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Buffy Series Finale Tonight

roothog writes "I just finished watching the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, an episode that sparks with the writing of Joss Whedon. Strangely, there weren't any commercials :). One of the best written shows on television comes to an end tonight in North America. A very accurate script summary is available for any spoiler-seekers. I'd suggest skipping the spoilers: it's worth the wait...for a season 7 episode..."

5 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. Bittorrent ;-) by FyRE666 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm in the UK, and watched the finale last night courtesy of BT ;-) In fact I've been watching the entire series 7 using Kazaa and BT - it's nice to be able to see the episodes without the censoring we get on Sky and the BBC over here... Of course, no adverts is also nice!

  2. Can someone please explain... by WIAKywbfatw · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What's the big attraction with Buffy? What makes it so worthy of attention? Why does Buffy count as "News for Nerds" or "Stuff that matters" whilst the similar Charmed doesn't rate a mention?

    I'm not suggesting that Charmed should register on Slashdot's radar, rather I'm asking why Buffy does. Can someone please explain it to me?

    I've watched several episodes of Buffy, as well as a handful of Charmed. I can't say I've ever for a split second thought that either show had much merit but, obviously, there are those out there that disagree with me?

    Not that I think she's that attractive but is it a Sarah Michelle Gellar thing? I've read so many posts on Slashdot, in various discussions about quality television and I find it amazing that Buffy is even mentioned in the same breath as shows such as CSI, The West Wing and 24.

    I'm not looking to troll here - seriously, that's an honest statement - but just what is it about Buffy that has some of you ga-ga over it? Schoolboy fantasies? Demonic possession? Please elaborate.

    --

    "Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
    1. Re:Can someone please explain... by osgeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm not suggesting that Charmed should register on Slashdot's radar, rather I'm asking why Buffy does.

      I think that if you'd examine the demographics for the two shows, you'd find the Charmed audience to be centered around teenaged girls.

      You'd find the Buffy audience to be centered around older females and young and middle-aged men.

      Case in point, my sister and her 15 year old daughter just love fantasy programming, and wouldn't miss a Charmed episode. I've tried to get them into Buffy, but I think it's a bit to "male" for their tastes: more action, more male-oriented humor, less PMSing witches living together.

      Not that I think she's that attractive but is it a Sarah Michelle Gellar thing?

      *shrug* Not for me. I much preferred Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) for the eye candy value. For me, it's all about the writing.

    2. Re:Can someone please explain... by seawall · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Mostly it was pretty good (personal opinion) but every once in awhile: Wow. Buffy generally had a few of those Wow episodes every year.

      A really excellent example being the famous "Earshot" which was pulled from the air when the Columbine shootings happened a few days earlier which had some parallels. This named the whole "Hellmouth" discussion of Columbine on Slashdot.

      Another example: "The Body". Somebody just dies. Bang. More or less natural causes and then dealing with the paramedics and doctors and such afterwards.

      Another: Buffy wakes up in a mental institution, which is an often used device but we don't really know which is 'real' in Buffy: The institution or Sunnydale. The doctors make an awfully strong case for her being mentally ill.

      Or maybe the whole "High School as Hell" thing just resonates for the nerdly among us (a feature that some of the other similar shows lack).

      Throw in some nice character twists (just when you think you know who a character is, some new and often unexpected side turns up....and that twist usually stays with the character...it usually doesn't just disappear the following week as so often happens in series TV), some snappy banter and a willingness to do something unusual from time to time (e.g. the episode "Hush" had almost no dialog and "Once More with Feeling" was a musical) and a penchant to run a parallel between the outer story (e.g. demons steal the voices of everyone) and the inner story (e.g. how DO you communicate with your new love?) and usually a sense each season of a season-long story being shown via the individuals episodes and you have a pretty cool series.

      I'm going to miss it. If you don't care for it: that's fine too.

  3. Buffy Nerds by eegad · · Score: 2, Interesting

    On the contrary, Buffy is a very nerdy subject. If you haven't noticed the intellectual side, you might check out The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies. I mean they've got PHDs writing papers about the show, for crying out loud.