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Some dramas always tend to become and remain iconic for decades. One of them is most definitely Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which has changed the lives of past and current generations alike. This series focuses on the life of 16-year-old Buffy Summers, as she navigates through her teenage years and adulthood, all in seven seasons, and tries to fulfill her duty of being the Vampire Slayer at the same time with the help of her friends Giles (The Watcher), Willow Rosenberg, Xavier Harris, and Cordelia Chase.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a series that is fascinating and heavily themed at the same time: it blends supernatural, romance, drama, and comedy very well. There are many ways to describe what this series has done for its viewers and actors, so, here are the 10 reasons why Buffy The Vampire Slayer is the best vampire TV show.
Release Date March 10, 1997
Creator
Rating
Seasons 7
Production Company
Story By joss whedon
Writers Joss Whedon
Network The WB
10 It's not just a TV show about vampires.
Example: Season 5, Episode 16
Image via 20th Century Studios and Disney. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, at first glance, looks like a classic vampire-themed TV show. But it's actually more than that. This series tackles various themes, such as addiction, sexism, family issues, and many others. But one of many of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's themes has been analyzed very well in Season 5, Episode 16, "The Body," (seen in the image above), which is death. In this episode, Buffy has a hard time dealing with the death of someone very close to her (no spoilers) as the writers made it all feel as realistic as possible...well, too realistic.
This episode is considered to be the most emotional of the entire series by many fans and critics alike. All the cast's acting, especially Sarah Michelle Gellar's as a distraught (and progressively becoming more numb) Buffy is effortlessly perfect. Gellar is fantastic at portraying all the triggering scenes in the episode, and that is why she is one of the most underrated 90s actresses out there.
9 The LGBTQ+ Representation
Example: Season 6, Episode 13 "The Dead Things"
Image via UPN Buffy The Vampire Slayer, as stated beforehand, has ensured that viewers saw the way writers were able to incorporate serious themes in the show's episodes. That is, of course, by becoming the only show in the 90s to give viewers the first-ever LGTBQ+ relationship representation on TV in the U.S. History was made by the fictional lesbian couple formed by Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan and Tara Maclay (Amber Benson).
Willow and Tara are one of the most unforgettable couples that have ever been represented on TV. They captured viewers' hearts by having a healthy relationship: the pair were loving and supportive of each other throughout the most difficult times. They are simply one of the reasons someone should even consider watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
8 It's a show truly meant to inspire the outcasts of society.
Example: Season 1, Episode 10 "Nightmares"
Image via 20th Century Studios and Disney School is a living hell, people say. Well, Buffy The Vampire Slayer took the saying literally. Buffy Summers and her friends' high school, Sunnydale High School, is the most-seen location in the first two seasons of the series before the main characters graduate. And the writers brilliantly showed the real meaning of that saying during those episodes.
The show heavily centers on the struggles of being a teenager and high school cliques, especially in the first two seasons, as seen in the adolescence-themed Season 1, Episode 10, "Nightmares." A scene from that episode can be seen in the image above, in which Buffy sees her worst fear come to life. In this episode, many characters experience their biggest fears because of a supernatural creature messing with people's heads, and many of these nightmares are associated with unpopularity, struggles with confidence, and family issues. This is definitely one of the reasons why Buffy The Vampire Slayer is one of the best vampire TV shows out there.
7 The comedic references to pop culture.
Example: Season 5, Episode 2 "The Real Me"
Image via UPN Buffy The Vampire Slayer is known for its comedic one-liners, especially ones related to pop culture. There are various of them throughout the series, some of them related to Xena or the X-Files. But the one that everyone knows and laughs at for hours, is from Season 5, Episode 2 of "The Real Me." In this scene, Buffy prepares breakfast for herself and her mother, as Dawn wakes up.
The teenager walks to the kitchen to see if breakfast is ready, and they start speaking about what their plans are for that day. The mother explains that Buffy has to go buy back-to-school supplies with Dawn, but, very alarmed, they both say they would rather not go through with this request. Dawn states that her mother was supposed to take her, but she explains she is busy, and as the two sisters protest, Buffy says "We're just going to the magic shop. No school supplies there," as she is referencing her going to do slayer training with Giles. And Dawn interrupts her by saying, "Yeah Mom, I am not going to Hogwarts." She laughs at her joke, but no one gets the hint. Sarcastically, Dawn tells her sister, "Geez, crack a book sometime." Still, this moment is one of the most hilarious of the series, and this is why people are convinced to begin watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
6 The Villains
Example: Season 4, Episode 10 "Hush"
Image via The WB One thing that should convince people to watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer is the notorious villains. Every one of them, in each season, delivers fantastic performances. Villains in this series are meant to get a laugh out of viewers (ahem, Harmony is an example). Or even to terrify its audience, as seen in Season 4, Episode 10 "The Hush."
In this episode, Buffy and her friends are terrified by a group of macabre-looking villains named The Gentlemen (seen in the image above), as they have the power to remove the voice of the person they point their eyes to. It's one of the hardest villains that Buffy had to face, according to many fans! A fun fact about this episode is that the writers decided to write an episode like this because the critics were saying that Buffy was very famous during its run just because of the dialogues. So Joss Whedon (creator of the series) spiced things up by doing this episode specifically, which is almost entirely without dialogue and no music in the background, creating a more eerie vibe for the audience watching it. This is one of the main reasons why someone should watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer, specifically this episode!
5 Buffy's entire wardrobe throughout the series.
Example: Season 1, Episode 9 "The Puppet Show"
Image via The WB and Disney One main point of this series that convinces people to begin watching it in the first place is the iconic 90s alternative/grunge outfits that Buffy Summers wears. Throughout Buffy The Vampire Slayer, she wears various looks associated with a long trench leather coat or a normal-sized leather jacket, which has inspired many viewers' wardrobes to change like hers. Various TikTok users show how to dress like Buffy if you want to, and it's definitely a great way of promoting the series, yet convincing non-fans that this series is worth the hype.
An example to prove this point is the iconic and most famous outfit worn by Buffy seen in the image above. It's the fashionable combination of a leopard print dress, a long trench coat above it, and knee-high black boots, from Season 1, Episode 9 "The Puppet Show," that only Gellar could have pulled off during that time. However, many viewers criticize her outfits for being really cringy, even because of that time's fashion sense. Still, most OG Buffy fans agree unanimously that Buffy's outfits are a compelling reason to get interested in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
4 Buffy's Fighting Skills as a Vampire Slayer
Example: Season 3, Episode 1 "Anne"
Image via The WB Television Network Buffy Summers is known most of all for one thing only: her fantastic and awesome fighting skills in each scene. The way she can take on different villains all at once with her physical strength is something that needs to be analyzed in pop culture history. It's something outside of the ordinary female lead characters in drama series that people don't see often nowadays. That is why she is an iconic hero to older and current generations.
An example of this is seen in Season 3, Episode 1 "Anne." In this episode, she is in LA to find herself again after the tragic events that unfolded in the season 2 finale (no spoilers). So she ends up saving these people from a supernatural entity that makes them disappear and work for him in this kind of mine. The bad guy captures her also, and it's a deeply themed episode that teaches a lot to viewers. The scene where Buffy ends up destroying these creatures with her fighting skills is so iconic, as she introduces herself in a badass way by saying, "I'm Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. And you are?" Simply fantastic!!
3 The friendship between the main trio
Example: Season 1, Episode 6 "The Pack"
Image Via Warner Bros Every show has a friendship that forms between the three main characters, as it becomes unbreakable, yet has difficult challenges to overcome and puts their friendship to the test. But at the end of the day, when the threat is destroyed, their bond is still as strong as ever. That is an accurate description of the main trio of this series, which includes Buffy, Xander, and Willow.
In Buffy The Vampire SlayerSeason 1, Episode 6 "The Pack," the trio face a difficult villain. It's in the form of a demon, which possesses a few people from their class, including Xander, as he becomes evil, especially against Willow AND Buffy (no spoilers). But at the end of the episode, the trio comes back together. This episode showcases one of the biggest low moments of this friendship trio, and it always sparks conversation between OG fans.
2 The fictional ship of Spike and Buffy
Example: Season 7, Episode 20 "Touched"
Image via The WB Network What would be a list article about Buffy The Vampire Slayer without adding this wonderful couple as one of the main ones? Buffy Summers, the vampire slayer who finds it hard to admit anything to herself. She is also stubborn, courageous, and full of love, but still dark enough to suppress her emotions. Then there is Spike (portrayed by James Marsters), the "big bad" vampire who is dangerous and complicated, but still manages to fall in love with Buffy, even without a soul. Yet, he makes difficult mistakes with her because he has difficulty admitting his feelings, just like Buffy does.
But when the mistakes are amended, Spike has a heartfelt conversation with Buffy to cheer her up from feeling like a failure in Season 7, Episode 20 "Touched," and it's one of the best scenes ever seen on television. They always play this game of 'will they, won't they?" throughout the seasons, and even have a toxic affair at some point, because they are both not able to admit that they are deeply in love with each other... Till it's too late. Their story is beautifully well-done, and it will make viewers yell at their TV screen the entire time, but it's worth watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer for them.
1 Simply... Buffy Summers!
Example: Season 1, Episode 12 "The Prophecy Girl"
Image via 20th Century Studios It's obvious that Buffy Summers is the number one reason for Buffy The Vampire Slayer being the best Vampire TV Show. This female heroine has inspired many women in the 90s to embrace their badass side, while still being full of kindness and courage. She has taught viewers that it's okay to cry at times, and not hold everything inside just pretending that everything is alright. And this heroic personality is seen in the sacrifice made in Season 1, Episode 12 "The Prophecy Girl." (no spoilers)
Buffy Summers has all that a female main character needs to have in a vampire TV show. There were other characters in the future vampire series that have inspired many viewers, like Elena Gilbert in The Vampire Diaries, which came out a few years after Buffy The Vampire Slayer ended its seven-season run. But simply NO ONE can compare her to Gellar's spectacular performance of Buffy Summers.
Keep Reading: The 10 Best Vampire TV Shows of All Time, Ranked
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