TV DeathRay Archive

Welcome to The Buffy Bump, a weekly treat for fans still obsessed with Joss Whedon’s groundbreaking series about a girl, a mission, and the apocalypses. This week, we revisit the series finale, ‘Chosen.’

“You know me – not much with the damseling.” – Buffy, ‘Chosen’

From the first scene to the last, the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer maintains the central message of the entire series: Women are stronger than they might seem at first glance, and they really can save the world.

After all, the series’ whole premise is based on the contrast between society’s expectations of women and their true strength. Buffy – a name that “strikes fear in nobody’s hearts,” according to Xander in one episode – is bubbly, petite and blonde, a former cheerleader who looks more like she’d be too worried about her manicure to take down a vampire. But it turns out she’s the Vampire Slayer, a true superhero with special powers and a strong heart to top it off. She saves the world, again and again and again, with not just her outer strength but her inner strength, too.

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Welcome to The Buffy Bump, a weekly ‘hair of the dog’ for fans still obsessed with Joss Whedon’s groundbreaking series about a girl, a mission, and the apocalypses. This week: True Confessions of A Buffy-aholic!

Hi, my name is Melissa, and I’m a Buffy-aholic.

I know there are others out there like me. You own all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD, and you have them in frequent rotation in your player. You can recite whole episodes by heart. You have the compulsive urge to Buffy-ize words: judgey, Hellmouthy, slayage. You have strong opinions about whether The Trio was a lame Big Bad (at times), whether season six became too dark and depressing (yes), and which guy was better for Buffy — Angel or Spike (both, please!)

Buffy is my comfort food. When I’ve had a bad day, when life seems too mundane, too overwhelming or too difficult, I pop in an episode of Buffy and heave a sigh of relief that I don’t have to worry about vampire nests, apocalypses or mystical keys that take the form of siblings. If Buffy can kick ass while handling all that, then surely I can slay whatever little demons might appear in my life.

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