Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Looking Back at Television History

41 days.

That's what it's taken me to watch the entire run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from start to finish. Longer than some, shorter than others. 41 days ago, I posted the very first entry to this blog, called "So Begins the Journey." I outlined that I planned to re-watch the show that I had loved as a slightly younger man, and that I wanted to go on that journey of laughs and tragedies again.

What a journey it has been.

I started watching Buffy from the very first episode. It was 1997, and I was 18 years old, a senior in high school. That's the perfect age, I'd say, for where the show was at that point. And as I grew older, the characters grew older with me. I was in college when Buffy and Willow started college, and I was trying desperately to figure out what to do with my life when Xander was searching for a career.

I watched for most of seven years. Dates came and went, events, parties, and life took over, and so I missed large parts of season 5, but by the time season 6 started, I was with the woman who is now my wife, and we watched season 6 and 7 faithfully, every week. I was there when it all ended.

But over the last 5 years, the memories had faded. I'd forgotten what made this show so special. I had come to laugh at those who wore shirts that said "Whedon is my master" and relegated Buffy to something from my past, something that I loved, but that had been put away.

Never again, I vow, will I put this show in the past. In the 41 days I've watched this show, these characters have been like family. I've laughed, I've cried, and I've mourned them as if they were real. I've spent hours thinking about them. I've followed them through the events of my own life and through more than one apocalypse.

What is it that makes Buffy so special?

Maybe it's the writing. The crackling Whedon-speak dialog. When you catch yourself saying things like "creepy much?" and "what's your childhood trauma" in regular conversation, you know that something has had an influence.

Maybe it's the fact that none of the characters are one dimensional. They feel real. They have their triumphs, the things they are proud about, but they also have their flaws. People lose their tempers, they say things they shouldn't say, they reap consequences that they must face. They feel like real people. There's a Cordelia in all of us, just as there is a Xander in us all, and a Willow in us all. People are not able to be labeled and put into boxes. Real people have many layers, and are all things. A jock, a nerd, a hero, a coward. We are all these things.

Maybe it's the wonderful plots, the epic bad guys, the clever endings? The ability of Buffy to make you laugh, and then in the final 3 seconds of an episode realize that what you are laughing at is really tragic? Or the ability to use that black credits screen to it's ultimate impact, making you remember what you just saw for weeks.

I think it's all these things. Buffy is a show like no other I've ever seen. Angel and Firefly, though both similar, still had a different feel from Buffy. Buffy was unique, and will never be duplicated. It's a show of legend, and while it has spawned it's imitators, it will forever be the superior original.

As for the seasons, I have to say that season one, two, and five are my favorites. They resonated with me like no other. In season seven, I found myself longing for the days of a Hyena demon or a praying mantis teacher.

And I've said that Buffy should have ended after season 5. Maybe it should have. I'm of two minds on this really. I thought I'd have a definitive answer when I finished season seven, but I don't. I'm still torn.

Season 5 was the last perfect example of Buffy. You had the comedy, the darkness, and the sacrifice. The final episode of season 5 began with Buffy slaying a vampire, something we'd not seen in a long, long time. It ended with her saving the universe, but more importantly, her sister. What better way to send the show off? I truly feel like this was the end of the show for Joss. I don't think he had anything else in him. His concept was done. He'd told his story, and it was over. By coming back for two more seasons, we got to be with these characters for 44 more episodes, but we also didn't get them in their purest, most loved form. We had to have Buffy come back after her job was done. We had to have her wonder why she was back. We had to deal with the doubt of Xander over Anya. By continuing the story after it was done, they left us with hours and hours of pain and angst. In the end, it probably was worth it, but I still think there's a strong argument to be made that Buffy should have remained dead.

I'd like to think of it that if the show had ended at season 5, Buffy would have had more meaning in death that she did in life. Her last sacrifice would have been that much more potent. If you want to continue, spin it off with Faith. Have the rest of the cast pop in and out. But when season 5 ended, I think an era ended for Buffy. Christopher Beck, the fantastic composer behind the music of seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5, was gone. The story had been told. WB had dropped the show. Buffy would never again have innocent moments of youth, she would never again laugh with abandon. She rarely smiled after this. She became something different, and so did the characters around her. Xander lost his humor. Willow lost Tara and was shrouded in both darkness and doubt. Giles was absent for most of the remaining two seasons, and Buffy without Giles really isn't Buffy at all. So I think there's a strong case to be made there.

But then I think...I love these characters. Just to be able to have them around for 44 more episodes is a gift. When it's over, it really is over. Part of me wishes this show could go on and on for ever, but that's not how reality works. We've got the season 8 comic, and that's something, but we'll probably never see Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicky Brendan, or Alyson Hannigan in the roles that they made famous. To have them for 2 extra seasons, even though those seasons were tumultuous and often difficult to wade through, really is a blessing.

And when the show was over, I fought the urge to run and put in the first season again. I need these characters to be a part of my life. I love them, and I feel like I know them. Now I understand why so many people have watched these episodes dozens of times. They aren't characters, they live in us. It sounds corny and overblown, but it's really true. Joss did something that I've never seen done before. He gave us characters that we can love as if they are real.

And maybe that's the real gift of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That we can always go back and take the journey once more. The journey ends, but you can always go back to the beginning. By crafting multi-dimensional characters, funny and moving dialog, and not fearing to go outside the box, Joss Whedon gave us his ultimate gift, something that never gets old, and friends who will never die.

Thank you, Joss.