 | Throughout its 7 year run, this innovative and daring show not only developed a solid teenage/young adult fan base, but won substantial critical praise and several Emmy nominations. Due to it's setting in a fantasy/supernatural context, the show may at first glace appear to be quite at odds with Objectivism, but due to the ingenious vision of creator Joss Whedon the show combines the good vs evil confrontation with dramatic emphasis on the personal problems of the young protagonists, and indeed many of the fantasy elements are in fact allegories for the real world problems faced by many in the late teenage/young adult age groups. Actions always have consequences - sometimes unforeseen, sometimes undesirable.
The horror movie convention of a blonde girl having to be rescued by a heroic male protagonist is turned on its head, as Buffy Summers (Gellar), initially a high school student, finds herself endowed with superhuman strength and endurance - the latest in a long line of young girls fated to be Slayers, who spend their lives fighting the forces of darkness. This being an Objectivist website, I should emphasise at this point that although Buffy holds her powers through no choice of her own, she is in no way portrayed as a helpless victim of fate.
The show is set in the ironically named (and fictional) California town of Sunnydale, which stands directly above a "Hellmouth" - a portal to the dark dimensions, which effectively acts as a magnet for a tremendous number of vampires, demons and other undesirable beings.
Buffy is aided in her battles by her "Watcher", Giles (Head), a member of an ancient organisation of Watchers who down the ages have sought to assist successive Slayers. Giles is initially the high school librarian, and acts as a sort of mentor, assisting Buffy in perfecting her Slaying skills and holding a huge collection of reference works on the demonic powers. In a wider sense, Giles also effectively comes to function as a father figure for Buffy (who was raised by single mother Joyce, played by Kristine Sutherland). Later episodes clearly imply a genuine and mutual (though non-sexual) deep affection between the characters.
Early in the first season, Buffy is also joined by Angel (the wonderful Boreanaz), whom she discovers to be in fact a good vampire(!), his good human personality having been restored after a gypsy curse gave Angel back his soul. He now feels deep guilt and remorse for the evils committed by the evil demonic vampire personality, and assists Buffy as a means of atonement. Buffy and Angel become romantically involved, leading to one of the most blatant and dramatic real life allegories during the show's second season.
Buffy is also assisted by a small group of other Sunnydale High School students who she lets in on her secret, notably Willow (superbly played by Hannigan), who during the course of the show develops from the shy, nerdy girl next door of the opening episodes to the powerful lesbian sorceress of later years (The courageous on-screen exploration of her romantic relationships bought the show both acclaim and condemnation in it's later years.), Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter).
Episodes of particular note are the emmy-award nominated 4th season episode "Hush", which maintains a remarkably dramatic pace despite a complete absence of dialog for over half the episode's runtime; the genuinely harrowing 5th season episode "The Body", which revolves around the death (from natural causes) of Buffy's mother; and the brilliant "Once More With Feeling", in which a spell causes everyone to express themselves through song! The end of season cliffhangers are almost always emotionally draining heartbreakers too.
Heroism, friendship, loyalty, dedication and responsibility - this show has it all!
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