# Buffy Season 6 Reset **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971 "2009-05-10T21:58:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/1 "2009-05-10T21:58:32Z")
At the end of Season 5, Buffy died saving the world. The show was canceled by Fox, and the future was uncertain. Would WB pick up the show? Would Sarah Michelle Gellar sign on for more? Let’s pretend WB picked up the show, but SMG was not coming back. What could Joss have done to keep the show going? What should Joss have done? Or, alternatively, SMG is back, what could/should have been done differently? My Options: Recast Buffy, resurrect her in a “new body”. Doable - yes. Acceptable to fans. Maybe. Original? Nope. Retool as The Faith Show. Keep Scooby Gang for continuity. Would it work? Bring in a new slayer (not Buffy). Rename show (e.g. “The Slayer”) and continue. Retool as “Xander: The Vampire Slayer Groupie”. 'Cause that’s what he was. Retool as “What Did Dawn Do Now?” Spin off Spike - “The Vampire with a Chip”. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/2 "2009-05-10T22:10:45Z")
Keep it as it was but drop the magic is drugs storyline and forget about Spike and Buffy. Also, Buffy was on the WB. UPN picked it up its last two seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/3 "2009-05-10T23:25:01Z")
He would have been better off ending it at 5 while it was on a high note. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/4 "2009-05-10T23:33:13Z")
I agree that it should have ended at Season 5. As it was, it was one dessert too many after a perfect meal. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/5 "2009-05-10T23:57:19Z")
Just to be clear I didn’t say it should have ended at 5 in an effort to thread crap. It’s just that without Buffy I just don’t think the show would have worked. Odesio ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/6 "2009-05-11T00:45:46Z")
When it was happening, I favored the idea of still calling it, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but making the show about Willow, Tara, & Dawn’s little blended family. With, you know, monsters. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/7 "2009-05-11T01:17:10Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Just to be clear I didn’t say it should have ended at 5 in an effort to thread crap. It’s just that without Buffy I just don’t think the show would have worked. > > Odesio Agreed. I don’t think Whedon would have continued without her, either. Perhaps he could continue the character in the first option mentioned by the OP - having Buffy resurrected into a new body, or swapped into a different body, like the Faith episode. Hey, maybe he could even have had Buffy get accidentally transplanted into Faith’s body again, only this time both of them are in there. SMG was a very good actress, though - she was one of the reasons the show was so outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/8 "2009-05-11T01:32:51Z")
Without Season 6, there is no “Once More, With Feeling.” That is not acceptable. Without SMG, they could have done an entire season of the Scoobies trying to keep it all together without a Slayer. Faith should have stayed in jail. More drama, more crises. Spike moves to the fore, and his conflicts with Xander fuel the season. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/9 "2009-05-11T04:37:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Without Season 6, there is no “Once More, With Feeling.” That is not acceptable. And there would have been no evil Willow. And evil Willow was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/10 "2009-05-11T13:31:47Z")
Simple, really…the “Hot Girl-On-Girl Action Show” starring Willow and Tara. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/11 "2009-05-13T07:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Your submission could not be processed because you have logged in since the previous page was loaded. > > Please push the back button and reload the previous window. Yeah, being logged in is a good reason to eat my posts, you POS software. Twice. :mad::mad::mad::mad: Third times the… Eliza Dushku = Buffy wiccababble up an explanation that has something to do with when they body swapped one plotline of the season is where did Faith’s persona go when Buffy took over, is she dead in Buffy’s corpse, is she in someone else, etc. ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/12 "2009-05-13T15:29:26Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Without Season 6, there is no “Once More, With Feeling.” That is not acceptable. When I was watching Buffy on a regular basis, I loved OMWF. Going back now, and rewatching… it just doesn’t hold up. Now that I’m not as invested in the characters, the second-rate music and frequently bad singing is really, really obvious. I still like a lot of the humourous lyrics though. I say we start off season six the same way.. the Scoobies attempt to resurrect Buffy, fearing that she may be trapped in some hideous Hell dimension. But what they bring back is… not Buffy. It is, of course, another attractive female (hey, this is a Whedon show we’re talking about), and it has the Slayer abilities, but it’s not Buffy Summers. As the team slowly learns to trust the unfamiliar Slayer, the audience is privy to little hints that something isn’t quite right with our new friend. Eventually - after several episodes of increasingly odd behaviour - the penny drops and the Scoobies turn to the only person they know who can stand up to a Slayer: another Slayer. They must arrange to break Faith out of jail (heh… “break faith”) and convince her to help them confront the now-revealed-to-be-a-demon-of-some-kind False Slayer. In the climactic battle, both Faith and the not-a-Slayer die. Bummed, but nontheless happy the world is saved (again!) the Scoobies realize they have a new mission. Somewhere in the world, another Slayer has just been activated. And, knowing Slayers, she could probably use some help… thwartme ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/13 "2009-05-13T16:22:58Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Yeah, being logged in is a good reason to eat my posts, you POS software. Twice. :mad::mad::mad::mad: > > Third times the… > > Eliza Dushku = Buffy > wiccababble up an explanation that has something to do with when they body swapped > one plotline of the season is where did Faith’s persona go when Buffy took over, is she dead in Buffy’s corpse, is she in someone else, etc. Honestly, I don’t think Eliza has the chops to pull off acting like Buffy in Faith’s body. This is after watching her for a whole season on Dollhouse as well as many episodes of Tru Calling. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/14 "2009-05-13T17:46:10Z")
Actually, the whole Buffy/Spike arc worked for me. Buffy, as returned from the grave, was seriously damaged goods, and turned to Spike as the only one who had any idea what she was going through and could make her feel anything. Spike’s motivation was a little less compelling – of course, he is a guy, and she WAS willing to sleep with him – but his falling in love with her had already been established in previous seasons. The Magic = Drugs storyline, on the other hand, seriously blew chunks and I ignore it completely. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/15 "2009-05-13T18:09:26Z")
Recast Buffy ala “Darren” from Bewitched and plow forward as if nothing happened. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/16 "2009-05-13T18:28:19Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Honestly, I don’t think Eliza has the chops to pull off acting like Buffy in Faith’s body. This is after watching her for a whole season on Dollhouse as well as many episodes of Tru Calling. I agree, she doesn’t have the chops to pull it off, but I think it would be a cool premise. Especially if there was some ambiguity about whether Buffy in Faith’s body is _really_ Buffy in Faith’s body or Faith just _pretending_ to be Buffy in Faith’s body in order to be busted out of prison by the Scooby Gang and usurp Buffy’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/17 "2009-05-13T21:33:15Z")
**thwartme** for the win. Idea I didn’t think of. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/18 "2009-05-14T23:28:44Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Honestly, I don’t think Eliza has the chops to pull off acting like Buffy in Faith’s body. This is after watching her for a whole season on Dollhouse as well as many episodes of Tru Calling. Probably not, and SMG certainly pulled off playing Faith better than Eliza did Buffy in the body swap story, but even if she couldn’t really convince the fans that she’s Buffy, the fans like Faith/Eliza enough that they wouldn’t bitch TOO much. Making it ambiguous if it’s really her would help, too, good idea. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-season-6-reset/495971/19 "2009-05-14T23:36:24Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Probably not, and SMG certainly pulled off playing Faith better than Eliza did Buffy in the body swap story, but even if she couldn’t really convince the fans that she’s Buffy, the fans like Faith/Eliza enough that they wouldn’t bitch TOO much. > > Making it ambiguous if it’s really her would help, too, good idea. I agree with both of you - and I like Eliza Dushku as an actress. I’ve seen the whole of Tru Calling (partly because my GF wanted to watch it and it costs about a fiver) and am enjoying Dollhouse, but she’s not that great an actress. The body swap story could possibly have worked nonetheless. SMG being Faith was brilliant - you could totally believe she’d been possessed. Her acting skills are under-rated.