Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I've been watching Buffy lately, after being convinced ten years later that despite some poor episodes, it is a decent show.  Season one was a mixture of good and bad storytelling, good and bad ideas and good and bad acting.  Season two stumbled a few times, but was mostly exceptional.  Season three, so far is kind of...meh.

I heard people go crazy over Angel when the show was new.  It was probably the basis for Stephenie Meyer's silly Twilight fantasy.  Generally, I liked the nice little love story between Angel and Buffy.  Then, it turns out, Joss Wheden is not a nice man.  He put his characters through some truly awful experiences.  The most grueling happenstance came when Angel became a bad guy.  After that, David Boreanaz played him with twisted abandon.  He is truly a great villain.

The biggest flaw in the show is the inclusion of Xander--an utterly worthless, annoying, petty, jealous, mean-spirited windbag that doesn't deserve the friends he has, the girls he gets or even his length of life.  For some reason, he's one of the main characters instead of a circus sideshow.  I've already heard that he is in the show for the duration, dammit.