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The forthcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival certainly sounds as though it’s going to do things right. Rather than a cheap retread that gleefully rewrites everything we loved about the original, the series will feature original Chosen One Sarah Michelle Gellar and honor its legacy, even as it moves the franchise into a new era alongside a brand new Slayer. (Or Slayers, we’re not 100% clear on this point given how everything went down in the original series finale.)
No one knows precisely how Gellar’s Buffy will fit into the canvas of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, though we’re all assuming she’s going to have a more Watcher-style mentor role. But her involvement — clearly the biggest hurdle to making any sort of sequel series work — means that fans are already speculating about which other original cast members might eventually show up alongside her. James Marsters is already out there being incredibly cryptic about it. But we do know for sure that one original star won’t be back.
Eliza Dushku, who played the rogue slayer Faith Lehane on Buffy and later crossed over for several multi-episode arcs on its spin-off series Angel, has categorically denied any plans to return to her most popular role. After over two decades in the industry, Dushku has completely changed her career path, becoming a therapist who specializes in using psychedelic therapies to help patients deal with trauma. She’s produced a Netflix documentary on the subject (In Waves and War) and, if her recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter is anything to go by, seems as happy and well-adjusted as anyone could hope for. She’s also fairly adamant that she’s done with acting for good.
“Oh yeah. I will not be in front of a camera again unless it’s in some capacity that is in service of my new work and passion,” Dushku said. “People ask me all the time if I miss it. And I don’t. Again, not because it wasn’t fulfilling. It was, and I did it for 25 years. I’ve met people who point out to me that I have lived these two lives, and I value both of them.”
And you know what? Good for her. Dushku certainly seems genuinely happy, and after facing both sexual assault and harassment during her years in the entertainment industry, goodness knows she’s earned a fresh start, however she wants one.
But it’s still difficult not to wonder what revisiting Dushku’s Buffy heroine might be like all these years later. Though Faith made only 26 television appearances across both Buffy and Angel, the character’s arc was one of the franchise’s strongest.
Faith was initially introduced as a sort of cautionary tale, a reminder of the kind of volatile, dangerous Slayer that Buffy could have easily become without the support system of her friends and family around her. But her story ultimately evolves into so much more than that. Her evolution from villain to hero is deeply satisfying precisely because it is so earned, and Faith’s arc is perhaps the franchise’s best example of the idea that goodness and heroism aren’t innate qualities, but choices, and that no one is so lost that they cannot find their way back to the light.
Yes, we see Faith kill someone, succumb to her inner darkness, and literally try to steal Buffy’s life. But we also see her choose to change, and not because of a sense of misplaced duty or guilt, but from a genuine desire to be a better person, and to atone for the wrong she has done. Faith actually goes to prison for her crimes — which, let’s be clear, is more direct punishment than either Angel or Spike face for their worst actions — and spends a lot of time (albeit mostly offscreen) working on herself and (with some help from Angel) confronting the darkness within. By the time Buffy season 7 rolls around, she’s become the leader she always saw Buffy as, a confidante to the new slayer recruits and a partner who finally gets to stand on the side of the good guys without apology. It’s hard to imagine a better lesson to teach a new Slayer than her story.
And while the series finale “Chosen” is a satisfying end to Faith’s story on many levels, people’s lives don’t have such neat bookends. How has Faith used all these lessons in the 25 years since the series’ original ending? What kind of Slayer did she become? Or did she, like her portrayer, walk away from the world she had known for so long? What might draw her back into it? Alas, it seems we’ll never know.
Of course, Gellar herself used to swear up and down she’d never pick up a stake again, either. Look how that turned out. Maybe Faith’s portrayer could have a similar change of heart one day.
The post Not Bringing Faith Back for the Buffy Revival Is a Big Missed Opportunity appeared first on Den of Geek.
