h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You can discuss this episode with spoilers here.

*SPOILER*





















Who is the Slayer now, then? Buffy died once, was resucitated by Xander. This triggered Kendra, (the Jamacian sounding girl) she was killed by Dru, which triggered Faith. Faith went bad and has run off. That was before. Nw, I confess I missed a large part of the start of season 5 but what with the whole Dawn/Buffy/monks business: Dawn was made *FROM* Buffy. Now that Buffy is dead. What is the line of decent to the next Slayer?

Is it:

XBuffyX -> completely new Slayer
XBuffyX -> XKendraX -> Faith
XBuffyX -> to Dawn (who is De Facto, Buffy also *sort of* and the Slayer mantle is passed to her?

Question, comments?

Clive

(P.S can I just add how cool are Willow's powers becoming?

Well, there has to be a new slayer. Buffy was dead for a very short time before she was revived by Xander in 'Prophecy Girl' but that was enough to activate Kendra. So this rather more final death is guaranteed to activate the next slayer. However, I doubt it will be Dawn. For one thing, she hasn't existing for longer than about six months (implanted memories notwithstanding). It will probably be a new slayer, possibly one that's been training already, like Kendra definitely was, and Faith probably was. Another new character to throw into the mix. I don't think slayer power is inherited.

I half-remember hearing about a new character in the making but I can't remember whether it was for Angel or Buffy. It might have been Fred from the Angel finale but I don't think she'll appear again. So it may well be a new slayer.

Ooh and they'll have to introduce a new bloke in Buffy too, there's no love interest now! Not to mention a new bad guy plot.

The major question is: how are they going to bring Buffy back to life again? Wouldn't it be cool if she just stayed dead and they got rid of SMG? *hides under table to avoid rotten cabbage throwing*

There is a very interesting interview with one Joss Wheadon about the Season 5 closer on [URL removed by moderator]. In it the question is put:

Q: So Buffy's dead then?
A: Yup, she's rotting in her grave as we speak.

So this aint just a quick fix and she's back (which is what got me thinking about who is going to replace her.) However, unlike say the X-files until recent times, Buffy did seem to to have a strong sense of it's direction, the Mum's death and now buffy's too. I don't think this is just an ad hoc descision but something else that is being built up to (Via Dawn and Mum dying and Giles leaving). Quite what I haven't the slightest idea. but I think Buffy will make a return, it would be interesting to see if they could run an entire season without Buffy, working out a way to resurrect her. Would they still call the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I supoose, after all they did more-or-less the same with Taggart.

Admitedly I've only read the transcripts so I may have misinterpreted things but I though that the final episode seems a little forced and the pace is off. It's like they need another episode to take down Glory but then run out of money to film it. A slightly less advanced case of what happened to Babylon 5. Every time before when faced with unspeekable evil the scooby gang have defeated it after valient struggle and clever puns. The whole thing with Buffy just seems like a cop out to end the seasson on, although I had seen rumours during filming of season 5 that Sarah Michell Geller (or shall we call her SMeG?) was only contracted up to a certain date and that if filming over ran wouldn't even be in the series finalle. Maybe this is what has happened, although it does just seem too petty for words.

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Is the scene with Anya and Xander good? The transcript made me cry, which was good because by the time SMeG kicked the bucket I was past caring.

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can we also have angel spoilers here too please. anything that has been shown anywhere in the world. Whats going to happen about Faith. Are the scooby gang going to break her out of prison so she can do her job? I'd like it personaly if she and Angel got together.

oh yeah........Willow powers, way cool. CAn't wait to see them in the flesh so to speak.

FABT

Like spoiling it for yourself don't you

As far as I remember Faith hasn't cropped up again.

if I remember my transcripts correctly Faith is seen once in season two of Angel. But I am talking series three (A) and six (BtVS) here.

I've also heard runours that The big giant head is leaving the show as well. (I meant Giles Guys) Any one know if this is true?

FABT

Giles isn't leaving, but he'll be in fewer episodes next year because Anthony Head wants to spend more time in England with his family (sensible man).

However, it could be a bonus for Giles fans, because Joss Whedon and the Buffy crew are in talks with the BBC about doing a Giles mini-series (which might even become a full spin-off) about Giles in England. No more details than that, I'm afraid, and it's still in initial discussions, so nothing has been commissioned, but since the BBC have been looking for an SF/Fantasy property that works* ever since the X-Files took them completely by surprise, one based on an established, popular character who's English, set in England, but with cross-over potential with a hugely popular cult programme should be too good an opportunity to miss. And since Whedon will be overseeing, there's every chance it will be as excellent as Buffy and Angel.

Personally, if it goes ahead, what I'd love to see is a Giles/Jonathon Creek cross-over. Think about it. it would work better as a JC episode - Giles appears as himself, tracking down a horrible demon of some kind, while JC discovers that it's all an elaborate hoax done with smoke and mirrors.

Plus, Anthony Head was in the JC pilot (as Adam Klaus) so he'll know everyone. I think it's a winner, myself.

Sounds cool, although JC always scares me and I end up not watching it. Pathetic isn't it. I'd love to see a HIghlander Buffy cross over. I mean come on.......they both have watchers. How cool would a fight scene between Duncan Mcloud and Buffy be?! I've read loads of fanfics where to two shows have beeen meshed quite nicely but nearly all the really good ones avoid a meeting between the two main characters. I'm dying to read one where they get together but I guess thats to wierd even for the Spike/Willow fanclub

did read a good one about Giles and Xander though........................!

FABT

With regards to the Buffy replacement. There wouldn't be one would there? The way I've read it is that Buffy is no longer *the* Slayer anymore. If it's the PTBs that decide who is the Slayer (and the Watchers Council is just in charge of training and, er, watching) then Faith is still the Slayer. Or Dawn could be (taking the whole program back to its high school roots) as she is "a part of" Buffy.
And don't forget, Angel got it in the finale of a previous series. "There are more worlds than this Gunslinger," or something.

Your point about there not being a new slayer will really depend on the actual process of activating a new slayer.

If a slayer dies and is resucitated, is she still the slayer? Buffy still had all her powers. Is Faith still *the* slayer? Even though she went bad, and is now locked up? I guess it's all down to who or what does the picking, and whether it's a blind process.

My feeling is, they can play it whichever way they want. And I suspect they'll call *another* new slayer, simply because they can create a new, interesting character. And the audience will be expecting them to (but given their previous history, that's a good reason for *not* doing that).

does anyone want to hear what *i* read, that will completely change everything and outrage (at least it outraged ME!) fans of the show? post if you do, but i don't want to say it as it's an even worse spoiler since, really, the other stuff has already happened.

Go on then...

i read.... that they're making it into a CARTOON!!! but then i heard just yesterday, after posting, that it wouldn't happen for another 2 years, so still the speculation on who the next slayer will be. and do you think that Spike might try that spell to bring Buffy back to life? (the one Dawn tried on their mother?)

i mean, isnt that just HORRIBLE?!!? that instead of letting the show die with dignity, they turn it into some kinda saturday morning little kids show, like Pokemon or Garfield! this is, or was, a show that they had to have that warning, "intended for mature audiences, not reccommended for younger veiwers"! and think about the *content*: a girl, chosen by some mystical means, who goes around killing vampires, demons, whatever. characters that are just *deeper* and more dramatic than your average cartoon. a vapire with a chip in his head who helps them, but who would certainly be willing to betray them if it weren't for Buffy, who is now GONE, unless they somehow bring her back from the dead. all those sex scenes, which they would probably cut out, if they really are making it animated. but mostly the fact that it's meant to be a dramatic, mostly serious, sometimes horror show, which, somehow, i don't think they could convey any of in a cartoon.

filled with ire, MG

I think the idea is that the cartoon will run alongside the TV series and it's being handled by the same team that resurrected Batman recently. The Batman animated series managed to handle Batman's (and his enemy's) psychological flaws well and showcased a hero who was even darker than Tim Burton's.
Animation is not something that should be dismissed out of hand, and as long as the writing remains sharp, I can't see a problem with it.
Joss Weadon is also apparently working on a Slayer comic series set 40 generations (or something) into the future, which should be interesting.

Don't panic so much. They're not *replacing* the TV show with a cartoon - they're making a cartoon alongside it. And with the same writing team. And since they're setting it during the High-School years, they don't need to address any more adult themes if it's inappropriate.

Animation doesn't have to be for children alone, anyway - look at the Simpsons.

Or Family Guy, Futurama, Spawn, God, The Devil and Bob etc.

Isn't it ironic that just as SMG is bringing a cartoon to life (as Daphne in Scooby Doo), her character is about to get drawn?

hmph. i'm still gonna be outraged. it just seems so *wrong*. alongside it? well, that's not quite as bad as replacement. what is "spawn"? i recall a movie by that name, and i saw it, but i didn't know they'd made it into a cartoon..... or is it separate? i think that the trouble is that it's i bit difficult to take cartoons very seriously, since the characters look like --because they *are*-- nothing more than pictures-- and animation(or comic book pictures), to me at least, always seems less real than other types of drawings, such as with pen and ink, or with paints. they just don't look like real people. they have that certain quality about them-- the lack of enough details(i know that some of them are very detailed, but never anywhere near as much as real people), the way the colors seem to be filled in in "chunks"(i have yet to see a cartoon that has shading. claymation is entirely different.), the way the colors are not the same as ones in real life; they seem to bright, somehow. but when the characters look like real people, it's much easier to accept them as such, at least for the duration of the show. when a cartoon character dies, like Maude did on the Simpsons, that's also hard to accept, because it just doesn't look real. when characters on non-animated shows die, or even just get sent to hell, like Angel did, you can actually *feel* something, even though, intellectually, you know that the story isn't real, never happened, and the people aren't real people, but roles of actors. it feels like an actual hppening because it looks like one. and to me, books are the same way, except that *you* have to make the pictures, and they are likely to look real because that's the way almost everything you see looks.