The Body, the 16th episode in Buffy The Vampire Slayers fifth season, is one of the most emotionally affecting, disturbing hours of television ever broadcast.
Transcending the cult fantasy of the shows origins, The Body is a harrowing descent into grief and loss, where Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar in the performance of her life), used to saving the day, discovers the corpse of her already-dead mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland).
There is no last minute reprieve or deus ex machina to take away Buffys pain. Joyces death is final and absolute, like Uncle Ben or Harry Potters parents.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Buffys creator and showrunner, Joss Whedon, opens up on how his own experiences of loss informed his decision to create what is, still, most probably the greatest example of the power of television in modern times.
You know, [the episode] did a lot of stuff I didnt mean for it to do, Joss admits. In the sense of, I just wanted to tell a story about grief, in particular its dull eccentricities. I didnt want any lessons, I didnt want any catharsis.
And then, so many people were able to deal with their own grief because they watched it and I was so shocked by that.
Ultimately, like other great fantasy epics, Buffy is a moral fable, about resilience and hope in the face of evil and of the power of women. But all these lessons, as Joss says, are stripped bare in the Body. This is not a comfortable watch for the viewer. Once you watch it, you do not have the urge to watch it again.
It doesnt give you anything, the writer explains, Death is the thing [Buffy] cannot fight, but it also renders her meaningless. Shes not on a lot of committees, she doesnt have a lot of hobbies, it takes away her identity.
And, indeed, Buffys grief does change her. In a way, we connect it to Ari Asters 2019 horror film Midsommar, where Florence Pughs Dani is quite literally transformed by her trauma. Although there are no weird Swedish cults in The Body, Buffys loss does inform her decision, in the finale of season five, to sacrifice herself in the fight against goddess Glory (Clare Kramer).
If the episode feels personal, well, thats because it is.
My mother died when I was 27 in a car crash, Joss reveals to us. But I didnt really think about mining [the experience] until around season three. This is the moment [Buffy] says I dont know, she hasnt [dealt with this] before.
There is a good kind of pain created from her situation that was particularly personal.
And, whether Joss realised it or not at the time, this loss permeates every scene and every line of dialogue in The Body, not in the least thanks to Sarah Michelle Gellars awe-inspiring performance, which should still be looked at today as the bench-mark for the kind of mastery actors can achieve through long-running stints on a TV show. At this point, Gellar had been playing the titular slayer for five years, and The Body utilises every one of her powers.
I knew Sarah could do it all, the Avengers director said. When you have been working with a cast for a long time, you know their abilities.
Its still beautiful every time I watch it and my heart breaks.
The most visceral peak of the episode is at the very start, where Buffy comes home to discover her mother lying dead on the floor. With little to no music accompaniment on the soundtrack, were left to watch our heroine slowly drown in her own grief.
Its not just a crying scene, Joss says on the discovery, the emotional lynch-pin of the experience. Its so much more primal and less forgiving, she didnt have any music either. She just had to experience it.
The day we shot the stuff with her in the house and Joyces body, that was a single take for a really long time. She was, and like the cameraman and everybody there, brought their game so hard.
The loss of non-diegetic music the soundtrack that would normally play over particularly emotional or scary moments in an episode also came about from Joss conversation with his lead actress on a previous day of shooting.
The no music thing partially came from me saying to Sarah after a scene with her and Giles That was so beautiful, I can hear exactly when the music is going to come in.
She said to me, you know thats not exactly what an actor wants to hear. And then I was like, oh yeah, I rely too heavily on music.
There is something extremely important about this episode not having music because music tells you where to go, its like, whats happened? You dont know where were headed, or what to think.
Joss says that the experience of this grief is, you know, a band-aid in the process of being ripped off And once its off, its off. Its so airless.
The Body is the ultimate example of the power of television. Transcending genre and demographic, Buffy a show already setting a legacy for innovative story-telling and performances that still influences shows such as Doctor Who today becomes timeless through this 60 minutes.
I think [The Body] is probably the best thing Ive done and the best thing I will ever do, Joss admits.
And Im OK with that. You know, there are worse epitaphs.
Buffy The Vampire Slayers seasons 1-7 are available to stream now on Amazon Prime Video.
Got a story?
If youve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with theMetro.co.ukentertainment team by emailing uscelebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page wed love to hear from you.
MORE: Buffy The Vampire Slayer ended 17 years ago: Where are the cast now?
MORE: Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator would make Willow bisexual in modern-day remake after being persuaded against it: Were not ready for that
View post:
Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator on how tragedy helped create The Body - Metro.co.uk
- Civil War is beating vampires, spies, and big gorillas in its second week at the box office - The A.V. Club - April 22nd, 2024
- Meet Alisha Weir, The 14-Year-Old Breakout Star Of Universals Vampire Flick Abigail - Deadline - April 22nd, 2024
- Transylvania Is Famous For Vampires, But Also Has Lots Of Grizzlies And Wolves - Cowboy State Daily - April 22nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Cast Explains Why Your Friends Should Watch - Bleeding Cool News - April 22nd, 2024
- Marvel 'Blade' Reboot With Mahershala Ali Going Back To Basics Of "Killing Vampires - Bounding Into Comics - April 22nd, 2024
- Interview With The Vampire Got A Sequel 22 Years Ago, But Not Like You Think - Screen Rant - April 22nd, 2024
- First Trailer for Reginald the Vampire Season 2 Teases a Vampires vs. Angels Showdown - Syfy - April 22nd, 2024
- Kathryn Newton Talks Sinking Her Teeth Into Vampire Thriller 'Abigail' - Forbes - April 21st, 2024
- 'Vampire' bacteria thirst for human blood and cause deadly infections as they feed - Livescience.com - April 21st, 2024
- Some Microbes Are Tiny 'Vampires' With a Deadly Attraction to Human Blood - ScienceAlert - April 21st, 2024
- Common gut bacteria behave like vampires to target human blood - Earth.com - April 21st, 2024
- Now Playing in Memphis: Vampires, Sasquatches, and Monkey Man - Memphis Flyer - April 21st, 2024
- Dancing Vampires, Furry Families and More in Movies - Columbus Underground - April 21st, 2024
- New 'Interview with the Vampire' teaser reveals the laws of being a vampire - Mashable - April 21st, 2024
- The Vampire Rules In Abigail (And How They Change The Horror Game) Explained - SlashFilm - April 21st, 2024
- Blade's MCU Problems Ignore How Easy It Should Be To Make His Perfect Movie - Screen Rant - April 21st, 2024
- Being Human Werewolves, Vampires, and Ghosts! Four Seasons Streaming Right Now on SCREAMBOX! - Bloody Disgusting - April 21st, 2024
- Upcoming horror movies: Where and when to watch werewolves, vampires, and assorted monsters, oh my! - Popverse - April 21st, 2024
- One of the Very First Horror Westerns Started Out as a Joke - Collider - April 21st, 2024
- "Blade killing vampires..": Marvel is Giving Fans What They Exactly Want With Mahershala Ali's MCU Movie, Industry ... - FandomWire - April 21st, 2024
- Reports Reveal the Original Concept of the Blade Movie Before it was Simplified to Blade Just Killing Vampires - imdb - April 21st, 2024
- Who Lives? Who Dies? And Was That [Spoiler]? The Ending of Abigail, Explained - Syfy - April 21st, 2024
- THESE vampires drawn to human blood could be inside your body Know how they can kill you - The Financial Express - April 21st, 2024
- Concern over Vampire Bacteria and more - WGN TV Chicago - April 21st, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries' Stefan Without One Key Factor - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 21st, 2024
- Abigail Takes a Bloody Delightful Bite Out of the Vampire Genre - Gizmodo - April 21st, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire: Reid, Anderson Walk Us Through Season 1 - Bleeding Cool News - April 21st, 2024
- Woman's blood-drained corpse is found in Italian church where she had been searching for ghosts: Victim, 22, - Daily Mail - April 12th, 2024
- My latest Game Pass obsession is a vampire-punching action game that could be Red Dead Redemption 2's wacky ... - Gamesradar - April 12th, 2024
- Lindy Ryan on Setting a Vampire Novel in a Small Texas Town - CrimeReads - April 12th, 2024
- 14 Actors Who Appeared In Both Supernatural & The Vampire Diaries - Screen Rant - April 12th, 2024
- Coachella 2024: How to Stream Every Performance on YouTube - Vulture - April 12th, 2024
- Back to the 80s: 'Lost boys' The State Hornet - StateHornet.com - April 12th, 2024
- Slay the Spire 2, Vampire Survivors meets Contra, and other Triple-i games - Ars Technica - April 12th, 2024
- How Vampire Weekend Mastered The Five-Albums Test - UPROXX - April 12th, 2024
- Abigail Directors Tease A Fresh Spin On Vampires That's "Very Much Us" - Screen Rant - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Livestreamed Their Solar Eclipse Album Release Show: Watch - Stereogum - April 12th, 2024
- Fan favorite vampire films among those coming to a theater near you - WAPT Jackson - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Reckon With the Divine (Again) on Only God Was Above Us - Spin - April 12th, 2024
- Review | Vampire Weekend have grown into their boat shoes - The Washington Post - April 12th, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire season 2: Release date, cast, and more - Android Authority - April 12th, 2024
- Upcoming horror movie Nosferatu debuted a trailer behind closed doors, and apparently Bill Skarsgrd's vampire is ... - Gamesradar - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend's 'Only God Was Above Us': All 10 Tracks Ranked - Billboard - April 12th, 2024
- Abigail Has Screened, And Critics Are Calling The Bloody Vampire Horror One Of The Best Movies Of 2024 - CinemaBlend - April 12th, 2024
- When Kirsten Dunst revealed the special gift Interview With a Vampire co-star Tom Cruise sends her every year - Hindustan Times - April 12th, 2024
- He is cooking with this cast: Ryan Coogler's Vampire Movie With Michael B. Jordan Casts Another Marvel Star Hailee ... - FandomWire - April 12th, 2024
- Ryan Cooglers Untitled Vampire Thriller Adds 2 More to Cast - ComingSoon.net - April 12th, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries Improved After This Character Left the Show - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 2nd, 2024
- Paul Wesley Shares Only Way He'd Appear in Another Vampire Diaries Show - E! Online - E! NEWS - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview With the Vampire Releases New Season 2 Trailer Ahead of May Premiere Watch - Yahoo Finance UK - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire season 2 drops second trailer at AMC - Sportskeeda - April 2nd, 2024
- A Major 'Twilight' Star Is Down To Return For The TV Show, So Bring On The Sparkly Vampires - Yahoo! Voices - April 2nd, 2024
- 'Vampire' neutron star blasts are related to jets traveling at near-light speeds - Space.com - April 2nd, 2024
- Louis Is Haunted by the Past in New 'Interview with the Vampire' Season 2 Trailer - Collider - April 2nd, 2024
- A Vampire's Face Has Reemerged From a Centuries-Old Shroud - AOL - April 2nd, 2024
- Video: AMC Networks Releases a Second New Trailer and Key Art for Season Two of "Anne Rice's Interview with the ... - The Futon Critic - April 2nd, 2024
- Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Presents a Rather Different Kind of Teen Angst - Reactor - April 2nd, 2024
- Shiki And 7 Other Vampire-Themed Anime Series For A Blood Curdling Binge-Watch - AugustMan Thailand - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Trailer: Memories of Claudia - Bleeding Cool News - April 2nd, 2024
- Harvey Guilln Says Goodbye to the Mansion in 'What We Do in the Shadows' Season 6 Set Image - Collider - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Trailer Set for Sunday Night - Bleeding Cool News - April 2nd, 2024
- Vampire Weekend share new single 'Mary Boone' and announce UK and European tour - NME - April 2nd, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries Cast: Where are they now? From Ian Somerhalder to Nina Dobrev - 9Entertainment - April 2nd, 2024
- Zendaya Starring in Remake of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'? - Snopes.com - April 2nd, 2024
- The Best Vampire Movie Never Says The Word 'Vampire', Stream This Dark R-Rated Horror Hidden Gem - Giant Freakin Robot - April 2nd, 2024
- V Rising gets the crossover every self-respecting vampire wants: Castlevania's Simon Belmont is coming to try and kill ... - PC Gamer - April 2nd, 2024
- Canadian imperialism and the Gaza genocide: The contrived, right-wing furor over a cartoon depicting Netanyahu as a ... - WSWS - April 2nd, 2024
- Is This a Real Photo of Vampire Queen 'Madam Violet,' Voted UK's Scariest Woman Alive in the 1880s? - Snopes.com - March 16th, 2024
- The erotic 70s horror where lechy men turn into bloody-hungry vampires - Dazed - March 16th, 2024
- The vampires ball is coming to an end - Meduza - March 16th, 2024
- Oregon son, 56, who is accused of killing his mom by shoving a huge makeshift stake through her throat claims - Daily Mail - March 16th, 2024
- Muni Bond Games and the IRS' Lurking Arbitrage Vampires - Governing - March 16th, 2024
- Ball of vampires', nuke warning: Key takeaways from Putins interview - The Times of India - March 16th, 2024
- Putin compares western elites to 'VAMPIRES' who 'fill their bellies with human flesh' - GB News - March 16th, 2024
- Every Time Alaric Died In The Vampire Diaries & Legacies - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- V Rising declares a 1.0 release date, climbing from the grave of a years-long early access to become your next time ... - Yahoo Movies UK - March 16th, 2024
- 15 Actors That Could Play Edward Cullen in the Twilight TV Series - MovieWeb - March 16th, 2024
- BLOOD HUNT #1 Preview Releases A Horde Of Vampires On The Marvel Universe's Greatest Heroes - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - March 16th, 2024
- Man accused of killing mother in Siletz believed she was a vampire - Yahoo News - March 16th, 2024
- Stephen King approved 'Salem's Lot' movie to stream on Max this year - Yahoo Movies Canada - March 16th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero