Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fifth Season Reviewed by Missy Schwartz SLAY ANYTHING Buffy goes looking for trouble ’’This is how many apocalypses for us now?’’ wonders a weary Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), as yet another doomsday lies in wait. The answer is, of course, too many to count, but don’t let the Slayer’s apparent burnout fool you: Anything but tired, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 delivers some of the most perfect episodes in the series’ history, culminating in the awesome finale, ’’The Gift,’’ in which Buffy sacrifices herself to save her sister — and the world — from the evil god Glory. It’s also the season where our gal goes head-to-head with Dracula, gets a clone in the form of a Buffybot, and mourns the sudden death of her mother. EXTRAS A handful of featurettes (’’Natural Causes’’ explores the show’s rare inclusion of nonsupernatural death) and cast interviews (curiously all sans Gellar) make this visit to Sunnydale a solid A

Firefly: The Complete Series Reviewed by Marc Bernardin

HIRED GUNS ’’Firefly’’’s Fillion and Gina Torres Blame it on the theme song. See, audiences don’t mind sci-fi Westerns as long as they don’t really push the Western part (you rarely saw any horses on ’’Star Trek’’). But ’’Buffy’’ mastermind Joss Whedon had to go and open his show with an ambling country ditty...and it was canceled 13 episodes in. Too bad, because Firefly: The Complete Series was a smart, satisfying genre reinvention, about a mismatched band of hired guns flitting from outpost to outpost looking for honest (or dishonest) work. The cast was strong, led by Nathan Fillion’s roguish captain, the writing renegade-tight; Whedon was trying something new — it’s a shame he didn’t get to finish.

EXTRAS A fan’s treasure trove: Three never-aired episodes will go over like crack with the ’’Firefly’’ faithful, as will the many commentary tracks (advice: Focus on the ones that feature Whedon — they’re funny and pervasively knowing). The docs and deleted scenes are worthwhile too, but the set’s bittersweet vibe is at its most affecting on the gag reel. It was made for the cast and crew’s Christmas shindig, which ultimately ended up being the series’ wrap party instead Grade: A