Last night the finale episode ever of one the best TV shows of all time came on, and now there is no more Buffy. As a fan since the very first episode was first shown on TV (hell, I was fan from when I first saw the Kristy Swanson feature film), I have suffered many scathing comments from people, running the gamut from "I'd never watch a show just because the actresses are hot," to "Vampires and demons? It just looks so stupid." Now that's it over, I respond to all those people with, "No, you're the stupid one, because you missed out on a phenomenon." Buffy was undeniably hot. Shows about vampires and demons are undeniably not mainstream. Joss Whedon, however, managed to meld these dark side creatures with hip, witty dialogue, great characters, and some of the most exciting plot lines in storytelling history. And it's not just me who thinks so. Find me a relatively well-known TV critic that did not respect this show, and I'll find you a winning lottery ticket. Whedon and crew were never afraid to be different, to stretch the bounds of television, and to make each episode an adventure the likes of which you will never get on higher rated offerings. They had lesbians kissing, they killed off characters, they made Buffy kill her boyfriend, then get dumped by the same (still undead) boyfriend, then get with another guy despite the fact that he has the same problems as the original boyfriend. The entirety of season six was just downright despressing, yet now that it's all over, the season makes sense. It helped to ground the run of the series into reality, into a world where the good girl doesn't always win, where people die and aren't brought back to life.

I remember watchign the first season witha few friends in my fraternity. Other guys mae fun of us, but once they noticed how hot Buffy was, they started to watch and get hooked. My friends Kevin and Christine used to make fun of me and their roommate for watching. They sat down to watch an episode so they could amke fun of it MST3K style, and ended up becoming hooked. My mother and I used to chat about each episode the next day, and when I lived with her, we bonded watching together each week. Most recently I got a roommate hooked. Five episodes were left, and he turned down an old friend's plans for the evening in order to watch the finale. The show touched a lot of people, and I'm proud to have been, and to always be, a Buffy-holic.

The series ended with a question and an answer. The question was what will we do now? The answer was a smile from Buffy. She no longer has to be in charge, she no longer has to bear the responsibility for saving everyone, she no longer has to care what people do next. And I no longer have to keep my Tuesday nights open.