Things That Almost Happened, But Didn't

[Mr Trick]

Thankfully I doubt they would have allowed Xander to give into Glory's demands in "Weight of the World" and betray Dawn the way Ben did in that episode. He would have gone out on a high note, and maybe assisted Giles by holding Glory back long enough to kill him. I would have preferred Xander die in this scenario no matter how depressing it might be. It has way more of an edge to it than miraculously splitting Xander and Glory at the last minute, and would give Giles and the Scoobies too easy a way out.

I'm more skeptical about Xander having Wes's storyline being legit. Would Xander have been moved over to AtS following "the Gift"? Would the shows become more crossover heavy, with Connor being the miracle baby of Angel/Buffy instead of Angel/Darla (which, even for my shipping preferences, is way too fanfic)? Either way, the mental image of Angel trying to smother Xander in a hospital bed is kind of awesome.

I don't know why but for some reason I just can't see Xander as a character on Angel besides like in a one off episode. I did enjoy the banter between Xander and Angel on Buffy, but to me that just seems like a subplot, and since Buffy isn't on Angel its not like there would have been a lot to build on with that. I think Wes was the perfect choice.

 

[omnimercurial]

I don't think Xander as a "Rogue Demon Hunter"/Proto Wesley was intended to be a Ats Regular but a rentroduction to Xander post Road Trip before returning to Sunnydale.

Xander as that Character may have made further Guest Appearances but there was still room for a Watcher/Researcher Role/Character if Wes as an Ats regular was introduced as well.

That "Rogue Demon Hunter" Introduction scene with the Motorcycle where he tries to be "Cool" before we see he really is still Xander with all his Silliness despite trying hard is so much a Xander moment that I can believe the Premise even if what we got was different in Ats and BTVS.

 

[Silverspike]

Imo Xander was never seriously considered as an 'add on' to AtS, as by then poor old Nicks drinking problems would have already been evident and so I don't think they'd wanted to deal with those extra issues so to speak.

 

[Fuffy]

"Bad Girls" was to have ended on a much darker note: After Faith's loose-cannon approach to slaying took an unexpected turn with her killing the Deputy Mayor, Buffy would have discovered a guilt-ridden Faith as having hanged herself.

I didn't realize how much I love Faith until AtS season 4/BtVS season 7, so killing her off that early wouldn't have has as much as an effect on me as Tara's death had.
Since this is sad, does anybody have tissues ?

Spike was supposed to die at the end of "What's My Line, Part 2"

I thought so too, until a relative of mine told me that they were planning on killing him off in "School Hard".
Now I'm just confused (but 90% sure that I'm right 😛)

 

[Samuel Reyes]

I didn't realize how much I love Faith until AtS season 4/BtVS season 7, so killing her off that early wouldn't have has as much as an effect on me as Tara's death had.
Since this is sad, does anybody have tissues ?


I thought so too, until a relative of mine told me that they were planning on killing him off in "School Hard".
Now I'm just confused (but 90% sure that I'm right 😛)

Regarding the original plan for Spike, James Marsters had this to say:
"... I remember doing those first five episodes and, it must have been episode three, and Joss (Whedon) almost physically pushing me up against a wall and saying, “I don’t care how popular you are; you are going to die, die, die.” He made it very clear he did not want the show to be taken over by another romantic vampire. He was not enamored with vampires and that’s putting it mildly... To Joss, vampires were supposed to be ugly, evil, and quick to be killed. He got talked into one romantic vampire by his writing partner David Greenwalt and that was Angel. Of course Angel took off like a rocket and when I was cast Joss did not imagine me to be popular; Spike was supposed to be dirty and evil, punk rock, and then dead. Things started to turn out differently and I think Joss was passionate that I would not corrupt his theme, which was basically trying to find a metaphor for all of the problems you encounter during adolescence. Vampires stood in for those problems and I think I endangered that theme by being popular. He did not want people to like me at all... At first I was supposed to die in 5 episodes and then the decided to keep me around for 10, but at the end of 10 that was it; I was gone and there was no plan to bring me back at all. It was only when they spun off Angel into a series and lost their Cordelia, which was the character who told Buffy she was stupid and about to die, that they needed someone to tell Buffy she was stupid and about to die, and they decided to bring me back..."

So basically Spike was always intended to live past 'School Hard', but only up until 'What's My Line'. Got saved by the fans that time, Spike.

Speaking from a certain perspective Spike ended up being "The Fonzie" of the show, which is someone intended as a minor character who eventually becomes one of the main characters, and as identifiable with their show as the protagonist. All kind of wacky when you realize Spike wasn't supposed to last at all; puts a spin on his reunion with Angel in 'School Hard' in that they were never intended as the infamous century-old rivals they turned out to be. And that never in a million years did Joss plan for Spike and Buffy to become lovers.

Full article here: http://411mania.com/movies/411mania-interviews-james-marsters-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-angel/

 

[omnimercurial]

Interesting.

Have no clue why Joss allowed the Buffy x Spike Ship later on then.
A stay of execution is one thing.... But Spuffy?!

Had Joss really ceded that much creative control at that stage?
Or did he just no longer give a damn?

 

[Samuel Reyes]

Interesting.

Have no clue why Joss allowed the Buffy x Spike Ship later on then.
A stay of execution is one thing.... But Spuffy?!

Had Joss really ceded that much creative control at that stage?
Or did he just no longer give a damn?

It probably got to the point where he just decided to stop trying to kill him off and add him to the main cast instead. Plus I'll bet the writers were having a field day with the character, so Spike never went anywhere, and after Season 5 when Spuffy officially began, it was out of their hands -- "If Spike dies, we riot."

Joss couldn't resist killing off Spike in the series finale -- the reason he was resurrected on Angel, I believe, was a combination of James Marsters continuing to want to play the character, an agreement that Spike and Angel had enough chemistry to make Season 5 interesting following Cordelia's departure, and that (this one's a maybe) the intended Faith/Spike spin-off set up in "Dirty Girls" didn't go anywhere.

 

[laianna]

Interesting.

Have no clue why Joss allowed the Buffy x Spike Ship later on then.
A stay of execution is one thing.... But Spuffy?!

Had Joss really ceded that much creative control at that stage?
Or did he just no longer give a damn?

Well even Spuffy took forever to finally happen... There was super chemistry between Buffy and Spike from the beginning, but she didn't even consider him until Once More With Feeling, right? That was the first time she ever gave into that... Over 100 episodes in. I think that was put off as long as it possibly could be... And even when it happened it was meant to be viewed negatively, as it represented Buffy's depression. I can see how Spike as a character was not supposed to be liked... However James Marsters just brought so much to that role.