Buffy's "The Body"
"The Body" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which Buffy's mother dies, was shown tonight on Logo. I haven't seen it since it first aired in February of 2001, yet I can still clearly remember specific moments that affected me: Buffy saying "Mommy"; her throwing up on the carpet; the way the camera focuses on only half of the paramedic's face; the way all the kids in school watch Dawn when she hears; poor Anya's inability to understand what's going on.
Less than a month after this episode aired, my own mother went into cardiac arrest as we were sitting in the ER of the hospital, waiting on an x-ray for what we thought was a chest cold. A stent which failed and then emergency open-heart surgery for a double bypass followed. She lived. Today she's strong and healthy and enjoying her grandkids.
It's funny what I remember about that day, too: it was the first day of Spring in 2001 and it was warm, so I was wearing the butchiest shirt ever -- a bowling-style button down with flames and dragons on it; the nurse stroking my hair and telling me, "She's pinking up" after they used the defibrillator three times; my brother screeching to a halt in his car in front of the ER; my father asking me "How bad is it?" when he finally got to the hospital.
"The Body" is such a powerful episode, and also an emotional one. I'm glad to be able to see it again after all this time.
Less than a month after this episode aired, my own mother went into cardiac arrest as we were sitting in the ER of the hospital, waiting on an x-ray for what we thought was a chest cold. A stent which failed and then emergency open-heart surgery for a double bypass followed. She lived. Today she's strong and healthy and enjoying her grandkids.
It's funny what I remember about that day, too: it was the first day of Spring in 2001 and it was warm, so I was wearing the butchiest shirt ever -- a bowling-style button down with flames and dragons on it; the nurse stroking my hair and telling me, "She's pinking up" after they used the defibrillator three times; my brother screeching to a halt in his car in front of the ER; my father asking me "How bad is it?" when he finally got to the hospital.
"The Body" is such a powerful episode, and also an emotional one. I'm glad to be able to see it again after all this time.
