Right now, there are a fair number of decent shows on the summer schedule. Okay, three. Maybe four. Still, it’s enough, in theory, to tide me over for a bit. Plus, right now I should be packing, preparing for the big move in a week’s time. This, of course, explains why I decided it was the perfect time to rewatch season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Now, I am an unabashed Buffy fan. While it was still airing, some might have even said obsessive (I would have to disagree – what do you call the level between buying action figures and traveling to attend the conventions?). I watched every single episode as it aired – no delayed Tivo gratification for me – with the phone unplugged and the blinds drawn. This remained true throughout the frustrating later seasons as well. Even erratic, dark Buffy was better than no Buffy at all.
Still, if the show suffered from one major flaw, it is that it peaked too soon. The sheer brilliance of seasons 2 and 3 was hard to match, and many viewers quickly became disappointed in the show. There were enough excellent one-off episodes (“Hush,” “The Body,” “Once More With Feeling”) to convince me that the show still had a lot of life left, but they often were placed between forced drug metaphors and annoying little sisters. Even when it was good, it wasn’t as good as earlier seasons, and each week I watched the show, wondering if this was the week it returned to top form. It never really did.
And yet, watching it again without such impossibly high expectations, I can only remember why I loved it. I’m no longer horrified by unexpected and unwanted plot twists (seriously – a little sister?) and can appreciate everything the show did right. Sure, it was inconsistent, but so were earlier seasons, as anyone who remembers the swim team monsters or the magical Christmas snow of redemption can attest. The show was still witty and interesting and, although it can be painful to watch our strong heroine behave like a self-destructive college student, I can’t say that depiction is entirely inaccurate. I have entire parts of my brain dedicated to humiliating university incidents that I would happily lobotomize.
It’s a pleasure rediscovering this old show without the weight of its earlier excellence pulling it down. I’m not sure if I’ll be quite so generous when I get to the bimbo god or the crayon that saved the world, but I’m certainly going to try.
What about you? What shows improved upon a second viewing, and why?
