Wendy's Spoiler Zone

When "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" moves from the WB to UPN in the fall, one cast member won't be moving with it. Not exactly, anyway. Anthony Stewart Head, who has played Giles – Buffy's "watcher" – since the show premiered five seasons ago, will not be a regular during the upcoming season, but he and his character will be recurring. Creator/executive producer Joss Whedon said Head will appear in more than half the episodes. And he said the timing works for the show. "It's a time in (the younger characters') lives when the mentor needs to step back. And it's a time in his life when he needs to go to England and live with his family. So it works out well. And he'll be a big presence in the show," he said. "He won't be in the opening titles because we want to make that statement – that it's a new stage in their lives. "And the point of this season is that these kids are now entering the grown-up world. And, of course, they will handle it just as badly as possible. But they don't really need or don't really know how to relate to a mentor figure. He was the grown-up on the show. They're now sort of becoming grown-ups. So I not only want him to step down, I want that void. Buffy doesn't need somebody to tell her what to do. She needs to figure it out on her own."

DE-RATTING? He's made similar promises before, but Whedon absolutely, positively promises that Amy – the witch who was turned into a rat several seasons ago and, with the exception of one brief moment, has been a rat ever since – will become human again during the upcoming season of "Buffy." "Amy is going to get de-ratted. As God is my witness, I will de-rat that woman this year for sure. I feel so bad," he said with mock remorse.

Posted by slayerhorrorgirl on jamesmarsters.com on 8/30/01

In this month's Teen People

Buffy the vampire slayer: Exhale-Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar) will be back. "Death is not the largest obstacle in Buffy's world." says executive producer Marti Noxon. As for the rest of the Scooby Gang, they'll experience growing pains: Willow(Alyson Hannigan) and Tara (Amber Benson) help play mommy to Dawn(Michelle Trachtenberg), who is in adolescent hell, while Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Anya (Emma Caulfield) take steps toward wedding bliss. Watch for more Spike (James Marsters),whose love for Buffy won't die as easily as she did; less Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and a foe who's not so otherwordly as last year's freaky demigod, Glory. Set your VCR's. The sixth episode is an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza.

Posted by Steve DeKnight on the Bronze on 8-26-01

http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~hsiao/media/tv/buffy/bronze/

valMichael: We're shooting ep 4 right now (big Doug Petrie's directorial debut!!!) I'm currently working on getting the Halloween ep ready to go.

Cashmere: There will be much Spike rejoicing for you this season. That's all I'm saying.

Kevin UK: I'll be doing at least two eps, plus some animated shows and hopefully some comic book work.

@lex H: Not sure how many eps Tony's going to do. But you'll get some sweet Giles action before he dies -- uh, goes away.

Thoin: I'm even more excited about this season than when we started. It's going to really be one to remember. I'm honored to be a part of it. What soul? Things are looking good for a little Xander action. I could use some newshirts myself. I keep bursting out of mine. Argggh! Steve smash!

Posted by Drew Greenberg on the Bronze on 8-26-01

Evalie, we are about to start the machinery for my episode, so it's getting really close.

Christopher Marlowe: What's this about DeKnight and his strong arms?? And, no, Episode 8 is the Lovlier-and-More-Talented-With-Every-Passing-Day Rebecca Kirshner, I'll be doing Episode 9.

Posted by Wanda on E!Online on 8-27-01

http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Wanda/Trans/Archive2001/010827b.html

From Sarah: I just read a script for episode one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the Net. It says that Faith takes over for Buffy and becomes some sort of demon. It also shows Buffy and Glory talking in another realm. Then it shows Buffy returning in the end. Can you tell me whether or not this is one of Joss' evil tricks?

Wrong-o. The only one taking over for Buffy in the first episode is Sarah Michelle Gellar herself--as Buffy Bot. The Scoobies use her to keep up the ruse that Buffy's still alive, but by the end of the first episode, a big baddie figures it out and short-circuits the plan.

From bittywillow721: I need to know! Will Spike be singing to Buffy in the musical episode?

Yep. All the major characters lend their vocals.

From Elizabeth: What are the odds of these pairs becoming couples: Lorelai/Luke, Buffy/Spike, Angel/Cordelia?

By the end of the season, I'd say: 70/30, 60/40, 40/60.

Posted by Steve DeKnight on the Bronze on 8-31-01

Tiggy: Tep. They're finishing ep. 4 today. Hey, you knocking Undressed? Knock harder, girl! Knock harder!

OldMan Fan: Halloween ep going great. Two words on the costumes: wooden shoes.

(When asked if the title of his episode is "Asylum")

Wendy: Who gave that away?! Argghh! Steve smash!

Posted by Bob on the Kitten board on 8-31-01

The eidc shoot sheet lists the following new Buffy location shoot:

quote:

9/5/01 - 9/6/01

06:00 - 20:00

TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX TELEVISION

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

12000 FOOTHILL BL

There are two 12000 Foothill Boulevard addresses in the greater Los Angeles area. Of those two,the one more likely to be used for the Buffy shoot is in Sylmar.

Posted by Bob on 9-1-01

Okay, I drove out to Sylmar this afternoon, trying to see where this week's location shoot is going to be. I'm not 100% sure, because I didn't actually see a street address saying 12000 Foothill Boulevard, but I'm 99% sure I found the spot.

It's a construction site. They're putting up apartments or condos or something. There are three main buildings arranged in a "U" shape with an open court that leads back out onto the street. Any spectators will obviously be kept at the fence along Foothill Boulevard, but unless they put trucks in the way there should be a clear (if distant) view of what's going on.

Could this be the scene we've heard about where Buffy tries working construction with Xander? Only a few more days until we find out.

Posted on Zap2It on 9-4-01

http://tv.zap2it.com/shows/features/features.html?20327

For the first time, Julie Benz (Darla) is listed as a recurring character in The WB press notes for "Angel." You can also look for Julie Benz in the upcoming Steven Speilberg mini-series "Taken" on the Sci-Fi network.

The official WB press notes say that Angel will spend the season dealing with his "growing yet unrequited feelings for Cordelia" and that Fred (the new character played by Amy Acker) will "attract the eye of both Wesley and Gunn." I'm not sure how I feel about all of this. First of all, the quartet on "Angel" had formed a makeshift family with Angel and Cordelia adopting an almost father/daughter relationship. But if I've learned anything during my years as a television columnist it's this -- always trust Joss.

Excerpted from Entertainment Weekly 9-7-01

The witching hour is drawing nigh on this August evening in the fields of L.A.’s fabled Griffith Park. A full moon shines brightly, the brisk air is deadly still

— it’s absolutely perfect weather for a resurrection. At the foot of a neatly tended grave kneels the winsome sorceress Willow, her cheeks daubed with blood.

Flanking her with burning black candles are her buddies: witchy girlfriend Tara, bitchy demoness Anya, and twitchy normal guy Xander. Willow invokes the

dread power of the dark deity Osiris. Her body convulses with black magic. Her anxious pals watch with I-just-peed-my-pants terror. And there’s something

moving in the bushes…

Out pops Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But there’s something slightly off about her. The eyes are cold. The emotions a tad forced. The movements almost mechanical. And just as you begin to wonder if Willow’s spell has gone wildly zombie-wrong, demons on motorcycles come roaring in, the gang scatters, and Buffy screams, "Willow! I need service!"

Drat, they fooled us again: That isn’t Buffy at all, it’s her android counterpart, Buffybot, which in the drama’s two-hour season premiere (airing October 2) attempts to substitute for its presently deceased doppleganger. When the Slayer was last seen, she had sacrificed her life to save her teenage sister Dawn from being killed by a universe-annihilating goddess named Glory. So will the real Buffy stand up again? Please. "I hear that I will be on the show in some form this year," says Sarah Michelle Gellar during a break in shooting, a prosthesis of wiry Buffybot entrails visible under her demon-shredded blouse. "But I can’t tell you anything. Sorry."

Still, look for Whedon to swing for the fences again with an episode he’s spent all summer toiling on: a musical — scheduled to air in November — which will crystallize the season’s major plotlines. This year’s big theme, says Whedon, will be "Oh, grow up!" That encompasses Buffy’s transition back to the mortal coil, which won’t be easy (Gellar’s opening number in the musical: "Going Through the Motions"), and Xander and Anya’s walk to the altar. As for other future plotlines, they’re being kept completely hush-hush, including who this year’s bad guy will be. But what’s this we hear about Willow being tempted to the dark side? And a possible pruning of the cast? "With Buffy, you just never know," says Amber Benson (Tara). "You’re always scared here. But it’s always what’s best for the show." There is one casualty that we can report: Toodle-oo to Anthony Stewart Head, who plays the Slayer’s tweedy British mentor, Giles. After spending the last five years working in Los Angeles while his girlfriend and their two daughters lived in England, Head finally grew weary of "missing them all horribly." Fittingly, Head (who promises to make occasional appearances on Buffy) exchanged his Cartier for a woman’s size and gave it to his significant other: "I thought it was the very, very least I could do."

Posted by Hercules on AICN on 9-5-01

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=3D10063

Spike’s New Ride

In the Oct. 2 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" season premiere, Spike, in a highly dramatic and entertaining fashion, will impulsively acquire a motorcycle from a demon biker who has just invaded a slayerless Sunnydale with his gang. It’s now clear that Spike will come to like the bike enough to use it throughout season six as his new regular mode of transport.

Spike’s Other New Ride

When Coax revealed back on July 4 that Spike and Buffy would become more than friends by Thanksgiving, some claiming to be insiders insisted the pair would kiss only twice this season. We now understandthat Spike and Buffy will kiss more than twice, and — to the rest of the Scooby Gang’s horror — go way way way beyond tongue wrestling.

From TV Guide 9-8-01

"The physical separation from Buffy becomes a spiritual separation from her as well, as Angel gets on with his life and goes on to bigger and badder adventures," says executive producer David Greenwalt. Still, Greenwalt admits he has "the jitters of a child when his parents get divorced."

Join me in the Crypt of Decryption:

Hello everyone! This week I've added episode summaries in which I collect all the info I know about each of the upcoming episodes. Some of this info comes from sources I can't name. I apologize for that. I hope I've built some credibility among you all so that you know I have carefully considered whether these might be accurate.

In episode/title news, Drew Greenberg tells us that Rebecca Kirshner is writing Episode 8, but that still leaves the mystery of who wrote Episode 5, which is shooting this week. BAPSters who are familiar with some of the Buffy/Spike scenes in the episode suspect David Fury wrote it.

Bob of the Kitten Board confirms spoilers indicating that part of Episode 5 will be filmed at a construction site. Entertainment Weekly confirms Hercules' original spoilers of Willow resurrecting Buffy with a spell involving Osiris as well as the return of the BuffyBot. All of Hercules' spoilers in his July 4 column have thus far been proven true, with some small exceptions.

In casting news, the Entertainment Weekly article also alludes to a potential "pruning of the cast"--perhaps a nod to continuing rumors that Anya will leave this season, though I suspect Tara is a more likely target. In addition, Joss says that Anthony Stewart Head will be appearing in more than half the episodes this season, though he will not be appearing in the opening credits.

An intriguing development has been the spoilers for AtS that have circulated. TV Gal from Zap2It.com claims that Angel will have unrequited love for Cordelia. Meanwhile, David Greenwalt tells TV Guide that Buffy and Angel's separation will become spiritual as well as physical. This all bodes very well for Spike, as does Steve DeKnight's comment that Spike fans will have reason for rejoicing this season. And Herc's claim that Spike and Buffy will "go way way way beyond tongue wrestling" this season is also exciting.

Another tidbit about the eagerly awaited musical episode was also dropped in the informative Entertainment Weekly article: Buffy's first song in the musical is titled "Going Through the Motions." This fits in with the sense of malaise that characterizes her role in the first 5 episodes for which we have seen information.

Scheduled writers and episode titles:

Sources: Jane Espenson and Drew Z. Greenberg (BtVS writers) at Succubus Club ( http://www.geocities.com/succubusclub/archives/interviews/JE010523.html) and Steve DeKnight and Drew Z. Greenberg at the Bronze. Also comments by Jane Espenson at the San Diego ComicCon 2001, posted on the Kitten Board.

Ep #1 Marti Noxon (Part 1 of premiere)
Title: Bargaining Part 1

Ep #2 David Fury (Part 2 of premiere)
Title: Bargaining Part 2

Ep #3 Jane Espenson
Title: After Life

Ep #4 Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie (directed by Petrie) Updated 8-26-01
Title: Flooded

Ep #5 No Writer Announced
Title: Life Serial

Ep #6 Steve DeKnight
Title: All the Way Unconfirmed 8-31-01

Ep #7 Joss Whedon (musical episode)

Ep #8 Rebecca Rand KirshnerUpdated 8-26-01

Ep #9 Drew Z. Greenberg

Do you want to:

Correct me? Yell at me? Praise me? Send me spoilers or inside info?

E-mail me at ww1614@yahoo.com

Top
Back to Spoiler Zone Home