TV on DVD: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Review

Image from Amazon.com

I haven't posted a Buffy the Vampire Slayer post in a while, as I haven't seen anything newsworthy about it in a while. But today was a lazy Sunday for me. The sky was threatening rain all day long, and The Other Half was away, leaving me only the (topless, doorless) Jeep. So, I was housebound. I considered my options, and decided to order a pizza and finish the last of my BTVS DVD set.

I have a number of TV on DVD collections, but BTVS is the only seven-seasons-long complete set I have. Mom got them for me last Christmas, so I guess seven months is probably pretty quick--1 season per month. Now that I'm finished, I thought I'd post my thoughts on the series as a whole.

Season one's job was basically to reintroduce the concept of Buffy, after a semi-crappy movie, and to set the tone for the series. It was sort of like 90210 if it were set over a hell-mouth. And with much better writers. Sarah Michelle Gellar, of course, played Buffy. While the season had stand-out episodes, it was short (half a season), and just an appetite-whetter for the shows to come.

In Season two, the show hit its stride. There were very few clunker episodes, a completely gelled cast, and a great mixture of horror, drama and comedy. Season three is much the same, leading up to a blow-out season finale. These two years are what might be called the show's heyday, with werewolf Oz (Seth Green), former vengeance demon Anya (Emma Caulfield) a second Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku), and an intact core cast (the "Scooby Gang").

Season four took the cast to college, and spun two cast members (David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter) off onto Angel. I was a late-joiner to watching the show originally, so those changes didn't hurt the show, in my opinion, though many fans disagree. Buffy got a new love interest (Marc Blucas), a seemingly white-bread hunk, who was really in a demon-hunting government "Initiative." Many fans balked at this, but I thought it was great. Other developments had formerly straight Willow (Alyson Hannigan) embark on a lesbian relationship with Tara (Amber Benson), and both explored witchcraft.

Season five saw a major change, with a full-grown sister (Michelle Trachtenberg) for Buffy added to the cast. The explanation for that is complicated, but I thought well-worked. Again, many fans disagree. The sister, Dawn, was a whiny teenager, I'll grant them that, but played by a lovely and talented actress. So I forgive. This season also saw the death of Buffy's mother (Kristine Sutherland), in the masterful episode, The Body. At the end of the season, Buffy herself died (having been revived once earlier in the series).

Buffy was resurrected by her friends (lead by the two witches), and spent much of Season six in a funk--she was pulled out of heaven. This was revealed to them in the fantastic musical episode, Once More. . .With Feeling! She then embarked on a torrid affair with sometime villain Spike (James Marsters), a vampire. The last season, the seventh, saw the introduction of many young girls, all potential slayers. They would play a key role in the series finale.

Having just completed the set, I had new feelings about the show. Like many of the above mentioned hard-core fans, I initially thought the last two seasons were gloomy. At the time, they seemed to be missing the joy and fun of the initial seasons. Now, years removed from finale, I found them as engaging, and as well written as any other season. The evolution of the characters was natural, and to try to hold them in their season three selves wouldn't have made sense. Unlike many series, the final seasons are quite good. If you're buying these sets, buy them all.

Extras abound in each season's set. Directors, writers, and (rarely) actors provide commentary. Each season has several featurettes, behind the scenes, bloopers, all kinds of fun stuff. Each disk has attractive graphics, and easy to navigate menus. The cases are even attractive (and I have the "slim set"), my only complaint being that the extra features are not listed on the cases.

Now that I'm finished with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (for now), I have the overwhelming urge to purchase the complete set of the spinoff, Angel, a show I didn't follow on TV. And after that, maybe Smallville, which I've--unlikely as it may seem for a comic book fan--never seen. I can only hope that those shows (and their DVD sets) are anywhere close to the wonderfulness that is Buffy. OK, I'm done geeking out. Again, for now. . .

Highly Recommended