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Joss Whedon is either revered by rabidly loyal fans or reviled by people who don’t get what all the fuss is about. There is very little in between.
Until about 7 years ago, I was in the latter, “Who the hell is Joss and is that really the way you spell his name?” group; now I am firmly ensconced in the “I Will Watch ANY PROJECT With Joss Whedon Attached” crowd.
There are two main reasons for this sudden and irrevocable change of heart: His ability to write unforgettable, completely rounded flawed, heroic and funny characters and his absolute and utter fearlessness as a writer and as a director.
This man can make you fall in love, make you angry, make you laugh and rip your heart out, in the span of an hour’s episode (roughly translated to 43 minutes of air time). .
Today’s subject will focus on, arguably, one of Joss’ most celebrated popular TV series: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. (I will get into my other favorites in separate blogs, where I am sure I will reveal more about me than about Joss!)
First, the name: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Oh please. What an utterly stupid premise, a teenage high school blonde girl named BUFFY (of all things!!) who is super strong and fights vampires?? How childish! I refuse to watch because even the TITLE sounds dumb.
Then I caught the end of the episode when Evil Willow carelessly ripped Warren’s skin right off his body.
WHOA.
What just happened? Why? What did I miss?? I spent the same hour every day trying to figure out what was going on. It was so compelling , even at that late date in the series, that I kept watching day after day… Complex and intertwining, overlapping stories and characters that just pulled me in: Who was a good guy, who USED to be a good guy but was temporarily bad because of a combination of grief and access to power, wait and someone else used to be a really really bad guy and now he was a good guy because of a “curse” (how do you curse a bad guy into being good??? Isn’t that the opposite of curse?) and, of course the Vampire Slayer is somehow in love with a Vampire, no matter how cute he is… WHAT? Unapologetic, quirky, charismatic and somehow amazing interesting bad guys. Really good friends who will literally pull you back from the brink of hell. Even regular guys who just seemed to be sucked up into following the wrong person and end up feeling guilty, but somehow lack the courage to get out. Characters who actually EVOLVE and grow and sometimes even change completely… All that evil personified into characters who were alternately funny and scary and complex and then REALLY scary because it hit close to home.
Joss is unflinching… he knows how to add layers to his characters and pull them all together in a really compelling story, the best of which stay with you for hours, days, weeks. Many essays, blogs, articles, books have been written on Joss’ ability to draw people in, college classes have been taught dissecting the “deeper meaning” of his work, so I won’t attempt to reinvent the wheel here.
Since this is my blog and I don’t really have to impress anyone, I will indulge myself a little.
Here are my Awards for favorite Episodes, Moments and Characters:
BEST EPISODES:
*Creepy Harlan-esque horror: Hush (s4)
*Real life, helpless horror: The Body (s5)
*Funny, Clever and Painful Your Secret’s Out: Once More With Feeling (s6)
*Best Cross-Over with Reality that Really Makes You Wonder: Normal Again (s6)
*Most Fun Had by Grown-Ups: Band Candy (s3)
*EEEEEEwww!: Doublemeat Palace (s6)
*Best Averted Apocalypse: The Gift (s5)
MOMENTS:
*Scariest Hook-Up: Xander and Faith
*Favorite Strong Buffy Moment: Buffy telling the Council off – and throwing a sword at the pompous guy to shut him up
*Best Character Reveal: Spike realizing he is in love with Buffy after a dream
*Best Character Reveal Reaction: Xander laughing after Buffy tells him Spike is in love with her
*Best Betrayal Scene: The Potentials and Gang kicking Buffy out of her house
*Most Powerful Love Scene: The building falling down around Buffy and Spike
*Funniest Tombstone: She Saved the World. A Lot.
*Most Heartbreaking Moment: Anya’s walk down the aisle
*Most Touching Moment: Spike putting the rifle down and awkwardly comforting a crying Buffy on the porch
*Best Payoff Moment: Series Finale, Anya: “Floppy, hoppy, bunnies…!”
CHARACTERS:
*Favorite - for so many reasons - Character: Spike
*The Most Evilest of Really Evil Bad Guys: Caleb
*Most Schizophrenic Bad Guy: Glory
*Best Evil Version of Themselves: Vampire Willow
*Funniest Version of Themselves: Buffy the Robot
*Most Pathetic Character: Riley
*Most Over-rated Character: Angel (except when he was Angelus)
Well, that’s it for today. I suddenly have this strange desire to re-watch the entire series again…
Just Musing,
Susan
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