Growing up there were rarely any heroes or heroines I could look up to or relate my own life with. In comic books, the characters were usually always big, burly, strong and masculine figures...and then there were the male characters. But when you’re little you don’t pick up on a lot of that stuff. The number one thing we seem to think at that age is that one day...long after our days of ninja turtle lunch boxes and cheesy haircuts adored by our guardians...we shall be as great as those heroes by which we read about with flashlights under bedcovers at night (no, not THOSE heroes). One day we will have the option of enrolling at Professor Xavier’s school for gifted youngsters. One day we will be able to fight alongside the Fantastic Four. One day we can do crochet and braid each others hair. Okay, maybe that last one just applied to me, but the point is that eventually all these childhood dreams begin to dwindle.

Why? Reality hits. We don’t become Spiderman or Superwoman. We don’t become Garfield or the Lizard Man. No. We become regular, everyday working people who find ourselves incorporating into a system. We continue as nerds, geeks, and sad hopeless couch potatoes on into our eighties. And for years, generations have fallen victim to this predator with no one to look to for guidance. For years our culture has been plagued by the nonexistent “geek-jock” who pummels villains but yet keeps up with math and science at the same time. For years, that is...until there came upon our land a hero. A man destined to put back the righteousness in nerds. A man by name of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.

Now before I continue, I am going to get something off of my chest that is irritating the hell out of me. I am so tired of every damn website that calls itself “Buffy oriented” and yet never seems to know how to spell this man’s name. Let’s get it straight. It’s not Whindam-Price, Wyndam-Price, Windrum-Pryce, Wyndham-Price, or Wynona Ryder. It’s WYNDAM-PRYCE. Okay? Got it? So the next time you want to use this man’s name in an RPG, fanfic, wedding invitation, or draft card...just spell it correctly.

Thank you for bearing with me there. It really gets on my nerves when people can’t give this man that kind of common courtesy. But anyway, back to the point, Wesley’s contribution to nerd culture was one by which all geeks could praise...even the gangly ones with glasses as thick as Aunt Bertha’s thighs....On second thought, maybe that kid is on his own. But the rest of us could still look up to Wes.

Wesley was a whole lot more than just a geek, though. He was a geek who applied his nerdy behavior into heroic deeds to bring hope to the world. More importantly, Wes gave to each of us something that was lacking inside of the Buffyverse during its first two seasons. That little something was called “common sense.”

He employed a very Spock-onian philosophy of “the good of the many outweigh the good of the few.” He was the only man willing to sacrifice the life of a cyber-nerd computer whiz to save hundreds of thousands in an apocalyptic ascension. I always found it interesting how willing the scoobs were to sacrifice everybody in the world for the sake of one of their own. Not exactly heroic deeds worthy of praise. Of course, I forgive them as the person in question resembles Alyson Hannigan in every physical way imaginable. It’s just something I bring up to fill a paragraph.

Wesley didn’t give in to those plaguing personalizations that Buffy and so many of her accomplices (namely, Oz) did. He put the good of us all above the good of Buffy’s posse. He listened to logic and used caution...and because of this he was seen as inhuman to his slayer. The truth is, had Buffy listened to Wesley and given him a fair chance (which the ultra-bitch never seems to do), things in Sunnydale might have faired better.

To better illustrate, let’s go back to the beginning...back to when Wes was first brought into our lovely Sunnydale picture so that we might be able to get a better view as to just what it is I’m babbling about. We all remember when Buffy and Wesley first met, don’t we? Buffy coming into the library to meet with our Pierce-Brosnan look-alike...and then treating him like garbage. She ignored him, treated him like an idiot, treated him like a second-rate corporate man...and yet never gave him the fair chance he deserved. Go back and review the tapes. It’s all there. She listened to her former wreckless watcher, who as well treated Wes poorly, and as a result became more to blame for Sunnydale’s fall-out than Faith.

Let’s think about this for a second. Had Buffy listened to Wes, the attempted ascension would never have taken place, the old sunnydale high-school would still be around, Harmony would be living a happy life as a human, many students who died as a result of the ascension would still be alive, Giles would still have a back-up job, Faith could have been redeemed earlier and with less coma inaction, Felix and Oscar might have never moved in together, and the world could have been a better place. But no, we’ve gotta save Willow. Willow this and Willow that. Sure, I love Miss Rosenberg as much as the next horny viewer, but come on! The show might not have been the same without Willow, but replace her with Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger and this viewer is just as happy.

Fact is, many people hated Wesley during Season Three of Buffy. A lot of the same people now respect him with his new “persona” (which I personally find disturbing) in the Angel series. But my question is “why?” Why hate the man who spoke only in defense of the people of Sunnydale? Why hate the man who was left out of the circle countless times by a disobedient slayer but yet never gave up on her? Why hate this man for any reason what-so-ever? And the usual answer I will receive regards Wesley’s actions regarding the Faith situation.

There are many who still claim Wes is to blame for this fallout, but let’s be totally clear about what happened with Faith and how much more her condition should be pinned upon Buffy and the scoobs rather than Wesley. For starters, when Wesley first arrived Faith was already on the path to darkness. Buffy had hated her from the start, grew jealous of her ability to befriend others better than herself, and didn’t even want to invite the new and lonely slayer to her house for Christmas. It took some prying from her mother (which she lied about later when Faith asked about it) before she even considered being a good Samaritan.

The truth is, Buffy had the ability to get close to Faith, but she refused the opportunity early on. As a result, Faith had very little faith in her pal (and yes, the pun was intended). Buffy allowed herself to get sucked into Faith’s world of crime instead of attempting to redeem the dark slayer from an early start. Why? Jealousy and hate come to mind. Perhaps feeling superior than this other slayer? We all know this was the high-point of that climax.

And who gets blamed for Faith losing control? Wesley. Buffy didn’t hesitate a second before pinning everything on the British watcher, even though Wes was only doing his job by following protocol. It was about time SOMEBODY started doing their job in Sunnydale. It’s just a shame the tenure lasted so short a time. And in truth, had Buffy and Giles been kind enough to inform Wesley of their plan involving Angel’s intervention with Faith...perhaps our watcher would have gone along with it. We’ll never know, but we do know that Wesley came through for the group when they needed him. We know that even after Buffy quit the Council, Wesley stuck around to save the day. Having this information is more than enough for this writer to know that Wesley would have stuck by the plan one hundred and ten percent of helping Faith by way of Angel. If only Buffy had let him in...ah what could have been. There’s that damn rhyming again. But Sunnydale could have been such a nicer place.

Of course, as with all good things, Wesley’s reign in Sunnydale eventually came to an end. Soon our Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was in an ambulance deemed for an exit we would never forget. I still get teary-eyed upon seeing my favorite watcher rolled into that vehicle...knowing in my heart that he gave his all for the good of the cause. Gave up his job, gave up his lifestyle, and sacrificed his Pierce-Brosnan face all for the scoobs who did nothing but hate him.

No, I do not believe the reason why so many viewers hated the former watcher had anything to do with Faith at all. I believe it came from the subconscious. Something in the back of all our minds was triggered by one glance at him. We saw him as a nerd. We saw him as the short, gangly geek who always got picked last for chess team. More importantly, we saw him as ourselves. And seeing ourselves manifest into a character on Buffy...it created tension and panic. Millions could not believe that the world of fiction was now colliding with the world of reality. Everything became war as hell broke loose in our minds. And then we turned on him. We turned on ourselves, shunned his culture and in effect destroyed him from within.

And now, as a result, Wesley is a new man. A man with a new “bad-ass” image that makes me sick to the stomach, but at the same time makes millions of viewers happy. We lost his realism and forced him to take on a new attitude based on adaptations in modern society. But I shall never forget my Wes...never forget his greasy hair and prim suits. I will never forget his calm demeanor and proper ways. I will never forget his contribution to Sunnydale, and more importantly never forget his contribution to my life.

For now days when I visit those old playgrounds where the big kids ruled the kingdom, I sit back and look among the students who play there (and no, I’m not stalking them). I tilt my head in respect for the ones in persecution...for the ones who will grow up to be the next generation of Wyndam-Pryces. Wesley gave into a need for love, tossed aside his nerd culture references and disbanded from the community of the geek. It is a sad fact that many of our youth of today who wear pocket protectors and dare to grease their hair will one day fall victim to this train of thinking as well.

Each and everyday we lose more and more of our own kind. It is a shame that we have lost Mr. Wyndam-Pryce as well. He taught us how to respect each other, how to hit on teenage girls who resemble psychology teachers, and how to bargain for ones own life cowardly in the face of danger.

So long, Wes. The Vulcan/Klingon Alliance Association of Reformed Fans will miss you forever.

By the way, if that is a real organization, no reference to you was intended. Thank God you probably don’t have enough of a life to sue anyway. And please, go see the sun.