Spike.
He’s the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” vampire you love to hate and hate to love. He’s the guy with the British accent, the yellow hair and the long, cool coat.
But can you trust the dude? That’s a question that Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her demon-hunting gang will wrestle with in the show’s sixth season, says James Marsters, who plays Spike.
Of course, it’s not The Question. That centers on Buffy, who died at the end of last season. The Question is: How will Sunnydale cope without its beloved Slayer-and for how long?
“Imagine what would happen if there were no cops in Chicago,” Marsters says, setting up the two-hour season premiere Oct. 2 on its new network, UPN. “That’s the situation the Scooby Gang is trying to deal with. What does one do to try to keep a lid on that much evil without a Slayer?”
The Scooby Gang, as Marsters affectionately refers to it, includes Buffy, Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicholas Brendon), Anya (Emma Caulfield) and Tara (Amber Benson). Marsters reveals that Spike will try to help, but the gang still don’t trust him.
Ask about much more about the new season, and Marsters zips his lips. He won’t reveal if or how Buffy returns to the undead. And he won’t comment on whether the show will see a new villain or who it may be.
It’s no secret that “Buffy” producers love to axe characters. So who’s to say Spike, who first turned up as a recurrent baddie on the show’s second season, won’t get spiked? “That’s the thing: Who’s to say?” Marsters asks. “Oz [Seth Green] got it. Mom (Kristine Sutherland) got it. The list goes on and on. They’ll kill ya.”
But Marsters says he’s not too worried. “I get the sense I’ll be around. I know they’ve got some really good stuff coming up for [Spike], and I also know I’ve signed a long-term contract.”
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Buffy” will air 7 p.m. Central Time on WPWR-Ch. 50.