Superstar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title=Superstar


Series=Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season=4
Episode=17
Airdate=April 4, 2000
Production=4ABB17
Writer=Jane Espenson
Director=David Grossman
Episode list=List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
Prev=Who Are You
Next=Where the Wild Things Are

"Superstar" is the 17th episode of season four of the television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Plot summary

Summary

Jonathan casts a spell to cause all of Sunnydale to believe that he is the titular "Superstar": He created the Internet, writes best-sellers, leads the USA Womens Soccer team to victory in the World Cup Finals, stars in "The Matrix" — and even fights vampires better than anyone. He is constantly signing autographs for his bewitched fans, women in particular, and at night in his luxury house, he has two beautiful blond Nordic girls to keep him warm in his bed - twins no less. True to the show's theme that there are always consequences, Jonathan's spell comes with a price. It conjures up an opposite force to Jonathan - a monster which endangers the town. It is Buffy that eventually begins to sense all is not right in the world, but she just can't put her finger on what - although Jonathan is soon at the center of her suspicions. As Jonathan reluctantly joins Buffy as she fights this monster, he loses more and more of his super swarth alter-ego, until he has thrown the monster over the abyss, and has returned to his mundane, unpopular geek, self.

Expanded overview

Buffy and the gang slay vampires in the graveyard, but when they discover a nest of the vampires that is too much for them all to fight, they go to Jonathan for help. At Giles' place, Jonathan checks out weapons and even practices hand-to-hand with Buffy. Willow uses her computer to try and find a way to attack the vampire nest, but Jonathan quickly finds a better way to enter. With a plan in mind, Jonathan passes out weapons and tells everyone where to go. In the crypt, Jonathan slays the majority of the vampires, leaving Buffy to feel inadequate, as she allows one vampire to get by her.

As they leave the crypt, Jonathan poses for some picture. He senses Spike hiding in the shadows and the two go face-to-face. Buffy's at a lack for her usual puns, but Jonathan steps in to knock Spike's confidence down. While putting pictures of Jonathan up on a wall, Willow and Tara talk about the fight earlier that night and Buffy's relationship with Riley. At Riley's dorm room, Buffy tries to play basketball, but she is too uncomfortable being around Riley to let him get close.

Jonathan comforts Buffy and he tells her that she's really just mad at Riley because he doesn't know her as well as she'd like him to. He tries to convince her to forgive Riley because deep down, her expectations are too high. All the while, Jonathan is encountered with overzealous fans, and signing autographs for them. Colonel George Haviland is the new commander at the Initiative, but Jonathan takes over and explains the plans to find and destroy Adam. One fan, Karen is spying on Jonathan's house, but is attacked by a demon and barely manages to run away.

Jonathan talks to Riley about his relationship with Buffy, and then he shoots at apples atop of the heads of Initiative operatives, while blindfolded. When Jonathan takes center stage singing at the Bronze, Buffy and Riley take the dance floor. Xander and Anya are inspired to go somewhere to have sex when he starts to play the trumpet. Buffy lets Riley know that she forgives him and wants to move on with their relationship. Karen goes to the Bronze for Jonathan, and when she is taken back to his place, Karen describes the demon's appearance to them all. Jonathan seems to act weird when she draws a symbol she saw on the demon, but he dismisses it as a harmless monster that he'll take care of.

Adam realizes right away that something is wrong with the world, and that Jonathan isn't supposed to be as popular as he currently is but decides to sit back and see how the situation develops. When twin blond girls call for Jonathan to come to bed, he drops his robe to reveal a symbol on his shoulder that is just like the symbol Karen drew. On her way to her dorm room, the demon attacks Tara. She chants a spell and manages to escape with her life. The next morning, Tara identifies the demon by the symbol on its head, and Buffy suddenly has even more reason to question Jonathan.

Buffy stops by Xander's, and only finds Anya and plenty of things on Jonathan. Buffy questions how Jonathan could be so perfect. He is credited for all the great things that have happened in the world (starring in "The Matrix", inventing the internet etc.), when it seems pretty impossible for him to do them all. Riley encourages everyone to follow Buffy's lead. They look at Jonathan's swimsuit calendar to see the monster's mark on Jonathan's shoulder. He arrives and explains to everyone that he has a history with the monster and every time he faces it, he is overcome by a great deal of confusion.

Buffy and Jonathan go look for the demon, and get some information on the demon's location from Spike. Willow discovers that Jonathan did an augmentation spell that would make him everyone's target of adoration. The downside is that a demon is created that would be everyone's worst nightmare and if it is destroyed, the spell is reversed. The gang has a hard time dealing with the prospect of a world without Jonathan.

In a cave, Jonathan tries to prevent Buffy from falling into a deep pit, but the demon interrupts them. Jonathan leaves it up to Buffy to fight the demon. Her fighting skills improve greatly as the fight goes on, and then Jonathan pushes the demon into the pit and his own life is saved by Buffy. After the demon falls into the pit, everything goes back to normal and Jonathan is back to being ignored. Buffy talks with Jonathan and asks him how he did what he did. At counseling after his attempted suicide, another guy informed Jonathan about the augmentation spell, but he unfortunately skipped the demon part. Buffy and Riley are kissing on his bed, until she moans, "Jonathan".

Writing

"Superstar" is a reference to Mary Sue fanfictionFact|date=April 2008, in which a writer inserts a new character, an idealized version of him or her self, into a fictional universe and upstages the established characters. Jonathan, a peripheral character, becomes nearly omnipotent, universally adored and admired, and even takes Buffy's place in the opening credits.

Acting

tarring

*Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
*Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
*Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
*Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
*James Marsters as Spike
*Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest starring

*Emma Caulfield as Anya
*Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
*Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
*Bailey Chase as Graham Miller
*Robert Patrick Benedict as Jape - Adam's Lackey
*John Saint Ryan as Colonel George Haviland
*George Hertzberg as Adam

Co-starring

*Erica Luttrell as Karen
*Adam Clark as Cop
*Chanie Costello as Inga
*Julie Costello as Ilsa

Production details

* Introductory sequence: The collection of shots that forms the introduction sequence to each episode is generally the same throughout each season, except when a character is added or removed from the "core" group. This episode has a specially modified introduction that contains about 10 shots of Jonathan performing heroic acts such as defusing a bomb. The end of the sequence is a shot of Jonathan with a flowing cape, similar to the last shot of the opening sequence from the "Angel" series (but taken from the opposite angle), rather than the usual closeup on Buffy.

Music

* Royal Crown Revue - "Hey Sonny / Serenade in Blue / Trapped" - Jonathan Levinson performs these various songs at the Bronze.

Quotes and trivia

* The immediate prequel to this episode is Jane Espenson's "Buffy" comic, "Jonathan".

* The opening credits have been modified to incorporate Jonathan into the scenes as if he always was part of the gang in this alternate reality.

* Danny Strong lip synches the song that he sings at The Bronze. Brad Kane, who played Tucker Wells in "The Prom," provided the vocals.

* When Jonathan is playing the trumpet in the Bronze, Danny Strong was actually synching the notes, fingering it as instructed by a family member of his.

* Along with other Jonathan related merchandise in the episode, there are a number of Jonathan comic books published by Dark Horse Comics, the real world company that publishes comic books based on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

* This episode introduces the world without shrimp and the world entirely of shrimp. This will be referenced again in "Triangle" and again by Illyria in the season 5 "Angel" episode "Underneath".

Translations

* Italian title: "Superstar"
* German title: "Jonathan Superstar"
* French title: "Superstar"
* Spanish title: "Superstar" ("Superstar")

Continuity

Arc significance

* Jonathan helps Buffy and Riley overcome issues following "Who Are You".

* Jonathan reveals Adam's weakness (his uranium power source), although this wouldn't be further discussed until later in the season, well after Jonathan's spell is ended.

* This episode also introduces Jonathan's dabbling in magic, which will play a major role in season 6.

* Jonathan's spell establishes how easy it is for reality to be bended to an extreme degree, giving credence to the sudden integration of Dawn in Season 5.

Timing

* Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

See also

* Mary Sue fanfiction
* List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes

External links

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* [http://buffyguide.com/episodes/superstar.shtml "Superstar" on BuffyGuide.com]

Reviews

* [http://www.soulfulspike.com/spikecentricity/SuperstarReview.htm Soulful Spike Society analysis of "Superstar"]