10 Most Depressingly Realistic Lessons From Buffy The Vampire Slayer

5. First Loves Rarely Work Out

Episode: Season 3, Episode 22 - "Graduation Day Part 2" This was actually a multi-season lesson that ending in a finale, depressingly real (though still somewhat romantic) moment at the end of Buffy's third season: First loves are intense, first loves are exciting, and first loves rarely work out. Angel was Buffy's first, all brooding and mysterious - and it turned out, a vampire. With a soul, so he was a good guy, so it was all fine and dandy. Of course, things went bad - a moment of true happiness with Buffy meant Angel lost his soul, reverted back to the evil Angelus, tortured and terrified the Slayer's friends, murdered Gile's love interest Jenny Calendar, and was sent to hell (just after getting his soul back thanks to Willow) at the end of Buffy's second season, by Buffy herself as she saved the world. Flash forward to season three and Buffy and Angel are doing the are we or aren't we dance, never really officially getting together but still being very much in love, despite all the inherent risks their involvement would entail. After the end of the season, after teaming up to defeat the evil Mayor, Richard Wilkins III, Angel tells Buffy he's leaving - leaving town leaving. Leaving to get away from her. Look, not all of us have crazy first loves like that, but lets face it: first loves rarely work out. It's a depressing fact of life for 9 out of 10 of us (or maybe 99 out of 100 these days).