Buffy the Vampire Slayer

It is so hard to believe it's been so long since this wonderful program first graced our television sets. Even harder to believe that I didn't get hooked until the fifth season.

I knew of it's existence, of course, but I thought what a lot of people did. "Buffy? C'mon... Buffy?!? The...VAMPIRE slayer??". So I discounted it until I was flipping around many, many channels of garbage and stopped on either Spike (the channel) or FX and paused because it was the most interesting thing on.

The episode was Listening to Fear, and although I thought it was a bit hokey, I was intrigued and began to watch regularly. The series was still airing new episodes at the time and even though I wanted to watch those, I wanted to have the entire experience before the finale. As I moved through season five, they aired the final episode and it took all my will not to watch.

Cable television did what cable television does, so at the end of the fifth season, they wrapped and began airing from episode one. I was hooked. No... that's not quite right. You get hooked on "things". Buffy was not... is not "a thing". This "mere" television show and it's wondrous cast of constantly developing characters were real. Honest. They were family, as many have said before.

I miss them all terribly, even though I still see or hear them it's not the same. I watched Repo: The Genetic Opera and I saw Giles. I watched Scooby Doo and saw Buffy. How I Met Your Mother? Willow.

Honestly, this wasn't just a good or even great show. It was an important show. The genius flowed down from Joss and permeated the beings of everyone who worked on the program. As much as I would love to see them all in character once more, I hope it never happens, because magic only happens once and even Joss could not top what he's already gifted the world with.

All I can say is, to Joss all the way down to "Best Boy" or the catering service, thank you for the best years television has ever seen. You should all be proud.

Does anyone else have to defend their love of this show?

I'm a 50 year old British straight man, married with a kid ....and apparently I'm not supposed to like this. According to my 18 year old son anyway.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe the title of the show puts people off.

This is a stand out show.

This show has some of the most creative episodes, characters and moral dilemmas I've ever seen. The show is terrific entertainment but the craftsmanship and the way it is structured is still so very strong... and often imitated.

This show deserves to be held in much higher regard.

There hasn't been anything like Buffy since it aired, and so it lives on, and so it should.

Truly wonderful experience... although no-one believes me.... in my house anyway.

Their loss :-)

Buffy is one of, if not THE, best dramatic series ever made. People that have never seen the show, or have only seen one episode of it, would probably laugh at that statement. But having seen all 7 seasons of this brilliant series, I feel quite confident in my opinion.

No other show touches on the major issues of humanity this show does: immortality and it's pros and cons, the power of love and friendship, the inner strength we all have within us, and the ability to appreciate life and learn to laugh at the things that get you down. There are moments of happiness, drama, tears, and moments that make you rediscover who you are, and Buffy deals with all of them. Every episode is layered with meanings and insights into humanity, all in some show about a girl who slays vampires.

Seeing these characters change and grow over the course of the episodes is a gift. Unlike other shows, the characters on Buffy are never the same from season to season. The events of the show change them and mold them into new people all the time, that's how good the writing is.

No episode is boring, in all 144 hours of the series there is something worth watching. Some episodes are truly brilliant pieces of television, especially the gems directed by series creator Joss Whedon such as Becoming, The Wish, Hush, The Body, and The Gift. These are some of the best hours of television ever produced.

The writing is spectacular, perfectly capable of balancing comedy, drama, and horror in every episode.

This is so much more than a show about a girl who slays vampires. It can change the way you react to events in your life and the way you view things. It's that good.

If seasons 6 and 7 of this seven season show had held up as well as the previous ones I'd give this show an enthusiastic ten. Don't watch the movie and believe you understand the dynamics of the TV show - you won't. This show is a deeply layered exploration of the human condition - man's ability to change for better and worse, the power of forgiveness, the human conscience and its meaning, and how revenge or a lust for power can turn a human into as bad a monster as any real demon.

Season one was a short one and a trial one for the show, thus don't expect that much depth here. These 12 episodes introduce the main characters for the duration of the series - Buffy - the one girl in all the world with the strength to do battle with demons, her friends Xander and Willow, and her "watcher" - or mentor - Giles, as well as at first reluctant ally Cordelia Chase and the initially mysterious Angel who both exit at the end of season three for the related show "Angel". The episodes are fun and in many ways a foreshadowing of what is to come, but each episode pretty much stands alone.

Seasons two and three go together and are the last two years of Buffy's high school experience. She and her friends graduate at the end of the third season. These two seasons along with season five comprise the best three seasons of television you'll ever see. As for the season two finale - "Becoming" - about the best episode of TV ever with one of the most heartbreaking choices ever presented to a 17 year old girl who must save the world but is, after all, also a 17 year old girl. This is where Joss Whedon introduces his "story arc" pattern for seasons of Buffy. Each season has a "Big Bad" - a nemesis that Buffy and her friends must defeat to save a world unaware of the danger.

Season four was a rather weak one, mainly because creator Joss Whedon was distracted by the creation of his spin-off show "Angel", all about Buffy's love leaving Sunnydale and moving to LA. Of course, it would also be expected that moving the show from a high school to college setting would throw the show off balance for at least a few episodes. One stroke of brilliance in season 4 - adding the vampire Spike as a permanent member of the cast. One not so brilliant stroke - IMHO - adding Riley as Buffy's college boyfriend. He always seemed too self-righteous and imperious for his own good. Nobody wants to eat spinach at every meal if you get my drift.

Season five was a return to the brilliance of seasons two and three. Buffy has two real family crises - she suddenly has a sister that nobody seems to notice was not around previously and her mother becomes seriously ill. The Big Bad this year is an uber-strong woman-like creature - Glory - who has a penchant for high fashion and stealing the essence of what holds a person's mind together as nourishment. She's in search of a mysterious key that will unlock the door into her previous dimension from which she has been exiled. Unfortunately, if she succeeds, it will also unleash hell on earth.

During season six, Joss Whedon was again working on another TV series - "Firefly". Thus after seven episodes he pretty much left the writing duties to Marti Noxon. Unfortunately, Marti tried to make this season all about an experience she had with a bad-boy college boyfriend and it made for some most cringeworthy episodes of Buffy. The writing suffered too as it became a bit stiff versus the crisp clever lines that just flowed off the cast's tongues previously. However two of my favorite episodes are in this season - "Tabula Rasa" and "Once More With Feeling". The first has the gang reacting to a spell that causes them to completely forget who they are and their relationship to one another. The second episode is a musical. Trust me, they both work exceedingly well.

Season seven has the theme "Back to the Beginning". This has more to do with the name of the Big Bad who is supposed to be the biggest bad of them all but mainly due to rather truncated writing seemed rather lacking in the evil department to the point of being boring. What probably does the most to break up the rhythm of Buffy this season is the arrival of a dozen or so "Potential Slayers" who arrive in Sunnydale with Giles. None of these girls are slayers yet. For that to happen the current slayer must die. However, all are potential slayers in the sense that the next slayer will come from their ranks.

I'm sorry to be so vague about the details per season, but I don't want to spoil any of it for you. Watch season one to get a feel for the main characters and then watch season two for the beginning of a storyline that will suck you in for all of the other seasons.

Buffy is series that was not only consistently good, but a series that grew better over time. The first season is good, but not fantastic. It was shorter because the WB was not sure if they would have a viewing base and only had 12 episodes. The second season developed the characters and you began to see the magic of the show. As the series progresses, I am astounded by the writing, directing, and acting. Joss Whedon is a genius of the camera and master of the pen, and anyone who argues with me is fooling themselves. The cast, as well as the characters, matures over time and become living, breathing people that you believe.

In short, if you are considering watching this show, I highly recommend you watch all of the first and second season before making any judgements. Frankly, this is my favorite story of all time. It transcends the TV, and beats out most books, movies, and other TV shows. This show is beautiful.