# Buffy newbie--assistance please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273 "2003-01-02T21:19:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/1 "2003-01-02T21:19:52Z")
I’m considering caving and starting to watch Buffy. When is it on? Is there any particular episode I should wait for? Is there anything I should know before watching? I know absolutely nothing about the show except that the word “vampire” is in the title, and I have become intrigued. Could I get some help from an expert? ~Ferry, head spinning ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/2 "2003-01-02T21:26:22Z")
I’d recommend getting your hands on the DVDs of the first two seasons (the third comes out soon in the U.S. and may already be available in the UK). Watch the first two seasons first so you have an idea of the backstory. You can catch up on the other seasons later. After you’ve seen the first two season, just start watching Tuesday nights on [UPN](http://www.upn.com/shows/buffy/), 8 eastern/7 central. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/3 "2003-01-02T21:37:24Z")
Thanks for such a fast response. What are my chances of finding these DVDs for rent, and is that a whole lot of Buffy? I don’t want to purchase them if I won’t enjoy them and I don’t have a whole heck of a lot of free time. What would be fantabulous is if I could get a few facts and jump right in, but if I must, I’ll rent. ~Ferry ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/4 "2003-01-02T21:51:35Z")
Well, you can go to [http://www.buffyguide.com](http://www.buffyguide.com) for information. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/5 "2003-01-02T21:55:01Z")
Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). Rent if you don’t want to buy at first. Do you not have a friend that has taped them all? Where do you live? StG ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/6 "2003-01-02T22:00:28Z")
Thank you **Hastur** , I’ll check it out. ~Ferry ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/7 "2003-01-02T22:00:54Z")
If you start watching the series now, you’ll have missed all the character development, IMO. And it’s a lot darker now than it was in the first few seasons. Not sure if I would love the series if I started with Season 7. I recommend starting at the beginning as well. Here in the US you can rent the series at Blockbuster. They give you something like 4 episodes per disk so you can watch the first season in 3 rentals. That’s a $12 commitment. And if you really like them, you can buy them for $45 at [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) or just about any other place. Season 3 is out here in a few days. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/8 "2003-01-02T22:03:02Z")
Wow…I always come into these things so late. Is there anywhere that plays reruns? I get a whole lot of cable channels, so maybe I can catch up that way. ~Ferry ---
**Author:** ![IAM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58956e/32.png) [@IAM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAM)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/9 "2003-01-02T22:09:40Z")
ok…Bufy is the Vampire Slayer. One girl is picked every generation to fight vampires and all sorts of other evil. She has some super powers. She is super strong, super fast, and she heals faster than normal people. She lives in Sunnydale which is on a Hellmouth which, basically means everything evil chills here. Her friends are her sidekicks. Willow is her gay bestfriend who is a super strong witch, Xander is just a normal guy and helps however he can but he is mostly there for comedic relief, she also has a little sister named Dawn (who is also the key to the door that opens the gates of hell) but she has no powers and is mostly annoying. Dawn was not always her sister but some ancient Monks made the key into a human to hide it and keep it safe from a crazy Hell God named Glory who wanted to open the gates of hell so she could go back and be in charge and pretty much cause chaos and end the world. Glory did manage to kidnap Dawn and open the gates but Buffy sacrificed herself in order to close the gate and save the world. The next season Buffy was brought back from the dead by Willow who thought Buffy was stuck in Hell. But in reality Buffy was in Heaven. There is also Spike a vampire that is in love with Buffy who stopped being evil and helps her fight and stuff. Vampires are really strong. Because Spike is in love with Buffy he went and got a soul so he now has that tortured soul thing going. The more a slayer trains the stronger she becomes. Buffy is pretty strong now though. Oh, yeah and when a slayer dies a new one immediately is called. There is A LOT more history to it than that. But that is a quick summary to give you an idea of what is going on. \*\* FX shows Buffy reruns evernight at 6 and 7\*\* I hope that helps!!! ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/10 "2003-01-02T22:13:27Z")
Wow, **IAM** that does help. Thanks so much; I’m definitely more intrigued now than I was. ~Ferry ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/11 "2003-01-03T01:32:25Z")
You know I was just going to start watching Buff tonight. See, I have a friend and when he goes blonde people tell me he looks like Spike. My niece insists that he is. So out of curiosity I was going to view tonight but things tend to happen and I never get tv time. So, maybe I will coerce him into renting and watching the first few seasons with me. That sounds like a great idea. Are they really into season seven? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/12 "2003-01-03T02:31:54Z")
They’re playing the beginning of Season 2 now…School Hard was on tonight. If you want to start watching, now is an excellent time. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/13 "2003-01-03T02:34:05Z")
I wouldn’t read **IAM’s** response too carefully, since it basically spoils the whole series. Useful, yes, but not necessary, since if you start from the beginning it’s pretty easy to follow. Try not to miss any episodes though. The continuing storyline is pretty involved. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/14 "2003-01-03T03:55:44Z")
If you see anything that doesn’t make sense . . . Last season it was revealed that Buffy is actually insane, comatose in a L.A mental hospital, and the entire series is all in her head. Because she could not deal with reality, she made herself into a super-hero in her mind. A demon’s poison allowed Buffy to slip in and out of reality. At first, she decided to become sane, which would entail killing her friends in the Sunnydale dream world. She found that she could not do it, and that she wanted to stay in her dream world where she was powerful. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/15 "2003-01-03T04:24:11Z")
Except it seems pretty clear from context that was all an illusion. It was a metaphor for Buffy’s struggle within herself…to give up or keep fighting. She’s not really crazy, there isn’t an alt reality, and that’s not how the series is going to end. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/16 "2003-01-03T06:09:32Z")
Are you sure, \*\* pepperlandgirl? \*\* The last scene of the episode shows Buffy in the mental hospital. She smiles at her mother, says goodbye, and her head lolls back as she goes back into catatonia. Her mother weeps as the doctor says, “We’ve lost her.” Credits roll. This is after Buffy rescues her friends from the demon. I always took that to mean that the L.A hospital is reality. Secondly, the doctor in the mental hospital tells Buffy that she came out of her catatonia once before for a long period of time, when she “died.” They almost cured her, but she slipped back into the Sunnydale world. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/17 "2003-01-03T07:22:54Z")
I doubt it very much **Lissa** , and I’ll rewatch the ep tomorrow to see what I can find. But you ahve to kind of wonder why ME would do that. The whole _point_ of BtVS is that Buffy is an unlikey hero and it’s about female empowerment. (GRRRRL power if youwill. ) Why would Joss decided after six years to send a message that “No female can really be a superhero. You’d have to be insane to believe that a woman could save the Earth from certain destructionand the tortures of hell.” It’s not a very positive message and it’s pretty much the ANTI-Joss ideal. ---
**Author:** ![jeevmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jeevmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeevmon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/18 "2003-01-03T16:03:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\*Are you sure, \*\* pepperlandgirl? \*\* The last scene of the episode shows Buffy in the mental hospital. She smiles at her mother, says goodbye, and her head lolls back as she goes back into catatonia. Her mother weeps as the doctor says, “We’ve lost her.” Credits roll. This is after Buffy rescues her friends from the demon. I always took that to mean that the L.A hospital is reality. > > Secondly, the doctor in the mental hospital tells Buffy that she came out of her catatonia once before for a long period of time, when she “died.” They almost cured her, but she slipped back into the Sunnydale world. \*\* My theory on that episode is that Sunnydale and the L.A. hospital were in alternate realities (kind of like the Buffyless Sunnydale in “The Wish” and “Dopplegangerland”), and that the demon’s poison somehow affected the brain in a way that made it possible for Buffy to see and experience things in the other world. Glory’s brain-suck may have had similar effects, since brain-sucked people could see Dawn in a way that the non-brain-sucked people could not. Insanity may also be a similar phenomenon in the ME world generally, i.e., the ability to randomly perceive things from other realities. So, both worlds were real. When Buffy overcame the poison in “her” reality, she stopped perceiving it. Insane Buffy from the other world, who could already see all of that stuff, was finally traumatized to the point where she went catatonic. It’s just a theory, though. ---
**Author:** ![bristlesage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@bristlesage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bristlesage)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/19 "2003-01-03T16:52:27Z")
On an unrelated note: at [Buffyguide.com](http://Buffyguide.com), on the [credits](http://www.buffyguide.com/extras/credits.shtml) page, they mention Nancy. [sub]That’s me. Not much to brag about, but I’m doin’ it anyway.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273/20 "2003-01-03T17:30:47Z")
Wow…that’s a lot to take in… Well, I’m going to try to catch the 6p Buffy on FX ~Ferry [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-newbie-assistance-please/146273.md?page=2)