Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 1 Episode 10 Dailymotion

[Roxine Denison]

Thefifth season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on September 26, 2000, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 22, 2001. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. This was the final season to air on The WB before it moved to UPN; The WB billed the season five finale as "The WB series finale".

In the season premiere, the famous vampire Count Dracula makes an appearance in Sunnydale in search of Buffy. He then bites Buffy in the same place where she was bitten by The Master and Angel ("Prophecy Girl" and "Graduation Day"). Buffy breaks free from his will and Dracula is defeated and staked, but not killed because of Dracula's extraordinary powers.

Season five introduces Buffy's younger "sister", Dawn, who suddenly appears in Buffy's life. Although she is new to the series, to the characters it is as if she has always been there; but Buffy remains somewhat suspicious and jealous of Dawn's bond with their mother. Xander's girlfriend Anya Jenkins begins to experience deeper human emotions, both negative and positive, such as a love for money. Anya is hired by Giles and works alongside him at a magic shop called The Magic Box.

Meanwhile, Glorificus, or Glory, a hell-goddess who was exiled from her dimension after a war, has come to Earth. She can only remain there by being connected to her human form; a medical intern called Ben. Glory takes the form of a beautiful young woman, with some of her powers still intact as long as she maintains her strength through draining people of their sanity. She begins searching for a "Key" that will allow her to return to her Hell dimension by blurring the lines between dimensions, and in the process unleashing Hell on Earth. At the beginning of the season Glory and Ben are vying for control, alternating who possesses the body they share; later the line between them begins to blur and they experience each other's emotions and memories.

Near the end of the season, Joyce dies of an aneurysm, devastating Dawn and Buffy; Buffy drops out of college to take care of Dawn, who starts skipping school in her grief. Spike commissions Warren Mears to build a robot version of Buffy, later known as the Buffybot. This greatly angers Buffy, but she soon softens after Spike is tortured by Glory yet refuses to reveal that Dawn is the Key. After this ordeal, Buffy warms up to Spike, promising she will not forget what he has done for her and inviting him back into her life. Glory attacks Willow's girlfriend Tara Maclay, draining her of her sanity. In a rage, Willow turns to dark magic in order to gain powers to match Glory's. She vengefully attacks the hell goddess futilely and is nearly killed, but Buffy intervenes. Despite the defeat, this event results in Willow becoming significantly more powerful, but her dependency on magic increases and her personality starts to change in a sinister way.

Series creator Joss Whedon served as executive producer and showrunner, and wrote and directed three episodes including the season finale. Marti Noxon was promoted to co-executive producer and wrote three episodes, including directing two of them. Jane Espenson was promoted to producer and wrote or co-wrote five episodes. David Fury was promoted to supervising producer and wrote three episodes. Douglas Petrie was promoted to co-producer and wrote or co-wrote four episodes. New additions in the fifth season included Rebecca Rand Kirshner, who wrote three episodes and Steven S. DeKnight, who wrote two episodes.[1]

David Solomon directed the highest number of episodes in the fifth season, directing four episodes and was promoted to producer. Joss Whedon, James A. Contner (also co-producer), and David Grossman each directed three.

The fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired along with the second season of Angel. Both shows retained their timeslots on The WB Television Network, airing on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM ET and 9:00 PM ET respectively.

Buffy recurring character Drusilla makes her first present-tense appearance on Angel in the episode "The Trial". She returns to Sunnydale in her final present-tense appearance in the episode "Crush".

Buffy recurring character Harmony Kendall (Mercedes McNab) visits L.A. in the Angel episode "Disharmony". Harmony would later appear in the fifth season of Angel and become a main character. Willow (Alyson Hannigan) also appears in the episode in a conversation with Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) over the phone.

The series was included in the American Film Institute's list for the best drama series of the year. Joss Whedon was nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Script for "The Body". The series was nominated for three Television Critics Association Awards, for Individual Achievement in Drama (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Outstanding Achievement in Drama, and Program of the Year.[24]

The fifth season averaged 4.5 million viewers.[34] Rotten Tomatoes gave season five a score of 83% with an average rating of 7.5 out of 10 based on 12 reviews with a critics consensus stating, "Brilliant, risky and beautiful, Buffy reaches past the missteps of season four to deliver a fresh, unpredictable season that ends with a bang."[35] Paste and MovieWeb ranked it the best season of the series.[36][37]

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