The twelfth episode of Buffy's third season saw everything settled again. The Scooby Gang were doing well, Buffy and Angel were dating, and the former was about to celebrate her eighteenth birthday with a visit from her absent father. As it happens, the latter plan never comes to pass but she does get another surprise. The plan of the Watchers Council to de-power Buffy, lock her in a house and watch her fight an ancient, psychopathic vampire is more cruel than scary although, the idea of being in a confined space with a blood-sucking freak isn't exactly most people's idea of fun. It's when that monster himself is introduced that Helpless gets really bad. What's the only thing worst than your regular, garden-variety vampire? A serial killer who got turned into a vampire, with his sadism and bloodlust only heightened by the transformation. Zachary Kralik only appeared in this one episode, but the vamp who had killed and ate his own mother remains as one of the most terrifying Buffy villains.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
