'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Would Be Much Better if It Were 2 Seasons Shorter
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons, but cutting two of its weakest would have made the beloved series even better.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons, but cutting two of its weakest would have made the beloved series even better.
The short version
- Ever since its initial run, Buffy has thrived in what one might call the hot take economy.
- Early on, Buffy was the subject of some surprisingly involved academic studies, with journals like Slayage continuing to this day.
- Later, Buffy creator Joss Whedon's public fall from grace in 2020 led to multiple critical reevaluations of the show, especially where Xander was concerned.
What happened
All of this is to say that no one has ever had a lukewarm reaction to Buffy one way or the other. Even die-hard fans of the show usually have a couple of pocket rants about it, whether it's actual criticism (how the Willow/Tara relationship was handled) or random online noise (interminable "shipper" wars).
Why it matters
There are episodes of Buffy that I'd consider personally foundational, and phrases from it that I use to this day ("I believe the subtext here is rapidly becoming text"), but there are multiple story arcs in the show that I could do without.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Polygon via the links above and below.