Behind the Scenes

Continued from previous installment...

A SLAYER'S LEGACY

In his five seasons as a writer for Buffy, David has been assigned his share of pivotal episodes like the aforementioned "Lies My Parents Told Me" and "Helpless." "Choices" from season three is another of his episodes often cited as a defining moment episode for the fact that it is the one where Willow decides to matriculate at U.C. Sunnydale so she can continue to fight the good fight by Buffy's side. David reflects back on it remembering, "I wasn't on staff for that one. It was huge because I was a fan who went along with the mythology along with everyone else and suddenly I'm dictating what was going to happen."

For all the fan love, Fury has also courted plenty of criticism from the fans for his vocal opinions of storylines, or characters arcs in particular, that he was less than enthused about. In particular, his opposition to Spike ever being worthy of Buffy's love became a line in the sand with some fans. As we proceed, David laughs, "You're going to get me in trouble." But regardless of what fan bases feel about particular characters, the question really comes down to how a writer overcomes the obstacle of writing a story they can't get behind either morally, ethically or characterization wise? David jumps in to explain: "All you can do really is, within the episode you write, justify it to yourself in the episode. I can't justify every element. There are episodes that sandwich mine which I had problems with. I'm always okay with Spike and where he's at within my episode because I feel like I justify it." He continues, "The way I do that is, I've always been the proponent that Spike is Ð whatever his sensitivity or other factors that he exhibits Ðultimately not good for Buffy. I think it comes across in "Lies" that he doesn't kill Wood but he would kill him. And the fact that Spike really works the guy over and takes the coat back and puts it on - that is Wood's mother's coat and Spike is going to continue to wear it. Spike is ultimately not a good guy. Yes, there are a lot of elements to him that are good and I see them but to paint him anyway heroic Ð I have a hard time with that to a point. I can see him being heroic on some levels. There are a lot of antiheroes that rise to the occasion but if he makes that complete journey, then he is Angel. If he becomes the thing that has no moral ambiguity, that's Angel."

It has been confirmed that Spike [James Marsters] is heading to Angel for the show's fifth season, so the writing staff has some new challenges to iron out when they return to the office in June. Not only do they have to figure out how to get Spike there (considering the outcome of the Buffy series finale) but also how to handle the unique dilemma of two souled vampires on the same show. As far as the latter issue, when we talked before the renewal decision had been made, David expressed his general thoughts about the character. "I think my biggest concern is just not turning Spike into Angel because he's not an interesting character being Angel. Spike is a morally ambiguous character."

When we talked, production was winding down on both shows and an ominous air of impending finality was hovering about the offices. With sadness in his voice, David described the ending of the era. "It's so sad. The other thing that has been creepy is that a lot of the other writers have cleaned out their offices. It's a weird time. We are all running into one another at meetings for other shows at other studios. The real tears won't come until it's really over and I know they are going to come and I'm going to weep like a baby." With a small sigh, he continues, "This was a really significant thing in my life that I shared with a lot of people. Who knows if anything remotely like this will happen again? Probably not, this is like winning the lottery." Reflecting on the end of the series, his parting message to fans is to "Just remember there was a show on the air that really gave credit to its audience. It really tried to be funny, intelligent and meaningful. Don't settle for anything less than that."

Fury considers "The I in Team" one of his best

Of the twenty-five overall scripts he wrote for both shows, David has his own favorites, which might not be the first ones fans think of. ""The I in Team" [Season 4] is an episode that I'm proud of that a lot of people just don't think about it. It had a lot of story elements that had to be interwoven and it's pretty well constructed. It was something I wrote in a very short amount of time. It is an under-recognized episode and one that I liked." After more thought he adds, "I'll always have a soft spot for "Helpless" which was my first solo Buffy script because it also had such an impact on the whole mythology of the show. It got Giles fired. I came in pitching that idea - thinking Giles would get his job back at the end of the episode. Instead, it just changed the course of the series." On the Angel side, "I was actually really proud of "Salvage" especially for the Lilah and Wesley scene, which turned out better than I imagined. This was a scene I was a little bit worried about because I'd never written Lilah before and I didn't want to repeat [what was already done]. They had other conversations like that but I found a nice balance to it. It was a very moving scene and I'm very proud of that. It's the one that is most fresh in my mind right now of the ones I've written."

One of the unique aspects of being a writer for a Whedon show is the fan adulation heaped on them. It's akin in scope and devotion to that which is usually only reserved for the cast of a television show. David has talked with the fans for years, mostly on The Bronze Beta where he was known for his humor and purposefully mixing it up with the fans. "I used to just go on for fun and I'd get into casual talks and start fights but all in good fun." He has been seen far less frequently in the last year or two due to some odd fan behavior. The conversation grows serious as he relates why in particular. "It just didn't become as fun a place anymore to visit. It was very depressing for me. I think the straw for me was when somebody posted as a little nine year-old girl claiming that she was told that she couldn't play being a Slayer because she was black. She asked if it was true and of course everybody replied to this "little girl" saying "It's not true and you can be anything you want to be." Then the little girl's father came on later that night and said, "I want you all to know what you've done for my little girl." It was a beautiful wonderful thing. I virtually adopted this little girl and then I found out the whole thing was a hoax. It was just one crazy fan that somebody discovered because they were looking into the background of the parents. There was no such person." He continues, "I was weeping from this little girl's story and to find out there is no little girl - that's where I went 'I can't play in this world anymore.' It was a wonderful conversation pit that can no longer be that. I'm distrustful now."

The criticisms have become more personal and heated as well. "Everyone who hates some element of the show decides to lash out and get personal to the other writers as well as me. It becomes wearying to try and defend. We have always been accessible and certainly the newer writers are accessible who haven't been burned out like Drew Goddard. I tell him to enjoy it while you can. I had three fan clubs too and now I'm down to just one and I'm sure that will go away next year too," he adds lightly. "The fact was that it was great fun and wonderful to talk to all the fans and wonderful to get all that attention. And I am going to miss it but by the same token it also became somewhat of a burden."

THE ANGEL ARC

Shifting over to Angel, season four offered the audience a complex arc which provided a wealth of amazing story elements including the return of the rogue slayer, Faith [Eliza Dushku]. David, in fact, was the writer who actually got to break Faith out of the pokey. He had the chance to write Faith before in "Choices" and was thrilled to return to her character. "I love her voice. And for whatever reason, her voice just comes to me. I hear Faith's turns of phrases, like "It's like riding a biker" Ð that was something that was just Faith. I could hear her saying that line so not a lot thought has to go into it." He chuckles adding, "Finding simple things like "I hate to disappoint you" -you change that to "I hate to wet the paper." She has an attitude that is fun to write, saying things that are provocative or dirty or slightly off-color. To be able to write for her and Angelus, going toe to toe Ð two characters that get to speak their minds and be all glib and funny was great to do. That's the stuff that's most comfortable for me to do which is why the Wes and Lilah scene was so challenging. There is no challenge in writing Faith for me. I know exactly how to write her. And that's why I'm very disappointed there is no Faith show."

The Wes and Lilah in "Salvage" was one of David's biggest challenges.

Season four has been, by far, the most ambitious ever in terms of a seasonal long arc that requires the audience to stay with it until the end for the final payoff. Fury says, "It's been like 24." Despite his consulting title, David was deeply involved in creating the arc. "The first script I wrote this season was three ["The House Always Wins"] set in Vegas which may have been the last standalone. I was pretty much involved with the breaking of the next couple stories through episode ten ["Awakening"] which I wrote with Steve and then into "Salvage." But after that point, I got pulled back into Buffy again." Bouncing from show to show was no easy task for him because of the deep arcs and continuity issues. David explains, "The Angel arc went off in its own way so coming back to write twenty one ["Peace Out"] was very difficult. I kind of lost my way. And in the same way when I was working on Angel and I came to write Buffy eleven ["Showtime"], I was completely lost. I was coming into it late in the game and I really didn't know the arc. You don't even realize how much you are living with the arc when you are on the staff. You may think you only need to know what is in your episode but in fact you've talked about things that are going to go on in the next several shows. It's been very tricky switching gears back and forth and it's worked best when I've been able to focus on one show. I'm not a multi-tasker like Joss."

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