Buffy for Beginners 1.12: Prophecy Girl

So this is my favorite episode of the first season. I know I say that a lot, but this is the first time that Buffy dies. Do you understand the magnitude of that statement? This is one of the first and only instances in a major television show that the main character bites the dust and, at least for a few seconds, we don�t know if she�s going to make it. You know, the show�s called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She kinda needs to be around. But, the point is this: the show takes risks; hell, it kills its main character. If you didn�t know by now, this show is different and by �different� I mean awesome.

In the opening scene, Xan practices asking Buffy to the Spring Dance on Willow, but she�s a no show doing �the usual�, meaning vamp slayage. Cut to Giles in the library figuring out the Kodex, mentioning something about the slayer will face the master and die.

Later, as Buffy recaps the night�s stakings, Giles is obviously concerned about the prophecy of Buffy�s death. As Buffy heads off to meet her terrible fate (biology) cut to the Scoobies leaving class as Will states �Nerds are in.� Here is a brutal scene to watch: Xander asking Buffy to the dance. Of course, he�s been placed firmly in the friends camp, guessing �a guy�s gotta be undead to make time with her� and is obviously shaken to the core as he goads Will into being his replacement date. She says no (go Will!) and Xander retires to listen to Patsy Cline�s �I Fall to Pieces,� you know, country music, the music of pain.

As apocalypse stuff happens around the world, Buffy walks in to tell Giles about blood dripping out of the faucet only to overhear Giles telling Angel about the prophecy of Buffy�s death. She freaks, naturally, and sobs �I quit. I resign. I�m fired (�) I�m sixteen years old. I don�t want to die.� We all have responsibility even if it requires great sacrifice.

As Buffy pours over old pictures, she attempts to convince her mom to go on a trip, only to find that her mom bought her a dress stating, �You should do what you want.� Do we always have a choice? Later she gets a phone call from Will as she�s trying on her spring dance dress, after Will found Cordy�s boyfriend and friends dead on school campus (with a creepy shot of cartoons with a bloody hand print on the TV). Buffy realizes her responsibility, and decides to go and meet the Master (after punching out Giles!). We come to find that if she hadn�t come to get him, he couldn�t have been free. Prophecies are tricky things.

And here lies one of the greatest ten minutes of the entire series, rife with metaphor and commentary you have to �read� to understand. Buffy is led down an underground wet tunnel (think birth canal) by the hand of a child, or the Anointed One, who will lead her into hell to meet the Master. If we are to read the tunnel as a birth canal, we know she will experience a rebirth. The Master, in his black leather suit that looks eerily like a black tux, and Buffy in her white dress, look like a couple about to be married. In ancient marriage, women had no identity once they were married, absorbed into their husband�s identity. In the moment the Master has a taste of Buffy�s blood, there�s a close-up of her ecstatic breath and moan, one reminiscent of wedding night copulation. She does not die from the bite (which is a metaphor for sex) however, but him dropping her into a pool of water. Buffy drowns in that small pool, her arms outstretched like the crucifixion of Christ. We are to see Buffy as a Christ figure, a savior. And she will be reborn. She will come to reject their intimate act by penetrating him as he has penetrated her.

Xander enlists Angel�s help to find Buffy and help her slay the Master, only to find her not breathing in the water; Xander breathes life back into her and Buffy�s eyes re-open. He tells her to rest but she responds with �No, I�m fine. I feel strong.� Off she goes to find and fight the Master to stop the Hellmouth from opening. That�s right, the savior of the world is a girl! NICE.

As Buffy heads to the school we see Cordy and Will attempting to keep the vamps at bay from the library and Cordy screams �Somebody help!� The Buffy theme kicks to life as we see Buffy leading Angel and Xan to the school stating �Oh look, a bad guy!� and pummels him. Later, she tells Angel to �get his game face on� while she heads up to the roof to face the Master. As they fight, she tells him to �save that hypno-crap for the tourists� and the Master responds �you were dead, it was written!�

�I may be dead, but I�m still pretty, which is more than I can say for you!� (best line ever) and to throw him off even more tells him � you have fruit punch mouth.� As he contemplates the meaning, she uses his weight to toss him over into the glass ceiling only to land on a huge piece of wood. Oh, scary, vamps die from splinters. After the Master dies, the gang wants to dance with Buffy agreeing �We saved the world. I say we party.� And so ends a complete season; if Buffy had debuted ten years later, would she have lasted seven years? Let�s hope we live in a world where the answer is yes.

About Sabrina: As a kid my dad would sneak scary movies past my mom and let me indulge in his horror movie fetish. I grew up watching V, Alien Nation, The Thing, The Fog (all originals) and then, in 1992 when Buffy the movie came out, I became obsessed with vampires, girl power, and all things gothic. I once stayed home from school, faked sick, and watched BTVS: the movie 6 times in a row. I know the beginning cheerleading dance by heart (still). Currently, I’m obsessing over Laurell K. Hamilton novels, and dream about Anita Blake being my best friend.

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