Yes, numerous times. Love the Buffyverse. Saying it was never serious is removing some of the best moments of the show, ones still critically lauded for how they tackled serious issues.

The Body is a prime example of a serious episode. There were quite a few others. It wasn't all campy fun.

It does. We went for a company outing years ago and dubbed the place Animal Auschwitz for a reason.

In the deer pen there were at least 6 deer bleeding openly, one of which was missing a fucking leg. Like, freshly so. It was still bleeding. No keepers to be seen.

There was a bear enclosure and the only thing people were provided to feed them was corn pops. Sugary cereal they do not eat in nature. And they *really* wanted that sugary crack.

And then the aquatic pens....ugh. Those poor animals. Imagine being shoved into a bathtub and constantly having giant crowds of people fawning over you who won't shut the hell up, and they are your only company.

How about a butcher block, but the meat is their genitals?

oversimplification, but yes still accurate.

Especially since the Dance with Death was teased for an entire book, culminating into one of the best moments of the entire series...and he didn't even use it on the Final Boss because *checks notes* oh yea, he got captured again.

something something oh look now Nikki loves him too just like everyone else.

Which for some reason immediately erases the fact that she's a murdering psychopath who has literally bled children slowly because her undead boss asked her to. No problem, says Richard, just join my posse and we'll fuckin' hang out and stuff! You're hot and young so we have room for you!

My personal guard tortured kids and adults and still carry devices on their hips that immediately send anything they touch into severe fits of agony. But it doesn't kill so its no biggie!

To be fair, compared to the rival forces philosophy he kinda *was* right. But dragging on and on through the entire book from essentially the starting paragraph till the very last few pages? That was a bit much. All while converting every female character that crosses Richard into a fangirl and revelling in being friendzoned.

I hated that piece of shit television show. Especially the casting. Kahlan was good. Zedd and Richard were just...wrong. And painfully bad. Books were superior, IMO.

Worldbuilding-wise I love the universe, and I do appreciate it as a whole (I enjoyed the series despite the preachy bits.) Once I found Erikson and Sanderson and others like them, however, I simply never went back to Goodkind.

Debatable. I enjoyed the series. Mostly.

The first four books are definitely the strongest of the bunch: Kahlan especially becomes a remarkable character at some point. But as many have said: there are certain motifs that are consistently revisited. The Mord-Sith are a major "character" in the series and will try to reinvent themselves as something better eventually....but you still need to deal with their shit.

And there are hundreds (and I do mean hundreds) of pages of philosophical drivel which if you do not agree with drag on and on and on. *Especially* in book 6 where (once again) the main character is fucking abducted and held against his will.