Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Underwhelming Ubervamp

The Ubervamp was never, of course, the Big Bad of the season, so Buffy’s easy dispatching of him should not come as a shock. In fact, his character comes in a long line of almost-archvillains that Mutant Enemy has served us — going back to the Annoying One (and, perhaps, Spike-and-Drusilla as well) in season 2, Mr. Trick in season 3 (the clearest example of the type), Maggie Walsh in season 4 and the three nerds (sort of) in season 6. You could even argue that the true Big Bad of season 5 was not Glory, but Death. In fact, alone among this group, Ubie was never even really presented as a potential arch-nemesisises. He was always the First’s underling, and it was always clear that the First was the true threat.

Still, Ubie’s awesome indestructibility was ratcheted up tremendously, and then he was just anticlimactically dusted. It never really made sense why Buffy seemed so confident she could kill him, nor why she had to go to such elaborate lengths to stage the killing. Ultimately, too, he was just a big strong monster, just like all the others. There was some initial resonance in the concept of Buffy (in the maybe-possibly final season) going up against some sort of First Vampire figure, bringing her back to her roots in more ways than one, but that kind of fizzled since he was gotten rid of so quickly.

The Turok-Han

The Ubervamp’s awesome indestructibility was ratcheted up tremendously, and then he was just anticlimactically dusted.

In the end, I think Ubie and his quick, somewhat boring death mostly showed us that Buffy vs. Big Ugly Really Strong Badguy is a used up gambit. Can’t do it anymore. The series may continue past this year, but aside from the occasional graveyard patrol slaying of vamps, that particular storyline just won’t hunt these days. We’ve moved beyond that now. A moment of silence, please.

Is he or isn’t he?

The fans appear to be largely annoyed, as far as I can tell, by the dangling Giles mystery — was he killed by the Bringer’s blade, and is he now the First masquerading as himself? Since Giles appeared at Buffy’s house, would-be slayers in tow, he has not touched anything or anyone, that we’ve seen. Furthermore, he appears to be always wearing the same coat. There are other clues as well: Giles shows up on Buffy’s doorstep immediately after she announces that she’s going to go and find the First. Giles mysteriously absents himself somehow, when Buffy falls down the hole and first encounters the Ubervamp, thereby not being around to lend a helping hand when she’s trying to scramble out of the hole.

His actions in general could be taken as generally undermining in subtle ways — what with his speeches telling Buffy that they all can depend only on her, etc., etc. — and even, perhaps, his and Anya’s expedition to the eyeball prophet, which resulted only in the unfortunate information that the First’s ability to embark on its mission of ending the slayer line is all the gang’s doing.

Finally, he appears to be somewhat of a shadow of himself. He just doesn’t seem to have his old wit, verve and courage. This could, of course, simply be stress — or poor writing — but it could also be because the First is unable to truly personify anyone correctly, as we saw with its attempts to appear as Drusilla to Spike.

Giles !?

It could be one of the most powerful moments in the history of the series. A dark and terrible moment, on a par at least with the killing of Jenny Calendar, but mighty powerful.

I can understand why some are aggravated by the show’s unwillingness to settle the matter soon, as well as disbelieving that Giles will, in fact, turn out to be the First — and if he does not, then all this extended playing with the viewer will be off-putting. Personally, however, I am hooked by this puzzle. It does seem impossible that the show could hope to get away with making him out to be Just Giles after all at this point. At the same time, all the signaling that he might be the First seems almost too obvious at this point too. It would almost be an anticlimax to discover this now.

There is a possibility that Giles isn’t Just Giles, but also isn’t the First. He could be dead, but somehow an agent for good (just as the Joyce that appeared in Buffy’s dreams did not seem Firstlike, though the Joyce that appeared to Dawn was). He could even be alive but somehow changed, no longer fully human.

If Giles is indeed the First, and if that discovery is handled in a manner that somehow is not anticlimactic feeling, it could be, I think, one of the most powerful moments in the history of the series. A dark and terrible moment, on a par at least with the killing of Jenny Calendar, but mighty powerful. If he is Ghost Giles the same could be true, in a different way. Only time will tell what the end result will be, but I for one am definitely along for the ride.