May 21, 2003

[Buffy] RIP Buffy

I watch more TV than anyone I know. It's true. Always have. I mean, I am sure that there are some folks in, you know, homes that watch more than I do, but as for your regular, run of the mill people, I think that I take the cake. I have been accused of watching anything just to watch and that is true. To this day, if my husband asks me to turn the TV off, there is palpable nervousness on my part. A world where the TV is off? Shudder

I haven't kept a log of my viewing over the years, of course, so my estimates are rough. But between those first notes of "Sesame Street" in the late 60s to this afternoon's installment of "General Hospital", there have been thousands upon thousands upon thousands of hours watched. A quick tally, completely unscientific, yields over 80,000 hours. Almost 5 million minutes. 281 Months. Over 3000 Days. I have watched literally everything, good, bad, ugly. I spent about 20 minutes today and came up with the following, not nearly complete, list:

Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Charlie's Angels, The Six Million Dollar Man, General Hospital, Ryan's Hope, Days of Our Lives, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Spin City, Sports Night, Lou Grant, Hill Street Blues, Cheers, Frasier, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Little House on the Prairie, Full House, Another World, Santa Barbara, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, Dallas, Titans, Friends, Seinfeld, Will and Grace, Ned and Stacey, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, CSI, CSI:Miami, The West Wing, ER, LA Law, Moonlighting, Family Ties, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Three's Company, Taxi, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, the Dukes of Hazzard, the Donny and Marie Show, The Rockford Files, The Girl With Something Extra, The Cosby Show, St. Elsewhere, Roseanne, Adam-12, Dragnet, Barnaby Jones, The Carol Burnett Show, My Three Sons, The Partridge Family, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy, The A-Team, Real People, All In The Family, Sanford and Son, M*A*S*H, Newhart, The Bob Newhart Show, The Rookies, Chico and the Man, Police Woman, Starsky and Hutch, One Day At A Time, Welcome Back, Kotter, Eight is Enough, Barney Miller, Vega$, Mork and Mindy, Alice, CHiPS, That's Incredible!, House Calls, Flo, Trapper John, MD, WKRP in Cincinnati, Benson, Different Strokes, Hart to Hart, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, Dynasty, Simon and Simon, 9 to 5, Kate and Allie, Hotel, Guiding Light, Night Court, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Remington Steele, Diff'rent Strokes, Who's the Boss, Golden Girls, Growing Pains, Valerie/Valerie’s Family/The Hogan Family, My Sister Sam, A Different World, The Wonder Years, My Two Dads, Mad About You, Dear John, Coach, Empty Nest, Anything But Love, Partners, Head of the Class, NYPD Blue, Doogie Howser, MD, Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, Wings, Hearts Afire, Evening Shade, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Lois and Clark, 21 Jump Street, Ellen, Cybill, Firefly, Angel, Chicago Hope, Gilmore Girls, American Idol, Sex and the City, Manchild, Coupling, Lucky, Queer as Folk, The Sopranos, DC, 24, Ed, The Shield, Alias, American Dreams, Presidio Med, Scrubs, Mister Sterling, John Doe, Fastlane, MDs., The Incredible Hulk

I don't say this because I am particularly proud. There are certainly better things that I could have been doing with my time. I say this so that the following statement will be meaningful, will have weight. I say this so that you will take me seriously when I say--

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the best show that I have ever seen.

It was the best written, best acted, smartest, funniest, most heartbreaking, most romantic, scariest, wildest, most gruesome, most challenging, most awe-inspiring, most engaging, most thought-provoking, most...it was the most everything.

I said a few weeks ago that I get frustrated with I am unable to be as eloquent as I want to be in this venue and this is a case of that. I want to say so much about this brilliant cast, this brilliant writing team, that brilliant Joss Whedon. But whatever I say, won't be enough. There aren't words big enough for how good this show was. And there aren't words big enough for how much I will miss it.

I have some thoughts about the finale, but since they are spoilery and I am sure that more people than me have TiVo, I'm hiding them.

OK, the finale. Overall, I thought it was quite good. Specifically, (+) things I liked, and (-) things I didn't:

(+) Slayers, slayers, everywhere slayers. There are those that are calling this a deus ex machina, a cheap contrivance to put a bullet in the head of an ill-conceived and poorly-paced season. I disagree. To quote my favorite watcher, I thought it was bloody brilliant, on a show level and on a meta level because it now allows for many, many stories to be told within the slayer framework. It allows the franchise to grow in exciting new directions. And it allows Buffy to still be a hot chick with superpowers, which is always of the good. Kudos on the twistiest of the plot twists.

(+) Faith and the Principal. OK, first, a big shout out to Robin Wood for being a principal that survived an apocolypse at Sunnydale High. Been a while since that happened. And let's hope that he has more surprises for Faith ahead--if the proposed spinoff comes to fruition, what a great watcher he would be.

(-) Anya/Xander. OK, I was expecting her to go. Frankly, I thought that she was at risk the entire season. I thought that Xander's reaction was a little stoic. I mean, I guess that there's a certain adrenaline rush that accompanies saving the world and I am sure that watching the town you grew up in get literally sicked into the mouth of Hell is a little hard to process, but still. I thought that it was a little too easy. If you look at the early draft of the shooting script that is floating around the Internet, that line was apparently originally Anya's--talking about a dead Xander--and it rings truer for her.

(+) Giles. Good to finally see Giles being Giles. For most of the season, Giles was so poorly written that I feared that he was some sort of corporeal agent of the first, sent to engender chaos and dissent. He put inappropriate pressure on Buffy and was uniquely useless. But he--or rather Joss--found his voice last night and made me remember why I used to love him so much.

(+/-)Angel.Who was that, exactly, that David Boreanaz was playing? Cause it wasn't Angel. Maybe Angel's jocular cousin, Rufus. But not Angel. Angel was never--never, never, never--that relaxed. Never much with the joke-making. He was playing it so fast and loose that there that he actually reminded me more of a fluffy-puppy Angelus than Angel. And that scene about the soul--"I started it--the whole having a soul"--was hysterically funny, yes, but so out of character that it was startling to me. Also, for those of us that watch that other show, I am happy to see that Angel's deep and abiding love for Cordelia lasted at least as long as it took the slayer to lean in for a smooch. Six months ago she was his great love, now she's in a coma and he's making time with the Slayer, all china-pattern picking out. Hmph.

However, having said that, it was important that Angel be there for a couple of reasons, and neither of them are because I think that David Boreanaz is the hottest man on the planet. First, Joss had said that he wanted to give Buffy and Angel fans some closure and I think that he did that pretty well. He also opened up the possibility of a happy ending down the road for them. And then he had him leave--and that was what he should have done, because this show isn't about him anymore. There may be more story to tell for these two, but it needs to be told on the other show.

(+)Spike Well. That was impressive, with the big beam of light and the sucking of Sunnydale into the hellmouth. It provides an interesting counterpoint to Becoming, part II. In that episode, the evil Spike saved the world, or at least helped. This time, good, soul-having Spike ended the world, or at least his little corner of it.

I was also confused as to why Spike told Buffy that she didn't love him, when all indications are that she does. I personally think that he was trying to lessen the gravity of the moment, trying to not have to think about being loved back by his slayer, so that he could concentrate on his task--becoming a champion, possibly sacrificing the life that he has worked to build to achieve the redemption that he craves. If he were loved by the slayer, he might be tempted to give in--to throw in a "Last Temptation of Christ" metaphor, he might be tempted to come off the cross to make a life with his girl. So he pushes her away--and saves the world.

(+) Willow Loved the hair. Loved it. Also loved that she was forced to face her demons head on and that she came out the other side unharmed. My Willow has been harmed enough. I still hate Kennedy, though. Willow needs to find a better girlfriend.

(+) BuffyThe main theme of the show, from the beginning, has been Buffy balancing her calling with her desire to be a normal girl. From "The Gift", 44 episodes ago:

The vamp turns to dust. Buffy drops the makeshift stake and stares at the pile of dust as the boy continues to cower in the background.

BUFFY: Wow. Been a long while since I met one who didn't know me.

She turns to go, pauses and looks at the kid.

BUFFY: You should get home.

She begins walking back toward the door she came out of.

KID: H-how'd you do that?

Angle on Buffy's back as she walks toward the door. She doesn't turn or stop as she replies.
BUFFY: It's what I do.
KID: But you're ... you're just a girl.

Buffy pauses in the doorway.
BUFFY: That's what *I* keep saying.

And so, now, the slayer gets to rest. And apparently make herself into a plate of cookies. Whatever. She's earned it. Perfect ending for my girl. Perfect.

And so it ends.

Posted by Lori at May 21, 2003 10:45 PM