My Weekend Crush

My Buffy love to start out the week naturally got me thinking about the rest of the Scooby Gang. And when I think of the Scoobies, I automatically think of Willow. Now, there's nothing particularly new about the smart, geeky gal as a character. She has been around forever. For reference please see Anne Shirley, Velma Dinkley, Daria Morgendorffer, et al. But what made Willow different was always Alyson Hannigan. Alyson brought brains, vulnerability and an unshakable likability to Willow. She was never just the smart girl. Or just the geeky girl. Or just the girl who had to be rescued. She was a complete person, like someone you might actually run into in the halls at school – well, you know, if you were really lucky.

As Willow made her transformation from shy nerd to shy witch to not-so-shy lesbian witch, what stayed consistent in Alyson's portrayal was her basic decency and outrageous adorableness. Even when she went all dark and veiny and I'm going to end the world as we know it, you still rooted for Willow because she was Willow. To take a character from the softer side of Sears to the dark side of the moon is no small feat. But we never gave up on her because we believed in Alyson. She rewarded our loyalty by creating one of the richest, most adored lesbian characters on television to date. See, nice gals can finish first, and so can the geeky ones. Happy weekend, all.