Buffy The Vampire Slayer

It’s the end. Of the show. And the world. Not necessarily in that order, of course. Not that we should automatically expect the worst either, for we know that Buffy has died a few times already (she got better) and that impending apocalypse has been one of the hazards of living in Sunnydale. Death and destruction? Pah, it’s a doddle.

Actually death and destruction tonight comes with a bit of unexpected special effects a la Lord of The Rings - not the standard fare in a show where budgets and aesthetic made the word "lord" over the bang. However, it’s handled with typical lightness by creator Joss Whedon , who returns to write and direct the final episode of a show he’s made one of the best on the box.

While the imminent destruction of all things good and its replacement by the First Evil continues apace and it can’t just be me for whom the First’s misogynist minister brings back memories of certain priests and brothers at Catholic schools a generation ago, can it? Whedon brings his usual wordplay and cross-cultural references to play.

Buffy and Angel do a post-teen Tracy/Hepburn for a moment (but only for a moment), a pierced tongue raises an eyebrow, the magic-for-drugs metaphor gets another run, nascent feminism runs rampant and there’s a pure fan moment towards the end (but not The End) when Giles repeats a line from the very first Buffy episode.

Ah, but it’s not all fun: after there’s blood spilt and bodies cleaved not all the gang survive. Who doesn’t? Not telling. Nor will I say what happens to Spike, the only man dead or undead who can make bleached blond hair look sexy.

Actually, I might have been tempted to tell you if I was sure I understood what Whedon does to the funnier of our two en-souled vamps. But if you don’t mind not getting all the answers, tonight’s finale is pretty much five by five.