Buffy Finally Met Her Match 26 Years Ago, With a Battle That Fans Were Waiting to See (And A Twist No One Guessed)

26 years ago, the cult classic television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired its fifth season premiere. Over the previous four seasons, Buffy faced dozens of enemies, including the Master, wayward Slayer Faith, evil Mayor Richard Wilkins, and demon-human hybrids, in addition to her usual vampires. As with most serialized television, Buffy the Vampire Slayer faced the age-old question of how it was going to follow up the previous seasons and what stakes — pun intended because Buffy is a vampire show — the new season would have. 

The premiere was met with mixed reception. With its status as a comedy-drama, Buffy leaned into humor just as often as it leaned into melodrama. Fans loved Buffy for its sense of humor, a quick wit that quickly became synonymous with creator Joss Whedon. Yet, when setting up stakes and a conflict for audiences to buy into, sometimes leaning too much into humor can work against the show. Fans thought that an episode centered around Buffy finally meeting her match shouldn’t be so glib. 

Buffy meeting her match meant coming up against the popular vampire in pop culture — the dark prince himself — Count Dracula. “Buffy vs Dracula” writer Marti Noxon had pitched the episode to Whedon as Buffy meeting a vampire who could show Buffy a darker version of herself, and it was Whedon who suggested Dracula. The character exists in the public domain after all. 

Mixed Reception to an Awaited Battle

“Buffy vs. Dracula” takes many of the tropes associated with the many adaptations of the Bram Stoker novel Dracula and flits its ensemble cast in and out of them. Buffy is bitten by Dracula and experiences the thrall associated with the final girl, Mina Harker. The frequent butt of the joke, Xander, takes the role of Renfield and becomes a minion for Dracula. Even Giles, who is frequently knocked out before seeing action, gets to meet the Three Sisters as mentioned in Dracula.

On its face, the episode should be a hit. Audiences love Dracula stories, given the persistence of remakes and reimaginings of the tale. Dracula is this imposing figure, looming over pop culture, and it didn’t land as well when the episode didn’t properly engage with it. The episode delights in having a laugh, devoting more time to the ensemble reacting to Dracula’s existence than developing Dracula himself and what his existence would mean for the show’s mythos. 

Dracula supposedly came to Sunnydale for Buffy and presents himself as a dark mirror to Giles, albeit with the Dracula-typical sexual overtones. Dracula has knowledge to impart about Buffy’s history, her power, and her body. He insists they’re kindred spirits given that they are always alone, and more than anything, Dracula exists to foreshadow the emotional journey Buffy’s going to continue rather than to exist as a foe in his own right. 

The crux of the battle between Buffy and Dracula doesn’t kick off until she drinks his blood and is able to snap out of the thrall. She calls the blood disgusting — the episode once again leans into humor, almost as a crutch — and calls out his numerous fake deaths, where she reminds him that she’s seen his movies and knows that he always comes back. By the end, Dracula is not as much defeated for good, but rather Buffy has decided that she’s done and leaves.  

The biggest impact Dracula has is getting Buffy to ask Giles to be her watcher again. Buffy has taken Dracula at his word and believes that he knows her better than she does. To get her sense of self and power back, Buffy believes she needs to learn more about her history and previous slayers.

The Episode’s Twist

As delightful as Dracula is, the episode is more remembered for the twist at the end of it. Given that it’s a season premiere, “Buffy vs. Dracula” sets up numerous threads for the season. Giles initially planned to go back to England before agreeing to step back into his role as Buffy’s watcher, Xander decided he had enough of being the butt-monkey, and Buffy and her mom agreed to make dinners a more regular thing given how quiet the house is. 

It is the third thread that is picked up most immediately at the end of the episode when the house isn’t as quiet and empty as Buffy expects it to be. She finds a teenage girl in her room and asks what she’s doing there. Despite going out for the evening, Buffy’s mom tells her to take her sister, at which point the girls object, and the episode ends. As fans gasped, the twist was that Buffy hadn’t had a sister in the previous seasons, even though she suddenly had one now. 

Buffy’s sister, Dawn Summers, was a controversial addition to the show. Many fans found the character annoying and too immature for her age. In season five, she functioned as a plot device, given her real identity as a literal orb of light known as The Key. Still, it’s admirable for the big swing that it was. Giving Buffy a little sister gave reason for the Summers family to get narrative time during a period when Buffy wouldn’t be at home because of college. Buffy’s life as a Slayer had always been difficult, but now she needed to navigate what it meant to be a big sister, leading to the season ending with her sacrificing herself for Dawn. 

Ultimately, “Buffy vs. Dracula” is a solid start to the season and worth revisiting even 26 years later. What are your thoughts on the episode? Did you hope that Buffy’s clash with Dracula would go differently? Let us know in the comments below!

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