By now you’ve probably heard that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series is in the works by none other than the original Slayer herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Academy Award-winning director, Chloe Zhao. Though the show is clearly still in it’s development stage, it’s already found a home on the Hulu streaming platform and many of the original producing team is returning (including one Dolly Parton). Of course, any storyline or cast announcements are probably months away from being released to the public, we do know that Gellar’s Buffy will not be the lead, but rather a recurring legacy character, a la Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox in the recent Scream franchise entries. We also know that creator Joss Whedon will not be returning, following his much-publicized toxic and abusive behavior behind of the scenes of both Buffy and it’s spin-off, Angel.
However, as a life-long fan of the original series, I can’t help but to speculate how things are going to shake out. Will we get to see Mentor Buffy, Watcher Dawn, and Goddess Willow training a new group of supernatural heroes? Are we going back to Sunnydale, or will we visiting the Cleveland Hellmouth? Is any of the storylines from the comic books going to be utilized? Will Angel or Spike make a cameo, despite the fact that vampires don’t age? The possibilities are exciting to think about, and there’s hope to see some of the storylines that were in the works, but never came to fruition, before the series finale.
Like the resurrection of Tara Maclay.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a ground-breaking television series in a variety of ways. It turned the dumb-blonde horror movie victim trope on it’s head and delighted audiences with masterful storytelling that intertwined real world problems with frightening allegories. It was also the first network television series to have a queer couple as mainstays it’s core cast. During season four, Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) falls in love with fellow witch Tara (Amber Benson), a relationship that thrived, at least as much as relationships can thrive on the Hellmouth, for two and a half years. They became one of the most popular couples on the show, and in mainstream television for their rare display of representation back then. Until Tara was tragically shot and killed by a stray bullet at the end of season six, leaving Willow, the Scoobies, and most of the show’s fanbase, devastated.
In the 90’s and early 00’s, some television shows gained a reputation of killing off queer characters for shock value, which cared to be known as the “bury your gays” trope. While both cast and crew had previously stated it wasn’t that, but rather the catalyst for the next push in Willow’s storyline to spiral into dark magic with her grief. Technically, that doesn’t make it a “bury your gays” trope, it’s more like “fridging,” which isn’t much better.
The death of Tara was probably the most hated event to happen throughout the show’s seven seasons. There was nothing to gain from it, no lesson to learn, and no request from Benson to leave the show prematurely. By the time season six had rolled around, Whedon was mostly hands-off in the day-to-day running of the show, and Marti Noxon had become the primary show runner. Noxon has stated multiple times over the years that killing Tara was the one thing she wish she could’ve changed. To be fair, the show did try and get Benson to return a couple of times in season seven. Once, to appear as a manifestation of The First during “Conversations With Dead People,” which Benson turned down because she didn’t want to tar the image of Tara. The second chance came in the form of an episode that never came to be, but had an early draft in which Buffy was granted one life-altering wish and used it to bring Tara back to life. It is unknown exactly why this event never came to be, though Benson has cited behind-the-scenes tension as one of the reasons.
So, while we don’t know exactly who else from the original show will be joining Gellar, bringing Tara back for the revival would be a great way to right one of the few wrongs of the beloved show.
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