this scene always gets me it's the first real moment when you realize that every slayer including Buffy was just normal girls and they all lost their lives.
this exact moment is where everything changed....buffy became more than an episodic demon of the week fun show....here is where the legacy began....where they rooted the show in its characters and made buffy human and vulnerable....played superbly by sarah michelle gellar
Been on a Buffy binge on a rainy day in 2017, with mostly Once More musical episode vids. Then I remember this scene. And it just gave me chills how Sarah nailed the emotions conflicting in her. And Paige, you're right. "Read me the signs, tell me my fortune" (and the entire scene here) is BtVS's version of "Trust No One" or "Resistance is Futile." It is a good dividing line between 'regular' shows and great ones.
CJ Carpenter yeh that exactly what this is...i find this show beautiful in every way. it makes me want to laugh, cry and smile when i think about it and its rare that a show would hold so much emotional weight but there are so many moments where i just wanted to cry because it was so beautifully done and heart wrenching and it isnt just sara michelle gellars acting either. i break down when willow watches tara lose her mind, when anya cant grasp joyces death, when dawn hurts herself because she doesnt think she's real. there are so many moments i look back on in this show and think WOW this show really is amazing and emotional. its just a show that was done beautifully all because its characters were real and fluid and vulnerable and somehow relateable
Yep the first season is pretty weak compared to the rest of the series, but this was the first scene where you took a step back and realized this could be a special show. Season 2 proved that plenty.
She was ready to reprise her role as Kathryn from Cruel Intentions for a tv series but it didn't get picked up by the network they wanted. They filmed the pilot, though.
She's been on 2 television shows fairly recently; both of which were cancelled. She's not a huge draw anymore, and she likely wants more money than casting directors are willing to pay. That said; here's hoping for that Buffy reuinion season...heh....heh............................heeeeh
xthatwhiteguyx Actually, she's been focusing less on acting and more on home life. She's tried out a few projects but it's not like she's hitting the pavement for work lol
The scene that confirmed Buffy as one of the greatest characters of all time. SMG was flawless from the first season to the last, but this is such amazing acting.
Quentin Jones Brie Larson’s acting outside of Short Term 12, Room, and The Glass Castle is crappy, and I don’t think her performances in those movies can transition to acting in a soap opera and making an Emmy Award-winning performance.
I feel that this explains so much of Buffy's attitude in future seasons, how she grows increasingly aware in her identity as a Slayer. She saved the world twice at only sixteen years old, no wonder she was so rude to Xander and Willow when they got in her way. This is when she realised she was truly alone in this, and even though Xander and Willow grew as powerful allies later in the seasons, it all comes back to her. If you keep this scene in mind, her actions throughout season 7 make so much more sense.
but xander and willow also save the world, she was never alone. I mean think about she kill say 5k vampire, they kill one k vampre does that make any better.
You're right. Don't think you aren't. Truth is everyone always expected perfection from her and if she failed there was no one to understand that. No one to remember what she's been through. Everyone was just giving her hardships for that and none of them ever gave her anything even close to support. Like the moment she saved the world the moment she always sacrificed everything to the cause the moment she was living hell because of everything and no one ever remembered that. It's like everyone has always taken her for granted. Like no one was ever grateful for her. When she saved the world killing person she loved while he was back to himself, cured and well, sacrificing her love and future to do her duty and was told to never come back home by her mother she left and didn't come back. And for everyone that was so wrong from her. Bad bad Buffy. But when she came back.. again everyone still acted like she still did wrong. Not giving her even a minute to cope. A little girl who had yet to learn anything about world already lived through hell with the weight of such hardships and choices on her shoulders and still she doesn't get any credit. For anything. And her consolation with Xander who lied to her in the most crucial parts of her actions was so out of everything I couldn't believe the writing. The point is, she was always alone and the only person I think was close to understanding her was Spike because he was sensitive and he gave time to it because he was in love, and he was a person who had bad beginning with her and came after she was so sick of being used or left or dissapointed in people she build walls up so high she didn't let anyone through and couldn't really love anyone anymore. I think she maybe hoped for Faith to understand but she betrayed her. She hoped for Giles but after giving her those shots she never trusted him fully again and leaving when she needed him and even ambushing Spike when she had feelings for him didn't help. She hoped for Riley or Angel but they both left and Riley couldn't even handle her. She might have hoped for her mother but she first thought her insane then ignored any sign and later told her to never come back all for something she didn't choose. Watching this show while focusing on Buffy's point of view it really makes you feel lonely and gives you uneasiness of feeling wronged. And yet she called on that only once and never again and she took everything thrown at her and stopped expecting anything from anyone and that's what made her so cold and that's what made her believe she cannot rely on anyone. Also it all makes perfect sense. All her actions and choices. It makes sense. It's all so true because you yourself will get disappointed your trust would be broken your heart too you will feel unappreciated and lost and like no one understands you and you could act the same could hurt the same. And still you got to keep on living. It's just this. It's life and while I might cringe at everything at this show I still cannot help but admire her character and choices and how Joss played with icky vampires and demons to show the real tragedy and hardships of life so well. With all this absurds this show is really heavy with the weight of reality. I think that there's a huge lesson in there too, that you just cannot expect understanding from people you cannot expect for them to think and care about you the way you would want them to. You have to trust yourself and rely on yourself for everything. And you just have to find the right people for the rest. And if you think they're good for you and you see them as good then it's just good. The right people you can forgive. The right people you can love enough to forgive them everything cause you cannot go through life without forgiving. It would just make you miserable.
You know, I've actually never put this scene in that context but I can absolutely see that. Throughout season one she has her friends to lean on and fall back on, but here she realizes that at the end of the day, she's the Slayer and no one can totally carry that burden for her. But I also think things changed here because, before, she entered most situations thinking "I'm the Slayer, I'm indestructible" and confident that she would win. This is the first moment she's really confronted with the fact that she's not indestructible. In fact, Slayers tend to have tragically short life spans. She's always been frustrated that being the Slayer prevents her from having a life. This is the first time she's confronted with the fact that being the Slayer could literally take her life.
This scene is so fucking cruel and it hurts me. SMG pulls this off so well. She's the Slayer and she's meant to destroy evil, but suddenly you realize: She's sixteen years old. She has so much life ahead of her and it HURTS. God bless Joss Whedon for this scene, but also fuck Joss Whedon for this scene.
Knowing what we know now about Joss Whedon, it's definitely leaning more toward fuck Joss Whedon, but it can't be denied that the man knew how to make good television.
@@pegasBaO23 Yes, agreed. I would have liked Buffy much more if she had been proud of her mission and opportunity to save others even at the cost of her own life. There are plenty of young heroes like that: soldiers and firemen and doctors working with infectious diseases. I wish Buffy had been more an example in this regard.
That laugh at the beginning was so on point, hugely emblematic for me anyway coz that’s exactly how I initially react to horrifying news, better than crying. Find out/walk in on being cheated on, laugh incredulously, then I started throwing things around.
I agree with everyone commending Sarah's acting, because it is phenomenal, but can we also talk about Giles in this scene?? Can we talk about how Buffy says, "You're so useful, sitting here with all your books--you're really a lot of help!" and Giles' reply is this look of resignation and shame, like he is feeling about himself all these things she's sarcastically saying about him in the heat of the moment, as he replies, "No, I don't suppose I am," because in that moment, he blamed himself as much as Buffy was seeming too (though she was really only angry and scared in general) Can we talk about how Giles' disappointment and subtle hatred towards himself for failing to keep Buffy safe was one of the first heartbreaks in this scene before Buffy's, "I'm only sixteen years old--I don't want to die," completely stabbed it home and shredded whatever heart you had left???
This. Absolutely this. The father-daughter relationship between them and Giles' growing love and parental protectiveness of Buffy and his insecurities, fears, and frustrations in not being able to protect her the way he wants to and for not being able to do more hits so damn hard throughout the show.
When she says she doesn't care, it gets me every time. She's a 16 year old girl, but she can't just pretend it's not there. She knows she's going to die. No 16 year old even thinks they're going to die, let alone know when.
I’m convinced this is the scene where Buffy officially grew its beard. Season 1 has some fun episodes, but it’s pretty much this point on that the show really starts having depth and emotion and serious themes.
I'd say this and Nightmares, when Buffy's fears about her father not loving her and wanting nothing to do with her and saying the divorce was her fault,etc. Especially as a kid of divorced parents, that shit hit extremely hard and she was fantastically heartbroken and shaken during that scene, too.
Sarah Michelle Gellar is amazing in this scene. Truly incredible but can we take a second to note Anthony Stewart Head’s face when she says, “I don’t wanna die”? THAT right there is when I saw Giles more as a father than a watcher. You could see the inner turmoil in his eyes, the way he gulps like, “I never appreciated that beyond all the powers, she’s still a child.” One of my favorite scenes of Buffy.
Such a powerful moment. Takes you right out of the "Slaying is all fun and games" mentality as you realize a teenager has to grapple with life and death, *that's* what it means to have been chosen and what a heavy weight it is. And of course SMG's acting is fantastic.
Anthony Head's acting in this scene doesn't get talked about enough. It's the moment he starts to realise how unfair the life of a slayer is and that he's just part of a bollocks system.
Season one, first episode : Buffy don't want to be the slayer anymore and tries to have a normal life without vampires. She meets Giles. He explains he's his watcher. He explain the slayer'w work, how it works. He explains what he knows about Sunnydale and the Hellmouth, showing her a lot of books. She dont' want to listen but will be forced... Season one, last episode : Buffy accepted to be the slayer but did the best to keep her normal life. She have friends, she's in love and she's happy. And she hears Giles saying to Angel she will die. She decides to quit, she don't want to die. She throws Giles books on him. Watching those two scenes shows how the show is well written. The scenes respond to each other wonderfully.
I think we can say that Sarah MIchelle Gellar is the best actress of all time. God, she's so f*cking underrated it hurts. She should be in more than 5 movie per year!
So Buffy had a great two-hour pilot, and a couple other good episodes leading up to the season one finale, but then this happened. And the show went from being surprisingly good at times to being one of the best series ever created. Season Two raised the emotional stakes exponentially, but this was where it really started, with Buffy rejecting the idea that she was trapped in a tragedy she didn't write and then accepting that she still couldn't not do what was right. For me, this specific scene was when Buffy became iconic.
At the time she knew if she did nothing The Master would've rose and killed everyone anyway. Of course as he mentions later on if she hadn't come down he wouldn't have got out.
Oh yeah, this is amazing. I got into Buffy very recently, I’m only on season 2. But this is the moment where you go “Oh yeah this is a kid”. It’s heartbreaking.
"...Think it'll hurt?" That's the moment when the reality of the situation becomes uncomfortably apparent. God, this scene is amazing. They made a show about a cheerleader fighting monsters one of the most emotionally resonant pieces of fiction I've ever seen.
Thank you so much for uploading this scene (and all the others). I had a need to re-watch some of my favourite Buffy monologues and it's hard to find a good video for them.
Is it just me or is this like a reference to the first episode? she goes to the library to tell giles about the dead body, but then says she doesn't care even though she really does, and here she says she doesn't care but you can tell that she does
I think it's a full circle moment. It's the ongoing battle between her human self and her slayer identity. All she wants is a normal life free from this but she also knows, she's the only one who can do something about it.
"Think it'll hurt?" Yes. She's the chosen one. Yes, she fights big bad demons but that question is so innocent and childlike - All children are scared of pain and death even if they say they aren't
I wasn't, actually. I know many more children who don't fear death than adults. I think it is much healthier to accept you don't know when you will die, being young gives you no more right or certainty to life than being old, so live life to the fullest every single day. I'm 33 years old. If I get hit by a car tomorrow; goodbye world, it's been fun. If I could die saving the world instead, I'd be proud to have the chance. I think a lot of people would. But that doesn't make this scene any less heartrending.
Everytime I have someone try to condone them all turning on Buffy and kicking her out i remind them of this scene. She knew she was going to die and still she faced The Master head on. The world asked her to sacrifice herself. Her friends, knowing that sacrifice, couldn't even trust her. She was always right and had a reason to be superior to those around her. She willingly gave up her life to help those around her. She asked the same and they couldn't do it. They threw it in her face. I'll always be team Buffy because if this scene. There isn't a single person that did more and yet give up as much as she did in the entire verse. Do what she did before you judge her.
Look how she changed on here and in 5x22 when she sacrifices herself and accepts her fate. It's so cool to see how she changed. It's good to see that clothes were so important on Buffy Tv show. We can see she's wearing black on here and in 5x22 she wears white (This is just one example).
Who would have thought that an Emmy Award winner is a better actress than an Academy Award winner? For those of you who don’t know, Sarah Michelle Gellar won an Emmy for her performance as Kendall Hart on the soap opera All My Children.
I heard some poeple complaining about buffy's reaction.. but remember she's a teenager whom we ask to save the world (like alot) and to do the ultimate sacrifice Of course she's scared
I understand Buffy's fear and denial in this scene at the suddenness and immediacy of death - but not the point about being 16. Death is the same whenever it comes. I remember one of my university professors explaining past ages shorter life expectancies: 'No, most people did NOT die at forty. It's an average. If you made it past ten without dying of an infectious disease, past thirty without dying in childbirth as a woman or battle as a young man; congratulations, you were set till seventy or eighty!' Most people have died young; Buffy isn't so unusual and isolated from 'normal' life as she thinks.
Scenes like this are always a very tricky thing for a writer. There's really a very thin line between poignant and cloying, but they really nailed it here. First rate acting by SMG and ASH too.
Anyone realize the master is kind of Angel grandfather since he turned Darla who turned Angel. Was wondering if he would have human features when Darla was human but even then he didn't
She's wonderful here. I think this scene and the first moments of Season 5's "The Body" are the most potent moments of the series. Neither really had anything to do with the supernatural - rather, both had to do with the great misfortune of having to confront death at a young age. When the writers gave SMG a respite from mugging her way through her character (which wasn't often enough) - she was able to show that she could be a very good dramatic actress. It was a shame that she stepped away from acting so soon and her film career only consists of a few tentpole comedy flicks and an underwhelming romantic drama.
well, statistically the next in line probably lives in another part of the country so i would think the council would give g an ultimatum: either move there or we'll send a different watcher
it Hurts Me to see My Favorite Gorgeous Girl Hurt i.m sad that when My Favorite Gorgeous Girl Gets Hurt Because i Love Her very Much Sarah Michelle Gellar
if they ever reboot this (under joss, of course), it needs to be on cable so they can add harsh language in dialogues. buffy adding "fucking books" when she tosses them at giles would have made the scene even more angst.
Many are the times that a scene works better with less or lighter swearing. It makes the characters seem more innocent and therefore the events more tragic. Here is definitely one of those times. The line, "Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I.. I don't want to die." only works because you really believe that she still thinks of dying as something that's only supposed to happen to older people. Kinda hard to mix that image of Buffy with a Buffy that swears at things when she's scared/frustrated.
Jean Denim This scene is perfect, and the addition of the word "fuck" (even if it is one of my favorite/most used words) is completely unnecessary, in my opinion.
I love buffy she's my favorite warrior and slayer also faith i wish they would make a movie about buffy and faith and spike and angel all fighthing together side by side trying to save the world new actors great actors but sarah and david and eliza and james will always be the real thing for me but I would still watch it if they made a movie about those four and give bangel a happy ending i will always believe that they are meant to be together no can tell me any different
_Giles, the Niles.. who walks for Miles: ..u can't be Slayer, if you turn Feral, Bluffy_ *Bluffy: ..do i have a Fracking choice, At. This. Point?!??!??!!*
