Welcome to the Hellmouth -- this is how the world begins

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was not my first fandom -- I was raised on Star Trek -- but it was my first independent fandom. It was the first time that I watched a show, got intimately involved, and didn't care that (at the time) no one else I knew liked it. Buffy was my show and I loved it. Now WttH was not my first episode, so that's all I'll say here on that subject (I'll talk more about my first brush with BtVS when I talk about the Pack). I'm not going to be restricting myself when writing these, which means that this may contain spoilers for as far into the future as the end of Angel (make that 'definitely contains spoilers'). They will all go into my memories, so if you're living in a place that hasn't aired the finale yet and you want to read these, they'll always be there. I definitely abide by the "it's never too late to comment" rule.

This is very off-the-cuff, written with no particular theme or agenda in mind. Just my detailed response to watching the episode. Now, with all that out of the way, I'll get to it.
( Spoilers up to Angel the Series 5x22 -- Not Fade Away; also? Not short. )

Oh, how I love this show.