Buffy undergoes a dramatic character arc throughoutBuffy the Vampire Slayer, and one of her biggest lessons happens to occur in Sarah Michelle Gellar’s favorite episode. ThroughoutBuffy’s seven seasons, the titular slayer goes from a normal teenager reluctant to answer her calling to a true superhero willing to sacrifice it all to save the world.
Buffy’s life is full of danger and unpredictability, and this definitely extends to her love life.One of her saddest romance moments is in season 3, “The Prom,“which isGellar’s favoriteBuffyepisode. In it, Angel breaks up with Buffy right before the prom because he feels he’s a threat to her life and happiness.
However, as heartbreaking as this is for shippers of Buffy and Angel’s relationship, “The Prom” not only ends their romance on a bittersweet note that will have you crying happyandsad tears when Angel shows up to have one last dance with Buffy, butthe episode as a whole is hugely defining for Buffy’s character.
Buffy Learns She Doesn’t Need Angel (Or Any Man) In “The Prom”
She Saves After Being Dumped By Angel
Like many of our first loves, Buffy’s feelings for Angel are all-consuming, and she’s not able to look at the big picture. While one of theworst things Angel ever didto Buffy was dump her right before the prom, his reasons for ending the relationship were sound.
Angel is an immortal vampire who will never age, while she’s a human who will, and they can never be physically intimate without him losing his soul. Even though Buffy thinks pure love will conquer these hurdles,she’s convinced she will be lost if she and Angel aren’t together.
But in that very same episode,Buffy proves that she doesn’t need a romantic partner to carry her through, and in fact, can save the day while being totally heartbroken. When she learns of a student planning to ruin Sunnydale’s prom by unleashing hellhounds, she almost single-handedly puts a stop to it before the consequences become lethal.
As far asBuffy’s scariest monstersgo, though, “The Prom” hellhounds barely register. But what does is Buffy getting the Class Protector Award from her schoolmates at the prom. She isn’t prom queen, andshe doesn’t have her dream date — Buffy is being honoured for who she is. Gellar spoke about this when citing “The Prom” as her favorite episode:
To me, “The Prom” was everything that Buffy was about. It was recognizing her, she thought she was invisible, and that they didn’t know who she was. But they saw her for who she really was.
Buffy’s Character Arc Is Captured In Her “Cookies” Conversation With Angel In The Series Finale
She Wants To Be Defined By Herself, Not Her Romantic Relationships
Though Buffy’s award at the prom is one of the biggest highs for the slayer, she still continues to let her love life define her throughout much of the show. But as she gets older, wiser, and finds herself in the fight of her life againstthe First Evil inBuffyseason 7,something clicks into place for our heroine.
When Angel shows up to aid in the battle, it’s clear there’s still something there between them. However,Buffy has an honest heart-to-heartwith him about where she’s at in life. In a somewhat silly yet poignant analogy,she compares herself to cookie dough that isn’t finished baking, and that Buffy has no room for love interests in her life.
After seven years of saving the world —a lot— Buffy has learned that she doesn’t want validation from racing into a man’s arms.
Considering that Spike has a soul and is ready to be with her, and Angel is obviously still interested, this is huge. But after seven years of saving the world —a lot— Buffy has learned that she doesn’t want validation from racing into a man’s arms. She wants to become the woman she’s meant to be.
The Buffy Reboot Should Continue This Arc
Could Buffy Be “Cookies” In The Follow-up Show?
With fans rejoicing thatSarah Michelle Gellar will reprise her role as Buffyin the upcoming reboot series, the question on many of our minds is what Buffy’s love life will look like. If she was cookie dough in season 7,it’s very possible that Buffy will be fully baked cookies over 20 years later.
But more than whetherBuffy has a boyfriendor not,what’s truly important is that she’s continuing to live life on her own terms. We all want to see our heroine get her romantic happy ever after, but the reboot should focus more on Buffy having achieved her goal of discovering who she is.
Buffy won’t be the star of the reboot, but rather, she’ll be a recurring character supporting a new teenage slayer. While many are anticipating her as being a Watcher-like figure, I’m hoping that she’ll be able to instill a little love life wisdom that she learned inBuffy the Vampire Slayer’s “The Prom” episode.
