Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 2 - Volume 1

Television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer first hit our screens in 1997, starting what was presumed by most would be a brief life as a US mid-season filler show. However many underestimated the hold it would take on people, and now with legions of rabid fans, and still going ever so strongly in the midst of its fifth season, I'm sure its creator Joss Whedon must be smiling to himself and possibly resisting (or not) the urge to poke his tongue out at quite a few people.

Yes, it bears the same title as Joss' rather silly film from way back in 1992 (which even featured Luke "my face, my valuable face!" Perry), but other than taking a few basic plot ideas from this, the TV series is a wholly different, and better, kettle full of wonderfully creepy kind of stuff.

Here we have the first twelve episodes of the second season, which I have briefly summarised below taking quite some care to avoid big, ugly spoilers (for that's just the caring, sharing, thoughtful kinda gal I am, after all!)...

WHEN SHE WAS BAD: So what's with the Joan Collins 'tude Buff? School's in again, and after a rather uneventful summer on the gremmie front, the Anointed One has plans to resurrect the deceased Master. Damn these undead, why won’t they take the hint and stay dead? Can Buffy battle her issues and rescue Willow, Cordelia, Giles and Ms Calendar? Angel is broody.

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: Talk about weird science, eww, could this get yuckier? So just who's digging up dead cheerleaders, and why? Could it be zombies, or just high school dorks with tragic bumfluff? And will Cordelia manage to keep her head? Meanwhile Giles and Ms Calendar go to the footy for their first date (ooh, how romantic), and Angel is broody.

SCHOOL HARD: Whistle a jaunty tune, for it's the arrival of the hunky undead answer to Billy Idol, Spike (with two slayer slayings to his credit), and his missing link Spoice Girlie squeeze Drusilla. What will prove tougher for Buffy to survive, Spike, the Night of St Vigius, or the Night of Parent Teacher where Ferrenghi Principal Snyder just may get his claws into her mum? Angel is broody.

INCA MUMMY GIRL: Hmm, nice undies babe! It's cultural exchange time, and Buffy's charge is Peruvian teenage chick Empada. Meanwhile, just where has the ancient Mummy from the museum escaped to? Brace yourself as Xander gets some alternative Mrs Robinson-style action at the dance, but will he be party to a rather unexpected break-up? Oz first notices Willow, Angel is MIA...

REPTILE BOY: So just who are these nasty robed figures? Could they be monks, Jawas on steroids, or just a pack of pathetic little frat boys from a cult that appears to worship power tools? Angel is angsty about the rather yawing age difference between him and the Buffster, who is upset and does a naughty, ditching her duties to party. She and Giles reach an understanding, Angel is jealous (and broody).

HALLOWEEN: Well, this is just…neat! Buffy, Willow and Xander are coerced into chaperoning kiddiewinks for trick-or-treat, but why has everybody actually become what they're dressed as all of a sudden? Giles sweaty ol' mucker Ethan shows up, just what deep dark secrets on our stuffy friend is he threatening to reveal? Spike moves in for the kill, Angel is helpful (oh, and broody!)

LIE TO ME: If you wannabe my sucker... Hey, old Buffy buddy Ford is in town, but how does he know of her secret, and just what does he have planned - could it be something to do with the gang of Sisters of Mercy fans he's hanging out with? Ms Calendar and Giles have another date - monster trucks this time, and just who drops the 'L' word? Spike is, umm, Spike and we find out Angel (who is broody)'s secret connection to Drusilla...

THE DARK AGE: Ewwy Gooey wasn't a worm... Many of Giles' old friends are popping up, and was he REALLY once a leather-clad punk rocker? What on earth (or otherwise) is the Mark of Eyghon, and what's with all the green-eyed monsters everywhere? Will Buffy dig her new tatt? Will Ms Calendar make Giles squirm, and will she (please) visit the Clarins counter? So many questions! Angel is fitful (and broody.)

WHAT'S MY LINE? part one: Hey, door-to-door salesmen ARE worms! It's career week, quite the waste of time for Buffy, whose fate has kind of been preordained. Has Spike found the cure for Drusilla's malaise? Why have Mad Max and cronies descended upon Sunnydale? What's with the Icecapades? And just who is this Kendra chick (mon)? Angel cuddles a toy pig (and is broody.)

WHAT'S MY LINE? part two: Dat's me favourite shirt - dat's me ONLY shirt! A-ha, so THAT's who Kendra is... In light of recent developments, Buffy seriously questions her "career", whilst in light of day Angel wigs. Drusilla has some playtime, and gets religious with Spike. Will evil(er) Dru return? Willow and Oz nerd-bond, meanwhile which two Scooby Gang members go the snog? Angel has a right to be broody...

TED: Well gosh, some salesman must have REALLY pissed off Buffy's writers. So who's this Ted guy that Buff's mum is going all gooey over? Is being a whizzo cook enough to hide the skeletons in his closet? Will Buffy go down, or can the Scoobsters save the day? Meanwhile poor puppy Giles discovers tweed's Kevlar-like powers, and what's with all the snogging? Angel hides (I guess he's off being broody.)

BAD EGGS: Awright sugar lips, giddy up! To help teach parental responsibility, Buffy's class are given eggs to tend, but just what do you have to do these days to get a normal googie in Sunnydale? What's with the cowboys, and why does the high school suddenly resemble The Night of the Living Dead? Will Cordelia and Xander ever come out of the closet? Buffy is sooooo grounded and Angel is horny...

We're still talking early days in the Buffy chronicles, a time when it was shot on 16mm film and laboured under a bread and water budget. Being predominantly filmed in rather dark environs (damn those vamps and their aversion to slip, slop, slapping), the dark stuff is most often very dark. This probably causes more of a contrast than usual when daylight is sporadically ventured into, as such scenes often tend to be almost over-bright.

Video quality is still pretty darned good throughout, however there are occasional white speckles to be seen (I daresay any black ones are probably disguised by the fact that the show is so night-based). I didn’t spot any MPEGy dramas, or anything aliasy worth commenting on. Naturally it's all full frame, however I hear whispers that we could be in for a special treat in future series'...

In all when this was being made I doubt that a future DVD release was foremost in the minds of the producers. Face it, having an entire series of Buffy at hand on gorgeous little shiny disc ready for your own personal slayer-fest anytime you desire is reason to sing "Hallellujah!", rather than to nitpick about the odd minor visual quibble. From season three onwards Buffy was filmed in 35mm, so it will be interesting to see how that scrubs up on its release.

As with most television shows that venture onto DVD, Buffy is presented in Dolby 2.0 stereo. Hence there isn’t a whole heap of surround activity to look forward to, in fact much of what does emanate from behind seems more good luck than anything else. It does however add a pleasant (if that's the right word when dealing with evil vampires and assorted other creatures of varying ickiness) ambience to what's going on onscreen. All the dialogue levels are clear and crisp, not once throughout twelve episodes was I struggling to discern anything that was said. It's all beautifully synched and has a lovely dynamicism, especially in scenes where everything is quiet (like hunting wascally wabbits) until those you-know-the-scary-bit-is-coming moments where things go "BOO!".

Nobody could ever accuse those responsible for Buffy's scoring of being not having eclectic taste. The soundtrack throughout this first half (plus one) of the series runs the gamut from gorgeously gothic orchestral to grunge and piano-cheese to Lilith Fair-type, umm, fare. The local club The Bronze lends ample opportunity to showcase whichever bands record companies wish to hype at the time, although so far this series we have only borne witness to Cibo Matto (ooh, hello Sean Lennon!) and who-the-heck?s Nickel. Oh, plus Oz's band, of course.

You have to wait until the part two box set for all the bits and pieces extras, however you're certainly not getting nothing for your shekels with part one.

I just HAVE to mention the animated menus. Somebody has been busy rendering their little hearts out since the fairly ordinary ones that adorned the first series set. Gorgeously high-resolution computer graphic animations introduce the disc, and indeed the inbetweeny bits when you select which episode you wish to watch. Lovely, lovely stuff, accompanied by suitably spooky music with a sting that frightened the utter living poop out of me the first time I encountered it.

Meanwhile there are three commentaries and three matching entire scripts included in this set. The scripts are certainly thorough, seemingly reproduced in their absolute entirety (minus the coffee stains though) - cast lists, locations and all - over fifty-zillion screens in a reasonably legible typewriter style font. The chapter forward and back buttons are used to traverse the script, however maybe I'm just a ditz, as I couldn't find any way out of this section with my player other than by spitting out the disc and starting all over again. I reiterate that I may have just been having one of my all-too-regular blonde moments though (still, at least I didn’t break anything this time!)

The first episode to get the commentary treatment is Reptile Boy, whereby you can plug into what writer and director David Greenwalt has to say about his little baby. Speaking of plugs, he goes on and on flogging the spin-off series Angel, with seemingly more plugs than are on Tony Lockett's bonce. To be honest it's all a little bit bland, he sounds pleasant enough, if not a tad uncomfy about the whole commentating thing (although he REALLY gets off on seeing his name in the credits), and he falls into that nasty trap of mostly reciting exactly what's happening on screen. Like you know "duh!" dude, we can kind of work it out ourselves!

The other two commentaries are for What's My Line? parts one and two. These come courtesy of co-writer and co-executive producer Marti Noxon, who sounds like she would be a lot more fun and engaging to hang out with than Davo. Rather than just telling us what we're seeing, she concentrates more on behind the scenes stuff, with much insight into their Buffyland sets, character motivations from her point of view and personal experiences she has had whilst making the show, and also gives us many did-you-spot moments to muse over. This should prove great fun for any fan of the Buffster, however those who haven’t seen past the episodes featured here should be warned that there are more spoilers than you would find at a Holden Commodore car club meet for events that occur as far ahead as the fifth season, which some may find annoying.

I wanted to mention the packaging, so I may as well do it here. I have heard much whining about the fact that the UK get their Buffy's in intricate, origami-type fold-upon-fold cardboard creations, whilst ours come as sets of three Amaray cases held in slipcases. Whilst the UK releases may have more of a cool factor to them, I heartily applaud the local branch of Fox for coming up with something infinitely more practical, robust and enduring. Besides, they look mighty funky lined up together on a shelf, even if they do take up a little more space. Oh, and unlike the first season set, it's nice that this time they acknowledged that there's a whole lot more to Buffy than just Sarah Michelle Gellar...

As I intimated earlier this, in combination with the other series two box set, is an entire season of Buffy on DVD - "well duh" I hear you say. To me it is reason enough to rejoice, and praise those wonderful little boffins who created the format for us to enjoy in the first place.

If you haven’t laid eyes on the glory that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, personally I'd suggest you give yourself a complete treat and invest away, although you would probably be advised to go for the first season box set before diving headlong into this one. I say this simply as although many episodes sit outside the main story arc, they usually have allusions to it, so it all may be a tad challenging to follow without knowing the full history behind it (besides, you'd miss out on 12 more episodes of fantastic escapism!)

There is a very good reason that Buffy has endured like it has and become one of THE most popular cult series' on television. It is probably the sharpest (ooh, just like Buffy's stakes!) show currently around, with it's near-perfect combination of snappy and genuinely witty writing, brilliant characterisation (the casting people rarely blunder, well except for that Riley dweeb, but he comes much later) that makes you give a damn about the characters (even some of the baaaaaad ones - mmmmmm, Spike!), mysticism, romance and drama - oh, and icky stuff, of course!

I'm sorry if I sound biased, but hey, I am. This is my favourite show on television by far, and it has even managed to usurp The Simpsons in my affections, which is no mean feat. All I can say is roll on November, when season three is scheduled to reach the shops.

Now if only the 'movie' rating to the right went up to eleven...