Buffy The Vampire Slayer

I’m starting a new column here on TV Squad called "Jane After Dark." Some of you know I work the "night shift" here at the Squad, editing and scheduling posts into the wee hours. I’m a big multi-tasker, so I also use those hours to get caught up on all the great shows I’ve missed along the way.

Over the past year, I’ve watched some really cool shows, including Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Moonlight, Weeds, Entourage, Gossip Girl, and many others. So I thought it would be fun to write about my After Dark musings, and I hope you’ll chime in with your own thoughts about whatever I’m watching.

I just finished Joss Whedon’s magnificent Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I loved so many things about the show. No one could look as stylish as Buffy as she slayed those vampires. Angel and Spike were both hot in their own way. The love between Willow and Tara was sweet and gentle, but also powerful. And the characters continued to grow and evolve throughout the series. By the last episode, you really felt like you knew these characters and had grown right along with them.

So rather than write a Master’s thesis on the show — which I could easily do, because there’s so much to say — I’ll focus in on my top five Buffy moments. Please share your thoughts and favorite moments in the comments below.

1. Buffy and Spike’s sex romp with the building crashing around them. I admit I played this back 10 or 20 times, because it was so hot! They had all this pent-up back-and-forth stuff to work out, and by the time she kissed him and he looked soulfully into her eyes, I think I lost all feeling in my legs. And while I was a big Angel devotee at the beginning of the series, this scene made me forget all about him. Oh, I know Angel will always be there for Buffy, and in my own fantasy world, I believe they found their way back together after the series ended. But there was something complex and explosive between Buffy and Spike. Nothing could ever measure up after they finally got together.

2. Buffy’s slo-mo run down the plank on the tower. There was something so chilling about this scene. You knew that this was the only way it could go down. Buffy and Dawn shared the same blood, and because Buffy would do everything in her power to protect Dawn, there really was no other choice. So she looked in Dawn’s eyes, then turned and ran full speed down that plank and into the swirling abyss below. It was so heartbreaking and selfless and, really, joyful in a way. I’m sure I stopped breathing for a few moments there.

3. Buffy clawing her way out of the coffin. My real-life Buffy guides were very careful to protect me from any spoilers in our conversations, so I really had no idea how things would play into the next season. I figured that she must come back somehow, I just didn’t know how. So when Willow’s interrupted spell actually worked and Buffy was forced to claw her way out of that eerie coffin, I was panicking right along with her. The following storyline of Buffy being shocked and confused, and then telling her friends that they’d pulled her from the depths of Hell, when in reality, she’d been safe and loved in Heaven, it was another completely selfless act.

4. Willow losing Tara and going all "black and veiny." Taking Willow to the dark side after the death of her lover wasn’t just storyline filler. We learned just how dark people can go after suffering a tragic loss, and for Willow, that darkness meant taking the rest of the world down with her. Again, we see the selflessness of a character when Xander professes his love for his friend, and will do anything — even die — to try and bring her back to the light. Did he know it would work? I don’t think so. I think he was just willing to take that leap of faith and see how it played out.

5. Buffy finding comfort with Spike after being shunned by the household. The complex relationship of Buffy and Spike came full circle with this scene, where Buffy asks Spike to lie down with her and hold her. Because of the near-rape scene earlier, it was important for both them and for us that sex didn’t enter into the picture here. She was at a low point, and he was the only one who could comfort her at that moment. It speaks to the sweetness of someone letting down their barriers in a time of need, and another being there simply to "be there."

I look forward to reading your comments. As mentioned, feel free to offer up your own favorite Buffy moments, or your thoughts on the series, in general.