It could be argued that Buffy's first season is really just a taster for what is to come and the show really gets off the ground (or should that be rises from the grave?) in Season Two - or more precisely in episode three of Season Two, School Hard, when vampire couple Spike and Drusilla first turned up to cause havoc for the Slayer. As any Buffy fan will tell you, Spike is perhaps the best Buffy character of them all, with James Marsters' effortless cool more than making up for his wavering British accent. Also, not to be forgotten is his eternal love Drusilla (well, eternal until she ditches him for a demon with antlers but we won't go into that now), an ethereal, rather insane individual, Dru shared Spike's lust for chaos, carnage and generally having a 'bloody' good time. However, as if Spike and Drusilla weren't enough to carry the season, the plot thickens when tormented vampire and Buffy's lover Angel loses his soul and becomes the wise-cracking, evil-doing Angelus. The three best vampire characters on the show teamed up to be seriously sinister in Sunnydale! What could be better? Much like the Mayor and Faith, the best thing about having Angelus, Spike and Dru as Big Bads is the interaction between the three, particularly Spike and Angelus as they fight for Dru's affections. Also, more so than any other Big Bad, fighting Angel hits Buffy hard as she has to stop a twisted, evil version of the man she loves from destroying the world; emphasizing the tragedy at the show's centre that Buffy's Slayer responsibilities mean she has to make difficult choices. With this dramatic conceit at the heart of having Angelus as an enemy, plus the endless fun of Spike and Dru, Season Two's line-up of villainous vampires are certainly the best of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Big Bads. Is this list as super-strong as the Slayer herself? Or do you think this article needs to be slain with a wooden stake and sent to a hell dimension for getting it wrong? Leave your comments below!
