Before she was Daphne in Scooby Doo, Sarah Michelle Gellar made a name for herself as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a tv adaption of the film of the early nineties. Fox has been slowly releasing each season of this finished series and the sixth season has finally arrived. The sixth season of Buffy brought many fans to tears, joy and well plenty of discussion. It also saw a character get back a soul!
The season began with a huge question. How would Buffy come back from her untimely demise at the end of season five. It was answered promptly with the help of her loving friends who negated her sacrifice brining back plenty of plot lines. Romances and friendships blossomed and were tested throughout the season with plenty of surprises.
Season Six is also notable for the musical episode ("Once More, With Feeling,") which had most of the cast, James Marsters (Spike), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Nicholas Brendon (Xander), Amber Benson (Tara), ALyson Hannigan (Willow), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) and Emma Caulfield (Anya), singing fairly well. How could any fan forget this memorable episode?
The sixth season set includes 21 episodes on 6 discs, which can be found listed at http://www.tvtome.com/BuffytheVampireSlayer/season6.html
The Disc:
Buffy's Season 6 DVD was unfortunately shot in full screen, forgoing the widescreen filming of many popular shows in the genre of today. That equates into a 1.33:1 full screen transfer that is admittedly nice but still not quite up to par as with shows like Enterprise or Smallville. Sound on the disc follows the most common TV formula bringing in a decent 2.0 surround track that helps accent the action on the screen.
Buffy's sixth season is packed with extras, a thanks to the fanbase indeed. It all begins with Audio Commentary Tracks On Six Episodes. Each track is handled by different people and includes: Commentary by Marti Nixon and David Fury on 'Bargaining', Commentary by writer/director Joss Whedon on 'Once More, with Feeling', Commentary by Drew Z. Greenberg on 'Smashed', Commentary by David Soloman and Rebecca Rand Kirshner on 'Hell's Bells', Commentary by Rick Rosenthal and Diego Gutierrez on 'Normal Again' and Commentary by James Contner and David Fury on 'Grave'. The differences between the six commentaries is pretty wide but also very entertaining. As expected some of these were better to listen to than others.
Next up is an Academy of Television Arts and Sciences panel discussion which shows just how big of an impact this show made on our culture. Much like in this discussion, I would be willing to bet that Buffy will be on the air somwhere 20 years from now still running in repeats.
Music Videos also play their part in the show and on this season six disc. "I've got a Theory/Bunnies/We're Together," "I'll Never Tell," "Walk Through the Fire" are presented for your viewing pleasure. I found these tunes to be quite catchy and the video imagery nicely done.
Several shorter features are presented to fill in between the lines. Some easter eggs, outtakes and of course trailers round out the goodies. Not bad for the season!
bottom line:
Buffy's Sixth Season is a well done effort for fans from the folks at Fox. There's no better way to either discover or relive this series than with a DVD. Season Six had good stories and of course a dark haired willow! Here's to Fox!
3.5 out of 5
By - Brian Gray
1/2
