From Chris Snellgrove
| Published
For the most part Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fans were happy with the final season. Sure, it lacked the emotional and creative highlights of Season 2 and Season 3, but it felt like a refreshing return to form after the empty bleakness of Season 6. However, it turns out that the final season was nearly ruined by the most unexpected source of them all. Sarah Michelle Gellar, along with co-star Nicholas Brendon, originally gave showrunner Joss Whedon the idea of Buffy and Xander getting together in Season 7.
The romance between Buffy and Xander
Some longtime fans of the show are groaning right now, and don’t worry… we’re going to delve deeper into why this romantic pairing would be such a terrible idea. First, though, let’s address the elephant in the room: Why the hell? Sarah Michelle Gellar and her co-star thinks a Buffy/Xander romance would even be a good idea? In short, both characters struggled with grief. Xander left Anya at the altar in Season 6 and she ended up teaming up with Spike, Buffy’s enemy with advantage, who eventually tried to rape her before the season was over.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Nicholas Brendon wanted their respective characters to have a romantic happy ending, and they felt that merging Buffy and Xander would give each of their characters a romantic ending. Of course, that didn’t happen, and season seven was all about unrequited feelings for our favorite characters. Buffy didn’t have a perfect boyfriend, but she was crushed by both Angel and a redeemed Spike before the end of the season; As for Xander, he was able to meet with Anya one more time before she tragically lost her life in the final episode.
Why Sarah Michelle Gellar was wrong
Now we love Sarah Michelle Gellar more than some of our family members. So why do we think she was wrong for wanting a Buffy/Xander romance? For one thing, it felt like a bad relapse. Xander’s crush on Buffy in Season 1 showed how immature he was, and his later relationship with Anya underscored how much he had evolved as a character. If he and Buffy suddenly met, it would feel like his character had regressed, and he would even cheapen his romance with Anya by implying that he had never stopped wanting Buffy.
Additionally, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s great acting underscored that Buffy never saw Xander as a romantic interest, which is why she spent all her time falling in love with evil vampires and the occasional corn-fed super soldier. Suddenly it would have felt completely arbitrary and unmotivated, her and Honestly, it could have been even worse than Willow’s character assassination in Season 6, where she went from a magical lesbian goddess to a magic junkie who can’t stop trying to kill those who want to hurting the one she loves most.
The final reason against Buffy/Xander
Ultimately, a Buffy/Xander romance would have ruined a core aspect of Buffy’s character: that at the end of the day, she always wants what she can’t have. Part of this was falling in love with chiseled but unattainable men, a way for the Slayer to subconsciously keep anyone from getting too close to her. Xander is someone she could have had at literally any point in the series due to his awkward little crush, and it would be completely out of character for her to suddenly abandon her love for unattainable bad boys and instead date the harmless little nerd who’s been around never stopped following her after their first meeting.
Luckily, Joss Whedon didn’t listen to Sarah Michelle Gellar and Buffy didn’t end up with Xander or anyone else at the end of season seven. That was sad, but fitting. Once again, the Huntress saves a world she cannot fully enjoy. But let’s be honest: Isn’t being alone much, much, much better than ending up with Xander?
