The first time I heard about Buffy Summers must have been some time in 98 or 99, through a TV commercial. In the following 4-5 years, I occasionally watched her and her friends on TV, twice even had my aunt tape me a couple of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel episodes from US TV. But I never really had the chance or the enthusiasm to watch the whole thing from the beginning, as I should have. Plus it was airing so late and full of scary demons, so that I was either too tired or too scared to watch it. And it was dubbed, which does enormous damage to this show.

I had a lot of skepticism from what I remember about the show. The vampires were butt ugly, things related to surgery or sex were ridiculously unrealistic and the budget in the early seasons was noticeably low. I had watched Charmed more often than Buffy and used to compare them, thinking Buffy was pretty much the same. But Charmed really is a pile a bullshit, while Buffy is the work of very skilled writers, brought to life by very skilled actors.

Since I only knew the occasional episode, I never really understood the big picture. I knew the very ending, I knew some people were gonna die throughout the show, I knew how some characters would develop. Judging by the few inconsistent things I had seen, I thought it was a really weird story being told there throughout these seven seasons. But somehow, my curiosity about the show remained. So the time had finally come to watch it once more, with feeling.

About a year ago I watched Season 1 online, meaning to watch the rest of it quite soon. But then the fall/winter came, and with it a huge load of new seasons and shows which had to be watched first. It wasn’t until after I returned from my trip to the US that I finally started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for real. (OMFG time flies, BTW).

Six seasons and a selective rewatch of Season 1 later, I finally understand why people keep telling me this Joss Whedon guy is a genius. The show is exceptionally well written, especially in the way how some events are foreboded two or three seasons in advance – something you usually don’t get in regular TV entertainment. Even though in the earlier seasons it’s still very noticeable that the show was made to attract teens, it gets more and more emotional in the later ones.

And what this show has put me through… Seriously… I share more emotion with these fictional, partially ridiculously unrealistic characters, than I do with my real life. (But I have no life, which should be obvious considering how much time I’ve spent with this show in the last 6 weeks.) I don’t think I’ve ever cried so frequently. But actually, I enjoy crying about this show, to the point that sometimes I wished I would have cried more. It’s a kind of happy sadness. Even though it’s all fantasy and stuff, pretty much all of it is a metaphor to real life. Sometimes we can relate better to the supernatural than to the natural. And some of these supernatural things have way more emotional depth than something natural ever could have. However, with it’s frequent comic relief the show still managed to keep me moderately happy. I was WAY more depressed when I watched Season 1 of Heroes.

The show goes through a transformation from Season 1 to Season 7. The earlier seasons are more comedic with a lot of “one-episode-plotlines” and the later seasons are more serious, with more multiple-episode plotlines. Might seem like one has to put some effort into watching all the early things, but it’s still worth it. Even Xander’s jokes are worth it, and there’s the wonderful geekiness of Willow, and all those really really old-fashioned, involuntarily funny computers.

But of course the show is about Buffy, and she’s had an interesting character development from Season 1 to Season 7. She was a reluctant teenager when she came to Sunnydale, the city that turned her into the warrior of the people. She goes through heaven and hell, not only once. Sarah Michelle Gellar is a pretty much outstanding actress, especially when she puts on a sad face with her big teary eyes.

Very tan for a vampire... I think the second most interesting character of the show is Spike. He went through an even bigger transformation than any other character of the show, and he’s interesting in all of his stages, from the vicious killer to the lovesick lunatic, from roller-boy to Captain Peroxide. Some of the saddest, and some my favorite moments of the show usually were Buffy/Spike moments, especially the ones at the beginning of Season 7. Let’s just say that the whole show would be worth watching just for him.

However, I seem to have some fake memories about the show. I remember a lot of crazy Darla, and kept expecting a crazy has-been-dead Darla to show up, but she never did. Where did that come from? Was that some Angel episode I saw? I don’t wanna watch Angel. He’s lame. But looking at the cast list on IMDb, I guess my curiosity will get the better of me. Ugh. That’s gonna be a drag. He’s about as interesting as a piece of cardboard. The Buffy fandom, though every geek’s paradise, is such a challenge. When I’m done with Angel, I guess I’ll have to read those comics books too and whatnot.

So about 7 years after always wanting to re-watch the whole show, I finally did. I’m not disappointed. It’s a great show. Personally, I think it was at it’s best in Season 5 and in the beginning of Season 6. It definitely found a place in my heart next to my other very favorite TV shows and I really want to watch it again, but there are currently just too many other shows that want to be watched. It’s gonna be a long time til I’ll get around to rewatch Buffy and The Sopranos and so many others…

Some of my favorite Buffy moments follow. WARNING! Here be spoilers! Mark to read.

  • OK, I still don’t get Darla. She seems pretty lame in Season 1 for this kickass bitch who sired Angel 200+ years ago.
  • I burst out laughing big time when I saw Wentworth Miller in Season 2, looking and acting no different at all from what he does in Prison Break.
  • Aside from Spike and his insane girlfriend, the other highlight of Season 2 is Angelus. I like him so much better than sulky whiny Angel. I never really liked Angel anyway. His hair goes all straight up and he’s bloody stupid.
  • Season 3 was “OK”. Who needs Faith, I want Spike. Needless to say, the highlight of Season 3 is lovesick Spike. Seeing Oz more often is pretty cool too, as well as scenes like Buffy studying for SATs in a graveyard, killing vampires with a No. 2 Pencil or “Counting down from seven three oh”.
  • I remembered a lot about Season 4, mostly the Initiative and Riley, who I never liked either (he looks so American, like Angel too). But again, Spike has the most enjoyable moments here – Spike having trouble performing, Spike trying to stake himself or Spike eager to kick demon ass. Other highlights were Faith vs. Buffy / Buffy vs. Faith, getting to know Anya, “Hush” and seeing Kal Penn as a caveman. Season 4 has some very interesting character development too. Buffy and Willow are going to college now, it’s noticeable that they’re changing a lot.
  • Season 5 gets the emotions flowing big time. Aside from the really intense episodes like “The Body” or the season finale, the love/hate relationship between Spike and Buffy was pretty intense too.
  • Season 6 starts as intense as Season 5 ended. Obviously. Most of the early episodes were really awesome (Bargaining, After Life, Once More With Feeling, Tabula Rasa), but somehow I thought the episodes in the middle of the season were lacking something (Giles, possibly). However, Spike & Buffy’s continued love/hate relationship makes them enjoyable again. The season finale is once again a real intense trip leaving you blown off your feet.
  • I didn’t like Season 7 so much, to be honest. It was so desperate, and Buffy was behaving bitchy most of the time. But again, the first couple of episodes were quite enjoyable thanks to Spike and his invisible friends. The flashback into Anya’s past was pretty funny because of this pseudo-Swedish they were speaking.

One of the best parts of finishing to watch a show is browsing through IMDb and thinking things like “WHAT? That actor’s American?! No way!!!” or “WHAT?! She’s married to HIM? WTF?!”. Unfortunately that browsing-session filled me up with Angel spoilers, but what the heck. I was full of Buffy spoilers when I started watching, but the show still managed to surprise me a lot.