Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In 2005, I met my friend Alex. We met on a double date with his wife and my girlfriend at the time (who knew Alex from school and work), and we went to see Batman Begins. I’ll never forget one of the trailers was for the film Serenity, a continuation of the TV show Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Whedon had also created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and when the trailer mentioned that I heard Alex audibly let out a “Yes!”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little. Sure, this weird Space Western looked good, but Buffy… really?

I was the prime age to enjoy Buffy when it debuted in 1997. Heck, I can even remember the day after it debuted on the WB. I was in the seventh grade, and I was riding home on the school bus when a group of kids were gushing over this new show. I remember asking, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer, like the movie?” which got mixed reactions since no one knew there was a movie from several years earlier. I’d attempted to watch the film when it was released on video, but even my crush on Kristy Swanson and my curiosity of seeing Paul Reubens in a non Pee-Wee role wasn’t enough to keep my attention to the end. So, hearing about a television adaptation was surprising and once I saw marketing for the show, I was completely uninterested. In 1997, my love of horror had grown into an obsession, so watching a campy show about handsome vampires and some “woman power” chick just wasn’t my cup of tea.

After we got done discussing the greatness that was Batman Begins, Alex asked me if I had ever seen Buffy. I brushed him off and I remember him saying, “Man, you should really check it out. It’s good.” I’d just met Alex, and I figured he probably didn’t know what he was talking about.

My life got pretty crazy over the next few months and after hanging out with Alex a few more times, I found myself quickly moving to North Carolina. Alex and I kept in contact via email and by this time I realized that Alex did have great taste in movies, video games, and TV shows. He’d introduced me to games like Time Splitters and some Star Wars Extended Universe books, and I’d grown to trust his advice. So much so, that one day at Target, I saw a copy of the first two episodes of Buffy on a DVD starter pack. It was five dollars and was priced to bring in new fans. So, I bought it.

I went home, still a bit skeptical, but two hours later I was ready for more. The next evening, I made a trip to my local CD Warehouse, where I was able to buy the first season on DVD used for around $30. I went home and began watching episode-after-episode, and thankfully Alex had warned me of how uneven the first season was and how I just needed to stick it out till season two. It didn’t take me too long, before I was back at CD Warehouse trading in more movies and video games and picking up season two. This continued over the next couple of months.

I fell in love with Buffy. At the time, nostalgia didn’t play a factor in my interest in the show, it was more the great music, catchy dialogue, and fun characters. It was easy to see myself in Xander and easy to appreciate Giles for the mentor figure that he was. Sarah Michelle Gellar portrayed Buffy so perfectly, it’s hard to imagine anyone else ever trying to take up the role. She was hip, yet a loser. She was surrounded by people, but lonely at times. She struggled with coming of age, the messiness of love, and even parental acceptance. It was a brilliant take on growing up, and my only regret is I wish I had been more open-minded and watched it when it was airing.

Being that it was 2006, Buffy had only been off the air for a couple of years and was still part of the pop-culture zeitgeist. My local Suncoast still had some dusty Buffy toys in the back, and there was still hope from fans that we’d see the rumored Faith or Ripper spin-offs. Eventually, a season eight comic was released, but it was apparent a television budget helped reign in Joss Whedon’s craziest ideas. The selection of Georges Jeanty as the artist was a huge mistake, since he is incapable of drawing a face that doesn’t look like it was made of clumpy clay. The comic was a disappointment, but it did get better as it went along and further seasons were released.

I picked up the two Buffy games on Xbox and enjoyed them for what they were. I recently played through some of Chaos Bleeds, and it really isn’t all that bad.

I branched out into the other Whedonverse shows like Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse. Heck, I even had a shirt I bought from ThinkGeek that was in the graphical style of Star Wars and said, “Joss Whedon is My Master Now.” I may have been late to the party, but I tried to absorb everything Buffy that I could.

Like all interests, eventually after a rewatch of the series and thumbing through a bunch of tie-in novels, I moved onto something else. But Buffy had made an impact that to this day ranks it in the top ten shows for me.

My wife has talked about how she watched Buffy in syndication, but didn’t see all of the episodes, nor did she see them in order. So, for years we’ve talked about watching the show together, and earlier this year I finally bought a box set and we started that adventure. It has been great. Buffy is still as quirky and fun as ever, and while not every episode is a home run, it’s a relaxing show to put on after a hard day at work.

We recently took a little break from watching, but I think tonight it’s time to start it back up. We’re almost to the end of season three, and I am ready to join the gang outside of high school and suffer through the very annoying Reilly of season four.