The Watcher's Guide, Volume 3 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) 
As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers.
From the first vampire staking to the last glimpse of Sunnydale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a genre-busting hit, attracting millions of fans worldwide. The last three seasons ran the gamut from an episode without music to a musical episode, from the arrival of a teenage sister to the death of Buffy (again).
Now the third volume in this best-selling series of companions will break down every episode of seasons five, six, and seven -- from the villains and the victims to quotables and love bytes -- as well as take a wide-ranging look back at the entire run of the show.
Additional features:
• Flashback Foreshadowing: A line-by-line deconstruction of the portents in the season four finale, "Restless"
• "Lost" lines of dialogue, stage directions, and descriptions cut from the original teleplays
• The Trio's Pop-Culture Explosion: Mastering the references of Geek Speak
• Critical (and not-so) essays from a variety of contributors on topics from Buffy's romantic optimism to Dawn's unfulfilled potential
Seven years, 144 episodes, 3 Slayers, 3 principals, 2 networks, 2 vampires with souls, 2 Watchers, 2 pigs, 1 Master, 1 Mayor, and 1 hit show (with tons of Potentials): It all adds up to one must-have volume!
Reviews
I have to say, I was very pleased! It contained an episode
guide for seasons 5-7 , quotes, and other little extras. Although it does not have alot of behind the scenes interviews as the previous two, it was still well worth the cash. I was very happy with it!
And if you'd consider taking advice from a newbie, choose this over the unoffical editions!
This book however, cuts down what it features. There are basically two main sections - the episode guide, and the 'essay' section.
The good news is the episode guide is fantastic - perhaps the best of the 3 Watcher's Guides. Filled with fun facts, trivia, detailed synopses, and skipping over some of the more irrelevant sections found in pervious editions (Buffy's Bag of Tricks in the first book comes to mind), the episode guides are the highlight of the book - as they were with the previous Watcher's books. Squeezed into the Season 6 section is a little pop culture quote area filled with references the 'trio' made in season 6.
The two colour photo sections are also in tact, the first featuring glossy publicity shots (and screen stills) of all of the major players throughout Buffy's final three seasons. The second photo section is really interesting actually, as virtually all of the photos are behind-the-scenes shots right up until the series finale.
The essays were something I put off reading for quite awhile, figuring they were boring. I finally finished off the guide last night, essays and all - and was surprised at how heartfelt some of them were. For the most part, each essay is written by a really in-depth fan of the show, and you can sense their attachment to the subject they cover. Dawn, Johnathan, the power of love, British fans, and Buffy as a post-modern show are among the subjects covered. The author of this book, Paul Ruditis, also analyzes the fourth season closer, "Restless" which is filled with dream sequences. Personally I found some of his observations to be useless and speculative, but others were quite inquistive and interesting.
I think most people are disappointed because this book dropped virtually everything from the previous Watcher's Guides and filled the last 100 pages (approx.) with essays. And we all know what springs to mind when we hear that word - boring! But they're not! Really! However, granted, this book did lack the flow and completeness that the others had.
My only grace here for Ruditis is the fact that this guide is much like your senior year yearbook, if you get it in the fall after you've graduated. How are you meant to track down all of your 'classmates' if the class (or show in this case) has disbanded?
This book is still a good addition to the Watcher's collection, as the episode guides are great, but don't be expecting the extreme in-depth coverage of before (especially when comparing this to the second Watcher's Guide).
Holder and Golden had collaborated again to write the third book.