Damn near 30 years later and people still talking about "The Council should pay the Slayer" 😂😂😂😂. They never wanted Slayers surviving into adulthood hence designing the Cruciamentum. If you didn't die before age 18 they were definitely going to try to kill you.
Yep. Robin's mom survived past 18, and she broke the Council's rules by having a child. Buffy survived past 18, and she told the Council to F themselves. I'm sure they weren't the first Slayers to brake the rules, either - which is probably why the Council set up their serious attempt to murder Slayers on their 18th birthday.
*Throws sword* pay me or I'll sick my vampire boyfriend on you the two best lines in Helpless (not including Bangel moments) were imo, " *trembling hand hlods up empty Holy Water jar* "If I were at full Slayer power I'd be punning right about now." and *Looks up angrily with tears still about to drip* "Bite, me." I wonder what it would be like for there to be Buffy, Kendra, and Faith at the same time what would Kendra react like when Faith killed the Vice Mayor dude
Buffy's was even more unfair since she had to save her mom stop the roded up vamp w/o powers and survive she of course was spectacular no doubt about it, but legal action should have caught Quentin's tail.
The way that Jesse wasn’t mentioned another single time after that is ridiculous. Especially when Willow and Xander would have their reminiscing childhood moments, like he didn’t even exist.😭
There's a theory that there was a time jump between The Harvest and Witch and their grieving period isn't shown. There's another theory that Jesse just wasn't as close to Xander and Willow as we think. I think we all had associates in school that we didn't talk to outside of school but maybe sat with at lunch or in a class or talked shortly with in the halls. I think that's what Jesse was to Willow and Xander.
If you look at Xander in E1, he's a lot less pervy than he is later on. I think once Jesse was gone, Xander stated saying some of his comments. I think it's why Willow didn't get upset with them until later on in the series and if anything seemed amused with the comments.
I get your point, but from a writer's perspective, it is reasonable to not talk about Jesse. Jesse was present for only 1 episode and killed off, with a brief cameo in the second episode. People who discovered the show at the third episode or later would not know Jesse, nor understand why people talked so much about him. The writers would need to flesh out a whole character who is not there anymore for viewers who would not care about him.
I think it was also due to the fact Jesse wasn't Xander's friend as long as WIllow was. him and Willow have been friends since preschool. Xander could have just met Jesse during their freshman year of high school. plus, throughout the show, Xander has had a habit of not talking much about his pain or inner struggles, unless it came to dating in a way. he never talked much about his abusive home life, we've only heard hints to it. ( plus it was made clear by Willow's actions towards Jesse that she wasn't as close to him as Xander was. he was kind of a third wheel to their friendship. it wasn't until Buffy that both Willow and Xander both became besties with a third. ) Idk, its just what I think. I think it did really impact Xander, he just doesn't talk about it. its one of the things he just kept to himself, and maybe since that, its why Willow and Buffy never mentioned him again too, 'cause Xander doesn't like to talk about it/him.
I am still upset by the fact that the BTVS powers that be killed the Kendra Young character. I thought that Kendra was a beautiful, endearing, and fascinating character who deserved to survive, change, and thrive. I also agree with you that she and Buffy would have become great friends and a powerhouse team.
With Dru being Dru, those nails are all natural. The only way she could have learned about acrylic nails is Spike, and I think he would avoid time saving measures when it comes to taking care of his Dark Princess.
A lot of great points! It's fun how Kendra and Faith were both opposites of who Buffy was at those two phases of her life - Kendra was dutiful when Buffy was unorthodox, Faith was wild when Buffy had become disciplined. Yet Kendra and Faith were loners with nothing else in their life other than being The Slayer. And has been reinforced throughout the show, Buffy was surrounded by friends, which made all the difference.
It's exactly what Spike said to Buffy in one episode. He refers to the fact that "if she has survived it is only because she has family and friends", this is what other slayers never had. When Spike killed 2 Slayers, he told Buffy something like (not literal) that "...I didn't defeat them because I was better than them in fighting technique... I defeated them because deep down they wanted to die." ...."
@@joak707 This is just my opinion, but I don't totally buy Spike's assertion that all Slayers have a d3athwish. Both Slayers that Spike killed did have immediate family. (I'm fairly new here so I'm not sure what I can reveal, but iyk,yk) While Spike has shown himself to be insightful, and maybe they all had moments similar to Buffy in the Magic Shop (S5) - moments of just wishing they were free of their burden, that's far from a d-wish. If anything, Spike's been pursuing Vampire Slayers the second he learned of their existence! He runs towards them when other vamps run away from them... so who's really got the d-wish?
@@BenChanNYC The point I am referring to is that it is not that the slayers have self-destructive feelings, what I am saying is that their only objective is to hunt demons, vampires and nothing else and that by not being able to project a future like a normal person (having children, getting married ) is that they have those deep feelings "of wanting to die" and that's exactly where Spike takes advantage. It is not that they are prohibited from that normal life, but that they know that they risk too much if they do so, since it would compromise their work even more.
Kendra definitely left an impression despite her short tenure as slayer. Loved Bianca Lawson in the role. When she introduces her as the vampire slayer it is an iconic moment.
The tragedy of Kendra is that her fialty, as a child soldier at the behest of sycophants, prevented her from ever having a real life, an identity apart from what she was conditioned to do. There's a lot of things to dig into in terms of cultural contributions, both by the Watchers (who can be viewed as both father figures and politicians) and Kendra's country Jamaica (which has a real life history of this issue) in the willingness to allow young women to assume terrible risks. Obviously, the allegories aren't super clean, but there are parallels nonetheless. I agree with you that Kendra's downfall was ultimately that she allowed herself to believe she was disposable and thus she was.
Kendra and Faith were the two extremes: order/discipline and chaos/impulsive while Buffy was the mingling of both, making her more well rounded as a slayer and a person. They all lived their role of slayer, Kendra too rigidly, Faith too loosely, and Buffy continually walking the edge of both trying to find the balance. Gosh, when I put it in words it's like they're the three bears and Buffy is "just right". You're right about their watchers having some influence in the matter too. Kendra's watcher was obviously very by-the-book, while Faith's, well I don't know anything about the first one since she was killed by Kokistos, but her two watchers after that failed her miserably. Miss post wasn't even legit and she was evil to boot, and don't even get me started on Wesley. When Giles was governing both girls, they did improve, so his unconventional method isn't without merit
@@ryanbtalkstv if you read the “Tales of the Slayer” short story books the watchers are not all nice people - a lot of them are corrupt. The stories are written by the actual writers of the show so they all feel an episode. The books really highlight how many of The watchers were just out for themselves - only a few were good people who cared about their slayer. If you read the books you’ll be surprised lol I won’t spoil it. Maybe you could do a video about the Watchers? No one one RUclips has done a proper review of each slayer story or reviewed the books properly. I think you’d do it justice 💪🏼🩵
Silly as it sounds, I always wanted Kendra to come back. In some sort of glimpse into an alternative timeline, like the one episode that gave us Vampire WIllow, or if there was ever an instance where they were able to summon the spirit of a past slayer, but NOT the first slayer. . . I don't know, I'm always drawn to the more under utilized characters.
They definitely could. In the audible series, Cordelia is the slayer in an alternate dimension. Bianca Lawson is still able to pass as the same age as she was back then too, so it's possible lol
I always thought Kendra's outfit was chosen so she would blend in with the vampires more easily. It was completely utilitarian which fits her character.
I think that Drusilla was a much more powerful psychic than the Master. There is a theme in the Buffyverse about how intense emotional trauma can magnify natural psychic ability (see the Angel episode "Untouched" for one example), and Drusilla was already a powerful psychic before Angelus drove her insane. One thing I've wondered is that if the Key could be detected by psychics and the insane, and Drusilla has been a very strong dose of both, why she didn't seem to detect the Key during the Buffy episode "Crush". Maybe she didn't want Spike to know that she knew, because he would try to kill her, but that's just my speculation.
Drusilla is basically the vampire mirror of Buffy. She was a chosen one, given mystic powers and struggling with the responsibilities that came with them, who Angel became obsessed with. She's what Buffy could become if Angelus were to have his way with her. So on that I'd say she's on par with a slayer, just where a slayer's gift is mostly physical her's is mental. So I'd agree she surpasses the Master - the Master is really old and has had the time to learn some tricks, whereas her ability is innate. She's the psychic equivalent of a slayer, turned vampire. Maybe that was part of what motivated her to come when she did. She didn't want him getting entangled in that situation, knowing he'd probably get killed if he went up against a god.
I agree that Drusilla is very powerful but vampires get more powerful with age. The Master has very close sire lineage to the old ones and he's so old that he's outgrown having a human form. I think it's very unlikely that Drusilla is more powerful than him in anyway. Perhaps in visions but in the ability to enforce will on others, I doubt she'd be stronger. I haven't seen anything in the show, comics etc that would lead me to believe she would be...beside in the wardrobe department lol
Drucilla was weak PHYSICALLY, due to an attack by a mob. However, she had mystical powers BEFORE she was turned. Then her powers increased with her madness and turning, both done by Angelus.
I never really bought that notion, that a vampire could be weakened and die from a simple physical attack by an angry mob. I imagine magic of some kind was involved, but that's only supposition because we never got any explanation for how such a thing could otherwise happen, and it's poor writing to leave it up to the audience to engage in speculation that leads to bad fan-fic or retconning episodes that resolve a problem that could easily have been prevented with an extra bit of expository dialog from Giles.
I think at this point Drusilla was fully recovered from her attack by the mob. She also had mental powers before she became a vampire which probably helped.
@@Dunybrook But that still doesn't adequately explain why Drusilla required a magical ceremony involving the blood of her sire to help her recover her strength. Vampires are supposed to possess increased regenerative abilities, as evidenced by Spike having his arms severed, sown back on, and healing to the point he suffered no lasting effects.
I never liked how Kendra was created specifically to be killed off. Her downfall was being too by-the-book, too unwilling to ask questions when they were needed, simply follow instructions and go fight until the end. In a way, she served as the introduction of the audience to Faith, who was not only the exact opposite of Kendra, but the dark side of what happens when you take a girl who's had so rough a life and bequeath her power enough to take her revenge on the world. Fortunately, Faith got her redemption arc, but it could still easily have gone the other way. Originally, the plan was to have Buffy go dark, so I think if the Kendra character had been kept around she would've been the by-the-book no-nonsense Slayer who does her duty and helps bring Buffy back from the Abyss. But decisions were made behind the scenes to quash that idea-I suppose the suits didn't like the idea of the cute bubbly protagonist treading into villain territory. So that, I suspect, is why Kendra was killed off and Faith created to fulfill the Evil Slayer dynamic Whedon envisioned. I think the intent from the beginning was for Kendra to be only a temporary figure in Buffy's life and the character was always going to be killed off in some manner. But things went the way they did and it sort of all worked out.
Imagine if Kendra had been turned into a vampire at the end of season 2 - I saw a fan art picture of Kendra as a vampire and it’s so cool. They would have had an evil slaypire to contend with. Faith might have stayed good lol alternative universe/timeline ideas are so fun ❤
@@Elizalustof There actually was a Buffy comic book in which a former Slayer popped up as a vampire. I forget which publisher and series, but I'm sure it can be looked up.
@@TheWilkReport oh yes it was “Yuki Makimura” when she lost to the Master she didn’t want to die and he changed her. She became one of his followers. There were two more slayers in the “Tales of the Slayer” books that became vampires - one in Greenwich Village in 1950’s called Zoë Kuryakin and she was a beatnik. The other was Britta Kessler in 1923, Germany. The 4 book series “Tales of the slayer” are like the watchers diary’s. Whenever those diaries are on screen in the tv show it reminds me of the books lol
I can’t believe I never made the connection between Kendra’s upbringing and her susceptibility to hypnosis. I’ve watched this show at least twenty times since 1997, and that went completely over my head! You are extremely insightful, loving these videos.
Drusilla was an extremely powerful psychic. Angelus was drawn to her because of how powerful she was. He even said to drive someone with that type of power mad would be his greatest achievement. Buffy never fought Dru. At the beginning of ssn 2 Drusilla was weak because of whatever the mob in Prague did to her & after Angel turned she only fought Angelus. Drusilla was only in a one-on-one fight with Kendra and then Spike in the finale.
Drusillas psychic abilities shpuld not be under estimated. Perhaps Kendra lacked mental fortitude a little, but Giles was totally taken in by Drusilla as well not long after this. As for Buffy killing the Master, she was supercharged at the time on the masters own blood, making her temporarily much stronger than usual
The actress who plays kindra is a vampire she hasn't age in fact's she looks younger she started in so many teen show's too form the vampire diaries to teen Wolf to pll hopefully one she gets to be the star of her own show one day and when she said am the Slayer to buffy i had the same feeling when i saw that spiderman pointing meme 😂
I always thought that the idea of only one Slayer being activated at a time is ridiculous. I think we can assume that in the BTVS universe there are vampires all over the world, yet only one slayer at any given time has the slayer powers? That makes no sense. I also think that the Watchers council should have paid the slayers and paid them well.
My explanation has been maybe the original slayer was only meant to protect people in a specific region. Sineya was created so long ago that it was likely well before these tribes would consider the entire world. So maybe they made her into a slayer to protect their specific tribe/area and after her death the spell just replicated/activated another girl elsewhere and so on. That would possibly explain why Slayer's are born all over the world regardless of if that area has a heavy need for a slayer...demon-wise. That's just me throwing ideas at the wall though
Out of the video reviewers, yeah I agree. Most skim over the watcher exploitation angle. But in the fanfic community, it's been explored a lot. We've sort of gotten to the point in the over all discussion on the Watchers where yeah that's the obvious answer. But since it's a show about metaphors, very little is actually given a concrete answer. The Watchers are one of those things where fans had to make a lot of assumptions. Like most of us assume it's some giant organization with a bunch of money. But the fact that almost all of them got wiped out in one explosion seems to retcon them into a far smaller group. They could just be a very understaffed group making moral compromises to fight the greater evils. They could be the Patriarchy that is exploiting women (though Buffy as a show isn't about overturning the system, it really seems to be more about subverting the system until the final Season when it does seem to have been written with a feminist agenda). Or it could be a bunch of watchers all with different ideals working mostly independently around the world, with just the core group back in England being bad. Because out of all the watchers we see on screen, only about half seem to fully buy into the doctrine. The cruciamatum could very easily be a keep the slayer young and impressionable thing. Or it could be a relic from pre airplanes when it took months to cross an ocean. Back then if the WAtcher's got a prophecy about an apocalypse in Japan while the slayer was in spain, that could be an end of the world thing. So they let the slayer die in ceremonial combat so the next slayer gets called near the new apocalypse. That's what I wish more video reviewers would cover. How much of the series actually doesn't have clear answers.
I mourned Kendra and also wish we had more episodes with her in it. I do understand she was an instrument to the story but they could have kept her longer if there had been a stronger and longer clash of characters between her and Buffy. The impact of her death if we had gotten to know her even more, would have been even greater. And that would have been good for the show. After all, the watcher method of obedience did work for centuries. It is not like it was never effective.
I love Buffy. My fave show to this day. I remember the exact moment Kendra said she was the slayer. Never missed a single episode. But to this day, I will NEVER forgive Joss for the way he killed Kendra. 2 fingers!!!??? Ugh!! Thanks for this video
Admire you for saying that, I hate him too. I'm not forgiving him either, because he's a jerk he's not a good person. Did you know that he favored Eliza Dushku? That's why she was never killed off, and I never knew this until a couple of months ago this year. Because all these years I kept wondering what was so special about Faith? And I like and love Eliza by the way, she's so cool and sweet I never heard of her or seen her until I was 12. Because as a child my childhood friend and I watched some Buffy together then I stopped and didn't again until I was 12 season 5 episode no place like home. We stayed in a new house at the time back in 2001. I didn't know Faith at all but I saw her when they advertised the show and showing flashbacks from the past. It was when they showed her and Buffy in Bad Girls and the scene where they pulled their stakes out busting in the vampires lair and Faith had make up on and dark clothing. I didn't know who she was at the time because I stopped watching because my mind was gone, you know when you're a little kid how that goes. I didn't have my mind on Buffy. But I'm so glad I watched it it's one of my favorite shows. Anyway back to ED, they liked each other and went dancing sometimes, and he bullied Charisma Carpenter and called her fat when she was pregnant. That's why she was for the second time season 4 episode salvage and Faith is in it. She said he did pick favorites and he treated others badly especially and mostly women and he cheated on his wife that's why they broke up. That's why the character was kept alive because of the actress he had a thing for her and I'm glad I found this out I would've never known. And I'm never forgiving him for bullying that poor woman and he never apologized. And ED and others responded to her statement on Instagram I felt so bad for her. I hate Joss for life and he's not that cute. He's a mean horrible person he's not a good person.
And he could've bought Kendra back because the Kendra lovers and myself wanted it but I never cared for Kendra back then. And when that witch Faith took over some people forgotten about her. And a lot of people liked Kendra more than Faith and me too when I liked Faith but I don't like her anymore after she changed and did unforgivable things. She didn't deserve to live like Kendra did. They could've bought that beautiful woman back. And a lot of people gave her compliments saying she's pretty not too many people said this about Faith only a COULPE. So Kendra wins thank God and she just became my second favorite slayer a couple of months ago. So the slayer line runs through her forever and the actress retired for good for that role so she has to be recasted but doubt that'll happen. I just hope they do but I want the woman to favor her and have black hair, and I want her to look like how Faith looked on Angel season 1. I like and love her look, and Buffys and KENDRA'S. But that's why Joss career is ruined and he got punished for it and I'm glad he deserves it and to be forgotten and ignored. I never cared for him anyway I remember seeing his name on TV 📺 and I never seen what he looked like. I pray 🙏 they have a better man than him that can take over because he's a loser and nobody likes him. You just don't treat people that way it's unforgivable. And I read he also favored Amy Acker, and I think Alexis Denisof that's why they were on dollhouse together too. And I like that show I hate and wished it never got cancelled. And Eliza, Amy, and Alexis were all on Angel together. Then on Dollhouse I was so excited to happy to see them, and a character from Buffy was there, my girl Vi, one of the potentials and she's one of my favorites. But she was never on Joss' list though. I liked Faith in beginning but not anymore, I never liked Wesley, and I always liked Fred, never stopped and I hate she died, and that's how Illyria took over. And I like Illyria she's cool and looks cool, but I like Fred more.
The Watchers have always treated Slayers like trash, but Kendra really highlights the lengths of The Council's brainwashing and total disregard for the well-being of their Slayers. They raised Kendra to believe her life's eventuality was a very young, violent death, which would be essentially meaningless because she's just one on cosmic conveyor belt of women. Meant to be immediately replaced, and thereby, easily discarded. She learned her building any attachments is a liability to the mission, which is all she's worth. And it sucks how obviously Kendra internalized that message because her entire life is slaying, and she fully sees Buffy's balanced life and goals for the future as wrong and alien in the beginning. Girl deserved so much better. I would've loved to see what kind of Slayer she could've grown to be. Especially after all the Potentials are awakened in the Buffy finale. She probably would've started to be the mentor she had in her Watcher and need to course correct.
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I would have loved for Kendra to become something of a mercenary, which would have evolved her into someone who traveled on missions, maintaining distance from the normal world, but still being able to at least see what she was fighting for. Clearly, she didn't need convincing or anything, but the stakes hit different when you see them for yourself (slayer puns lol). Also, coming to the realization that she is unique, she could have been a slayer for hire, which would have been something of a rags to riches arc, and I would have lived for it. All this said, we do see how that lifestyle pans out, with Buffy in Anya's alternate timeline, so perhaps Kendra would have faced the same fate.
Kendra's ending was a result of writers not being interested in her imo, Kendra's character could have been Faith all along. There was a nasty little pattern going on, Faith being allowed to grow as Buffy's unsupported opposite and a a fish out of water just after they disposed of Kendra like she was a no name extra, then finding out that the two other slayers killed by this line of vampires were a hard done by black and dedicated Chinese woman, then the first slayer being a tribal woman combination of both of these, who was a melevinant spirit with a beard who's hair Buffy mocked. These characters were all passing plot devices and probably got a total of 10 minutes airtime combined.
The writing/writers waa/were racist. Anytime they talked about a culture that wasn't white or western it was "primitive." Whether it was Sineya the first slayer or the Nigerian mask that brought back the dead. Season 4 was the last season of buffy I live watched. After her talking about Sineya hair and the work place 🤮🤮🤮. I was already irritated by Kendra's complete brush off in Dead Man's Party. Talking bout it sucked being wanted for murder. KMA
@@razycrandomgirl absolutely. Even if it was just Joss the old interviews with the cast alone make it clear what the culture was and this excludes the recent allegations/revelations, the way he treated the guy who played Spike throughout for the characters unexpected popularity was a big eye opener, he resorted to this character being the bad boyfriend trope but Xander being a bland self insert who got to be surrounded by strong girls was the most consistent thing, Jessy would have been in the way of him having the pretty blonde popular type in Buffy to one side, pretty brunette popular type Cordelia to another, fair witch and nerdy childhood friend Willow and the demon older woman Anya who was devoted to him, then there's Buffy's little sister who thinks he's just neat. The all American every guy, sexual awakening of middle class 'innocent' girls and fantasy school experience tends to not include respectful portrayals of 'others' or a world outside. I actually like this show but it is what it is.
@@LilLadyAy @razycrandomgirl the racism on the show is real. The Thanksgiving episode that dealt with Indigenous characters were so cringe, and mostly just about white guilt.
@@MayaRoy-u2z I don't remember that one I'll have to rewatch but zero surprises, just think, the slayer could be anyone in the world but it's Buffy, which is fine but other slayers who shouldn't exist come to her turf, we don't see comfortable Buffy enter Faith's life of hardship or Kendra's life of structure, also Willow has access to a massive library of ancient magic and ingredients that clearly come from everywhere, the older vampires are well traveled and have seen the world change, same story for Anya only she's even older, everything these characters want and need is on their doorstep and anything that challenges this is a threat.
Poor Kendra! I really liked her - she was a victim of her upbringing, and if she’d had a little longer with the Scoobies, she’d have learnt when to be rebellious.
Thank you! I was just saying to another commenter that we just got Cordelia as the slayer in an alternate universe in the audible series. Bianca Lawson could literally still play the same age today...soo all they have to do is cut the check lol
I loved Kendra. When I watched this for the first time I was completely blindsided by her death. I was left bald headed and confused because she didn't put up a sliver of a fight, it just felt to me like they needed to fridge her to get to the story they really wanted to tell. But all these years later I finally see it through a different perspective. Excellent videos, makes me want to do another rewatch.
Kendra looked amazing and unique....but this video made me realize that that her make up and jewelry were out of character. She's the most job oriented slayer yet also wears the most makeup and jewelry? I don't see the watchers teaching her how to apply makeup and unless they expect her to pawn them in an emergency or fight werewolves then why is she wearing such big hoop earrings or a necklace that could be used to choke her? Yes she stood out during her brief time on the show but she's not like Buffy who loved fashion (and preferred her cross necklace which doubled as a weapon) or Faith who was OK with stealing. Is her jewelry a reminder of her family? Did her watcher buy her makeup so she could blend in while hunting vampires in clubs? Did she have a lot of downtime while flying in cargo hulls and found applying a perfect winged eyeliner as a good way to pass time? I need to know more!
This is why I say she would've been a RUclips makeup guru. Her skills being self taught and seeming having very limited to make up/fashion education was top tier. lol
what misery!! Kendra deserved so much more. Nobody remembered her, they barely reacted to her death. It was just a parenthesis between Buffy and Faith. So much preparation and study to find his fatal destiny, having a miserable death because of a miserable and cheap magic trick. How disposable can a slayer be?🤔
One thing that will always stick with me is Kendra being so shy around Xander. That could have been a special kind of romance that might have fixed Xander's dumbass. 😅
Drusilla was the brains and the power of the group. Spike was the brawn. Darla was the mother and the heart. Angelus was the leader and the agent of chaos that tied the four together. Separated, Drusilla remained the intelligence to Spike's leadership. He called the shots, but she gave him direction. She was never strong. But her mental powers was unmatched With that said, Kendra was the brawn and Drusilla was far too familiar with manipulating and controlling in her own sick way. Taking her out of the fight was childs play to her. Buffy on the other hand already went toe to toe with the Master and overcame that type of mental dominance. Drusilla somehow knew that mind trick would have been useless on Buffy
If I remember correctly, Kendra is exactly how the Council wants the Slayers to be: obedient disposal tools with expiration dates. They needed the Slayers for their abilities; but at the same time, they feared the uncontrollable force of nature that's the original Slayer spirit to awaken in their charges. So they train the Slayer children, as young as possible, to be obedient to them, and, at the same time, give them nothing in material comfort and psychological support to isolate the Slayers from the world so they have nothing to live for. That way the Slayers can die young before their independent streak can awaken, and the Council can move on to manipulate the next child.
The way Kendra was activated and latet Faith raises an interesting question. Buffy died for a lot longer at the end of season 5. Yet no sign of a 3rd active slayer after that. Seems as tho there should have been, but nobody ever mentioned there being another slayer called upon Buffys 2nd death...
I wish she survived and went on elsewhere as a slayer of course keeping in touch and I ship her with Gunn from Angel they would be hot smokin' vamps together, my first thought was that she was lying I thought she was part of the Order of Taraka (don't know if I spelled that right) and was the Wildcat card, stealthy, hiding in an airplane. Later on we see her and seemed to be a bit looser visiting Buffy in Becoming with a surprise, sadly she will never own a stuffed animal and name it instead of naming a stake, although Mr. Pointy served well, and was a very uniquely shaped stake (reminds me of a tree's root that live at the base of the tree) Buffy still has Mr. Pointy but doesn't use it/him. I wonder what it would be like for there to be Buffy, Kendra, and Faith at the same time what would Kendra react like when Faith killed the Vice Mayor dude.
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I personally believe that if Kendra hadn’t been killed off, she could’ve easily filled the role that Dawn was eventually written into the story for and it wouldn’t have felt nearly as much like the writers were shoehorning.
ANOTHER great video! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 It’s pretty cool how iconic Kendra was despite her short stint. I remember watching “What’s My Line?” Part 1 at 7 years old when it aired on WB and being shocked when she said, “I am Kendra, the Vumpyre Slayer!” Then when they explained everything in part 2, I was totally here for it. You brought up the lack of Slayer compensation in your Faith video which is something that I’d only ever thought of when they brought it up in S6 when Buffy needed money to support herself and Dawn. When you look at how the Watcher’s Council treated generations of young girls who they treated as disposable…just WOW. Kendra’s reappearance and death in “Becoming” Part 1 was a real hurt piece especially as I’ve gotten older. In recent years I’ve thought that it would’ve been really cool if they just kept Kendra in Sunnydale and enrolled her in Sunnydale High (somehow 🤣) and we could’ve seen her really develop as a character which would’ve made her death feel even more impactful.
Thank you! The exploitation thing gets even worse when we get to s7 and find out the first watchers (the shadow men) actually kidnapped a girl and fused her with a demon's essence just so they could exploit her. The watchers have been unhinged from the very beginning lmao I do wish she had stayed in Sunnydale too. I'm sure the hellmouth needed Kendra more than Jamaican anyways
Your submission theory is very interesting, I always thought the reason why it didn’t work the second time on Buffy, was because she actually died, that fear no longer was there the second time. It could be a combo of both. I hated when Kendra died, however I’m glad that they didn’t do what they did with Faith, I would have hated it even more if they turned her into a villain
Kendra was a great character. I would have liked to have seen more of her character arc. In contrast, I despise Faith and would have preferred she wasn’t in the show. I admit my dislike of Faith is more about the actress than the character. I do not like Dushku‘s work. Like Ben Stiller and Tricia Helfer, Dushku is one of those actors I just can’t abide. Great point about Kendra’s obedient nature allowing Drucilla to control her. Kendra’s death was a visceral moment for me while at the same time the high point of Drucilla’s character arc. As much as I hated seeing Kendra die, it was significantly impactful for the show. She gets the award for the biggest impact for a small role.
I despise Faith too, she's a mean two faced loser who was jealousy and to Buffy. She needed to grow up and stop acting childish, she was too immature. And I'm glad bad things happened to her and I admired the beast for beating her up she deserved it lol 😆😂. I despised him my first watch but not anymore and at least he died so I forgave it. I never wanted Faith dead I just wanted her to be punished and apologize and she did to one person, Buffy she had a thing for her anyway people said she was in love with her and it's true. But she should've said it to others she hurt. I was so happy she went to jail, I didn't want her dead because of the actress and I always was a fan of hers since I first saw her. She's real cool and a 💋😘. She actually put Bianca Lawson on her FB page and Sarah and nobody else ever did that so that's sweet. Check Eliza FB page, you'll see it. Sarah never did this at all and she met the woman, Eliza never did but I know she heard about her. And ED was in Philadelphia for the comic con in 2014 and I first saw earlier this year and she called that girl pretty girl and she said pretty people and loved her for that, nobody else didn't say this, she's a sweetheart 💋😘 so the people they have her in their life are very lucky because she'll make you happy 😊😁.
I didn't know she got an award for that? That's great 😃👍. And they made a comic series of her called justice for Kendra and I was excited to see that. That's sweet of them to do. But I always liked Ed's work though she's a good actress and she's so cool and nice and sweet I swear. A lot of people love her. And some don't.
aa amazing video! it's really great seeing a video about kendra, and i love the points you made (especially about her mind being malleable due to always obeying instructions and that being why she could be so easily controlled). if she survived, what could've been...
Imagine being taken away as a toddler, trained up for years in anticipation of your calling, only to survive a couple of months or a year as the Slayer. What a let-down 🫤
New subscriber, here, love your videos, and I agree completely with your takes! The way Dru hypnotized Kendra so easily always annoyed me, but you reminded me how new and inexperienced Kendra was, so I guess it makes sense
She's one interesting young lady in the "BOOM!" comic remake of the series overall as well, and in *both* renditions of the comic story "Ring of Fire" her character's really very interesting.
Part of the reason was a plot device to make the stakes higher, to establish a Slayer can die, though they had done that in season one and help clean up the two slayer landscape. Drusilla becomes much more dangerous when she possesses an hypnotic quality and when she "bags" a slayer. Yes the Council and the Watchers have a bit of an NCAA university football vibe. Both fueled by disposable athletes who are actually the point of the game that they are administering and coaching. The Administration makes millions. The coaches often are making hundreds of thousands. The players/slayers for 100 years of the NCAA got room and board and were replaced every four years. Kendra never shook me. I thought it was a fun lore test. No the thing I've always been shook by was why after Buffy died again at the end of season 5 another vampire slayer wasn't called. I guess the presence of Faith precluded that but i could totally see that going the other way. Anytime one dies one is called. I could also see Buffy being resurrected and coming back to this world but without Slayer powers. That part of her life was over and the mantle left her at death. Didn't happen that way in season one, but heck she was dead all summer after season five.
Yes there could only be 1, after buffy died kendra was called, then faith, so the lines going through faith now. Buffy dying was like a fluke technicality and when she dies no slayers called becquse theres already 1 alive, faith. They explained in season 7 how thats what upset the balance and led to the first evil trying to end things as the balance had been upset, basically hes like hey no fair! The rule is u only get one so now that ur not following the rules im not either.
I always felt like Kendra should have either just stuck around in Sunnydale from her first episode until her final episode. An extra like 8 episodes would have really helped her grow on us. Or they could have had Acathla happening in Jamaica, and the SCoobies had to go to Jamaica for the last couple episodes.
I would have loved for Kendra to have survived, but then gone off to “find herself” after having learned about how bad the Council actually is. She could have come back darker, more like The Punisher and that could have been a fun bounce off Buffy too. But I love my girl Faith too much and her relationship with the mayor is so rich and disturbing that I wouldn’t want to lose that either.
I'm glad you're doing longform videos! I've enjoyed your stuff on tiktok before, and I am glad I'll be able to catch more of your stuff here when tiktok goes away, lol. Also, I like the meta analysis.
Love to see my tik tok fam over here! The longer format definitely gives me and you guys more room to really dive in to the topics. Also, enjoying the slower pace on RUclips. Tik Tok moves a million miles per hour. It's good to kind of catch my breathe over here.
Cool topic! Kendra never had a chance to develop as a well rounded character. She was a cool slayer. Such an unexpected death by nails. Really wish they didn’t ask her to do that accent. Great point on Kendra’s resistance to mind control. Never thought about it, but she was brought up to submit to the watcher’s authority.
You want a suggested completely *crazy* Cinderella-type story that the RPG books hint at as easy to develop: imagine the heroine's watcher is another lady who'd been a "Potential" who'd been passed over for that "calling": that's really that her "watcher" is *really* way more her stepsister mistress; that can *truly* screw them up- especially if the watcher elects to quite *literally* mess up her charge- some of the books have hinted-at that; but it takes these kinds of relationships into a dimension that really ought not ever to be gone into in the real world!
When Buffy was requesting that Giles gets his salary back, she should have added some money for her, too. She was making burgers and the watcher was getting money from the council? Why?? The saddest part is that I don't think the writers or even Joss Whedon were thinking "mmm maybe the slayer should get money". I bet it never occurred to them.
Historically: I do believe that Vlad Lenin nailed it nicely as he broke down why the *state* should take over everyone's kid: you give me a child for the first six years of his life, and I've got him for *eternity*, not that at the time he really *believed* in that kind of state of being, but the emphasis on how to obtain such power is very clear!
Yeah, flying in the *cargo hold* really would be something an *actual* demon would find as a *joke* if nothing else, maybe she *would've* met their *actual Red Tsar/Leader* in that air trip she took, and it would've not moved against her to do her *physical* harm, but had a laugh at her expense about *this* lack of safety; as a recruitment policy... and *that* creature is best seen in the perverse light of an "Al Capone" type character: absolute crime-boss! So it actually would *categorically* have tried to recruit her!
Well they never really explain how they identified potentials other than that spell Willow did in S7. It was a big plot hole. Maybe they had a handful of watchers doing spells to locate potentials traveling the world. But that seems very inefficient. Does the spell have a limited range or would they travel hundreds of miles following this light searching for a potential? Why weren't they able to identify Buffy before she was called and how did they figure out she was called?
There's so any questions about that. Like do they have oracle's something that finds them? Also, why didn't the council let Giles know that there's a second slayer or tell Zabuto that there was still another active slayer. That's pretty huge news to not share with Giles. For all we know, the council may not have known that Buffy died for a few mins. Another slayer being activated, congruently, would be be major news in either case.
Kendra looked good but it was so impractical. Buffy wears practical clothes for one of the only times in her life. It was weird. Kendra is supposed to be the hardass but her clothes offer no protection. Also really speaks to how little the Watchers value a Slayer that she had one damn outfit. Shame on Sam Zabuto.
Imo The Council and the Powers That Be (from Angel) are also villains ( PTB especially for Cordy) the series and i wish they'd have really learned into it more.
The slayer novels by Christen White Slayer Book 1 and Chosen Book 2 have a different spin on the Slayer verse. I found it confusing sometimes to wrap my head around timelines and events but I found the books interesting.
In “the book of fours” Kendra tells Buffy that Drusilla released her. Prior to sunnydale kendra fought a voodoo priest who infected her with a zombie like curse. If Kendra hadn’t of died she would have become the voodoo priests slave when the curse took over. This could be why she wasn’t competent fighting off those vampires in the library and also why she was so susceptible to hypnosis. Also the reason why Drusilla didn’t drink kendras blood - it wasn’t clean blood. I always thought it was sad that Kendra died protecting the scoobies - she could have escaped but she was dutiful and fought to the death - this is why most slayers died young - because they fought to the death instead of running away or regrouping like buffy did xx
In season 8, I think, which is in the comic, Buffy had enough of struggling financially and took a bunch of the newly activated slayers and robbed a bank down to the sheet rock!! Lmao! They shouldn't have had to do that but I'm glad they did. They didn't even offer her any help when Joyce died. She was trying to work and pay a whole mortgage and support all those loafers living in her house rent free AND constantly save the world! Screw that bank I say! 😅
The bank and all it’s customers is insured by the U.S. government so in effect Buffy took a well deserved paycheck from Uncle Sam for services rendered above and beyond the call of duty. 🙃
Race defiantly plays a part in this. From Buffy making fun of Kendra's accent to the writer's making the joke that she only had one shirt (which I'm taking to mean she only brought one on her trip...) the show is as white as white could be. I mean is SoCal and there are NO latinx characters? That Chinese potential slayer was played for laughs in season 7. Of course they couldn't see Kendra as a fully realized character, she was a reflection/cautionary tale for Buffy. A literal tool for the counsel and the writers. Now if we look beyond Kendra being a storytelling device as to why she was killed and disappeared in Becoming Pt2. I wouldn't say her mind was weaker than buffy's, the probably did have all curiosity and inquiry conditioned out of her, but because Kendra was so good at her studies she probably did that crystal channeling exercise Buffy did in Helpless. Which means she was already conditioned to hypnosis and primed for Drusilla (it was a stupid, thoughtless way to kill her but here we are). That's the way I'm going to frame it. Kendra wasn't weaker than Buffy or lesser than her, she just wasn't the title character. Buffy could have easily been a lesson for Kendra but we didn't see her outside of sunnydale or Buffy's gaze.
Race definitely plays part which I'll discuss in another vid about race and the Buffyverse. As far as the mental aspect, this specific video reckons with what actually was...what we saw instead of what could have been? Kendra's conditioning wasn't meant to make her mentally resistant. That's counter what the watchers wanted from a slayer. The unfortunate point of Kendra's story was she was a representation of what it looks like to be a slayer that follows protocol to the watchers' standards. Sure, we love Kendra and we would like to think she was as mentally resistant as Buffy but with the training and circumstances she had, she wasn't. Maybe she could have been, if given the chance develop more of sense of self but, sadly, that wasn't Kendra's story. It's not about her being lesser. It's about the reality of the way Kendra was developed as a slayer.
Kendra deserved better. Joss had no idea what to do with her, and they only show ponied her like "Look. We have diversity here." In all fairness...that was a long time trope since black people have been allowed to be in entertainment movies and shows. Times are getting better with that because the public has been diligent on calling it out. But, yeah...she deserved better.
Oh yes! I'm working on a vid about Black/POC characters in the Buffyverse that's going to deep dive on this aspect Kendra's development and all the other Black/POC characters in the show.
Hi Ryan B can you do a video about Alex forest from Fatal attraction the movie? what are your opinion about her? I heard that Glenn close saw Alex as a mentally ill victim then a villain. and The story behind her illness is from her horrible childhood.
This is a good idea because I was already going to make that comparison vid at some point. I've done tik tok lives comparing them but this goal idea for the compare/contrast vid is great! Noted!
The actual value of the combat training provided by a Watcher is pretty low. A Slayer is not merely a martial artist. Buffy is "trained" by a middle aged academic using yard sale equipment. She'd been the Slayer for a little over a year when she met Kendra. Yet she fought Kendra-trained from infancy as a Slayer-to a standstill. Faith was a "found" Slayer, only located after she was called and had only been trained for a few months. But she repeatedly held her own against Buffy, a three year veteran of countless fights to the death. Almost all of a Slayer's skill is innate(Buffy kills the first vampire she sees, a few hours after being told they exist), and are merely elicited by the Watcher's training. After that it is the experience of battle that makes a Slayer dangerous...but that experience, every single fight, has the built in chance of death. A slip, a momentary loss of concentration, looking left instead of right...and the next Slayer is called. All Slayers die in battle. Kendra died because of Drusilla's magic...just like Buffy died from the Master's magic. Dru was just a little more thorough. Had Buffy stayed in the library and sent Kendra to kill Angelus, she MIGHT have been able to resist Dru due to her experience with the Master...and Kendra would likely have killed the vile Angelus in the graveyard.
If anything the highly "trained" slayers are probably more at risk because they've been trained to ignore their instincts and stick to the set martial forms. It makes them predicable a bad thing when most of your opponents have been around for hundreds of years, are likely to recognize the set forms pretty quicky and know how to counter them. Buffy one of the longest lived slayers was anything but predicable.
Damn near 30 years later and people still talking about "The Council should pay the Slayer" 😂😂😂😂. They never wanted Slayers surviving into adulthood hence designing the Cruciamentum. If you didn't die before age 18 they were definitely going to try to kill you.
30 years later, Bianca Lawson is still a teenager🤣
😍
Yep. Robin's mom survived past 18, and she broke the Council's rules by having a child. Buffy survived past 18, and she told the Council to F themselves. I'm sure they weren't the first Slayers to brake the rules, either - which is probably why the Council set up their serious attempt to murder Slayers on their 18th birthday.
*Throws sword* pay me or I'll sick my vampire boyfriend on you the two best lines in Helpless (not including Bangel moments) were imo, " *trembling hand hlods up empty Holy Water jar* "If I were at full Slayer power I'd be punning right about now." and *Looks up angrily with tears still about to drip* "Bite, me." I wonder what it would be like for there to be Buffy, Kendra, and Faith at the same time what would Kendra react like when Faith killed the Vice Mayor dude
*holds (oopsie)
Buffy's was even more unfair since she had to save her mom stop the roded up vamp w/o powers and survive she of course was spectacular no doubt about it, but legal action should have caught Quentin's tail.
The way that Jesse wasn’t mentioned another single time after that is ridiculous. Especially when Willow and Xander would have their reminiscing childhood moments, like he didn’t even exist.😭
There's a theory that there was a time jump between The Harvest and Witch and their grieving period isn't shown. There's another theory that Jesse just wasn't as close to Xander and Willow as we think. I think we all had associates in school that we didn't talk to outside of school but maybe sat with at lunch or in a class or talked shortly with in the halls. I think that's what Jesse was to Willow and Xander.
If you look at Xander in E1, he's a lot less pervy than he is later on. I think once Jesse was gone, Xander stated saying some of his comments. I think it's why Willow didn't get upset with them until later on in the series and if anything seemed amused with the comments.
@@JohnSmith-xg9wx Jesse very well could have just been Xander's Amy. The friend he hung out with when Willow was busy kind of thing.
I get your point, but from a writer's perspective, it is reasonable to not talk about Jesse. Jesse was present for only 1 episode and killed off, with a brief cameo in the second episode. People who discovered the show at the third episode or later would not know Jesse, nor understand why people talked so much about him. The writers would need to flesh out a whole character who is not there anymore for viewers who would not care about him.
I think it was also due to the fact Jesse wasn't Xander's friend as long as WIllow was. him and Willow have been friends since preschool. Xander could have just met Jesse during their freshman year of high school. plus, throughout the show, Xander has had a habit of not talking much about his pain or inner struggles, unless it came to dating in a way. he never talked much about his abusive home life, we've only heard hints to it. ( plus it was made clear by Willow's actions towards Jesse that she wasn't as close to him as Xander was. he was kind of a third wheel to their friendship. it wasn't until Buffy that both Willow and Xander both became besties with a third. ) Idk, its just what I think. I think it did really impact Xander, he just doesn't talk about it. its one of the things he just kept to himself, and maybe since that, its why Willow and Buffy never mentioned him again too, 'cause Xander doesn't like to talk about it/him.
I am still upset by the fact that the BTVS powers that be killed the Kendra Young character. I thought that Kendra was a beautiful, endearing, and fascinating character who deserved to survive, change, and thrive. I also agree with you that she and Buffy would have become great friends and a powerhouse team.
Justice for kendra!
But Drusilla's nails, ICONIC!!!!!
definitely a call back to when the master would gouge out the eyes if his minons
Yesss blood red with the french tips. Dru was the true fashion icon on Buffy
With Dru being Dru, those nails are all natural. The only way she could have learned about acrylic nails is Spike, and I think he would avoid time saving measures when it comes to taking care of his Dark Princess.
A lot of great points! It's fun how Kendra and Faith were both opposites of who Buffy was at those two phases of her life - Kendra was dutiful when Buffy was unorthodox, Faith was wild when Buffy had become disciplined. Yet Kendra and Faith were loners with nothing else in their life other than being The Slayer. And has been reinforced throughout the show, Buffy was surrounded by friends, which made all the difference.
Right?!
First Slayer: no friends, always alone
Buffy: and that's why you only had to once, young, and I'll die at least three times before it sticks.
It's exactly what Spike said to Buffy in one episode. He refers to the fact that "if she has survived it is only because she has family and friends", this is what other slayers never had. When Spike killed 2 Slayers, he told Buffy something like (not literal) that "...I didn't defeat them because I was better than them in fighting technique... I defeated them because deep down they wanted to die." ...."
@@joak707 This is just my opinion, but I don't totally buy Spike's assertion that all Slayers have a d3athwish. Both Slayers that Spike killed did have immediate family. (I'm fairly new here so I'm not sure what I can reveal, but iyk,yk) While Spike has shown himself to be insightful, and maybe they all had moments similar to Buffy in the Magic Shop (S5) - moments of just wishing they were free of their burden, that's far from a d-wish. If anything, Spike's been pursuing Vampire Slayers the second he learned of their existence! He runs towards them when other vamps run away from them... so who's really got the d-wish?
@@BenChanNYC The point I am referring to is that it is not that the slayers have self-destructive feelings, what I am saying is that their only objective is to hunt demons, vampires and nothing else and that by not being able to project a future like a normal person (having children, getting married ) is that they have those deep feelings "of wanting to die" and that's exactly where Spike takes advantage. It is not that they are prohibited from that normal life, but that they know that they risk too much if they do so, since it would compromise their work even more.
Kendra definitely left an impression despite her short tenure as slayer. Loved Bianca Lawson in the role. When she introduces her as the vampire slayer it is an iconic moment.
The tragedy of Kendra is that her fialty, as a child soldier at the behest of sycophants, prevented her from ever having a real life, an identity apart from what she was conditioned to do. There's a lot of things to dig into in terms of cultural contributions, both by the Watchers (who can be viewed as both father figures and politicians) and Kendra's country Jamaica (which has a real life history of this issue) in the willingness to allow young women to assume terrible risks. Obviously, the allegories aren't super clean, but there are parallels nonetheless. I agree with you that Kendra's downfall was ultimately that she allowed herself to believe she was disposable and thus she was.
Poor Kendra. I’ll never stop being sad about her.
Kendra and Faith were the two extremes: order/discipline and chaos/impulsive while Buffy was the mingling of both, making her more well rounded as a slayer and a person. They all lived their role of slayer, Kendra too rigidly, Faith too loosely, and Buffy continually walking the edge of both trying to find the balance. Gosh, when I put it in words it's like they're the three bears and Buffy is "just right". You're right about their watchers having some influence in the matter too. Kendra's watcher was obviously very by-the-book, while Faith's, well I don't know anything about the first one since she was killed by Kokistos, but her two watchers after that failed her miserably. Miss post wasn't even legit and she was evil to boot, and don't even get me started on Wesley. When Giles was governing both girls, they did improve, so his unconventional method isn't without merit
It's true. The Giles' method definitely has stats behind it as far as efficacy. Even when his Slayer died, she still came back to work lmao
@@ryanbtalkstv if you read the “Tales of the Slayer” short story books the watchers are not all nice people - a lot of them are corrupt. The stories are written by the actual writers of the show so they all feel an episode. The books really highlight how many of The watchers were just out for themselves - only a few were good people who cared about their slayer. If you read the books you’ll be surprised lol I won’t spoil it. Maybe you could do a video about the Watchers? No one one RUclips has done a proper review of each slayer story or reviewed the books properly. I think you’d do it justice 💪🏼🩵
Silly as it sounds, I always wanted Kendra to come back. In some sort of glimpse into an alternative timeline, like the one episode that gave us Vampire WIllow, or if there was ever an instance where they were able to summon the spirit of a past slayer, but NOT the first slayer. . . I don't know, I'm always drawn to the more under utilized characters.
They definitely could. In the audible series, Cordelia is the slayer in an alternate dimension. Bianca Lawson is still able to pass as the same age as she was back then too, so it's possible lol
@@ryanbtalkstvBianca herself said she was open to play again Kendra but she never received the call
:(
I always wanted her and past slayers to come back in spirit form in the final battle
@@ZeeB... Now THAT is a rad idea!
I always thought Kendra's outfit was chosen so she would blend in with the vampires more easily. It was completely utilitarian which fits her character.
They actually based her on Janet Jackson, hair and outfit.
@@JohnSmith-xg9wxOk, but in buffyverse.
@@JohnSmith-xg9wx that's a stretch hahahaha
@@KrisBryant99 Marti Nixon wrote the episode and did the episode commentary. Not a stretch just facts.
The moment we saw Kendra I was transfixed - Bianca Lawson was perfect as her and the whole look was amazing ❤
I think that Drusilla was a much more powerful psychic than the Master. There is a theme in the Buffyverse about how intense emotional trauma can magnify natural psychic ability (see the Angel episode "Untouched" for one example), and Drusilla was already a powerful psychic before Angelus drove her insane.
One thing I've wondered is that if the Key could be detected by psychics and the insane, and Drusilla has been a very strong dose of both, why she didn't seem to detect the Key during the Buffy episode "Crush". Maybe she didn't want Spike to know that she knew, because he would try to kill her, but that's just my speculation.
Drusilla is basically the vampire mirror of Buffy. She was a chosen one, given mystic powers and struggling with the responsibilities that came with them, who Angel became obsessed with. She's what Buffy could become if Angelus were to have his way with her. So on that I'd say she's on par with a slayer, just where a slayer's gift is mostly physical her's is mental. So I'd agree she surpasses the Master - the Master is really old and has had the time to learn some tricks, whereas her ability is innate. She's the psychic equivalent of a slayer, turned vampire.
Maybe that was part of what motivated her to come when she did. She didn't want him getting entangled in that situation, knowing he'd probably get killed if he went up against a god.
I agree that Drusilla is very powerful but vampires get more powerful with age. The Master has very close sire lineage to the old ones and he's so old that he's outgrown having a human form. I think it's very unlikely that Drusilla is more powerful than him in anyway. Perhaps in visions but in the ability to enforce will on others, I doubt she'd be stronger. I haven't seen anything in the show, comics etc that would lead me to believe she would be...beside in the wardrobe department lol
Drucilla was weak PHYSICALLY, due to an attack by a mob. However, she had mystical powers BEFORE she was turned. Then her powers increased with her madness and turning, both done by Angelus.
I didn't say Drusilla was weak. I said she was weaker than the master.
I never really bought that notion, that a vampire could be weakened and die from a simple physical attack by an angry mob. I imagine magic of some kind was involved, but that's only supposition because we never got any explanation for how such a thing could otherwise happen, and it's poor writing to leave it up to the audience to engage in speculation that leads to bad fan-fic or retconning episodes that resolve a problem that could easily have been prevented with an extra bit of expository dialog from Giles.
I think at this point Drusilla was fully recovered from her attack by the mob. She also had mental powers before she became a vampire which probably helped.
@@Dunybrook But that still doesn't adequately explain why Drusilla required a magical ceremony involving the blood of her sire to help her recover her strength. Vampires are supposed to possess increased regenerative abilities, as evidenced by Spike having his arms severed, sown back on, and healing to the point he suffered no lasting effects.
*Drusilla
I loved Kendra voice
I never liked how Kendra was created specifically to be killed off. Her downfall was being too by-the-book, too unwilling to ask questions when they were needed, simply follow instructions and go fight until the end. In a way, she served as the introduction of the audience to Faith, who was not only the exact opposite of Kendra, but the dark side of what happens when you take a girl who's had so rough a life and bequeath her power enough to take her revenge on the world. Fortunately, Faith got her redemption arc, but it could still easily have gone the other way.
Originally, the plan was to have Buffy go dark, so I think if the Kendra character had been kept around she would've been the by-the-book no-nonsense Slayer who does her duty and helps bring Buffy back from the Abyss. But decisions were made behind the scenes to quash that idea-I suppose the suits didn't like the idea of the cute bubbly protagonist treading into villain territory. So that, I suspect, is why Kendra was killed off and Faith created to fulfill the Evil Slayer dynamic Whedon envisioned. I think the intent from the beginning was for Kendra to be only a temporary figure in Buffy's life and the character was always going to be killed off in some manner. But things went the way they did and it sort of all worked out.
Imagine if Kendra had been turned into a vampire at the end of season 2 - I saw a fan art picture of Kendra as a vampire and it’s so cool. They would have had an evil slaypire to contend with. Faith might have stayed good lol alternative universe/timeline ideas are so fun ❤
@@Elizalustof There actually was a Buffy comic book in which a former Slayer popped up as a vampire. I forget which publisher and series, but I'm sure it can be looked up.
@@TheWilkReport oh yes it was “Yuki Makimura” when she lost to the Master she didn’t want to die and he changed her. She became one of his followers. There were two more slayers in the “Tales of the Slayer” books that became vampires - one in Greenwich Village in 1950’s called Zoë Kuryakin and she was a beatnik.
The other was Britta Kessler in 1923, Germany.
The 4 book series “Tales of the slayer” are like the watchers diary’s. Whenever those diaries are on screen in the tv show it reminds me of the books lol
Helpless is another example of how the watchers council views slayers as disposable.
I can’t believe I never made the connection between Kendra’s upbringing and her susceptibility to hypnosis. I’ve watched this show at least twenty times since 1997, and that went completely over my head! You are extremely insightful, loving these videos.
Drusilla was an extremely powerful psychic. Angelus was drawn to her because of how powerful she was. He even said to drive someone with that type of power mad would be his greatest achievement.
Buffy never fought Dru. At the beginning of ssn 2 Drusilla was weak because of whatever the mob in Prague did to her & after Angel turned she only fought Angelus. Drusilla was only in a one-on-one fight with Kendra and then Spike in the finale.
Also, her nails were like razor sharp. She sliced her own chest with them like it was nothing when she remade Darla on Angel.
Drusillas psychic abilities shpuld not be under estimated. Perhaps Kendra lacked mental fortitude a little, but Giles was totally taken in by Drusilla as well not long after this.
As for Buffy killing the Master, she was supercharged at the time on the masters own blood, making her temporarily much stronger than usual
Buffy didn't drink the masters blood. If she had she'd be a vampire.
The actress who plays kindra is a vampire she hasn't age in fact's she looks younger she started in so many teen show's too form the vampire diaries to teen Wolf to pll hopefully one she gets to be the star of her own show one day and when she said am the Slayer to buffy i had the same feeling when i saw that spiderman pointing meme 😂
Yes Bianca Lawson looks exactly the same I can't believe she's in her 40,s
I hear she did play teenagers for years.
Lol, Kendra slayed the make up!
I always thought that the idea of only one Slayer being activated at a time is ridiculous. I think we can assume that in the BTVS universe there are vampires all over the world, yet only one slayer at any given time has the slayer powers? That makes no sense. I also think that the Watchers council should have paid the slayers and paid them well.
My explanation has been maybe the original slayer was only meant to protect people in a specific region. Sineya was created so long ago that it was likely well before these tribes would consider the entire world. So maybe they made her into a slayer to protect their specific tribe/area and after her death the spell just replicated/activated another girl elsewhere and so on. That would possibly explain why Slayer's are born all over the world regardless of if that area has a heavy need for a slayer...demon-wise. That's just me throwing ideas at the wall though
I'm really glad you're covering the watcher exploitation because it's such an everpresent thing that I don't see anyone talk about
Out of the video reviewers, yeah I agree. Most skim over the watcher exploitation angle. But in the fanfic community, it's been explored a lot. We've sort of gotten to the point in the over all discussion on the Watchers where yeah that's the obvious answer. But since it's a show about metaphors, very little is actually given a concrete answer.
The Watchers are one of those things where fans had to make a lot of assumptions. Like most of us assume it's some giant organization with a bunch of money. But the fact that almost all of them got wiped out in one explosion seems to retcon them into a far smaller group. They could just be a very understaffed group making moral compromises to fight the greater evils. They could be the Patriarchy that is exploiting women (though Buffy as a show isn't about overturning the system, it really seems to be more about subverting the system until the final Season when it does seem to have been written with a feminist agenda). Or it could be a bunch of watchers all with different ideals working mostly independently around the world, with just the core group back in England being bad. Because out of all the watchers we see on screen, only about half seem to fully buy into the doctrine.
The cruciamatum could very easily be a keep the slayer young and impressionable thing. Or it could be a relic from pre airplanes when it took months to cross an ocean. Back then if the WAtcher's got a prophecy about an apocalypse in Japan while the slayer was in spain, that could be an end of the world thing. So they let the slayer die in ceremonial combat so the next slayer gets called near the new apocalypse.
That's what I wish more video reviewers would cover. How much of the series actually doesn't have clear answers.
I mourned Kendra and also wish we had more episodes with her in it. I do understand she was an instrument to the story but they could have kept her longer if there had been a stronger and longer clash of characters between her and Buffy. The impact of her death if we had gotten to know her even more, would have been even greater. And that would have been good for the show. After all, the watcher method of obedience did work for centuries. It is not like it was never effective.
Yes we need at least 6 to 7 episodes with her.
Really should have just kept her in sunnydale from her arrival until her finale.
10:42 dru had psychic powers. That’s how she got her entranced so quick
I love Buffy. My fave show to this day. I remember the exact moment Kendra said she was the slayer. Never missed a single episode. But to this day, I will NEVER forgive Joss for the way he killed Kendra. 2 fingers!!!??? Ugh!! Thanks for this video
Admire you for saying that, I hate him too. I'm not forgiving him either, because he's a jerk he's not a good person. Did you know that he favored Eliza Dushku? That's why she was never killed off, and I never knew this until a couple of months ago this year. Because all these years I kept wondering what was so special about Faith? And I like and love Eliza by the way, she's so cool and sweet I never heard of her or seen her until I was 12. Because as a child my childhood friend and I watched some Buffy together then I stopped and didn't again until I was 12 season 5 episode no place like home. We stayed in a new house at the time back in 2001. I didn't know Faith at all but I saw her when they advertised the show and showing flashbacks from the past. It was when they showed her and Buffy in Bad Girls and the scene where they pulled their stakes out busting in the vampires lair and Faith had make up on and dark clothing. I didn't know who she was at the time because I stopped watching because my mind was gone, you know when you're a little kid how that goes. I didn't have my mind on Buffy. But I'm so glad I watched it it's one of my favorite shows. Anyway back to ED, they liked each other and went dancing sometimes, and he bullied Charisma Carpenter and called her fat when she was pregnant. That's why she was for the second time season 4 episode salvage and Faith is in it. She said he did pick favorites and he treated others badly especially and mostly women and he cheated on his wife that's why they broke up. That's why the character was kept alive because of the actress he had a thing for her and I'm glad I found this out I would've never known. And I'm never forgiving him for bullying that poor woman and he never apologized. And ED and others responded to her statement on Instagram I felt so bad for her. I hate Joss for life and he's not that cute. He's a mean horrible person he's not a good person.
And he could've bought Kendra back because the Kendra lovers and myself wanted it but I never cared for Kendra back then. And when that witch Faith took over some people forgotten about her. And a lot of people liked Kendra more than Faith and me too when I liked Faith but I don't like her anymore after she changed and did unforgivable things. She didn't deserve to live like Kendra did. They could've bought that beautiful woman back. And a lot of people gave her compliments saying she's pretty not too many people said this about Faith only a COULPE. So Kendra wins thank God and she just became my second favorite slayer a couple of months ago. So the slayer line runs through her forever and the actress retired for good for that role so she has to be recasted but doubt that'll happen. I just hope they do but I want the woman to favor her and have black hair, and I want her to look like how Faith looked on Angel season 1. I like and love her look, and Buffys and KENDRA'S. But that's why Joss career is ruined and he got punished for it and I'm glad he deserves it and to be forgotten and ignored. I never cared for him anyway I remember seeing his name on TV 📺 and I never seen what he looked like. I pray 🙏 they have a better man than him that can take over because he's a loser and nobody likes him. You just don't treat people that way it's unforgivable. And I read he also favored Amy Acker, and I think Alexis Denisof that's why they were on dollhouse together too. And I like that show I hate and wished it never got cancelled. And Eliza, Amy, and Alexis were all on Angel together. Then on Dollhouse I was so excited to happy to see them, and a character from Buffy was there, my girl Vi, one of the potentials and she's one of my favorites. But she was never on Joss' list though. I liked Faith in beginning but not anymore, I never liked Wesley, and I always liked Fred, never stopped and I hate she died, and that's how Illyria took over. And I like Illyria she's cool and looks cool, but I like Fred more.
Another great video!!
Yeah, I feel for my girl Kendra. But she was up against Dru, and she never really had a chance... RIP, died too soon.
Thank you! RIP, Kendra, she was real one
Loved Kendra. They really should have given her, her own spin-off show.
Yes totally agree
They didn’t make Kendra evil, but they did make her slave coded. It was weird.
The Watchers have always treated Slayers like trash, but Kendra really highlights the lengths of The Council's brainwashing and total disregard for the well-being of their Slayers. They raised Kendra to believe her life's eventuality was a very young, violent death, which would be essentially meaningless because she's just one on cosmic conveyor belt of women. Meant to be immediately replaced, and thereby, easily discarded. She learned her building any attachments is a liability to the mission, which is all she's worth. And it sucks how obviously Kendra internalized that message because her entire life is slaying, and she fully sees Buffy's balanced life and goals for the future as wrong and alien in the beginning. Girl deserved so much better. I would've loved to see what kind of Slayer she could've grown to be. Especially after all the Potentials are awakened in the Buffy finale. She probably would've started to be the mentor she had in her Watcher and need to course correct.
IM SO HAPPY YOU JAVE THIS CHANNEL FOR LONGER FORM CONTENT!! I love your TikTok, you have a fantastic point of view and you deliver it in such an engaging manner. Looking forward to watching you grow!
I’m so glad one of US is covering this!
I would have loved for Kendra to become something of a mercenary, which would have evolved her into someone who traveled on missions, maintaining distance from the normal world, but still being able to at least see what she was fighting for. Clearly, she didn't need convincing or anything, but the stakes hit different when you see them for yourself (slayer puns lol). Also, coming to the realization that she is unique, she could have been a slayer for hire, which would have been something of a rags to riches arc, and I would have lived for it. All this said, we do see how that lifestyle pans out, with Buffy in Anya's alternate timeline, so perhaps Kendra would have faced the same fate.
Kendra's ending was a result of writers not being interested in her imo, Kendra's character could have been Faith all along. There was a nasty little pattern going on, Faith being allowed to grow as Buffy's unsupported opposite and a a fish out of water just after they disposed of Kendra like she was a no name extra, then finding out that the two other slayers killed by this line of vampires were a hard done by black and dedicated Chinese woman, then the first slayer being a tribal woman combination of both of these, who was a melevinant spirit with a beard who's hair Buffy mocked. These characters were all passing plot devices and probably got a total of 10 minutes airtime combined.
The writing/writers waa/were racist. Anytime they talked about a culture that wasn't white or western it was "primitive." Whether it was Sineya the first slayer or the Nigerian mask that brought back the dead.
Season 4 was the last season of buffy I live watched. After her talking about Sineya hair and the work place 🤮🤮🤮.
I was already irritated by Kendra's complete brush off in Dead Man's Party. Talking bout it sucked being wanted for murder. KMA
@@razycrandomgirl absolutely. Even if it was just Joss the old interviews with the cast alone make it clear what the culture was and this excludes the recent allegations/revelations, the way he treated the guy who played Spike throughout for the characters unexpected popularity was a big eye opener, he resorted to this character being the bad boyfriend trope but Xander being a bland self insert who got to be surrounded by strong girls was the most consistent thing, Jessy would have been in the way of him having the pretty blonde popular type in Buffy to one side, pretty brunette popular type Cordelia to another, fair witch and nerdy childhood friend Willow and the demon older woman Anya who was devoted to him, then there's Buffy's little sister who thinks he's just neat. The all American every guy, sexual awakening of middle class 'innocent' girls and fantasy school experience tends to not include respectful portrayals of 'others' or a world outside. I actually like this show but it is what it is.
@@LilLadyAy @razycrandomgirl the racism on the show is real. The Thanksgiving episode that dealt with Indigenous characters were so cringe, and mostly just about white guilt.
@@MayaRoy-u2z I don't remember that one I'll have to rewatch but zero surprises, just think, the slayer could be anyone in the world but it's Buffy, which is fine but other slayers who shouldn't exist come to her turf, we don't see comfortable Buffy enter Faith's life of hardship or Kendra's life of structure, also Willow has access to a massive library of ancient magic and ingredients that clearly come from everywhere, the older vampires are well traveled and have seen the world change, same story for Anya only she's even older, everything these characters want and need is on their doorstep and anything that challenges this is a threat.
Poor Kendra! I really liked her - she was a victim of her upbringing, and if she’d had a little longer with the Scoobies, she’d have learnt when to be rebellious.
Always pissed by her death. I honestly don't think it was well done and we Joss has problems with the Black folks on the show. Kendra deserved more.
a Vid on Black/POC characters in the Buffyverse coming soon for sure
@@ryanbtalkstv I really want to speak with you about this so badly!
Love your analysis. I had hoped for a Kendra spin-off, but alas... Kendra ate and left no crumbs.
Thank you! I was just saying to another commenter that we just got Cordelia as the slayer in an alternate universe in the audible series. Bianca Lawson could literally still play the same age today...soo all they have to do is cut the check lol
I loved Kendra. When I watched this for the first time I was completely blindsided by her death. I was left bald headed and confused because she didn't put up a sliver of a fight, it just felt to me like they needed to fridge her to get to the story they really wanted to tell. But all these years later I finally see it through a different perspective. Excellent videos, makes me want to do another rewatch.
Kendra looked amazing and unique....but this video made me realize that that her make up and jewelry were out of character. She's the most job oriented slayer yet also wears the most makeup and jewelry? I don't see the watchers teaching her how to apply makeup and unless they expect her to pawn them in an emergency or fight werewolves then why is she wearing such big hoop earrings or a necklace that could be used to choke her? Yes she stood out during her brief time on the show but she's not like Buffy who loved fashion (and preferred her cross necklace which doubled as a weapon) or Faith who was OK with stealing.
Is her jewelry a reminder of her family? Did her watcher buy her makeup so she could blend in while hunting vampires in clubs? Did she have a lot of downtime while flying in cargo hulls and found applying a perfect winged eyeliner as a good way to pass time? I need to know more!
This is why I say she would've been a RUclips makeup guru. Her skills being self taught and seeming having very limited to make up/fashion education was top tier. lol
what misery!! Kendra deserved so much more. Nobody remembered her, they barely reacted to her death. It was just a parenthesis between Buffy and Faith. So much preparation and study to find his fatal destiny, having a miserable death because of a miserable and cheap magic trick. How disposable can a slayer be?🤔
One thing that will always stick with me is Kendra being so shy around Xander. That could have been a special kind of romance that might have fixed Xander's dumbass. 😅
Just like she was unfocused in S5 she got bite by Dracula and stabbed by a vamp. Drac even had coffee wit her mom
Omg !! Yes !! I was so angry 😡 for that death 💀
thank you for giving kendra her flowers!!
Drusilla was the brains and the power of the group. Spike was the brawn. Darla was the mother and the heart. Angelus was the leader and the agent of chaos that tied the four together.
Separated, Drusilla remained the intelligence to Spike's leadership. He called the shots, but she gave him direction. She was never strong. But her mental powers was unmatched
With that said, Kendra was the brawn and Drusilla was far too familiar with manipulating and controlling in her own sick way. Taking her out of the fight was childs play to her.
Buffy on the other hand already went toe to toe with the Master and overcame that type of mental dominance. Drusilla somehow knew that mind trick would have been useless on Buffy
If I remember correctly, Kendra is exactly how the Council wants the Slayers to be: obedient disposal tools with expiration dates. They needed the Slayers for their abilities; but at the same time, they feared the uncontrollable force of nature that's the original Slayer spirit to awaken in their charges. So they train the Slayer children, as young as possible, to be obedient to them, and, at the same time, give them nothing in material comfort and psychological support to isolate the Slayers from the world so they have nothing to live for. That way the Slayers can die young before their independent streak can awaken, and the Council can move on to manipulate the next child.
The way Kendra was activated and latet Faith raises an interesting question. Buffy died for a lot longer at the end of season 5. Yet no sign of a 3rd active slayer after that. Seems as tho there should have been, but nobody ever mentioned there being another slayer called upon Buffys 2nd death...
So true.
I wish she survived and went on elsewhere as a slayer of course keeping in touch and I ship her with Gunn from Angel they would be hot smokin' vamps together, my first thought was that she was lying I thought she was part of the Order of Taraka (don't know if I spelled that right) and was the Wildcat card, stealthy, hiding in an airplane. Later on we see her and seemed to be a bit looser visiting Buffy in Becoming with a surprise, sadly she will never own a stuffed animal and name it instead of naming a stake, although Mr. Pointy served well, and was a very uniquely shaped stake (reminds me of a tree's root that live at the base of the tree) Buffy still has Mr. Pointy but doesn't use it/him. I wonder what it would be like for there to be Buffy, Kendra, and Faith at the same time what would Kendra react like when Faith killed the Vice Mayor dude.
Fun fact Bianca Lawson who played kenda is Beyoncés step sister because Beyoncés mom married her dad.
Not anymore, they're divorced.
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I personally believe that if Kendra hadn’t been killed off, she could’ve easily filled the role that Dawn was eventually written into the story for and it wouldn’t have felt nearly as much like the writers were shoehorning.
Buffy fans on RUclips stay on it 😂
ANOTHER great video! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
It’s pretty cool how iconic Kendra was despite her short stint. I remember watching “What’s My Line?” Part 1 at 7 years old when it aired on WB and being shocked when she said, “I am Kendra, the Vumpyre Slayer!” Then when they explained everything in part 2, I was totally here for it.
You brought up the lack of Slayer compensation in your Faith video which is something that I’d only ever thought of when they brought it up in S6 when Buffy needed money to support herself and Dawn. When you look at how the Watcher’s Council treated generations of young girls who they treated as disposable…just WOW.
Kendra’s reappearance and death in “Becoming” Part 1 was a real hurt piece especially as I’ve gotten older. In recent years I’ve thought that it would’ve been really cool if they just kept Kendra in Sunnydale and enrolled her in Sunnydale High (somehow 🤣) and we could’ve seen her really develop as a character which would’ve made her death feel even more impactful.
Thank you! The exploitation thing gets even worse when we get to s7 and find out the first watchers (the shadow men) actually kidnapped a girl and fused her with a demon's essence just so they could exploit her. The watchers have been unhinged from the very beginning lmao I do wish she had stayed in Sunnydale too. I'm sure the hellmouth needed Kendra more than Jamaican anyways
Your submission theory is very interesting, I always thought the reason why it didn’t work the second time on Buffy, was because she actually died, that fear no longer was there the second time. It could be a combo of both.
I hated when Kendra died, however I’m glad that they didn’t do what they did with Faith, I would have hated it even more if they turned her into a villain
I immediately knew what happened when Kendra popped up. I was very proud of myself
More buffy content! Keep it up.
Always!
Kendra was a great character. I would have liked to have seen more of her character arc. In contrast, I despise Faith and would have preferred she wasn’t in the show. I admit my dislike of Faith is more about the actress than the character. I do not like Dushku‘s work. Like Ben Stiller and Tricia Helfer, Dushku is one of those actors I just can’t abide. Great point about Kendra’s obedient nature allowing Drucilla to control her. Kendra’s death was a visceral moment for me while at the same time the high point of Drucilla’s character arc. As much as I hated seeing Kendra die, it was significantly impactful for the show. She gets the award for the biggest impact for a small role.
I despise Faith too, she's a mean two faced loser who was jealousy and to Buffy. She needed to grow up and stop acting childish, she was too immature. And I'm glad bad things happened to her and I admired the beast for beating her up she deserved it lol 😆😂. I despised him my first watch but not anymore and at least he died so I forgave it. I never wanted Faith dead I just wanted her to be punished and apologize and she did to one person, Buffy she had a thing for her anyway people said she was in love with her and it's true. But she should've said it to others she hurt. I was so happy she went to jail, I didn't want her dead because of the actress and I always was a fan of hers since I first saw her. She's real cool and a 💋😘. She actually put Bianca Lawson on her FB page and Sarah and nobody else ever did that so that's sweet. Check Eliza FB page, you'll see it. Sarah never did this at all and she met the woman, Eliza never did but I know she heard about her. And ED was in Philadelphia for the comic con in 2014 and I first saw earlier this year and she called that girl pretty girl and she said pretty people and loved her for that, nobody else didn't say this, she's a sweetheart 💋😘 so the people they have her in their life are very lucky because she'll make you happy 😊😁.
I didn't know she got an award for that? That's great 😃👍. And they made a comic series of her called justice for Kendra and I was excited to see that. That's sweet of them to do. But I always liked Ed's work though she's a good actress and she's so cool and nice and sweet I swear. A lot of people love her. And some don't.
aa amazing video! it's really great seeing a video about kendra, and i love the points you made (especially about her mind being malleable due to always obeying instructions and that being why she could be so easily controlled). if she survived, what could've been...
“Only to be taken out by a French Tip” PLEASE IM SCREAAAAMMMING
Kendra also queen of the one liners. “I don’t hug.” And “here. Take my stake. I call it Mr. pointy”
Good assessment, Sir: have absolute contempt for obedience, but also devotion to duty.
Imagine being taken away as a toddler, trained up for years in anticipation of your calling, only to survive a couple of months or a year as the Slayer. What a let-down 🫤
I love her comments ( you messed up my good shirt my only shirt)
Kendra was played by Bianca Lawson. Her father was veteran actor Richard B Lawson who starred in Poltergeist 1
New subscriber, here, love your videos, and I agree completely with your takes! The way Dru hypnotized Kendra so easily always annoyed me, but you reminded me how new and inexperienced Kendra was, so I guess it makes sense
She's one interesting young lady in the "BOOM!" comic remake of the series overall as well, and in *both* renditions of the comic story "Ring of Fire" her character's really very interesting.
Part of the reason was a plot device to make the stakes higher, to establish a Slayer can die, though they had done that in season one and help clean up the two slayer landscape. Drusilla becomes much more dangerous when she possesses an hypnotic quality and when she "bags" a slayer.
Yes the Council and the Watchers have a bit of an NCAA university football vibe. Both fueled by disposable athletes who are actually the point of the game that they are administering and coaching. The Administration makes millions. The coaches often are making hundreds of thousands. The players/slayers for 100 years of the NCAA got room and board and were replaced every four years.
Kendra never shook me. I thought it was a fun lore test.
No the thing I've always been shook by was why after Buffy died again at the end of season 5 another vampire slayer wasn't called. I guess the presence of Faith precluded that but i could totally see that going the other way. Anytime one dies one is called. I could also see Buffy being resurrected and coming back to this world but without Slayer powers. That part of her life was over and the mantle left her at death. Didn't happen that way in season one, but heck she was dead all summer after season five.
Yes there could only be 1, after buffy died kendra was called, then faith, so the lines going through faith now. Buffy dying was like a fluke technicality and when she dies no slayers called becquse theres already 1 alive, faith.
They explained in season 7 how thats what upset the balance and led to the first evil trying to end things as the balance had been upset, basically hes like hey no fair!
The rule is u only get one so now that ur not following the rules im not either.
I always felt like Kendra should have either just stuck around in Sunnydale from her first episode until her final episode. An extra like 8 episodes would have really helped her grow on us.
Or they could have had Acathla happening in Jamaica, and the SCoobies had to go to Jamaica for the last couple episodes.
I would have loved for Kendra to have survived, but then gone off to “find herself” after having learned about how bad the Council actually is. She could have come back darker, more like The Punisher and that could have been a fun bounce off Buffy too.
But I love my girl Faith too much and her relationship with the mayor is so rich and disturbing that I wouldn’t want to lose that either.
I'm glad you're doing longform videos! I've enjoyed your stuff on tiktok before, and I am glad I'll be able to catch more of your stuff here when tiktok goes away, lol. Also, I like the meta analysis.
Love to see my tik tok fam over here! The longer format definitely gives me and you guys more room to really dive in to the topics. Also, enjoying the slower pace on RUclips. Tik Tok moves a million miles per hour. It's good to kind of catch my breathe over here.
Cool topic! Kendra never had a chance to develop as a well rounded character. She was a cool slayer. Such an unexpected death by nails. Really wish they didn’t ask her to do that accent.
Great point on Kendra’s resistance to mind control. Never thought about it, but she was brought up to submit to the watcher’s authority.
Great video really insightful! I'm loving your content would you consider doing a Drusilla video?
Thank you! I'll definitely do a Drusilla video!
Very good points.
You want a suggested completely *crazy* Cinderella-type story that the RPG books hint at as easy to develop: imagine the heroine's watcher is another lady who'd been a "Potential" who'd been passed over for that "calling": that's really that her "watcher" is *really* way more her stepsister mistress; that can *truly* screw them up- especially if the watcher elects to quite *literally* mess up her charge- some of the books have hinted-at that; but it takes these kinds of relationships into a dimension that really ought not ever to be gone into in the real world!
Are you planning on doing videos on the big bads in the buffy series like glory or the master 🤔
When Buffy was requesting that Giles gets his salary back, she should have added some money for her, too. She was making burgers and the watcher was getting money from the council? Why?? The saddest part is that I don't think the writers or even Joss Whedon were thinking "mmm maybe the slayer should get money". I bet it never occurred to them.
Historically: I do believe that Vlad Lenin nailed it nicely as he broke down why the *state* should take over everyone's kid: you give me a child for the first six years of his life, and I've got him for *eternity*, not that at the time he really *believed* in that kind of state of being, but the emphasis on how to obtain such power is very clear!
I think Kendra only had one outfit because she didn't have time to pack since you know, she came to Sunnydale as a stow away on a plane
death by acrylic nail 😭
Yeah, flying in the *cargo hold* really would be something an *actual* demon would find as a *joke* if nothing else, maybe she *would've* met their *actual Red Tsar/Leader* in that air trip she took, and it would've not moved against her to do her *physical* harm, but had a laugh at her expense about *this* lack of safety; as a recruitment policy... and *that* creature is best seen in the perverse light of an "Al Capone" type character: absolute crime-boss!
So it actually would *categorically* have tried to recruit her!
I've always wondered how the Council found Kendra to train in the first place. I feel like I missed something.
Well they never really explain how they identified potentials other than that spell Willow did in S7. It was a big plot hole. Maybe they had a handful of watchers doing spells to locate potentials traveling the world. But that seems very inefficient. Does the spell have a limited range or would they travel hundreds of miles following this light searching for a potential? Why weren't they able to identify Buffy before she was called and how did they figure out she was called?
There's so any questions about that. Like do they have oracle's something that finds them? Also, why didn't the council let Giles know that there's a second slayer or tell Zabuto that there was still another active slayer. That's pretty huge news to not share with Giles. For all we know, the council may not have known that Buffy died for a few mins. Another slayer being activated, congruently, would be be major news in either case.
@@ryanbtalkstv Yeah, they didn't always know what was happening, which should have been addressed more when Buffy quit the Council.
Kendra looked good but it was so impractical. Buffy wears practical clothes for one of the only times in her life. It was weird. Kendra is supposed to be the hardass but her clothes offer no protection. Also really speaks to how little the Watchers value a Slayer that she had one damn outfit. Shame on Sam Zabuto.
Imo The Council and the Powers That Be (from Angel) are also villains ( PTB especially for Cordy) the series and i wish they'd have really learned into it more.
Love your videos
Thank you!
I love your videos!!❤️👏🏻
Thank you!
The slayer novels by Christen White Slayer Book 1 and Chosen Book 2 have a different spin on the Slayer verse. I found it confusing sometimes to wrap my head around timelines and events but I found the books interesting.
I love this
In “the book of fours” Kendra tells Buffy that Drusilla released her. Prior to sunnydale kendra fought a voodoo priest who infected her with a zombie like curse. If Kendra hadn’t of died she would have become the voodoo priests slave when the curse took over. This could be why she wasn’t competent fighting off those vampires in the library and also why she was so susceptible to hypnosis. Also the reason why Drusilla didn’t drink kendras blood - it wasn’t clean blood.
I always thought it was sad that Kendra died protecting the scoobies - she could have escaped but she was dutiful and fought to the death - this is why most slayers died young - because they fought to the death instead of running away or regrouping like buffy did xx
In season 8, I think, which is in the comic, Buffy had enough of struggling financially and took a bunch of the newly activated slayers and robbed a bank down to the sheet rock!! Lmao! They shouldn't have had to do that but I'm glad they did. They didn't even offer her any help when Joyce died. She was trying to work and pay a whole mortgage and support all those loafers living in her house rent free AND constantly save the world! Screw that bank I say! 😅
The bank and all it’s customers is insured by the U.S. government so in effect Buffy took a well deserved paycheck from Uncle Sam for services rendered above and beyond the call of duty. 🙃
Race defiantly plays a part in this. From Buffy making fun of Kendra's accent to the writer's making the joke that she only had one shirt (which I'm taking to mean she only brought one on her trip...) the show is as white as white could be. I mean is SoCal and there are NO latinx characters? That Chinese potential slayer was played for laughs in season 7.
Of course they couldn't see Kendra as a fully realized character, she was a reflection/cautionary tale for Buffy. A literal tool for the counsel and the writers. Now if we look beyond Kendra being a storytelling device as to why she was killed and disappeared in Becoming Pt2. I wouldn't say her mind was weaker than buffy's, the probably did have all curiosity and inquiry conditioned out of her, but because Kendra was so good at her studies she probably did that crystal channeling exercise Buffy did in Helpless. Which means she was already conditioned to hypnosis and primed for Drusilla (it was a stupid, thoughtless way to kill her but here we are).
That's the way I'm going to frame it. Kendra wasn't weaker than Buffy or lesser than her, she just wasn't the title character. Buffy could have easily been a lesson for Kendra but we didn't see her outside of sunnydale or Buffy's gaze.
Race definitely plays part which I'll discuss in another vid about race and the Buffyverse. As far as the mental aspect, this specific video reckons with what actually was...what we saw instead of what could have been? Kendra's conditioning wasn't meant to make her mentally resistant. That's counter what the watchers wanted from a slayer. The unfortunate point of Kendra's story was she was a representation of what it looks like to be a slayer that follows protocol to the watchers' standards. Sure, we love Kendra and we would like to think she was as mentally resistant as Buffy but with the training and circumstances she had, she wasn't. Maybe she could have been, if given the chance develop more of sense of self but, sadly, that wasn't Kendra's story. It's not about her being lesser. It's about the reality of the way Kendra was developed as a slayer.
Kendra deserved better. Joss had no idea what to do with her, and they only show ponied her like "Look. We have diversity here." In all fairness...that was a long time trope since black people have been allowed to be in entertainment movies and shows.
Times are getting better with that because the public has been diligent on calling it out.
But, yeah...she deserved better.
Oh yes! I'm working on a vid about Black/POC characters in the Buffyverse that's going to deep dive on this aspect Kendra's development and all the other Black/POC characters in the show.
this is great thank you for articulating it so well, this is legit :)
Thank you! I'm glad the vid hit for you
You have to do one on the evils of the Watchers. Why were they such high and mighty d-bags
I goy you. It's all going to be covered in the "before Free Britney, there was Buffy" vid
Hi Ryan B can you do a video about Alex forest from Fatal attraction the movie? what are your opinion about her? I heard that Glenn close saw Alex as a mentally ill victim then a villain. and The story behind her illness is from her horrible childhood.
I'm on buffy the vampire slayer season 3 episode 3 faith hope and trick
I've gotten so obsessed with your videos (and Buffy in general). Thanks for this fantastic analysis, and congrats on 1k
Thank you! I appreciate the support! Glad to hear you're enjoying the videos!
They did Kendra dirty and I hope they get the actress who played her to play Sheva from Resident Evil 5
So true but hey they have a comic book 📚📖 about her called justice for Kendra which is good.
You should set a subscriber goal where, when reached, you compare and contrast the movie vs the soft redo. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
This is a good idea because I was already going to make that comparison vid at some point. I've done tik tok lives comparing them but this goal idea for the compare/contrast vid is great! Noted!
The actual value of the combat training provided by a Watcher is pretty low. A Slayer is not merely a martial artist. Buffy is "trained" by a middle aged academic using yard sale equipment. She'd been the Slayer for a little over a year when she met Kendra. Yet she fought Kendra-trained from infancy as a Slayer-to a standstill.
Faith was a "found" Slayer, only located after she was called and had only been trained for a few months. But she repeatedly held her own against Buffy, a three year veteran of countless fights to the death.
Almost all of a Slayer's skill is innate(Buffy kills the first vampire she sees, a few hours after being told they exist), and are merely elicited by the Watcher's training. After that it is the experience of battle that makes a Slayer dangerous...but that experience, every single fight, has the built in chance of death. A slip, a momentary loss of concentration, looking left instead of right...and the next Slayer is called.
All Slayers die in battle.
Kendra died because of Drusilla's magic...just like Buffy died from the Master's magic. Dru was just a little more thorough.
Had Buffy stayed in the library and sent Kendra to kill Angelus, she MIGHT have been able to resist Dru due to her experience with the Master...and Kendra would likely have killed the vile Angelus in the graveyard.
If anything the highly "trained" slayers are probably more at risk because they've been trained to ignore their instincts and stick to the set martial forms. It makes them predicable a bad thing when most of your opponents have been around for hundreds of years, are likely to recognize the set forms pretty quicky and know how to counter them.
Buffy one of the longest lived slayers was anything but predicable.