Growing up with Buffy.
Lesbian witches, Dracula, a mysterious sister, more time in the hospital than some episodes of ER: it's a law of television that as soon as a show has been running long enough, it develops a two-tier fan structure comprised of the newcomers and those with their "It's not as good as it was" T-shirts. It cannot be denied that this year's Buffy the vampire slayer is a very different beast from before, but that's an accusattion that can be levelled at any of the show's seasons
s far back as 'when she was bad' we were encountering marked changes in main characters. Change is a necessary part of the show's development, either as part of an organic process to discover what works and what doesn't, or alterations forced upon it by a change in its audience or cast, or simply to avoid stagnation. Buffy moves through its fifth year now with eveidence of all three types of change and of course, a fair share of people with those T-shits.
But no matter why things change, what significance does it have on the chararcters we watch? Is Riley's departure nothing more than a reaction to fan dislike of Marc Blucas's character? Does the arrival of a 14 year old girl soley signify a desire within the produstion crew to court the younger viewer? Has Willow become stuck in a gay relationship because bigoted attacks last year have ensured that ending this arc will appear like a climb-down? Although it is possible to argue any of these points to a small degree, the deeper truth is we're watching characters alter, shift and change: we're watching people just like ourselves. Okay so maybe not quite as dramatic, but then we don't have sweeps month twice a year. It's funny that while fans complain that a show isn't what it used to be, they rarely make that reflection upon their own lives.
Until Sunnydale High was reduced to rubble in 'graduation day', Buffy had been an episodic series, with most stories separate and the arcs kept short-the longest up to this point being Angel going bad, and even that ran for less than half a season. The schoolsetting helped with this, offering a year neatly chopped up into term times, holidays, career fairs, student exchanges, proms and homecomings. But as season 4 marked the shift into a more grown-up, responsible world, this easy division between the weeks began to disslove; the university sequences are rarely more than lectures which could be at any point in the year. A sense developed that buffy and friends weren't just in Sunnydale for an hour a week. Their lives continuedon for the rest of the time. The beginning of the events became harder to accurately identify, though the end tended to be easier, as it generally involved a big explosion. For example, at what point do events with Sunnydale's underground monster fighters begin? Buffy's induction in The Initiative? Our awareness that all is not well with room 314 in 'a new man'? Or is it with the tazer-using troops encountered in 'the freshman'? Similarly, Dawn's arrival had been hinted at long before she actually appears, thanks to Faith's cryptic prediction in 'graduation day part 2'.
It's this transition into an ongoing timeline which most obviously illustrates Buffy's move into a more grown-up world, in which events do not precisely stop and start. Note how difficult it is in season 5 to describe episodes as "the one where...", and also that despite some massive cliffhangers (most notably 'I was made to love you') and the traditional "to be continued" is nowhere in sight. Every week is now a continuation.
The fifth year has given Xander some continuity to his life, now he seems to have found a career at last. For a large chunk of season 4 you could easily differentiate between episodes as they would be 'the one where Xander is a manual labourer', 'the one where Xander is a barman'and so on. True, post-school life necessitates getting a job, just mayeb not this many. Giles too has found respectable employment as the owner of sunnydale's magic shop, and thanks to actuallu surviving in this role for more than a couple of weeks, will be expecting to hear from the Guinness Book of Records any day soon. Post Sunnydale High he has also spent time dabbling with some extremely dark arcane forces, when in 'where the wild things are' the scooby gang - and viewers - discover him singing folk songs. raising deadly demons like Eyghon suddenly seems so small scale: this man is capable of true evil.
However it's with Anya that the best illustration of Buffy's new grow-up setting is given, with story after story using her child-like approach to the world to illustrate the changes being made. For this is a place where you need work, you need money, you need health, and through Anya we explore all three. She gets employment in Giles's shop, which presumably avoids those awkward question about birth certificates that a 1125 year old ex-demon might encounter, and discovers a love of money which sees her, in 'real me' offering to trade babies for money as she plays Game of life with Xander and Dawn. It's being injured by a vampire that in 'the replacement' causes Anya to question her mortality (her "I'm dying!" observation alarming those who'd heard rumours of a fatality amongst the regulars) and her bewilderment in 'the body' at a death is contrasted with the reactions of the others, to show how firmly they are all now in the grown-up world.
Critics of Buffy's fourth and fifth year point to the near continual misey experienced by the main character as one of the show's most disappointing areas, but the truth is failed relationships play a big part in the adult world, and the show is reflecting this. The complexities, difficulties and mistakes are well studied, giving an awareness that we're beyond the smaller world of school dates and crushes. Now love has a price, and it's one that can't always be paid.
Buffy is certainly the show's expert at having a miserable time. Were there a league table of depression, she'd be the Manchester United of it. She's not been in the post-school world for more than a few months than she falls for (and under) smarmy user Parker. After much deliberationshe subsequetly allows herslf to care for amiable, boy-next-door teaching assistant, only to discover that he's challeneged by her strength, and if he is the boy-next-door type, the she's living next to the armoury. A quick trip to LA to see her vampire ex result is the sort sort of slapping and arguments you normally only encounter when a birthday's been forgotten. And while her tentative relationship with gentle Ben at the hospital is currently going okay, we already know that there's at least one surprise in store. Actually, in looking back over Buffy's last year and a half, it's no real surprise that she's considering putting the "convent" into a conventional love life at the start of 'triangle'.
Willow was a close runner-up in season four's league of misery, losing out in the closing weeks on goal difference (she failed to score with Oz). However, unlike Buffy she's been able to find a lasting relationship witch (sorry) has lasted. The portrayl of this friendship has attracted much comment and some controversy, but it's proved to be one of the most stable in the show, even surviving potential upsets such as the revelation of Tara's background in 'family'.
Ultimately it shows two people in love without wallowing in every single date and kiss, and is well drawn and mature. It also illistrates to those depressed by Buffy's misfortunes that love can still be found, sometimes where you least expect it. Xander's speech to Anya at the end of 'out of the woods' shows someone apprecating what he acknowledges is a gift not given to all. The message that the grown-up world doesn't come with any cosy certainties as far as relationships are concerned is a sobering one, but in the relationships that DO work, Willow and Tara, Xander and Anya, there's enough to provide hope for all.
So okay, the grow-up world is a scary place: and this is Sunnydale we're talking about. On top of relationship issues, jobs, income worries, accommodation and health to be considered, there are vampires, demons and folk singers. Where's the rade off? What in essence, makes this place worth living in?
Firstly, it must be acknowledged that growing up isn't easy, that, to quote from the original Buffy movie, it's time to put away childish things. The vocal minority currently decrying seasons 4 and 5 as depressing soap use the same angry resistance to adult matters that most of us felt at leaving our teens behind. In tv as much as life, people have to move on and change, or else get overtaken by the rest. But thankfully in Buffy, as much as in life, people get to improve. they get to be better at what they do. The slayer herself is a good example of this, vowing in 'Buffy v's Dracula' to get to the height of her powers, to lear of slayers past, and be better than ever - we'll ignore that shortly afterward she's had a pointy stick pushed into her by a vamp that looks like Brian May. Willow's magic improves every week, though given her past reputation for bungling spells we hope her development of a sort of solar hand grenade goes okay, or else there won't be a single vampire on the planet, and we'll be walking around with tans like George Hamilton.
Being a grown-up also means you get to understand your place in the world, able to use that peace to learn more about yourself. While Xander's pep-talk to Buffy in 'the freshman' played the comedy of having him out quote yoda, later stories such as 'out of the woods' and 'I was made to love you' show that finally discovering where you fit is all that's necessary to turn even a village idioit into a voice of wisdom. Xander's pide in his work (once he's decided what it is) brings a new depth to his character, and we see in 'the replacement' that he's considered good at what he does.
Similarly, Rupert Giles's running of the magic shop brings him new responsiblity and satisfaction as he finds something to do other than hit the bottle. After the depthss he sank to last year - of which the worst is either watching soaps with Spike or the folk singing:we'll let you decide- it shows the value of finding where you belong: something you need the freedo, of the grown-up world to do.
In order to survive as a show, you need to grow, to make the world bigger for your characters so that challenges are always there. In allowing its characters to grow-up and experience a world which many of its audience either occupy or are about to, the producers of Buffy the vampire slayer have been braver than most.
They have reduced the distinction between tv drama and the real world, even for something as escapist as Buffy. Now the threats posed to out heroes, on top of the demons and vampires, are the same as we encounter: heartbreak, disagreements, even death. In seeing how these characters we've grown to know deal with such trials, we prehaps get a better idea how to deal with them ourseleves.
Well, that's it the whole thing...I'm off to rest myself. Hope you all enjoyed it and sorry to the moderators if it is too off topic.
