Slayer Scribe

Who better to ask about the bran new series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer than scriptwriter Jane Espenson? So that's just what we did.

When it comes to good genre television, or anything on the box for that matter, who wouldn't want to pen an episode or 10 of the Emmy-worthy Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Well-crafted and witty, the show makes growing up as scary as the vampires the good guys frequently dust. While breaking into the creator Joss Whedon's pantheon of talented scrives is a tall order, it isn't necessarily mission: impossible either. Just ask writer Jane Espenson.

"I'd say write a really good spec of something that is not Buffy, like The West Wing," she advises. "Then get yourself an agent. There's different rules for those in different stages of their writing careers. For people who are just beginning, star out where there are some open doors. For people who are established and have an agent, just write yourself the best spec you can, because Joss knows quality. If you're out there writing good stuff and it gets in front of his eyes, he'll know it."

Ahh... that would explain Espenson's stranglehold on the Buffy universe. Coming from such TV fare as Dinosours and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Espenson's inagural Slayer story successfully grabbed an everyday event and thrust it into a supernatural framework.

"Band Candy was one of those very episodes that actually came from my original ida," says Espenson. "When I was initially being considered as a potential candidate to be hired for the show, I pitches those ideas to Joss, and one of those became band Candy. At the time, it was about coffee, not candy. It still had the Joyce/Giles relationship and 'What do you do when the parents start acting like teenagers' element. Joss responded to that right away. After I was hired, we talked more about that concept. I reworked the pitch so the band was selling steaks or meat. And Joss was like, 'Why would they be seeling mean?' And I was like, 'What about candy? We sold candy when I was in a band.' That made more sense."

Humour soon became one of Espenson's key signitures, but it was her soft spot for Jonathan which has made her a very prolific name among the show's fans.

"I always loved Jonathan," says Espenson. "He's a character that has been around for a very long time. When Joss had the idea for Superstar, I kind of threw myself on the project. You know, 'Let me write it! Let me write it!' I think he's a fascinating character and Danny Strong does a great job portraying him. I felt very fortunate to write that."

Superstar found Jonathan playing in Buffy's superher sandbox, after the controversial Earshot had explored the character's inner mechanics in a failed suicide attempt. With the Columbine tragedy earlier that year, the episode was initally shelved for a short period of time, a move Espenson applauds. "I was actually in favour of that," she states. "I don't think that episode would have played out on the way it was intended if it had aired when it was origianlly scheduled. It was supposed to have both humour and meaning that would have gotten lost. It was more appropriate when they showed it because the humour came through and there was enough distance that you could get the message: 'Here's why you feel like bringing a gun to school, and here's why that's not the answer'."

Ironically, despite her exceptional grasp of Jonathan's geeky angst, it's a certain vengeance demon-human-turned-vengeance demon that actually ranks as Espenson's favourite Scooby. "I really enjoy writing for Anya because everything she says is funny," she reveals. "And I like that she is very different and has a different outlook on the world. The fact that she was a demon makes it very funny. Anya is also the most like me. She has an intolerance for social niceties and a tendency to be very blunt and direct. She also has a confusion about children that I identify with."

Intolerance for social niceties? That description is kind of hard to swallow considering how darn, well, nice, Espenson appears to be. While driving to L.A., she even took the time to outline the Buffy writing process. "It's done in a highly ridiculous manner," jokes Espenson about how the stories are allotted. "They rotate through the staff in order and people are able to make special requests for an episode or opt out of one. Generally, Joss or Marti Noxon write the season opener, David Fury will write the next one, I write the one after that it goes in order of seniority."

"We don't actually start writing until it's what we call 'broken'" contiunes Espenson. "That's the term we use to know everything that is going to happen, the themes, and what to expect. By the time we actually sit down to write a draft, it can take anywhere from three days to two weeks. In general, when you're given two weeks, you still get it done in the first five days and then spend the rest of the time polishing it."

"However, one thing the staff never utter during these story jam meeting si, 'I don't think that works or maybe that character wouldn't do that.' Instead, the Buffy crew tries to offer positive criticism. That doesn't mean every brilliant idea translates into an even more spellbinding episode. Espenson admits, despite tinkering, some plots simply just don't pan out. "There was one episode that was like the movie Liar, Liar, where Buffy can't stop saying the truth and revealing all their secrets. When we came up with Once More, With Feeling, we realised that was at the core of the musical. Then there was one about a reflection in the mirror which had a life of its own. There have been a couple of concepts which we really loved but once we started working on them... The famous one was the box that makes you crazy. Every time we tried to break it, it wouldn't break. It finally ended up sort of becoming the seed of an Angel episode called The Shroud of Rahmon. It just never worked for Buffy."

Right up until this point, Espenson has been pretty chatty, but that soon comes to a screeching halt when the conversation begins to turn towards, yep, you guessed it, spoilers for Season Seven. But don't despair. Like any good PR agent, she drops enough tasty teasers to stir up curiosity and anticipation. "We are talking about incorporating the feeling of Buffy year one," reveals Espenson. "We want to show different colours that the previous year. We saw a lot of dark recently. It also feels light in terms of the ages our characters are getting to be and the original concept of the show. It's hard to articulate, but to all of us it feels right. This is the time to go back and look at the beginning and say, 'This is our core show. Remember Buffy, Xander and Willow? this is where we started and this is still what we're about.'

"It's kind of coming back home. We already know who the season's villain is going to be and it's pretty darn good. I think I can hint it's someone we've encountered before." Yet even with a Buffy-lite theme, there are still some heavy duty elements that need to be dealt with.

"The Buffy/Spike relationship has been left in a very strange place, so that will obviously be picked up again. We just saw Tara get shot so there will be repercussions with Willow dealing with it. I would not be surprised if we saw Jonathan and Andrew again. And Anya is a vengeance demon, so that won't be going away overnight."

As for the retur of certain beloved heroes and villains that fans have been clamouring for, well, anything is possible. Recently it was leaked out that bad girl Faith would be popping by, and while at the time of this interview nothing had been confirmed, it's obviosu even then that the imagination wheels were turning in overdrive. "Faith and Drusilla are very hard to get," Espenson. "I think we'd be very happy, particularly with Faith, to have them again. I believe that Joss indicated if she came back it might be on Angel. That's just me talking out of my bottom because I'm not certain about that. Drusilla we had trouble getting in the past, but she might be very useful with Spike. As for Oz, Seth Green was actually in the office a couple of weeks ago and boy, would we ever like to work with him. I have nothing concrete though."

In addition to her regular duties, Espenson confirmed she will be contributing to Whedon's new Sci-Fi Space series Firefly. The busy writer also contributed to the planned Buffy the Vampire Slayer cartoon, which has now unfortunately been shelved.

"The animated series is set during Season One, so this is the original breezy feeling I was talking about earlier," says Espenson. "These stores are self-contained and Angel is around, but we don't know they are headed towards a relationship yet. It doesn't have a lot of angst, so it is all humour and action. And because it's animation, we can go places we couldn't on the show. We can have an enormous Chimera monster and then it shapeshifts into another form. There's [something] very creative about that."

"My episodes are very metaphorical. One of them is about shcool lunch. We all know there is something wrong and possibly supernatural about cafeteria food, so here's the explanation."

With all the time Espenson has spent developing the Buffy mythology and with this possibly being the last season, there's still an important question that beckons to be answered, especially since the first three years' emotional depth largely revolved around them: are Buffy and Angel ever going to hook up? Along with millions of hopeful spectators, Espenson would like to think so. "I think in the world after the series ends, Buffy and Angel will find each other," she offers. "It's still not going to end well, because she's going to age and he won't, but there's a prophecy that Angel will get to be human again. So you know what, it could really work out."