DVD
Review | Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Season 3) Written by:Kage
Alan
Yeah, yeah, I’m still catching up because I never
watched the show on television as it aired. That’s the beauty of DVD,
though. I don’t have to watch it on TV and deal with commercials.
Ha! Right. Enough of that. After Season 1, I was hooked. After
Season 2, I became a fanatic and couldn’t wait for Season 3. I mean,
Angel turned evil and got sent to hell, Willow was becoming a witch,
Xander and Cordelia had come together and broken up and Oz was a
werewolf, so the series had tons of stories to explore! Can you tell
I was excited?
Season 3 starts off on a somber note with Buffy
(Sarah Michelle Gellar) off somewhere away from everybody else and
feeling quite sorry for herself. After battling some evil creatures
there, she heads back to Sunnydale and begins her final year of high
school, which doesn’t turn out to be as easy as slaying a vampire. Not
only does a new slayer appear, Faith (Eliza Dushku, “Bring It On”), but
so do plenty of sharp fanged ones, a haunted mask, candy that turns the
adults into teenagers (mentally that is), a reborn Angel (David Boreanaz),
another mystical figure, Anya, another couple of Watchers and, of
course, what the mayor turns into during his ascension in the season
finale.
I’m not sure why, but Season 3 seemed to be much
darker to me than the previous two and I found myself wanting to go back
to the way things were. The relationship between Buffy and Faith was
such a brutal one and there was so much conflict between some of the
other characters that sometimes all the fun was taken out of the show.
Not that there weren’t some choice lighter moments to be found
(especially during the episode “Earshot”), but it all ended like one
major bummer. Many serious issues were explored in this season as well
(again the aforementioned episode “Earshot”) and fortunately some of the
guests from the previous season showed up, like Spike (James Marsters).
Fox continues to improve on their releases of
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and Season 3 certainly does that. Video
quality is quite good, certainly much better than the job they did on
Season 1, and audio quality continues to be more and more dynamic.
They’re also coming along quite nicely in the department of extras.
First off, there are several commentaries to be found here with various
writers and directors. While much of what they say features some
terrific behind-the-scenes information, their affection for the cast and
Joss Whedon becomes repetitive and a tad dull. Unfortunately, Joss
doesn’t supply any commentaries of his own here and he’s sorely missed.
What’s up with that?
Other extras include several interview clips with
Joss and various crew members, a still gallery, some episode scripts and
5 featurettes; a 7-minute segment on “Wardrobe”, 5 minutes on “Weapons”,
13 ½ minutes on the “Special Effects” of Season 3, a 4 ¾ minute
“Interview With Monster Maker John Vulich”, a 21 ½ minute “Season 3
Overview” and the 6 ½ minute “Buffy Speak”. All in all, it’s not a bad
bit of extras and helps make the set worth the price.
Okay, in all honesty I felt a bit let down by this
season and I will undoubtedly be in the minority with this opinion
here. Sure, Angel had to leave because he was starting his own show
(and I’m a few discs into that right now), but it felt very much like
they didn’t milk everything they could have before splitting the group
up. All good things must come to an end, but, damn it, this is
television! Perhaps I’ll start to feel differently when I watch future
seasons of Buffy, all of which I understand go steadily downhill.
Season 3 could very well be the glory days I’ll eagerly run back to.
