BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

SEASON ONE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: witchcraft, violence, sensuality, weirdness

Rated:

Once in every generation, there is a Slayer. She has been chosen to battle the vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night that prowl when the moon is full and the night is menacing. In the charming little town of Sunnydale, one would be hard-pressed to imagine any form of evil other than the typical lunchtime bullying. But this suburb is directed over "Hellmouth," a supernatural lure for the sinister, strange, and downright creepy. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) has come there hoping for a new lot in life. She was booted out of her previous high school for burning down the gym. Could she help it that it was full of vampires? That's not something you can exactly explain to the principle.

Hoping she'll never be called on again to put her vampire slaying talents to good use, Buffy is frustrated to learn that the new British librarian, Giles (Anthony Head), is a Watcher, chosen to educate and assist the Slayer in her craft. He warns her that a "normal life" isn't likely, as she soon discovers. Immediately after her arrival, she makes an enemy of the school's most popular girl, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), and befriends two social outcasts: nerdy book-a-holic Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander (Nicholas Brendan), who just wants a date. Prowling around the local cemetery at night, Buffy unearths a coven of vampires who have made off with a friend of Willow's, a boy named Adam. Unwittingly, Xander and Willow are drawn into her plot to save Adam from a fate worse than death, knowing that he's being used as bait.

Then there's the mysterious Angel (David Boreanaz), a leather-clad hunk who appears every now and again to give her advice and warnings about what is unfolding in the vampire world. Fascinated by this mysterious man, but equally aware of the dangers he presents, Buffy attempts to handle everyday life in Sunnydale... complete with its odd assortment of witches, werewolves, vampires, ancient curses, and every other form of evil imaginable. She is the Slayer, and she has a job to do.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a witty and entertaining sci-fi show that became widely popular when it premiered in 1997. The storylines are mostly stand alone, pitting Buffy against various evil creatures out to annihilate the human race, but there is a growing subplot concerning Buffy's romance with the mysterious Angel, whose past is significantly darker than anyone anticipated. I like the trio, and their instructor. Buffy is intrepid and fun to hang out with. Willow is always ready with a witty pun. Xander is cute in his absolutely non-charming skills with females. My favorite character is Giles, whose dry English wit allows him some of the best lines and scenes in the series, particularly when dealing with something unpleasant. His remarks about computers being of the devil because they don't have a musty, bookish scent, reminding himself that Buffy has a date and he's not supposed to beep her unless Armageddon happens, and even being coyly flirtatious with her mom, make him a lovable librarian.

That's not to say that the series is perfect. Far from it. While most of the episodes are decent in content, they also have a heavy overtone of supernatural forces that I found disturbing. Ghost stories, tales with demons involved, and the occult-type of witchcraft have always made me spiritually uncomfortable, and I suspect that there's a little too much dark influence involved in Buffy's world. Four of the episodes gave me an uneasy feeling: one of them involved a demonic dummy, another a demon that possesses a computer, and another pitted Buffy against a witch, complete with a bubbling cauldron and black cat stuffed away in the attic. Most of the stories have dishonest notions about the spiritual world and afterlife, creating a morally ambiguous world in which the only Christianity that prevails is the form of a silver cross that Buffy wears for self-protection. Vampires are dispatched with violence. Dealing with demons is trickier, usually involving reciting ancient texts. A modern-day Wicca helps Giles "bind" this evil force by creating a "magic circle" on the internet, gathering together all of her Pagan friends.

In another episode, school children are unknowingly possessed by the souls of African hyenas. An act of violence on a sacred circle reverses the process, but not until after they've killed and eaten the principle. Vampires look like normal human beings until the "bloodthirsty rage" is upon them; then they undertake demonic, contorted features. It's implied that a man's soul was removed from his body and displaced into a wooden dummy. Language is minimal. Violence is heavy, but consists primarily of battling and dispatching the forces of evil. Buffy kicks, punches, and stabs her adversaries, enduring similar abuse. Guns infrequently play a role, along with silver arrows. Once stabbed, vampires disappear in a shower of sparks. A pack of school children attack their principle. There are grotesque implications of dismemberment, other students being attacked and eaten and/or drained of blood. Buffy comes across a human brain. A sexual subtext is evident. One episode features an alluring teacher who is really a giant insect. She intends to kidnap and mate with the virgin males in her class, then bite their heads off. She wears alluring garments, asks Xander revealing questions about if he's ever been with a woman, and then knocks him unconscious. Sexual conversations come up on occasion. Giving in to his animalistic instincts while possessed, Xander attempts to woo Buffy by force. They exchange light banter and roll around on the floor before she knocks him unconscious.

I found about half the episodes very entertaining and fun to watch, and was uncomfortable with the rest. Some of the storylines felt very familiar. Then I realized that Smallville has copied some of them, right down to the seductive substitute teacher. There is really no comparison. Buffy's world is fun, but significantly darker than Clark Kent's universe, where there are no supernatural elements to be worried about. He deals with monsters created by a kryptonite-laced environment rather than battling demons, vampires, werewolves, and witches... and the show never makes me spiritually uneasy. Buffy is a nice girl, but her world is too dark for sensitive or impressionable viewers.