Why Monsters-Of-The-Week Outshine Big Bads

One of the best things about Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the rogues’ gallery of villains she and the Scoobies face off against, but the one-and-done monsters-of-the-week reveal a harsh truth about the show. Throughout Buffy‘s seven seasons, many vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness are introduced, with some being more memorable than others.

Each season also features a “big bad” who drives the overarching supernatural conflict, often culminating in a big battle between villain and Slayer in the season finale. It’s these big bads who often get the credit as the best villains in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though we might not want to sleep on the monsters-of-the-week.

Buffy’s Monster-Of-The-Week Villains Are Scarier Than The Big Bads

Buffy is not an out-and-out horror show, but the series definitely incorporates many elements from the genre, and the fact is that the series’ scariest moments almost always come from a monster-of-the-week. You need only look to one of Buffy‘s perfect episodes, season 4, episode 10, “Hush,” for proof.

If you ask any Buffy fan what scares them the most about the show, almost everyone is going to say the Gentlemen. Between their frightful appearance, complete with those creepy smiles, and the fact that they steal your voice so you can’t scream when they cut out your heart, they are pure nightmare fuel, and easily Buffy‘s best monster-of-the-week villains.

It doesn’t stop with the Gentlemen, either. Almost every viewer gets a shiver down their spine when watching season 2’s “Killed by Death,” which features Der Kindestod, who solely preys on sick children. Just like the Gentlemen prevents people from screaming, season 7’s Gnarl paralyzes his victims before feasting on their flesh, one strip at a time. Now that is terrifying.

Considering most of these monsters-of-the-week are defeated after one episode, it’s hard to make the case that they’re better villains than the big bads, and they’re certainly not more powerful. But when was the last time that the Master, or the Mayor, or Glory made you want to sleep with the lights on? There’s strong and there’s scary, and the monsters-of-the-week win the latter game.

The Best Big Bads Show Humanity, But That Lessens Their Horror

Beyond their villainy, there’s a reason why we love Buffy‘s big bads, and that’s because they’re great, wholly rounded characters, and the best of them show their humanity. While we’re rooting for Buffy to vanquish the Mayor on graduation day, outside of their fight, he shows a tender side to Faith.

Their found father-daughter relationship fills a huge void in both of their lives, and their scenes together are… sweet. This makes them so much more compelling than if they were just laughing villainously and performing acts of evil every time they’re on screen.

Angelus may be pure sadistic evil, but he’s still tethered to Buffy through the love-for-the-ages romance they had when he possessed a soul. Meanwhile, Spike, who was essentially Buffy season 2’s big bad before Angelus arrived on the scene, shows an extreme amount of tenderness towards Drusilla. We may not relate to a stone-cold killer, but we can relate to true love.

Ultimately, the devil you know (aka the big bads) is never going to be as scary as the devil you don’t (aka the monsters-of-the-week). We don’t know why the Gentlemen are the way they are, and we don’t need to. Nor would we want them to be the big bads, because the more we got to know them, the less frightening they would be.

Buffy is a brilliant show, exactly because it incorporates these distinct types of villains. The monsters-of-the-week deliver the chills, while the big bads deliver fascinating villainy laced with humanity and incredibly high stakes. You may not have nightmares about Angelus and co., but they’ll leave you emotionally shaken up long after you’ve turned off the TV.

The Sillier Monsters-Of-The-Week Give These Characters A Bad Rap

The best one-off villains often don’t get the credit they’re due because many of Buffy‘s monster-of-the-week episodes are, quite frankly, silly, and in those episodes, it’s hard to take the bad guys seriously.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s worst-rated episode by fans is season 4’s “Beer Bad,” which sees a disgruntled bar owner lacing his beer with a potion that turns its drinkers into cave-people. The show hardly blew the VFX budget on the transformation sequences, and the grunting college boys-turned-Neanderthals are beyond laughable.

Interestingly, some of the most seemingly silly Buffy filler episodes can foreshadow serious, and even dark elements that play out later in the show. So, if you’re tempted to skip these episodes on a Buffy rewatch, you might want to think twice.

So no, the “monsters-of-the-week villains are scarier than the big bads” argument doesn’t apply to all monsters-of-the-week in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But the ones who do clear that bar are truly some of the most terrifying creatures television has ever seen.

Release Date

1997 – 2003

Network

The WB