Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Slayer Collection: Spike
This is a compilation of four of the best episodes from the hit television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer featuring the character Spike, a character that started out as vampire who had already taken the lives of two slayers and is now gunning for Buffy and developed into a major player in the....
This is a compilation of four of the best episodes from the hit television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer featuring the character Spike, a character that started out as vampire who had already taken the lives of two slayers and is now gunning for Buffy and developed into a major player in the series…
Episode 2.03 - School Hard
Principal Snyder has sentenced Buffy, on pain of expulsion, to organise up the upcoming Parent/Teacher night. But that's just half the problem - The Night of St. Vigeous is approaching, when the power of all vampires will be at its peak, and the Anointed One is readying his forces. On top of that two new vampires have moved into Sunnydale, a witty but lethal killer named Spike and his spaced out girlfriend Drusilla.
Spike comes with a reputation to uphold - he has already killed two Slayers and is now looking to add a third to that tally so makes a deal with the Anointed One to take care of his Slayer problem.
At the Parent/Teacher night, while Buffy is trying to keep Principal Snyder and her mother from meeting, Spike and his army of vampires gatecrash the party and the mayhem begins.
Episode 2.07 - Lie To Me
Buffy sees something that makes her think that Angel and Drusilla have something romantic going on, which makes her depressed...until an old boyfriend turns up at Sunnydale High. Both Angel and Xander are jealous of this interloper but for no good reason as he's not the friend he claims to be.
He's cut a deal with Spike who has promised to give him the immortality of the undead in exchange for giving him Buffy. However, Spike makes a mistake in bringing Drusilla along to see him kill Buffy and things don't go as he or her old boyfriend planned.
Episode 3.08 - Lover's Walk
Recently dumped by Drusilla, Spike returns to Sunnydale seeking revenge on Buffy and Angel as he blames then for his situation. However, he misses Drusilla even more and, after a chance meeting with Willow in the magic shop, he decides to use witchcraft to win her back. Kidnapping Willow and Xander, he forces Buffy and Angel to obtain the ingredients necessary for Willow to perform a spell that will make Dru love him again.
As you'd expect, nothing goes just as planned - Buffy still loves Angel and she has to make a hard decision. Xander and Willow finally get it on while being held captive, but are caught in a compromising situation by Cordy and Oz. Meanwhile Buffy, Angel and Spike have more troubles on their hands - the Mayor's sent Lenny and the boys down to take care of them once and for all (again).
Episode 5.07 - Fool In Love
When a vampire impales Buffy on her own stake, she and Giles go through the watchers' diaries looking for more information on the deaths of previous Slayers as she is concerned about her slip up. Buffy needs information, so she goes to the only person she knows who witnessed the death of a Slayer - Spike.
In exchange for cash (and chicken wings) he not only details why his victims lost their battles, but also tells us his personal history as a vampire and we hear the true origin of the nickname "William the Bloody" and how Drusilla turns him to the dark side. Spike claims all Slayers are haunted by the same bloody question, "Is this the day I'm going to die?"
Review
Spike came into Buffy as a means of developing a longer-term villain character and ended up being possibly the most important character in the series after Buffy. James Marsters is just brilliant as Spike and plays the character in all his forms, from the sociopathic killer vampire to the sensitive and caring sidekick, very well indeed. He even manages to pull off a decent English accent for a Californian.
Sarah Michelle Geller and the rest of the core cast of Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter and Anthony Stewart Head are, as ever, excellent and along with the usually well written storylines and dialogue and solid direction, the series never fails to entertain. Regulars David Boreanaz as Angel, Kristine Sutherland as Buffy's mom, Emma Caulfield as Anya and Seth Green as Oz also perform well where they appear.
The picture in the first two episodes from Season Two is presented in 4:3 (1.33:1) full screen format and the quality isn't great. There's a fair amount of grain in the darker scenes and the whole image could have been sharper and there is some edge enhancement artefact. The third episode from Season Three is still shown in 4:3 format but the quality has improved greatly with less grain and a sharper image but the edge enhancement problems are still apparent. The fourth episode from Season Five is on a different level entirely - shown in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. There's still some grain in some darker scenes but no obvious edge artefacts.
Sound in all the episodes is presented in Dolby Surround, which is nothing spectacular but basically okay for a show originally shot for television. It's a pity as a good 5.1 mix would have added so much more depth and effect to this set of episodes.
School Hard - In this action-packed episode that takes its title loosely from the classic Bruce Willis movie Die Hard, we are introduced to Spike and Drusilla, a couple of great characters that add so much to this and future episodes. The storyline here is obviously just to introduce Spike and Drusilla and acts as a means to write out the Annoying One as that didn't seem to be going anywhere special.
James Marsters is brilliant as Spike, one mean dude in his signature full-length black leather coat. Juliet Landau is also good as Drusilla his seemingly spaced out girlfriend. Good support from Kristine Sutherland and Armin Shimerman, who's voice you may recognise as Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as Principal Snyder in the comic sub plot where Buffy has to try and keep them apart.
Lie To Me - This is quite a good episode but strangely for this DVD set, doesn't feature Spike all that much - in fact he doesn't appear until about half-way through. Also, this one's not quite as action packed as the previous episode but it makes up for it with a good story and some excellent dialogue full of wisecracks and snappy lines. James Marsters and Juliet Landau are great again as Spike and Drusilla.
Giles sums up nicely when he tells Buffy "It's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats. We always defeat them and save the day. No-one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after…"
Lover's Walk
Another good episode in which James Marsters is excellent as the drunken, lovelorn Spike, whose pathetic ramblings endear him even more as a major character. Xander and Willow get more a showing here as well and Alyson Hannigan gives a very good performance in her scenes with Spike.
Spike casts doubts into Buffy and Angel's relationship and sums up love perfectly with the lines "Love isn't brains, children. It's blood, blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."
Fool In Love
This is an excellent episode where we get to see in flashback how Spike, struggling to find his place in society, meets Drusilla, becomes a vampire, kills a couple of Slayers and acquire that leather coat. It also starts developing the story line that picks up later in the series where Spike falls for Buffy. James Marsters is excellent as Spike and Juliet Landau is great as Drusilla.
There's also a comedic sub plot with Riley and the Scooby gang on patrol and looking for the vampire that staked Buffy.
Extras
Spike Character Profile - A 15 minute mini-feature focusing on Spike the character and is basically interview material with James Marsters and a few others intercut with scenes from the episodes on the disc. James, along with Juliet Landau, gives some good information on how Spike developed and evolved and of his love for Drusilla. We also get some input from writer/producer Marti Noxon on how Spike was brought back into the series and writer/co-producer Jane Espenson gives her tuppence worth as well.
Buffy/Angel DVD Trailer - A snappy promotional trailer for Buffy and Angel box sets, lasting just over one minute.
Overall
The extras are a bit thin and as a series of exemplars featuring Spike, I'm not sure that they've chosen the best four episodes that they could have but as a sampler for potential Buffy fans, this is not a bad set of episodes and, as you can pick it up for under £10, not a bad deal for three hours worth of viewing.
Let's face it, this isn't aimed at serious Buffy fans. Those will have either bought the box sets or, assuming they have some rich friends, will have received them as gifts by now but this could make an excellent stocking filler or impulse gift for someone you know that likes the series but either aren't serious fans or can't afford the box sets.
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