I don’t recall hearing Slayers could not be vamped. In fact, that was one of Giles’ recurring nightmares…
I wish it streamed in HD on Netflix.
I would think that the demon power in a Slayer would prevent her from being vamped, no matter what Giles dreams were. But I just can’t remember if they ever said it outright. If it did happen, wouldn’t the Slayer just be another run-of-the-coffin vamp? Surely they wouldn’t have both sets of abilities.
Pretty much. The slayer’s power is just infused vampire power anyway. So essentially the only thing turning a slayer would do is give the slayer vampire weaknesses. She already has the strengths.
I don’t know how canon any comics are, but Yuki Makimura was a vamped slayer from the 1800s. Apparently that story is non-canon, but Yuki herself became canon because she appeared in some book called Tales of the Slayers.
You can also find a lot of references online to the original conception for several seasons involving vamped slayers. Apparently Season 5 may have originally had Buffy get vamped and get turned back by drinking Dawn’s blood, and apparently Sunday (the girl in charge of the vampire nest in season 4) was going to be a vamped slayer originally; but all of this info comes from other message boards who aren’t the best at citing primary sources.
I don’t think it was said outright, but there was definitely a feeling that it was extremely unlikely because a Slayer would keep fighting to the death and a vamp wouldn’t get a chance to turn a Slayer.
Plus, there’s the whole “Most vamps are created to be minions” thing, which was stated on the show.
Do we ever find out about the 4 or so Slayers that were between Buffy (1994-ish) and Nikki (1974-ish)? That interview I mentioned earlier about how Kendra was the Watcher’s idea of a perfect slayer (follows orders, strong, disposable) said that Slayers in general had a 5 year career arc, give or take, because the Watchers didn’t want the Slayers to get too good in the role.
Also, am I the only one who wants more Nikki? Lots and lots? I would pay to see a mini-series done '70s blacksploitation style (Foxy Brown-esque)?
Ok–update. Saw two more eps, comments welcome, but as before, please avoid being too specific about episode numbers (“Joyce dies in S5” is fine, “Buffy kills Angel in the last episode of S3” isn’t)
301-Anne: Meh. Meh, meh, meh. I hated the Angel on the beach “My contract says I’m in every episode” dream sequence, I hated the VERY SPECIAL 4 minute look at THE PROBLEM OF TEEN RUNAWAYS AMONG THE YOUTH OF TODAY’S HEP GENERATION public service announcement. I wasn’t a big fan of Chantrell/Lily and the ending, where, rather than make a new identity on her own but just appropriate’s Buffy’s old one is very honest, but I didn’t like it. The subplot with the age-eating demon was mostly tedious. I loved seeing the Scoobies doing their thing, but a bit more Buffy-Is-Missing angst would have been appreciated. That said, except that it was too short, the best part of the episode is Joyce’s anger at Giles.
302-(The Buffy Comes Back And There Are Zombies one)-
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CHEAT. Marti Noxon(sp) has some sort of serious issue with conflict resolution (and ongoing relationships, IIRC) but she was doing so damned well until the zombies broke in at the emotional climax, as Xander is reaming Buffy out. And then we never get back to it (IIRC, we don’t hear about Buffy running away again in any large measure and the Xander/Buffy thing is never resolved.) Seriously–using Zombie Apocalypse to get out of resolving emotional issues is never good.
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Tons of great one-liners.
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I would have preferred the Scoobies slay that vamp at the beginning rather than Buffy–it would have accentuated her feelings that she’s not needed and hasn’t been missed.
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Killing Pat (? Joyce’s passive aggressive friend) was stupid. Again, easy way out and Joyce didn’t seem even remotely bothered by it.
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One thing that makes the rewatch better than the original viewing: Knowing that Snyder is UP TO NO GOOD helps tremendously–first viewing, I kept screaming at the TV about how obviously evil he was and why was everyone so stoopid about it. (I must have taken a bathroom break or something the first time around because I missed the bit where Snyder admits to knowing about Buffy being the Slayer, etc the first time I saw the series). Ditto with all the stupidness from the Watcher’s Council–knowing that they aren’t doing anything but using Slayers to build their own power makes a lot of the crap that’s coming a whole lot more meaningful.
Overall 302 was solid ep, with the huge flaw of the unresolved emotional issue.
Also–ps–Oz rocks.
(as an aside, it’ll be 2-3 weeks before the next batch of episodes–the buddy I’m watching them with will be out of town)
I thought Lily/Chanterelle had the coolest arc in the Whedonverse. She even made it all the way to Not Fade Away. It was a nice touch that in Angel, when she’s running the teen shelter, her name is Anne.
Slayers had short careers because they all died young. Buffy broke the mold. The Watchers just thought that was the way it had to be (tradition!) & fired Giles because he let her go astray. Wesley was The Ideal Watcher–but he learned. The other Watchers didn’t.
(Yes, Nikki was great.)
I hated Anne (the episode, Chanterelle is the best side character) so much, it was just… so… boring. It actually made me stop watching the series for months because of it (bear in mind I was binge watching, this wasn’t when it was airing).
In retrospect, plot-wise it was a pretty good episode, both in an of itself and as a larger piece of tying Seasons 2 and 3 together, but it was just so painful to watch for me.
Well, after dying young.
A theory I’ve heard (and really prefer) is that the Watchers want them to die young. There’s a bit in…I think S5? (is that where Buffy is working at the Mr. ChickenBurger type place?) and I was grumbling about how much different it would be if Buffy was brighter (I love the character, but she’s really not the sharpest stake in the lumberyard) and just told the Watcher’s Council to fuck off unless they gave her a reasonable salary.
If you assume that the Watchers (Giles/Wesley excepted) are out for themselves and consider Slayers a necessary inconvenience, then a lot of stuff makes sense: why make them have day job that they can’t keep? Why do that stupid “test them to destruction” test that Giles pulls on Buffy in…um…S4? S3? (the one where he drugs her and she has to fight a vamp stoned and depowered). It’s like 4 years into her run as a Slayer so the Watchers figure it’s time to off her before she starts getting ideas.
Oh–they never really went much of anywhere with it, but Joyce/Giles have more chemistry than Ms Calendar/Giles.
Finally, Willow has never looked cuter than she did in S3 episode 2. Even on her “How I Met Your Mother” days. And she was hot there.
Funny, because Willow is super-extra hot, but Lily Aldrin is meh.
To be fair, even ignoring both times Buffy died, we only have confirmation that Buffy survived 8 years. I guess 9 if you count the movie. From 15 to 24, and then Angel ends.
She could die the following year and still qualify as yet another slayer who died young. Unless by “dying young” you mean slayers normally died in a year or two. I was under the impression that the shelf life of a slayer was around 5-10 years and then they died (young). Buffy is comfortably inside that window.
I got the impression that a Slayer is supposed to last 2-3 years. Kendra barely lasted one and a half. Buffy was (per that theory) supposed to die with that dumbass test the Watchers made Giles give Buffy in s3 or 4. The test makes no sense at all unless you figure that the Watchers are using the test to try to kill off Slayers who’ve overstayed their welcome. There’s absolutely no need to test someone with 3-5 years of experience to the death. She’s already proved she’s a qualified slayer by lasting so long. So why else would they try to kill her?
As an aside, there’s a comic book series plotted/written by Joss (and others) and is officially cannon (per Joss) that has her going strong for 3 years after the show ends, picking up where the last episode ended (it also has the advantage of being pretty good). So we know she makes it to ~27 or 28 depending. (There’s also a Faith & Angel comic that’s a lot of fun. Faith’s no-nonsense attitude cuts right through Angel’s whiney crap.) They’re currently into Season 10 and still dealing with the repercussions of the S7 finale. At the rate the story’s going, it’ll probably be able to move beyond the aftermath of S7 in Season 11*.
*Very slight spoiler for the comic–nothing about the plot, but a fun, FUN bit that shows how good it is:
In the aftermath of S7, thousands–maybe more–Slayers are created. Vampires are getting wiped out. Harmony decides that the way to handle it is to go on TV and “out” herself as a Vitally Challenged American (or something like that). She then gets her own talk-show (think Undead Oprah) which she uses to complain about all those terrorist “Slayers” killing innocent Vitally Challenged Americans, operating on American soil without government authorization, etc. And Harmony’s plan works better than anything the old school Vamps can come up with.
Well, Ripper got further with Joyce than he ever did with Jenny. (“On the hood of a police car?!”)
Could not disagree more.
The “How Buffy Got Her Groove Back,” sequence of events is awesome, and it culminates in one of all-time favorite Buffy dialog bits:
I used to be of that opinion, but after watching How I Met Your Mother in its entirety, I’ve decided that Lily Aldrin is quite hot herself, though not as hot as Willow (who has the unfair advantage of being a decade younger).
Alyson Hannigan was at her very hottest in the first two or three seasons of HIMYM.
“Twice??”