How to make the Buffy sequel series work

The moral case for how the story should go.

Author’s Note: This piece was written before the tragic passing of Michelle Trachtenberg who played Dawn Summers. It felt wrong to remove the mentions of Dawn in the original piece. So I mention this because her character’s inclusion wasn’t written with the intention of recasting the character. Just as a tribute to her.

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This going to be a bit of a departure from what you've seen in this space previously. Namely because it felt necessary to do it this way. Buffy was very formative for me in my journey as a person. So to hear about the potential for a revival of some kind really means something to me and it felt right to explore this idea in depth. I started writing this in my head back in 2018 when the first discussions of a revival were put forward. I’ve been working it through on and off since then. Now things are different but the overall premise stays the same. Let's see how it goes.

Joss Whedon used to say that Buffy was about growing up, Angel was about being an adult, and Firefly was about work. Which is something you can obviously see when you watch it. The journey Buffy goes through is long and hard and provides all kinds of important lessons about people along the way. Things that teenagers need to learn in order to become adults and be functional. Obviously this is very difficult to do and the show reflected that.

Similarly, Angel was about being an adult. In the very first episode, Doyle says to Angel that “high school's over” and that it's time to act like a grown up. He has to learn things like what it means to have a job and make money so he and the people around him can buy what they need. Such as an apartment and be able to afford to buy food. He has to learn about owning property and working within the system other adults have already set up. Much of which is broken and ends up hurting people.

So that's where we need to start with making a revival, sequel or reboot work.

Buffy was about growing up, namely what it means to go from being a teenager to an adult. Angel was about being an adult and what it takes to live in the world as one. Yet both of them didn't necessarily look at part of being an adult fully, namely the idea of having children. Obviously, Buffy went through some of it when she had to take care of Dawn, and Angel went through a similar experience with Connor. One of the biggest aspects that didn't get explored is what it means to send your child out into the world and have to handle the problems that exist.

When Buffy was first put together, it was about inverting the concept of the blonde victim of a horror movie. So the obvious thing to do when looking at the reboot/revival/sequel series is to invert the premise of Buffy itself. In order to do that, we have to switch Buffy's perspective on the world, namely the idea that she grew up with people around her telling her what to do. Therefore, what happens when she's the one who is telling other people what to do? What happens when Buffy is put in the situation Joyce was early on? Instead of Buffy being the young teenager who only wants to be normal, now she's the one putting it on someone else, namely... her daughter.

I can hear all the fans reacting to this now. A Buffy show has to be about Buffy. It can't be about her daughter because that's not the important part. Especially because Buffy wouldn't necessarily call her child Buffy as well. So that doesn't make sense. But remember, this is about inverting what came before as mentioned above. We've already seen Buffy's journey and we don't want to play with that. Leave it as is. The dynamic at the beginning of the show was Buffy is a teenager growing up and she has to deal with her mom and Giles and adults who don't understand her and the things she wants. Not to mention being at the mercy of supernatural forces coming to Sunnydale.

Sunnydale is gone and we shouldn't bring it back. We've seen how that works out for Buffy when people bring her back. It doesn't really go well. So instead we put her on the other side of the journey about growing up. Before she was the teenager who didn't understand her parents or her parents didn't understand her. So instead we make her into Joyce. She's become her mother in a lot of ways and now has to deal with a young daughter who is growing up... and about to become a slayer herself. Her daughter is coming up on the age Buffy was when she was called to be a slayer. Which naturally makes Buffy very nervous and concerned about what might be in the future for her daughter.

Buffy's daughter on the other hand is very excited at the idea of becoming a slayer. She's been told stories of her mother since she was a little girl. By her Aunts Dawn and Willow, Uncle Xander and Grandpa Giles. Despite Buffy's reservations, they've been all too happy to tell tales of what Buffy went through before her daughter was born. Maybe editing out a few things because of how young she is. In part to prepare her for the potential of becoming a slayer herself. Which is where Buffy's struggle comes from. Knowing what she does about being a slayer and how much of a responsibility that it puts on their shoulders, she's concerned about having to put her daughter through that.

So the story is about Buffy's struggle to come to terms with her daughter's destiny and keep her from making the same mistakes she did in the original seven seasons of Buffy. Yet in doing so, she causes problems and tensions between her and her daughter. Making it in part the daughter's story as well, showing her going through something similar to what Buffy did but with her mother knowing about slayers and demons and vampires from the beginning unlike Joyce.

This is something that Sarah herself understands given that she's had kids and probably had or is having similar struggles with them. Which means it plays into Sarah's personal knowledge which is a big part of being able to play it as an actor. She can bring her own knowledge and experience to it and inform the story herself through being a producer.

How do we get from where she was at the end of the show and probably the comics to there?

Also, just to address the elephant in the room of bringing up the comics, here’s how to do that. The comics pick up not long after the end of the show. That was in 2003. So if you want to leave the comics as canon within the lore of the sequel series, you say everything in the comics happened a decade or two ago. The world is a very different place. So you don’t have to make the comics central to the sequel series but it can get occasional mentions. But let’s continue.

In Buffy versus Dracula, he mentions that he came to Sunnydale to meet Buffy because her legend had become known in the supernatural community. Not just the slayer, but Buffy herself. Many other people also commented on Buffy's status as a legend. So you just carry that forward.

Buffy's reputation has only grown since what happened to Sunnydale and things which happened after in the comics. At some point between then and the beginning of where we pick up, Buffy has done so much that she's not really needed anymore. She's trained the slayers who she activated at the end of season 7. They have been lead by her into battle after battle, pushing back evil repeatedly and making the world safe for humanity. She's grown and realized that... she's become cookies.

She felt like she's done everything she's needed to and passed down the torch to the next generation. Now retired and become cookies, she met a guy and settled down. Having her daughter. You can include him in the story if you want. There's something interesting about inverting that part of Buffy's journey as well. Buffy had an absentee parent in her father and so to have him around would be an interesting dynamic. Maybe Buffy is reluctant but her daughter's father is more encouraging. Largely because he accepts Buffy for who she is and wants the same for their daughter.

It would be pretty dramatic to show that dynamic. However, you could have him gone as well. Or you can go about it a different way, but we'll get to that later.

Again, just to address another elephant in the room, the father of Buffy’s daughter shouldn’t be Angel or Spike or anyone we’ve met within either show or the comics. You create a completely new character who doesn’t become a touchy subject for Bangel or Spuffy shippers. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have it said that both Angel and Spike have met this guy and approve of him for Buffy. Maybe even throw Riley’s endorsement in for good measure. Part of the point of the Angel episode “The Girl in Question” was to say that it’s time to move on from such things. So lets do that.

Yes, I’m aware that in the comics supposedly the person dating The Immortal wasn’t actually Buffy. That it was some kind of decoy. But this doesn’t matter for the purposes of the message of the episode. The point is to move on. Speaking of which:

When she retired, people continued her legend. To the point where if a slayer goes out on patrol with a team, the head slayer is given the title of Buffy. It becomes the slayer equivalent of calling someone General or Commander. That way you can name Buffy's daughter whatever you want but she takes on the mantle of her mother when she's on patrol. She in effect becomes her mother. Which also creates another interesting dynamic to play with.

Buffy activated a whole bunch of slayers at the end of season 7 and that continued in the comics. So her daughter isn't going through it alone. She actually has to compete with other slayers for position within the slayer organization. Naturally, as Buffy's daughter she becomes the obvious choice for taking on Buffy's mantle. This is something that the other slayers in training resent about her and look to use her for their own purposes. By finding ways to beat Buffy's daughter at training or to humiliate her in the way teenagers like to do, they gain a reputation among their fellow trainees. She becomes a target.

You also create a certain amount of mother daughter drama between Buffy and her daughter as Buffy tries to help her daughter through it. The more Buffy does the more resentful the other slayers in training become towards her daughter. Which is something Buffy struggles to come to terms with. She also has to fight the dynamic her reputation gives her. She's the one who created the organization her daughter is going through. Many of the people who run the organization owe her everything. Many of them would want to give Buffy's daughter better treatment so as not to upset the legendary Buffy.

This version of the story would naturally require Sarah Michelle Gellar to return to the role. However, she may not want to or at the very least she may not want to commit long term to becoming Buffy again. So you have to account for that as a possibility. To do that, you build in the idea of going the Jessie, Tara or even Joyce route with Buffy's character.

Assuming the above story works out and Sarah returns, you can write her out of the story by having her sacrifice herself for her daughter. Buffy has a habit of sacrificing herself for those she loves and that makes it consistent with her character to do it again. She also has a habit of rising from the dead so even if you do write her out, there are ways to bring her back if necessary.

However, assuming that she doesn't want to come back or wishes only to play a minor role, there is a way to make that work too. Given Buffy's previously mentioned habit for sacrificing herself, Buffy can be written out of the story by having her sacrifice herself at the beginning of the story. Or before it if Sarah doesn't come back. You can still have the story outlined above regarding Buffy's daughter going to slayer training, but without having Buffy involved directly. She's still the daughter of THE Buffy Summers and still has to deal with all the above problems.

You can tie it into the original Buffy by having some of the other actors come back for an episode or two but without making them commit long term if they don't want to. Here's how you find a way to integrate them into the story.

Xander has been beaten down by fighting vampires and is now crippled. Similar to his future vision in Hell's Bells that the demon tricked him with. Though with a somewhat more positive outcome if you allow for what happens in the comics. He's relatively happy except for his injuries. That way you can bring him in for episodes involving injuries and trauma.

Faith has started a halfway house for girls who get on the wrong side of the law. During Angel’s time at Wolfram and Hart, he used his power to clean up Faith’s past legally speaking. She's learned from her experiences and what she's been through. She's decided to give back and help those who might need it. Obviously being a similar vein to what Buffy might do for herself but from Faith's own unique experience. She can be brought in to investigate potential problems with slayers who are coming up.

Willow has started a magical addiction clinic helping young witches who get addicted to magic. She's keeping fellow witches on the right track. Any magical issues that are too big for the resident witches of the slayers in training get bumped up to her and those she mentors.

Dawn has become the CEO of an alarm company for the supernatural. Given the absolutely terrible security from Sunnydale, she decided to find a way to protect humans from the supernatural which they're more aware of thanks to the comics. She also helps with any security issues that slayers are dealing with. You can call it “Turn Key”.

Giles is retired and just enjoying himself as a librarian. Though it's not as easy given the way technology has advanced and what's available online. His main focus is on making sure that there's a written record for things which might be manipulated by the internet. He can be brought in for issues around demons who are so old that they don't have an internet record.

Angel and Spike have both been Shanshu'd and are now human. In order to save the world many years ago, they had to make a deal to share the prophecy. It defeated the demon but left them human permanently. Though it's somewhat unclear if this was actually their fate all along or simply a deal they made. Buffy can bring them back for a particularly important mission requiring the help of humans to infiltrate vampire issues. They can also become vampires again to save Buffy's daughter.

This is where having a father in the picture for Buffy's daughter becomes a potential benefit. Not only for the idea of the family drama it would create between them, but also for the scenario where Buffy might not be involved or is written out. You still need Buffy's daughter to have a parental figure around and we've already seen a mother daughter scenario play out between Buffy and Joyce. Again, you invert the expectations and have Buffy's daughter dealing with a father and not having a mother. It also presents an opportunity for a female Watcher who we didn't see much of in the original. Gwendolyn Post was not a great example and the others from Checkpoint weren't the best either.

All of this can really reinforce so many of the themes that Buffy pioneered while flipping them on their heads and doing something new. Which is what Buffy is known for and can continue through a revival of the series if one should eventually come about.

That's at least my take anyway of how to make it philosophically consistent with the original.