The "Buffy" Eulogy Thread

Cafe Society
1

Let this thread not serve as a rehacking of the finale, or of how much we liked/didn’t like Season 7.

Let this instead be a place where fans of the show can talk about all the good things about it, the things we’ll miss.

It’s funny… I actually feel a sense of loss over something as ultimately trivial as a TV show. But this one, I always felt, was speaking to me. I’m male, so the “girl power” message wasn’t directed at me, but the message that being dorky, nerdy, and a bit of an outcast can actually be a good thing resonated with me so much, in every episode I watched.

I saw a little bit of me in Xander with every episode. Especially one scene, one or two seasons ago where he said:

“It’s like we’re in NORAD and it’s DefCon 1 … quizzical stares from all the Scoobettes… I really need to hang out with guys more.”

That’s so me. To a tee.

It goes beyond one character, of course. I think one of the amazing things this show pulled off is that it, for the first time, provided guys with female characters so strong that they were heros to us, not just female viewers. There are times where I’ve found myself wishing I had the qualities that Buffy or Willow or others had. I can’t think of any other show or story or anything that has done that.

And damn could the writing be good, even (especially) in an episode with hardly any dialogue at all. Few other shows were so well written and acted that I felt like the characters were real people and would actually talk to them while they were on screen, urging them on, yelling at them, or giving them advice. They were like friends to me. Not coincidentally, they were like my friends in real life.

So, thanks Buffy for seven great years. You made for some great television. A lot.

2

Xander was great. You know, he was in every episode of the series, aside for “Conversations with Dead People.” And he never got old, unlike some undead creeps who never took a hint and kept hanging around.

I also really liked Andrew, he was a great addition to the team this year. A lot like early-season Xander, only, ya know, gay and not nearly as self-confident.

The Scoobs always reminded me of my friends, too. Aside from the super powers, of course.

3

I will definitely miss Willow. She is the whole reason why I watched the show. I identify with her like you do with Xander, SNenc.

I’ll miss the fabulous repartee and the attention to continuity. I don’t know if any show will ever be as fresh and unusual as Buffy was, not even AtS (certainly not because it sucks - it doesn’t - but because it has an entirely different “vibe”).

I’ll miss the beautiful relationships between characters and the overwhelming friendship they had, it’s so much like my friends and I. The core scoobies loved one another. Their loyalty was unwavering. They were a family that they had chosen for themselves. I suppose that’s what I’ll miss the most.

4

Given that it was my favorite TV show ever, there are many things I love about Buffy.

But my favorite thing: this show talked like I do! (Or at least like I like to imagine that I do.) That’s no mean feat, given that Joss was making up the slang as he went along.

Characters were smart and quippy and dripping with pop culture references that didn’t always make sense to their friends. And every character, witty as they were, talked a bit different from every other character.

It’s one of the things I miss in Angel. It’s well-written, but that’s not the same thing at all.

5

The villians are what made the show for me. Ok, maybe not Adam, but…

It’s easy in a show like that to make the villians stereotypical bad guys, and Buffy does have some of that…you’ve got a bunch of vampires that are just cannon fodder, but you also have some endearing, if evil villians. The Master, Spike and Dru, Angelus, the mayor…they’re all distinct characters with their own personalities and quirks.

6

“And, guys…watch the swearing.”

The mayor says this in the finale to the third season. It sums him up so much. He was great.

7

"Two words –

Miniature golf."

I still miss the mayor.

It was Buffy all the way for me. She’s my hero. I want to be a hot chick with super powers, but now that I’m 50, that’s probably not going to happen for me. But Buffy will always be The Gal I Wish I Could Be.

I’ll miss her, and all the Scooby gang.

8

God, where to start? I got into watching Buffy late (last year), so it’s been a whirlwind courtship. I realize that the show was on shaky ground, thematically, but I still relished every episode.

I think I will miss Spike the most. There was so much controversy over his redemption, but I always saw his struggle (pre-soul) not so much about some esoteric redemption per se, like Angel’s, but more a struggle to be loved, to be worthy of love. The episode where we find out about his mother really illuminated for me why he was so desperate to be tough, but simultaneously desperate to be someone’s beloved. Unrequited love, when depicted well, is one of the most poignant themes, and James Marsters NEVER let me down in his rendering of the angst of Spike. Truly a great tragic figure whose end was almost as good as he deserved.

That said, there were so many moments whose equal I’ve never scene on TV: Buffy saying “Mommy?” in The Body, for instance, made me weep more than a scene on TV ever has. I could probably list twenty more moments of devastating effectiveness that I’ll never forget. The pathos was balanced, however, but moments of humor just as devastating; this note-perfect mix of horror, romance, and hilarity was a patented Buffy formula.

Even when Buffy was at her most unappealing, I always felt for her and her utter loneliness. Any qualms I had about the finale aside, at least Buffy isn’t alone anymore. She goes in my hall of fame with Dana Scully and Xena as heroines for a post-modern generation of girls facing a dark world alone… but not really alone… because they have their friends. I can’t think of a better crew to face the darkness with than Willow, Xander, and Giles (the father I think we all wish we could have had…).

OK, I think this is enough eulogizing for me. I’m getting weepy at my own prolixity.

9

It was a show unafraid to be erudite.

As “The Gift” unfolds, Buffy ends her motivational speech by warning everyone that she’ll kill anyone who comes near Dawn. Spike wryly observes that it was not exactly the St Crispin’s Day speech… Giles obliges with, “We few… we chosen few…” and Spike retorts, “We band of buggered.”

It was a show unafraid to break convention and kill off a regular.

It was a show unafraid to let us laugh as we’re crying and cry as we’re laughing. It was a show willing to punch hard in the gut… I still remember how heartbreaking “The Body” was when the phone operator asks Buffy about the body being, and she childishly replies, “Not the body - my mom.”

It was a show that gave us all a touch of a secret fantasy lived. (Willow impishly to Xander: “Force is OK.”)

It was the best show of the past few years. I miss it.

10

I’m going to tell myself this thread isn’t more popular because I posted it a little late so people just missed it before it was exiled to the second page. Because I know there are more fans on here than what’s posted

But, mods, I promise, this will be the only time I do this.

bump

11

I came for the hot chicks, stayed for the writing and characters.

During high school, I was pretty much half Xander (sadly, this was the “uncool” half we saw in “The Replacement”) and half season 1-2 Willow. Identifying this closely really made the show enjoyable. We cared for these weekly visitors, making their defeats and eventual victories that much more moving.

One-off extras became serious characters. The hapless freshman almost eaten by Inca mummy girl and Cordy’s puppy dog at the end of “Reptile Boy” became the Jonathan we knew and loved.

Strange ideas for episodes almost always worked. Not have dialog for 50-75% of the ep? Nominated for an Emmy. An all-singing, all-dancing musical? Also nominated, and when it was “accidently” left off the original ballot, a great wailing ensued. Plus the petitions for the release of the soundtrack. And I think there are still analyses being done on the hidden meanings in “Restless”. :slight_smile:

The villians were always well done. Who didn’t enjoy Mayor Wilkins pure joy in evildoing, Spike’s anarchic streak, Dru’s insane non-sequitors, or Adam’s Data-like demenor?

And speaking of villians, ME always toyed with us, having friends become enemies (Jonathen, Amy, Ben), enemies become friends (Anya, Spike, Andrew), and friends become enemies then back again (Faith, Angel, Giles in “Helpless”).

Horror movie cliches were constantly mocked, starting with the show’s basic premise (young blonde girls named Buffy are usually the first to get eaten by the monster). Dracula’s “flashy gypsy tricks” were looked down on by most vamps. Oz was a valuable member of the team, except for the 3 nights a month when he was “not so nice to be around”. Halloween is considered “tacky” by real creatures of the night. The world domination plan of the personification of Evil involves having a bunch of vamps kill people (ok, cheap shot :slight_smile: ).

Finally, for the most part, it was the sense of actual growth, change, and continuity that kept me coming back week after week. This isn’t a series that can be syndicated in any old order like most shows. Episodes from any two seasons can almost immediately be distinguished just by the characterization alone. Confident, take-charge Xander is going to be 5th+, soft spoken Willow 2nd-.

I had a “relationship” with Buffy that was longer than with any woman I’ve dated, and I will be sorry to see her go. The show always made me laugh, occasionally made me think, and sometimes made me cry. I raise my toast of foamy beer to all the Scoobies; may you always find the answers in the Book of Toth, and may your enemies dust on your stakes.

12

Wow, I’m not sure I could say anything more beautiful than what everyone’s said already. But I’ll try!

Buffy, to me, meant an evening’s respite from all the other horrible tv shows, an evening where I could laugh like a teenager, learn new phrases and ways of the speaking :), cry like a baby, and understand cultural jokes that only an adult could get. It was the show that appealed to me on all levels.

I didn’t start watching till sometime in the second season, but I was quickly hooked. The emotional highs and lows have meant more to me than some of my own personal issues - which is kind of sad, really. But I think we’ve all learned something from the show, especially about the importance of friends, how people aren’t always what they seem, and that grrls kick butt! :slight_smile:

I hadn’t thought of it till I read your comments, sciguy, but you’re right, there was actual growth and change over the 7 years, and not changes like “Oh, Kelly has a drug problem, but it’ll be gone by next week.” - real palpable, human change, similar to what we go though in our daily lives. (OK, just with a few less demons!)

A few others have mentioned the continuity, and that’s one of the other things I loved about it. They were always referencing back to previous episodes, either in a joking way, or in a prophetic way, and both were equally as fun to catch, and analyze. But you didn’t have to catch them, the show made sense, and was fun even if you didn’t “get” those inside jokes.

It’s a show that made me turn off the phone, and ignore the doorbell, even if I was taping the show - I didn’t want to miss a single second, whether it would be funny, or sad, or shocking. Sometimes, it was all three.

I am sad that it’s gone, but I don’t think it’s really hit me yet either. I think if they’d done a big “end of the series” thing, it would have hit me more, but the way it ended was just like the end of a season.

So, I don’t have to say goodbye, I’ll just say “I’ll see you in June, when I’m going to buy Season 4. And I’ll see you whenever every other season comes out, so that I can see Buffy and the gang whenever I want …”

Tuesday nights won’t be the same, that’s for sure …

13

I first started watching Buffy when my sister asked me if she should let her 7 year old daughter watch. Never having watched, I tuned in to the first episode of the second season, with Willow and Xander and the ice cream on Willow’s nose. And I stayed. Now almost 6 years later, I am going to miss this show so much. Yes, I’m getting the DVDs - but it’s not the same. What am I going to do on Tuesdays?