Spoiler Slayer

AM Update

Blogger was down most of the day, but I posted this in the interim.

Joss did an interview for Zap2It, where he talks about doing commentary on the DVD sets, and drops some major spoilage. Before I get into the Riley issue, I want to just cover another comment that he made.

He has done commentary on 'Restless', which I am presuming will reveal more than a few connections between this season and last. Which makes me wonder just when the DVD will be released in the UK, since it could provide spoilage for the rest of this season. It'll be interesting to see if this DVD release is delayed, according to my notes it should be out in March or April. However, if anyone from the UK has more information, I would love to hear it.

The big news is of course the dropping of the fact that 'Riley will return'. The appropriate comments were...

Before the light at the end of the tunnel, Buffy's life is going to get a lot more complicated. Returning in the new year is Marc Blucas, as Riley, Buffy's demon-hunting, soldier ex-boyfriend, last seen heading off on a jungle mission. "We have him doing an episode for us after Christmas," says Whedon. "We're really excited." This should answer the question of what happened to Riley in the jungle, whether a demon or something squished him. "Not squished," says Whedon. "Something rather more dramatic happened to him."

I have to say that I'm a bit stunned at not only the fact that Joss revealed his return, but that something has happened to him in the interim. Not something that I would expect from Joss, he's usually very tight-lipped. The timing of this comment (December 18th) makes me wonder if it's more damage control than anything. At about the same time the Riley speculation was gaining momentum, Joss comes out and confirms it (although in a very vague manner). While I don't doubt that Riley might be back for an episode or two, I have a feeling that Joss is not being entirely honest. Angel X posted on the Cross and Stake that it will be in Episode 15 that this happens. My problem is that I can't see them bringing him back for a single episode, I'm just not ready to up the ranking on all the Riley spoilers just yet. Not all the pieces of the puzzle fit just yet. Even though it's coming from Joss, I think I'm only going to create a new spoiler 'Riley Appears In This Episode' and rank it 'Likely'.

Hopefully, things will begin to make more sense after 'Gone' airs. Now that there is less than two weeks to go, TVGuide.com has the description up.

Gone
60 min.
Buffy's efforts to help Willow's recovery are disrupted by a run-in with an intrusive social worker and a spat with Spike. Then, she's mistakenly zapped by an invisibility ray wielded by Jonathan, Warren and Andrew. At least she gets a new hairdo. Spike: James Marsters. Warren: Adam Busch. Andrew: Tom Lenk. Jonathan: Danny Strong. Willow: Alyson Hannigan. Xander: Nicholas Brendon. Anya: Emma Caulfield. Dawn: Michelle Trachtenberg. Buffy: Sarah Michelle Gellar.

On a related note. I received over 57 e-mails about the Joss Whedon interview. While I appreciate everyone that e-mailed to let me know, I had seen it almost immediately after it was released. I do visit all the various spoiler sources several times a day, so it's rare that something pops up that I haven't seen or read about elsewhere. Yet there are things that will slip through the crack, so I don't necessarily want people to stop sending me information that I might have missed. If something comes out and I miss it in the next update, please let me know. Otherwise, you're probably only repeating information that I've already read.