TORONTO -- The skinny blond from California has managed to stop demon armies, countless vampires and more than one apocalypse.
But now that television's innovative teen series is coming to an end, Buffy the Vampire Slayer faces its final, and perhaps most formidable, doomsday challenge: surviving death of the TV kind.
The dedication of loyal -- and some might argue obsessive -- fans promises to bestow the pop culture icon with a robust afterlife that may very well surpass its current on-air presence, which gets staked in a finale airing tonight on the New PL. It's a prospect that doesn't escape writer-creator Joss Whedon, who set out all along to create characters that were survivors in more ways than one.
"The show is designed to live on," declares Whedon, nonetheless amazed his characters have inspired university papers, more than 120 books and 1,300 Web sites. "Interest will grow, or maybe it'll drop off the radar.
"The show will never age because the characters never do," he says. "I feel the show could go on indefinitely in terms of stories, but the grind, the grind, good Lord."
He's not kidding about the grind.
Not long ago, Whedon was at the helm of three prime-time shows -- including Buffy's dark spinoff Angel and the failed sci-fi series Firefly, which starred Canadian Nathan Fillion and lasted only half a season last year.
Critics complained Whedon's heavy workload took its toll on Buffy, which turned dark in last year's Season 6, when the perky protagonist (Sarah Michelle Gellar) sank into deep depression and violent sex with her vampire adversary. She had issues, what with being brought back from the dead and having to crawl out of her own grave. You know how it is.
But for the most part, the hallmark of the show has been its ability to swing from hilarious farce to thrilling action to heart-wrenching family drama. All the while portraying alienation and teen angst as metaphorical monsters and end-of-the-world battles that its young heroes must overcome (a lot).
It also treated adolescent girls more seriously than any other show and its message of empowerment remained a consistent theme that has carried to tonight's blockbuster ending, says Whedon.
"It's huge, it's epic," he promises. "It's not perfect. But it does say what I wanted it to say and I think it will make people feel as I want them to feel -- depressed, elated, angry, hopeful and completed. And uncompleted."
The pressure to achieve all these things was immense, says Whedon, and resulted in a mini-breakdown the week shooting wrapped.
"We had to shut down production because I was falling apart. I literally could not sit up. It was an accumulation of seven years of Buffy, four years of Angel, Firefly and a four-month-old baby. Combine those things and what you get is death."
But as fans of the show have learned, nothing really dies in the Buffy realm. Just because the series has ended doesn't mean we've seen the last of the Scooby gang -- Buffy's demon-hunting cohorts who help the Chosen One battle evil and defy curfew to date boys.
Whedon says bad-boy vamp Spike will join Angel and other characters will likely visit the spinoff as well. However, plans for a spinoff about the Watchers -- stuffy British guardians who train slayers in the ways of vampire hunting -- are on hold. Whedon says he needs to take a break.
And the time is right to end the series, he says, even though in its seven years, its mix of fantasy, metaphor and clever language never managed to win it widespread acclaim.
Whedon said he's not left with any regret.
"I think we received mainstream acceptance. We never received widespread acclaim, but the fans loved it, critics respected it and people cared."
IF YOU WATCH
What: Buffy the Vampire Slayer series finale
When: Tonight, 8 p.m.
Where: The New PL
