Author: Chris Snelgrove Published
In most cases, buffy the vampire slayer Fans were satisfied with the final season. Sure, it lacks the emotional and creative heights of seasons two and three, but it feels like a refreshing return after the empty bleakness of season six. The source ruins everything. Along with costar Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar originally pitched the idea to showrunner Joss Whedon that Buffy and Xander should hook up in season seven.
Buffy and Xander’s Romance
Some long-time fans of the show are complaining now, but don’t worry… we’re going to dig into why this romantic pairing would be a terrible idea. First, though, we need to address the elephant in the room: why did Sarah Michelle Gellar and her partner think a Buffy/Xander romance was a good idea in the first place? In short, both of their characters are going through heartache. In season six, Xander leaves Anya at the altar, and she ends up hooking up with Buffy’s frenemy Spike, who ends up trying to rape her before the end of season six.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Nicholas Brendon wanted a romantic happy ending for their respective characters, and they thought Buffy and Xander becoming an item would give Each of their characters brings some romantic ending. Of course, that didn’t happen, and season seven was all about the unrequited love of our favorite characters. Buffy didn’t find the perfect boyfriend, but she was pined for by Angel and the redemptive Spike before the season ended; as for Xander, he hooked up with Anya again before she tragically died in the final episode.
Why Sarah Michelle Gellar is wrong
Now, we love Sarah Michelle Gellar more than some of our family members, so why do we think she’s wrong for wanting a Buffy/Xander romance? On the one hand, this feels like a bad step backwards. Xander’s puppy crush on Buffy in Season 1 highlighted his immaturity, while his later relationship with Anya highlighted his growth as a character. His sudden hookup with Buffy would have felt like a degradation of his character, and even cheapened his romance with Anya by implying that he never stopped wanting Buffy.
Additionally, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s stellar performance emphasizes that Buffy never saw Xander as a romantic interest, which is why she spent her entire life obsessed with the bad boy Vampires and the occasional corn-fed super soldier. Suddenly tying her to Xander would feel completely arbitrary and unmotivated, and the show would be the worse for it, especially in the final season. Honestly, this is probably worse than Willow’s character assassination in Season 6, where she went from a magical lesbian goddess to a magical junkie who couldn’t stop hurting the people she loved most.
Final Reason Against Buffy/Xander
Ultimately, a Buffy/Xander love story would destroy a core aspect of Buffy’s character: at the end of the day, she always wants what she can’t have. Falling in love with chiseled but unapproachable men is part of it, a way for the killer to subconsciously stop anyone from getting too close to her. Xander is someone she could have had at any point in the show for his embarrassing little crush, and for her to suddenly abandon her love for an unobtainable bad boy in favor of hooking up with a harmless little boy is Very inconsistent with her personality.
Luckily, Joss Whedon didn’t listen to Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Buffy didn’t end up with Xander or anyone else at the end of season seven. appropriate. Once again, Doom saves a world she can’t fully enjoy. But let’s face it: wouldn’t it be better to be alone than to end up with Xander?
