The Buffyverse Character Countdown (#30)

#30

Hero(es): The Potentials (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7)

I know I’m clumping a bunch of characters together on this one, but let’s face it: nigh every single one of the Potentials functions as a redshirt rather than as a character. The Potentials are glorified plot devices whose function is thrusting more responsibility onto the main heroine. Granted, the onus of having dozens of lives on her hands does produce some genuinely great development for Buffy Summers, but that only speaks to the quality of her character as opposed to those of the Potentials themselves. Only two of them have any personality at all – one of which is little more than a set-up for a death scene in the finale, the other of which is outright repulsive. The Potentials are cases of wasted potential in and of themselves.

The Potentials are a group of young women whose latent Slayer powers are activated when Buffy sacrifices herself at the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s fifth season. The Season Seven Big Bad, the First Evil, takes this accidental triggering as an opportunity to try and snuff out the entire Slayer line. In order to thwart the plans of the First and save these girls’ lives, Buffy must take on the role of teacher and help these girls unleash their powers against the forces of evil. Unfortunately for the plot, most of these “characters” have no personality outside of "pupil" and "meat shield." They have next to no personality, effectively doing nothing but making snide comments, complaints, cries of desperation, and the occasional joke. This is not to forget their most important job in the series: dying. Granted, their deaths at the hand of the First and its minions isn't a case of these girls being "refrigerated" - they are carbon copy representations of students rather than carbon copy representations of women - but the brutality inflicted upon the Potentials is somewhat insulting and non-impactful given that the audience hardly comes to learn anything important about any of them. The true purpose of the Potentials is to foster a stronger sense of responsibility within Buffy; she must make the final transition from being an adult looking out for herself and her loved ones to one who must embrace the burdens of strangers. The Potentials satisfy this narrative function perfectly well, but their failure to take on characters of their own makes them inherently uninteresting.

Easily the best of the Potentials is Amanda, competently portrayed by Sarah Hagan. She’s a quirky young girl capable of defending herself, one willing to reach out to others for help yet be a source of support when needed. She’s even a wizard at Dungeons and Dragons! That said, these positive character traits fail to produce a meaningful denouement. If anything, Amanda's inkling of development frustrates the audience when she is unceremoniously killed off during the final battle of the series. This callous death is enough to prevent Amanda from getting her own spot as the “best of the Potentials,” as whatever build-up we've gotten for her character is completely abandoned.

And then there’s Kennedy… hoo boy, there’s Kennedy.

Kennedy occupies a special circle in the Buffyverse – a circle of characters so universally loathed that speaking of them in a positive light produces hisses and jeers from ardent fans. These are characters like Connor, the Gorch brothers, Adam, and Dr. Sparrow – characters that are not only poorly written and insulting to the audience’s intelligence, but infuriatingly annoying to boot. Kennedy is a self-entitled brat who somehow finds her way into Willow’s heart. You’d think that after going through the two strongest, healthiest relationships in the entire series, Willow would have higher standards, but, for some godforsaken reason, Kennedy somehow fits the bill. However, this relationship is so flaccid that no one actually ends up caring about it; it only really serves to give Kennedy more screen time. To top it off, this potential is just plain annoying as compared to her peers. She’s a brown-nosing runt who earns the audience’s contempt rather than its respect.

Due to the counter-balancing of good redshirts and bad redshirts within their ranks, the Potentials as a whole necessarily slide down to the bottom of the list. They are certainly lightyears ahead of Connor, if only from the fact that they are genuinely virtuous whereas Connor is heroic in title credit only, but their lack of characterization and mostly sloppy execution prevent them from being particularly enjoyable. These characters were a huge opportunity missed in Buffy Season Seven, and they’re one of the reasons it’s one of the show's weaker seasons.

Villain: Penn (Angel Season 1 - "Somnambulist")

Considering the many one-off villainous vampires across both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, one would think it would be somewhat difficult for any one of them to leave a particular impact. A lot of other fans have particular favorites – from Sunday in Buffy’s “The Freshman” to Holden Webster in “Conversations with Dead People” – but my affinity lies with Penn from the Angel first season episode, “Somnambulist.” While Penn doesn’t have the snark and viciousness of a character like Sunday or the psychoanalytical threat of a character like Holden, what he does possess is menace: a far more important quality for a monster of the week than quirkiness alone. That said, he is a character whose potential is eventually thwarted by his limited presence in the series, and a few flaws in his writing prevent him from reaching the very upper echelon of the monsters of the week in this universe.

Penn is the main antagonist of “Somnambulist,” one of Angel Season 1’s better episodes. Throughout the episode, Penn murders quite a few people in the night. His sire, Angel, suffers from a magical connection to Penn in which he has nightmares of committing Penn's murders himself. Also, being a vampire sired by a member of the House of Aurelius and a demon who is hundreds of years old, Penn is much stronger than the average vamp. Penn thus functions as both a physical and psychological threat, a double dose of menace few other one-offs in Angel can rival. The fight scene between Angel and Penn at the conclusion of the episode is one of the very best in the entire series, as it is shrouded in shadow yet wonderfully shot and choreographed. Furthermore, the insertion of Kate Lockley into the mix raises the stakes of the fight and produces an interesting third party dynamic. The mental link between Angel and Penn also introduces a fascinating addition into the lore of the series, but it's one that is not adequately followed up - definitely a huge missed opportunity.

That said, Penn's character is chock full of missed opportunities. While Jeremy Renner offers a vicious performance as Angelus's protégé, he ultimately pales in comparison to the other vampires in Angelus’s entourage. His only lasting impact he leaves on the universe is revealing Angel’s vampiric identity to Kate – an important development, no doubt, but one that ranks rather low in the broad scheme of the series. Moreover, the most fascinating element of Penn’s character – the fact that he repeats his crimes over and over in the fashion of a serial killer – never quite comes to the forefront. Instead of providing us with an incisive examination of serial crimes, we merely get a few smarmy jokes from Angel about Penn's "sloppiness." Penn really does feel like the unwanted step child of the House of Aurelius.

For all of his faults, Penn is one of the more entertaining one-offs in the series. Jeremy Renner's performance is great, the fight scene is fantastic, and the opportunities presented by the character are fun, even if they aren’t thoroughly explored. Had Penn been given another episode, perhaps, maybe he would have found his way to a higher spot on the list. But, as is, he lands as the lowest of the list-worthy monsters of the week.