Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Reasons Season 2 Was The Best

8. Oz Is The Perfect High School Boyfriend

Though Buffy's tumultuous love life is often discussed- Parker, her season 4 fling, remains the prototype for "mistakes 18 year old girls make"- Willow may be the character with the wildest love life by the end of the series. There's the whole coming out and falling in love with Tara storyline which features a jealous ex, lots of magic, a break-up, a reunion, accidental manslaughter and a flaying-alive. There's the rebound girlfriend who serves no purpose other than to get a reference to oral sex past the censors ("It's a total loss of control and not in a nice, wholesome, my-girlfriend-has-a-pierced-tongue kinda way"). There's the two love spells she falls under. But before all of that, there was Oz. Oz is the thoughtful, respectful boyfriend that every straight (or in Willow's case, bi) teenage girl deserves. He plays in a band, so is automatically raised out of the nerd ranks, but is mostly just a quiet, smart dude. He's one of the few TV characters to drive a van without seeming creepy. He's devoted to Willow and their initial romance is so touching and gradual compared with the season's high drama that it almost slips under the radar on first viewing. Oh, and he's a werewolf. Which is also cool but probably not as cool as the band thing.