The Buffyverse and Beyond

“Angel” might be the most underappreciated show in Joss Whedon’s entire oeuvre. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is rightly touted as his greatest achievement (it’s my favorite show of all time), but if you ask me, it’s spin-off deserves more affection than it gets. “Angel” might get less attention from fans that its parents series or Whedon’s space western “Firefly,” but during season 4, it actually wasn’t getting much attention from its creator, either. Because the allegations against Whedon have understandably tarnished his legacy, it can be difficult to remembered there was a time when the filmmaker was so in demand that he had three shows on the air at once. Like anyone working on too many things simultaneously, Whedon was simply spread too thin, which directly affected the much-maligned fourth season of “Angel.”

Over two decades after its release, Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains and acclaimed staple of pop culture. The series featured a strong and capable female hero, Buffy Summers, portrayed brilliantly by Sarah Michelle Gellar, subverted the trope of the classic horror damsel. The young woman, relentlessly by bloodthirsty monsters, was the one to drive a stake through their hearts. In recent years, however, the show’s powerful feminist message has been muddied by the horrific abuse allegations directed at series creator, Joss Whedon. But time, awareness and hindsight have also recontextualized Buffy’s “worst season.”

Nineteen years after it ended, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is more popular than ever, with streaming audiences rediscovering in the series the kind of layered storytelling that was a hallmark of Peak TV. The show has plenty to offer on second viewing (and third-viewings – and fourth, firth, etc.), with season-long arcs that tied together monster-of-the-week plots, generally along rich thematic lines.

Dichen Lachman (Dollhouse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will star alongside Willa Fitzgerald, Ron Perlman and Harvey Keitel in Joe Baby, which has just wrapped filming in…

David Arquette (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Movie) has been added to the cast of new drama series from Peacock, Mrs Davies, in a recurring role….

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: With the revelation that Willow took over Buffy’s mantle as the Slayer, we’re pretty caught up on that front. Of course, with her not being the “rightful” Slayer, Willow’s suffering from some pretty serious side effects that are working overtime on her psyche.

While Buffy Summers will always be synonymous with the words “vampire slayer,” she isn’t the only iconic character that those words bring to mind. The likes of Willow Rosenberg, Angel, and Spike have all become fast fan favorites during their respective times in the spotlight, and the latter of those three has just returned to it once again. But, like so many other things in the world of The Vampire Slayer, this version of Spike is both strikingly similar and eerily different from the one fans know best. And, as of now, there is no telling what he has in store for the mostly unsuspecting Scooby Gang.

“I think Buffy inherently works better as a TV show than a movie,” Gellar said. By the way, most great characters inherently work better over time. So whether it’s a Bond movie where you get all this time with James Bond and on actor really doing it or over a TV show because you become invested in a different manner when you have that length of time. And so I think when the movie was made, there were so many constraints.”

Nathan Fillion recently appeared on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum where he spoke about the Firefly re-boot rumours and whether he would be involved…

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This iconic series rocked the television landscape following its debut on March 10, 1997, and though it wasn’t a huge award contender, Sarah Michelle Gellar did receive a nomination for a Golden Globe for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. The premise of the series is simple, Buffy is know as a vampire slayer and though the teenager wants a normal life, she has to embrace her destiny as the chosen one. The Joss Whedon series will forever live in the hearts of fans who watched all seven seasons. However, the culture has changed since the series finale aired on May 20, 2003, does the plot still hold weight in modern times.