What Happened To Oz On Buffy The Vampire Slayer? – Looper

In a 2003 interview with Salon, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon said Oz would have had a whole Season 4 storyline about him and the female werewolf Veruca (Paige Moss), who instead only shows up in three episodes. She encourages Oz to embrace his wolfish side. While Oz feels uncontrollably drawn to her, he is unable to stop himself from sleeping with her in his wolf form. He kills Veruca to protect Willow, then decides he needs to find a way to control his transformation and sets off on a journey of self-discovery.

He spends most of this time in Tibet with monks who train him in meditation and give him herbs and charms, which help him maintain control during a full moon. However, when he suddenly comes back in the Season 4 episode "New Moon Rising," he hopes to get back together with Willow. However, he loses control upon discovering that she and Tara (Amber Benson) are romantically involved. The strong emotions are too much for him, and he wolfs out. After getting kidnapped by the Initiative and then rescued, Oz decides he'd better go for real this time.

Oz wasn't supposed to leave forever, but a series of events led things that way. In a 2007 interview with The AV Club, Seth Green only wanted to take six episodes off to shoot the mobster movie "Knockaround Guys," but, ultimately, it was decided it'd be better for the story to write him off entirely. At the time, the actor revealed it felt like the writing was on the wall regarding an exit for Oz from "Buffy," especially because Green was getting other acting opportunities at the same time the hit show wasn't making full use of the werewolf character.

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What Happened To Oz On Buffy The Vampire Slayer? - Looper