Author: Rob Owen
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date: 7/27/00
Still no deserved Emmy recognition for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or its cast, but at least creator Joss Whedon got an Emmy nomination for writing last season`s masterpiece episode, "Hush."

This season, viewers can expect the newest "big bad," the arrival of Buffy`s sister and a new job for Xander. The series moves from last season`s theme of splintering after high school to a renewed emphasis on family and the bond of the Scooby Gang.

Family is especially key. Buffy`s mom, Joyce, will have an expanded role, and viewers will get to meet Buffy`s sister, Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg).

At the annual TCA Writer`s Guild of America West party in Pasadena, Calif., supervising producer David Fury said Dawn was referenced in the show`s graduation episode a year ago.

"In a dream sequence, Faith refers to Little Miss Muffet, which is a reference to Dawn," Fury said. "It`s one of those bizarre things thrown in there. Joss just knew he wanted Buffy to have this relationship that he wasn`t able to have prior to it because she was an only child."

But Buffy is still an only child. Or is she? Fury said Dawn will be introduced at the end of the season premiere. For the first five episodes of the season, everyone will remember Dawn as part of Buffy`s life.

"This creates a very bizarre mystery that is not always the focus of the episode but leaves the audience wondering, who is she? And what are we going to learn about her? And we don`t really learn that until Episode Five," Fury said.

Fury said Anya, Tara and Riley will return, and Xander will find a job "in the skilled labor industry." Sexy, psychotic vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau) will return, first on "Angel" and later on "Buffy," and Fury said ``there`s a very good chance of Amy getting de-ratted.`` The recurring character of Amy was turned into a rat two years ago, and Willow has worked ever since then on a spell to make her human again.

Buffy will formally ask Giles to resume his duties as her Watcher, which may necessitate a trip to England and a meeting with the Watcher`s Council. But they won`t be the villains of the season.

Fury acknowledged last season`s malevolent bad guy, Adam, didn`t turn out quite the way the writers intended. And Professor Walsh should have lived longer, but actress Lindsay Crouse`s agents indicated she only was available for a set number of episodes.

This came as a surprise to Crouse, who didn`t expect to be killed off so quickly.

"It was going to happen later in the season," Fury said. "She was disappointed, because she was having a ball doing the show."

Fury also confirmed what many suspected: The death of Doyle (Glenn Quinn) on "Buffy" spin-off "Angel" last season was not planned from the start of the series.

"Joss has bandied about, `I love the idea of putting a character in the main credits as one of the stars of the show and then kill him right off the bat,`" Fury said. "But in the case of Doyle, he didn`t want to kill off Doyle. It just became a situation. The work situation became difficult.... It`s hard enough to make a television show without the headaches."

"Angel" will get a new series regular this season. J. August Richards, who had a recurring role in the latter half of last season as a streetwise vampire hunter, returns to "Angel" as a regular this fall.