Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Homecoming

Episode 39.
airdate: 3 November 1998

This is the one where Mr. Trick and his lackeys try to kill the Slayers at the Homecoming Dance, mistaking Cordelia for Slayer #2 as they're going to the dance together and running against one another for homecoming queen. Another of Buffy's attempts at being "normal"...dating Scott and running for queen. Oops, except Scott breaks up with her because she's "distracted all the time" i.e. emotionally unavailable.

First sighting of the Mayor!!! I heart the Mayor. Joss' patented witty evil, for the first time perfected. The Master wasn't really that funny.

This is also, regrettably, the episode where Xander and Willow start fooling around. I'm not ready! It is an abomination! I don't get it. They're just all-of-the-sudden attracted to one another? No.

So, the limo gets hijacked by Trick and his boys for Slayerfest '98. So, at the time that Buffy has infiltrated Cordy's world by running for queen, Cordy is inadvertently thrown into Buffy's world by being hunted as a Slayer. This is Buffy and Cordelia's bonding episode.

At the end, neither Buffy nor Cordelia win the crown and the Mayor hires Mr. Trick and it is revealed that he's officially an evil guy.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Beauty and the Beasts

Episode 38.
airdate: 20 October 1998.

It's Oz' time of the month and he may have gotten out one night. Suspicions arise because of a student murder. It's actually just domestic violence on a very special episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Xander sleeps through his Oz-watch. At the beginning of the ep, Faith boils it down to, "All men are beasts...they're all just in it for the chase."

Buffy has to go to a shrink because of her running away thing and the guy is surprisingly, to Buffy, cool.

Buffy finally sees Angel. He's totally savage, of course, 'cause he's been in hell and this episode is called "Beauty and the Beasts". Anyway, so at this point you're also wondering if Angel is the killer of the student. Buffy chains him up. Buffy, of course, doesn't tell anyone she's found Angel.

Giles: In my experience there are two types of monsters: the first can be redeemed, or more importantly, wants to be redeemed, and the second is devoid of humanity, cannot respond to reason, or love.

Scott, Buffy's new boy, is totally charming and funny. Too bad Angel's back. Not really; I want Angel to have redemption and shit, but he sure is effed up and broody, when Buffy could date the totally quirky-cute Scott instead. I guess when I was 16 I would have done the same thing. Darkness is interesting when you don't know any better.

Buffy lays out a huge confession to her new therapist and does her Emmy-worthy crying thing only to find that the guy has been mangled. So that effectively rules out Oz-as-werewolf and Angel the Vampire. It is immediately revealed that it's this chick Debbie's bf. He's been drinking some weird potion that makes him all veiny and testosteroney. And she puts up with him. He says typical abusive-male things like "I'm all you've got." and "You know what happens when I get mad." etc.

Pete the abusive boyfriend gets it in his head that Oz was hitting on his gf and tried to kill him but he turns into a wolfy and fights back while Buffy and Faith go after them both. Angel comes to Buffy's aid while Faith and Willow take on Oz, eventually shooting him with a tranquilizer gun. So Angel isn't a total beast then. He deserves, or rather WANTS, redemption. Yep.

"...and from the depths of a forest, the call still sounded."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Faith, Hope, and Trick

Episode 37.
airdate: 13 October 1998.

Time for Faith! The Hope is the last name of a boy Buffy is a little interested in. The Trick is a man who works for the Maypr, who is the Big Bad of this season.

Buffy keeps having dreams about Angel. The first two this season were with him in the daylight and the one in this ep is Angel in a white shirt bleeding from the mortal wounds she inflicted upon him.

Giles is left-handed! And he disapproves of Willow's heavy magic usage, from the beginning.

I have some sort of viscerally bad reaction to Faith. I dislike her and call her a "slut" in my head...not sure what my issue with her is...perhaps I secretly view myself as the heroine of this tale and I'm threatened by her presence. But, when I dream about Buffy I'm usually Willow. Well, I was when I first watched the series. Perhaps I should pay attention to my Buffy dreams from now on and see if my role has changed. Maybe I've become the tough main character in my subconscious. That'd be cool.

Giles keeps asking questions about how Buffy killed Angel and of course she, secretive Buffy, hasn't told anyone Angel had his soul back when she killed him.

Uh-oh! Scott gives Buffy a claddagh ring...no good!

Buffy tells Giles and Willow the truth at the end of the episode. Big Buffy speech and then she walks off, makes a date with Scott, and takes her claddagh to Angel's old place (I guess? I don't recognize the building, but why would she go to a random spot to leave the ring? It's definitely indoors in an art deco-y place, and Angel likes that kind of decor, so it has to be somewhere he lived...) and leaves it on the ground in a big symbol of letting Angel go...then the last shot of the episode is a freaking naked Angel falling out of the sky...just as she lets the boy go.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Dead Man's Party

Episode 36 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
airdate: 6 October 1998.

Buffy's home and there will be consequences of awkwardness and mistrust from her leaving. Xander, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia have gotten pretty good at the slaying while Buffy was gone, too. She's all shocked.

Giles is very relieved. Willow stands up Buffy...everyone has had to adjust without Buffy.

Joyce has a scary mask that reanimates the dead; first a cat, then a whole bunch of people, and they're all headed to the Summers household during a "hootenanny" everyone planned for Buffy that involves a TON of people. What's the metaphor here? Zombies equals disconnection with friends and family? Fun fact: Zombies don't eat brains in the Buffyverse.

Ohh...

Xander: You can't just bury stuff, Buffy. It'll come right back up to get ya.

It's really sweet how everyone chips in with the helping when the zombies attack. And they were all fighting a moment earlier. Everyone hugs at the end and Giles threatens Snyder and it's super hot.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Anne.

Episode 35 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
airdate: 29 September 1998.

The gang (Xander, Oz, and Willow) is fighting without Buffy as she never came home. Buffy has run away to some nameless town and is living in a sleazy apartment with a job as a waitress. She's going by her middle name: Anne. And when a guy smacked her ass she didn't even kick his! So sad. Oh, and Spagetti-Os out of a can...really sad. Buffy's also wearing white tennis shoes with hosiery...yikes.

Willow looks instantly more mature with shorter hair...weird how that works.

This episode is Buffy's last attempt at running away from her destiny, at least physically.

So Buffy's friend Lily's boyfriend turns up missing and Buffy finds him dead...and an old man. Intrigue! Turns out its a cult-thing: derelict-kids get lured into a facility reaching out to homeless people. They get taken to an alternate dimension where time moves differently and they're made to be slaves throughout their lives, even though it's only a few days in the Earth dimension. They're told repeatedly that they are "nothing" so when they're old they get released back into the streets and they wander around all crazy repeating, "I am no one" over and over. So, this whole experience leads Buffy to realizing who she is again, of course. Yeay!

Giles finally cleans his glasses!!!

The moral here is that disappearing and attempting to run from who you are won't work. When the demons ask the slaves who they are, they say "no one" or they get knocked out by a big troll hammer; when they ask Buffy, who has heretofore been referring to herself in this town as Anne, she says, "I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and you are?" in a great moment of renewed sense of self. There's some good hero shots in this ep.

And at the end, Buffy goes home. Yeay!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Becoming, parts 1 & 2.

Episodes 33 and 34.
airdates: 12 and 19 May 1998.

Ok, so there's this ancient artifact dug up and Giles is super-interested...guess who else is super-interested? Angelus. Ooooh! It's Acathla, this big evil Apocalypse-bringer . Buffy has to stop Angel/Acathla and Willow's trying to restore Angel's soul. Long story short: Acathla is awakened and the only thing that can stop the Apocalypse is the death of Angel...he gets his soul back JUST as Acathla wakes up, so Buffy has to kill him when he's all confused about what's goin' on...it's super-sad and there's Sarah McLachlan playing as Buffy wanders away into the distance at the end of the second episode, obviously leaving town.

Becoming, Part 1:

"There's moments in life that make you"...

So this moment that Buffy had to kill Angel really fucks her up. She's dark forever after this moment. Angel's "moment" is when he meets his Mother to Darkness, aka Darla. What was my "becoming" moment? I'll have to think on that...

I like the Buffy vampires' teeth. They're very feline. All six of the front ones are pointy in places.

You know how you can tell when Angel's evil? When he has white makeup on his lips and a little red under his eyes. His lips are all pink when he's nice. There's a lot of Angel backstory from the 1700's in this ep...when he was changed, when he tormented/sired Drusilla, his later path to redemption and interminable stalking of Buffy. With Drusilla's second sight, I wonder if she was a Potential Slayer before she became a vampire. Perhaps the writers never explicitly thought of that, but it would make sense.

Another of Angel's defining moments was when he got his soul back, of course. Restoring Angel's soul is one of Willow's defining moments. Xander's being black and white "Angel-needs-to-die" boy in this episode.

Kendra's back! because a "very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale". Spike is still keeping his secret of being able to walk from Angel and Dru; not sure why...

So, apparently, Angel was wandering around being pathetic like Louis from the Vampire Chronicles for a freaking century, when he met Buffy...another "becoming" moment for him. Wow, I'm like totally getting the deepness of this episode! So, Angel was stalking Buffy for more than a year before they met. Oh, and when Angel first sees Buffy, it is the moment she finds out she's the Slayer...another "becoming" moment. This whole episode is full of them. Joss knows how to stick to a theme, man!

Why do vampires and demons always want to end the world? Wouldn't it be more fun to terrorize the innocents on Earth without the destruction of mankind in one fail swoop? It would take all the fun out of being evil, wouldn't it?

Buffy's wearin' her brown pants...that means she's serious, bitch! While Willow is doing the spell for Angel, the first time, Xander is conspicuously there but not helping in any way. Oh, man, Drusilla has killed Kendra already, and they've kidnapped Giles. And Drusilla didn't even drink Kendra's blood when she killed her?!?! WTF? She's got Slayer-blood!

Becoming, Part 2:

The cops catch Buffy with Kendra's body and attempt to arrest her, but she evades them. So, on top of Kendra's death, Giles' kidnapping, Willow trapped under a bookshelf and Xander unconscious, Buffy's wanted. And to mark her fugitive-ness, she's wearing that black beanie that makes her look like a gangster. Willow's in a coma from head trauma. As if there's not enough shit going on, Angel is about to torture Giles. I hate this!

Spike's first alliance with good! He wants Buffy's help because he doesn't want an Apocalypse, he just wants to get Drusilla and leave town. Spike's black-painted nails are all artfully chipped. Hot.

Xander tells Willow he loves her and she awakens from the coma, just like when he tells her he loves her at the end of season 6 and keeps her from destroying the world! OMG, I never realized the parallel here! Amazing! I love this show!

Angel just cleaned Giles' glasses for him, though he hasn't done it yet himself on the show. I keep watching for it.

Joyce is about to find out about Buffy being the Slayer! A defining moment for her as a mother, I'm sure. Spike and Joyce have an awkward little moment in their living room. OMG, and a defining moment for Spike is him coming to Buffy for help; aligning himself with good, foreshadowing his inevitable sway towards good. Joyce is freaking out. She tells Buffy if she leaves the house, "don't even think about coming back!"

After her coma, Willow decides to retry the spell. She sends Xander to tell Buffy that she's trying it again, but he gives her the message as, "Kick his ass" instead, possibly ruining the whole thing. If Buffy had known, she could have stalled longer and possibly prevented the whole mess. Xander's jealousy and inclination towards moral absolutism possibly caused this very horribly painful moment in Buffy's life, turning her forever into darkness. She is never the same after this moment.

And Snyder has just expelled her! Wow. What more could happen in these episodes? Everything is so dramatic! She's kicked out of the house, the cops are after her, and she's expelled and she's going to have to kill her first love in a minute because one of her best friends has betrayed her by not telling her what her other BFF is up to...sheesh!

OMG, another parallel! Angel's blood is the key to awakening Acathla and starting/stopping the Apocalypse. Later, Dawn's blood is the key to starting/stopping the Apocalypse. Buffy was willing to kill Angel, but the pain she felt after doing so was so overwhelming that she vows to kill anyone who gets in her way if the ritual involving Dawn's blood starts. Buffy later (in season 5) is willing to let the world end instead of losing her sister. Here, she is not.

I can tell you, this is a moment of becoming for me in my Buffy writings, because I was about to give up on the summarizing/shownote-taking, but if I hadn't been doing this, I wouldn't have made all these realizations...I'm getting better and have renewed energy for the task! Wa-hoo!

Even though I never liked Angel and Buffy together, it still tears me up to watch her face when she both realizes Angel's soul has returned and when she realizes she has to kill him. Sarah McLachlan, bring the house down! Sarah plays at the end of season 6 too...end of season parallels everywhere! I will never be able to hear McLachlan's "Full of Grace" without thinking of the terrible heartbreak at the end of this season and Buffy walking down the street in her frayed baggy jeans leaving Sunnydale. She can't go home, she can't go to school...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Go Fish

Episode 32.
airdate: 5 May 1998

Here's a nice palate-cleanser after the extreme emotionalness of the last episode and before the last two SERIOUSLY drama-filled episodes to end the season. This is just a nice traditional episode about fish-boys on a swim team, drugged by their coach with some kind of fishy steroids.

I'm not sure I'll have much to say about this episode except, yummy Xander in a Speedo. I'm not really into Speedos, but he looks nice topless and wet.

Buffy almost broke the nose/wrist of a swim-boy who tried to take advantage of her. The excuse of the swim-boy..."I mean, look at the way she dresses!" and the swim coach says, "Try to dress more appropriately from now on." I remember THAT from high school. Dressing innovatively and/or with some skin showing equals "asking for it" and being called a slut. Oh, I remember that very clearly.

Buffy's wearing her brown stretchy pants again!

Cordelia has this really sweet speech when she thinks Xander's a fish boy about how she'll give him bath toys and still date him, etc. Cuteness.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I Only Have Eyes For You.

Episode 31.
airdate: 28 April 1998.

This is one of my favorite episodes. There's a poltergeist spirit in the school. It's of a young boy who was in love with a teacher during the '50s during the time of the Sadie Hawkins' dance. She breaks it off with him because, you know, it's wrong to date a student and he flips out and accidentally kills her, then kills himself. People at the high school keep getting possessed by the spirit of the boy and girl and playing out the last moments of their lives throughout the episode. At the very end, Buffy goes into the school and Angel follows her in. Everyone is worried that Angel will kill Buffy in the poltergeist scenario, but instead, Buffy is possessed by the boy's spirit while Angel acts out the girl's part, but this time the story plays out differently because Angel's a vampire and can't die the way that the woman died. She, as Angel, comes back into the school and forgives the boy, therefore, the boy's spirit can finally move on from repeating the death scenario over and over again. It's really a very moving episode. By the end, you know the lines and you're watching like it's a play, with the added bonus of the quite literal Joss gender role reversal. And you get to see Angel and Buffy kiss again, which I guess was exciting for some, but of course it totally fucked Buffy up, since she's all trying to get over him and shit.

Pushing play:

Buffy has WAY too many crucifixes. And her suede go-go dress with the severe slit up the leg would never have flown at MY high school!

Oh, man, I forgot about how Giles is convinced at first that the poltergeist is Jenny. Buffy is all irrational hating on the boy-spirit just like Giles is all irrational thinking it's Jenny. The pain of losing their loves has made them both irrational, just like losing his love made the boy-spirit all crazy. Ah-ha!

And while Buffy is being all boy-hatey, she doesn't know she'll later be possessed by him. This is the first episode where we see Willow really getting into magic.

Xander: Oh, yeah, baby, it's snakealicious in here!

...he was, of course, referring to the cafeteria filled with snakes.

Giles: To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy, it's not done because people deserve it. It's done because they need it.

Buffy: No, James destroyed the one person he loved the most in a moment of blind passion and that's not something you can forgive, no matter why he did what he did, no matter if he knows now that it was wrong and selfish and stupid. It is just something he's gonna to have to live with!

Xander: He can't live with it, Buff. He's dead.

(Buffy storms out.)

Cordelia: Ok. Overidentify much?

Buffy's going in! The plague of wasps parts for her entrance back into the school. James' spirit has been beckoning her throughout the episode. The parallel between James and the teacher-lady is eerily like Buffy and Angel's relationship...well, duh, but it's still really dramatic and powerful. I love it when Buffy calls Angel a bitch. This episode gives me chills.

And then we find out Spike's healed, but he's hiding it from Angel and Dru.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Killed by Death

Episode 30.
airdate: 3 March 1998

Buffy is sick...she's all sniffly and feverish. She ends up in the hospital seeing a demon that sucks the souls of (mostly) children who can only see him when they're feverish. The hospital looks really dark and dingy. Buffy hates the hospital because her BFF when she was 8 died in one.

Xander is all cute and stays at the hospital watching out for Angel. They have a confrontation when he shows and Xander's manly bravery, even though Angel could kick his ass in three seconds, is so heroicly hot.

Giles: Cordelia, have you ever actually heard of tact?
Cordelia: Tact is just not saying true stuff...I'll pass.

One of my favorite Cordelia lines ever. She's terribly insightful. I love that Xander dates tactless blunt babes, even if they are meant to be audience surrogates. I like audience surrogates, apparently. I was dreading this episode, but it really has a lot of good moments between the not-Buffy characters. Xander is all stalwart and protective of Buffy, Cordelia acknowledges Xander's obsession with Buffy playfully and eventually accepts his want to protect her.

Buffy looks cute when she's feverish. She looks young and they've really underplayed her makeup and wardrobe. She looks beautiful and almost luminous.

Oh my gawd, there's a cacophony of children screaming! Ok, so this episode was cute...except for the cacophony of kids screaming, of course.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Passion

Episode 29.
airdate: 24 February 1998.

Oh, shit...it's time for "Passion". I'm not ready!

This is the one where Angel kills Jenny and tortures Buffy by leaving her pictures he's drawn of her and her mother. NOW they think of finding a spell to revoke Angel's invitation into both Buffy's and Willow's house; and Cordelia's car, apparently. Giles sums it up: "since Angel's lost his soul, he's regained his sense of whimsy." Angel kills Willow's fish and puts them in an envelope. He's so obsessed with Buffy. His character evil versus good really makes sense. He's creepy stalker protective guy when he's good and creepy stalker murderer guy when he's evil.

At least Xander's wearing plaid pants...that's one of the only comforting things about this episode of torture and scary Angelness.

So, after killing Jenny he sets the stage for Giles at home. There's champagne and opera music playing and a note luring him upstairs and roses and candles. They've never done it and he's super excited because he was expecting her to come over and they'd just recently made up after everyone found out about Jenny being part of the Gypsy tribe...then he finds Jenny dead in his bed. Heart-wrenching to see Giles' face go from happy and hopeful to total dejection.

The score in this episode is beautiful and haunting. And the shots are gorgeous; there's a breathtaking shot where Buffy and Willow find out about Jenny via a phone call from Giles that's shown from Angel's P.O.V. through the window of Buffy's house. They really put some production value in this episode. And the shot where Angel breaks Jenny's neck in front of a big pretty window is also very sticky-in-your-mind. Even Michael, who hasn't seen Buffy even 1/4 as much as me talked about that shot.

Giles takes some sweet revenge. He burns down Angel/Dru/Spike's lair and bludgeons Angel's face with a flaming torch. It's delicious catharsis. And then Buffy has to save Giles and punch him in the face and then hug him and cry. It's sweet.

This episode is really showing Joss' chops and is probably the most cohesive and beautiful episodes so far. It has made my chest physically hurt. Everything came together in this episode, in other words; shots, music, dialogue, even Angel's silly voiceover about passion in the intro and ending is poignant and moving...

"If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace...but we would be hollow."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

Episode 28.
airdate: 10 February 1998.

They are intermittently not playing the little "Chosen One" explanation intro at the beginning of the episodes. They did it with the last one, but not the two before, and not this one.

This is the one where Cordelia dumps Xander and Xander enlists Amy to put a love spell on her, but it backfires and infects every female in the school EXCEPT Cordelia. Needless to say, things get feverish and out of hand as everyone throws themselves at Xander.

Ooh, I forgot the reason Cordelia dumps Xander is because her friends are rejecting and making fun of her because of Xander.

And Angel, being evil and all, is going to torment Buffy especially much. He leaves her flowers with cryptic notes...just a little prelude to the evil that Angel will bring upon Giles in "Passion" which is only a few episodes away.

Xander catches onto the fact that girls are hitting on him, that it's a spell, after only girl #2. Jaunty Xander theme! Slow motion Xander walking down the hallway...I wish he would have been wearing his flannel pants and '70s shirt thing. Oh no, Amy just turned Buffy into a rat! Even Drusilla and Joyce are under the spell. At one point Xander has to save Cordelia from the mob of women attacking her and later Cordelia has to save Xander from the mob of women attacking him...and then they're hiding in Buffy's basement again, where they first kissed.

Buffy acknowledges to Xander that she remembers everything that happened and he didn't take advantage of her, even though he could have.

And then Cordelia tells off her friends by calling them sheep and her and Xander get back together! Yeay!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Phases

Episode 27.
airdate: 27 January 1998

Time for an Oz-centric episode to get the awful taste of Angel out of our mouths. Werewolves! Giles and I are both giddy.

Buffy always looks like such a thug in a black beanie. Best effect on the show so far: watching Oz turn from werewolf to himself again. Sort of uncharacteristic of Buffy to start blaming the werewolf who's a person 28 days out of the month. I wonder if that gay bully on Glee was modeled after the gay bully on Buffy.

Oz is gonna lock himself up when Willow comes over. Apparently, watching this episode has made me as monosyllabic as Oz himself. Weird menstruation parallels...not sure how that makes sense, as it's Oz and he's a boy. Maybe Joss' regular feminization of boys thing.

..."a werewolf in love".

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Surprise and Innocence.

Episodes 25 and 26.
airdates: 19 and 20 January 1998.

Surprise-

I really dislike Angel and Buffy together..have I mentioned that? So, I'm just gonna rip these last two episodes wherein she loses her virginity to him and he turns evil off like a Band-Aid, right now. You ready? I might have to drink heavily during this one, so don't mind my increasing deterioration of vocabulary.

Surprise starts with a Buffy nightmare. She's dreaming about Drusilla killing Angel on her birthday. Willow is speaking French to a monkey, too, just for inexplicable dream-ness.

Angel's topless again. And I'm drinking every time Buffy and Angel kiss in these two episodes. Drink. And again. And again. I'm counting every time they actually stop long enough to stare into one another's eyes (drink again) and talk. OMG, again!

Willow and Buffy talking about whether or not B will lose her V-card. It's a short convo, not super over-the-top like a lot of TV shows deal with the subject, though the fact that Joss turns Angel evil after they do it and makes him the cruelest person ever means that he's making a HUGE deal of it, but at least the deal is metaphorical.

Oz asking Willow out!!! Love it! Ok, I really love Willow as a lesbian and I also loved her with Oz and I am not one of those people that doesn't believe in bisexuals, but I'm just a little put-off by the way they treated the issue. After Tara, Willow is gay. I don't like that after her obvious attraction to both Oz and Xander, she just becomes gay. That's not how that works. It would have been a MUCH better explanation to just say that Willow is attracted to men and women. And they could have done this by simply never calling her a lesbian, or showing her attraction to men occasionally, but they don't. That's just my mini-beef with the series.

Xander calls Giles a "funky party weasel"! Cute.

First sighting of Spike in a wheelchair. Drusilla is getting pieces of a big butch vampire to reassemble for evil Apocalypse-ness, for her birthday.

Oh shit! This is the episode where you find out Jenny is not Jenny. She's part of the Gypsy tribe that cursed Angel.

I love that Oz is immediately, on their first date, introduced to the entire world of demon-ness and is not at all surprised by it. "Actually, it explains a LOT."

Angel just gave Buffy the claddagh ring and Michael just threw up a little bit in his mouth. Drink. Giraffe pants! Oh, man! She's going to lose her virginity shortly after wearing giraffe pants! I love that characters on this show actually rewear outfits.

Perfect Drusilla moment: she's dancing in a red satin dress to "Transylvanian Concubine" by Rasputina. Awesome!

There's a sense of real foreboding for me as Buffy and Angel run through the rain...there's only scant moments before they do it. And it's going to be gross. I hate the way Buffy kisses. She's sooo into it and there's a lot of head bobbing. This is the end of the really-in-love Buffy. It never happens again. Drink. Ohh, Angel's convulsing!

Innocence-

Angel is definitely evil again. He kills a woman, Drusilla can feel it...I'm excited that Buffy will now be the tortured soul she remains throughout the series (just because she acts tortured better than acting in love), but I hate it when Angel's evil. He's just too good at being a total dickface. The claddagh ring on Angel's finger is now pointed away from him as well. That's a nice little detail.

Willow catches Cordelia and Xander kissing. She has to go to the bathroom and cry a little for the final closure before she's ready to move on.

Oh, Angel's a dick. The quintessential asshole after sex. Sarcasm. Insults. It's positively horrific to watch. It's surprising that David Boreanaz hasn't been cast in more asshole roles. He's too good at it. Seething.

Buffy finds out about Jenny. Giles finds out about the sex. Everything is all effed up.

Oz's sweetness almost cancels out Angel's total dickness. Almost. And he's already helpin' out with the Scoobs! I love Oz so much!! More than Xander, really.

There's a lot of water (rain, lakes, sprinklers in malls) in these last two episodes. It must be a rebirth thing. Buffy lost to her virginity, Angel is now Angelus, Jenny is found out, Oz and Willow are starting, Cordelia and Xander were found out...lots of changes.

Commentary (by Joss Whedon) notes added 5.20.13: Joss is talking as if it's his first commentary. Hmm. Interesting. He calls this the most important episode he ever did. It exemplifies the emotional resonance that horror can have. Joss brought emotional resonance to horror for quite possibly the first time ever. The idea of Spike and Drusilla as villains is about two younger (looking) characters that could overlap in the lives of the Scoobies a bit more than the Master did in season 1. 

Joss talking (and I've wanted to hear his explanation on this for awhile) about the fact that he didn't want to kill the girl for having sex, though he punishes "the shit" out of her instead. He believes that Buffy and Angel were very much in love and what they did wasn't wrong, yet in horror you have to make consequences for everything in order to find the horror, find the emotional resonance. 

People didn't love Oz at first? That doesn't make sense to me at all. Something about wanting Willow to be with Xander, but Oz! You have to love Oz. I like the image of Giles and Xander together having to carry the rocket launcher in its box and then Buffy wields it by herself when she uses it. That's hot. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Bad Eggs

Episode 24.
airdate: 12 January 1998.

Bad twangy music while Xander and Cordelia makeout. This episode they all have to take care of eggs together as a surrogate for real babies. I had to do this with a bag of sugar. And this being "Buffy", some of the eggs have parasites in them that infiltrate your flesh and control your actions and make you feed a big mother parasite and bla bla. It looks like the face-hugger alien.

I don't have much to say about this episode. I haven't seen it as many times as the others, because, like I say, I usually skip it.

Xander thwarts the whole evil-egg thing by boiling the egg. I wonder how many kids thought of THAT. ;)

That's so crazy to think that this episode was made more than 13 years ago. Wow. I'm old.

Willow's possessed. Cordelia's possessed. I think Giles and Joyce are too, eventually.

Thank gawd it's 2/3 of the way over. Perhaps this will be the last time I watch this episode...for a reallyreally long time. This is such a bad episode. I just hate this hokey possessed by slimy thing, thing. Or at least, if you're going to be possessed, be possessed with a witty and evil demon, not a zombie-makin' one.

Fourth Jonathan sighting.

So, Buffy is fighting all of her friends and family (except Xander) while simultaneously fighting two vampires and a giant slimy squid-thing. Pretty impressive. Xander had to knock out Cordelia, but he seemed genuinely upset about it. This is something about Joss that's pretty admirable, really. Sometimes, when a girl is possessed you CAN hit her, but you still need to be upset about it. Some shows would go out of their way with unrealistic plot twists in order to avoid boys hitting girls.

Oh, totally off-topic, but I decided one-a-day for Buffy-blogging is not even possible as an average. I usually only get around to it once a week and then I watch a whole disc, which is four episodes, and like how you're supposed to put a cat's litter-box where they like to pee, I think my new goal will be 4 per week. That's more doable. Then I don't have to feel guilty that I'm not doing more, which will probably make me watch MORE. Really, I would watch more if I wasn't blogging about it during. It makes me not enjoy the eps as much when I can't just scrunch up on the couch and zone out. I have to be actively thinking...but I am determined to write more, and even if these blogs are total crap and no one's reading them, and both of those things are probably true, I will still trudge on.

Ok, crisis averted. Episode endeth. Merciful ending to my two least favorite Buffy episodes ever. I can now forge onward with the brilliance that awaits me. The non-"Ted" and non-"Bad Eggs" utter brilliance!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ted

Episode 23.
airdate: 8 December 1997.

I hate this episode AND the one immediately following it. I usually skip them. This is the one where John Ritter is Joyce's boyfriend and he's a super-controlling robot. I hate mean mom-boyfriends. Mine's had a few. I especially hate it when they think they can be a dad-type and make rules for you. Lame-os. Let that be a lesson to you boys out there: if you EVER date a mom of a teenage kid, do NOT start makin' rules and takin' names right away. Just be cool for a year or so, and then ease into the dad-role-thing.

I'm so sick of Buffy and Angel. Why doesn't Buffy ever date a boy I like? Except Spike, of course, but that's all dirty and wrong and that's not as exciting for me as it is for some girls.

Ugh, and the whole mom-doesn't-believe-the-daughter when she tells her about the stepdad-type crap?! And girls, if you are EVER a mom of a teenage kid and your daughter tells you your boyfriend threatened/hit/sexually abused her, believe her and do something about it fucking immediately!! She might be lying to get attention, but most likely NOT, and don't take that chance. Believe her!

Debut of the brown stretchpants of season 2! Buffy wears these a lot!

This is the first thing I ever saw John Ritter in, therefore, I have to hate him. Taste aversion. Ted hit Buffy and she beat the crap out of him and he fell down the stairs and seemed dead, but ya know, he's a robot, so he's not really dead. Buffy tells the police the truth and they're very condescending towards her.

No, wait, I was wrong in the last post: Buffy also looks cute in overalls. Xander is very rational and comforting to Buffy, something he is VERY good at.

Cute little 1997 Apple laptop. Ted put tranquilizer in the cookies. Cordelia is full-time with the Scoobies now. Now that she's making out with Xander.

Ted's back! This is like a horror movie that's a little too real. Oh no: Ms. Calendar just shot Giles in the back with a crossbow, accidentally. Ladies, also: if a man you're dating EVER refers to himself as "Daddy", get out now! Now! Do not pass go, do not collect $200...get. out.

Giles and Jenny kissin' at the end. Michael made me blog it, 'cause he thinks it's cute.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: What's My Line Parts 1 & 2

Episodes 21 and 22.
airdates: 17 Nov and 24 November 1997.

Part 1:

This story arc is about your future and careers, etc. Career Week. "It's a whole week of 'What's my line?' only I don't get to play." says Buffy, who is cranky because she will never get to have a big girl career; she will always primarily be the Slayer. Spike is working on ancient translations of gnarly-looking texts in order to find a cure for Drusilla. She's all weak for some reason, I can't remember. Spike is already showing signs of being seriously obsessed with Buffy.

Xander's aptitude test indicates that he should be a prison guard, Cordelia gets motivational speaker or professional shopper, Buffy got police officer, and Willow is sooo special she gets taken into a back room somewhere and the CIA or some shit tries to recruit her. This is where she meets Oz finally, 'cause he's a super smarty pants too.

Spike actually sicks a team of bounty hunters on Buffy, which I think isn't very characteristic of him because he likes to do the killing himself.

Ohh, I am SOOO excited about Oz!!

There's a lot of emphasis on Buffy's ONEness of Slayerdom. Because Kendra's entrance is in this episode, the Slayer that was called when Buffy died for a second in season 1. First time Giles yells at Xander. I hate it when he does that.

At first when you see Kendra you think she's part of the Order of Taraka, the assassins sent to kill Buffy. Buffy is super-scared of these bounty hunters, so she goes to Angel's house and hides out. Kendra's a bad ass mother effing Slayer, bitch! When I first heard Kendra's accent, I thought it sounded really terrible and fake...some kind of weird fake Jamaican thing, but later I read that she was actually coached by a linguist and it's a very specific accent of some kind. Just to give the actress credit for all you folks watching along with me that are thinking her accent is crap. ;)

Oh, no, Cordelia let the worm guy into Buffy's house. Ew. Angel's trapped in a cage with a sun-facing window. First Slayer-to-Slayer fight.

Part 2:

Kendra is so hot. Killer abs, too. Buffy is very jealous and bitchy towards her, of course. Her territory is threatened.

"A very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale" says Kendra. This "very dark power" is Drusilla, I think. Once her strength is restored, she's pretty scary. But she's so pretttty. Juliet Landau is a ballet dancer in real life, I think. A little skinny, but that's a ballet dancer for ya. I especially love her makeup. She has a very calculated smoky eye. I want to achieve that!

Willow is one of the only people in the universe that looks good in overalls. She looks freakin' cute.

Xander and Cordelia's first kiss! Third Jonathan sighting! Angel's topless again. This only makes twice, shockingly. Don't worry, I'm counting. So far, the best drinking game would be to drink an entire beer every time Giles gets knocked out. Though, you'd have to watch a lot of episodes at once to get drunk. I should start counting things that take place more often.

The complicated restoration of Drusilla involves draining Angel. Willow just staked a vampire...first time?

Oz and Willow are so cute! Slaying is not a job, it's who you are. That's the message.

At the very very end, you see Drusilla rising from the ashes of the burnt-down church and carrying Spike out. She's in vamp-face, which I am not sure if she ever has touted before, since she's been so weak and stuff.

Commentary (by Marti Noxon) notes added 5.21.13: I went back today and made a few of my older Buffy entries more homogenized and uniform to the more recent ones and I noticed that I started this episode guide blog early 2011, had an entry two days before the tornado (after watching Bridesmaids for the first time that night, actually) then the next entry wasn't until 8 months later (!!!!). 8?! And a lot of those entries from pre-tornado didn't have tags or high resolution pictures, etc etc. So, NOW I'll be obsessed with making those entries better. And then I'll become obsessed with making all my previous entries better...oh boy. Hey, perhaps tomorrow on the two year anniversary of the damn tornado I can distract myself with large pots of coffee and lots of blog editing. There's a plan!

Marti is just talking about filming and writing...I'm just not into writing about the minutiae of writing FOR a TV show. I like to write about the themes of the show and insights into metaphor and all that stuff. So these episodes are all about how B doesn't get to choose her profession, her profession was chosen for her. My mom used to tell me to find out what I want to do with my life or it will be chosen for me, but I didn't become a Slayer. And it's not like I didn't choose either. I'm only 30. I fought to get my job at the library and I've learned a lot about life in the 9 years I've been there. I hope to make money as a writer someday when I figure out how to do that. The funny thing is that I knew I wanted to be a writer as a teenager, but I wasn't focused and didn't do anything with it. All I can do is try harder every day...keep writing. Keep being passionate.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Dark Age.

episode 20.
airdate: 10 November 1997.

...as in Giles' Dark Age. This partially explains the sketchy past they hinted at in "Halloween". A demon is possessing some of Giles' old friends because it needs a body to inhabit and they conjured it together a couple of decades ago, or something. At the beginning of the ep you think Giles is gonna get some, 'cause Jenny is being all flirty and talking about making Giles "squirm". But later, Jenny is possessed by the demon and she's way drained at the end and wants some time away from Giles and all the crazy things that happen while being involved with him.

Ew, Buffy is wearing a scrunchie and Giles is drinkin' and gettin' no sleep. First sighting of Giles' apartment. It's so classy. He has an old-fashioned basin-like sink and a tattoo that looks like it's from the Necronomicon. Yes, I know I've mentioned the Necronomicon twice in these entries today, way too many for any normal girl, but I looked through my books today and decided to rid myself of my old copy. It's lame, anyway. Some of the symbols look cool, but that's it. The rest of it is holier-than-thou demon-chanty Aleister Crowley bullshit.

Seeing Jenny possessed is so scary. She's really whiny and pouty too. I can't tell if this is part of her personality or an aspect of the demon within trying to manipulate Giles. Buffy disapproval of Giles. Cold! Don't think we've seen that coldness from her yet. Ok, I have to say it: Ethan giving Buffy the mark of Eyghon tattoo and her immediately getting it removed? How would a teenager have afforded that without asking her mother? Maybe Giles pays for it? Just wish they would have explained it or maybe not let it happen? Just not plausible...perhaps had her get a cover-up later on in the series with something pretty? Sheesh! Angel's here to save the day? Ok, Willow and Xander went to get him...and his undead body houses the demon and vanquishes it. I get it.

I love the zaftig mannequin in the background of the abandoned costume shop! Sexy!

Ohhhh kay. Buffy is using her allowance to get the tattoo removed! Ok, I'll buy that, I suppose. I only got $8 a month when I got allowance, so that would never have covered freaking tattoo removal, but at least they made an attempt to explain it plausibly...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Lie to Me.

episode 19.
US airdate: 3 November 1997

Who's the Big Bad of this season? Spike and Drusilla? Does Angel go bad in this season? Probably. Buffy's sans bra again. I'm conflicted on the whole bra-foregoing thing. For one thing, it's hot and empowering; I applaude all girls who have the guts to let their breasts breathe, but it's also very distracting. Actually I want to try it now. Perhaps I'll let my boobs roam free this Sunday. A day of mammary-rest. Refreshing. I'm a B-cup and still relatively perky...could be fun!

So, summary-time: this episode deals with a group of goth wanna-be vampires who want to be undead, including this boy Buffy used to go to high school with who has cancer and thinks if he does the vampires' bidding, they'll make him one of them...when really he's naive and they will eat him.

Buffy's throwing around the L-word to Angel. No, not Lesbian! Love, silly! This is where we get the story of Angel's torment of Drusilla before he made her a vampire.

So, this episode is all about lies...most often, the lies we tell ourselves about who we are and what we want; and gross justifications we make to accomplish what we want. How sometimes you don't want to know what's really going on with someone. Humans lying to themselves about vampires, Angel attempting to protect Buffy from his past, Ford lying to himself about his dealings with the undead. Moral: lies are bad, mostly. Omissions can sometimes be ok, though. Buffy starts off the episode not wanting ANY lies ever. At the end, she asks Giles to lie to her.

Buffy: Life...does it ever get easy?
Giles: What do you want me to say?
B: Lie to me.
G: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguishable by their pointy horns or black hats, and we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies and everyone lives happily ever after.
B: Liar!

Reminds me of Depeche Mode's "policy of truth".

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Halloween.

episode 18.
airdate: 27 October 1997

The first of many good Halloween episodes. This is the one where they become their costumes. Buffy is a helpless southern belle or something, Willow is a ghost, Xander is an army guy (this is where he gets the much-referenced army knowledge), and Cordelia is unaffected because she got her costume somewhere the others did not. It's an enchanted costume shop thing. The proprietor cast a spell on the costumes, etc.

It's supposed to be a slow time for demonfolk on Halloween. It's too "commercial", so they generally stay in.

Buffy's eyebrows are a bit overplucked...but that was a thing, I suppose.

Second episode with Spike. He's gonna try to kill Buffy on Halloween instead of staying in like a good vampire because Drusilla had a vision that Buffy would be rendered helpless somehow. Second ep with Oz too. Cordy looks hot in her cat outfit. Kid demons everywhere and Ethan Rayne worships chaos and sounds like he's reading from the Necronomicon.

Willow: She couldn't have dressed up like Xena?

First instance of Willow taking command when Buffy's absent or disposed. First mention of Giles' dark past and his nickname "Ripper" when he recognizes Ethan. Xander is kicking some ass! Yeah, so is Giles! This is the ep of peeps not usually ass-kickin' ass-kickin'. Nice. mmm, peeps.

Cute little sub-plot of Willow becoming more confident with herself in a skimpy outfit over the course of the episode. She walks confidently by at the end of the ep and Oz sees her and says "Who is that girl?" for the second time. Yeay, it's almost Oz time!! Yuck, I still hate Angel/Buffy kissing.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Reptile Boy.

episode 17.
original airdate in the US: 13 October 1997.

The show opens with one of my favorite scenes ever. Buffy, Xander, and Willow are watching a Bollywood film in Hindi and speculating on the meaning, all on Buffy's bed. I love the scenes that emphasize the friendship between the three of them. It reminds me of Kim, Mike, and me in high school, and every time the three of us are together now. Cut to woman running for her life through the cemetery. It looks like monks are chasing her, but then you see it's a posh rich boy of teen-age.

Giraffe pants! Buffy's wearing giraffe pants! They ALMOST cancel out the horrible white see-through lace top she's touting.

Cordelia and Buffy are going to a fraternity party together. And the fraternity are into reptile demon-y stuff, of course. That's the episode premise. There are virgin girl sacrifices involved, of course. Cordelia and Buffy end up being drugged and kidnapped and chained up in the basement. Xander infiltrates the party to "keep an eye on Buffy" and then finds out what's REALLY going on at some point.

Buffy lies to Giles about going to the party--she tells him she's not feeling well and has homework. Have you ever seen someone slow dance at a party? Seriously? Never happens. Buffy has a nice smoky-eye thing going on at the party. Xander gets found out as a party-crasher and the frat boys dress him in a dress and wig and make him pledge.

Willow gives Angel and Giles a cute lecture about how they each treat Buffy (Angel being aloof and Giles overworking Buffy). Xander punches a guy out for the first time (I think)! The Reptile Boy looks like a giant penis, of course.

GIles/Buffy exchange of cuteness:

B: I told one lie. I had one drink.
G:Yes, and you were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake...the words "Let that be a lesson" are a tad redundant at this juncture.
B: I'm sorry.
G: So am I. I...I drive you too hard because I know what you have to face. From now on, no more pushing. No more prodding...just an inordinate amount of nudging.

Second sighting of Jonathan. This is the episode of see-through shirts on Buffy. There were three.

Commentary (by David Greenwalt) notes added 5.22.13: This episode is supposed to be about Buffy feeling like a kid, like everyone's treating her like a kid so she makes a bad decision in line with that. I apparently have nothing to say about that.

Ugh, as usual I'm getting nowhere with this. Surely the first two episodes, and thus my last two episodes with commentary, will have Joss.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Inca Mummy Girl.

Season 2, ep 4.

At this point, it seems that they're alternating a semi-serious episode with a fluff episode. Here's another fluff ep. Pretty good-lookin' mummy, actually...accurate, I mean. Cordelia's hair is really light. Yuck. It looks much better as dark brown.

So, this one's about a mummy girl that sucks the life/moisture out of people to stay alive. She takes a liking to Xander, but she's really a sweet girl (mostly) and doesn't want to kill him so she kills other people instead of him. She's very pretty, when she's not a mummy.

Ooh ooh, entrance of Oz! Seth Green with facial hair...weird. And much more talkative than usual.

Buffy looks real pretty in purple eyeshadow.

There's a parallel here between the chosen death sacrifice of the Incan Princess and Buffy the Chosen Slayer, obviously.

Oz notices Willow in her Eskimo outfit. Boys never wear black nailpolish anymore! I miss that! To me it seemed so masculine and sexy. First Jonathan appearance! Xander is too skinny right now; I like it when he's a bit pudgy.

I seem to be getting all taciturn like Oz, so I think that means I'll quit for the day. Goodnight!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: School Hard.

Season 2, ep 3.

Spike!! Spike!! Spike!!

Buffy and the other most meddlesome kid in school, a girl named Sheila, have to organize Parent/Teacher Night. Ope, Buffy has camel toe! Why do I keep noticing camel toe?

Hell, yeah! Metal music, Spike running over the Sunnydale sign and smoking a cigarette in his long black leather trenchcoat. I'm headbanging and holding up hardcore hand signals right now...and rewinding, so I can watch that entrance again. Also, combat boots, black nailpolish, a Zippo, and he exhales the smoke through his nostrils. Baaaaaaad boy, Spikey! Yeow!

So far, they haven't showed any vampire except Angel NOT in vamp face...I'm thinking Spike may be the second...oh, nope. The entrance of Drusilla, she was without vamp face and immediately when Spike sees her his goes away revealing his most human trait immediately, as love, of course.

Spike's first interaction with Buffy is a slow clap and a "Niiiice work, love" and then a threat to kill her on Saturday. Cordelia is helping whittle stakes. She's almost fully integrated into the gang these days.

Giles had to do research to find that Spike has fought and killed two Slayers in the last century? Why would he not have already known that? He's a professional Watcher, right? Perhaps Giles doesn't read as much as he says he does, eh?

This is Joyce's first time seeing Buffy in fighting action, I think.

Continuity Issue: Spike calls Angel his "sire" when we all know Spike's sire was Drusilla. But to be fair, they didn't know at this point they would be keeping Spike on for six whole seasons.

Yeah, Joyce hits Spike in the head with a fire ax!! Go Joyce-y!!

The first indication that Principal Snyder and the Chief of Police, later the Mayor, know about vampires is at the end of this ep. Snyder is talking to the Chief of Police and they decide to tell the press the "usual" story; "gang-related, PCP" instead of the truth.

Joyce gives Buffy a little approval and validation, making her into a little more of a sympathetic figure and not just the big scary mom.

Spike: A Slayer with family and friends, that sure as hell wasn't in the brochure!

Spike kills the Anointed One. Yeay for Spike and Drusilla!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Some Assembly Required

Season 2, ep 2.

Cute little Buffy/Angel argument. God help me, I think they're cute these days.

So, in this ep there are high school boys trying to assemble the perfect zombie girlfriend for their dead friend/brother they've already resurrected. They've been doing this task by digging up recently dead girls, but they need a very fresh head, so they start hunting live girls.

And they reveal who the boys are by 8 minutes in.

According to Giles "zombies don't eat the flesh of the living". How come in movies when football stars die, the moms always sit in an armchair in their nighties smoking and watching home videos of the kid's games of yore?

Giles is wearing a pink sweater vest...yum. And I think Buffy's braless, and her boobs are better than mine...damn!

Cordelia has the head they wish to harvest. Cordelia in peril in BOTH of the first two eps of the season. They just like listening to her scream. If I were taking a shot every time Cordelia squeals in this episode, I'd be WASTED by now.

Buffy was almost defeated by an undead jock?! What? Why does she seem weaker when fighting (almost) humans? Lame. This is one of the worst episodes ever. Buffy and Angel are acting like bf/gf...holding hands, fighting as if they have a relationship...aw, and Buffy is walking Angel home. How cute is that? Earlier, Cordelia opened a door for Angel too. I wonder if Joss intentionally does little gender role reversals like that on purpose...wait, of COURSE he does.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: When She Was Bad

episode 13.

First ep of season 2, here we go! This is the one where Buffy comes back from her summer in L.A. and she's like a total biotch, yo! Dealing with that post-death angst..at least it doesn't last a whole season...OH! Sarah Michelle Gellar looks instantly older. She's hiding her pain for the first time. Secretive Buffy has arrived. Damn! That season 1 cutesy innocence is over.

Giles' interest in Ms. Calendar is revealed.

Terrible music in the training montage! Ew.

What school has a lounge area with couches? Buffy's crocheted pillowcases make me laugh. Ok, Angel was in her room watching her sleep...again, how creepy is that? Yuck, Buffy's wearing mom pants and an ill-fitting tank top. Only in 1997 could Cibo Matto just happen to be playing in a fictional town called Sunnydale. Color me jealous!

Sexy bitch dance with Xander. Not fair! I wanna dance with Xander like that! He looks totally taken advantage of, like he feels like a whore.

Cordelia speech!!
C: Buffy! You're really campaigning for bitch of the year, aren't you?
B: As defending champion, you nervous?
C: I can hold my own. You know, we've never really been close, which is nice, 'cause I don't really like you that much, but you have on occasion saved the world and stuff, so I'm gonna do you a favor.
B: ...and this great favor is?
C: I'm gonna give you some advice. Get over it! Whatever's causing the Joan Collins 'tude, deal with it. Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever, but get over it. Pretty soon you're not even gonna have the loser friends you've got now.

And of course, Buffy's negligence of her friends and INSISTING she can do things alone has immediate consequences. Willow, Giles, Cordelia, and Ms. Calendar have been kidnapped by the Anointed One and friends and need to be bled in order to resurrect the Master.

Cordelia killed her first vampire!

And now she smashes the Master's bones into dust. Work out those issues, Buffy!!

Oh no, Cordelia has camel toe!

All is forgiven and everyone's happy at the end of 43 minutes...

Xander: We Bronzin' it tonight?
Willow: It's Wednesday, kinda beat...
X: Well, we could grind our enemies into talcum powder, but gosh, we did that last night. (cute Xander smile) Bad piano resolution music!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Prophecy Girl

Episode 12 of Season 1.

Things are getting serious now. I totally didn't realize that the last episode of disc 3 is the last episode of the season! This season is probably the only season wherein there's not a big dramatic buildup to the last ep of the season. Really nice slow motion vampire staking scene at the beginning! You can definitely feel the gravity of the season-ender.

Earthquake. As they're showing all the characters experiencing the earthquake, they show Cordelia, so they are definitely gearing up to make her a bigger cast member. And the Master made his first joke...the first indication of the incredible humor Joss usually gives his Big Bads. Yeay!

And double yeay for short blue snakeskin skirt!

Ohhh, I hate the scene where Xander asks Buffy out. Xander rejection makes me sad. I don't like mean Xander sarcasm.

The word Apocalypse has been used! Ooh, I should count Apocalypses!

"I'm just gonna go home, lie down, and listen to country music. The music of pain." -Xander.

Mmm, faucets pouring blood. Giles sharing prophecy with Angel. Prophecy thus: Tomorrow night Buffy will face the Master, and Buffy will die. Oh dear, Buffy is throwing a fit.

Giles is taking his glasses off an awful lot, but not cleaning them. It's a good thing I'm not counting him just taking them off because I'd have already lost count. Giles is knocked out again; this time, by Buffy.

Xander seeks Angel's help, despite his hurt feelings and hating Angel, like he does, all black-and-white-like. No-gray-area Xander is what we call him.

Buffy's first vampire bite. And her first death too. How quaint. And Xander brings her back. He saves the world. I should count that, too. Cordelia is helping avert the Apocalypse! How cute is that?

There's a lot of Willow screaming going on.

Yeay, an Apocalypse averted! Time for season 2!!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Out of Mind, Out of Sight

*I've decided that the "one-Buffy-episode-a-day" thing is more of a suggested average than a strict rule. Right now I am 6 episodes behind. Hopefully I can finish disc 3 tonight and this week is a light work week for me, so I should have plenty of time to catch up...

Episode #11 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the shownotes of a Fuchsia-haired weird girl:

This is the episode where a terminally-shy-and-unnoticed girl becomes literally invisible. The "anger of the outcast". This is something, as an outcast myself, I never really experienced. I guess maybe I don't count as a real outcast because I CHOSE the lifestyle. I was called a slut and a freak, but it was because of how I dressed. I knew how to act socially to be popular, I just didn't care to play the game, so I didn't. I can't really imagine what it would have felt like to care about popularity. I was always fine on my own and with the approval of my few friends. As my friend Nicole reminded me last week, I was always nice to everyone, so I think I was well-liked, though again, I didn't pay that much attention.

They're still establishing the rules of the show at this point...reinforcing the metaphoric text (girl feels invisible, then becomes invisible). They still haven't started making Cordelia sympathetic...she's just the stereotypical popular bitch still. But it is clear that she is the symbol, at least to Buffy, of the normal girl life she's left behind and can no longer inhabit.

"Reality is shaped, even created by our perception." Once again, Giles nails it.

Ok, maybe they do know where they're taking Cordelia's character. She just showed up in the library and is asking for Buffy's help. This is the beginning of Cordelia being a part of the Gang. Eep!

Cute little popularity speech from Cordelia:

C: So, are you saying she's invisible because she's so unpopular?
B: That about sums it up!
C: Bummer for her. It's awful to feel that lonely.
B: ...so you've read something about the feeling?
C: Hey! You think I'm never lonely because I'm so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone. It's not like any of them really know me. I don't even know if they like me half the time. People just want to be in the popular zone. Sometimes when I talk, everyone is so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say...
B: Well, if you feel so alone, then why do you work so hard at being popular?
C: Well, it beats being alone all by yourself.

Just when I realize they're not showing any depth to Cordelia, they pull out her tactless truthfulness, perhaps the best part of her character's personality. This is the first time they've really shown any of her traits beyond ruthless popularity.

Creepy that the invisible girl numbs Cordelia's face in order to carve into it while she's on her May Queen throne. It's the opposite of Carrie. This is a little bit TOO creepy. The kid gets a little too crazy too fast just for being unnoticed in high school. I suppose that's how school shootings happen, though.

Oh, yeah, the FBI comes in and uses Invisible Girl for secret agent stuff.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Nightmares

episode 10 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: a girl's inane shownotes.

One of the Slayer's supernatural gifts is premonition-type dreams. The first nightmare of the episode is about the Master (the show's first Big Bad) defeating her, which means they're gearing up for the season's end. It's about time! Outfits one and two are light and fluffy even though she's plagued with nightmares. I miss those big ass rings of the '90s. I need some more of those big plastic colorful globe rings.

In this episode we get to see everyone's secret nightmares. What are my nightmares? Being lost in the church I went to as a child. Being late to class or work and not being able to find where I'm going. I used to have nightmares about not being able to stop my car, then I got a car with better brakes. I used to have nightmares about running from a big scary man and my feet would get stuck and I couldn't move, then I took control of my life and stopped associating with asshole-type-men.

It seems odd that Buffy has a fear of becoming a vampire. Ok, the nightmares are real. Giles can't read. That's the nightmare that is horrifying to me! First appearance of Buffy's dad. First of like two. First time seeing Buffy cry. I love how Buffy cries. Her eyes get all wide and horrified. Mean dad nightmare!

Cordelia's nightmare is crimped hair, apparently...and being on the chess team.

The nightmare demon manifestation has a big club hand and is very scarred and gnarly. Since when does Xander gorge on sweets? Willow has to sing Madame Butterfly in front of people which is inexplicable that she is always having these public performance nightmares in all the dream sequence episodes because they never really discuss the reason for this. Xander just punched out the clown from his nightmare; just confronted it head-on.

This is the first episode where there's a whole Sunnydale-wide epidemic. Everyone is living out their nightmares. So It's not Buffy's nightmare wherein she's a vampire: its Giles'. Or, really, both of theirs at this point in the dream wherein everything is a nightmare. Good episode!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Puppet Show

Episode 9.
airdate: 5 May 1997.

Introduction of principal Snyder, forcing Buffy, Xander, Giles, and Willow to participate. bwa ha haaaa! I hate ventriloquism, though. Creeps me out. Just imagining these guys sitting at home practicing...talking to the doll, the doll talking back. It's all very serial-killery to me.

This is another episode I normally skip. If I had started watching Buffy back in season one, I might not have been as intrigued, though it is still very high-quality programming. It's just not emotionally-wrenching quite yet. But that's ok, because there shouldn't be dramatic turmoil in a sophomore's life. Really soon, things won't be all cute and calm anymore, so I should just enjoy the lightheartedness at the beginning.

I wish I had a leopard minidress! If only Buffy had stayed this weight. Her thighs are thick in such a hot way at this point.

Giles is wearing a sexy burnt orange cardigan.

I think they actually hired an actor that is phenomenal at ventriloquism! That's impressive, even though it freaks me out.

Buffy wears a lot of white tank tops and white babydoll tees with images on them. I wonder if they put her in white because she's a symbol of goodness and morality and all that. That would make sense, but it's pretty typical symbolism. I swear this is not the same costume designer as in later seasons, unless whoever it is gets MUCH better later on. Buffy pretty regularly is either wearing white and cuddly outfits or dark and vampy outfits, which DOES make sense. And to prove my point, she is now in all black right after the white tank outfit...and right before THAT outfit was the leopard minidress with black go-go boots. I wonder how consistent this formula is. They probably phase out the lighter, cuddlier outfits as time goes on...as Buffy herself gets darker and more tortured. Right now she hasn't reconciled her Slayer self with her Cutesy Blond self. It's odd to see her in white and pink with bows.

What is the real-life metaphor for this episode? The dummy wants to be human and is an entity trapped in an inanimate object...but what real-life parallel is there? Besides ventriloquists being creepy and probably, just to be on the safe side, you shouldn't trust them.

Oh, wait, the dummy isn't evil? I'm confused. The demon is one of the kids in the talent show? Nope. Ok, maybe he is evil. Xander saves the day by keeping Giles from getting his skull sliced open by a guillotine and some teen demon guy. ANd now there's another demon guy. Wtf is going on with this episode? Ok, the puppet is not evil?

"I don't get it." -principal Snyder sums it up.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Angel

Episode 7.
airdate: 14 Apr 1997.

This one is probably going to be epic. This may be the one where Buffy finds out Angel is a vampire.

There's the Anointed One, that kid who looks like a baby John Cusack.

Why does no one ever comment on how creepy Angel is lurking in the shadows all the time? Super creepy. I'd never go out with a guy who lurks in the shadows spying on me, no matter how good his intentions are. Gawd, he's SUCH a tortured soul. Broody broody. I'd much rather go out with Xander, but that's just me. Buffy is way too dark for Xander, though.

"Good dogs don't bite." -Angel.

Yeah, he REALLY just said that. How did Buffy make it as a Slayer so long without knowing vampires can't come in unless invited?

Angel topless for the first time, ladies and gentlemen!! And in Buffy's bedroom. Yeow! That doesn't make any sense that Angel would be staying in Buffy's bedroom all day while she was at school...weirdo.

Angel and Buffy's first kiss: yep, she's finding out in about three seconds...and she screams.

Now Buffy is wearing a tank top with a snowman on it. WTF? Xander looks nice in his usual polyester button-up...this one a nice olive green that looks good with his, everything. Xander's jealousy of other boys is annoying, though.

Joyce is so pretty. Omg, Darla bit Joyce! I don't remember that! Oh, and Buffy walks in after with Angel all in vamp-face. And Buffy throws Angel through a window! Giles and Joyce meet for the first time here when Joyce is in the hospital.

I keep looking the actors up to see their ages. In case you're interested, David Boreanaz (Angel) is 28 during the first season and Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) is 44. David Boreanaz looks older than 28. He looks better now on Bones, I think. Maybe because he's not as serious as Booth as when he played Angel.

sidebar: I just Googled "first time Giles cleans his glasses" and was searching around and stumbled upon buffygiles.com. It's apparently erotic fan fiction about Giles and Buffy. I do have a crush on Giles, and sometimes Buffy, but NEVER together. He's like her dad! Ew!

Cheesy Angel/Buffy moment. Yuck. I hate those.

Whoa, more Giles/Buffy fan porn! I'm abandoning the search. I haven't seen Giles clean his glasses yet, so I'll assume the first time I see it is the first.

Wow, I didn't remember Darla dying so early in the series!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Pack

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode 6, season 1.

I know, I'm WAYY behind on my shownotes! I was supposed to be doing one a day and I haven't even done one since the weekend! I'm lame. I'm going to make up for it today by watching several.

This is the one with the hyena pack unfortunately, not about a cool wolf pack or anything. Xander gets involved...there's a lot of creepy hyena-laughing. Several of the high school episodes from the beginning like this are very formulaic and cringeworthy in their plots. This is one I might normally be inclined to skip, but for the purposes of being thorough with this blog, I will not skip ANY Buffy episodes. Not even "Bad Eggs". Gawd, I hate "Bad Eggs".

Oh, no, Buffy looks like a schoolteacher again.

So, this one is about the group of bullies as hyenas metaphor. Classic? So Xander goes after this group of bullies to keep them from picking on a lesser-kid and the group of four bullies and Xander look into the eyes of a hyena in the forbidden quarantined hyena house. And of course their eyes get all glowy and they become possessed with the spirit of the hyena. Possessions happen to Xander from time to time, but I don't think he's ever been evil or had a major moral meltdown like most of the other characters on the show. Yuck! Ok, now I remember the real reason I don't watch this episode: I can't stand watching Xander be mean. It's terrible. No matter what is possessing him, he's never lost his Xander-integrity. He's so MEAN to Willow in this ep! And they eat that poor poor pig! He's so cute!

Wow, there's even one of those slow-motion walking over a hill things with music that Xander does with the pack. I don't get why Buffy and Willow don't try to investigate what's up with Xander: wait, Buffy is going to Giles right now (20 minutes in). Giles is poo-pooing it. He said it was "natural teen behavior patterns." Ok, now Buffy is catching on.

This episode is creepy. I can't imagine seeing someone you love who is generally the sweetest guy ever act like a hyena, though I know why they did it. If they hadn't shown Xander get possessed, you would have just thought the others in the pack were really mean people in general and wouldn't have gotten the emotional gravity of the whole thing.

Hyenas ate principal Flutie! Yikes.

Why is there a locked cagey bookdrop INSIDE the school library? Why lock up only the books coming back into the library and not the entire library? I never noticed that before. I have before questioned why there was a cage in the library, but never noticed it definitely has a slot for books.

The "hyena pack" sure do rip through that cage pretty easily, though. A little too easily, since later in the series all manner of beasties are trapped in that cage. Maybe they reinforce it super-serious after this hyena incident...

Oops, I spaced out during the final fight scene. Giles was knocked out again! That's twice.

The clincher at the end? Xander remembers everything. Poor Xander. They don't make him wallow in remorse as long as they would if he were Angel or Spike, though. Probably because Xander is supposed to be the fictional representation of Joss himself.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I Robot, You Jane

Episode 8.
airdate: 28 Apr 1997.

I don't even remember this one based on the title alone. Ohh, the one where an internet predator (in the Buffy world, a demon trapped in the internet gets unleashed) preys on Willow. This is so not a thing Willow would do...chat with an unknown boy online? Well, ok, maybe. She becomes so different after she comes out and gets witchy.

Jenny Calendar is introduced. How old is she? She looks really young. Googling: she was only 27 here; the same age as Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia). How old is Willow? 24?! I thought she was younger at the beginning of the show! She looks 15. OMG, Nicolas Brendon (Xander) is freakin' 26 at the beginning of the series!! So, Sarah Michelle Gellar is the only one even close to highschool age. That's so weird.

Xander is wearing a Porn Star shirt! Remember those? How come those were ok to wear back in the '90s, but you couldn't wear a shirt with Marilyn Manson's face on it? Weird.

OMG, they just showed a 1997 laptop! It was huge! It had like a normal-sized disc-drive and floppy-disc area too, like a full-sized computer! So funny!

I wonder when they decided Willow would be gay. Most plot progressions in Buffy are meticulously thought-out, but I really don't think they knew about Willow yet. She's so unquestioningly hetero at the beginning. But, I see how that can be explained away, because even lesbians would be attracted to Seth Green, and she is very outcasty and insecure at the beginning of the series...

Check out this yummy picture of Nicolas Brendon I just found!

The Giles/Jenny debate about books becoming obsolete and the fear of the internet of the mid-to-late '90s is almost cute now. I remember when my mom thought the internet was "evil" and wouldn't let us have it until probably 2000-ish.

"He's gone binary on us." -Buffy. The demon was trapped in a book and then scanned into the computer and is now trapped in the internet. That's actually pretty cool.

Giles immediately tells Jenny about a demon being in the internet. Immediate trust with another completely new character. Jenny the techno-pagan. Ha! Techno-pagan. Is that a real thing? Whoa, it is! It sounds so awesome! I wanna be a techno-pagan!

I am so bored with this episode. I like Buffy better when the continuity is more pervasive. I just gotta power through season one and then it'll truly get good.

Ooh, they're transcribing a spell into text and typing it into a computer in order to shut internet demon down.

The Giles/Jenny book vs. computer debate ends the ep with Giles explaining that he loves the smell of books ("books smell musty and rich") and that's why computers freak him out. I feel ya, Giles. I feel ya.  He just took off his glasses! He's not cleaning them, though. He's wearing too much tweed to polish. What a letdown.

"Let's face it: none of us is ever going to have a normal happy relationship." -Buffy speaking to Willow and Xander. Yep, that's true. Xander ends up with an ex-demon...Buffy boinks vampires pretty much exclusively, and Willow dates a werewolf, then later loses her gf to death. God, I love this show!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

Episode 5.

(So, I just finished season 8 [the series continues after season 7 in comics] and some SERIOUS shit goes down! I will not spoil it, but DAMN!)

This might be the first (of MANYMANYMANY) episode to begin with Buffy slaying in a cemetery. Oy, with the prophecies, already! So many prophecies in the Buffyverse. "As it is written, so shall it be" bla bla bla.

Buffy actually has a nice outfit in this ep. A short polyester shifty dress. Maybe this is the fashion turning point.

I should count the times that Giles actually checks out a book to someone outside of the "Scooby Gang": one.

Outfit two: fuzzy tigerprint hoodie. Yeah, it's looking up.

Ok, so there's this ominous main plot of prophecy and the "Anointed One" and bla bla...but I'd rather talk about fluffier things. I'm not really doing this shownote thing to describe plots...plus I suck at that anyway...

Vampires sure looked gruesome in the beginning! They looked like zombies, kinda. I wonder if the Buffyverse vampires poop. They get to have sex, so it would make sense. I know Anne Rice vamps don't poop, but they're all delicate and pristine. I think Spike gets gassy sometimes, yeah?

Buffy's first attempt at dating a normal boy. I typically am not into the whole bad-boy thing, but in Buffy's case, she does NOT need to be with a white-bread-type boy. Ugh, like Riley?! Don't even get me started on Riley. She's much better in dramatic turmoil with vampire boys. This date of hers is boring me.

Apparently they hadn't worked out Giles' backstory yet, 'cause he's being a dweeb (holding up a cross with a scared look on his face and running, etc) in vampire combat, and you know he's got better moves than that! I mean, his nickname in his '20s was Ripper, for fuck's sake!

"Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time," says Giles. Moral of the ep. How come Willow and Xander pretty immediately were let into the mystical slayer world, when other newcomers are met with extreme distrust for months before they're let in? I mean, I know they're Willow and Xander, but this was before we knew they were Willow and Xander, ya know?

Doh! There's Giles getting knocked out! I should count those too: one.

Xander-disdain with a juicebox: cute!!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Teacher's Pet

Episode 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: shownotes of a big fat geek.

This is the one that's a badly veiled metaphor for teachers as sexual predators. This teach is a praying mantis and is the first, of many, demon-like creatures attracted to Xander. I had a teacher I liked once. He's still cute, but fortunately, he was not a predator, because I was dumb enough that I would have probably madeout with him and then been pissed at him later for taking advantage. It's not cool to make out with a 16 year old if you're a teacher; even if you're a really young hot teacher, ok? Don't do it!

Buffy in red satin. You'll never see that again! Wait, this is a dream sequence. Oh, man, seriously, who is doing the costume design here? They've got Buffy in a baby blue sleeveless sweater...oh, and it has a collar. And fucking pearl buttons! WTF?! I'm not even going to look up the costume designer because I don't want to hate her/him. Maybe they were having a bad year. I imagine the budget was terrible at this point and they didn't realize, apparently, that Buffy is a fashion icon, not a soccer mom. Yeesh! How come all I can talk about is fashion on these shownotes? Wow, I guess I do think about physical image a lot. I never really noticed. I suppose I did just spend 96$ this very night on glitter makeup online. Ok, I'm vain. I knew that. But glitter is priceless, man! And it was cruelty-free and neon, too!

First ep to get Angel (mostly) topless.

OMG, Giles is wearing a sweater vest, tweed, gingham, AND a tie. Sexy librarian!

Mmmm, a mayonnaise sandwich with crickets!

Ooh, remember babydoll shirts? I used to have one with a big lemon on it.

I usually like organic girl-predators, but the pedophile aspect here is throwing me. And insects just aren't as awesome as Poison Ivy. And at least she had a global goal!

This is the first ep where Buffy takes charge and tells everyone what to do instead of Giles. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I like Buffy with a little more meat. Her ass is poppin' in yellow pants! If only my ass stayed lush at such thinness levels...Sarah Michelle Gellar's genetic gifts are plentiful, that's for sure.

How come in TV shows and movies, everyone assumes you're NOT a virgin, until proven otherwise when you're in high school? Wouldn't it be the other way around? At 15, I didn't know a whole lot of nonvirgins...guess I wasn't enough of a delinquent.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Witch.

Episode 3, Season 1...of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...one girl's inane shownotes:

Ah, Buffy's last attempt at cheerleading. "Something normal, something safe". Yeah, RIGHT Buffy, don't you know you live on the Hellmouth?!?! Gah! Oh, this is the one where the cheerleader spontaneously combusts. Awesome.

Oh, Giles, I'm so glad for your logical explanations for everything. Buffy is still bucking the friends helping her out thing. Cute.

Classic Xander line: "I laugh in the face of danger...then I hide until it goes away."

Again, I'm distracted by the fashion. You never think the era you're in has a style, and I didn't think we had one in the '90s, but I'm seein' it everywhere in Sunnydale. In this ep Buffy is wearing a funky psychedlic pattern a la the '70s, but with a definite '90s twist. The '90s had a lot of revamped '70s stuff towards the end.

Joyce was mean and broken-recordy at the beginning, jeez! I guess that makes sense, 'cause we're supposed to be on the teenagers' side and moms are lame in 10th grade.

Are there really high schools that teach you how to drive? That would be a good idea.

There's not much to say about this episode. It's one of those early eps where they're just lettin' you know that there are witches, psychological horrors, slimy fish monsters, and other ghoulies in addition to vampires in the Buffyverse.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Harvest

So, I've been suuuper existential since I got THE BILL in the mail for school. I will be paying for my Bachelor's degree for a really long time and its really put into focus how unsure I am about being a counselor. So I, like a lot of other recent college graduates, have decided not to make any decisions about grad school just yet. And I reread some old journal entries and such yesterday and am reminding myself of things that are important to me that I have lost sight of in the last 6 years or so. I have really bought into how things are "supposed" to be...how society wants to automatize...I forgot that I used to want to be a writer and I used to want to program music and have a radio station, etc. I miss being a page at the library. I miss the physicality of it and the pure simplicity of never having to interact with patrons if I didn't want to. Lately, going to work has paralyzed me with anxiety thinking about all the interactions I'll have to face. And the truth of it is that I've always had this reaction to throngs of people. I've just tried to submerse it and plaster that big smile on my face. I'm not a social being, most of the time. This isn't me. I do want a job that deals with less people. If I could afford it, I'd go back to being a page in a SECOND. Best. Job. Ever. Anyway, I know I need a career plan, but for now I want to work more toward writing. Maybe I'll start freelancing in a few months, but for now my first project is:

One episode of Buffy per day with real-time blogging. I will blog as I'm watching the ep freeflow-style with minimal proofreading after ep is over. I will not think about how lame my writing is, I will just do it for the love of doing it. So, dust off those old Buffy tapes and watch along with me, kids! It'll be fun!

So, here I go: episode 2, season 1:

Some inconsistency with dusting vamps in the beginning here; sometimes they dust and sometimes you just hear them hit the ground with a thud. I should probably not get distracted with stupid continuity details like some uber-nerd, but I probably will.

A favorite quote from Giles reassures the audience that despite the wearing of crosses, Buffy is NOT a religious show: "This world is older than any of you know, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise."

The first scene after the theme is a big explainy-in-the-library scene. I love those!

The show started out a lot cheesier than it ended up, but that makes perfect sense as Joss meant for the series to mirror the kids growing up and right now they're sophomores, so their fears are cheesier (big Nosferatu-type vampire).

OMG, Xander and his weird computer-graphic mushroom button-up! Nice.

I love watching old TV shows; the dated styles and decor. The bad haircuts and the overly dramatic '90s makeup. Classic.

It's so weird when Buffy jumps over that big school gate...it's like 12 feet in the air! I know she's supposed to have super powers, but she never does this again! There I go with the continuity-nerd stuff again.

You know, I never noticed this until now, but it's pretty subversive that not only is a tiny little girl kicking serious metaphysical ass throughout this series, but apart from the occasional vampire taunting her for her tinyness, the humans around her hardly ever question why she can do the things she can even though she's "just a girl". In most other TV shows, they'd be harping on that aspect, constantly pointing out that she's no ordinary girl. In this show, it's apparent she isn't an ordinary girl, but this is focused on the grown-up nature of her responsibilities as Slayer, not in the fact that she's JUST a girl.

It annoys me when much older people play high school kids, such as Charisma Carpenter, who was 27 when the show started. Sarah Michelle Gellar still has some baby fat goin', so she's gotta still be in her early '20s (just looked it up--she was 20). However, with Charisma, she just looks older to me when she's thin. Later when she crosses over to Angel, she gains a bit of weight and looks a lot better, but here she's tiny. I like my women with a bit of meat. I liked Jennifer Aniston better in the first few seasons of Friends when she was a bit curvy too.

"Everything is life or death when you're a 16-year-old girl." -Joyce Summers.

Subtext! My favorite part of Buffy. If only I got all of it.

Skirts were so short in 1997. And the music was still good...I miss 1997. I miss it so much! The beginning years of this show make me so nostalgic. What's the metaphor for big scary Nosferatu-vamp being stuck in the between-world like a "cork in a bottle"? Is that vaginal or just coincidental? Has Mother Earth swallowed him whole and he's just too big of a dick to squeeze out on his own? I'm stretching...

No one ever bares their midriffs anymore like they did in the '90s. It looks, like their bare legs, so revealing. Why have we trended towards MORE prudish?

I love Giles' famous line at the end: "The Earth's doomed." He says this again in a mirrored bookend scene in the last episode of the series right before they go into their final battle on the show.

Commentary (by Joss Whedon) notes added 5.22.13: The Master was made to look like he was devolving into a bat. Joss is talking about how awesomely dark the lighting is on the show. I agree, as I've said many times before. You don't always need to see everything. First scene with Harmony ever and she's wearing a t shirt with a unicorn on it.

Joss just stopped talking for like the last 5 minutes...longest silence in a commentary ever! Wtf?