The Surprising Reason Buffy's Kristine Sutherland Enjoyed Shooting Her Last Season Best
There's one core memory that surely all fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" share. An entire generation was collectively traumatized when the 16th episode of "Buffy" season 5 arrived, and are likely still haunted by the image of poor old Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland) lying still on her living room couch. "The Body" was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon, and begins with Buffy's mother dying of a brain aneurysm. It's the one "Buffy" episode Sarah Michelle Gellar still can't bring herself to watch, with the star telling Entertainment Weekly she "tried so hard to talk [Whedon] out of it."
But the show creator was intent on following through on his decision to kill off Joyce, especially because it related to his own experiences. As Whedon told EW: "I lost my mother when I was 27 in a car accident, and the intent was to capture just that first day, the sort of trapped-in-amber, almost boring essence of grief." He certainly did that. "The Body" opens with a long take in which Buffy arrives home and discovers her mother's body on the couch. The ensuing panic and attempts to resuscitate unfold without any accompaniment from the score, forcing the audience to experience Buffy's emotions right along with her.
It makes for one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of "Buffy" and became ingrained in a whole generation of fans' memories much more firmly than any of the show's assorted ghosts and ghouls — though The Gentlemen from the scariest "Buffy" episode might be the one exception. But if there was one positive to come out of it, aside from the fact it made for one of the great all-time episodes of TV, it's that Sutherland herself seemed to enjoy shooting her final season more than any other.
'It became so rich for me'
Joss Whedon thinks "The Body" is the best thing he's ever done, and he might not be far off the mark. Not only is it high on numerous lists of the best "Buffy" episodes, it's generally considered one of the best episodes of TV period. Years after the show wrapped back in 2003 you can still find The Atlantic waxing poetic about the episode's radical empathy and sobering treatment of grief. Indeed, after that shocking opening sequence, the other characters' pain at losing Joyce is showcased in unflinching detail throughout the episode, making for a truly indelible "Buffy" installment.
For Kristine Sutherland, however, leaving the show she'd been a part of for five seasons wasn't all tragedy and heartache. In fact, in a 2022 interview, the actor explained how having her character killed off gave her a new perspective on things. She said:
"I went to Joss and I said I'm going to Italy for a year with my family, and he said are you coming back? And I said yes I'm just going for a year. And he said oh thank heavens, because I'm planning on killing you! And he killed me off, even though I died of 'natural causes.' So I knew that season was going to be my last. So it became so rich for me, because I didn't know when it was going to happen. You got the script and then you found out each episode. Every episode could have been my last episode, so I appreciated everything about it that last year."
More than melodrama
Though it's common for TV shows not to tell actors precisely when they'll be killed off, there's something upsetting about Sutherland's experience of having to wait to see if each episode was going to be her last — particularly in light of allegations that Joss Whedon ran a toxic set on "Buffy." Happily, it seems Sutherland was able to get something positive out of the experience.
Loving "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" is a complicated thing in the wake of the aforementioned allegations. But that could never detract from the impact the show had on its viewers. As Kristine Sutherland told EW: "Most fans end up talking to me about 'The Body.' There's so many people all over the world who lost a parent and weren't able to process, and it helped them. And that's amazing." Which just goes to show that regardless of how Whedon treated his cast, that could never undermine the fact that their hard work and talent helped make "Buffy" an enduring and important presence in the lives of fans.
And it's not just "The Body." Every season of "Buffy" has something poignant and insightful to offer. Buffy not having a choice as to whether she's the slayer or not infuses the whole seven seasons with an air of tragedy that ensured they could never be written off as merely teen melodrama. The show also never shied away from depicting heartbreaking and serious moments — and was all the better for it. In that sense, Sutherland's departure from the show also helped solidify its importance as a series capable of exploring weighty themes and difficult emotions, which alongside her newfound appreciation for the show in season 5, is yet another positive to come out of what could easily be viewed as a pretty rough situation.