MapleCourt

I mean, that was early in Season 3 when they were trying to segue out of the established Season 2 arc that Willow and Xander are besties. That scene was just a plot device to get Xander out of Willow's life. In the Veruca season 4 episode, that is literally Xander's only scene in the entire episode, and she didn't come for help with a monster. My point was that they never go to Xander as their first source of help with a monster in Seasons 3-5.

It's a much better lesson than they gave us with Season 5-7 Xander: Nice guys in unskilled labor with no training get promoted to management within 2 years ... Talk about fantasy!

I don't know how I missed that metaphor after all these years. He was such a good character, much better than Snyder. Flutie and the science teacher who was nice to Buffy were such a surprise. I don't think there are any other TV shows where teaches are that affirming in a genuine way. Season 1 has so many good life lessons. They really disappeared after Season 1. Even Season 2 dropped the allegory and metaphor in favor of melodrama. The only episode in Season 2 that retains the "Life Lessons" vibe of Season 1 is Ted. The happy ending kinda ruins it, but the first half of Ted is one of my favorite episodes. But Flutie representing nice guys getting eaten alive is probably the most important lesson from the show. Too bad I didn't realize it when I was younger.

My approach to Season 6 is based on how much I hate Season 3. Everything got off track in Season 3. That's when it went from a show about four fundamentally kind and unique misfits to happy clappy teenage party hour with cool kids like Oz and Faith. Thankfully, Seth Green quit the show, so they had to take it in a different direction. Thankfully again, the audience rejected Riley and his Initiative douchebags, so Joss got desperate and pulled out the ultimate plot card - Buffy's mom getting sick and the ultimate super invincible villain. Putting up with three seasons of that trash - Oz, Riley, and milquetoast Season 5 - I was just glad they finally got back to the main characters in Season 6. Joss did a clever job of gradually condensing Oz, Riley and Faith into Spike so that, like a frog in boiling water, I didn't realize what was happening with Spike until the final 3 episodes when I realized how much better the show was without him in it. I agree the writing got progressively worse each season, the jokes in Season 6 that you mentioned are pretty bad, and Anya is as always an awful character, but I just fast forward through her parts. I like Willow's plot in Season 6. I like how in Episode 3, when something goes wrong, the first thing Willow does is call Xander - that would never have happened in Seasons 3-5.

No, I said Season 3 Willow. It has nothing to do with being a witch or how she treats Buffy, it's the way Alysson Hannigan plays her character. Notice how in the musical introduction in Season 3, most of the scenes are from Season 2, but for Willow, all but one very brief clip are scenes from her in Season 3? It's because they wanted to bury shy, modest, unpopular Willow and bring out super cool rockstar dating hip Willow. Also, I hate how every other Buffy forum on the internet treats the comics (and the Angel spinoff) as part of the show. I couldn't make it through the first episode of Angel and I'm sure as *** not wasting time or money on a comic. And Reddit is 100% Xander hate and Oz worship.

The party scene in the second episode of season 3 is actually a good metaphor for that season. Whenever I watch season 3, I feel like Buffy at that party, wandering around wondering what happened to the friends and home she used to enjoy.

Season 1 of Buffy is the best because it called attention to real issues that young Americans face - immense pressure from their peers and adults to live up to exceedingly high expectations. Episodes like The Witch, Nightmares and Out of Sight capture this perfectly. We got lovable, sincere characters who defied stereotypes of what is cool and popular and got to watch them bond as they struggled to make their way through this nightmarish world. Then the show got popular and the writers had to cave to what superficial audiences wanted. Cool rockstars like Oz. Melodramatic love stories (ok, I admit, I enjoyed the love stories in Season 2 except for Willow and Oz but they weren't even in love yet). Then in Season 3 they completely sold out to what superficial American audiences wanted - psychopathically carefree Faith and the Mayor - Goodfellas and Seinfeld meet Buffy. In Season 4 they actually seemed to think the macho-military douchebags in the Initiative would be popular but thankfully audiences had enough sense to draw the line there. In Season 5 I have to give Joss credit for doing something unpopular and giving Buffy an annoying little sister, who I don't mind. Dawn is a lot less annoying than Oz, Anya and Riley. But the real turning point was Season 3. It's a completely different show in Season 3 than the first two seasons. Alyson Hannigan is playing a completely different character. Giles and Xander are practically nonexistent except for a few obvious tropes. The ending of Season 2 is ruined by bringing back Angel after just 3 episodes. I guess it's impossible to expect a show like Buffy Season 1 to last in the for-profit television market, which makes that season all the more special and enjoyable.

That's true, defining the characters by their relationships was pretty lame. Which is why Season 7 should have been relationship free - no Anya, no Spike, no Kennedy - and just got back to the core 4 fighting demons.

Another unpopular opinion: Season 6 is good. Here's my justification: 1. No new characters. After killing us with Faiths, Rileys, Anyas and Oz's for 4 seasons, the show finally focuses on its established characters. And we aren't tortured with another lame romantic interest for Buffy ("How can I repay..." was cathartic after enduring Riley and Ben). 2. More screentime for the Big 3. Giles is missing for most of the season, but that's honestly better than dragging him out for 30 seconds of meaningless screentime like in Seasons 3-5. Xander has the most screentime since Season 2. 3. I like the Trio. They're a humanizing relief after the cascading mega-villains of previous seasons. 4. Xander finally ditches Anya. And not just at the wedding. As early as the fourth episode, we see how Xander really feels about his fiance when he covers his face as she starts spouting some horrific thing. He finally feels the way we all feel: he can't stand this annoying person and just wants to be rid of her. 5. Willow has the main story, almost equal to Buffy, which is great for fans of Willow. I don't mind Dark Willow. Some of her lines were kind of lame but Willow is Willow. 6. Kingman's Bluff: The only couples who have a life or death confrontation on Kingman's Bluff the entire series are Buffy and Angel, and Willow and Xander. These two are soulmates and this scene confirms it. There's some bad, mainly Spike, but at least he leaves town at the end. If they just cut the scenes with him after Seeing Red, the ending would be perfect. Some of the dialogue is disappointing, making fun of the Trio for being socially awkward when that was the whole point of the first season, and Xander making fun of Andrew for being a virgin completely contradicts the message of Season 1, but I can overlook the flaws in favor of the good parts. The only seasons I would actually rewatch are 1, 2 and 6. I might watch an episode or two from the other seasons, but those are the only good seasons in my opinion.

For all the Willow/Oz fans: Do the two of them ever actually have a meaningful conversation? I can't recall a single conversation between them between their introduction in Season 2 and their breakup in Season 4. The only conversations I noticed were at the end of Season 3 where Willow realizes that this douchebag actually has nothing to say to her, so he decides it's time to pull out the sex card. I guess there's also the Christmas one where Oz says he won't have sex with Willow, but again, do they every talk about anything other than "Will you/won't you date me/kiss me/have sex with me/break up with me/get back together with me" ???

And that's why Season 1 will always be the best season: no annoying characters. No Oz, no Anya, no Spike, no Faith, no Wesley, no Mayor. Just the original core cast who were perfect together and could have made one of the best series of all time for ten seasons together if the producers didn't sell out to what braindead American audiences think is cool.

My unpopular opinion: Oz sucked. I hated him from the moment I saw him. Season 1 was a show about high school misfits who were sincerely good people but struggled to fit in with a superficial society. Then in Season 2 we get the most superficial character of all: the hipster douchebag guitar player who dyes his hair and is also a mega-genius who can ace any test but is too cool to care!!!! And poor Willow gets stuck with this loser for three seasons, only to have Anya standing between her and Xander when Oz finally leaves.

Best episode ever. That look on Willow's face when she sees Xander and Cordelia kissing. Buffy and her mom on the couch at the end. So sad. Only bad part was that she didn't kill Angel at the end. I get why she didn't, but the guy did just try to destroy the world. Oh and Oz's stupid speech to Willow about kissing. That was dumb too.

The Zeppo is the worst episode of the worst season of the show. It's a stab in the back to fans who grew to love the characters in the first two seasons, only for Joss to decide he wants to take the show in a new, popular, mainstream direction now that his ratings are up. Xander was the true male lead in the first two seasons. He had the most screentime of anyone besides Buffy, he had the largest role of anyone besides Buffy. He was always there, fighting beside her, saving her multiple times, playing a serious role as a serious character.