Sarah Michelle Gellar reacts to ‘Buffy’ reunion of villainous Trio

A villainous supergroup has reconvened on the outskirts of Sunnydale — but for once, Buffy isn’t worried.

Sarah Michelle Gellar recently shared her love for three actors who played major antagonists on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The actors behind the trio, who were called the Trio — Adam Busch, Danny Strong, and Tom Lenk — recently reunited in a snapshot posted to Instagram asking fans to “Caption this photo.”

Gellar commented, “Three people I adore.” Strong replied to her, “❤️U TOO!!!”

The Trio were the science-experimenting, demon-summoning, and spell-casting main villains of the show’s sixth season. The first few episodes of season 6 were arguably the most pivotal stretch in its entire run, as they marked the first to air after the show moved from its original network home, the WB, to UPN. The cast and crew had to work overtime to retain the loyal following Buffy had built up over five years. Buffy was a series in which the interplay between heroes and villains was paramount, dictating the narrative thrust and atmosphere of entire seasons — so a lot rested on Busch, Strong, and Lenk’s shoulders.

Suffice to say they played a huge role in keeping Buffy on the air and in fans’ good graces. They embodied villains unlike any the show had seen before. They weren’t the most fearsome or powerful — they were mere mortals after all. But that’s what kept Gellar’s Slayer and the Scooby gang on their toes.

In their sheer determination to harm the residents of Sunnydale and neutralize Buffy’s every effort to stop them, they’re remembered as fan favorites. Or at least, they’re remembered. Busch took a lot of flack when his character, Warren Mears, killed Amber Benson’s Tara.

That act did unleash the fan-favorite alter ego of Willow (Alyson Hannigan), called Dark Willow, so maybe it all comes out even in the end.

Gellar has remained effusive about Buffy ever since the show departed the airwaves in 2003. The cast reunited exclusively for Entertainment Weekly in 2017 to commemorate the series’ 20th anniversary.

“I’m so incredibly proud of what we all created,” Gellar said. “Sometimes you need distance to really understand the gravitas of that. I appreciate everything about that job. As an actor, all you ever want to do is leave your mark — you want to do something that affects people.”

Gellar has also reunited with her former Buffy costars at Ed Sheeran concerts and the premiere of her Teen Wolf spinoff Wolf Pack, and several of the show’s other stars reunited in 2023 for an Audible original series about James Marsters’ dreamy vamp Spike.

Lenk can soon be seen in the Korean spy drama Tempest, airing on Disney+ and Hulu in 2025. Strong won two Emmys for his work on the HBO miniseries Game Change, and was nominated three more times for writing, directing and creating the Hulu series Dopesick. Busch has recently appeared in episodes of The Rookie and Proven Innocent.