Spike was, is, and will forever be my favorite character on both shows. James Marsters is a phenomenal actor in my opinion.

James Marsters, you've melted my damn heart here sir, you really have. 'It was the worst day of my professional career' yet you explained the writers motivations so fairly and insightfully. Dude.

Willow going dark just really made it clear how hypocritical the Scooby‘s were and who they were willing to forgive for murder. Scooby‘s quick to be like it’s fine we love you will yellow crayon.

Spike is the character that made me fall in love with vampires.

It strikes me how, even decades later, the attempted rape scene in Seeing Red still affects James Marsters so much. He already looked fairly older, but recalling that aged him even more with regret.

James Marsters is such a class act and a thoughtful individual 😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ On top of being as talented as he is

James Marsters is a prince among men. Thank you for getting that cameo, Vee Infuso!

HOLY SHIT BALLS, JAMES MARSTERS!!!

Dark Willow is not out of character for Willow, her using magic to avenge Tara happened before in season 5 and in season 4 when Oz cheated on her

Spike was my favorite on show because work for his gold's hard work showing that he good enough if not better. The episode where he tells his history is my favorite episode

What an emotional interview with the legend himself

Spike was able to very subtly feel the soul of a person, his experiences and emotions. he always spoke to his face The truth that a person already understood but was afraid to admit to himself. he was open, straightforward and sincere. he always behaved as he felt. He gave her his love, tenderness, body and soul, and cared for her.

Personally, I didn't mind Beer Bad that much. It's certainly not in my top episodes, but when watching it, I didn't really have a problem with it.

James Marsters was THISCLOSE to saying “we live in a society”...and now I totally want to see him try his hand as The Joker.

Even after all these years, I still can't get use to the fact that James Marsters isn't British

Kudos to James Marsters for not being one of those actors who claims that [the attempted rape scene] was intense and empowering for his acting, etc. I'm glad that not only did he think it was a mistake at the time, he's still disturbed by it! I often read about how many actors claim these bad experience were "positive" somehow for their careers and for once, this one tells it like it was!

I've heard James tell this same story in other videos, and it's apparent that the original writer envisioned Buffy being strong enough to easily get Spike off of her. Given that vampire bites in the show tended to be portrayed in a suggestive manner, it can even be argued that Buffy fights off such assaults regularly. But since the goal is to make the audience hate Spike, they decided to portray Buffy as a helpless victim. It's very doubtful that the scene would've played out the same way if say Angel was the victim and Drusilla was the attacker.

James honestly comes across as a down to earth guy

While the Spike/Buffy was rough, but so was The Faith/Xander scene when Faith almost assaults Xander.

Thank you for this video, Vee. For so long I questioned why they did that Spike/Buffy scene the way they did. So glad James was so willing to be up front about the whole thing.

James: I really don’t recall, I would have to watch the show again Also James: that was the fucking worst day of my life

Buffy was released in 97 not the early 2000s as you said. Google, was not a thing as it wasn't founded until 98. AskJeebs was the main search engine at the time. And not everyone had access to the internet. So the episodes such as Willow dating an internet demon were not clichéd at all, because Buffy was one of the first shows to do something like that. However in 2021, Google is very much a thing... And it would have taken YOU like 30 seconds to find that, had you bothered to look.

To be fair if they never mentioned Angel's age it could've been implied that he was alot younger when he was turned unfortunately that was thrown out the window thanks to the writers on Angel

Thank God James reiterated the RRK story behind "Seeing Red". I love how he put it, too: "Our secrets with fangs on them." He is so humble. Great video!

Cameo has turned into a great resource, I really love the way you use it Vee. Hope all is well with you bro, be well.

Wow people really get their money’s worth with James cameos 👏

I thought the SEEING RED bathroom scene was just heartbreaking and the craziest shit EVER at the time it premiered. This is the third or fourth time James Marsters spoke about this- I agree about his fustration. I wish she would’ve fukked up him up earlier in the scene.

Willow started using magic as a way out from the start. When she had the affair with Xander she tried to end it by using magic and not telling Xander about it. She tried to use magic as revenge after Oz cheated. She was even approached by Dhofryn to work for him as vengeance demon king way before Tara died. In the beginning when she started magic Giles warned her about going into more complicated spells like soul restoration because once you go there there is no way back. Magic was shown as a drug in first couple of seasons by showing us Giles as an addict with Ethan worshiping Eyghon ( I gone ) and loosing some friends because of it ( magic = drug use) I like your videos but I don’t think you gave this one much research. I do agree that the Kennedy + Willow was just there to not make her go back to guys so her relationship with Tara wasn’t just college experimentation. I didn’t like Kennedy as a character because she was horribly undeveloped.

Thank you James Marsters for that brutally honest answer!

I think that one of the only if not the only Vampire biological age v/s emotional age dichotomy that had acknowledge the problem was "Interview with the Vampire" with Claudia character, even if is the contrary to what's commonly happened. Claudia is way too young when she is converted, she is a kid but as time go by, she is a grown up woman in the body of a girl, she think and desire as a woman, but everyone sees her as a kid. Anne rice did this for her own reasons, but still I found it interesting. Pd: sorry English is not my first language. Pd: I can just talk about the book but for some reason I still don't watch the movie and I really want to watch it.

Yes Vee, age is the big issue in Buffy and Angels relationship and not that Angel is a undead murderer who lives on blood who had a split personality who was the most evil vampire on record..... Oh and did the PTB not know that Angel was going to fall in love with Buffy when they sent him to help her? Come on, PTB knew what they were doing all along, sent Angel to the one person who could break the curse? Sure.

That was an amazing answer James gave to your question. I was already impressed by his insight before he started talking about "Seeing Red," but his frankness about that episode really got to me. I'll admit it, I'm crying right now! James Marsters was my first love when I was 12 years old, I'm happy to know that I chose well. ;)

Giles tries to slow down Willow's use of magic in season 2, saying it could open doors that might not be able to be closed again. And to drive the point home, there is the episode with the demon "aygon the dreamwalker", where we learn that Giles also used magic for the same kind of pleasure as Willow starts using it for.,

Spike will always be my favorite character in the series.

Thank God someone shares my disgust for scenes like the one james explained. We as people are here to help learn from one another. Infinite respect to james marsters for standing beside his morals. Great video, loved it 🙏

I think dark willow was perfect. I'm sure if I was in her shoes I would have done worse. The fact that tara was killed by just normal humans is interesting

I am pretty sure that Kennedy was only created because the fans accused the show of being homophobic for killing Tara. They probably thought that just making Willow find a new girlfriend would be enough...well, it wasn't hahaha

Seeing an interview like this with James Marsters, I can't NOT be just a little in love with a man I've never, personally, known. The depth of introspection and external application that comes through in these few minutes is true beauty.

Joss Whedon hating James Marsters for being as popular as he was, and wanting to force Angel x Buffy as endgame and hating the fact that the fans still wanted Spike x Buffy more...or Spike at all... I think Joss knew EXACTLY what he was doing in forcing James Marsters to act that scene with Buffy. Joss was not against doing things he knew would hurt others as his own way of exerting control and was a known emotionally manipulative bully. I don't doubt for one second that Joss was 100% behind that decision to put not just Marsters through that, but to 'finally' in his mind "put Spike in his place" in the fans eyes. I'm glad Spike eventually got a soul, it seems Whedon never will.

Today I found out that there are people out there who don’t love the Dark Willow arc with all their heart. This fact has left me very confused.

I really hope they don’t reboot Buffy like they did with Charmed and Sabrina.

Kennedy, while a decent prospect of a character on her own, was literally thrown into Willow's life as a girl who liked girls. Which was the only reason they got together. But yeah... they completely ignored that Willow wasn't a full-on lesbian there. They also forgot that she wasn't attracted to Tara because she was female. They came together naturally. Like, she was never in love with Oz or shared a strong attraction with Xander. Nope! Just throw her in with a random new girl!

This was a great video. The contribution from James is fantastic. I was surprised how open and honest he was and I'd never thought before about how much of an impact on the actors scenes like that might have. Really looking forward to the second part.

Dark Willow was always where her character was headed. Tara's death was tragic but necessary to push Willow over the edge and give us the awesomeness of Dark Willow!

Wow, Spike looks great

GODDAMNIT! CAN I NOT HAVE A BELVOED SHOW FROM MY CHILDHOOD WITHOUT HEARING HOW IT HASN'T AGED WELL?

I think we do see this perverted portrayal of magic in the first season of Buffy. When Amy's mom (a witch) can't seem to stop using magic, her eyes turn black, and she doesn't care who she hurts along the way (even her own daughter). Also, we know that Willow feels insecure and seeks to gain power. We also see that she does have a dark side in the wish episode where her vampire counterpart tortures Angel more than the rest of the vampires. This could be attributed to her being a vampire, but there is still that darkness inside of her. There is plenty of foreshadowing, but we just have to pay attention.

Angel wasnt maturing over time, thats the point of this whole 'angelus and angel are different characters' thing. As a human (Liam) he didn't have a lot of personality. He was a drunken failure. The deamon inside him developed a personality, a very bad one. When he got his soul back he went through an identity crisis. Not wanting to go back to being Liam and definitly not wanting to be like angelus, he struggled a lot with his identity. He barely was a person until he saw buffy the first time. He was living like a homeless person up until this point. Season 1 of buffy we see him forming his identity as angel, the vampire with a soul and a deamon inside him and constant burden of being miserable. He wasn't mature at all. He did know a lot and was experienced in some way but mentally and body wise he was young

I am the first person who will defend spuffy and I get attacked for it because of the attempted rape scene but if anyone knew how much that scene hurt James Marsters they would leave him alone and literally ask him about anything else but they dont they just choose to torture him with it.

I remember watching Faith and Buffy fight in Buffy’s house and when they go falling down the stairs, you can see the camera man on the side when they switch angles. I honestly like finding shit like this in tv shows.

The mean spirited treatment of spike (and just vampires in general) in the later seasons will leave me forever bitter. For a show about transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, they sure seemed determined to hang onto their soul/soulless binary. The fact that joss whedon traumatized james marsters to punish fans for liking his character is petty bullshit. It’s just so unnecessary. No other character is framed like spike in the show, and then season 7 rolls around and they make him Angel 2.0 with his pity routine and it’s just so fucking tired by that point. You made us sit through seeing red for that??? Arguably the least interesting version of spike? Fuck joss whedon, man.

So James Whathisface seems like a Shaman now. His calming tone and cadence, man, dude's still got it, whatever "it" is.

I only just found out that James (spike) is American and not English. Always thought he did an amazing performance and now i think he did an unbelievable performance.. Makes me appreciate him so much more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I'd also like to see a Best of Buffy, once you've finished this series. You should also do the same for Angel's series.

They did establish the magic being used as a narcotic pretty early on in The Dark Age, where they revealed Giles and his friends summoned Eyegon to get high, which really makes Giles coming back to deal with it appropriate, as he'd gone through something similar around the same age. For Angel, the creep factor is tempered as he's presented as a drunken manchild as a human and isn't really presented as palling around with other adults during his and Buffys relationship, which works in tandem with Buffy coming off more adult and self sufficient for her age. Where I really felt the creep factor was in the last season of Angels series, where the creature is giving him the series of random dreams and he see's Spike going at it with the Buffy standin and there's her audio about prom and he's all concerned about not being able to go to prom with her. Maybe its that Angel was a father at that point, the darker themes of his own series, or just that he's in a corporate executive role at that point that makes him seem more aged and it more creepy than this long lived gothic peter pan role he filled moreso on Buffy

Some of the answer from James was a guy holding his tongue of things he wanted to say because he was hoping to not talk himself out of any future work

Spike Had a Good . Story arc First He come To try Kill Buffy Than Got Chip put in his head ... Try Date Buffy ..But was Rejected Than He got his Soul back Than joined Team Angel

We want more big bad! I think a big thing for me is you watch David Boreanaz learn how to act as you watch. His acting in season 1 of buffy is... something haha. By season 1 of Angel he does so good 🥰

Just a reminder that if you love Buffy Angel Firefly and Dollhouse. If you liked all that content. Watch Agents of Shield. Its truly the last of that era and has the least problematic writers.

I'd agrue that Joss Whedon is the worst part of the whole series.

Wow, James gave a crazy good response!

I don't personally understand why anyone would try to attach human acceptability's to a Vampire. A well written Vampire is not going to have a Human Modus Operandi. The only possible way they can die is through a violent act, are destined to hell regardless of what they do with their unlife, and have to eat humans to sustain themselves. Bare Minimum they will have their own Moral Compass and sensibilities. Sensibilities that likely wont be driven by emotion, but rather pragmatism. What possible reason would a Vampire have to care about what happens to Humans? How they feel about things? A wolf doesn't sit awake at night pondering the life of the lamb it must eat, it just eats.

Wow, James Marsters is freakin’ awesome!

Oh my God! That clip at the end showing that the Rogue/Kitty dance scene from X-Men Evolution was lifted straight from Faith and Buffy blew my mind!!! Oh, and I love "Beer Bad". Probably because I don't drink and I can't stand being around drunks.

As a bi guy, I think Vee is misinterpreting the whole "Bury your gays" trope. It doesn't imply that gay characters should be "immune" to perils in their lives, but rather, they shouldn't be relegated to the background, until it's time to make them suffer and/or to show "representation". And two gay characters shouldn't just be paired together simply because they're both "gay". While I loved Willow as a character, I always thought Zander should've been the "token gay/bi" character in the show (because they were only going to assign that to 1 of the main cast). But of course, lesbians are more widely accepted, & it gave guys/lesbians something to lust over. Otherwise, they would've done more than simply imply that Spike & Angel had "a bisexual encounter"...once. That relationship would've made more sense, since everything works differently for vampires, including their views on sexuality (plus it would've sidestepped the whole age difference issue). And vampires aren't "the living dead" (that's zombies), they're "the living undead".

Mr. Marsters nailed it; he described the show basically as a fable or parable in modern mythology (again, his argument in my own words); in a way to describe the dangers of the world.

Wow James Marston is incredibly insightful

I really loved the “Dark Willow” storyline. Especially in a season when life was the big bad I enjoyed the idea that Willow would binge out on magik. I agree with the majority of your other points. I LOVED the James Marsters cameo!!! I’m looking so forward to the other two vids.

Wait, Harry Dresden is joining you?! Consider it watched.

Willows plot line was a struggle with abusing magic.... losing terra and having in the past used magic to being back the dead.... it made perfect sense that she went off the deep end.

For years I’ve seen people claim that Willow’s turn to the darkness came out of nowhere and there was no build up, I would have to disagree with that. There were hints all season long that she was heading towards a dark path, like when she snapped at Giles (who btw she’s always considered as a mentor/father figure) after he says she shouldn't have brought Buffy back, what she does to Tara's memory and then doesn't learn and tries to do the same to Buffy's, and when her addiction to magic even got worse when she is with Amy after Amy isn't a rat anymore. Hell, I’d dare say the series has been building up to this in previous seasons if you really think about it. Thats why I feel Willow going dark was totally believable. And I for one loved the Dark Willow episodes tho I do feel agree that I hate that Tara was killed off and wished we had more time with her character with that said I’ll always cherish the relationship her and Willow had in the series. And as far as the whole Buffy and Angel age difference, the show has brought it up a couple of times often making light of it. In fact Angel even blatantly brings up him being 200 something year old and her being 16 in an awkward conversation they have in one episode. Again whenever it was brough up, it was like show poking fun at the matter. plus I was never really bothered by it cus how many vampire stories have we seen or read where the teenage girl makes out or dates a vampire and those vampire tend to be way older than the girl so it’s very common lol. Now if that’s a trope that still bothers you then fine that’s fair but Buffy isn’t the one that does this just it pointing that out there.

Great video! Loved the interview with Marsden, I mean Marsters, oops. Lol 🤣

Buffy is one of my all time favorite shows, like...we're talking top 5, but this "not a list" list is 100% correct. And super well done and VERY entertaining, so kudos kudos kudos. I also lu-lu-loooove James Marsters and admittedly was one of those "I love Spike, I don't care if he's evil" viewers....as an adult re-watching the series, I totally understand, but back in the day....back in the day....

Ooo! You watched Angel before Buffy! Ok, question for you, what was your thoughts on Buffy just from what you saw on Angel? I also totally agree with you about the Angel/Buffy age thing especially during the flash back (they did point it out a few times, but it was like "oh he's old...anyways...") I loved Spike and Buffy together because they were both themselves and eachother as growing adults, much more comfortable.

Thank you so much for this video! I just have to disagree on the Tara and Willow arch. Tara´s death had a huge reason which was, to tip Willow over the edge because from season 2 on we could see a slow developement of Willow relying on magic to make her feel special/worthy of being loved or feeling good enough. Like she said in season 6 before Taras death, ´´who would you rather be? Plain old Willow or Willow with powers?´´ (or something like that). She is insecure about not being good enough if she would ´´loose´´ her magic or give it up because it has become an addiction. I think the drug metaphor for her magic is beautifully portrayed in season 6... and then she got better, Tara came back, and I see how this is suuuuper upsetting to have Tara be killed off seemingly for no reason but the point is that Willow needed to become her own person as well... I don´t know how to explain this right, also keep in mind this is just my opinion but season 6 is my favorite because of this arch... cause it´s very close to home when you exchange magic with drugs or being codependent. Willows choices to cut herself off and go completely into vengence and killing Warren - a human nontheless (I mean, I didn´t mind and rather enjoyed that scene but he still is human) - becoming suicidle and homocidle because she couldn´t control life. That´s dangerous and let her to the consequences of a) now being a murderer herself b) a recovering (this time really recovering) addict. Also the trio triggered the true big bad to come out so they have a reason to be in the season, and look at season 7... it all builds on each other. Long reply, sorry! But I love Tara and her death didn´t happen in vain I think.

Dark willow is the best big bad. It wasn't out of character for her she use magic for revenge a few times.

I loved the Dark!Willow storyline, and I love how it was foreshadowed throughout season 6 (with some hints even earlier)

I'mma be real here, buffy has a problem with not taking sexual assulalt seriously. Wether it's spike/buffy or Faith/xander or Faith/Riley when she used buffy's body.

When all is said and done the show had way more hits then misses but it is great to point out the flaws and head scratchers and cage rattlers

As someone who was an adult in his early 20's when Buffy first came out and was on the internet fandom even way back then, it did come up. Not as much as it surely would now, but there were fans who called them on that even back then. I assumed it was because they wanted to cast David Boreanaz (sp?) and figured even by Hollywood logic he was too old to pass for a teenager. But most would argue that is not a good excuse.

What an eloquent answer from James Marsden Marsters! Shit! In all seriousness tho, I’m sorry he had to film such a shitty scene

Unpopular opinion; I thought Dark Willow added to her character a lot. 😌

I just finished watching s6. Dark Willow was the cherry top. Great acting performance.

Agreed about Beer Bad lol, I ALWAYS skip that episode whenever I go back for a binge.

U cant bash Joss and the writing team for making an episode in the first season about the internet when it was made BEFORE HIGH SPEED CONNECTIVITY EVEN EXISTED. That episode was COMPLETELY relevant when it aired

Evil Willow, singing episode, cordelia being in this show. Beer bad, the praying manits, hyena posession, mayor snake are great. The first episode tells us weird things can happen on the show. Everyone acts like it cant then gets offended by "bad" episodes

Great interview with James Marsters. Anyone who bothered listening to what he was saying, though, might not have chosen to replay the scene behind him SO MANY TIMES. Once would have been plenty. just sayin'.

Technically, Willow was not the "heart" of the Scoobies, she was the "spirit". Xander was the heart, Giles the mind. Canon reference S4/E21. "Beer Bad" was indeed a bottom 10 episode. But my personal favorite for worst was actually Season 1 "I Robot, You Jane". Also worse than "Beer Bad" was Season 1 with the Preying Mantis woman, "Teacher's Pet". "Beer Bad" is probably number 10 on the bottom 10.

As far as Willow and Kennedy go in a relationship, I’m sure Kennedy was supposed to be a rebound and maybe the apocalypse just made Willow cling on that much harder because so many people are dying. There are no atheists in foxholes and when you’re pretty sure that your supplies cut off, you are going to love the one you’re with, even if they’re not the one you love

The angel was 226 fact ruined my day....so I am going ruin everyone else's day by sharing it with other Buffy fans Thanx Vee!

Well, my neighbor, I don't doubt for a nanosecond that the occult is addictive; think of it: addiction at its core is one method of slavery... and "Count Iblis" is another alias for the "First Evil" (pretty clearly the same monster), and that mobster seraphim is the head of that gang- so it fits perfectly. Plus, addiction being slavery fits its agenda to a T; and any and all sins are extremely addictive- good golly, the only Man Who truly understood the danger and damage that sinful conduct does to the sinner said that "He who sins becomes the slave of sin"; the only way that'd work is addiction.

James Marsters is right because the 90s and early 2000's culture just offends every1 now. But back then depression and rebellion were everywhere. A lot of teens died because of how alone they felt. And depending on where you lived that often defines what was cool and not cool. But shows like Buffy and Angel and Beverly Hills 90210 helped a lot teens relate to certain characters. Take the supernatural elements out of it. Oz says it at the end of season 3 we survived high school. Unfortunately, I had a moment in my life happen that great James Marsters references. Unfortunately for me, I didn't shut the door and leave at that. I actually went out to try to help the girl and she hit me with a truck. And no, I did not do what Spike did to Buffy. She was a "cutter" which at the time I didn't know what that was. If you do, then you know why I ran out to help her. Regardless today's kids see reality TV...And they listen to what politics and the media tell them. That's something our generation did not do. We were depressed and alone. We definitely would have rebelled. against today's standards. But Vee, I love your videos. I love Angel too but now you got me with that one lolol

I have to disagree about Willow. She was always the sweet, optimistic, one. But being willing to tap into dark powers, or even extreme powers, that are neither Light nor dark is something that takes a bit of hubris. Willow being as powerful witch as she is in the series plus being abandoned by her parents often and bullied by kids at school, and the self-esteem issues that come with both of those…? Once she sang her teeth into that steak, she wasn’t letting go. Too much of anything is a bad thing, and in the Buffy verse magic can be evil so dealing with strong magic means brushing up against evil magic which means of course Willow would go there. I think it showed a character arc and growth that fascinated… She wasn’t just sweet boring Willow anymore, we gotten in touch with her dark depths and the depths of her passion, and it helped her become a fuller personality on the show

I'll fight on the dark willow saga it gave us something new and fresh with her character and we saw that she was already slipping into a slippery slope was going into magic drugs and ultimately when everything was coming back together tragedy hits and it wasn't a powerful force to stop her and it's going to sound corny but the power of love done Right

Honestly most of those allegorical episodes went totally over my head and I have rewatched Buffy as an adult. They seem so obvious now. I also think it's worth noting that during the time when Angel was growing up, him banging a teenage girl would probably have been fine. We want the next Big Bad

I disagree with everything said about the Tara death and the change in Willow. I thought it was all brilliant, and I LOVED watching Kennedy working so hard to pull Willow out of herself a little.

About Angel it was called of by Buffy's mother. In one episode

Magic was referred to as a drug in season 2 during the episode about Giles and his buddies about the Mark of Eyghon. The idea had been there just not touched on too much after that one instance.

The first season was filmed in the 90s. There was definitely no Google when it was filmed. There were however encyclopedias which contained information about hyenas.

💯 The show *never* brings up Angel being an adult vs Buffy being a teenager....like seriously never. Whenever they bring up Angel's age, it focuses on his being a centuries old vampire, but nothing in context of him being an *adult*!!! Its just accepted. Giles, Buffys father figure, finds it charming/romantic having this dude around in love with Buffy.....like, what??? It's really super bizarre and not ok lol. Plus, Bangel fans that are very anti-Spuffy aways complain how creepy stalker Spike is......and like, did they not watch their Bangel ship?? Lol....do a drinking game in season's 1-3, and drink every time Angel is A) lurking around Buffy B) following/stalking/watching Buffy C) being jealous of every male around her D) enters her teenage girl bedroom E) is purely preoccupied with Buffy (looking for her, nosing in her business, etc).....that is every. single. scene he has (not even counting what he was like with her when soulless).....and they complain about Spike being stalkery?? LOL