Characterization In The Buffyverse — ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Season 6, Episode 2
by Benjamin Hall
This is part of a bi-weekly series concerning the characterization of Buffyverse characters. Arguably the best place to begin reading this series is at the beginning, but that is up to each reader. As a reminder: this column will cover major and some minor characters from the shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004). Other Buffyverse media, such as the graphic novel Spike: Into The Light (2014), are not pertinent to this series. Also there will be no references to real world events that have direct relation to either program. That said, references to things that have no direct relation to the show in order to examine certain elements, such as metaphors and literary analogues, will appear.
This week: Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is back among the living. However, something besides demon bikers is troubling her.
(Warning of spoilers from this point on!)
(Trigger warning for mentions of rape and gaslighting)
Buffy spends most of the episode in a state of fear and panic, so it is hard to say that she has any real development. While she exhibits post-traumatic stress when re-enacting her last experiences at the tower, this is not a new trait for her (Season 5, Episode 22 “The Gift” and Season 2, Episode 1 “When She Was Bad”).
Buffybot (also Gellar) makes its last appearance in this television series. Arguably, the only reasons to exist in this episode are to horrify Buffy during the robot’s violent destruction and to confuse people.
Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg) comes across as a teenager in the middle of chaos. She also makes a somewhat empty promise to Buffy when trying to convince her sibling to come towards her.
Spike (James Marsters) acts as Dawn’s protector throughout this episode. Keeping his promise to Buffy is a sign of positive growth and a display of his love for both the sisters.
Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) seems to take over as leader of the Scoobies while Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) is unconscious during the episode’s opening acts. Although, he is still seeking ideas on what to do from Anya (Emma Caulfield Ford) and Tara Maclay (Amber Benson). Therefore, this does not become a new trait for him going forward. And while he obviously feels guilty of resurrecting Buffy in her coffin, this will appear to no longer factor into his feelings the further the season progresses. Still, his noticing things others are missing continues to be a key element.
Tara gets her coolest moment: killing off Razor (Franc Ross) with an axe. Despite this and her other actions, there is no lasting change to who she is as an individual.
Willow continues to gaslight Xander — and to an extent Tara — by avoiding any discussion of the resurrection spell. She also displays a lot of new spells, which suggests that she is still progressing as a magic user.
Anya panicking about Xander’s well-being, along with wanting to announce their proposal to Buffy, makes her seem mentally deficient. Compounding her sexist portrayal as a stereotypical “hysterical woman,” she apparently forgets that she, too, can do magic to help fight the demons.
Razor, Klyed (Mike Grief), and Mag (Geoff Meed) are demon bikers looking to literally rape and pillage Sunnydale. Their personalities are stereotypes that lack any other motivations, which means their characterization is rather one-dimensional.
The characterization for this second episode of this sixth season is arguably lesser than the first. While there are decent moments, it is the repercussions from the events of the last episode that are the focus.
