The Wasted Potential of Kendra the Vampire Slayer

Promo of Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and the next Slayer in line, Kendra (Bianca Lawson).

Almost twenty-seven years ago, just episodes after Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Inca Mummy Girl featured a nonwhite guest star Ara Celi (which did not age well), the two-parter What’s My Line saga featured the first appearance of the iconic Kendra (portrayed by the phenomenal Bianca Lawson). The no-surname-having second slayer was called after Buffy Summers’s short death in season one’s Prophecy Girl. It matters not that Buffy had been revived, let alone back to work in tip top shape. Her replacement is coming.

Mind you, six months later. 

The beautiful, mysterious Kendra had a feline grace in her fighting prowess. Of course, they wanted us to believe she was an Order of Taraka assassin, the jaguar card. DP: Michael Gershman.

Buffy promo that puts Angel in the center.

Kendra arrives to Sunnydale, California via hidden inside of an airplane cockpit— no tickets for a proper seat, no luggage. Her Watcher Sam Zabuto does not alert Rupert Giles of her arrival (then again this happened with Faith Lehane as well). It’s unclear on what Kendra’s done since knocking out an airport employee in the light of day. At night, however, Kendra sees Buffy and vamp faced Angel making out at the skate rink. Thus, she either has impressive vampire radar skills or the girl’s been tailing Buffy for reasons unknown. Kendra later fights Angel at Willy’s club and gains the upper hand, imprisoning Angel to meet the sunlight. Somehow, Kendra finds Angel’s apartment and almost kills a napping Buffy. In the midst of the battle, Buffy asks who her attacker is despite knowing that The Order of Taraka trails her (she doesn’t ask the other two assassins who they are). 

A gloomy Buffy is not a fan of Kendra and Giles sharing jokes. However, it’s nice to see Kendra laugh. Between diligent training and learning books on demonology, she’s probably ironed to ignore any emotion— fun and joy mainly. DP: Michael Gershman.

In the second part, Kendra shows that she’s quite the proficient Slayer, trained in both combat and inherent book knowledge. The studious Slayer bonds quickly with Giles, laughing over the footnotes and recommending readings that the Sunnydale Watcher finds useful. Meanwhile, Buffy’s minor jealousy comes crashing out as she nicknames the fellow Slayer, a She-Giles. Willow Rosenberg encourages Buffy with “you’re the real Slayer” and makes no attempts to befriend Kendra.

While she’s good at pouncing on Buffy’s friends and the slimy Willy, Kendra’s booksmarts do not fully prepare her for real-life field work. During the big showdown, helping Buffy and her team free a kidnapped Angel, Kendra’s easily bested by the advanced Spike, not managing to block his hits very well. It further proves that she should have stayed in town in order to learn more technique. Unless there’s a Hellmouth in Jamaica, why does Kendra need to return to the islands if prepared (or as prepared as she can be) to face the greater evils? 

Even though she’s only known her for a day, Kendra is brave enough to address certain things to Buffy that Giles doesn’t. Giles gives his Slayer a lot of freedom, an action that surprises Kendra. DP: Michael Gershman.

Most importantly, Kendra wisely remarks on the dangers of having the former villainous Angelus cloud Buffy’s judgment. This heavy foreshadowing indicates that her hormonal heart distracts Buffy from the main duties at hand— saving the world. If Angel had died during the ritual, less peril for the future. A few episodes later, Buffy and Angel grow closer (often making out like crazy during patrols), he then loses his soul, causing a devastated Buffy to wait many months to kill him, leaving a wake of bodies including her fellow classmates. So yes, it would have been beneficial if Kendra returned immediately after the events of Surprise and Innocence. Spike and Drusilla were confirmed to be still alive, especially with the addition of Angelus. Kendra could have aided in taking up the reigns (not Giles) as Buffy dealt with her depression in the middle of junior year.

“You talk about skating like it’s a job. It’s who you are”—Kendra to Buffy on reconsidering negative, defeatist attitude regarding being a Slayer. DP: Michael Gershman.

Another six months later, when Angelus seeks to destroy the world much like The Judge, Kendra finally returns for the another two-parter, the Becoming saga (well, for one episode). Kendra has evolved slightly in fashion, sporting an olive green tank top, black leather jacket, and a thin necklace. She’s also a bit more open, prone to infectious smiling, and tells a few wisecracks. Buffy’s American slang and demeanor has rubbed off, softening the robotic warrior undertones of Kendra’s earlier appearance. Again, this significant character arc would have been rewarding to see onscreen, seeing how Kendra progressed both as a person and a supernatural force. 

Kendra gives Buffy two gifts— a sword and a stake. The sword was blessed by monks that defeated Acathla’s first rise to power— a blessed heritage from Kendra’s own community. Although she’s an excellent swordswoman, Kendra is not meant to fight against Angelus. Whereas Angel’s weakness lies in harming humans as little as possible unless provoked, the remorseless Angelus would have outmaneuvered Kendra in a heartbeat. Plus, it’s less poetic. The battle is between lovers turned enemies. Mr. Pointy, a sophisticatedly carved stake, Buffy will have among her possessions for years. That’s humor in itself, a Slayer naming her weapon. It would have been so un-Kendra like. Still, it’s sad because not only does Kendra believe Buffy will kill Angelus with it, this intimate moment will be their final exchange in the series. 

Kendra gives Buffy Mr. Pointy. DP: Michael Gershman.

When it comes to the most tragic character deaths in the series, folks often highlight Buffy’s mother Joyce Summers’s demise in I Was Made To Love You / The Body or Buffy’s heroic self-sacrifice in The Gift. Kendra, however, embodied “gone too soon.” Kendra doesn’t stand a chance in a horrific trap (eccentric considering Buffy and her friends usually can sense these). Drusilla and her minions storm the library and hurt everyone in order to kidnap Giles. Unfortunately, as witnessed in an earlier battle with Spike, Kendra is no match for his superior girlfriend. Under the hypnosis, Drusilla slits Kendra’s throat, causing the young Slayer to fall to the ground, bleeding out. It’s as offensive as Spike’s own kill of Slayer Nikki Woods. According to Slayer lore, Slayer blood is the most alluring, most valued to drink from. In two instances, these two European vampires let them go untasted. 

Kendra is hypnotized to her death by full-strength vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau). DP: Michael Gershman.

Poor Kendra.

An innocent woman trained to be a soldier via through the cold Watchers Council grew to find the value in a Slayer having friendships too late.

Furthermore, the glaring cons of Kendra’s characterization leaves a lot to process. Firstly, Kendra grew up isolated from her family and peers, having no friends, no connections other than fulfilling duty. She almost symbolizes the premiere minority student selected into a predominantly white gifted program (or a PWI institution) and seeing limited reflection of themselves among the students and staff. The purpose of Slayerhood is to operate alone. Sadly, Kendra represents why that often fails. The previous Jamaican accent was terrible, sounding as though latched on seconds before the cameras rolled. Portrayer Bianca Lawson said in SFX Magazine: 

“I really hated that accent! I got the part, and I didn't originally have an accent. Then, literally the night before, they said, ‘What about a Jamaican accent?’ I didn't have a chance to get comfortable with it. And the thing is, certain things - if you say it properly [in Jamaican patois], people don't really fully understand it, so they would change things. They'd say, "Well, say it like this" and it's like, "Would that be accurate in that accent though?" ‘It doesn't matter because no-one's going to understand you!’”

Why was it so important for production to force an accent and not make Kendra an American girl raised in the states like Faith and the others? Talk about the erasure of Black American women. It would have been better if they selected an actual Jamaican actress. This was an example of problematic portrayals regarding Caribbean/African peoples in their imaginations so hellbent on inventing narratives on cultures that already exist. 

Furthermore, Kendra arrived in one outfit— a long sleeved, midriff bearing top, fuchsia drawstring pants, a necklace, and choker. It looked an outdated perception on ethnic appearances than the reality of late 1990s Caribbean fashion. Maybe we’re supposed to believe that since raised by Zabuto, the Watcher lives in the dark ages, teaching her skills and not the clothes of the day. Imagine if Giles raised Buffy and enforced eccentric fashion habits on her. 

Kendra with the pivotal sword that will soon send Angel elsewhere. DP: Michael Gershman.

Lawson— like Sarah Michelle Gellar— would have been Cordelia Chase (meant to be killed off in season one). Lawson did a great job with the material the production required of her. She’s why we remain memorializing this character— a character that needed more time for viewers to know. It goes beyond the braided updo with the puffed out ponytail, the smoldering eyes, glossy lipstick, and the funny one-liner about losing her only shirt. She transcended the material of white writers who wrote about blackness with inauthentic depictions mixed in with the Chosen One folklore. Thus, it makes it all the more wonderful to see Lawson move onto more nuanced roles such as the frail, sobered Darla Sutton-Bordelon in Ava DuVernay’s poignant Queen Sugar.

Still, every time Kendra’s three episodes come on, you cannot help rewatching and wishing that this Slayer had as big of a role as Faith, the season three Slayer, the last of a unique line. Kendra deserved so much more. 

For starters, why did it take a comic book to give her a last name— a glimpse of her voice?