Everyone has that one show. That one show they were totally obsessive over. I have two. But the one show I was obsessive over led to the second show I was obsessive over.
The first one being Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My god, I was (and still probably am) obsessed with that show. It wasn’t always the case though. I poo-poo’d the whole notion of the show. Until I was challenged by a friend to watch just one episode during its first run on BBC2. The episode I landed on was season 1’s The Puppet Show and I was hooked. It’s probably one of the weaker episodes of the season, but that alone was enough to hook me!
The other day I decided a rewatch was just what I needed. What with there not being much on TV at the moment, it felt like a perfect time.
I am falling in love with Buffy the Vampire Slayer all over again! So much so that if I don’t get to watch at least one episode a day, it feels like someone’s robbed me of something from my day!
Season 1 and 2 are done and dusted. Season 2’s my all time favourite. Season 1, I love for the nostalgia, the monsters and most of all the fashion. I lost count of how much leopard print stuff there was in the first season. They loved it! And apparently it was acceptable to wear dungarees out and about and not just while painting the house.
What I did find funny rewatching the first season was the non-development of the Buffy/Angel relationship. Barely anything happens! Though clearly my teenage self thought different when I first watched this series. How is there even a relationship there? Well, I still bought it on this rewatch.
The most under rated episode of the first season – The Pack. Deliciously dark covers it. They EAT the principal!
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1 – The Pack, one of the most under rated episodes of Buffy.
Buffy’s breakdown in Prophecy Girl, when she finds out she’s prophesied to die, never got to me before. Until now. Clearly I didn’t realise how powerful that one scene is.
(GIFS from here)
Favourites from the first season? In no particular order – The Pack, Prophecy Girl, Nightmares, Angel and Welcome to the Hellmouth.
Season 2 has one of the best premiere episodes – When She Was Bad is definitely among my favourite from the season. It concludes things from Prophecy Girl nicely and then shoves them along a bit. Every opening episode of Buffy more or less follows that template, but When She Was Bad does it best.
(GIFs from here)
How on Earth did it take them til season 2 to do a fully fledged Giles-centric episode? Shame The Dark Age wasn’t a great episode, did give us a lot of good Giles stuff!
Talking of underrated characters, what about Xander. I have missed his quips SO much. Shame his episodes are never that great. (While it gave us Xander in a speedo, Go Fish really is an amusingly bad episode.) I did forget just how damn heroic he was. He’s jumping into everything! But that one moment that always gets me is his ‘white knight’ moment in Killed by Death. He just stands right up to Angelus. That takes balls!
Xander takes on Angelus in season 2’s Killed by Death and clearly wins!
Angelus – best move they ever did for David Boreanaz. Don’t get me wrong, I love the brooding Angel. So, so much. But as Angelus, David Boreanaz looks like he’s having fun! Deliciously evil. I do think he’s my favourite villain from the entire series.
One of the big things I do love about the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the Buffy/Giles relationship. Their moments never fail to bring me to tears. As in full on crying. The scene at the end of Innocence where they’re sitting in Giles’ car? Floods of tears. Two points in Passion – just after Giles has been rescued by Buffy from the burning building and then again at the end – more FLOODS of tears.
Buffy and Giles in Lie to Me
Buffy and Giles in Innocence
Favourites from season two? That is TOUGH! What with it being my all time favourite season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But if I have to choose – Innocence, Passion, Becoming Part I, Halloween, School Hard and When She Was Bad.
And yes, my massive crush that I had on Angel back then has returned with full force. So I’m trying to hurry this rewatch along so I can get onto an Angel rewatch. I had contemplated doing them concurrently when I hit season 4 of Buffy, but that involves taking discs in and out of the blu-ray player. Too much faff!
Enough talk. I could yammer on all day about just Buffy season 1 and 2 and really I need to get on with season 3! (Second favourite season of mine, for anyone who’s keeping track.) Look for more Buffy fawning soon.
I really need to give this another go. Saw first few episodes of season 1 and it was a bit too cheesy for my taste. But perhaps it will grab my interest later on, after all I love vampire stories 🙂
The first season would probably quite hard to sit through now. It’s not aged well, and for me, it’s very much a nostalgia thing. But it’s still a solid first season. Get through it, and then you’ll be rewarded with season 2. One of my favourite seasons of TV ever. One of!
I’ve been reading along with Mark Watches – http://markwatches.net/reviews/. He’s up to season 7 now so maybe he’s too far along for you to join in, but he films himself watching the episodes and it’s just so compelling and endearing!
I just started watching the video of him watching Potential. AMUSED! Though if I filmed myself, it’d be me sitting on the sofa, in the dark, crying most of the time.
I’ve never watched a single episode and not all that interested, sorry! It could be because of Gellar.
Give Gellar a chance. I think she peaked with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her best role. Next to Katherine in Cruel Intentions. It’s a whole lot MORE than Buffy though. She’s far from my favourite character in the show. I think, towards the end, I watched in spite of her.
Aw matey, I havent thought about Buffy for a while now. I would love to go back and revisit them for sure!!
It is SO worth the time! Do it!
I never really got into this series. But I will say that the episode “Hush” was a really incredible episode.
Buffy has some amazing episodes of TV. Hush, The Body, The Gift, Restless, Innocence, Fool for Love, Passion, Once More With Feeling.
I was hooked on the show within the first 10 minutes of Welcome to the Hellmouth, the puppet show creeped me out. Prophecy Girl remains my favourite episode of all, purely Buffy finding out she’s destined to die.
Keep meaning to rewatch from the start but as always I keep forgetting. I need a dose of Xander’s one liners towards Giles.
Xander’s one liners are just as amazing as Giles’ reactions to them. Seriously.
Also, Xander shaking the cross at Willow in Doppelgangland is up there with one of my favourite onscreen comedy moments.
Jaina, this is beautiful. I did a “I heart Buffy” type of post last year on my blog because I too just freaking loved this show. I miss it. I think of it often. It was a great, emotional ride from beginning to end. One of the most enjoyable shows I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing.
So glad you’re a fan.
You know? I love finding new Buffy fans out there. Still! Buffy was a big milestone in terms of TV. It set the bar for new TV shows.
I am a big fan of Joss Whedon, particularly Firefly, so I don’t know why I haven’t watched this yet! 🙂 I’ll be adding it to my Netflix queue soon.
You MUST watch this. There’s so much of Joss’ trademark wit and direction. If you loved Firefly, you’ll adore this.
What a coincidence! I am currently rewatching all of Buffy again, as my daughter discovers it for the first time. Whedon is a TV god. We have got to season 6 (Spike and Buffy!). I am guessing you were also an Angel fan. I never got into that show. However, I think it is fair to say we are huge Firefly fans and will never get over its being cancelled so early.
Aww, that must be amazing to introduce your daughter to Buffy! Hope she’s enjoying i as much as you are.
Massive Angel fan. In fact, it might just be my all time favourite TV show.
I love Buffy (and Xander, before he goes evil – not sure which season is that). It used to be my most wanted TV series to watch on weekends. But when Xander had his own TV series and Buffy dated his enemy (I forgot his name, he had a white hair), it became a little weird. Nice that you watched it again, I wouldn’t mind doing that!