If i had known when i settled down in front of the TV one fateful evening in 1998 that i would become hooked on a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which i only tuned into because there was nothing else remotely interesting on, i would probably have laughed in your face. If you had told me in 1999 - the show's heyday - that i would watch the last ever episode of this programme with nothing but indifference and a smidgen of bitterness again - i would not have believed you.

It goes without saying however that both statements would turn out to be absolutely true. At one time i was the biggest Buffy fan out there. I watched the show religiously, bought the tie in novels and proudly displayed picture clippings from magazines featuring the characters from the show on the front of my beloved homework journal despite the fact that at the time to admit to watching Buffy was to invite ridicule. Not the wisest thing to do when your already a social outcast.

But i didn't care, because this was a show that hit a groove that appealed to me countless other people - most notably it's appeal lay in the brilliantly drawn central characters, all of which were social outcasts themselves. Along with terrific writing, witty one-liners, and subtle metaphors it made one of the best creations on the television.

So - where did it all go wrong?

Why is it that after seven years, three of which i spent adoring every episode, i feel relieved rather than sad that it's over?

And I'm not alone, Buffy fans were left a largely bitter group.

Anyway, back to where it began to go wrong, the suckage began in Season Four, no doubt about it. Angel had already departed, Oz would follow soon after and we were treated to the spectacle of one of the most chemistryless couples ever (Buffy and Riley), the most pathetic big bad that made the Osmonds look scary in comparison (Adam, that would be you I'm looking at) and an utterly selfish, unlikable Buffy. Also there was the incredible non-existence of Giles and Xander and the lame-ass Initiative storyline.

I heeded the warning signals and hardly bothered to watch Season Five. I loved the finale episode, not because it was as well written as the show used to be in the day (it wasn't even close) but because it depicted Buffy's death exactly as i felt it always should have been. 

Shame Joss Whedon couldn't just leave there like any sane, non greedy person would have done.

Next came Season Six (alternatively known as Season Sux or Season Sex, whichever you prefer) and this is where Buffy the Vampire Slayer finally toppled over the line it had been teetering over for so long - the one between supernatural drama and turgid soap opera. I think you can guess which side it fell onto. 

How exactly Joss Whedon and his team of airheads writers accomplished such a feat remains a mystery but one suspects that a lot of it was to do with Joss' absence. You see, Joss apparently likes to come up with innovative television shows - then gets bored and moves on to another one. Leaving Marti Noxon in charge is not only stupidity of the highest order (bear in mind that she not only wrote that worthless, two dimensional piece of crap called Riley Finn but that she also composed the infamous hissy fit dressed up as an episode called Into the Woods when the fandom refused to adore him) it simply beggars any kind of rational belief. 

Season Six will always be remembered for the following crimes against nature - unnecessary pornography involving Spike and Buffy, Spuffy itself, CrackWhore!Willow, the complete domination of the show by Spike for no apparent reason whatsofuckingever, Tara's completely pointless death (yeah, kill off the only character anyone likes, whose brainfart was this?) and other stuff i really don't want to remember. The trauma, the humanity, the horror!

The characters all became completely unlikable idiots who bore no resemblance to the loveable people we all fell in love with. As mentioned before, Tara was the only one anyone gave a crap about and they killed her. Marti Noxon proves once again how smart she isn't. 

Oh yeah, and Spike suddenly became the focus of the show. Really, would it have taken that much effort for Joss to stick his head in the door during a break of crying over the unpopularity of BugLight....erm, sorry, i mean Firefly of course and point out to Marti, Jane Espenson and Rebecca Rand-Kirschner that the title character of the show is Buffy not Spuke. No, that is not a typo. 

Onto Season Seven and things didn't improve all that much. We got rid of the Spuffy porn yet there was still more Spike anyway, simpering, PointlessSpeeches!Buffy, pointless, whiney Dawn, the utterly not scary First Evil (I'm still amazed how ME managed to turn one of the most intriguing villains into one of the shittest but i should have learned by now that ME revel in being capable of doing the stupidest things) and ::shudders:: the Slayers in whining training. I refuse to dwell on it. 

Because i just can't care that much. It's done, it's gone and much as i would have hated saying this 4 years ago Good. Fucking. Riddance. And no, i won't even wish Joss good luck with whatever crap he wants to continue on with because frankly i couldn't give a monkeys.