Buffy's grave

[Chosen 1]

Does it strike anyone else as odd that, despite wanting to keep Buffy's death secret the gang splashed out money (which we later find out they are severely lacking in) to get a headstone for Buffy's grave, and a rather expensive looking headstone at that. Surely a cremation or an unmarked grave would have been better.

Any old vamp or demon could have gone strolling past, found it and let the cat out of the bag.

Am I missing something here or was it purely a case of poetic licence so they could get the shot of the headstone at the end of season 5?

 

[Perny]

Not every demon knows Buffy's name. Let known how she looks. So seeing the stone wouldn't have made much of a deal really

 

[Chosen 1]

Not every demon no, but surely there would have been plenty who would have known it, if they lived in Sunnydale or had done their homework. All it would have taken was one demon or vamp to know her name and happen to see the headstone, I doubt there are many who would keep it quiet. It just strikes me as rather reckless if they really wanted to keep her death secret.

 

[Bob]

but a dead slayer means a new one... they'll be more worried about the new one than the dead one...
anyway, wouldn't you put as much money you could to a friends death?! i know i would!!!

 

[Chosen 1]

but a dead slayer means a new one... they'll be more worried about the new one than the dead one...

There wasn't a new slayer called because the line goes through Faith due to Buffys first death, but then again I'm guessing alot of demons wouldn't really know about that. The coverup was because the scooby gang didn't wan't demons to take advantage of the lack of slayer in Sunnydale.

anyway, wouldn't you put as much money you could to a friends death?! i know i would!!!

Of course, but that wasn't really the point (although as a side note from that, later events made it ovbious that much more was spent on the whole funeral than they could really afford). The scoobies two choices didn't make sense when done together. Getting the headstone to commemorate their friends death, leaving it obvious to any demons who knew her name that she was gone, but then at the same time going to all the effort to cover up her death by using the Buffybot replacement when they have left a big glaringly obvious clue that Buffy was dead in the cemetery.

 

[white avenger]

Considering the fact that the Scoobies worked so hard to conceal Buffy's death, I would imagine that the actual grave location was hidden by some sort of concealment spell whipped up by Giles, Willow, and Tara. That way, the gang could visit and show their respects whenever they wanted to, but no one else could see it. That would also explain why the grave was quite obviously not in any cemetery.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I always just thought it was about honoring Buffy the best they could. You know, she DID save the world alot, so didn't she deserve a nice headstone and a little dignity after death? 🙂

Besides, I don't think any of these demons are reading the headstones or they'd know that if they go near the Alpert mausoleum, Buffy is ALWAYS going to kill them there!
(Little joke for those of you who pay attention to the names in the cemeteries and how the sets are reused so often 🙂)

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I agree with white avenger. I think that it was implied that the gravestone was in the backyard, or off in a remote forest somewhere, or hidden by a spell, where a vamp could not easily stumble across it. Also, I think the gang needed it for closure.

Also, plot-wise, they couldn't have cremated her as I think that would have made it doubly difficult to resurrect her. They needed her body for the spell.

Also, gravestones stir some sort of emotion in people it seems, and death gives life meaning. I think the episode would have lost a lot without that last shot of her grave.

 

[Professor Walsh]

The scoobies two choices didn't make sense when done together. Getting the headstone to commemorate their friends death, leaving it obvious to any demons who knew her name that she was gone, but then at the same time going to all the effort to cover up her death by using the Buffybot replacement when they have left a big glaringly obvious clue that Buffy was dead in the cemetery.

I never thought of that at all, but then I've only watched season six once. If I enjoy what I'm watching, I rarely notice inconsistencies on the first viewing. When I think back, though, white avenger is very right.

That said, making choices that doesn't quite make sense is very normal when people are traumatised after a shocking loss. So perhaps it makes sense after all.

 

[Mumrik]

It was pretty obvious that Buffy was buried remote, very probably hidden by a spell aswell so demons and vampires wouldn't accidently stumble upon it.

As for the expensive-looking gravestone: It might have been paid for by Giles or maybe the Scoobies stole it and Xander did the carving or Tara and/or Willow did a spell. It's not hard to think of easy ways they got their hands on it.

Burials are done very time nearly to the death, right? So maybe they simply hadn't come up with the idea of resurrecting Buffy yet. And if they had, a resurrection takes a lot of planning so they had to pretend to not be up to something because, most importantly, Willow, Xander, Tara and Anya kept the resurrection secret from Giles, Dawn and Spike. So if they didn't want to give Buffy a proper burial and a gravestone Giles would've known something was fishy.


Plus, without the gravestone but with an anonymous grave that last shot of S5 would be very boring and not half as emotional as it was. - The only thing we would've seen would be a meadow.

 

[Chosen 1]

About the magic concealing the grave, that's a really good point, I hadn't thought of that before. I'd also never noticed the grave wasn't in a cemetery, now that I think about it I can't remember seeing other graves around, and of course otherwise they would have just filmed the ressurection spell scenes at the usual cemetery set.

 

[InsaneMystic]

Originally Posted by Bob:
but a dead slayer means a new one... they'll be more worried about the new one than the dead one...

There wasn't a new slayer called because the line goes through Faith due to Buffys first death, but then again I'm guessing alot of demons wouldn't really know about that. The coverup was because the scooby gang didn't wan't demons to take advantage of the lack of slayer in Sunnydale.

I still don't really buy this "only line through Faith" thing. As I said in the thread dealing with that question in particular, even Mayor Wilkins shared my conviction that there were TWO Slayer lines - one through Faith and one through Buffy. So, canon evidence pointing a different way than non-canon-evidenced Word Of Joss, I still say yes, a new Slayer was called post-Gift, we just never saw her as the CoW kept her secret from Giles & the Scoobies.

But that's all a bit Off Topic; in case you really want to warm up that neverending debate, the most recent thread for it is this one here. 😉

 

[palabravampiress]

I agree with WA and Joan the Vampire Slayer. Not only did the grave seem to be placed sort of off-the-beaten-path, but I also think the gang needed it for closure.

 

[Revolver]

Besides, Buffy Summers is such a common name that why would the vamps assume that grave belonged to THE Buffy Summers.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Besides, Buffy Summers is such a common name that why would the vamps assume that grave belonged to THE Buffy Summers.

I don't know. Is Buffy a common name? Not really. I know it's implied that it was back when Joyce has Buffy...I don't know about you, but back in the 90s when I was a kid, I didn't have any friends named Buffy 😉
Plus, it's pretty well known with the vamps that her name was Buffy Summers.

 

[SpuffyFan4Life]

I think the grave was a lot simply because of the end of season 5, I know it's not elaborate but I think that's it really.

I don't like that they spent a lot of money on it if they did however. Not only do they tell Buffy that she's broke. I love Willow and Tara and I know that they're going to school, but a lot of people go to school and have jobs, so I say, get a job! They don't pay rent, at least it's never mentioned and how could they since they're unimployed? Pitch in will ya?

 

[Mumrik]

I think the grave was a lot simply because of the end of season 5, I know it's not elaborate but I think that's it really.

I don't like that they spent a lot of money on it if they did however.

Boy. That part took me a looong while to figure out. I think I got it now.

Not only do they tell Buffy that she's broke. I love Willow and Tara and I know that they're going to school, but a lot of people go to school and have jobs, so I say, get a job! They don't pay rent, at least it's never mentioned and how could they since they're unimployed? Pitch in will ya?

There's a whole thread where Buffy's money problems are being discussed over here:

Buffy's money gone dry... why?

Might make an interesting read 🙂

 

[Zombierella]

I do find it a little odd that they basically plastered a huge sign in sunnydale saying "The slayers dead, blood and flesh for all". But what I find even more bizzare is if you notice, In the episode "Nightmare" when Buffy is buried alive, and she climbs out of her crave revealing herself to be a vampire, her tombstone says she was born in a different year. I believe it said 1981 and the tombstone where buffy is really buried later on says 1980 [or visa-versa]. Then when the demon who calls itself "Malcolm" creates a connection with willow on the school computer, It goes through the student database on one of the computers and when it finds Buffy Summers it says she was born in yet another year. Am I the only one who has noticed this? I know this is kind of off topic, But this thread made me remember this!

 

[Mumrik]

No, you're not - it's just a goof.
The episode with the computer demon also has May as Buffy's birth month down when it really is in January and says she's a senior when she's a sophomore.
They obviously hadn't a real birth date down then. Notice that we only get the wrong dates in Season 1.

 

[InsaneMystic]

No, you're not - it's just a goof.
The episode with the computer demon also has May as Buffy's birth month down when it really is in January and says she's a senior when she's a sophomore.
They obviously hadn't a real birth date down then. Notice that we only get the wrong dates in Season 1.

Actually, the blooper in "I Robot You Jane" is even worse. That episode alone gives two different birthdates for Buffy, one in October 79, one in May 80 - both of which are inconsistent with later episodes.

See this thread for more, it even has screencaps. 😉