Joss Whedon has a reputation for complex characters, original writing, and interesting ways of killing off characters to maximize heartbreak. He earned much of that reputation during his years as head honcho of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and few characters ever really felt safe. As it turns out, someone who survived the series actually came very close to dying in the finale. Actor D.B. Woodside played Principal Robin Wood in the seventh season of Buffy, and he shared this story about how Whedon decided Robin's fate:
Joss cracked a joke when we were shooting the finale of Buffy, where he came over to me and he said, "You know, I've got to be honest with you. When I was writing this, I was going, 'Does he die? Does he live? Does he die? Does he live? And you caught me on the day that I said, 'He lives.'" [Laughs] So that was great. I'm happy that Robin Wood is still out there somewhere kicking ass. And I know for a fact that Wood and Faith are together somewhere.
D.B. Woodside's time as Robin Wood was going to end with the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer no matter what, so it's no wonder that he can laugh about his character's possible death in the last episode. Judging by his reveal in his chat with The A.V. Club, Woodside likes to imagine that his character got as much of a happily-ever-after as a vampire hunter can get with Faith. He even has a unique claim to fame as a Buffy alum: of all the principals of Sunnydale High School during the run of the of the show, only Robin Wood survived.
The actor (and current Lucifer star) clearly had fantastic timing when it came to catching Joss Whedon while he was writing the series finale. If D.B. Woodside had talked with Whedon only a day earlier or a day later, Robin Wood may have been called to eternity's detention in the finale. He was badly wounded in the final battle as it is, but he lived on to surprise Faith and continue his quest of hunting vampires. The comic series that picked up after the show ended revealed that Robin and Faith did pursue a relationship together.
Unfortunately for Buffy fans who have been dying to see more of the finale survivors ever since the show went off the air in 2003, Sarah Michelle Gellar has come out and admitted that she would not be on board for a reunion. She believes that she's too old to take up the stake of Buffy once more, and she made the point that Buffy worked much better as a series than a movie. We can't rule out a reboot, but D.B. Woodside will probably never play Robin Wood again. At least his farewell to the character wasn't via bloody death scene.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer may not be coming back to the small screen for a reunion, but there's plenty of great shows that will hit the airwaves in the near future. Check out our midseason TV premiere schedule to see when you should planning on tuning in.
