END OF DAYS

Buffy Summers bid adieu to her loyal audience with some genuine shocks and more than a few dead bodies. Writer/producer DAVID FURY talks exclusively to dreamwatch about BUFFY's final days.
Words: John Mosby

It's the last days of February and the start of spring in California. Outside the sun shines. Inside the Mutant Enemy building, things are much darker and full of foreboding. Though this is the same week that Eliza Dushku formally rules out a spin-off and Sarah Michelle Gellar confirms she is hanging up her girl-power T-shirt for a more sparkly one on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, there are still more secrets in this piece of Santa Monica real estate to be uncovered...
    For months speculation has been rife. Now most know what happened: Buffy bowed out on 20 May in the US and a week later in the UK. But some folks may not know how it all ends. BBC viewers will have to wait almost an entire year. Fans have been pouring over illicit scripts that have appeared on the 'net (often incomplete or misleading), studied every press release and share speculation on the final hours of this smash hit. While many great seroes suddenly depart from the schedules at the mercy of unseen network bean counters and with no visible exit-strategy (Firefly, anyone?), the Slayer's swansong has been planned for a long time. This means that Buffy creator Joss Whedon and his talented minions could torture us like never before and that the stakes (every pun intended) could not be higher. Death won't only have dominion, she'll have the ratings and the critics feasting like inconsoblable and melancholy vultures. There is action, tragedy, victory and tears before bedtime. Well, would you expect anything less?
    David Fury settles down into a chair in his office and would smile if only he could muster the energy. Right now the pressure is high, the days are long and the end could not be nigh-er. As well as the work on the Buffy finale and the end of this season of Angel there was, until recently, all the speculation surrounding another Buffy spin-off.
    "Quite frankly, as far as I know, there is no 'next'. It was always about Faith and I was always for a Faith spin-offm" claims Fury. "Even three of four years ago I was pitching the idea of a Faith spin-off and when it finally became a [possible] reality, all the other spin-off ideas became second best. When Faith fell away, those second-best ideas still seemed second best. Eliza [Dushku] enjoys Faith, but I suspect it's more about just doing a new character. I'm sure Faith would be its own show and we'd have made its own identity, but because it would always be seen as a spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there'd always be that. Angel suffered from that prejudice and I don't think its ever been given its due. It seems the critics have been finding it more this year, slowly discvering it. But I think that Eliza's going to have a huge career whatever she does and as much as she loves playing Faith... I get [her reasons]. The project she is doing [Tru Calling], it's a high profile pilot and she really had to do it. But if it doesn't go [to a series]? Is there still some possibility Faith could happen at some pont? Six months from now could there be a Faith series? It oould happen."

Script Leaks

    With another spin-off now firmly on hold, the name of the gane is strict security on the remaining shows. As if Fury and Whedon didn't have enough work already, they are still trying to stop too many spoilers from hitting the web before the finale hits the screens. They want that pay-off in full.
    "Oh yeah. I hadn't even finished episode 17 and I head the script was on the 'net. I just got the outline in and the next day it was out there. We know that there's somebody who works here who does that... It makes us sad. It makes me sad that people want to read it. I understand their interest and their excitement, but you try to convey that you want the surprise, that you want it to be fresh. That's the most gratifying experience. It's sad. I'm sorry people print it. I'm sorry [Ain't It Cool News web-master] Harry Knowles feels compelled to post it. I mean... it's okay to tease it! It's one thing to say: "It's got a great surprise ending and those people who love to see Buffy and Angel together will love this...' But when it comes down to saying, 'Here's what's going to happen. Here are the characters, Spike is going to do this, Buffy's going to do that...' Well, it was fun for us to write it and then people go and spoil it. I just hope people try to avoid that for the finale. Don't give in to the temptation, it'll be more fun. If you knew about Keyser Soze at the beginning of the Ususal Suspects it's not as much fun!"
    However, with a huge degree of trust, David Fury is willing to spill some of the biggest beans an explain why certain decisions were made. Which is good - because dreamwatch readers will be demanding nothing less.
    "What's happening on Buffy? War! Coincidentally as we are going to war here in America, we are gearing up to a climactic battle of 'Good vs Evil'. The First Evil will be bringing up an army from the Hellmouth, an army of Ubervamps. You've seen a glimpse at the end of Get It Done, butit'll be even cooler when we actually have a lot of actors rather than a thousand animated characters. It will spell the end of Sunnydale and it will spell the end of some of our beloved characters. Some will die... some horribly, some nobly..." Fury rubs his beard and his face darkens, maybe it's the sun through the window. Maybe not. "t seems to be the perfect cap to what the series is all about. It carries on the whole mythology... Even faithful onto Fray, the comic Joss did about the future Slayer. We're playing off elements of that and it's kinda fun to connect those dots. Angel will be visting and people will be happy to know that Buffy and Angel have more screen-time together, before Buffy goes off into the sunset."
    Fury admits that almost everyone feels this was the time to draw this chapter of the 'Jossverse' to a close. Professinally some people want to move on and the story has reached its natural (or should that be unnatural) apex.
    "I think the whole thing plays very poetically. We've taken Buffy full circle. We've taken her to Hell and back... literally. It's bee life and death and ultimately she's fighting, waging a war with an army of girls just like her and whom she will empower. The whole notion of the idea that the Slayer must stand alone... the thing that Buffy has seen is that all the previous Slayers have pretty much been solitary figures but that she has gathered strength from her family and loved ones. Buffy is learning to stand alone this season because she's had to...But what will happen is that she will find a way that means that no Slayer will ever have to stand alone again."
    With the whole 'been there, done that' aspect of killing Buffy, it's no great surprise that Mutant Enemy saw fit not to have their heroine join the invisible choir once more. That's not to say the chorus didn't have a certain Greek feel. As is typical of Whedon and company, there's always a price to be paid... and those aforementions sunsets aren't always that healthy for everyone. Despite nuggets of information that did escape the Mutant Enemy walls between February and May and some genuinely misleading information (that, if it wasn't deliberately designed to make fans make certain presumptions, certainly ended up doing so), things were never going to work out the way people expected.

Spiking Spike

So, yes, let's talk Spike. In modern genre TV there has seldom been a character with such a well-defined, universally analysed and perfectly bittersweet development. The praise must be shared equally between the writers who gave him those words and the actor who gave him that face and swagger. Despite the finale of Buffy, or maybe even a little because of it, James Marsters and his leather jacket will probably have the same immortal impact on pop culture as the Fonz from Happy Days!
    "Spike and Buffy also have beautiful moments together as their relationship blossoms. It's not quite what Buffy and Angel were. It's not quite what Spike and Buffy were... it's something else. It's respectful of what's gone before. The concept was that Spike would be spun off with Faith. Her one single companion was going to be Spike. But the thing is..."
    Furt pauses. It's a long and perfect pause. Almost Oscar-worthy. Then comes the pay-off, the big revaltions and it's finally out there. "The thing is... Spike dies. It's a great sacrifice and that's all I'll say. The spin-off would have had Faith... and the ghost of Spike. That was the premise. We knew she was going to have someone with her and we weren't sure who it was going to be. Joss came up with that idea. So it would have been a Spike/Faith spin-off.
    "There's been no other talk about Spike. The thing is," Fury continues, "he's hard character to do a spin-off around. He's a comflicted character and now he's a 'vampire with a soul' - there's a danger that we've already explored some of that territory on Angel. Although he's different, we've already explored that kind of arena of looking for redemption, if he isn't looking for redemption then he's just a bad guy and do we want to watch a show about that? He isn't easy to spin-off. Except as a foil or romantic interest."
    But Fury us quick to point out that Marsters has proven to be a favourite amongst not just viewers but also everyone at Mutant Enemy. They are fully aware of the impact the actor made on the show and how his demise will send echoes though the fandom and beyond. Ask Fury if he'd work with Marsters again and he doesn't even let you finish the sentence. "God help me... if I can find something for James to do, I'd love to!"

Full Circle

Fury loves the fact that a final season allows some greater risks and nods to the past and its mythology. If viewers feel the wheel has indeed come full circle then it's partly down to those references that have been scattered through the season.
    "The only script I'm fully credited with so far is Showtime. The thing I did in that was... Well, I referenced a lot of episodes in that. I end the teaser with 'Welcome to the Hellmouth', which goes back to the pilot. Buffy says to the potentials 'Here endeth the lesson.' That's actually a line said by Spike to Buffy in 'Fool For Love, after he told er about how he killed other Slayers. Of course, we ripped off that from The Untouchables," he laughs. "Regardless, it was a conscious effort to have audio and visual references to the past. That's pretty much what this season has been about - visiting our past characters, past problems. We're doing it because it has resonance."
    So where does Mutant Enemy go from here? The Giles/Ripper series looks to have stalled or may transform to a TV movie. The much-mooted animated series is undead in the water and live-action Buffy may never see the light of night. "I think the animated series is pretty much a no-go, which is unfortunate. There's always talk of a movie. There are complicated legal matters because there is so much ownership claimed on the show, that Joss has to ask himself whether it's worth it for him to do. Does he want to continue the Buffy franchise and make other people - who have nothing to do with the show - rich? If there was a Buffy movie it would be a process that was dragged out for a very long time. I could personally see a television movie, something that reunited the characters. I could see that being done. It's too early to say."
    At the time of writing, the continuation of Angel looks far from certain, but the production company remains hopeful that it will still be around for the 2003/4 schedule - albeit with a literal case of a little revamping. Either way, the current season of the show will round-off important parts of the ongoing story arcs.
    "Yeah. It's giving a reason for everything. It's explaining Conner. It's explaining Cordelia and her trip to the Powers-That-Be-ville. For all the people going 'Huh? What? Why?' we're answering all those questions. I love that. Personally I feel we leave things open too long. We don't always have all the answers and Joss isn't a stickler for tying up all loose ends, but I always want to know 'Why?' sometimes we just let the fans figure it out!" he admits. "We've had to be slightly more aware of continuity this season. For instance, in Angel LA was thrust into eternal darkness. The question became 'is it just LA?@ What's going on in Sunnydale? On Angel we'll see a worldwide development with that which will affect every city in every country, everyone... except Sunnydale! I think we might even put that line in: 'It's everywhere... except this small town in California!.'"
    When it comes to his own future, David Fury - like many of the Mutant Enemy staff - has to balance being hopeful with being pragmatic. "I have lots of offers to do lots of things. I'd like to stay with Angel for another year. I'd like to see it through to the end. That aside, I'm being asked to develop shows. Tim Minear and I have talked about developing things together. But there's nothing specific at the moment... I'll let fate play its hand and we'll see where the cards lie. If Angel goes away, there's no spin-off from Buffy... Then yeah, I'd be somewhere else, but they know where to find me. It's similar to the situation with David Greenwalt. He went off to do Miracles and I hoped that he would be successful. I hope to work with one or more of these people again."
    It seems that Buffy - and those behind her - will not go gently into that dark night. Somehow we always knew they never would.