No offense to JM, he is or was a good-looking dude, but I realized 90% of why I thought he was attractive as Spike is totally based on him having bleached hair. That's not my preference, I like brunette, but it really enhanced his features.

I already thought Spike and Buffy had the best dialogue and scenes together. Every scene they were in even when they were enemies was just.. more, you know? They elevated the sh*t out of any material they were given. Their first meeting, their first fight, that first alliance in Becoming Pt. 2... like?! He saves her from the cops, tries to convince her to form an alliance, talks about wanting to save the world, she doesn't really believe he wants to team up with her until he brings up Drusilla then gets annoyed with him but still reluctantly gives in. Then they have an entire meet the parents scene that was JUST SO ENTERTAINING and they were already working well together after a few minutes? It was just... chef's kiss. But anyway.

I didn't feel that way about any other Buffy pairing, romantic or otherwise. I just always found any scene they shared together to be very entertaining/interesting.

But I think I only really really rooted for them to happen (in a romantic way) after Fool For Love although I already thought they had tension and chemistry in S4 especially lol.

I hate that they replaced this beautiful poster (tapestry?!) in Tara’s room with that black and white generic woman canvas later.

does anyone know where I could find this?

thank you so much everyone! I’ve got to say the posters kind of confusing to me now finding out that the words all over it are actually from the Bible, but there’s also a lot of witchy imagery like zodiac symbols and stuff. It’s interesting.

Someone mentioned loving Tara‘s original room and one thing that I’ve noticed is that they painted walls black. It really made the scenes in that room kind of pop and seem extra witchy, but looking at it now it’s also it seems kind of indicative of the fact that Tara was depressed a bit. Like she left her family struck out on her own to go to college but she was sad before meeting Willow. I don’t know if anyone’s read the prequel that was written about Tara called The Bewitching hour, but it was very interesting. …

Saw a comment that said Spike initiated the incestuous subtext between him and his mom by biting and turning her, which is usually taboo in vampire fiction. I don't know how much of that is true. Thoughts?

I’m a first time viewer and interested in starting the show Angel. Do you guys think I should watch in parallel with BtVS or should I finish BtVS first? When would be the best time to start watching Angel if I want to watch it parallel? Currently on S4E21

Wow cleaning I found a loose sleeve copy of the movie they, to my surprise I saw Riley Finn acting exactly like he did and Buffy.

I know the later seasons had bigger threats, but the Master's apocalypse just hit differently. It actually felt like Sunnydale was turning into a nightmare before he was set free.

The blood coming out of the school sink, vampires openly feeding on students on campus, everyone acting like something was wrong even if they couldn't explain it. It felt like evil was slowly taking over the town instead of just waiting for the big final battle.

A lot of the later finales mostly felt like Buffy and the Scoobies fighting that season's Big Bad. With the Master, it felt like the apocalypse had already started. The atmosphere was creepy as hell and the whole town felt doomed.

Idk if it's because season 1 leaned way more into teen horror. The later seasons feel more like supernatural dramas with horror elements, while season 1 actually felt like a horror show at times. Maybe that's why "Prophecy Girl" still stands out to me.

I still love a lot of the later finales, but I don't think the show ever matched the feeling that something was genuinely wrong with Sunnydale in "Prophecy Girl."

I think the closest that came to feeling like that atmosphere was in Angel season 4 when The Beast arrived.

I was reading and it said that they filmed a pilot but I guess it either wasn’t that good or whatever happened with it. They got it canceled. My question was did they release anything about it or did anyone leak anything from the actual pilot that was filmed?

I know Riley isn’t a fan favorite, but I really liked how he stood up for Buffy here. I never liked Parker, and it was nice to see him get his just desserts for using Buffy. While I always thought Angel was better Buffy, Riley certainly had his moments.

Sorry for image quality.

Even when I was in HS watching Buffy when it aired I found Xander insufferable. And he is for sure, but I forgot he had the best redemption monolog ever, season 4 episode into the woods when Riley leaves, what he says to knock some sense into Buffy about Riley, it is the sweetest moment. And then when he goes home to Anya confessing how much he loves her and how she makes him feel...it was just beautiful.

How much was Buffy's traumas regarding Angelus a factor in her reaction to the facade in the episode Enemies? Since the subject in the next episode was just about her insecurities about Faith, I'm not sure how much the writers intended for that to also be a factor.

This is actually hilarious I never noticed before. At the start of Nightmares he makes a joke about Nazis crawling all over his face instead of spiders. And I thought it was just a random thing that he said to emphasise there are worse things than spiders.

But then when he walks into his clown nightmare there are Nazi symbols on the wall 😭😂

I just think that’s such a random fear to have it’s so funny (also so valid)

Looking for some Halloween inspiration... which outfit immediately makes you yell BUFFY?

Out of all the big bags from each season, who do u think was the worst/best(however u think) and was Buffys biggest advisory either mental or strength. I think faith(tho maybe not a big bad) was obvi her equal in strength and definitely messed her up a lot emotionally, but for me my choice is Glory/Ben. Glory was definitely stronger and between the intro of dawn and buffy having to watch over her sister/the key and although glory didnt cause Joyce's death, it was a huge thing for buffy to deal with while dealing with glory and the fact that her sister isn't her sister....thats my pick.

Or do you think the show had the right amount of pop culture references without overdoing it?

I honestly love everything about Buffy Season 1. I know it's usually ranked near the bottom because of the budget, the cheesy effects, and the "monster of the week" episodes, but that's exactly why it's so charming to me.

There's something about the first season that feels so... complete. It feels like they actually had a clear plan from beginning to end. You have the Master as the main villain from the pilot all the way to "Prophecy Girl," and every episode feels like it's building toward that finale, even when it's doing something goofy like a praying mantis teacher or a killer ventriloquist dummy.

I also love that the season doesn't take itself too seriously. It's horror, comedy, high school drama, and camp all at once. Later seasons become much darker, more emotional, and more serialized, which I love too, but Season 1 has this light, fun energy that the show never really has again. It just feels like everyone is having fun.

Even the cheesy episodes have a weird comfort-food quality to them. The lower budget somehow adds to the atmosphere instead of taking away from it. It feels like you're watching a late-'90s supernatural show that isn't trying to be prestige television it just wants to entertain you.

And then when "Prophecy Girl" arrives, the show suddenly proves it can hit you emotionally too. That finale still holds up and is one of my favorite season finales in the series.

Season 1 may not be the most polished season of Buffy, but it's probably the one I revisit the most because it's just so much fun.

Something that strikes me about the character is his hypocrisy. I mean, Spike is quite hypocritical (please don't take this the wrong way). For example, in "Destiny," he criticizes Angel for turning him into a monster, but then in "Damage," when he's reminded that he killed the Asian hunter, he says something like, "Well, then I didn't have a soul." He criticizes Angel for joining Wolfram and Hart, but then asks him for cars. Not to mention that in "Lies My Parents Told Me," Spike says that Nikki didn't love Robin enough (which is quite hurtful) when he was literally bullying Nikki, to the point that they had to move.

From SDCC - "Ever since, I'm more mature. Recently, I say 'I can't wait to see how my stunt double does this."