‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Would Be Much Better if It Were 2 Seasons Shorter

It’s difficult to overstate the influence of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The TV show (1997-2003) was never a ratings giant, but it was a hit with critics and quickly developed a fanatical fan following. We can credit and/or blame Buffy for TV Tropes, some significant fraction of urban fantasy as a genre, a surprising amount of modern media-discussion slang (i.e. “big bad”), and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you were going to build a Mount Rushmore for Western pop culture, Buffy Summers is on the short list.

Ever since its initial run, Buffy has thrived in what one might call the hot take economy. Early on, Buffy was the subject of some surprisingly involved academic studies, with journals like Slayage continuing to this day. Later, Buffy creator Joss Whedon’s public fall from grace in 2020 led to multiple critical reevaluations of the show, especially where Xander was concerned.

All of this is to say that no one has ever had a lukewarm reaction to Buffy one way or the other. Even die-hard fans of the show usually have a couple of pocket rants about it, whether it’s actual criticism (how the Willow/Tara relationship was handled) or random online noise (interminable “shipper” wars).

I’m no exception. There are episodes of Buffy that I’d consider personally foundational, and phrases from it that I use to this day (“I believe the subtext here is rapidly becoming text”), but there are multiple story arcs in the show that I could do without. What’s been consistently surprising to me over the years, however, is just how hot one of my takes actually is: Buffy should’ve wrapped entirely with season 5.

Making shows of trading blows

Image: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection

For those coming in late, Buffy switched networks and showrunners between seasons 5 and 6. Whedon went on hiatus from Buffy to create 2002’s Firefly, so he promoted long-time producer Marti Noxon to take his place.

Noxon’s Buffy is a distinctly bleaker and more explicit ride by comparison to everything that came before. Buffy herself (Sarah Michelle Gellar) spends much of the season depressed and making poor decisions. That includes a series of dead-end day jobs, money troubles, an infamous affair with Spike (James Marsters), and the single most destructive sex scene in TV history.

None of this is intended to lay any actual accusations at Noxon’s door. Part of why people argue with me about this, in fact, is because Season 6 still has its defenders. The “Spuffy” relationship is surprisingly popular, despite or possibly because it’s so toxic for them both, and some fans enjoy the show’s darker overall tone.

Image: 20th Century Fox

Most crucially, as Joanna Robinson pointed out in Vanity Fair, one element of Buffy Season 6 aged better than almost everything else in the show. The ultimate villains of the season turn out to be three misogynistic nerds who are, at the end of the day, angry that Buffy’s the protagonist and they aren’t.

When Season 6 originally aired, the “Trio” felt like a big step down from the typical Buffy big bads of ancient demons and hostile gods, but in retrospect they’re the least metaphorical antagonists in the BtVS rogues’ gallery. If Season 6 had aired in the age of social media, there are quite a few slacktivist culture warriors who’d be upset at seeing themselves portrayed so accurately onscreen. Hell, if you rebooted Buffy to take place in 2026, the Trio would be so busy angry-posting on Twitter (and definitely not Bluesky) that they wouldn’t get anything done.

Image: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection

All of those (perfectly valid) defenses aside, Season 6 still leaves me cold. The Buffy/Spike relationship does nothing for me, but more importantly, many Season 6 episodes are simply depressing. The highlight is inarguably the musical episode, “Once More With Feeling,” but even that ends on such a profound down note that it tanked any chance I had to enjoy the rest of the season.

Following Firefly‘s cancellation, Whedon returned to Buffy for Season 7. Right when it started to build up its story’s momentum, however, Gellar decided to leave the show.

Whether it was intended or not, early Season 7 felt like it was originally intended as a deck-clearing/rebuilding exercise in advance of a truly epic season 8. With Gellar on the way out, Buffy switched gears to compress the writers’ remaining plans into just 14 episodes. Some of it works and some of it doesn’t, but there just isn’t enough room or time for the story that Season 7 is trying to tell.

As a result, whenever I run into someone who’s never seen Buffy, my advice is to not marathon through the entire run. Season 1 is uneven enough that you’re okay if you only watch the first and last episodes, although “Nightmares” has some of the most memorable scares in the whole show. Seasons 2 and 3 are required viewing, of course, and Season 4 has what might be the best single episode of Buffy (“Hush”). If you’ve made it that far and you still want more, then you’re clear to watch season 5.

I can’t honestly recommend Season 6, however, and season 7 is just a mess. You’re better off ending your Buffy the Vampire Slayer binge with Season 5, which sends it off as one of TV’s best and most influential cult shows, and simply pretending Seasons 6 and 7 never happened.