Oz. Although she will never be as care-free as Oz was, she really opened up and in, my opinion, found her self when she was with Oz. They were such a cute couple to boot! Minus his whole werwolf/Verucca thing, he was the perfect boyfriend, and he was funny!!

Willow and Tara are ironically a totally different story. Although Tara really does help Willow continue to grow, when Willow and Tara meet its Tara that is the shy insecure one. Willow and Tara’s relationship was very risky and monumental. Willow and Tara were the first long-term lesbian couple television has ever seen. Although they didn’t produce the first lesbian kiss on T.V they were the first series to not do it in a sleazy way, looking to increase viewership. Willow and Tara’s first televised kiss was in the episode ‘The Body’. Its not done in a ‘i want you’ kinda way, Tara is comforting her girlfriend in a time of loss and sorrow. Marti Noxon, Co-producer and writer for BTVS was told that it wouldn’t work if she did a long-term lesbian relationship because, “If they kiss more then once, that means they liked it”. I personally am glad they went for it, later producing the first lesbian sex scene in T.V. history. This is simply just another way Buffy paved the road for years to come.

You cannot talk about Willow without bringing up her Wiccan ‘roots’.

Dark Willow v. White Willow. Both situations, White Willow wins. White Willow is not only more powerful, but she’s good.

To properly discuss her two wiccan sides, we have to go to the beginning.

Willow got interested in Wicca because she was around all this mystical stuff, all the time, and she wanted to help out. Her first major spell was restoring Angel’s soul at the end of Becoming part 2. We were shown a glimpse of how dangerous this was here because Willow almost couldn’t complete the spell, in fact she failed completely the first time she tried it.  Her Wiccan abilities prove very useful both for the Scoobies’ and for the plot of the show. We see her start to spin out of control after she brings Buffy back from the dead in the beginning of season  6. Season 6 is mainly focused on Willow’s magic (and The Trio, haha 🙂 <3). We see Tara get bothered with the amount of magic she uses, and we see the consequences of her magic, and how she has spiraled so far down this path that she thinks its smart to solve the problems she created with magic with even more magic, which we see backfire in the season 6 episode ‘Tabula Rasa. (Which is foreshadowing of Dollhouse, believe it or not!)

We know what caused Dark Willow, Warren came to Buffy’s house and shot her, with hopes of killing her. He didn’t even realize that he fired another bullet that flew into Willow and Tara’s bedroom killing Tara instantly. Willow tries calling upon the God Osiris, but he is of no help because this was not a mystical death. Willow decides to take matters into her own hands no matter what. We are all very aware of what happens next, and now we’ll get into the short-lived White Willow.

When Buffy asks Willow to use the essence of the Scythe or battleaxe to break the rules of slayer-hood and make every potential slayer ever a slayer right now, Will was clearly scared. She was worried she was gonna go dark again, i don’t think she realized that when she used good magic, she might go white. It’s arguable that one could say Willow and Spike are the ones who saved the world from The First, and honestly that’s sorta how i see it sometimes. But in the end, i always realize that it’s a group effort, it’s always a group effort.

Willow Rosenburg; Brilliant, beautiful, powerful.

“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <https://www.google.com/search?num=10&gt;.

Whedon, Joss, and Marti Noxon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Los Angles, California, 1997-2003. Television.

Buffy Anne Summers

“I’m not just some crazy person. I’m the Slayer” – Buffy Summers

 Buffy Anne Summer is probably the most infamous and iconic female character T.V has ever seen. Joss Whedon provided the perfect character description, Pretty, a tad snobby, not book smart, but she makes up for it with slayer skills and street smarts (it evens out right! 🙂 ) Buffy is far from perfect. She’s emotional, and secretive and she has the fate of the world on her shoulders every day of her life. She’s a dynamic and innovative character. That said, Buffy Summers would be nothing if they had cast her wrong.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was the perfect choice. She IS Buffy Summers.  The interesting thing about SMG is that, yes she will always carry around her Buffy fame, but people see her as the actress not the character. Part of this is because it’s (not been proven) impossible for her character to be real. Society ‘knows’ that vampires aren’t real, therefore they don’t judge her based on Buffy’s personality.

Buffy Summers is strung through various detrimental situations. She cracked at points, and threatened to give up but she never did. Somehow she always managed to persevere, her friends and family were definitely always a strong key to keeping her strong. Because that’s exactly what she is Strong. She holds an idealistic vibe to her that everyone strives to have.  Of course, nobody is perfect and Buffy Summers is definitely not, but she never gives up. When she was told she would die if she fought The Master durring his harvest, she got scared, but then went for it. She died for a few seconds, sure, but good ol’ Xander was there to bring her back, then she dusted The Master, stopping the apocalypse. Almost every episode she faces a moral challenge, she may not always do the right thing or figure it out on her own, but she never backs down, even when every single sign points to her failure.

Buffy is most definitely a dynamic character, we get the privilege to watch her grow and evolve through out the 7 year reign that she was on television. For those of us who have seen the movie from the 80’s, or for all of us who have watched Season 2 episode 21 (Becoming Part One) we have gotten a glimpse at how Buffy Summers acted when she attended Hemery High back in Los Angles before she moved to Sunnydale at the beginning of season 1. We know that in L.A she was arguably worse then Cordelia ever was, shes genuinely hate-able. The first episode of Season 1, she clearly has already changed, and we know this because of the way she treats Willow, Xander and Jesse (Well, until he was turned into a vamp, then she was pretty set on staking him). Buffy only evolves more and more until she is the person we see towards the end of season 7, a strong confident determined woman.

 It would be impossible to talk about Buffy Summers without discussing her relationships. Buffy and Angel are one of T.V.’s most infamous and tragic love stories. In the beginning of the series you want Buffy and Angel to work, you want them to be happy and together with no limitations and no boundaries. We also, however, know that this is impossible and that there will probably be something that tears them apart.

   {Okay, just to clarify. I don’t think Angel and Buffy can really ever be together. If they have sex, he turns evil. And im sorry, but what’s the point of being in a relationship if the moment you get a little frisky, your significant other literally turns evil and tries to drain your blood?} With that said… i still want them together. I know they never will be, but i still want it. Its bad and i shouldn’t, but i just do.

Angel is a really sweet guy, he loves Buffy so much that it makes the viewers heart hurt. Their a tragic forbidden love, who look AWESOME together, and really know how to kick some ass.

The thing i love about Buffy and Riley Finn is that she really thought that he was going to be her nice normal guy, so she was worried that he would be freaked out if/when he found out she was the slayer. Riley thought Buffy was a normal girl, so he was then scared that she would react poorly when she found out about his work with The Initiative. Buffy and Riley are nice, relatively normal (as normal as two people like them can be)  and they are cute. So, we know that something bad is going to happen.

Spike begins to slowly climb abord the ‘Im obsessed with Buffy express’ causing an issue with Ruffy (Yes, im giving them a combo name, and Biley sounds like a bisexual Miley Cyrus.. doesn’t it?) Then Spike starts interfering more and more, showing Buffy the place where Riley has been sneaking off to to get his blood sucked, to feel ‘alive’. Bull shit. So everyone expects Buffy to be the one with the right to be angry because well, Riley shouldn’t have done that, right? Wrong, Good ol’ Xander once again swoops in with some great advice.  So it’s extra depressing when Buffy is trying to run to get to Riley in time, and she doesn’t make it.  But that’s a good thing according to some people (like me) who really like Spike and Buffy.

 Everyone knows that once Riley is out of the picture, Spike is going to try and make a move. And we all knew (or thought we did) that Buffy would shoot him down. She did, for a mass majority of season 5 only letting him close a few times. There is two emotional scenes with Buffy and Spike in season 6 episode 3, After Life. When Spike sees that Buffy is back, he consuls her, and helps her heal her wounded hands, knowing the wounds well, as he too has dug his way out of a coffin once. Then when Buffy confides in Spike that she believes she was in Heaven, and that she was torn out of there by her friends. This is important because it is the first time Buffy lets Spike in. Their relationship builds in secret, as Buffy is afraid that she will be judged for being with Spike. Something that Spike knows and is offended by. When Buffy decides she wants to end her fling with Spike, he can’t handle it, and in the episode ‘Seeing Red’ he attempts to rape her. Not following through with it, he storms out. In the episode Villains he leaves for Africa in hopes of redeeming his soul through a series of trials. Although he got his soul back, Buffy and Spike don’t ever get back together until the end of Season 7, and only for an episode or 3.

Buffy Summers; Slayer, The. She who hangs out in graveyards.

Buffy Summers; strong independent woman. Amazing friend, sister and person. Difficult? Yes. Scared, tired, confused, of course. But she’s always there when it counts.

“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <https://www.google.com/search?num=10&gt;.

Whedon, Joss, and Marti Noxon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Los Angles, California, 1997-2003. Television.

Welcome to the Hellmouth

WELCOME TO THE HELLMOUTH

This is  the first official episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The original pilot was never aired, and featured Riff Regan as Willow Rosenburg. All of us Buffy fans know this episode, and that the main plot of it did a few things…

1. Introduced the main charecters that we have all grown to love and admire. (Buffy, Willow, Angel, Giles, Cordelia and Xander… just to name a few ;))

2. Introduces our ‘Big Bad’ for the rest of the season. The Master. And our ‘minor Bad’s’ His minions.

3. Told us about the Hellmouth and its ‘magnetic’ force for evil.

4. We also get a vague idea of Buffy’s past life in Los Angles.  (And those of us who are REAL Buffy fans have watched the horrific 80’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie with Kristy Swanson and was written by Buffy god {Joss Whedon} and we know all about Buffy’s LA life.)

In the 90’s Buffy was so technically advanced that people were amazed. Watching it in present day it almost funny the terrible graphics and vampire faces and dustings are. But we just cannot seem to get enough of this. Buffy isn’t just a phenomenon, its a revelation. Throughout the show one of the main themes is very clearly being strong. Not physically of course, but emotionally and mentally. What one of us haven’t asked ourselves “What would Buffy do?” once or twice? Buffy has changed the lives of millions. There is no was Joss Whedon could have known what he created when he decided to create a story where the blonde girl in a dark ally finally kicks some ass. Nothing like Buffy the Vampire Slayer has ever existed before, and honestly i don’t think anything will ever exist. It is, what, nearly 10 years after the very last Buffy episode was aired, and we are still talking about this. I was one year old when Buffy came out, now im 16 sitting at my desk on my macbook spewing my so-called Buffy knowledge out to the interweb. That is a cultural phenomena, and i am ecstatic to be a part of it.