Decisions we never got over

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I admit that when Buffybot and Spike initially got together, I was a little weirded out. I mean, you get so used to comedic Spike and the fact that Buffy just kicks his ass everytime that it’s hard to picture them actually having a serious relationship on par with the one Buffy and Angel have. However, after watching the show over and over, I kind of warmed up so Spike and Buffy’s relationship. I understood that they both saw in each other so much loneliness, but at the same time recognized each other as fighters. Their relationship was of course, not the cookie-cutter one; obviously if we had all gotten our way Angel and Buffy would end up together and it would have been rather poetic. Except Joss Whedon, the master, knows that reality needs to kick in somewhere in a show about a girl fighting vampires in a town called Sunnydale, and Joss I would follow blindly.

But one thing I never really got over was how sexual it had gotten. Yes, I understand that at season 6 they had come into their own (the characters) and that some maturity needed to be injected. That’s fine. But I thought that they had addressed that at season 5. Joyce’s death as well as Buffy’s sacrifice was pretty dark. Although I agreed with the decision for Buffy to “go there” in the direction of having this sort of dangerous and lusty affair with Spike, I didn’t think there needed to be that much of an emphasis on it. I also don’t think it melled very well with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s persona. I mean, here’s the girl who tried to wrench herself from the whole Buffy good-girl image and went and did Cruel Intentions, where she shares one of the most memorable onscreen smooches in film history. Do you really need to reiterate that the girl is sexy?Another decision I couldn’t get over was Oz leaving and Anya dying. Oz and Anya brought something totally different to the show. Oz was so cool and laid-back, and was definitely someone I thought would have been totally fun to see evolve as the show moved on. Anya dying was just a punch in the gut for me. I feel like Xander has never really been given an opportunity to be happy, and the fact that Anya was killed during the final moments was just such a loss. I keep praying that the writers in Season 8 will find a way to bring her back though.Riley is one of the changes that a lot of Buffy enthusiasts don’t exactly agree with. I’m the exception though.

I loved Riley’s character, contrary to popular opinion. I went to the Buffy Once More with Feeling showing and they had this music video featuring Riley as the “coin-operated boy”. It was pretty darn funny. The inevitable downside, unfortunately, was when he left too. I thought it was one of the most heartbreaking parts of the whole show, behind The Body, Touched and the season 2 finale, of course. For some reason Buffy always gets left behind by her significant others. I’m not quite sure if this was a creative plan by the writers to make it seem like Buffy (since her dad) doesn’t really have a permanent male presence in her life (except maybe for Spike or Xander or Giles, who’ve been with her through the whole thing). Okay, that’s the psychologist in me talking. Will can it now.

Charmed

I’m telling you, I was a huge Charmed fan before. And then Prue got lamely killed off because Shannen Doherty was being such a bitch on set. So now enter Rose McGowan. She never filled Prue’s shoes, in my opinion. And after Prue, I think the show started going downhill. I mean, I think it was too much about Phoebe and her men than anything else. Plus, I hated the effects. I just think it was bad storytelling for them after Prue died.

Prison Break

Now, I can probably say nothing bad about Prison Break, but I have to say, Robin Tunney’s character Veronica getting killed off was not only a shocker, but a completely off-the-rocker shocker. It was not only unexpected, I think it was premature as well. I mean, who gets killed off after one season? Oh, wait. Lost does that sort of thing all the time.

Desperate Housewives

I really hated it when they killed off Rex (wait, for some reason I’m whining about wrong decisions about who got killed off). I think he was a cool character, and I was rooting for him and Bree to get their shit together. Anyway, I’ve lost interest in the show. I think it’s just all fancy brouhaha now.

Veronica Mars

Best show ever, right? Unfortunately, like all good things, the best ones always seem to get cancelled [*coughFIREFLYcough*]. Anyway, I think seasons 1 & 2 were awesome, but season 3 had kind of a weird atmosphere. There was the whole Veronica-Logan thing that seemed to be getting old. Also, they killed off Sherriff Lam! What the heck? I watched the show because of Michael Muhney! And of course, the worst decision ever was to cancel the show! Season 4 would have been awesome if they had pursued the whole Veronica-goes-to-New-York thing for her FBI internship. Ah, like I said, all good things…

Lost

It takes a lot to shock the hell out of me, mostly because I’m a cynic when it comes to shows I know are planning to blindside you as a viewer. So you can understand that it’s a pretty big deal that the show has actually caused me to have my jaw drop from utter shock and confusion. The most shocking axed-off-the-show moment? Shannon getting shot by Ana Lucia. It just came out of frickin’ nowhere! There Sayid was, professing his undying love to her, and she gets shot! And what’s more, she gets shot by a totally unlikable character! I wanted to beat the crap out of Ana Lucia, and I wish Sayid did. Although when presented from Ana Lucia’s group’s point of view, they had cause for alarm when they heard running in the woods, as a cop shouldn’t she know that she needs to see who she shoots at before she gets all gung-ho about it? Anyway, I was so mad!

Another shocker was, of course, the season 2 finale featuring deranged Michael shooting Ana Lucia and Libby. Of course, everyone had a suspicion that they were axed off the show because they had the whole thing with the DUI in Hawaii, but apparently the Lost execs say it was all planned (yeah, right). I was happy Ana Lucia was axed off. She annoyed my socks off.

And still another decision that I’m still trying to get over? Charlie’s exit. It was the saddest frickin’ episode of all, especially during the part when Charlie makes the sign of the cross before he passes. What’s funny is during half of the season we already knew it was coming. Desmond was saying that he couldn’t keep saving Charlie, and that for them to be saved, he had to die. We knew that was coming, and yet we mourned when it actually did happen. Just goes to show Charlie was one of the best-loved characters on the show. I was happy that he was brought back for the 4th season premiere The Beginning of the End, though.

Who knows what the Lost masterminds have in store for us this season. I’ve already been wowed so far, especially with the last episode when Ben revealed some very exciting tidbits about the “rescuers”. I’m expecting a jaw-dropping episode sometime soon.

Heroes

Why?! Why did you kill off Nathan?! Why did you bring back Maya?! WHY?!?!?!?!

Firefly

Fox is the worst television network on the planet. They cancelled one of the most potentially brilliant shows out there, after six episodes! You just missed a potential BSG-ish hit, Fox! Way to get behind your TV shows! Fox has a history of cancelling shows prematurely, so it’s really no surprise, but I’m just so pissed off because Firefly is off the air.