Dracula

[The Mayor]

He was a very entertaining villain to say the least. A fun episode in general but a great way to start off a new season of Buffy. And I thought they payed homage to this classic story in a neat way. And I thought it cool how he never died. And besides the usual vampire powers, he donned a snazzy suit wand had extra abilities that no other vampire had. Hahahhahaha. Did he ever make a return in the comics? And do you all think he lived up to the classic fictitious character first made famous in the Bram Stoker novel?

 

[November]

Dracula in Buffy appeared as more a characature to me, rather than a menacing villian. I enjoyed the quips and Xanders "master- bator" butt monkey mind control. Also Giles in a hole full of sex vampires LOL.

 

[thrasherpix]

Humor aside, I don't care for that ep. And I don't like it, but in part because I'm a geek (so I can be fussy over details). I just don't believe that Dracula was such a celebrity among vampires and demons and yet the Watchers don't know of him, among other things. (While a memory erasure spell is--barely--plausible, I think Dracula was too much of a glory hound to resort to such measures.)

And I don't see it as a good tribute to Bram Stoker's Dracula, either. For example, Dracula could walk about in the day. It's been a LONG time since I read the book, but it hadn't been that long when I first saw the Buffy vs Dracula episode. And though I enjoyed the humor of this ep, I prefer Dracula not be played for laughs. It also felt like jumping the shark, though I think they were making a statement that this season was going to be very different from season 4...and they also needed an ep in which Dawn wasn't featured so they could throw her in at the end as a surprise.

Even with the humor that I grudgingly liked, I still disliked it enough that after the first time I didn't watch it again until I watched the entire series with others...and when it came time for season 5, I cringed as I saw Dracula...I'd actually forgotten that episode even existed. Still, it wasn't as bad on the rewatch, and since I knew not to take it seriously it was easier to laugh.

On a side note, I think Dracula's sex appeal is way overrated, and that episode drove it home for me. Once, I attended a private (home) viewing of Dracula (the black and white version with Lugosi) and it was to be an EVENT. But it was a disappointment. The one most excited loved vampires and dominant men who really hoped to be turned on by Dracula, but just sighed in disappointment (it was at the moment Dracula orders someone, "Obey!"). Part of the problem is that he was so overhyped that our expectations were too high...just as Dracula's sex appeal in the Buffy episode is overhyped which might add to my dislike of the episode.

But maybe Dracula used more magic so that even the lesbians crushed on him, as shown can happen in the Buffyverse. Of course we can assume Dracula's version was a bit more subtle than Xander's or the enchanted jacket of season 7, though it's also one more reason why the Watchers should know of him.



ETA: Yes, he shows up in the comics, though I didn't read those.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

The Dracula of Bram Stoker could only turn someone into one of his own kind after several nocturnal visits and the main power he had over the helpless women was purely sexual attraction. BtVS does not have the same lore as the original story (which largely depends on the reader having a Roman Catholic understanding of hell) whereas hell is only hinted at in the Buffyverse when Spike returns to life at Wolfram & Hart.

Given that the lore is different and certain details like a huge castle showing up in Sunnydale that was not there yesterday indicate that this is not going to be a serious attempt to recreate the original story. It is played as a farce (and it is not the first dramatization to do that) and as such, it succeeds. Xander becomes his servant and spy, Spike claims Dracula owes him 11 quid, Giles falls into a pit with Dracula's women and he has difficulty motivating himself to get out. If you take this as a standalone (although it is referenced in later episodes), it is similar in quality to some other standalone episodes where the events are not to be taken seriously. No one would think of it as a great episode but within its limits, it was entertaining enough.

 

[Anyanka Bunny Slayer]

I really enjoyed that episode, and I just LOVED Xander in it. It's just a silly one-off, purely for everyone's (especially the writers) entertainment. 😀

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

As a one off joke episode, it was fine. I thought it added some thing to the mythos, and is the last episode before Little Miss Muffet starts screaming like a female character on Sealab 2021, so it's really Buffy's college prime, before everything becomes Keys and Death. Now, I think making Drac the subject of an arc, where Xander is his slave and Andew has a crush on him would be a mistake.