I am forever awed by the beautiful competency of television executive Joss Whedon’s handling of the death of Buffy Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (BtVS) I’m impressed, for one thing, that I’m not spoiling the plot, for any new viewers, by writing this essay, since Joss foreshadows her demise right from the first episode. In that one Buffy suffers the little death of quitting the cheerleading squad, losing any chance of arm-in-arm friendship with the frivolous empty-headed Cordelia. Buffy takes this path not because cheerleading seems empty— Buffy herself was a cheerleader before becoming “the” slayer— but because Buffy has no time for it, not if she is to be patrolling for vampires to slay.
To Buffy, being the (definite article) slayer is not just something she “tries on” with, say, an adolescent joking half-focus. No, she’s deadly serious. This is her calling.
The first person to share Buffy’s secret is the school librarian, Rupert Giles. Old enough to be her absent father, Giles is her coach, her official “watcher.” Giles accepts responsibility for Buffy’s defence training. He likes her, while knowing slayers always die young. Always. His torment is unavoidable: Should Buffy not be allowed to spend her hours doing happy high school stuff, like going to evening sock hops? Should Buffy not enjoy her brief life? After all, eventually the law of averages will catch up to her. Or, on the other hand, should Giles try to extend her time on earth by putting her hours into defence training? Giles likes her, and so he mainly opts for training, mainly.
I suppose I would too… In prose, I can think of only two writers who would sometimes kill off the main character before the end of the book. One was Louis L’Amour, who received the Medal of Freedom at the White House: He certainly had the writing chops to pull it off. The other was a post-war writer of young adult novels for scholastic, Robb White: He was writing for teens who had just lived through the Second World War. Today’s TV audiences, of course, live in a more sheltered time. For us, death is still controversial: I am reminded of a young man, some years ago, who received a police ticket for “an obscene” T-shirt: It read, “F— Off and Die.” In court, the judge let the man go free… by ruling that death was no longer an obscenity in our society!
US live action shows, some of which had begun as radio shows, such as Dragnet (Dummm de-DUM dum) and Gun Smoke, had no story arc. Like Star Trek, they could be broadcast in any order. I remember when, up in Canada, the CBC was showing live action shows from Britain, shows that were made to air in order, but those BBC shows were slower paced, and US network executives must have thought US audiences would lack the patience for BBC.
This changed when along came “a fan boy who made good,” a TV executive: JMS. Today, J. Michael Straczyinski is scripting comic books; long ago, he paid his dues with long years in Hollywood, most notably by scripting mysteries on Murder She Wrote. This writing stood him in good stead for his masterpiece, Babylon 5.
For B 5 he did constant clue dropping, foreshadowing, and then a quick payoff. JMS wrote his episodes himself, in order, and he kept faith with the viewers: If someone were shot they would be absent next episode, and reappear with their arm in a sling. Babylon 5 was the very first U.S. TV series ever conceived as a five-year novel… characters would grow or decline, and because viewers know the characters so well their deaths would feel harsh. With the fourth season the “novel” moves into high climax.
For U.S. television, (but not movies) until B 5, only the guest stars, appearing in their grey hats, and learning a cathartic lesson, could change, but never the regular white hat characters.
I am sure JMS broke trail for Joss Wedon. Another debt Whedon has to Babylon 5: JMS did something Louis L’Amour and Robb White never did: foreshadowed the death of the main character.
“Joss” Whedon’s adopted first name is Asian, meaning “luck.” I wonder if he was influenced by Asian anime. (Animation cartoons) Anime, unlike classic western stage plays, with the classic masks of comedy OR of drama, has “dramedy.” Like on Buffy. No “endless episodes until the ratings fall,” instead, the anime arc is limited from the start, shown in order, and the main character may die.
Part of the tidy craftsmanship of the Buffy series was making sure Buffy’s mum passes on before Buffy—an entire episode is devoted to that momentous event—as a parent should never outlive her child.
Like “forever young” figures on an old vase, no Slayer gets old. The truth was voiced on the frontier: ‘No one is ever the fastest gun.’ Buffy gets shell shock. But she has a calling, so she straightens up, and faces her challenge. At the end, Buffy is going about with her mouth in a straight line: A pretty blond who has lost her smile. Clearly, to we viewers, it’s time Buffy lay down her burden… Her mother would have been so proud, as Buffy Ann Summers strides to meet her last responsibility… head on, eyes open.
…
…
Sean Crawford
Under the northern lights,
January 2021
“Tell Giles—Tell Giles I understand, and I’m all right.”
Footnote:
Here is an old favourite clip, all drama, no comedy. It starts when 16 year old Buffy has just overheard the only two grown men in her life, her father-figure and a vampire boyfriend-figure, saying that a prophecy text is utterly true: The slayer will die the next night…
