While Buffy the Vampire Slayer has plenty of iconic episodes that helped shape TV in the decades since the show originally began, there are a few choice outings of the iconic show that aged like milk. Although Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a classic series, there is a reason that disgraced creator Joss Whedon’s HBOMax fantasy show The Nevers only lasted one season before it was swiftly canceled and forgotten. Not all the show’s outings have aged well.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s superb cast and typically strong writing made the show a cult classic, but there are elements of the series that have aged terribly despite this. Often, the show’s attitude toward female characters can be patronizing and discomfiting, while its handling of sensitive topics lacks the nuance they require. Although Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s best quote betrays a poignant understanding of mental health struggles, the show’s more regrettable plot lines play grief and trauma for laughs or cheap drama.

However, these issues are seen throughout the series, whereas it tends to be individual episodes that really highlight the shortcomings of the show’s writing formula. The infamously woeful season 4, episode 5, “Beer Bad,” attempted to be both a savvy parody of anti-drinking PSAs and, simultaneously, an authentic cautionary tale about the perils of alcohol. As a result, the episode ended up feeling as misguided as it was inexplicably smug about its unclear message.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 Episode 8 “Pangs” Mishandled Its Heavy Themes

Meanwhile, other episodes took the show’s ostensibly realistic handling of death too far, most infamously when Willow’s love interest Tara was killed by a stray bullet from a minor villain. This might have been grounded and believable, but it also meant that seasons of character development were instantly undone. An edgier teen fantasy show like Misfits might have pulled this off, but, in a series that made sure never to harm Buffy, Spike, or Angel too permanently, the twist felt a little too much like tossing a disposable minority character aside for the sake of drama.

That said, none of these episodes is quite as rough on a re-watch as season 4, episode 8, “Pangs.” This Thanksgiving special makes an theoretically admirable attempt to address the genocidal reality behind the American holiday, and that is about all that can be said about the outing in positive terms. The episode’s depiction of the Chumash tribe was stereotypical at best and offensive at worst, and the show’s handling of the holiday’s racist origins is arguably worse than not addressing them at all.

It would have been tough for any teen drama, from Euphoria to Everything Sucks, to address the genocide of indigenous people and its links to Thanksgiving’s history as an American tradition. However, “Pangs” picking a stereotypical vengeful Native warrior spirit as the episode’s main villain was truly an unforced error, and the fact that the episode was singled out as a favorite by Whedon on more than one occasion proves that its issues weren’t necessarily recognized at the time.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Infamous “Pangs” Could Have Been Great

The premise of Native American spirits haunting a modern Thanksgiving is pretty brilliant, and “Pangs” could have been an ingenious way for Buffy the Vampire Slayer to explore generational guilt via a horror lens. However, not only does Giles spend the episode justifying the genocide of America’s indigenous people, but the show does nothing to rebut his colonial viewpoints with a mute Native spirit who has no thoughts, no emotions, and no purpose other than indiscriminately killing the show’s heroes.

Creating a fictional Native spirit who tries to kill the protagonist unless they destroy it certainly feels like a justification of Giles’ points, especially when Willow’s offhand mentions of the holiday’s horrible history are offset by her cheerfully deciding to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner anyway. It might be unfair to expect better from the teen drama, since no one expected an episode of Smallville to explain the historical ramifications of the East India Trading Company’s exploits.

The problem is, Buffy the Vampire Slayer went out of its way to tell this story. By inventing a Native spirit who was a mindless, unthinking killer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer gave its characters carte blanche to kill this unrepentant villain and end the episode by celebrating Thanksgiving dinner.

One could call this savvy satire, but the show doesn’t give the protagonists any reason to feel guilty about what they’ve done. Since the monster they faced was an existential threat, did try to kill them, and wasn’t capable of reasoning with them in any meaningful way, their actions are entirely understandable.

“Pangs” Is Proof That Buffy the Vampire Slayer Needed A Reboot

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

As such, the show can’t be commended for portraying its main characters as similar to their ancestors. The entire reason that Willow supposedly objects to the holiday is that, in reality, the indigenous people weren’t an existential threat to invaders, did not try to callously kill them without reason, and were capable of communicating with the invading settlers who attacked their homes. Thus, as a metaphor, the show’s story falls short, unless “Pangs” was intended to reinforce Giles’ colonial viewpoint.

Compared to revisionist TV Westerns like Deadwood, which offered an unflinching and unapologetic look at the murderous, amoral violence of the frontier, this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer seemingly introduced a historical trauma solely for the sake of justifying it to a modern audience. It’s a tough re-watch, and exactly the sort of ambitious but badly dated story that deserves to be revisited in a more respectful and authentic way in a reboot. Sadly, that now seems unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s planned reboot was abruptly canceled in March 2025, after Hulu ordered a pilot from Hamnet director Chloé Zhao. The series was set to bring back Sarah Michelle Gellar while Ryan Kiera Armstrong was cast as the new Slayer at the center of the show’s action, but the project was unexpectedly canceled despite fan excitement. Since this high-profile reboot was about as starry a re-imagining as the original show could have hoped for, its cancellation doesn’t bode well for the franchise’s future. Thus, it now seems unlikely that Buffy the Vampire Slayer will ever redeem “Pangs.”

Release Date

1997 – 2003

Network

The WB