I arrived late to the Buffy party. Several seasons of the show had come and gone before I tuned in, turned on, and geeked out. I’d seen the movie, assumed that the TV incarnation would be more of the same, and didn’t bother to give it a shot—until a Thanksgiving holiday spent at my parents’ house. A cable station was broadcasting a Buffy marathon, and I accidentally channel surfed my way into the deep end of the pool, where I was immersed in some of the best episodes of the series: “Hush,” “The Zeppo,” “Prophecy Girl,” “Fool for Love”…I had no prior investment in these characters. I didn’t understand the complexities of their relationships with one another. But as someone who grew up reading the fictional adventures of the Three Investigators (a team of teenage sleuths whose detective agency was secretly funded by none other than Alfred Hitchcock), devouring Spider-Man comics, and watching Kolchak: The Night Stalker, one thought came to mind almost immediately: This show is speaking my language. Shortly after that, I thought: Why didn’t anyone tell me about this? It wasn’t long before I was catching up on the backstory via DVD while watching the continuing saga in prime time.
What good TV fiction does is encourage us to imagine that the characters have lives that extend beyond the edges of the screen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer did that, and did it so well that—supernatural shenanigans notwithstanding—I could easily picture Buffy and Xander and Willow out there somewhere in the world, living lives that were parallel to my own.
When the Scooby gang moved out of television and into comic books, I was ready and waiting to unload the U-Haul and help them unpack. For me, the best parts of the Season 8 comics were the small, personal moments when the characters were allowed to connect with one another—and with me. I’m glad to hear that Season 9 will represent a “return to the mission” of the show and a shift away from epic fantasy. Because even though life and death are the stakes of the game for Buffy and her pals, it seems to me that the epic arena is not really where these characters live and breathe. At heart, Buffy is about the day-to-day battles, the many little moments and decisions that can eventually lead to parting ways with a loved one, or finding a sense of purpose, or making a lifelong friend.
And speaking of lifelong friends, I’m eager to see what the gang is up to these days. Bring on Season 9!
—David Parr
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