You gotta have Faith.
Sometimes you just have to have Faith. According to Slashdot, Eliza Dusku, a.k.a. Faith, is going to return to Buffy: The Vampire Slayer this fall. Color me happy, Faith's character kicked ass, and was nice to look at.

I'm not some hard core Buffy disciple either, I just started watching it this summer when a co-worker convinced me to sic my TiVo on it as FX started showing it from the beginning. I'd never seen a single episode, and always assumed it was some lame show geared at 12 year-olds. I was pleasantly surprised, and now it's one of my favorite shows on TV, ranking up there with The West Wing, The Sopranos, and Oz. The thing I like most about Buffy is that there is continuity. They make one-line references to things that happened three seasons ago, and foreshadow things that will happen four episodes from now. That's what makes the show intelligent, plot arcs. Of course the endless strings of in-jokes, innuendo, and sarcasm don't hurt either.

It reminds me of the debate about which is better, Star Trek: The Next Generation, or Deep Space Nine. For stand-alone episodes, TNG wins hands-down, "The Inner Light" and "Best of Both Worlds" clinch it alone. But, for plot lines, intrigue, and suspense sustained over an entire season, as in seasons 5, 6, and 7. Deep Space Nine wins easily. I'm not going to claim that either series was better than the other, though I'll give ST:TNG credit for fueling a renewed interest in Star Trek in a younger generation.

Myself, I really like shows that flow in a linear fashion, it gives me a reason to watch each week, and rewards viewer loyalty. It also makes me thankful that I have a TiVo, so I can still have a life. I also appreciate that (apart from Vampires, Demons, etc.) Buffy is one of the most realistic shows on TV when it comes to human interactions. For what I mean by realism, watch the episode where Buffy goes to college, and the little things that she and her roomie do to get back at each other. Her roommate labels all of her eggs in the refrigerator, to make sure Buffy isn't using them. I knew a girl in college who found her roommate was counting the M&M's in her candy dish to make sure my friend wasn't eating them.

And, Buffy scores one more point with me for making frequent references to movies and pop culture, especially when Xander does it. Roger Ebert wrote, in his review of Jay & Silent Bob, that it always feels so strange when you watch a movie or TV show in which the characters have apparently never seen a movie or TV show, and they never reference it. Next time you're out with your friends, see how many pop culture references you make to movies or TV shows, then notice how few movies or shows will ever include a reference to another show, it just feels weird. A good example of this was when Buffy and some college guys were turned into cave-people by some tainted beer, Xander said they were out "Questing for Fire", which got a good snicker out of me.

If you've never watched an episode of Buffy, give it a try, watch two or three in a row, and you'll be hooked.
- posted by Seth @ 9:07 AM