I've watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer a total of six times. The whole show, all seven seasons. I've watched Angel and Doctor Who three times. Dollhouse and Firefly I've watched twice. I'm currently in the middle of Season 1 of Supernatural for the second time (I'm really excited to be doing this rewatch!).
There's something about re-watching a show. There are things you notice the second, third, fourth time around that you'd never notice the first. For example, if you pay attention to the fourth season of Buffy, you'll notice multiple references to Dawn, her younger sister who appears in the next season. The first time I watched Supernatural, I noticed how the dynamic between Sam and Dean subtly changed, but only in watching the show again am I now able to notice the stark difference between the brothers' relationship then and now.
But.
But there's nothing like watching a TV show for the first time. You meet the most amazing people who teach you some of the most important lessons of your life. You get to fall in love with them as you watch them smile and cry and struggle and embrace. If you're like me, you become connected to some of them in a way that makes your friends raise their eyebrows and ask you if you've taken any happy pills recently. You watch your characters make some of the dumbest mistakes a person could ever possibly make. You watch them win the war, beat the bad guy. Sometimes, heartbreakingly, you watch them become the bad guy. You laugh with them, you cry with them, you mourn with them. And sometimes you get so fucking mad at them- as mad as you get at yourself when you do something stupid.
But you'll never get to meet these people again. The second, third, and fourth time around, you get to notice things you've never noticed before. But you already know them. You don't get to experience them for the first time again. So pay attention as you fall in love, because there's nothing like your first time.
I completely agree and I think that's why I tend to also have deep fondness for first seasons. When people ask me which are my favorite seasons of Supernatural and Buffy or my favorite book of Harry Potter. It's usually shocking when I say the first. (Well, actually for Buffy it's season 2 but I've rewatched season 1 the most). Because, it's when I fell in love with the show and the characters. In Supernatural, it was the Winchester family story that touched me. Dean's hand shaking when he sees his mother in "Home", the boys longing for their father's hug when they see him...that touched me and to me, that's what the show was all about. As it's moved on, it's still about Dean and Sam but not so much about the family as a whole. I miss that. With Buffy and Harry, it was such a magical beginning, new worlds - new discoveries. And the characters were so unspoiled. They were fresh and innocent and full of hope. As the seasons go on and get darker it's sad to see the characters you love darkening and becoming more morose. So first seasons tend to put me in my happy place and remind me what I fell in love with.
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