Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off show Angel, have become a new obsession of mine. I started watching Buffy very skeptically, not expecting very much. I thought it would be a cheesy teen drama directed towards teen girls with a small element of horror. However, as I started watching it, I started realizing that the show was actually pretty entertaining. This opinion further developed and by the end of the second season I realized that it was an amazing show and that I was officially hooked into it. Lost will forever be my favorite show, but I am completely shocked to say that I think Buffy makes for a close second (especially if I can pair it with Angel). Nothing else (besides Lost) has connected with me emotionally like Buffy has. As a male, I'll admit I feel a little embarrassed to say this since I perceive the main audience for Buffy is female. But, why be embarrassed? Buffy is amazingly well done for a TV series and contains moments of absolute television magic.

I think the main thing that makes Buffy great is its characters. Joss Whedon has a way of making his characters very dynamic and complex and Buffy is chock full of incredible characters. This list includes Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Anya, Spike and more and more. I feel like these characters are real people going through real problems. Even though the various monsters and magic are interesting, the characters are what make this show. The show isn't afraid to take these characters to different and dark places, and it is always fascinating to see how the characters will act in these situations.

Now, no show is completely perfect, and there are several weak episodes, but there is a level of consistency that is remarkable from season 2 to the very end. I watched the whole series recently for the first time, and I did it rather quickly. So, in a week or so, I'm going to start watching the whole series over again, hopefully getting even more depth out of the episodes. I'm especially interested in my new take on the first few seasons since I wasn't as convinced of Buffy's awesomeness the first time seeing those episodes. I actually already started watching the first season, but I have stopped since I'm trying to finish my first run-through of Angel (which is awesome in its own way).

My point of this blog post is to start what I think might be an interesting look into one of my favorite TV series of all time. As I go through the episodes again, I desire to comment on them in this blog. I'm not sure if I will go through every episode, or just the ones that stand out to me as excellent. The main thing I'm going to try to do as I go through Buffy again is keep track of the episodes that I especially love and make a definitive list of what my favorite episodes are in order. I love making lists, so this idea appeals to me. Also, it might give me even more appreciation for this awesome series. We'll see where this goes.