Buffy The Vampire Slayer

May 16, 2003 — AS Buffy exits, she leaves in her wake a generation of empowered young women. And that’s not just me talking - that’s literally what happens in the final episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" airing next Tuesday night.

"I say my power should be our power!" declares Buffy, as she prepares to lead her (almost) all-girl army into final battle. "From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer will be a slayer! Every girl who could have the power will have the power!"

Of course, Buffy can’t just decree it - her good friend and witch Willow has to engineer it, which she does, and thereby demonstrates that she’s the most powerful woman of all the women of "Buffy."

Willow’s spell seems a fitting way to cap a series that was all about empowerment in the first place.

Ever since "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" premiered in March 1997, skinny little Buffy Summers has been proving to a generation of teen-aged girls that they don’t have to be musclebound to be powerful.

It’s highly appropriate that she would go so far as to endow her followers with her powers as the series comes to a close.

And what were Buffy’s powers? For her, the secret ingredients were confidence and self-esteem. A firm grounding in the martial arts was also helpful.

And though she was often weary of fighting vampires, Buffy was always able to summon up the strength to mop up the floor with them.

In next week’s finale, which UPN sent to TV critics this week, Buffy grits her teeth and adopts a once-and-for-all attitude as she goes on the offensive in a climactic showdown with the First.

The episode, which airs next Tuesday at 8 p.m. on UPN/Ch. 9, is one of the strongest of the entire series. It contains great action and genuine emotion.

The scenario of the final episode should more than satisfy the show’s many loyal fans, except for one thing.

Like all great entertainment, this episode of "Buffy" will leave her fans wanting more. And that’s exactly how a champion like Buffy should make her exit.