Oh god, not the "only the first three seasons are the real Buffy" crowd again. I will never understand that crowd. I enjoyed the first three seasons, but I never connected with the characters in the first three seasons. It wasn't until Buffy stops being that cheerleader/prom queen wannabe and grew up that I started identifying with her, that I started really loving her. And the funny thing is that even now, when I go back, I STILL don't connect with her. Because I just don't understand her. Even knowing all that's to come, I still find her high school issues trivial for the most part.

(I think season 1 is campy fun but pretty terrible overall and season 2 has some amazing episodes and a great arc, but I find season 3 is completely killed by Angel/Buffy. Buffy's emotional arc is TERRIBLE in that season, just because they can never seem to figure out what's going on between her and Angel. Meanwhile, I think season 4 is the best season for standalones, season 5 is the best season overall and season 6 has the best emotional arc for Buffy. So, you know, I'm obviously wrong.)