XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: weberm@polaris.net   
      
   Buffy the Vampire Slayer is celebrating its 20-year anniversary   
   tomorrow, and while the story (and the fashions) might technically be   
   dated, the show is somehow more relevant than ever. Creator Joss Whedon   
   tapped into a world where myths and monsters could be used to represent   
   real problems, with a brilliant dash of his signature humor and heart.   
   In celebration of 20 years of Buffy slayage, let’s travel to Sunnydale   
   and celebrate this incredible show together (hopefully before the   
   school blows up again).   
      
   1) Sarah Michelle Gellar   
      
   Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn’t get nearly enough credit for how   
   incredible an actress she is, and how integral she was to Buffy the   
   Vampire Slayer. No one, I repeat, no one else could’ve brought Buffy to   
   life as much as she did. Gellar handled the comedic and action-filled   
   scenes like a pro, but her real strength was in the show’s more   
   dramatic moments. Gellar’s performance was wrought with real, raw   
   emotion. Nobody ever recovers after watching her in “The Body.” Nobody.   
      
   2) The Scoobies   
      
   Xander first jokingly called the group the Scooby Gang in episode two,   
   and luckily, the name stuck... becoming their adorable team moniker for   
   the entire run of the show. Who doesn’t want to be a Scooby?   
      
   3) Cordelia Chase   
      
   All of the Scoobies are amazing in their own right, but special   
   attention needs to be paid to Cordelia (she would demand nothing less).   
   She started out as Buffy’s high-school nemesis, a modern diva who   
   dressed like a soccer mom and cared about nothing beyond her own   
   selfish needs. As the show went on, her character grew into a full-   
   fledged member of the gang. She was still kind of snobby and selfish,   
   but she was 100 percent dedicated to her friends and their mission.   
   Then, when she moved to Angel, she simply blossomed, becoming one of   
   the most fascinating people in the franchise.   
      
   4) “Close your eyes.”   
      
   Three of the saddest words in Buffy fandom.   
      
   5) Anya’s Bunny Problem   
      
   I loved how Anya was terrified of bunnies. It was weird and random   
   enough to perfectly fit her eccentric character. Granted, that   
   admiration was ruined a bit after Anya’s bunny-filled backstory was   
   revealed in the season seven episode “Selfless”—come on, guys, we   
   didn’t need a reason for Anya to hate rabbits. In any case, we got to   
   see Anya in a giant bunny costume as it was the most terrifying   
   Halloween costume she could imagine, so it was all worth it.   
      
   6) Willow and Tara   
      
   I don’t care if you’re Team Angel or Team Spike, none of Buffy’s   
   couplings can hold a candle to Willow and Tara. It was the best   
   relationship on the show, period.   
      
   7) All the Random Celebrity Cameos   
      
   Amy Adams isn’t the only famous celebrity who cut their teeth fighting   
   or becoming vampires on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Other rando   
   appearances include Kal Penn, Amber Tamblyn, Shane West. Even Oberyn   
   from Game of Thrones (pictured) stopped by Sunnydale for a visit in the   
   season four episode “The Freshman.” I don’t blame him. It’s a popular   
   spot. They’ve got coffee.   
      
   8) Vampire Willow   
      
   She was cute, she was deadly, and “a little gay.” What’s not to love?   
   Whedon took the fan-favorite character from “The Wish” and brought her   
   into our world for one episode, mostly because she was just too cool to   
   leave dead in Cordelia’s alternate reality. Bonus points for putting   
   her in Willow’s nightmarish pink fuzzy sweater that, inexplicably,   
   you’ll soon be able to buy at Hot Topic.   
      
   9) The Fashions   
      
   You can’t single any of them out (except for the aforementioned Willow   
   sweater), they’re all iconically terrible—a perfect storm of late ‘90s   
   and early 2000s fashion mishaps. The full-length denim skirts, the   
   asymmetrical tank tops... the Hawaiian shirts, oh god, any of Xander’s   
   shirts, really. There’s an entire Twitter account dedicated to Buffy’s   
   awful ensembles, and it’s worth poring through for hours.   
      
   10) “Hush”   
      
   “Hush” was nominated for a writing Emmy, even though it only has 17   
   minutes of dialogue. That’s all you need to know to understand how   
   groundbreaking this season four episode was. The Gentlemen, some of the   
   show’s creepiest villains, steal everyone’s voices so they can silently   
   steal some hearts, and the Scoobies struggle to express their feelings   
   to each other in the wake of losing something as integral as human   
   communication. A bold and risky episode of TV, the episode ends up   
   saying so much with so little.   
      
   11) The Death of Joyce Summers   
      
   Buffy the Vampire Slayer might’ve been a show where people died left   
   and right, but there were still moments when death became a real and   
   pervasive tragedy. Most notably is Buffy’s mom, who was found dead in   
   her house after succumbing to a tumor. “The Body” was a powerful   
   episode about how people deal with grief, especially against forces   
   beyond their control. It’s the one episode people are genuinely afraid   
   to put on, because it will stay with you for days.   
      
   12) “You have fruit punch mouth.”   
      
   The Master is the quintessential Buffy the Vampire Slayer villain. He’s   
   the first baddie Buffy faced, and the one who first killed our beloved   
   Slayer. But... he had fruit punch mouth. Thank goodness Buffy   
   eventually pointed it out for us, in the season one finale “Prophecy   
   Girl,” because it totally needed to be said.   
      
   13) Xander’s Magical Military Powers   
      
   In the season two episode “Halloween,” devilish trickster Ethan Rayne   
   enchanted all of his costumes to transform their wearers into becoming   
   their outfit... basically turning Buffy into a damsel in distress while   
   a bunch of monster kids attacked strangers. The episode, while pretty   
   inconsequential, ended up having one long-standing benefit: Xander   
   retained a bunch of his knowledge that he acquired while dressed as a   
   soldier, which he used randomly in later episodes to help the Scoobies   
   out of some jams. Xander... taking cosplay to the extreme. Made him   
   100% cooler in my book.   
      
   14) Mr. Pointy   
      
   Buffy may have been surrounded by the Scoobies, but Mr. Pointy was her   
   one true friend. He saw her through thick and thin, and plenty of   
   vampire dustings. Plus, it turned out some of the series’ best jokes...   
   like that infamous stake-miming scene from “Hush.”   
      
   15) The Trio   
      
   This isn’t a nod to season six’s villainous trio as a whole, but rather   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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