Spoiler! The World Knows

chasesummers

chasesummers

Cordy Lives
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Messages
338
So I'm almost done reading S9 Buffy (still got Angel&Faith to cover) and I must say I'm impressed how things are going, S9 could have been a sick season on TV.

The biggest progress here I feel is the world knowing about the vampires/zompires and the slayers. At first it felt wrong because occult should remain occult and don't get me wrong, I still feel the same way but the world of Buffy is more on the physical and people tend to die because of these beings so it's only natural for them to know at least a little about what they are dealing with.

Thing I hate is people turn it into a trend, like it happened on Angel After The Fall and S8 Harmony.

When Buffy was out slaying, her zompire was staked by the police and she felt it was like they are invading her territory (her slay ground), you could see she was a little pissed but when she talked to Dowling (doweling? right?) he told Buffy that it was thanks to herself and Spike that he could teach the police to handle these situations and that she cannot always protect the city, let alone the world, this made Buffy smile, it kinda gives you a hint on Buffy's future, it also makes her look like the boss on the subject lol.

S9 really brough Buffy out, the previous season was so out of place and so out of character it stopped me from continuing the series on comic before.

How do you feel about the world becoming more aware of these?
 
What sort of made the Buffyverse unrealistic to me was that people were not aware of what was going on. Sunnydale, with a population of 38,500, saw several people per day disappearing and turning up dead with symptoms of vampire bites and everyone was oblivious. Even Mr. Trick noted the complete disconnect from reality in "Faith, Hope and Trick 3ABB03":

MR. TRICK:
"Sunnydale. Town's got quaint, and the people: he called me sir, don't you miss that? Admittedly, not a haven for the brothers -- strictly the Caucasian persuasion in the Dale -- but you gotta stand up and salute their death rate. I ran a statistical analysis and Hello Darkness -- Makes D.C. look like Mayberry. And nobody sayin' boo about it. We could fit right in here. Have some fun."

The fact that the world (or the town) did not know anything about what was happening all around them seems more jarring than having everyone find out. Only in "The Prom 3ABB20" was any notice taken of the fact that the death rate at Sunnydale High was the lowest ever, so people were aware of the death rate, just remarkably unconcerned about it.
 
Mixed feelings - basically, the way Buffy and her friends operate doesn't change at all and there are no world-building benefits either ( at least I don't see them ) so what's the point? Also, it makes our heroes kinda obsolete - governments will respond - create special forces, train occult specialists, enact new laws ( mandatory cremation of corpses could easily solve the vampire problem for example ) and whatnot. At this point Scoobies should be raking millions in consulting. Yeah, I think that it causes more problems than it solves.
 
Ethan Reigns said:
What sort of made the Buffyverse unrealistic to me was that people were not aware of what was going on. Sunnydale, with a population of 38,500, saw several people per day disappearing and turning up dead with symptoms of vampire bites and everyone was oblivious. Even Mr. Trick noted the complete disconnect from reality in "Faith, Hope and Trick 3ABB03":
Click to expand...

But people actually did know about demons and vampires, at least some people did. Gunn had his gang in LA, and another one was mentioned as being in Miami. There was the Initiative, and the Army unit that Riley left Sunnydale to rejoin. The Watchers, of course, and the Catholic Church supported at least one team of demon fighters. If there were those, certainly there were others, and throughout history, there have been reports of vampires and demons throughout the world. People everywhere knew the truth, but there were also enough nay sayers to cause doubt in the things that go bump in the night. As is human nature everywhere, the general population simply refused to acknowledge the truth until it bit them on the neck.
 
I may be wrong but I think the most hidden thing was the slayers, not the vampire/entity activities, however everybody knows who and what slayers are now, in a media-influenced-kind-of-way
 
I don't like it to be honest.

Maybe it's just me, but I would like for the Buffy series to return to the small town action it once was. It's kind of like Supernatural, I liked it when they were just traveling from state to state taking on the local legends. I thought it went to bits when all the big players started to show up and it became more widespread.
 
Yeah I felt that way at first but seeing how Buffy already went through a lot, I believe it's good for people to be aware and a good opportunity for Buffy to have a simpler life.
 
I think the reason the series brought vampire/zompires into the open is so that Buffy could move onto new plots. Otherwise, we might be asking why she's flying around on Spike's bug ship, worrying about Dawn, and going off to The Deeper Well, when hello, zompires are overrunning civilization. This way, someone else can deal with them.
 
Ethan Reigns said:
What sort of made the Buffyverse unrealistic to me was that people were not aware of what was going on. Sunnydale, with a population of 38,500, saw several people per day disappearing and turning up dead with symptoms of vampire bites and everyone was oblivious. Even Mr. Trick noted the complete disconnect from reality in "Faith, Hope and Trick 3ABB03":

MR. TRICK:
"Sunnydale. Town's got quaint, and the people: he called me sir, don't you miss that? Admittedly, not a haven for the brothers -- strictly the Caucasian persuasion in the Dale -- but you gotta stand up and salute their death rate. I ran a statistical analysis and Hello Darkness -- Makes D.C. look like Mayberry. And nobody sayin' boo about it. We could fit right in here. Have some fun."

The fact that the world (or the town) did not know anything about what was happening all around them seems more jarring than having everyone find out. Only in "The Prom 3ABB20" was any notice taken of the fact that the death rate at Sunnydale High was the lowest ever, so people were aware of the death rate, just remarkably unconcerned about it.
Click to expand...


It's important to remember that you had an active cover-up by pretty much everyone in authority, from the Mayor, to the police chief, to even the school principal (Snyder).

From the second season episode "School Hard"

Chief: I need to say something to the media people.
Snyder: So?
Chief: So? You want the usual story? Gang-related? PCP?
Snyder: What'd you have in mind? The truth?
Chief: Right. Gang-related. PCP.

I suspect a few others were in on it as well (probably the Medical Examiner for example).

Admittedly the death rate should have turned Sunnydale into a ghost town.

"Class of 99 has the lowest death rate of any class ever". Given what we saw that implies something really scary about other years.
 
In the earliest episode where we see the Sunnydale sign, it says "population 38,500" and the last time we see it, it says "population 32,000". With what the bank manager had said about Sunnydale prices being depressed compared to the rest of the state, not many Sunnydale homeowners would have the finances to go elsewhere, so most of these 6500 missing people have to be deaths.
 
Ethan Reigns said:
so most of these 6500 missing people have to be deaths.
Click to expand...
In 2019 California had an average (natural) death rate of almost 602 per capita (only Hawaii is lower. Don't move to West Virginia or Mississippi 😵 ). Pro rata I make that 231.77 (call it 232). 232 x 7 = 1624 so 4876 missing people. Does that sound about right? I suppose some people would cut their loses and move; some students would go to uni and not come back etc. but even so I think a big chunk would be surplus deaths.
 
Shouldn't forget births too , but we also have to factor in a much higher than average sacrifice rate . 😛 Also Sunnydale was a happening destination for evil startups , bringing in the much needed evil dollars .

I do agree with the OP that the shift bringing the shadowy world of the Slayerverse into the mainstream does 'feel wrong' . I think it kinda undermines a big part of the dramatic tension that made the shows work . I liked the whole vibe of the 'normal world' with this 'demon realm' bubbling up from just beneath the surface . Good and evil fighting to the death in the shadow of a busy freeway .
 
TriBel said:
I didn't forget births. I thought about them; sighed; told myself I needed a life and deliberately ignored them as a point of principle. 😄
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Well as long as you've got your principles I don't see why you should do anything so drastic as to get a life. Just keep discussing decades-old television shows with the rest of us until we all die of old age
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