Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fifth Season (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the most extraordinary things about BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is that in Season Two they managed to produce one of the greatest seasons in the history of television, and then managed to pretty much equal it for the entire run of the show. Amazingly, each year they did this by taking the show in completely different directions. In the season opener Buffy meets and defeats the most famous of all vampires, Dracula, but the show demonstrated its willingness to take extraordinary risks by ending the episode with the startlingly revelation that Buffy has a sister. Buffy, of course, is an only child, but the brilliant thing was the way the show continued for several episodes as if Dawn, Buffy's new sister, had always been a part of the family. Moreover, Dawn isn't just a part of her immediate family: all Buffy's friends have their own relationship with Dawn, and she is clearly completely integrated with everyone in the community.
There are Buffy fans who like and dislike nearly every aspect of BUFFY. Some did not care for the addition of Dawn to the cast, but I loved it, partly for the virtuosic manner in which they integrated her in the cast, and partly for the astonishing story line that developed out of who she truly was. Dawn, an entity of pure energy that is a key to a demon portal, was created by monks as a real human being, a real sister to The Slayer, in order to guarantee that Buffy would protect her with her life. I love the way that all the Scooby Gang completely accepts her, and the profound questions it raises in Dawn herself, as she desperately attempts to come to terms with the knowledge that she isn't who she remembers herself to be.
Old subplots are resolved and new ones emerge. Buffy's romance with Riley, nearly universally loathed by Buffy fans, thankfully ends. Giles takes over the ownership of The Magic Box and Anya becomes his enthusiastic assistant. Spike, still harmless due to his implant, is horrified to realize that he is in love with Buffy. Joyce is stricken with a brain tumor and eventually dies of a brain aneurysm, which leads to what is in many ways the most remarkable episode in the entire history of the show, "The Body." Most of Buffy is shot employing a quick, fast moving pace. But this episode intentionally slows down time, intensifying and emphasizing every nuance of Buffy's overwhelming grief and panic at discovering her mother's body. In my opinion, it is the single best representation in either film or TV of human reaction to the death of a loved one.
Season Five's primary story arc is, however, that of the hell goddess Glory and her attempt to recover The Key (Dawn) that will allow her to reenter her hell dimension. Glory is, with the possible exception of Angelus, the best villain in the history of BUFFY and ANGEL. She is a goddess portrayed as super consumer (her nice shoes and pedicures causes Dawn to remark, "She has really nice feet"), going on spending sprees to placate her sorrows at being trapped in a dimension not her own. Her whacky wit and (for a goddess) naive stupidity combined with her considerable power creates excitement nearly every second she is onscreen. In a season of many highlights, I especially love the episode where Glory's minions wrongly assume that Spike is The Key, and bring him to Glory, who tortures him to find out who The Key truly is. Despite beating him badly, he refuses to tell. Buffy's intense and heartfelt gratitude signals a change in attitude on the part of the Scoobies, and hints that behavior and compassion are as much a mark of someone becoming good (despite being a vampire) as having a soul (in the case of Angel). The final episode, "The Gift," is one of the truly epic moments in the entire series, and yet another of the classic moments that BUFFY left us. The final shot of the season is simply heartbreaking.

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After an unsettling encounter with the Dracula, Buffy asks Giles to once again be her Watcher. Luckily he agrees, for Buffy is about to face mortal problems far more threatening than the undead: the sudden appearance of a sister named Dawn, her mother's mysterious illness and Spike's undying devotion. Then an undefeatable demon appears, forcing Buffy to turn to an ancient Spirit Guide who tells her that love is her greatest gift - and power.

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