1. Strong women--The basis for this show was to shatter stereotypes of the meek and helpless females present in so many TV shows and movies, and what better way than with a hero who is a young, smart, beautiful woman who kicks some major ass?
2. The metaphor--high school (and life) is hell...oh so true, and oh so cleverly done.
3. Willow & Tara--the most realistic portrayal of a committed, loving gay relationship between two characters that has ever been done on television to date.
4. Willow Rosenberg--so much of myself in that wonderfully nerdy character...
5. Brilliant dialogue to die for--so fresh...any show that is able to spawn its own language ("slayer slang," "Buffyisms") and change the lexicon is great.
6. It's funny as hell.
7. It will break your heart.
8. It is able to be and do both at the same time, and not seem contrived or cheesy. (See previous #6 & #7)
9. Alyson Hannigan. 'Nuff said.
10. David Boreanaz's dad is my weatherman--6 ABC, WPVI Philadelphia--Dave Roberts rocks.
11. Extra Flamey candles.
12. Jane Espenson cracks me up.
13. The show treats its viewers as...smart. From pop culture to classic literature, the writers are never afraid to make reference to any subject, and they never assume we won't understand.
14. False British accents--this show has more fake Brits than any other...even the real limey is using an accent that isn't his own! (Giles just wouldn't sound stuffy enough with Anthony Stewart Head's real accent...) And, to the casual observer, who would guess that James Marsters, Juliet Landau, and Alexis Denisof were Yanks through and through?
15. "The Buffyverse." What kind of minds can create a mythology as intricate and elaborate as the one on "Buffy?" Brilliant.
16. Continuity--the show and its characters have a past and a history within themselves...and they remember it...and reference it...often. That shows a true respect for the rabidly loyal fans among us. Very cool.
17. The cheese guy.
18. Friendships that last--and friends that accept new friends into a tightly knit group. Add Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Anya, Spike, and Andrew to the mix, and the show becomes infinitely better. Try to imagine it without them...impossible.
19. Tara Maclay--what an incredible journey for a single character to take...she never became an "official" series regular, but she certainly made an indelible mark on viewer's hearts.
20. Amber Benson--guys, take a look...this is what real women look like. Gorgeous.
21. "Once More, With Feeling"--an absolute crowning glory for Joss Whedon.
22. Regular people don't get the show. They don't get it. They can't get past its name. But, then again, if they can't see the satire there, they shouldn't be watching.
23. Demon names--love them!
24. Vengeance demon Anyanka becomes Anya...then back to Anyanka...and then back to Anya...and gives us one of the funniest characters on the show. She says what we are all thinking--and gets away with it.
25. The Gentlemen. Scary as all hell.
26. Buffy died. Twice. And it still wasn't enough to stop her.
27. Insane troll logic.
28. Awesome music--consistently fresh, always new, and frequently heavy on the chick tunes.
29. Faith--slayer gone bad. She is the perfect foil for Buffy, everything she stands for, and everything she cannot be.
30. Seasons 4 and 5.
31. We finally learned the fate of Miss Kitty Fantastico and can now implement the following equation:
Dawn + crossbow = No more kitty.
32. The many incarnations of Willow--Seasons 1 & 2 introduced us to the bookishly mousy, shy computer geek Willow, complete with unrequited love for Xander. Season 3 begins Willow's attempt at emerging from her shell: Oz enters the picture as a boyfriend; Vamp Willow arrives twice and foreshadows things to come in Season 4 ("It's horrible! That's me as a vampire! I'm so evil and skanky...and I think I'm kinda gay."). Seasons 4 and 5 become Willow's break out years: starting college, gaining more power with the magicks, finding a true love and Sapphic soulmate in Tara, and getting a sassy new shorter haircut--very cute. Season 6 reveals the darker side of Will as she battles her addiction to magic and copes with the death of her partner, Tara, by killing Warren and almost ending the world. Evil veiny Willow kicks some serious ass.
33. *sigh* That leather duster... *swoons*
34. "The Body"--easily one of the most powerful hours of television ever made. No music; only sparse dialogue and some incredibly inspired acting. Sarah Michelle Gellar turns in an amazing performance, but it is her supporting cast--most notably Alyson Hannigan, Amber Benson, and especially Emma Caulfield--that punctuates the emotion of this episode.
35. The tumor--while normally, this would not seem to be a very positive aspect of anything, this particular tumor brought me some of my favorite "Buffy" moments. First of all, it rid the show of one of my least favorite characters, Joyce. Secondly, it provided a platform for some of the best writing and directing (Joss), as well as acting that the show has ever done. (see previous #34)
36. Death is never final on "Buffy."
37. Andrew Wells won me over. I never thought that I would get over his involvement in Tara's death...he has proven himself to be worthy of redemption. He makes me laugh, usually harder than I should.
38. Lickable freckles.
39. "Tabula Rasa"--one of the funniest, and also, most heart-breaking episodes. "Tabula Rasa" gave us the hilarious engagement of Anya and Giles, self-proclaimed Joan the Vampire Slayer, and prodigal son, Randy Giles, all in the same episode as the gut-wrenchingly traumatic break-up of Willow and Tara. (Michelle Branch's "Goodbye to You" will never sound the same again after this episode.)
40. The bad-ass side of Giles: who knew that beneath that librarian's exterior there lay "Ripper?"
41. Early seasons Spike--sooooooo bad...but sooooooo good.
42. Drusilla--delightfully insane and evil, and one of the most entertaining characters on the show.
43. Redemption comes with a hefty price tag. This has been shown time and time again in many ways--take Angel, Spike, Anya, Faith and Andrew, for just a few examples.
44. Different colored pens--Willow volunteers to stop by the Magic Box in between classes to make sure all is well during Giles' sojourn to meet with the Watchers' Council in England. Her commentary reminds me of myself: "I usually use that time to copy over my class notes using a system of different colored pens, but it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know, insane."
45. "I said 'quirky.'"--Tara's sweet response to Willow. (see previous #44)
46. Glory--Season 5's Big Bad. Definitely the most entertaining of all the Big Bads. What's better than a diva goddess who sucks out people's brains while trying to break down the barriers between dimensions and unleash hell on earth?
47. Hilarious phobias--Willow's "I have frog fear,"and Anya's fear of bunnies--"they aren't just cute like everybody supposes; they've got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses..."
48. Burning love--one of the greatest scenes of the show came early on in its history, and was echoed in its series finale. In the Season 1 episode "Angel," Buffy and Angel decide that they can never have a relationship, and share one last smoldering kiss. As the two pull apart from each other and Buffy walks away, the camera pans back to reveal Angel's chest, and the fresh burn, in the shape of the crucifix Buffy wears on the necklace around her neck--which was given to her by Angel. A highly symbolic scene, which blatantly foreshadows the doomed future of the relationship between the slayer and her (first) vampire with a soul. Likewise, in the series finale, "Chosen," as Spike is about to sacrifice himself to save the world, Buffy clasps his hand, fingers entwined with his, and finally tells him that she loves him, all the while, their hands engulfed in flames as the sunlight begins to burn Spike.
49. The monster of the week--during Buffy's early years, every week was a new demon, creature or vampire to be defeated. The demons that the slayer faced were obviously symbolic of our own personal demons, and of so many of the problems that we face in our everyday lives.
50. "The Scooby Gang"--a term coined by Xander to describe the evil-fighting group led by Buffy, because just like on "Scooby Doo," the bad guys may have gotten away with it, if not for "those meddling kids." The Scoobies were what made Buffy different from other slayers--she had friends. And from her friends, she drew strength, as we saw in the next-to-last episode of Season 4, "Primeval" when Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander combined their essences to create a "super slayer" who possessed the qualities of each.
51. The Library--the headquarters of the Slayer and her Watcher, also, conveniently located directly on top of the Hellmouth, and therefore, the scene of more than one near-apocalypse.
52. The love/hate relationship between Willow and Anya--the banter between these two is priceless.
53. The ambiguously gay Andrew--is he or isn't he? We know that Scott Bakula's Captain Archer makes him swoon, but is it just the über-nerd coming out? Or is it something else? Most likely, we will never know, but we can continue to delight in our speculation for years to come.
54. Angelus--for as much as everyone loves sweet, soulful, brooding, and perpetually unhappy Angel, it is hard not to love his evil counterpart, Angelus even more. Deliciously evil, having lost his soul to one moment of true happiness, Angelus devised some of the most sadistic and torturous schemes ever to appear on "Buffy."
55. There is a Hellmouth in Cleveland.
56. The improving special effects over the years--Season 1's vamps just kind of "poofed" when they got staked and couldn't even morph from human to vamp face and back. Now, after 7 years, the series ends with an army of thousands of turok han's, and Buffy jumping from rooftop to rooftop as Sunnydale crumbles behind her.
57. The Murder of Jenny Calendar--Perhaps the most twisted, psychotic and painful to watch of all of Angleus' crimes. After snapping her neck, Angelus does not feed on Ms. Calendar (an act which proves this murder was for no reason other than to kill); rather, he carefully places her lifeless body in Giles' bed, and orchestrates what Giles believes to be a romantic night of reconciliation, but which turns out to be something more horrific than anyone could possibly imagine.
58. The Troika--Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew--the funniest group of evildoers around.
59. Even after Tara's death, Willow was still gay. For as much as we all hated Joss for killing Tara, we have to admire the fact that Joss made the commitment to remain true to the character and her path in life. Fans clamored for the return of "straight Willow," but just as Willow herself once said to Tara during their first argument, it wasn't just some "college thing, just a little experimentation before I get over the thrill and head back to boys' town."
60. "Fool for Love"--Buffy's quest to hone her skills finally reveals Spike's tortured life as a human, as well as his evolution into one of the most insidious and nefarious vampires to walk the earth, when he explains to her how he killed two previous slayers.
61. The Mayor--obsessive over germs, Mr. Rogers personality, father-figure to Faith, and a hundreds-of-years-old giant snake waiting for his day of ascension.
62. All vampires know Martial Arts fighting techniques.
63. "Under Your Spell"--a truly beautiful love song that Tara sings to Willow in the musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling."
64. "The Wish"--when Cordelia wishes Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, Anyanka grants her wish, and the alternate world controlled by The Master--where Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander are his top goons, and Angel is "the puppy"--becomes reality. A glimpse inside a world without Buffy...thank goodness we don't have to know what that is like.
65. Lots of opportunity for "shirtless Spike" and "quasi-naked Spike"
66. During Season 7's "Selfless," Willow finally finds out that Xander lied to Buffy during Season 2's finale in which Buffy must kill Angelus.
Buffy: You remember cheering me on? Both of you? You remember giving me Willow's message: "Kick his ass?"
Willow: I never said--
Xander: This is different.
67. Buffy kills Angel--After the incredible killing spree at the end of Season 2 and a final battle between Angelus and Buffy, Angelus has managed to summon the Demon Acathala, and open the gate to hell. Buffy knows that she is forced to kill Angelus in order to close the gateway, destroying the demonic being that once was her one true love. As Buffy is about to drive a sword through his heart, Angelus shudders and is convulsed by a mysterious energy. It is at that precise moment that novice wiccan Willow is able to (from her hospital bed) complete the spell to restore Angelus' soul, and Buffy is once again in the presence of Angel. The gateway has already been opened, however, and Buffy realizes that in order to save the world (again) she has no choice but to finish what has been begun. With that, she tells Angel that she loves him, kisses him tenderly, and tells him to close his eyes... Tears streaming down her face, she plunges the sword through his chest, closing the gate to hell, and sending her true love into the dimension as well. This is easily one of the most emotionally charged scenes in the series 7-year history.
68. Nerf Herder closes out the Bronze--how fitting that the last band to EVER play at the Bronze is the band that opened the show with its theme song for all 7 seasons.
69. "Who Are You?"--tremendous performances from Sarah Michelle Gellar and Eliza Dushku as...each other. This was the terrific body-switching episode from Season 4. To watch SMG playing Faith (who is pretending to be Buffy), and Eliza playing Buffy (who everyone THINKS is Faith) is wonderful. These two have each other mastered, right down to SMG's facial expressions and Eliza's Buffy-esque pushing her hair away from her face.
70. Buffy encounters one of the Goddesses who forged the Scythe and the following exchange takes place:
Goddess: You pulled it out of the rock. I was one of those who put it in there, and don't think that was easy.
Buffy: What is it?
Goddess: Weapon. A scythe. We forged it in secrecy for one like you, who... (She stops, smiles at Buffy, still holding the scythe.) I'm sorry, what's your name?
Buffy: Buffy.
Goddess: No, really.
Buffy can only shrug in response. Gotta love that self-deprecating humor.
71. "Hush"--23 minutes of dialogue-free "Buffy." A HUGE challenge for a show that is known for its witty dialogue--and ironically the episode was the first (and only) "Buffy" nominated for a major Emmy category: Best Writing.
72. Female empowerment--the final "Buffy" comes full circle by taking the theme of the entire series to its fruition: what was once "one girl in all the world" becomes girls all over the world. Buffy makes the decision to take the power bestowed upon her by the Shadowmen all those years ago, and have the most powerful WOMAN in the world (Willow) share the wealth and give it to all potential slayers right at that moment. No more waiting. No more "one slayer dies, and another is called." And most importantly, no more alone.
73. The Mutant Enemy Monster--Grr...argh.
74. The Bronze--Why couldn't my town have a cool place like that when I was growing up?
75. A shout out--"to my brother, Tucker, who inspired me to summon demons..." Oh, Andrew.
76. "Cult" status--it meant that "Buffy" gave all of us the equivalent of a global "secret handshake." Only other "Buffy" viewers understood the lingo and the intricacies of the show. And of course, only other viewers could know what a hidden treasure the series was.
77. Xander paid for Cordelia's prom dress when her father's tax fraud caused her to lose everything and made her unable to afford the dress she wanted so badly.
78. Oz's Halloween costume--a simple stick-on name tag that read: "Hello, my name is...GOD."
79. Willow, Xander, and Anya LOUDLY eating snack chips in the graveyard while patrolling with Riley.
80. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"--a wonderful commentary on how awful it can be to be in high school. The quiet kid in school...the one who no one notices, gets back at everyone. She literally disappears because she has never been noticed by anyone, and orchestrates a plan to get back at all of the beautiful people who have ignored her over the years. Specifically, she goes after Cordelia. Can we even call this a metaphor when the message is this blatant?
81. Nerds can be heroes, too. Who saves the world time and time again? The "weird" kids: Willow, Xander and Buffy.
82. The "sassy" side of Willow--Seasons 4-7 brought out a MUCH more open Willow. Unafraid to make use of double-entendre, Willow's realization and acceptance of her sexuality brought out a much more confident and sultry character. In Season 6's "Life Serial," Buffy brings home a bucket of fried chicken for dinner. Willow's reply is half to the gang, half to Tara. "I'm a breast gal, myself...(to Tara)...but then again, you already knew that." (An exchange of sexy looks follows.) And in "Chosen," the Season 7 series finale, Willow is unafraid to make reference to the sexual side of her life with Kennedy: "It's a total loss of control--and not in a nice, wholesome 'my girlfriend has a pierced tongue' kind of way."
83. Spike lips--lips of Spike!
84. Humble, geek-infested roots.
85. Giles' drunken response to hearing the revelation that Willow and Tara are girlfriends in "The Yoko factor."--"Oh, bloody hell..."
86. Harmony has minions.
87. The sight of Spike chained up in Giles bathtub, sipping blood through a straw from a mug that reads "Kiss the Librarian."
88. Willow's "My Will Be Done" spell gone awry--In Season 4's "Something Blue," while mourning the departure of Oz, a despondent Willow casts a spell which causes her every wish to come true as she unknowingly causes Giles to go blind, Xander to become a literal demon magnet, and Buffy and Spike to get engaged. The spell wreaks so much havoc (and hilarity) that D'Hoffryn actually offers Willow Anya's old job as vengeance demon.
89. Willowhand.
90. Anya's speech from "The Body"--she questions the Scoobs about what to expect when they go to the hospital to be with Buffy after Joyce has died. The speech is one of the most heart wrenching pieces of dialogue the show has ever used, and on the surface, Anya is expressing her own confusion with the concept of mortality and why we die, but in reality, she is simply doing what she always does: speaking for us all by voicing the things that we all only think.
91. The cast--including Sarah Michelle Gellar--did all their own vocals for the musical episode. Some had to learn to sing (SMG, Nick Brendon), some already knew how and were experienced (Anthony Stewart Head, James Marsters, Amber Benson), and one preferred not to sing much at all (Alyson Hannigan hates the sound of her own voice, and asked to NOT have a Willow song), but everyone participated and they all were troupers in their own ways.
92. "Angel, meet Riley...Riley, Angel." When Buffy's men meet each other for the first time, it results in fists connecting with faces. Buffy breaks up the fight and tells Riley that she wants to speak to Angel--alone. Riley responds in typical male fashion, telling Buffy, "I'm not leaving this room. I mean it." Without even speaking a word, Buffy and Angel leave the room, and step out in the hallway to talk, leaving Riley smoldering in the dorm room alone, muttering to himself, "Not moving a muscle."
93. Spike's love for the campy daytime drama, "Passions"
94. Buffy's terrific Season 5 speech telling off the Watchers Council and Quentin Travers in "Checkpoint"
95. The 1,000+ year transformation of Swiss maid, Aud into Anya Christina Emmanuela Jenkins depicted in the Season 7 episode "Selfless." (Special "props" go out to Emma Caulfield and Abraham Benrube for speaking fluent Swedish during the Aud flashback scenes!)
96. Willow likes to have her tummy rubbed.
97. A horny, possessed ventriloquist's dummy can be a demon hunter, too.
98. The Buffy/Faith dance at the Bronze in "Bad Girls"
99. The Scoobies banding together in "Family" to defend Tara.
Buffy: You want her, Mr. Maclay, you can go ahead and take her...You just gotta go through me...You heard me. You wanna take Tara out of here against her will, then you gotta come through me.
Mr. Maclay: This is insane! You people have no right to interfere in Tara's affairs. We are her blood kin -- who the hell are you?
Buffy: We're family.
100. Full circle. Joss showed his respect for loyal fans by referencing one of the little details in the series finale. At the end of the very first episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Season 1's "The Harvest," Giles walks away from the three babbling kids, knowing that the future of the world will be resting squarely upon their shoulders and says, "The earth is doomed." Seven years later, Joss brings us back to the beginning again. As the series finale is about to reach its climax, the Scoobies share one last scene together featuring only the original four--Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles. The group spends its final moments in Sunnydale High discussing the next day's plans in classic Buffy-esque banter--Buffy and Willow make plans to go to the mall. As the three now-grown-up kids once again head down the hallway of the school to their posts, Giles' final words in the scene are, "The Earth is DEFINITELY doomed..." Deja vu...all over again.
