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I hate to brag, but I'm one of the few Buffy fans who has seen every single episode since the very first one. I remember when Angel was just "cryptic guy". I remember when the Aztec mummy girl tried to kill Jonathan, before any of us knew who he was. Now that Buffy has coming to an end it's time for some reflection. Season One: The Show was still finding its groove, but had some killer hilarious lines. Xander was madly in love with Buffy, and Willow was in love with Xander. Cordelia was, um, hard to describe without using bad words. Let's just say that she reminded me of this girl I knew in high school who would have been my first target if I had ever been in a clock tower with a rifle. In the first season it was all about exaggerating high school problems. In a normal high school, there are mean kids. At Sunnydale High, there are hyena-possessed mean kids who eat the principal. Major deaths of first season: Principal Flutie, Buffy (drowning - rescued by Xander). Big Bad: The Master. Season Two: The second season always blends into the first a little in my mind. The first season was a mid-season replacement with only 12 episodes, and the second picked up with the same high school problems and the same tone as the first, but with a few notable improvements. At the end of season one, the fans are left with the impression that this irritating little kid "The Anointed One" is going to be the Big Bad for the new season. Then two or three episodes in, Spike and Drusilla blow into town and dust the brat. It was one of my favorite moments ever. But the thing everyone remembers about season 2 is that it was the season of Angelus. He was one of the coolest villains of all time. There was a great Hamlet-like beauty to Buffy's inability to kill Angelus because he was also Angel. This season saw the deaths of Jenny Calendar, Kendra (the vaguely-foreign extra slayer) and Angel (Buffy stabs him and he is sucked into hell). Big Bad: Angelus. Season Three: Buffy's senior year of high school. When Angel returns from hell, there's tension everywhere. This was the best season for Oz, Willow's guitar-playing boyfriend. And then there's Faith. She's the extra slayer who was called when what's-her-face was finally offed. There's nothing better than a slayer gone bad. This season was a high-point. There weren't any truly "great" stand-out episodes, but they were all consistently good. It built to one of the best finales on tv, with the ascension of the mayor on Graduation Day. I don't remember who died in this season. I know Principal Snyder was eaten. Also about half their graduating class. The Big Bad was the Mayor. And he was my personal favorite. Season Four: Angel left for his own spin-off. Buffy heads to college with the rest of the gang except for Xander who is pretty aimless. This season brought in Anya, who I can't help liking. The stand-out episodes of season four are the Halloween episode, where they are trapped in a haunted house by a demon who turns out to be about 6 inches high, and the silent episode "Hush", where there is no dialogue for over half the episode. Other than those, I hated season 4. I hated Buffy's rebound guy, Riley. The Big Bad was an extremely forgettable demon-human-cyborg named Adam. They do an elaborate magic spell to destroy him, but it would have been a lot more satisfying to just aim a rocket launcher at his head. No one important died in this season, though Oz did leave. Season Five: Despite the addition of Buffy's brand new little sister Dawn, season five was a pretty good one. It was a study in all the ways one person's life can go wrong. They're facing a really powerful enemy, Glory, who is searching for something, and doesn't know that she's searching for Dawn. Dawn finds out that she's basically fictional and goes a little Borderline. Buffy's mom has a brain tumor. Then, in one of the most powerful hours in tv history, she dies. Then Buffy finds out she might have to kill her sister. And Tara goes insane, her brain having been scrambled by Glory. Big deaths: Joyce, Buffy (falls from tower). Big Bad: Glory. Season Six: Everything has gone horribly wrong. Buffy is brought back from the dead, but it was completely against her will. She spends all season brooding and having sex with Spike. Dawn is a klepto, and spends the entire season in continuous whine mode. Xander jilts Anya at the altar. Tara leaves Willow because Willow has become a magic junkie. Giles moves to England, leaving them with Spike as their adult supervision. Most of the season, they are facing a trio of geeks as their main enemy. Until one of them kills Tara, and Willow loses it. Willow hunts down the trio, then turns her wrath against the whole world, after flaying Warren alive. Xander saves the world, surprising everyone, including himself. Big death: Tara. Big Bad: Willow. Season Seven: Spike got himself a soul. He tries to win Buffy's love and Buffy is too busy assembling an army of potential slayers to beat down the non-corporeal enemy, The First. The First is the biggest of big evils, the first evil in the world. It is bent on unleashing an army of demons on the earth by way of the hellmouth. In the end, they beat the First by turning the army of potentials into an army of full-blown Slayers. And Spike uses a mystical amulet to dust the army of ubervamps, then turns to dust himself. Sunnydale collapses into a crater. Big death: Anya (during the final battle). Big Bad: The First. And so it ends. |