I know I came late to the party...

...But Buffy The Vampire Slayer absolutely one-hundred-percent RULES! I've been watching it for... oooh, a week now? And I just watched the best one so far. It had:

1) Angel. Who, thus far, equals EPIC WIN. He's everything Edward Cullen should have been and wasn't. Sarcastic, a little (well, more than a little) badass, protective and in love with the heroine..l. but who lets her FIGHT HER OWN BATTLES. He shows up when he's needed, and not before, allowing Buffy to do her job.

2) The hero faces his/her own death. Again, epic, because it means that they're not just fighting a bad guy, it's death itself they're facing. The prophecies said the Slayer would die when the Master rose from the Hell Mouth and claimed the Earth. She knew that, and she had the breakdown you expect in that situation. It was wonderfully acted, and written, and placed, because once you get past her seeing Angel, who she's crazy about, for the first time in months, she's plunged into a nightmare. She's sixteen, and she's facing the end of her life, and she screams and cries and doesn't want anyone near her. But, in the end, she goes and does what's right anyway. It's so wonderfully done, it rivals the end of EoT.

3) The Bad Guy is really Bad. Yeah, and that doesn't happen enough anymore. He whispered in her ear that, if she hadn't come to try and kill him and save the Earth, he would never have been freed. As he kills her, he makes sure she knows that she handed him his victory. It's sadistic, cruel and somehow awesome, because at that point, she's powerless. He somehow manages to be awful and hypnotic and disgusting all at once, and it combines to be completely terrifying. Her last tears make you give up all hope.

4) Real characters. Willow can't handle seeing the boys she grew up with dead in the school. Xander loves Buffy, and can't handle rejection. Angel doesn't like humans, but still comes to protect the Slayer. Giles won't tell her she's going to die because he's scared, and is going to fight the Master alone, so she won't die. Even Cordelia has a moment of awesomeness when she bites a vampire back!

5) Anthony Head gets punched out. He's awesome, but TAKE THAT MR FINCH! (Wait... Finch... damn, that means Atticus now...) He was going to sacrifice everything to save her, because he's so noble, and she punches him out because she's the Slayer and this is what she does. She slays vampires, and at this point she's faced up to destiny. She's terrified, but she's going to do this anyway. She is, in a word, awesome.

6) (man this list is getting long) The heroine saves the day in a long white dress. She looks a little bit like the Corpse Bride near the end, and when she comes walking back to the school, guitar soundtrack playing, slaying vampires with every step, it's like a wonderful cross between the best of Doctor Who, and the end of Ouran.

Right, so, that episode was simply amazing. If this is just series one, where most people say the show hadn't got good yet, I can't wait for what's next. Although, with the Master dead, I don't know what horrible mega-villain they can have next...