Dusting Drusilla: Why Dru Should Be Killed Off

drusillathekiller:

“I destroyed everything she had. Everything that gave her world meaning. When there was nothing else left, I destroyed her mind. Then I sired her. Made her immortal. Condemned her to an eternity of insanity…So my greatest achievement would endure forever.”

– Angel, Angel and Faith: Daddy Issues.

While I haven’t read all the Buffy comics, I have been keeping up with them where I can, and I have followed Drusilla’s storyline. In short, I found it to be very poignant and compelling, constantly teasing the idea of providing a redemption arc for the character and then snatching it away in an abrupt and cruel manner. 

In one appearance, Drusilla makes some progress towards regaining her sanity after being sent to a mental institution. However, she eventually snaps and murders the doctors who were trying to help her after overhearing a nurse describe her as a ‘waste of time’. 

Similarly, Spike attempts to offer Dru a chance at redemption when he gives her his soul. Unfortunately, the guilt of the soul drives her to deeper depths of insanity and Spike is forced to take it back.

On another occasion- possibly the cruellest of all – Angel finds out that Drusilla has become sane after meeting a demon that feeds off of trauma. Dru hopes to help people by getting the demon to feed off the trauma of troubled individuals, though this has the side effect of driving them mad. Arguing that ‘our trauma is what makes us who we are’, Angel slaughters the demon and Drusilla’s trauma is returned to her, driving her insane a second time. 

The message from the writers seems crystal clear; Drusilla is not capable of being saved. The character- subjected to centuries of torment by her tragic circumstances – cannot be redeemed, or if she can, it’s not an avenue the writers are willing to seriously pursue (take your pick). They’ve demonstrated this on three separate occasions.

As Faith puts it;

Hold up…What I said about us not giving up [on people]…I didn’t mean Drusilla. Soulless, okay. Crazy, I can work with. But soulless AND crazy … that’s a bridge too far. The chick’s a mess.

– Faith Lehane, Angel and Faith: Daddy Issues.

I do not know if the comics will be getting another season. If they will, I don’t know if there are any plans to include Drusilla. 

But if there are, there’s just one thing I hope for this character. 

I want Drusilla to be killed off. 

I don’t particularly mind how it happens. Perhaps Angel- in an act of mercy – decides to finally put his ‘masterpiece’ out of her misery. Perhaps Spike finishes what he started in Crush as a parallel to how Angel staked his own sire. Perhaps Buffy or even a random slayer kills her. Regardless, I think it needs to happen for there to be a respectful ending for this character.

She is too unstable to be ensouled. She is too traumatised to be sane. While at one point she could have found some semblance of solace through her love affair with Spike, he has developed too much as a character for this pairing (however much my shipping heart aches) to ever make sense again without his development regressing by years. In fact, I’d argue that the final nail in the coffin for the Spike/Dru relationship was hammered in as early as Out of My Mind (2000). 

So, whatever to do with the character now? Have her turn up periodically as a minion to whatever Big Bad is causing trouble, make some cryptic comments, fight the heroes, and then scamper into the shadows again as soon as it becomes clear that she’s losing? Simply not have her appear again at all, leaving the character forever suffering alone through eternal torment in the imagination of the fandom? No. I think Drusilla deserves better than both these options. 

Drusilla’s storyline deserves some closure, some resolution, some end to the torment Angelus inflicted on her.

Drusilla may not have appeared in the series often, but she had a huge impact for a character so rarely seen. She influenced Angel and Spike’s characters in countless ways. She served as the most potent reminder of Angelus’ evil. She became a fan favourite and couples still cosplay as Spike and Dru to this day.

And if – when the franchise ends – Drusilla’s last appearance is her scurrying away into the darkness again, forever lurking somewhere in the distance? I’ll be pretty disappointed.