If Willow's Spell Had Failed

The Chosen

The Chosen

Time is all around
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Scenario: Willow's spell in Bargaining doesn't work and Buffy's gone for good. By this time in the series, BtVS had established itself as a character driven show that paid mucho attention to sideplayers/characters other than Buffy herself.

Could BtVS have continued without Buffy being alive/around? In other words, if Buffy the series had become The Scoobies the series, would it still have been interesting/watchable?

Edit Ooh, and I think it would be interesting to avoid comparing what could have been with what was. Like, yeah, I know that we wouldn't have had Spuffy or the scythe spell, etc. I wanna know if you guys think that a totally different season 6/7 without Buffy would have been like.
 
Could it have been interesting and watchable? Yes. Would it have been renewed without Sarah Michelle Gellar, from a network standpoint? No chance.

I can't see any network biting on that. It's important to differentiate here. WE may have watched, the members of BB, that is. But we're the hardcore fan base, not the representative majority. Most fans don't go online to discuss and analyze the show and the characters like we do. Most fans just watched the show and didn't give it an abundance of excess thought. We're the exception to that, and we're not large enough numbers wise to justify a network taking that risk.

Now, if we're talking about what would have happened on the show (and I love me a "what if" scenario), it does get interesting. I would imagine Willow would have taken over as the lead character. S6 was largely constructed around her anyways. I think a huge arc of the rebuilt season would be the finding of the new Slayer. The ambiguity of the Buffy/Faith Slayer line (calling @black eyed guy!) would have been dealt with extensively. Honestly, I could see Dawn being activated as the next Slayer. That would have tied in nicely with her being a part of Buffy and there's a wealth of ready-made storylines to go with there.

Faith would have been brought in, if not as a main character than certainly as a regular recurring. Spike would have remained a huge part of the show, they need a dynamic male lead after all, but without Buffy I'm a little unsure of how he would have progressed.

Purely within the context of the story though? I think Willow would have still had major problems with magic, although it would have progressed differently without Buffy there. The Trio wouldn't have been around without Buffy there (although if Dawn gets activated or Faith returns, who knows?), so Tara probably wouldn't have died. I feel like Spike would have stayed in Sunnydale for a time, just as we saw in the opening episodes, but I'm not sure if his stay would have been a permanent thing. Actually, I think over time something might have developed with him and Dawn, to be honest. Things were spiraling downhill fast at the beginning of S6, and if Willow failed and the situation worsened, I could see Angel bringing his team north to help until things settled.
 
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slayer6
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LindsayH
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I dont think it could have worked as a scoobies series. But if they'd brought in Faith, or a new slayer to be the lead I think it could have worked.

The series, kinda like Doctor Who, is set up to keep going past Buffy, with a new slayer being called. It would have made sense for a new slayer to come to Sunnydale and for the scoobies to want to help.
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
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I don't think the show could have survived long with only the Scoobies. If the spell didn't work and Buffy stayed dead, my guess is they would have found a way to bring Faith back to Sunnydale to have her take over as the lead character.

It would have been interesting to see what would have come of the Scoobie gang without having Buffy around. I wonder if they would have stuck together or gone their separate ways at some point.
 
I don't think it could have worked as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", but it certainly could have worked as a brand new spinoff a la "Faith the Vampire Slayer" or "Willow Wonderland" type thing. They could have used either Spike, Faith or Willow as a new lead in my opinion. So overall, maybe it wouldn't have been the same, but if they advertised it as a brand new show, it most certainly could have worked.
 
I was actually giving some thought recently as to how S6 would have panned out had Buffy stayed dead. I don't think it would ever have happened as a series, as mentioned above, I don't think that the networks would have risked it, but a few thoughts that occurred:

- Assuming that the other events of Bargaining remained the same (Scoobies trying to keep Buffy's death under wraps, Buffybot being discovered, biker demons invading town, etc.), Willow, Xander, etc. would have to call in some sort of reinforcements, and probably hide themselves somewhere. Perhaps a good opportunity for an Angel crossover, would be particularly interesting to see Cordy and the Scoobies meet up again properly.

- It's never really mentioned on the show whether another slayer was called after Buffy's death, or whether her line had already been passed on to Kendra, and wouldn't pass on again. I assume another Slayer would have been introduced in the event of Buffy's permanent death. Assuming that the Scoobies alert Giles to the demon invasion of Sunnydale, perhaps he uses the Council's resources to locate the new Slayer and bring her to Sunnydale as backup? There would then be the potential awkwardness of the new Slayer integrating herself into this group that have been fighting evil together for years, whilst coming to terms with her own new powers, and the rest of the Scoobies feelings regarding someone who they will see as their close friend's replacement - the group can be a bit insular, and Willow in particular can be quite unwelcoming towards people who she feels are edging in on "her territory", IMO.

- Regardless of the introduction of new characters, I think that Willow would have stepped up to fill the main character role, as someone the audience is familar with- Xander's role might also be increased. Willow's magic addiction would probably still be a major part of S6, though without Warren attempting to shoot Buffy, and killing Tara, whether she would go dark during the season is debatable.

- If the show could have convinced ASH to stay on as a full time cast member for at least one more season, I imagine they would have done so in this case, in order to keep as many familiar characters as possible in the show, and also to act as a bridge between the Scoobies, with whom he has been close to for years, and any potential new Slayer characters.

- I'm unsure what would have been done with Spike. On the one hand, there's not really a lot for him to do plot-wise without Buffy, as none of the other Scoobies, barring Dawn, seem to like him, and his S6 plotline basically consisted of a destructive relationship with Buffy in which he tries to isolate her from her friends, so in that sense, I think of all the remaining characters, he would be the obvious one to write out. On the other he seems very determined to fulfill Buffy's "last wish" when she was still dead, and help protect Dawn- perhaps he stays around for a while for that reason? And has a plot stemming from there.
 
Yeah, I mean Buffy is not the lead character in season 6, she's a supporting character to Willow and Spike. What would have happened without her? What always happens when Buffy is not around, Willow takes the lead and rules with an iron fist. She could probably become the new Major or something, just you know, less evil.
 
To the fans it wouldn't have been an instant hit. The networks might not have taken to it though. It would have been interesting though if it evolved into Faith the Vampire Slayer the series. I could see the scoobies working with Faith after her stint in jail and her attempt at redemption. I always thought Faith the Vampire Slayer would have been an amazing spinoff, its a shame Eliza Dushku didn't want to try it.


Ohh and does anyone else think Willow wouldn't have ended up evil?? She would have been busy with the whole protecting Sunnydale to ever have time to go see Rack or to start abusing magic.
 
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Robb Stark said:
Spike would have remained a huge part of the show, they need a dynamic male lead after all, but without Buffy I'm a little unsure of how he would have progressed.
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I imagine that he would stick around purely in Buffy's memory and because he promised to protect Dawn. He was extremely protective of her in Bargaining and I found that both very sweet and very heroic--in a way that we haven't seen from Spike before (except a few times in season 5). I'm not sure how he would have developed as a character after that (I imagine that it would have been hard for him to hang around them all the time given how they would continually bring back memories of Buffy) but I know for sure he'd want to be there to protect Dawn especially if Dawn is called as the next Slayer (which I think would be quite an interesting storyline!) I could see him growing to truly become one of the gang by the end of the series.

And you know, maybe Willow's spell doesn't work because it's not supposed to. But maybe Buffy eventually, after a couple of episodes, ends up alive, because either the spell took longer than expected, or because Buffy is sent back to continue to do good on earth (which would, again, change the storyline for season 6 than what we saw).
 
The most viable solution would have been to somehow bring Faith back, assuming that Eliza would have been willing to commit to playing the character on a long term basis, becoming "Faith, The Vampire Slayer." Without her, the only way that they could have had a "Vampire Slayer" series would have been to somehow bring back a former Slayer (Another "Willow's spell goes wrong" scenario) or to have Joss reverse his stand about the Slayer Line running through Faith by then, not Buffy (I absolutely refuse to accept any scenario in which Faith dies, even temporarily, in order to create a new Slayer)

The only other solution that I could imagine, though wouldn't have liked to see played out, would have been having Buffy's spirit leaving her body at the moment of death and entering the body of another girl she dies, essentially allowing another actor to take over the role.
 
Overall I think would have been tough to just introduce a new Slayer at season 6. The fans had become so used to the Buffy and her friends dynamic that a new slayer being introduced would be mostly awkward which is why in my opinion Kendra could only make a few brief appearances before dying and Faith had to turn evil and go into coma/disappear. There's just no space for a new slayer, without a long period of awkwardness that the fans probably wouldn't have been keen on.

To me it would almost be like having Tara or Anya as a new slayer. It was hard to integrate them into the show and even though both characters are favorites of mine, I get the feeling that a lot of people didn't consider them a real important part of the core scoobies and the show could have gone on without them (which it basically did). Faith was at least established in the show at this point so it wouldn't have been terrible to see her return to Sunnydale as Buffy's replacement.

I just think Buffy was the 'Great Delegator' of the show and a new Slayer would not only be intimidated by the Scoobies vast experience, but she would be insecure in her position and not able to make tough decisions when it came down to things as personal as lets say Magick addicted Willow for example. The rapport in the core scoobies is something that's tough to recreate that late in the show. At least that's my thought on it.
 
An interesting possible development, in my opinion, at least, would have been the possibility of a Faith/Spike relationship. Bad boy meets bad girl, and we'll see just who really would have been ridden at a gallop and popped like warm champagne.
 
With a new Slayer, it could have been great (and still could be). With what probably would have happened and they make Willow the new lead character, ugh, what a boring show. They would have tried to copy Charmed (same way they did with Birds of Prey) and it would have failed miserably.
 
I think it could have worked if they brought Faith back. Faith's a dynamic enough character to carry her own show, even with the cast already assembled by S6. And that would have been a show I would have watched and probably liked.

Introducing a new Slayer I don't think would have worked. Considering the mythology of the Slayer, the new girl would have been significantly younger than most of the cast - more Dawn's age than Willow's. That would have created a divide that I don't think the show would have been able to cope with. We would have been back in high school and much of the older cast might have been pushed to the background, with someone sticking around as a pseudo Watcher, most probably Willow, if Giles stuck with his decision to leave.

I don't think THAT would have been a show I would like. I'd probably watch, though, lol.
 
I think Alyson Hannigan needs to be given more credit. She has proven through her acting abilities on How I Met Your Mother, that she is an incredibly talented actress, and I think given the right script and story, she could have easily carried her own show with Willow being the main character. I do think it would be important to bring other major cast members back. Most specifically, Tara, Spike, and Xander.
 
LindsayH said:
I think Alyson Hannigan needs to be given more credit. She has proven through her acting abilities on How I Met Your Mother, that she is an incredibly talented actress, and I think given the right script and story, she could have easily carried her own show with Willow being the main character. I do think it would be important to bring other major cast members back. Most specifically, Tara, Spike, and Xander.
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I have nothing against AH has an actress - though I'm not a HUGE fan - I just don't like Willow as a character and I don't think I could have forced myself to watch a show where Willow was the lead. I'm sure AH could have pulled it off brilliantly, her acting as Willow was always flawless, it's just not a show I would have been interested in watching, especially considering where Willow was as a character at that point in the show.

Yes, I know that certain things would have had to be changed if there was no Buffy, but Willow's magic addiction - or allusions to it - where already established by S5 and I don't think that that would have gone away without Buffy. In fact, if Willow's spell had failed, I think that would have only made her worse.
 
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