Friday, September 05, 2003

Awry in the Buffyverse

I have not yet tackled one great guilty pleasure of mine: watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series). For this I'm thankful for Star World because they replay the day's primetime shows later in the evening. On Studio 23, I would not get to see the show because it was regularly shown at 8pm, at which time I would most probably be still at the office.

You can read more about the show at the official site but suffice to say it's not your Kristy Swanson cult flick anymore. Buffy's been dead twice, battled a god, been given the key to hell as a sister, encountered a rogue slayer, been under Dracula's trance, fallen for a vampire with a soul, shacked up with a vigilante demon-hunter, and had a torrid affair with a former arch-enemy who also happens to be a vampire. Xander, with whom there used to be a love-triangle angle with Buffy and Angel, fell in love with reformed vengeance demon Anya but got cold feet and left her at the altar.

Last night's episode showed Buffy's dumpee Spike (archnemesis-turned-lover) and Xander's dumpee Anya getting it on after emptying a bottle of Jack Daniels (? or was it Johnny Walker) and the rest of the Scooby gang (Buffy, Xander, comp-whiz-and-powerful-witch Willow, and Buffy's mystical-key sister Dawn) happening to witness it because they were tapping into an elaborate system of cameras wired by this season's archnemeses, a trio of nerds whom Buffy has encountered at one time or another. Meanwhile Buffy's best friend Willow got addicted to magic (stupid storyline), lost her lesbian lover but on the plus side in this episode (since everyone's all dumped, betrayed and confused) got back together with her. Get it? Yep, you're not in Kansas anymore.

I realize I can't do a review of an episode or anything because that belongs on a "real" Buffy episode site, but I just have a few general observations:
  1. There are no happy endings in the Buffyverse, at least in the romantic sense. There is always a tragedy, or an un-coupling. The happy ending in each case is that everyone is still alive, and even that is going to change because, yes, people die, like Buffy's mother, and people leave, like Angel (Buffy's ex, vampire with a soul--as opposed to vample with soul that would make him, what, James Brown?), Oz (Willow's ex, werewolf), Riley (Buffy's ex, demon hunter) and Giles (Buffy's Watcher). So if things seem to be going well, something is bound to happen...
  2. Star World does more than a little snipping. There was supposed to be an entire scene last night after Willow and Tara got back together when the lovers were in bed together--guess that's still unacceptable. I wonder what's going to happen next episode because as per recon on the fansites, there's going to be a whole lot of lesbian loving in the next ep. And since that seems to be going well, see #1--something is bound to happen...
  3. I see my fascination with Spike as a manifestation of my soft spot for the "bad boy"--not Robin Padilla, though. Bleach-blond vampire with British accent who gambles with kittens and dabbles in the black market and twice tried to take over Sunnydale--ah that's my idea of a bad boy.
  4. I smirk when my friend says that he's in Sunnyvale, CA. Hehe. There a hellmouth there somewhere?
  5. Okay, so it's pure escapism. Maybe I'm glad because Buffy's problems seem to be much greater than my own and I'm glad that there's an additional fantasy-demon aspect to it as opposed to, say, Felicity or Dawson's Creek. I definitely don't see myself in Buffy, except for the failed relationships. But it works for me. And I know I'm going to miss it because it already ended last May in the States.


In the Phils., Buffy airs regularly on Star-World Thursdays 8pm with a replay at 11:30pm.

1 comment:

yen said...

i loved buffy too!