The First Slayer’s Unbelievable Trauma

 

The first Slayer had no name on the series.

The first Slayer— Sineya according to the comic book yet listed as Primitive on IMDb—starts appearing in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s season four finale, Restless written and directed by problematic showrunner Joss Whedon. Prior, the Scooby Gang (Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles) called forth on the Sineya’s ancient powers in order to defeat Adam (the show’s weakest Big Bad). Unfortunately, the consequences include conjuring up the original Slayer’s vengeance. Sineya comes to the four at their most vulnerable— in their dreams, attempting to kill them one by one. 

Buffy tells Sineya that she understands her role as a Slayer and that she is free in a newer world. Buffy doesn’t extend remorse or empathy for what Sineya has endured. Since Buffy’s speech saves the day, the gang wakes up nonchalant acting as though Sineya was just another Monster of the Week. No one considers showing gratitude for taking her powers. 

Than again, Slayerhood is a thankless calling. It’s another piece to add to Sineya’s already violent backstory. 

Sineya visits subconscious Buffy last and is defeated. Of course, Buffy insults Sineya’s hair before waking up. DP: Michael Gershman.

Set upon by the Shadowmen (the earliest incarnation of the Watcher’s Council pre-British headquarters), the defenseless woman is held against her will— chained in a cave. The negative connotations speak volumes. They can never stop imagining Black people bound up (see medieval Missandei in Game of Thrones). Then forced with the elements of evil in order to defeat the vampires and other harmful creatures that walk the earth, Sineya is no longer a normal girl. She’s become part demon. Although almost facing the same fate in season seven, episode fifteen’s Get It Done, Buffy outsmarts the Shadowmen unlike Sineya. Whereas the later Slayers will not scream in pain as these powers flow through their blood, Sineya’s sacrifice is an ingrained destiny unasked for— not as sacred or valiant as Giles made it out to be. Even the season three episode, Helpless shows that the Watchers Council prefers continuing to subject the Slayer to dangerous tactics without her knowledge. The patriarchal white male institution keenly invests themselves in their Slayer cargo versus the impact that the supernatural inflicts on the world.  

Thus, Sineya—the original— paid the ultimate price. 

According to the Buffy Wiki, Sineya’s far more advanced skills include superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina, accelerated healing, astral projection into dreams, and foretelling the future. Although each Slayer has a somewhat diluted essence of her pronounced abilities, they still retain many factors. 

Sineya, however, does not have a Watcher. She’s an ostracized figure fighting alone and unguided. Revered and feared, no one in Sineya’s village wants her around. 

Sineya becomes Buffy’s guidance in season five, episode eighteen’s Intervention written by Jane Espenson and directed by the late DP Michael Gershman. 

During harrowing season five— which brings about significant changes to Buffy’s life— Sineya is again conjured by Giles. She’s the guide in Buffy’s vision quest, now fully representing the Magical Negro Trope. Sineya offers no explanation about herself because she and her past does not matter, has never mattered beyond what it can do for the core team. Sineya is not realized until comic books that take great liberties with prehistory. The television series often gives Black characters no purposes beyond helping the save the day and vanish into obscurity. 

Portrayer Jamaican born actress and dancer Sharon Ferguson outside of Sineya costume. 

Sineya’s physical appearance cements the running gag on the production’s limited scope of history. While Kendra hails from a made-up Jamaican village, the first Slayer comes from prehistoric Africa, likely the Sub Saharan region (since they’re not brave enough to be specific). The barefoot Sineya sports an awful wig— synthetic shoulder-length hair that tries to be locs and makes The Walking Dead’s Michonne look an A plus effort. Sineya dons white and black body paint and dresses in wispy fabric reminiscent of cobwebs. Although Sineya is buried beneath heavy makeup, the beautiful, talented actress and dancer Sharon Ferguson moves gracefully, persuading with her swaying. The way her bilious arms flex, her limber knees bend, she elevates the scripted material by her body’s natural inclination to exude fluid rhythm. 

Buffy teaches us that Slayers suffer in more ways than one. 

However, Sineya— the first to endure the pain and struggle with the external and internal beasts— withstood the greatest, most horrific torture of them all.