Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book Season Two, Vol. 1

by Gertrude Pocket

This volume contains six scripts from the second season of the television programme Buffy the Vampire Slayer: When She Was Bad, Some Assembly Required, School Hard, Inca Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy and Halloween. These scripts are the shooting drafts, and contain production notes, cut dialogue and different scenes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743410149
• ISBN13: 9780743410144
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.5" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

A mixed group of scripts kicks off a phenomenal season

As fine as Season One of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER had been, it was nonetheless at the start of Season Two merely a very good show. During the second season, however, Joss Whedon and his stable of crack writers would transform the show into something truly great. Nonetheless, it took some time for Season Two to achieve the greatness that it ended up being. So, in a sense, the scripts in this volume represent the last shows where Buffy was struggling to realize its enormous potential. Not that they aren't very good, or even in a couple of instances quite exceptional; they simply aren't as stellar as what immediately followed."Lie to Me" is, like many season openers, the product of Joss Whedon. As fine as other writers on the show are, I don't think anyone would question that Whedon always remained the King of the Hill. This script provides a marvelous transition from "Prophecy Girl," the Season One finale. Buffy returns to Sunnydale after spending the summer in L.A., and she is obviously reexperiences the trauma of her encounter with and death by the Master. She completely supplants Cordelia as the Queen [word that rhymes with "witch"] of Sunnydale high. Not only is she indifferent to almost everything, she is positively nasty to Cordelia, and engages in an over-the-top sexy dance with Xander that both unmercifully steams him up only to dash him with cold water, and cruelly makes Angel jealous. As Xander and Willow agree, Buffy has always been different, but she had never been mean before. But when vampires kidnap Willow, Giles, Jenny, and Cordelia to perform a ritual to resurrect the Master, Buffy not only saves her friends, but as Xander puts it "works out her issues" by killing all the vampires."Some Assembly Required" is one of the weakest episodes in the entire run of the show. When fans are polled on the worst episodes ever, it usually garners one of the highest vote totals. As a rule, Buffy is a highly nonderivative show, but this episode is a fairly lame updating of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. It does contain one of my all time favorite exchanges. Upon seeing Giles, who is trying to work up the nerve to ask out Jenny Calendar, Xander says: XANDER: And speaking of love . . . WILLOW: We were talking about the reanimation of dead tissue. XANDER: Do I deconstruct your segues?"School Hard," written by David Greenwalt, is a very good episode, with several memorable moments. I don't think it is quite up to the level of the better scripts later in the year, but it is still extremely fine. Two things make it especially memorable. First, we meet Spike and Druscilla for the first time. Spike's part is especially well written, but reading the script demonstrates just how much James Marster's brings to the role. All the performers bring a great deal, but I believe he adds more to his part than any other performer. The second great thing in the episode is Spike's killing "the Annoying One" near the end of the episode. The episode i

As fun to read as to watch, thanks to the clever writing

In what is apparently the first of four books with the scripts from Season Two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the one-liners come fast and furious with a liberal dose of drama.The book begins with "When She Was Bad." At the end of Season One, Buffy was killed by the evil vampire known as the Master (albeit just for a minute) and this episode deals with the aftermath of that trauma. Buffy's friends try to find out why she's being such a...er, witch...to them while a group of vampires tries to revive the Master.The second episode is "Some Assembly Required." Although well-written, it's probably one of the less impressive episodes in the book. It features Buffy and gang trying to find the secret behind grave robbers who now have their sights set on a living person...acerbic queen Cordelia."School Hard" introduces Spike and Drusilla, two of the series' mainstay villains (and sometimes hero, in Spike's case). Parent-Teacher Night at Sunnydale High happens to correspond with the Night of St. Vigeous, the day when vampires' power is at its peak. Needless to say, things get a little hairy in what is probably the best episode of the bunch.Regular guy Xander gets a showcase in "Inca Mummy Girl". He's finally found a girl he likes (who isn't a giant praying mantis). Unfortunately, she's an ancient mummy who must survive by draining people's life force. Is it any surprise that it doesn't end well?"Reptile Boy" is probably the worst episode in the book. It's still good, but not up to par with the other five. In it, evil frat boys are planning to sacrifice Buffy and Cordelia to a gigantic snake.And finally, in "Halloween" one of Giles' old friends comes to town, and as a result everyone turns into their costumes - Willow becomes a ghost, Xander becomes a military private, and Buffy becomes a helpless aristocrat from the eighteenth century. It drops hints of Giles' past, which will come back to haunt him later in the season.Without a doubt, a good buy for anyone who enjoys Buffy or wants to see what the fuss is all about (although newcomers might want to start with the Season One scripts).

Fun to read

The writing of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Television series is much celebrated by fans and critics alike. This book is a collection of the original shooting scripts for the first 6 episodes of season two. Included are When She Was Bad, Some Assembly Required, School Hard, Inca Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy and Halloween. Some of these scripts contain dialogue or scenes which were cut due to time or other concerns. This volume is a must for the Buffy collector and wonderful for anyone that appreciates quality television.