Keeping things fresh after 100 episodes

One of the things that I think is interesting about The Gift is that in that episode, I think Buffy achieves a kind of peace. She feels a sense of completion, because when she figures out what the gift is, she knows her destiny. In a way it�s an interesting thing because the series comes to a natural end and I think a lot of us thought that episode 22 of season 5 would be our natural end.

I certainly didn�t think I�d still be writing Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and I certainly didn�t think that I�d be loving it and passionate about it into my 100th episode or close to it.

I think the really amazing thing about where we�re at in terms of arcing the next couple of years - because now we have a couple more years for sure - is that we really got to start the show kind of fresh. Now that we�re doing Season Six episodes, I think everyone agrees that we feel really invigorated and there�s this whole kind of clean slate feeling.

You get Buffy with a whole new set of problems, you know, obviously like how do you get undead. That would be a real obvious one... We have obvious loss throughout Season Five, we have lots of things taken away from our main characters and a lot of people poised on the brink of adulthood. So we�re coming at the next 2 years [as if] it�s almost a new show starring the same characters in very different circumstances with very different perspectives on life, Buffy most of all.

It turned out to be one of the greatest things we could do. We didn�t even know we were switching networks [at the time] but we really all feel like Season Six is a re-birth. The strange thing is that we just have no idea how long it can go. It feels like it can go almost indefinitely, so I can just see us all [saying] "Well, it think Buffy should be played in sock puppets, I think Buffy should be wearing dentures and dealing with orthopaedists."