Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series) Buffy vs. Dracula (2000) User Reviews

The start of my favorite season

[katierose295 · 7/10 · 28 August 2006]

Every season of BTVS has it's high and low points. And I think that a convincing argument could be made for just about any season being the "best" one the show produced. Personally, though, season five is my favorite. It's got everything. It's funny and tragic. It has unexpected twists and character driven plot lines. It has heroes who end up villains and villains who end up heroes. You just can't beat it. Just about every episode builds into the larger story arc this season, so it's pretty hard to skip any. Also, it really helps you to follow the story if you watch the episodes in order. "Buffy v. Dracula" isn't the best episode of the season, but you really can't miss it. The last 3 seconds of this episode set up the whole season to come.

The plot of "Buffy v. Dracula" is pretty evident by the title. Dracula comes to Sunnydale to meet Buffy, and also to turn her into his un-dead bride or something. (Really, his actual plan seems a little vague.) Anyway, the Scoobies are delighted and starstruck by his appearance in their town. When he bites Buffy, though, and puts Xander under his thrall, the situation becomes more serious. Riley is jealous with Buffy's obvious attraction to Dracula. It reminds him of her past with Angel and he and Giles set out to kill Drac before anyone can get hurt. Meanwhile, Buffy confronts Dracula alone and drinks some of his blood. Coming out of her enchantment with him, she starts to fight back against his power and, of course, in the end she saves the day. She also decides to explore her Slayer calling and asks Giles to be her Watcher again. Just when you think that the episode is over though, it flashes back to Buffy's house where the Summers' family has an inexplicable new addition. Buffy's little sister, Dawn.

There are some good parts to this episode. The Scoobies excitement over meeting Dracula is pretty fun. Even Giles is impressed. Anya is preoccupied with whether or not Dracula remembers her, Willow is reminiscing about his commanding presence, Buffy is sighing dreamily... It's hilarious. And I love Xander's being Dracula's new Renfield. His spider snacking and "Dark Master.....bator" bits just crack me up. Also, I like Spike's jealous muttering about how "Drac" still owes him eleven pounds. "Ooooh, 'The Count's' gotta have his special dirt and bug eaters." And it makes perfect sense that Spike would have contempt for "gypsy tricks" after his experiences with Angel regaining his soul because of them.

Taking a second to get side tracked here, in season five of "Angel" there is a very cool character name Illyaria who can alter the flow of time. When she and Spike fight, she sometimes "zaps" out and then "pops" back in again behind him. Once when she does it, he snaps, "Hey, that's cheating!" In "Buffy v. Dracula" Dracula tries a similar move on Buffy and she says the exact same thing. "That's cheating." Buffy and Spike both tend to prefer fair fights and face-to-face style combat. They take pride in their abilities. But, I think it's especially interesting that they're identical responses to the situation are to label it "cheating." They see their battles are games or contests, where there are rules that everyone should follow. In fact Spike and Buffy only really get into trouble when someone comes along and ignores, changes or forgets those rules. (For examples of this see, "Seeing Red," in season six of BTVS, where Warren suddenly tosses aside the "gladitorial" style confrontations that Buffy is used to and attacks her in a very human way. Or "Damage," in season five of "Angel," where Spike confronts a deranged Slayer who has no intention of following the normal Slayer/vampire code of fighting hand-to-hand.) Buffy and Spike each have their problems, and they're certainly both willing to adapt to new situations, but they don't "cheat." They have their own code of conduct in their minds and they live by them, even in regard to each other. Buffy won't stake Spike if he can't fight back. (Which also brings to mind Spike's unwillingness to stake Angelus when his back was turned in season two.) And Spike won't try to get around his little chip problem by just poisoning Buffy's drinking water or something. The two of them have a lot in common, as they will discover as the series wears on.

On the down side, I'm just not comfortable with introducing Dracula to the show. It seems a little cheese-y.

My favorite part of the episode: Xander mocking Dracula in the Count From "Seseme Street" voice. "Van, tw-ou, th-reeee victims. Bwhahahaha."

Entertaining, but strangely out of place

[nightwishouge · 7/10 · 23 January 2021]

Buffy vs. Dracula is possibly the strangest season opener of the series. It doesn't really wrap anything up or continue where season 4 left off (then again, Restless was also a strange season finale). Apart from the last 15 seconds it doesn't introduce anything new for the episodes that follow. Thematically, Dracula's interactions with Buffy set up a thread the rest of the series will explore more deeply--the relationship between a Slayer's nature and the darkness of the supernatural world--and that's probably about the strongest through-line linking this episode to the show proper.

Perhaps that is why it feel like a non-canonical episode to me. Like fan fiction. Nothing within it engenders consequence. I guess the same could be said of many season one episodes but the show has tended much more toward serialization since then. The characters also feel off-model, like caricatures of themselves, drawn with unsure strokes. Xander in particular feels like a cartoon. I guess it's the thrall that's to blame, but making him the weak-willed, mind-controlled servant for the sake of comedic shenanigans just feels easy, a superficial understanding of Xander as a dimensional being. Like if you're having a conversation with your friends about which Scooby would fill the Renfield role and you all immediately shout in unison, "Xander!" Buffy at its best is a show that defies expectations. This choice is too obvious. It lacks in depth. It would have been more interesting, and perhaps brought something new out of her character, to have Tara fulfill that function. Just as an example.

Dracula himself also fits uneasily into the show. He has powers no vampire before has possessed. (Drusilla has demonstrated hypnotic abilities, so at least there is precedent for that. But none have become fog.) These powers don't necessarily correspond to Bram Stoker's novel, in which Dracula walks around freely in sunlight. These abilities are dismissed by a chagrined Spike as parlor tricks, but they're pretty effective. Why wouldn't more vampires learn them? Maybe it goes back to their aversion to tackiness, the same disdain that keeps them quiet (usually) on Halloween. Dracula's presence would seem to open a door into a world of new possibilities for vampire foes, but as far as I recall that is never explored. Goes further to making this episode feel isolated from the rest of the show.

Anyway, if you treat Buffy vs. Dracula as a non-canonical TV event, like the Star Wars Holiday Special, those problems fall away and it becomes entertaining. It is fun to see the Scoobies having a day at the beach, though that is brought to an unceremonious end when Willow's pyrokinesis backfires. (Her magic is such an inconsistently treated plot device it is really starting to bother me. Her spells work effortlessly when the writers need them to and then fail spectacularly when they're scrambling for a punchline.) Enthralled Xander is, admittedly, pretty funny and has the episode's best lines.

Side note: Interestingly, Xander is at his grossest/horniest/most inappropriate when Marti Noxon writes him and I think it's supposed to be endearing? When he requests details about Willow and Tara's lesbian sex life, I cringe. I guess I knew teenage boys like that when I was in high school (I knew better than to request lap dances from my female friends) but they made girls uncomfortable, which is never textually acknowledged within the show. So it makes me surprised that a female writer would seemingly be most gung-ho about representing him in such a way.

I also enjoy the looming castle and the throwbacks to Hammer movies and Victorian novels, especially the inclusion of Dracula's brides. (They are not taken seriously as threats, which furthers my non-canonical interpretation. Can you imagine in another episode Giles being overwhelmed by three vampires without anyone displaying alarm?) Buffy as a show has often engaged with Gothic pastiche in its own suburban idiom but never with this level of purity. It makes me wish there had been a time-travel adventure where Buffy wound up in Whitechapel around the time of the Ripper murders, or something.

Darkness before Dawn

[Joxerlives · 9/10 · 17 July 2012]

The Good; Lots of it, Buffy vs the dark prince (bator!). If I was to pick out a special performance it would be NB's excellent Renfield especially his wonderful Sesame Street impression.

The Bad; ?

Best line; Buffy; "I'm standing right here!"

Women good/men bad; Buffy rejects Dracula's male domination.

Jeez!; The killing of the delivery men is vicious but it's there to remind you that Dracula isn't all slow seduction, he's as evil as any other vamp

Kinky dinky; The whole thing is one big seduction of Buffy by Dracula. Also of course Giles 'making time with the Draccy babes' as Riley memorably puts it and seems to enjoy a good nuzzling. And Dracula and Joyce? Those Summer's girls, they have the worst taste in men. Anya's bikini is also a highlight, odd that the rest of the Scoobygirls are pretty covered up at the beach. Check out the sexy nightie Buffy just happens to choose to sleep in that night, makes her look like the heroine in a classic Hammer vampire film. Does she subconsciously choose it as she wants to please Dracula, hoping he'll come to her? Buffy tries to reassure Riley that Drac has no attraction for her but her declaration that there was 'no penetration' is a poor way to put it. She also says that she can't go back to Revello Drive as 'He got inside once', she means the house right? Unusually it's Riley who figures out Buffy is enthralled. Buffy seems to prefer being bitten and controlled to biting and feeding/being evil suggesting that when it comes to S&M she's more into the M than the S.

Captain Subtext; Joyce bemoans the perils of dating in Sunnydale and tells Will and Tara she feels like giving up on men altogether (Jowillta anyone?). She seems unaware of their relationship although this might change in The Real Me which we'll talk about then. Joyce seems lonely with Buffy at college but she'll soon have Dawn to cure that. Willow and Tara just advise her to avoid pale-skinned men in capes. Oddly Willow seems extremely attracted to Dracula 'Long slow neckbites that last for days' which perturbs Tara rather and adds to the bi-Willow theory (and the 'very naughty girl behind the softer side of Sears theory'). Xander comments that everyone knows about Willow and Tara but would still like to hear more about their love life. The first of the Riley/Spike bonding, Spike refers to Riley as 'cowboy' which he was in Restless. .

Xander refers to himself as Dracula's 'man-bitch' and this is a homosexual subtext that is greatly expanded upon in the comics.

Where's Dawn? Here's Dawn! When you're accustomed to seeing MT on 'Gossip Girl' and '17 Again' you forget how young she was when she started on Buffy, I remember seeing her for the first time and thinking "Oh, it's Harriet the Spy" which was one of my favourite books when I was younger and I quite liked the movie too. Oddly enough the first time Buffy finds her she's snooping about in her room.

Missing scenes; Rumoured-Dracula "You are born of the darkness" Buffy; "Whoa, not born of the darkness pal, born of the Joyce thank you very much"

Notches on Scooby bedpost: now I know we've always wondered exactly what happens between Buffy and Dracula when the screen goes dark so I'm going to put him down as a possible? But you know, what I've always wondered is does anything happen between Dracula and Joyce? We do know that Anya and Dracula used to be involved in her demon days.

Questions and observations; Very interesting. Once again Buffy rejects the traditional role of the horror heroine and be seduced into being a vampire by Dracula. But is there something between them? Maybe. But again it's Buffy's family and friends that anchor her, the traditional Slayer without love in her life might well have surrendered. But Buffy is about saving rather than the kill despite her feral hunting.

Jelly doughnuts again, nice little gag when Riley offers it to Buffy. This is the third time Buffy will have been bitten by a vampire. Dracula notes the previous bitemarks, The Master's or Angel's? Riley observes that no one in Sunnydale seems to have noticed this big castle just outside of town. Buffy mocks Anne Rice for the second time, such a pity they never have a chance to knock Twilight. Reputedly Dracula was going to be played by Freddie Prince (aka Mr SMG) but he dropped out. As with Adam, Dracula hints to The Slayer's demonic nature which we will discover in 'Get It Done'. We have hints that Xander is going to make moves to get out of the cellar. Dracula has the same powers as he has in the book which make him far superior to the average vamp.

Buffy is apparently very famous in the supernatural world, the most successful Slayer ever. Love to see Spike and Drac's backstory? Riley says that he's lived in Sunnydale for a couple of years now so that probably means the Initiative were up and around at very least throughout season 3.

Marks out of 10; 9/10

And now...for our main event of the evening...let's get ready to rummmmmmble...

[skay_baltimore · 8/10 · 28 July 2010]

It's interesting to see different people's reactions to different episodes. Personally, I found this one to be reasonably entertaining -- although I certainly would not rank it among the very best. Nevertheless, I liked the fact that the rivalry between Dracula and The Slayer was not presented in dogmatic black and white terms. To the contrary...this was the perfect vehicle to introduce the fact that despite The Slayer's protagonist role, the seed of dark power that lies at her core is what actually drives her. So despite the fact that she takes out her mortal enemy, the message he delivered to her lingers on; to the extent that she asks Giles to resume his role as her Watcher, because she now understands that she has not even begun to explore the inner darkness that lies beneath her surface heroism. Honestly, I can't think of a more mature, dimensional way to approach the subject matter.

Joss Whedon's Dracula

[Realrockerhalloween · 4 October 2016]

One of the best episodes of the series as Buffy is out patrolling when she runs into the infamous Dracula who has searched the world over for her. It plays on the book & movie where he can turn into a bat, has his castle, special dirt and comes back when staked all learned from the gypsies. Very interesting as he is the first that can escape death without a ritual meaning that vampires will always exist and are here to stay like the show. I also find it funny how Spike and Anya have a history with him in their time as he wooed or has a rival with each individual giving him a connection in history, but I wonder about the other characters. Was Van Helsing a watcher sent to stop his misdeeds and actually yet saving Lucy & Mina from his thrall or is it a made up bio to impress his brethren.

Another cool aspect is how Buffy is drawn to the darkness having the as sense of a demon in her veins and drinking his blood makes her powerful enough to break his spell. Her movements seem faster, her punches stronger and her mind in overdrive to defeat him in battle instead of becoming a vampire. It makes you wonder how close to a demon a slayer is since one was used to create the line and the substance in their blood acts as a steroid to empower them at full charge.

The best season opener on "Buffy" thus far.

[pulikd · 9/10 · 26 September 2022]

Count Dracula is a well-known cultural phenomenon, has been that way for a good chunk of time now. And that is how this episode handles the famous villain. The power he has is both physical and mental, which makes him, of course, a tough nut to crack for the famous vampire slayer by the name of Buffy. And even though it is just a little over forty minutes long, "Buffy vs. Dracula" is rich on plot. Some of the elements may directly and nicely remind you of the original novel by Bram Stoker. I have read it and reread it several times now. It is an impressive piece of work, no doubt, and I loved it.

But I also loved this take on the old material. This isn't a horror story. It does not take itself that seriously. It is more fun. Not that dealing with something as lethal as the most famous bloodsucking demon is a laughing matter, but Buffy herself is part of why this episode is fun. Because it is clear she has, by now, grown to gain a certain level of enjoyment out of her unofficial work. Hunting vampires and killing them. She may not want to admit it, but destroying these demons has grown on her, and she does enjoy it now. She's filled with energy and can't wait to go deal with them. She has fun doing that job, that's just how good she has become at it. But that is just the titular heroine, and there is another reason this episode is fun. A bigger reason than just one character on the show, and that reason is the show itself. The way it tends to put certain things into question. Some things are not as serious as they may appear, and questioning them, or having fun questioning them, can be good for critical thinking. Like the unaired pilot episode questions why vampires keep dressing in a certain way that makes them easier to spot, or how an episode from season one and an episode from season four question why vampires are so afraid of crosses and holy symbols. Here, with Dracula, this way of thinking can also be found. And again, just because someone tries to laugh at something does not mean they aren't headed for some real trouble.

Also, though clearly an introduction to the season and a stand-alone story within the season, this episode has ways to introduce some highly important elements that could be crucial later. Only such things aren't done openly here. They are done in a smarter way. Can't help but appreciate this work.

Darkness in the Powers

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 27 August 2007]

While chasing a vampire in a cemetery, Buffy meets Dracula, who has come to Sunntdale to meet her. Buffy feels proud with the revelation of the greatest vampire in the world. Meanwhile, Giles secretly tells Willow that he will return to England since Buffy does not need his service of watcher anymore. Dracula turns Xander into his slave, and during the night, he visits Buffy, bites and put her under his thrall. Buffy hides the bite with a scarf and becomes powerless and seduced by the dark prince, who promises to disclose to her the darkness of her powers and increase them.

This episode has funny moments, like for example when Xander mocks Dracula in the cemetery or Willow tries to make Giles feel important as watcher or Buffy tells Dracula that she has watched his movies. But the conclusion is disappointing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Buffy Versus Drácula" ("Buffy Versus Dracula")

Icon vs. Icon

[ossie85 · 8/10 · 18 August 2022]

When the world's most famous vampire Dracula comes to Sunnydale, the gang are almost torn apart, Xander becomes his slave, Riley is jealous and Buffy is under his thrall. And a sister?

Why It's So Good - I came into this episode with apprehension - the first premier not to be written by Whedon and bringing in the legend of Dracula. However, Noxon didn't disappoint providing intense drama with the Dracula/Buffy bedroom scenes, funny humour with Xander and Anya. Plus Giles threatening to leave was nerve racking. Buffy has a sister?

Watch Out For - Giles and the vamp girls.

Quote - "No, we're not going to "leave you." And where'd you get that accent, Sesame Street? Vun, two, three -- three victims. Mwa ha ha!" - Xander to Dracula.

I vant Buffy!

[Tom_Powers30 · 7/10 · 16 January 2007]

Well, true the actor is no Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee. I would've enjoyed an actor of some depth to give Drac some real weight. That said, though the actor they chose isn't awful and still has some fun with the role. I rather enjoyed this take on the myth and I like when Buffy opens up the Buffyverse to classic creature feature characters. I enjoyed Xander turning into Drac's lackey, too always a lot of fun.

Nicholas Brendan is a good enough actor that I got his "giggly" nods toward the incredible Dwight Frye's laughter in the original unless this was just a brilliant mistake. Either way I very much enjoyed this episode and season V as a whole. Just like most Buffy episodes and seasons it was one of the most entertaining shows on TV ever.

The One With Dracula...

[taylorkingston · 6/10 · 30 September 2014]

I enjoyed this episode, but it's not my favorite Season Premiere. I kind of think it's cheesy that they put Dracula in an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I mean, I guess they had a reason to. People were probably thinking, that in this world where vampires are real, did the original vampire, Dracula, ever exist. So I guess they had to do it. It does make sense.

In this episode, as I'm sure you guessed, Dracula comes to Sunnydale. He's looking for the one and the only Slayer, Buffy. We find out from Spike, that all of Dracula's tricks, are just that. Tricks. And it turns out that Dracula owes Spike some money. I'm a little sad that we didn't get to see a scene where Spike's like, "Give me my money bee-atch". Haha, Spike would never say that. I love how Spike gets mad at Dracula, because thanks to Dracula, everyone knows how to kill vampires. Eventually, Dracula makes himself known to Buffy. And she was so surprised that Dracula knew who she was. And after a while, he controls her mind, and she lets him feed off of her. And Dracula turns Xander into a little slave. That's just mean.

And at the end, something happens that you'd never guess. Unless you knew that Buffy had a little sister.

Overall, I give this episode a 6 out of 10.

"Buffy vs. Dracula" is only a half stride at best into what is one of the show's finest seasons

[SLionsCricketreviews · 6/10 · 16 November 2017]

And so begins the fifth season of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, widely regarded as one of the show's strongest and most definitive of seasons but it likely wouldn't he heresy to claim that "Buffy vs. Dracula" is a rather weak and nervous stride into the show's fifth season. There's much about this episode that comes off as though a draft for an ambitious season ahead, whether it be the misfired dialogue that is tradition to the success of BUFFY as a series (with the exception of "Hush", created solely to negate that generic viewpoint), the lack of interesting and memorable character interactions, the stumbling attempt to re-introduce the characters sometime after the events of "Restless" and yes even the force revamping of the Buffy mythology to add Dracula.

Despite all these issues I find inherent within the script of the episode, by no means do I dislike this episode. It's just an episode that falls ever so short of what I love about BUFFY as a show and the episode's entire existence, with the exception of the startling bewildering and memorable final scene that sets up much of the season to follow, is an attempt to have Buffy confess to Giles that she needs his services as Watcher once more, and thus restoring the Watcher/Slayer relationship once more that was terminated in "Bad Girls". Dracula himself poses a number of interesting complications for the characters. For Buffy, Dracula represents the uncertainty of her path as the Slayer, questioning her own power while being simultaneously drawn closer and closer to his sphere of influence. There's minor parallels between Dracula's relationship with Buffy compared to that of Angel and Buffy, though this connection isn't as well explored. Both hail from other parts of the world and other ages long past and ultimately arrive in Sunnydale to meet the Slayer. Dracula roams the world over to find Buffy and make her his bride and for Angel, the Whistler put him on the correct path towards redemption and hope. Then there's the case of Dracula biting Buffy, striking some minor resemblances to when Angel bit her given that Dracula bites over the now healed wound. Some wounds – Buffy's at times traumatic relationship with Angel – will never heal.

The cold open to the episode confirms perhaps some dissatisfactions for Buffy in her relationship with Riley. Feeling a lack of thrill and danger and excitement, she leaves in the middle of the night to get a Slayer 'fix' by 'hunting' vampires, drawing parallels to Faith in season three. It re-contextualizes Buffy's position as Slayer and foreshadows early on a key narrative element to the season which is Buffy's darker power. Dracula draws comparisons between Buffy and rightly sees her thrills of being a Slayer as something that stretches beyond the moral realm and into the satisfaction and gratification.

The last and perhaps least interesting complication to arise out of Dracula's mostly forced and hammy appearance in the episode is the development of Buffy and Riley's relationship from the perspective of the ex-Initiative agent. In this episode can be ever more clearly seen the insecurities that Riley feels being Buffy's boyfriend and it's an insecurity that he slowly built ever since meeting Angel for the first time in "The Yoko Factor". As we will see a few episodes later in "The Replacement", Riley is aware that despite his all- consuming love and admiration for Buffy, she does not reciprocate those feelings of love for him. It's ultimately a touching and gloomy look at a girl who cannot bear a normal and healthy relationship.

Beyond some other minor elements, such as Giles considering on leaving Buffy to her destiny (which will take effect in season six), the episode is mostly a light-hearted and humorous episode but it's the humour here that doesn't work well for me. Sarah Michelle Gellar's performance oscillates between good and flat throughout the episode, an opinion no doubt that would have me crucified at the hands of any Buffy lover. Truth be told, I have found her performance since the beginning of season four to be largely inconsistent compared to the brilliance she exhibited in the show's early seasons during which the SMG performance was my single favourite element of the show. The rest of the cast, with the exception of James Marsters as Spike and Anthony Stewart Head as Giles do not leave much of an impression with their mostly limited material. Xander offers some amusing humour as he begins to adopt the persona of Renfield from the Dracula mythology yet even the writer Marti Noxon's commitment to maintaining that persona throughout Xander's entranced spell is disrupted at one particularly jarring moment where Xander, "slayer-sitting" Buffy asks her if he can take her to Dracula in exchange for immortality. It's a moment that is poorly acted by Nicholas Brendon, who is otherwise funny in the episode, and is such a frustratingly unnecessary moment in an otherwise amusing side story.

The climax between Buffy and Dracula is serviceable but ends with a gag that is awkwardly written, directed and acted whereby Dracula continues resurrecting after Buffy stakes her only for Buffy to stake him once more. In almost any other confident episode of BUFFY, that moment would be turned into something memorable and sharp but here, it's incredibly awkward and inorganic in the context of an episode that somewhat stutters to the finish line. It's too goofily acted, it's mildly awkward in how its handled behind the camera (there's really no clear geographical connection established within the location that makes Buffy's 'surprise' re-entry into the frame convincing) and it falls short in the writing from what it is intended to be, much like the majority of the episode.

Despite being deeply critical of the episode, it's an episode that I don't dislike but rather one that I'm frustrated by. It's at best fine but it's the weakest season premiere to date.

Wasted potential

[moore-davidj · 5/10 · 6 May 2022]

Terrible episode full of plot holes. If you're going to do dracula, do it right. Make him an absolute beast and make an entire season out of it. There was so much more they could have done with this.

The Universal Classic Monster's episodes never work.

[Son_of_Mansfield · 2 April 2006]

Besides the Oz plot line, there are the failed Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, and Mummy episodes. But it is the Dracula episode that bothers me the most. The actor that plays Dracula, another pretty boy which Dracula was not, does the same things that everybody else does. He is seductive with his magic stiffening fingers of entrancement and has an indeterminable accent. I have seen Bela Lugosi and you sir are no Bela Lugosi. Xander's Renfield has the same problem, Dwight Frye's legacy is safe from him. For a show that displays such depth and creativity in some episodes, there should be more and the fact that he lives pays too much respect to the character. There is a lot of fun in watching Giles being seduced by the brides, though.

P.S. This is also the episode where Dawn appears. Couldn't the monks have sent Buffy a lamp or a nice yellow jacket?

6 out of 10.

Buffy: I'm standing right here!

[bombersflyup · 6/10 · 30 July 2018]

Buffy vs. Dracula is about Buffy meeting Dracula when patrolling in the cemetery. Dracula turns Xander into his slave and puts Buffy under his thrall.

Everything with Buffy and Dracula's good and sultry and everything involving Xander's hilarious. The episode's brought down by the unnecessary inclusion of Riley and Tara, but not just that it's Willow and Giles to a degree as well. Willow use to be this bubbly full of joy character, but now full of sombreness. Maybe Tara isn't the one for her as she's incredibly dull and Willow doesn't seem too happy with her. Giles also rather sombre much the same, I don't understand how these later seasons can compare to the first three, though I do like this episode. Xander mocking Dracula in the cemetery the highlight.

Season 5, My least favorite season

[mcase5 · 11 January 2007]

Out of all the BtVS seasons, this particular season is my least favorite. I never liked the Dawn character at all. It always seems like she is either whining or complaining about something!!!! From season 5 through the end, she is just a pathetic cry baby who thinks her life is somehow more important that Buffy's. Anyway enough about that. I also don't think that Buffy really gave Riley much of a chance after everything that happened with Joyce. I know that she has always been the one to take care of everyone else, but it would have been nice for her to let her guard down and have someone take care of her for a change (but I guess that's why she is the slayer). That was something that Riley just couldn't accept. He was definitely the type of person that needed to be the strong one, physically and emotionally. I do, however, think that Season 5 did really show the characters (other that Dawn) grow up and become young adults.