Buffy the Vampire Slayer – GTGC – #35

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! On this special edition throwback to the GoodTrash Vault, we discuss one of pop cultures most prominent and most kick-ass women: Buffy Summers. In this early episode of the GoodTrash GenreCast, Dalton, Dustin, and Arthur begin the first ever GoodTrash Small Screen marathon discussing the television program Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Considering that Buffy is still being published in comic book form, we find her relevant to the pop culture consumer of 2016 as ever.

For those unaware, the general format of the Small Screen marathon is that our hosts watch at minimum the first three episodes of the show to perform analysis on, but may watch as many further episodes as they would like. For this particular episode, the gang watched the two part pilot episode Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest, and the third episode The Witch. 

Arthur and Dalton, as die hard fans of the show, have seen Buffy in its entirety numerous times, where Dustin is a first-time viewer. The fanboy fervor shows in the review portion of the show, where Arthur and Dalton discuss its positives, while Dustin says that its merely “fine.”

Regarding analysis, Dalton made an argument for why this show matters outside of just being a nostalgic fan. Arthur examines how this show is the best metaphor for a high school, and how it discusses how people transition into adulthood. Finally, Dustin argues that the show is overly indulgent regarding “how being a teenager sucks.”

They conclude, as always with their elses, insteads, and other recommendations. Dalton cites an AV Club article that ranks Buffy episodes as assigned reading material. As always, they end with what fired them up (in 2013, mind you) in popular culture.