a 7 episode summary
I’ve been trying to decide on the best combination of episodes - one per season - to give someone a summary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
You see, the problem is that if you’re trying to give someone an overview without filling them in on everything that happened in-between, you can’t show most of the ‘classic’ episodes.
Like Becoming for instance: a brilliant episode, that needs monumental amounts of backstory.
Anyway, after thinking about this far too much, I think I’ve finally come up with a list. See what you think…
Our aim, remember, is to:
a) show a person with no Buffy-knowledge some decent episodes of BtVS
b) one episode from every season
c) episodes that don’t require lots of backstory explanation
d) episodes that, together, will give a good overview
season 1 - Never Kill A Boy On The First Date
Let’s see. This episode introduces
1) Slayers and Watchers (it’s quite detailed, actually)
2) Cordelia (a snooty girl who is in competition with Buffy)
3) Xander and Willow (friends who apparently know about Buffy being the Slayer)
4) Angel (a mysterious guy, who also seems to know about Buffy)
5) vampires
6) the Master (and minions)
7) the whole Calling-vs-normal-life issue
It focuses on the Giles&Buffy dynamic, and the sacrifices Buffy needs to make as a Slayer. It also introduces the Anointed One.
What it doesn’t do is show any vampires out of game face (apart from the Anointed One, who doesn’t really count). As far as we’re aware, they always look all fangy and bumpy.
season 2 - School Hard
The Anointed One, having appeared last episode, gets killed in this one. And the new threat? Spike and Drusilla, obviously.*
Buffy is still making sacrifices for her calling - this time mainly school-related ones. The principal is on her back, as is her mother.
Giles seems to have been joined by a new teacher, Ms Calendar, who is apparently interested in him.
Angel is apparently a vampire - and he and Buffy seem to be tentatively starting a relationship. (The previous episode, NKaBotFD, emphasised Xander’s interest in Buffy. That’s not mentioned here, though - apparently he’s not into her anymore.)
Also, Cordelia seems to be part of the group now, but is still being snooty and insulting everyone.
This episode is, once again, about being-the-Slayer interfering with normal life.
* Spike’s appearance clarifying the whole game-face/human-face thing.
season 3 - Band Candy
Buffy’s mother now knows about her being the Slayer. She teams up with Giles to over-parent Buffy, until some magical chocolate turns them into teenagers. It looks like Giles and her might become a couple. (No mention of what happened to the teacher from last episode.)
Oh! And apparently Buffy ran away a few months ago. No indication as to why.*
Buffy and Angel were clearly in a relationship, but aren’t anymore (she has a new boyfriend - Scott**). They’re still talking though, pretty uncomfortably, because Angel has apparently been sick and needs Buffy’s help.
No mention of what happened to Spike and Drusilla. Instead, the current villain seems to be a corrupt politician***, who’s not above sacrificing babies to keep his career going well.
Also, Willow has a boyfriend. And I think Cordelia and Xander are going out too. Weirdly, though, Willow and Xander seem to have something going secretly.
This episode is about Buffy growing up, and taking responsibility.
* This gets mentioned several times in that episode, actually.
** Yes, Buffy and Scott have broken up by this episode. But Angel doesn’t know that, and Buffy doesn’t clarify. To a new viewer, it would sound like she and Scott were still dating.
*** Never referred to as the Mayor.
season 4 - Hush
Hmm. Angel and Cordelia have disappeared. And Spike is back - and apparently living with Giles. No idea why he hasn’t killed Giles (and Buffy for that matter), but everyone seems okay with it.
Speaking of Giles, he has a new girlfriend, from England. He seems to have a new girlfriend every time there’s a new episode.
Xander also has a new girlfriend, who doesn’t seem to understand politeness. And Buffy has a new boyfriend, who is secretly a soldier.
Willow seems to be doing magic - and meets a girl named Tara who also does it.
This episode is obviously about communication and relationships.
Interestingly enough, while Buffy, Willow, and Xander spent huge amounts of time together during the last three episodes, they hardly talk at all during this one (and not just because they can’t ‘talk’) - they spend most of the episode in completely different places with their significant others.
No sign of Buffy’s mum.
season 5 - Crush
Buffy has a sister - didn’t realise that earlier, but then, they never said she didn’t have one. There’s apparently something weird about her, but it’s not really clear what that is.
The current villain seems to be called Glory, but even though she’s mentioned a lot, she’s never seen.*
And Drusilla’s back! Was wondering where she’d gotten to.
There’s a whole lot of discussion about Spike having a ‘chip’, whatever that is. Apparently it means he can’t hurt people, which would explain the not-killing-everyone.
He’s also in love with Buffy.
Anyway, Buffy gets into a big argument with Spike, Glory, and Spike’s girlfriend Harmony. And then she stops Spike getting into her house somehow - probably some kind of spell, since Willow seems to still be doing magic.
The couples are still the same - Willow and Tara, Xander and Anya, but there’s no sign of Buffy’s soldier, or of Giles having a new girlfriend.
Actually, Giles hardly appears at all.
This episode is about Buffy and Spike. Not sure what the season’s about, really.
* Technically, anyway. Ben appears, though, and I’ve heard that him and Glory have… some kind of… connection… or something?
season 6 - Normal Again*
In this episode, Buffy goes crazy.
No sign of Buffy’s mum, or of Giles or Anya. Still plenty of Xander, Willow, Dawn, and Spike.
Spike and Buffy are apparently in a relationship, although Buffy seems uncomfortable with it, and they’re keeping it secret from everyone.**
Willow makes a couple of comments about magic and not doing it - no idea why. Her and Tara also seem to have had some issues, but it looks like they’ll be getting back together.
Xander seems to have left Anya at the altar. No idea why, but they mention it a few times, so it looks like it happened pretty recently.
Apparently Dawn wasn’t originally Buffy’s sister, but has something mystical about her. Not sure what.
There are some new villains - three guys with computers. Never seen them before.***
Oh, and Buffy’s mum has died… I think.
This episode is about facing your troubles bravely, and dealing with reality.
* Yes, it does actually work well as a stand-alone. Surprisingly well.
** Yep, they’ve broken up. No, there’s no mention of that. Just lots of comments about ‘us’ and ‘sodding sex slaves’ and ‘sleeping with a vampire I hate’. Add that to an argument about ‘telling your friends about us’, and it really does sound like they’re still together.
*** No, not even Jonathan.
season 7 - Potential
Buffy and Spike are training a whole bunch of girls, who are Potential Slayers.*
There are four of them - with Amanda from Dawn’s school being number five.
Buffy and Spike spend most of the episode teaching the Potentials - and also having a huge amount of UST. According to Buffy the relationship is ‘over’ (no idea why), but everyone keeps on commenting on them, so they’re probably still going to have something happening there.
Anya is back again - not sure if her and Xander are together or not.
Also, Tara seems to be missing. Perhaps her and Willow didn’t get back together after all.
Whatever Willow’s issue with magic was last episode, it seems to have been resolved. She’s happily back to doing locator spells.
Funnily enough, watching this episode right after Normal Again makes you really notice the comment about Buffy being a ‘high functioning schizophrenic’.
One of the computer guys from the last episode is in the house too, and apparently used to be evil - but they don’t say what happened.
This episode is about being extraordinary even if you don’t have superpowers.
* The Potentials get mentioned in a lot of detail, so anyone who’s paying attention should be able to pick up on who they are. While we know that there are ‘Bringers’ hunting them, and also ‘the First’ and ‘uber-vamps’, those aren’t explained.
* * * * *
So…
There’s my 7 episodes.
Overall, we get huge amounts of detail on Slayers, Watchers, Potentials, the challenges of balancing a calling with a normal life, and Spike. We also get an overview of Willow, Xander, vampires, Buffy’s family, Giles’ girlfriends, and the villains from each season.
Also, if we take the ‘episode theme’ as also being the season theme, we get this:
season 1: the sacrifices Buffy needs to make as a Slayer
season 2: being-the-Slayer interfering with normal life
season 3: Buffy growing up, and taking responsibility
season 4: communication and relationships
season 5: Buffy and Spike
season 6: facing your troubles bravely, and dealing with reality
season 7: being extraordinary even if you don’t have superpowers
As far as what is not mentioned…
1) Angel going evil
2) Faith (or Kendra, for that matter)
3) the Magic Box (the name is mentioned - no explanation of what they’re talking about, and they’re never in the shop)
4) Willow going evil
5) Spike having a soul
6) Buffy dying (either time)
7) Tara dying
8) where Angel and Cordelia have gone
(As for doing a similar list with AtS, I've got the middle three: Happy Anniversary, Couplet, and Supersymmetry. No idea what to do for seasons 1 or 5, though.)
Questions? Comments?
You see, the problem is that if you’re trying to give someone an overview without filling them in on everything that happened in-between, you can’t show most of the ‘classic’ episodes.
Like Becoming for instance: a brilliant episode, that needs monumental amounts of backstory.
Anyway, after thinking about this far too much, I think I’ve finally come up with a list. See what you think…
Our aim, remember, is to:
a) show a person with no Buffy-knowledge some decent episodes of BtVS
b) one episode from every season
c) episodes that don’t require lots of backstory explanation
d) episodes that, together, will give a good overview
season 1 - Never Kill A Boy On The First Date
Let’s see. This episode introduces
1) Slayers and Watchers (it’s quite detailed, actually)
2) Cordelia (a snooty girl who is in competition with Buffy)
3) Xander and Willow (friends who apparently know about Buffy being the Slayer)
4) Angel (a mysterious guy, who also seems to know about Buffy)
5) vampires
6) the Master (and minions)
7) the whole Calling-vs-normal-life issue
It focuses on the Giles&Buffy dynamic, and the sacrifices Buffy needs to make as a Slayer. It also introduces the Anointed One.
What it doesn’t do is show any vampires out of game face (apart from the Anointed One, who doesn’t really count). As far as we’re aware, they always look all fangy and bumpy.
season 2 - School Hard
The Anointed One, having appeared last episode, gets killed in this one. And the new threat? Spike and Drusilla, obviously.*
Buffy is still making sacrifices for her calling - this time mainly school-related ones. The principal is on her back, as is her mother.
Giles seems to have been joined by a new teacher, Ms Calendar, who is apparently interested in him.
Angel is apparently a vampire - and he and Buffy seem to be tentatively starting a relationship. (The previous episode, NKaBotFD, emphasised Xander’s interest in Buffy. That’s not mentioned here, though - apparently he’s not into her anymore.)
Also, Cordelia seems to be part of the group now, but is still being snooty and insulting everyone.
This episode is, once again, about being-the-Slayer interfering with normal life.
* Spike’s appearance clarifying the whole game-face/human-face thing.
season 3 - Band Candy
Buffy’s mother now knows about her being the Slayer. She teams up with Giles to over-parent Buffy, until some magical chocolate turns them into teenagers. It looks like Giles and her might become a couple. (No mention of what happened to the teacher from last episode.)
Oh! And apparently Buffy ran away a few months ago. No indication as to why.*
Buffy and Angel were clearly in a relationship, but aren’t anymore (she has a new boyfriend - Scott**). They’re still talking though, pretty uncomfortably, because Angel has apparently been sick and needs Buffy’s help.
No mention of what happened to Spike and Drusilla. Instead, the current villain seems to be a corrupt politician***, who’s not above sacrificing babies to keep his career going well.
Also, Willow has a boyfriend. And I think Cordelia and Xander are going out too. Weirdly, though, Willow and Xander seem to have something going secretly.
This episode is about Buffy growing up, and taking responsibility.
* This gets mentioned several times in that episode, actually.
** Yes, Buffy and Scott have broken up by this episode. But Angel doesn’t know that, and Buffy doesn’t clarify. To a new viewer, it would sound like she and Scott were still dating.
*** Never referred to as the Mayor.
season 4 - Hush
Hmm. Angel and Cordelia have disappeared. And Spike is back - and apparently living with Giles. No idea why he hasn’t killed Giles (and Buffy for that matter), but everyone seems okay with it.
Speaking of Giles, he has a new girlfriend, from England. He seems to have a new girlfriend every time there’s a new episode.
Xander also has a new girlfriend, who doesn’t seem to understand politeness. And Buffy has a new boyfriend, who is secretly a soldier.
Willow seems to be doing magic - and meets a girl named Tara who also does it.
This episode is obviously about communication and relationships.
Interestingly enough, while Buffy, Willow, and Xander spent huge amounts of time together during the last three episodes, they hardly talk at all during this one (and not just because they can’t ‘talk’) - they spend most of the episode in completely different places with their significant others.
No sign of Buffy’s mum.
season 5 - Crush
Buffy has a sister - didn’t realise that earlier, but then, they never said she didn’t have one. There’s apparently something weird about her, but it’s not really clear what that is.
The current villain seems to be called Glory, but even though she’s mentioned a lot, she’s never seen.*
And Drusilla’s back! Was wondering where she’d gotten to.
There’s a whole lot of discussion about Spike having a ‘chip’, whatever that is. Apparently it means he can’t hurt people, which would explain the not-killing-everyone.
He’s also in love with Buffy.
Anyway, Buffy gets into a big argument with Spike, Glory, and Spike’s girlfriend Harmony. And then she stops Spike getting into her house somehow - probably some kind of spell, since Willow seems to still be doing magic.
The couples are still the same - Willow and Tara, Xander and Anya, but there’s no sign of Buffy’s soldier, or of Giles having a new girlfriend.
Actually, Giles hardly appears at all.
This episode is about Buffy and Spike. Not sure what the season’s about, really.
* Technically, anyway. Ben appears, though, and I’ve heard that him and Glory have… some kind of… connection… or something?
season 6 - Normal Again*
In this episode, Buffy goes crazy.
No sign of Buffy’s mum, or of Giles or Anya. Still plenty of Xander, Willow, Dawn, and Spike.
Spike and Buffy are apparently in a relationship, although Buffy seems uncomfortable with it, and they’re keeping it secret from everyone.**
Willow makes a couple of comments about magic and not doing it - no idea why. Her and Tara also seem to have had some issues, but it looks like they’ll be getting back together.
Xander seems to have left Anya at the altar. No idea why, but they mention it a few times, so it looks like it happened pretty recently.
Apparently Dawn wasn’t originally Buffy’s sister, but has something mystical about her. Not sure what.
There are some new villains - three guys with computers. Never seen them before.***
Oh, and Buffy’s mum has died… I think.
This episode is about facing your troubles bravely, and dealing with reality.
* Yes, it does actually work well as a stand-alone. Surprisingly well.
** Yep, they’ve broken up. No, there’s no mention of that. Just lots of comments about ‘us’ and ‘sodding sex slaves’ and ‘sleeping with a vampire I hate’. Add that to an argument about ‘telling your friends about us’, and it really does sound like they’re still together.
*** No, not even Jonathan.
season 7 - Potential
Buffy and Spike are training a whole bunch of girls, who are Potential Slayers.*
There are four of them - with Amanda from Dawn’s school being number five.
Buffy and Spike spend most of the episode teaching the Potentials - and also having a huge amount of UST. According to Buffy the relationship is ‘over’ (no idea why), but everyone keeps on commenting on them, so they’re probably still going to have something happening there.
Anya is back again - not sure if her and Xander are together or not.
Also, Tara seems to be missing. Perhaps her and Willow didn’t get back together after all.
Whatever Willow’s issue with magic was last episode, it seems to have been resolved. She’s happily back to doing locator spells.
Funnily enough, watching this episode right after Normal Again makes you really notice the comment about Buffy being a ‘high functioning schizophrenic’.
One of the computer guys from the last episode is in the house too, and apparently used to be evil - but they don’t say what happened.
This episode is about being extraordinary even if you don’t have superpowers.
* The Potentials get mentioned in a lot of detail, so anyone who’s paying attention should be able to pick up on who they are. While we know that there are ‘Bringers’ hunting them, and also ‘the First’ and ‘uber-vamps’, those aren’t explained.
* * * * *
So…
There’s my 7 episodes.
Overall, we get huge amounts of detail on Slayers, Watchers, Potentials, the challenges of balancing a calling with a normal life, and Spike. We also get an overview of Willow, Xander, vampires, Buffy’s family, Giles’ girlfriends, and the villains from each season.
Also, if we take the ‘episode theme’ as also being the season theme, we get this:
season 1: the sacrifices Buffy needs to make as a Slayer
season 2: being-the-Slayer interfering with normal life
season 3: Buffy growing up, and taking responsibility
season 4: communication and relationships
season 5: Buffy and Spike
season 6: facing your troubles bravely, and dealing with reality
season 7: being extraordinary even if you don’t have superpowers
As far as what is not mentioned…
1) Angel going evil
2) Faith (or Kendra, for that matter)
3) the Magic Box (the name is mentioned - no explanation of what they’re talking about, and they’re never in the shop)
4) Willow going evil
5) Spike having a soul
6) Buffy dying (either time)
7) Tara dying
8) where Angel and Cordelia have gone
(As for doing a similar list with AtS, I've got the middle three: Happy Anniversary, Couplet, and Supersymmetry. No idea what to do for seasons 1 or 5, though.)
Questions? Comments?