Originally posted by: marioxbAnybody have a complete rundown of each series in chronological order? Is there a major bad guy in either series, to the likes of Lothos in the movie?
You can find episode summaries at buffyworld.com, but here's a quick rundown of each season (I guess a spoiler warning would be quite unnecessary here):
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season 1 - Buffy moves to Sunnydale and discovers that the town is built on a "Hellmouth" (a portal between our world and one of many hell dimensions). With the aid of her friends Willow and Xander (and eventually Cordelia), her "Watcher" Giles, and a vampire with a soul named Angel, Buffy battles the forces of evil that gravitate towards the Hellmouth. When Buffy confronts "The Master" -- an ancient vampire magickally confined to his underground lair -- she dies by drowning, and the Master is freed from his prison, which also causes the Hellmouth (which turns out to be in the school library) to be opened. Xander is able to bring her back to life by administering CPR, and Buffy kills the Master, closing the Hellmouth.
Season 2 - The vampire couple Spike and Drusila move to Sunnydale and take over the vampire lair. Buffy's death in season 1 brings forth the next slayer Kendra, whom Drusilla eventually kills. When Buffy and Angel make love, Angel loses his soul and turns back into the evil Angelus -- the gypsy curse that ensouled about a century ago also made sure that he would lose it if he ever experienced "one moment of true happiness". Teaming up with Spike and Drusila, Angelus uses the fossilized demon Acathla to open a portal that would suck the entire world into a hell dimension, and the only way to close it is to send Angelus into that hell dimension, which Buffy does -- but not before Willow (who had been dabbling in the Wiccan arts) restores his soul.
Season 3 - Kendra's successor Faith comes to Sunnydale and teams up with Buffy, while the inept Wesley replaces Giles as their Watcher. When she refuses to take responsibility for (unintentionally) killing a human, Wesley attempts to take her by force back to the Watcher's Council in England -- a failed attempt that causes Faith to change sides and work for the evil Mayor of Sunnydale. In a confrontation with Buffy, Faith is wounded and goes into a coma. As the keynote speaker at Buffy and friends' graduation, the Major undergoes Ascention (transformation into a pure demon), but Buffy ultimately succeeds in luring him to his death. Angel, who has miraculously returned to this world, decides that being around Buffy was too dangerous, and moves to LA.
*** more to come ***