10 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fates Worse Than Death
5. Leaving Heaven And Waking Up Inside Your Own Coffin (Season 6, Episode 1 And 2)
The writers went dark in Season 6. They weren’t afraid to write about addiction, depression, gun violence, sexual violence – the whole thing is pretty grim and it’s no wonder this season is so polarising.
Bearing this in mind, the final scene of the opening episode is a nod to how dark the rest of the season will be. Buffy wakes up inside her own coffin, and at the start of the following episode, she has to claw her way out and resurface next to her own gravestone.
Coming back to life would be a scary thing for anyone to deal with, but Buffy’s situation is made so much worse by the fact she’s just left heaven. She’s gone from a spiritual paradise to the inside of her own coffin in a matter of seconds.
Unsurprisingly, it takes a couple of episodes for her to adjust. Crawling out her own grave is the last thing Buffy deserved after her noble sacrifice at the end of the last season.