To many Buffy, the Vampire Slayer fans, season 6 was a letdown. After Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) sacrificed herself to defeat Glory at the end of season 5, her return left some fans wanting. The show also moved from The WB to UPN for season 6 and 7, but even decades later, fans still criticize season 6.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Buffy, the Vampire Slayer Season 6.]
They’re wrong. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer Season 6 actually rules and here are four reasons why.
‘Buffy, the Vampire Slayer’ Season 6 villains are as relevant as ever
Season 6 saw Buffy, the vampire slayer go up against the Trio. Warren (Adam Busch), Jonathan (Danny Strong), and Andrew (Tom Lenk) had all appeared in previous seasons of the show. At the beginning of season 6, they decide to take over Sunnydale. The joke was that they were incompetent nerds dabbling in magic, but that made them dangerous.
Idiots with power are far more dangerous than outright evil villains because at least you know where you stand with the villain. The incompetent people are going to do more damage by failing to understand the powers they’re using. And because they think they’re the good guys, they’re going to keep trying and wreaking more havoc because they think they’re helping.
This gave Buffy an unusual dilemma since she couldn’t just stop them by beating them up hard enough. And look at what toxic fandom has wrought in the years since Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. The Trio were precursors to the Star Wars fans bullying Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega, and the Ghostbros.
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‘Buffy, the Vampire Slayer’ Season 6 dealt with depression
The first three seasons of the show used monsters as a metaphor for high school. As Buffy and her friends grew up, season 4 dealt with college and 5 with postgrad adulthood. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer Season 6 tackled the very real issue of mental health, specifically depression. That may not have been fun to address but it was as poignant as anything the show did.
The metaphor was that when Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and the gang resurrected Buffy, they didn’t actually save her. She’d been in Heaven and they pulled her out. So a mundane life on Earth was extra hard when Buffy had experienced heavenly bliss. As such, she acted out in self-destructive ways, including sleeping with Spike (James Marsters).
The musical wouldn’t be as good in another season
If for no other reason than the existence of “Once More, with Feeling,” Buffy, the Vampire Slayer Season 6 is worthwhile. Even fans who hate the rest of the season agree the musical episode was a high point of the entire series. The thing is, a musical, or at least that musical, could only exist in season 6.
A musical demon (Hinton Battle) makes the Buffy characters sing out their innermost feelings. The demon could have arrived any time, but had it been in another season, the songs would not have been so rousing. Perhaps Joss Whedon, Christophe Beck, and Jesse Tobias could have put different lyrics on the same melodies, but it’s the total package that still inspires singalongs today.
Buffy sings about sleepwalking through her life. Spike rocks out about Buffy’s mind games. Giles (Anthony Head) croons about watching his protege use him as a crutch. Xander (Nicolas Brendan) and Anya (Emma Caufield) sing a fun diddy about their impending marriage fears. Tara (Amber Benson) sings a heartbreaking ballad when she finds out Willow has manipulated her memory. Those deep diddies make this musical more than just a gimmick.
Willow’s corruption concluded ‘Buffy, the Vampire Slayer’ Season 6 on an intense note
Perhaps the Trio weren’t deadly enough to be the season finale big bads. Once Warren pulls a gun and kills Tara in the crossfire, Willow succumbs to the darkest magic. Now, that’s a real problem. Not only does Willow have the magic to terrorize the world, but she’s Buffy’s best friend. We don’t want her to kill Willow, and fortunately she found a way not to.
Still, dark Willow was an intense few episodes, especially when she skins Warren alive with the nonchalant “bored now.” This also reinforces just how dangerous the Trio were. They didn’t know what they didn’t know, namely that the collateral damage of their misadventures could wreak true apocalyptic havoc.
