If it's any character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer who we had a sort of love/hate relationship with, it's Cordelia. She was the first person to introduce herself to Buffy when the Slayer first moved to Sunnydale in the first episode, but we quickly found out that she was the mean popular girl of Sunnydale High.
Like other characters in the show (Spike, for instance, who started off a villain and charmed his way into our hearts), Cordelia had to literally fight her way to be liked, going from the damsel-in-distress to official Scooby Gang member by season three.
Carpenter was thirty by the time she graduated high school with the rest of the gang on the show, and while her character made some questionable relationship decisions and almost wished away Buffy, she left the show with some experience of demon-fighting. So much so that there was enough on her resume for Angel to hire her when he got to L.A. in his spinoff.
But after Carpenter left Angel, where did she go?
We Got Cordelia For A Couple More Seasons On Angel
After the events that lead to Sunnydale High being blown up, and the mayor-turned-giant-snake trying to eat the graduating class of 1999, it's no surprise Cordelia wanted to get gone and never return to the town that caused her so much pain, both mentally and physically.
Moving to L.A. proved to be even worse for the ex-queen-bee though, as she soon acquired the ability to see visions, was sent to a higher plane, became a partner for the Powers That Be, and was soon turned evil through the possession of the Goddess Jasmine. But when Cordelia ascended after she died in season four, so did Carpenter.
Carpenter was now able to pursue other projects and that meant as much to her as Cordelia did, but she didn't actually leave television.
Carpenter Spent Much Of Her Time On TV
Right out of the gate, Carpenter took roles in a couple of TV movies like Flirting with Danger, Like Cats and Dogs, Voodoo Moon, Cheaters' Club, and Relative Chaos.
She also jumped on board of another famous supernatural show, Charmed, for just three episodes, and an even longer run on Veronica Mars, where she played Kendall Casablancas for eleven episodes and got to reunite with Buffy co-star, Alyson Hannigan.
Carpenter spent the next couple of years starring in more TV movies and doing cameos on shows until she got the role of Lacy in The Extendables in 2010. In between the first Extendables and the sequel, Carpenter got to reunite with another one of her Buffy co-stars, James Marsters, in an episode of Supernatural called, "Shut Up, Dr. Phil."
Who else thought it was weird watching Spike and Cordelia kiss?
After that, Carpenter went back to making television guest star appearances, but this time she was starring in more critically acclaimed shows like Greek, Burn Notice, Blue Bloods, Sons of Anarchy, and The Lying Game.
In recent years, Carpenter has had cameos in Scream Queens (which seems fitting because she was a scream queen on Buffy), Chicago P.D., and Lucifer. But one of her more recent projects actually hits home more than all the rest.
Carpenter Was The Host Of 'I Surviving Evil' Because Of Past Experiences
Playing Cordelia meant fighting off evil in literally every Buffy and Angel episode she starred in, but before that, Carpenter had a real-life experience fighting bad guys when she was subjected to a violent attack from a serial rapist in 1991.
When Carpenter and two friends went swimming at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego, they were met with an attacker, Henry Hubbard Jr., who was a 29-year-old police officer at the time.
Carpenter was held at gunpoint and ordered to tie up her friends, but when she refused her friends were able to restrain Hubbard. He was later arrested and convicted for the assault and many others with a 56-year prison sentence.
Living with this traumatic experience all these years, Carpenter auditioned for the host of the Investigation Discovery show I Survived Evil, so she'd be able to help share other's experiences. But the network didn't even know about her experience until after hiring her in 2013.
"I don’t think [the producers] knew," Carpenter said. "And when I told them, they were like, 'This makes perfect sense. We want you to be even more a part of the process.'" Carpenter went on to host the show for 29 episodes.
In 2017 Carpenter got to reunite with the entire cast of Buffy for the show's 20th anniversary, and she did the same for Angel last year.
Right now, there isn't much on Carpenter's list of upcoming projects, but if you watch carefully you might see her guest starring on one of your favorite shows in the future. For now, you can watch her as Queen C again, as you re-watch Buffy for the millionth time.