10 Times Buffy Should Have Been Expelled (Or Thrown In Jail)

[TMC]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 10 Times Buffy Should Have Been Expelled (Or
Thrown In Jail)
BY LIZ HERSEY MAY 15, 2019

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the titular heroine sacrifices a lot for her
calling. For most teenage girls, high school means boys, parties, and trips
to the mall. As the Slayer, Buffy doesn't have this luxury. Nor does she
have a good reputation. Thrown out of her old school for arson — she was
killing a horde of vampires — Buffy arrives at Sunnydale High, already
labeled a juvenile delinquent.

Talk about unfair. Buffy tries her hardest to keep the slaying as tidy and
law-abiding as possible. Unfortunately, sometimes that's just not possible.
Sometimes Buffy has no other choice but to commit a felony, or several, in
order to save the world. Buffy may have died twice but when it comes to
avoiding jail time, Buffy has ten lives. Here's a chronological look at the
Slayer's would-be rap sheet.

• 10 SHE VIOLATES A CRIME SCENE
  
  Poor Buffy naïvely thinks she has an opportunity to start fresh at Sunnydale
  High and ditch the slaying. Alas, this is the Hellmouth we're talking about.
  On her first day, a dead guy is found stuffed into a locker, and he's got
  vampire bites. Buffy learns quickly that cutting ties to her Slayer self
  isn't that easy. She's on the case.
  
  In her defense, the crime scene is a joke. It's just a locked door and a
  sheet thrown haphazardly over the body. There's no police presence
  whatsoever. While Buffy may be doing the Sunnydale PD's job for them, she
  should have been more careful, especially on her first day. Principal Flutie
  already had his suspicions. Buffy may not have been caught, but she won't be
  joining the cast of CSI any time soon.
  
  
  9 SHE CHOKES JENNY
  
  If there's ever a time for Buffy to go on the warpath, it's after Angel
  loses his soul. Buffy needs answers and when a dream reveals that Jenny may
  be involved, it makes sense that Buffy would question her. What doesn't make
  sense is storming into Jenny's classroom, grabbing her by the throat and
  slamming her onto the desk. Oh yeah, and Buffy does this is in a room full
  of students. She attacks a teacher!
  
  There's no way this news doesn't make its way to Principal Snyder. Does his
  dislike of Jenny outweigh his desire to expel Buffy? Maybe a lot of other
  students choked out their teachers that day and Buffy's outburst was
  forgotten about. That's the only logical explanation.
  
  
  8 SHE FIRES A STOLEN ROCKET LAUNCHER
  
  If there's any reason to pull a stunt like this, it's to destroy a
  blue-skinned, mass-murdering demon. But this could have landed every Scooby
  in jail. Xander and Cordy steal it, Willow's the lookout, Oz is the getaway
  driver, and Buffy actually fires it in a crowded mall.
  
  It's a good that this whole melee went down before the age of smartphones.
  It would have gone viral on YouTube. Perhaps the lack of consequences can be
  chalked up to the fact that if it wasn't for trigger-happy Buffy, all the
  police and military personnel would be dead.
  
  
  7 SHE BECOMES A FUGITIVE
  
  This is the closest Buffy gets to real prison time. After she's found
  standing over Kendra's dead body in the library with the stake, Buffy
  actually does get expelled. That's small potatoes compared to what happens
  immediately after, which is Buffy getting arrested. But Angel's about to end
  the world and the clock is ticking.
  
  Buffy evades the police and becomes a fugitive. However, after she kills
  Angel, Buffy hops a bus and gets the Hellmouth out of Dodge. Is that not the
  most guilty-looking move ever? When Buffy does come back to town, some
  months later, her name has been miraculously cleared. Sometimes it really is
  worth it to hop a Greyhound over boy and murder troubles.
  
  
  
  6 SHE BREAKS INTO A SPORTING GOODS STORE WITH INTENT TO STEAL
  
  This one has absolutely nothing to do with saving people or defending the
  world. Here, Buffy is a straight-up reckless sticky fingers. She gets
  corrupted by Faith and her "livin' large" ways, which apparently include
  relieving Meyer Sports and Tackle of their crossbows. The Slayers do get
  busted and thrown into the back of a cop car, but they break out. And that's
  that. Zero consequences afterwards.
  
  While Faith may not be a known quantity, Buffy has had tons of run-ins with
  the Sunnydale PD. It's a small town, so it's rather shocking that the police
  weren't waiting for her upon her return home. Then again, given the mess
  Buffy and Faith made of that cruiser, arresting them likely wasn't worth the
  effort.
  
  
  5 SHE'S AN ACCESSORY TO MANSLAUGHTER
  
  It's a felonious day in the neighborhood... just one day after Buffy and
  Faith ditch the fuzz, Faith gets a little over-zealous with a stake. The
  pointy end finds its way into the chest of Deputy Mayor Allan Finch, a
  human. Oopsy! Buffy wants to do the right thing and tell Giles, but Faith
  convinces her not to. Seriously, B?
  
  Sure, Faith is your Slayer sister, but you've known her for how long? Do you
  really want to go down for an accidental crime you didn't commit? However,
  all things are coming up roses for the Chosen Two. Neither of them get
  arrested and Faith (unofficially) gets Allan's job. When you're a Slayer,
  crime really does pay.
  
  
  
  4 SHE ATTEMPTS TO MURDER FAITH
  
  In the eyes of the law, Buffy can't break bad any harder than this. She
  premeditates a murder. After Faith shoots Angel with a poisoned arrow, Buffy
  discovers the only antidote is Slayer's blood. So, she goes off in search of
  her prey. A knock-down, drag-out brawl commences between the two Slayers.
  Buffy manages to stab Faith in the gut before she escapes.
  
  Even though this is one of Buffy's worst crimes, she likely wouldn't have
  been arrested for it. At this point, Faith is way more of a criminal and who
  would believe her should she squawk? Later on in the series when Buffy is
  broke, she really should have considered a career as a hitwoman.
  
  
  3 SHE BLOWS UP THE SCHOOL
  
  Come Graduation Day, the students of Sunnydale High put aside their
  differences and it's all for one and one for all. That means building bombs
  and going back to the weapons supply closet, aka the Sunnydale military
  base. Come the Ascension, the graduating class of 1999 is armed to the
  teeth.
  
  While they fight off his thugs, Buffy lures the snake-ified Mayor into a
  school packed with explosives. Buffy escapes and the Mayor goes boom.
  Technically, Giles is the one who hits the detonator but the entire scheme
  was Buffy's creation. At this point, her Slayer status is an open secret, so
  the cops must assume that whatever she did was in the name of saving the
  hides of many a citizen.
  
  
  2 SHE ASSAULTS GOVERNMENT AGENTS
  
  Like many juvenile delinquents, Buffy's criminal behavior tapers off as she
  grows up. But remember, this is the Slayer we're talking about. She has to
  get her jollies somehow. When it's time to fight Adam, Buffy needs to get
  into the Initiative. The problem is that she's persona non grata. As if
  being unpopular has ever stopped her.
  
  Buffy and the Scoobies break in, only to be promptly caught and detained. To
  be fair, Buffy is beyond polite as she tries to explain the situation. It's
  not her fault the Colonel won't listen. What is her fault, however, is
  punching out a whole whack of soldiers. Yes, it needed to be done. The
  Scoobies save the day and Buffy avoids the big house.
  
  
  1 SHE MESSES WITH SOCIAL SERVICES RECORDS
  
  Invisible Buffy Messing with a Cow Mug
  This is a strong contender for dumbest thing Buffy has ever done. When she
  accidentally gets blasted with an Invisibility Ray, Buffy targets the social
  worker who is (rightfully) making a case as to why Dawn should be removed
  from the Summers home. Buffy's motivations for not wanting to lose her
  sister are sympathetic. But did she have to go and make poor Doris the
  Social Worker think she was going insane?
  
  Buffy replaces Doris' report with her own personal tribute to The Shining.
  Doris gets put on a forced leave of absence and Buffy the Morality Slayer
  lives to see another day. Sometimes her behavior is just criminal.