One girl in all the world...

My friend J. was kind enough to give me a lift home from a holiday party tonight, and suggested that we watch an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I've had Whedon on the brain lately, as I've been working on a couple of Whedon-related proposals, so - oh, who am I kidding - I'd have been psyched to watch an episode of Buffy regardless! She suggested something from season two (a great season), and we settled on "I Only Have Eyes for You." I don't think I'd seen that one since it aired (somehow, I have not rewatched most of the show) but, once it came back to me, it came back to me that it had been one of my my favorites. In context, when I was watching that traumatic arc unfold, that episode was heartbreaking (except for the shocker in the final scene). Watching it tonight, what stuck out to me most strongly was how unforgiving Buffy could be, especially of herself. This was really highlighted in the Angel/Angelus arc, but it was one of the central aspects of her character. I always liked the way her unwavering sense of rightness both defined her heroism and problematized her humanity, and the way her Scooby gang strengthened her by softening her.

God, I miss that show.

Speaking of which, I've been saying for a while that I should rewatch Buffy, especially since I'll be teaching it and trying to write on it. I came across this post recently, about a Great Buffy Rewatch that someone (Nikki Stafford, the author of Bite Me, an unofficial companion guide to BtVs) has organized, and I think I'm going to watch along with her. Well, sort of. I don't know if I'll keep to the 3 eps. a week schedule, but I'll use it as a rough guide. I might go more month to month. She'll be blogging about it and will have lots of interesting looking guest bloggers (scholars, sports writers, novelists, TV companion writers, poets, pop culture bloggers, etc) writing about episodes, so I look forward to reading that (info about contributors), and I'm sure you'll see some links to some of that, and some comments over here in the peanut gallery.

I also look forward to writing a bit about it myself - yes, you can expect to see a lot of Buffy posts over the next year as I participate in the rewatch and use the blog to record at least some of my thoughts on the show. Let me know if any of you decide to watch along as well, either all the way through or in parts. Let me know especially if you're local, and would like to get together for some Buffy watching! Unlike the site linked above, I will not be restricting myself to Tuesday nights.