The Bitch Is Back with Charisma Carpenter

Charisma Carpenter

The Bitch Is Back: A First Watch with Charisma Carpenter *Powered by Patreon* is a spin on the traditional rewatch. Known as the formidable queen bee of the Buffyverse, Cordelia Chase-played by Charisma Carpenter-has finally decided to watch her own shows – and she’s taking fans along for the unpredictable ride!

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27 episodes
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Avg 37 min
English

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Tuesday · 12 min
Answering Your Most Asked Questions About The B*tch Is Back
In this episode of The B*tch Is Back I answer the questions I get asked most. Why I named the podcast The Bitch Is Back and what Cordelia's most iconic line has to do with it. Whether I have really never watched Buffy or Angel all the way through. And why watching this show with you felt like something I had to do for myself, for the fandom, and for everyone who felt conflicted loving a show with a complicated history. Plus the comments that made me cry and what is coming next. Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back! New Videos Every Tuesday Join The Firm on Patreon for full UNEDITED reactions and bonus content: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
September 29 · 25 min
My First Watch of I Only Have Eyes for You (S2E19) | I Didn't Sign Up for This
In this episode of The B*tch Is Back, I watched I Only Have Eyes for You, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, Episode 19, for the first time. This one hit different. A ghost reliving a murder. A love that couldn't be. And the cafeteria snake scene that I was absolutely not prepared for. I share what really happened on set that day and why this episode left me with more questions than answers. Including the one nobody wants to answer. Who deserves forgiveness? Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back! New Videos Every Tuesday Join The Firm on Patreon for full reactions and bonus content: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
September 22 · 10 min
Ranking Every BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Character (as someone who was on the show)
In this episode of The B*tch Is Back, I rank every Buffy the Vampire Slayer character from Seasons 1 and 2. I was in 147 episodes and never watched a single one until now. These are my honest rankings after watching for the first time and I have opinions, especially about my own character. Tell me your rankings in the comments, do you agree? Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back! New Videos Every Tuesday Join The Firm on Patreon for full UNEDITED reactions and bonus content: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
September 15 · 24 min
My First Watch of Killed By Death (S2E18) | This episode That Still Haunts Me
In this episode of The Bitch Is Back, I watch Killed by Death, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, Episode 18, for the first time. This is my least favorite episode of the season and I'll tell you exactly why. A demon that only sick children can see, an abandoned hospital that was genuinely creepy to film in, and Buffy making herself sicker to protect the kids she came to save. Plus I share what it was actually like being on set for this one and filming in an abandoned hospital. Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back! New Videos Every Tuesday Join The Firm on Patreon for full reactions and bonus content: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
September 1 · 29 min
My First Watch of the Episode Fans Warned Me About | Passion (S2E17)
In this episode of The Bitch Is Back, I watch "Passion," Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, Episode 17, for the first time. I knew Jenny Calendar dies in this one, but I didn't know how, and it left me stunned. I break down the olive branch scene between Jenny and Buffy, Joyce finding out about Buffy and Angel in the worst possible way and my thoughts as a mom on how she handled it, Giles going full vengeance mode after finding the rose on his door, and why I think the show cut away from its biggest emotional beats too fast. I also share what I remember from set about Robia’s final episode. The B*tch is Back! New Videos Every Tuesday Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back! New Videos Every Tuesday Join The Firm on Patreon for full reactions and bonus content: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
August 18 · 39 min
My First LIVE First Watch: Buffy's Love Spell Disaster | Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered (S2E16)
I threw out the playbook this week. No 20-page document, no teleprompter, no prep. For the first time ever, I'm watching an episode in real time with you, and of course it's Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, the Valentine's Day love spell disaster. Season 2, Episode 16 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, written by Marti Noxon. Xander gets rejected, goes full scorned warlock, and accidentally makes every woman in Sunnydale obsessed with him except the one he wanted. I have thoughts. About his "nice guy" problem, about Cordelia finally refusing to be a sheep, and about the necklace in this episode that looks suspiciously like one I've been wearing for 25 years. Coincidence? I'm genuinely not sure anymore. Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back!
August 11 · 13 min
My Con Birthday Recap and the Fans Who Made It Unforgettable
I turned another year older in Manchester, surrounded by my Buffy family and a sea of fans. So this week is a full show and tell the cards that made me cry a little (Meg and her mom Catherine, I'm looking at you), the homemade ones that got me the most, Swedish gummies I've already half-eaten, ruby jewelry, friendship bracelets, a random duck, and a Taylor Swift Showgirl CD. Plus why Patreon members showing up at cons means more than any of you know. Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back! Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
August 4 · 38 min
Charisma Carpenter Watches Buffy "Phases" (S2E15) for the First Time
This week I'm first-watching Buffy Season 2, Episode 15, "Phases," the one where Oz finds out he's a werewolf, Larry finds out it's easier to just be honest, and everyone learns that hiding who you are is a full-time job. But you know where my head really went: that car scene. Xander drags Cordelia out to do things she can't tell her father about, then spends the whole time obsessing over Willow, and somehow she's the one getting slut-shamed for it. As the woman who actually played her, I have thoughts. Plus Willow and Oz land the sweetest ending the show's done yet, and I'm begging this entire cast to try saying the thing out loud sometime. Full recap, my sharpest Hot Takes, and behind-the-scenes I actually lived through. New episodes every other week. Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back!
July 28 · 13 min
Charisma Carpenter Reacts to Her Own Red Carpet Photos
The team pulled up two decades of my old red carpet photos and made me sit here and look at every single one. Here's what I learned: I've had some genuinely great looks, that Italian silk blouse, my hair, and my makeup combined, and I'd wear it again tomorrow. Some things I'd style differently now, I'm owning my crimes against pantyhose, the shoe choices that should've been slingbacks. There's a Gucci suit that I still have, and an outfit I wear to a water charity Gala that would be better suited for the Grammys. Full episodes and Bonus Bitch live on Patreon, link below. Tell everyone you've ever met. The B*tch is Back!
July 21 · 1 hr 4 min
Charisma Carpenter Watches Buffy "Innocence" (S2E14) for the First Time
This is a heavy one. Buffy gives Angel everything and wakes up to a man who is no longer home, and I could not stop thinking about how fast she assumes it's her fault. Because that's what we do. That cigarette smoke shot might be the most cinematic thing this show has ever pulled off. The morning after the scene had me yelling at my screen. Jenny Calendar finally admits she's been a double agent this entire time, and believe me, I have thoughts about that. Then Willow tells Oz to make out with her and I fell in love with him right alongside her. And when Buffy shoulders a rocket launcher in the middle of a mall? Honestly, good. I also get into the night we shot the military base in the pouring rain, Cordelia's inexplicable silver jacket, and the elevator shot that ended up in the opening credits. I cried, I laughed, I'm not okay. The B*tch is Back!
July 14 · 10 min
Reacting To My Old BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Interview
New segment: Rewind in Time. The team dug up old footage of me promoting Buffy back in the day, and now I have to sit here and comment on all of it. First up is a five-minute KTLA interview with Sam Rubin from the set of the Halloween episode. I get into: Meeting the cast back when nobody knew if this show was even going to be a thing, stalking Michelle Pfeiffer at the Emmy party, and, decades later, still being genuinely furious that Buffy got snubbed for everything but a makeup nomination. It's surreal, it's a little cringe, and it's very me. The B*tch is Back.
July 7 · 53 min
Charisma Carpenter Watches Buffy "Surprise" (S2E13) for the First Time
Charisma breaks down the will they won't they tension of Buffy and Angel's first night together and refuses to look away from the age gap that flew under the radar in 1997 and reads as a red flag on fire in 2026. She dissects the fever dream cold open, the infamous towel scene and the door left ajar that wrecked her nerves, and the gut punch reveal that sweet Jenny Calendar is actually Jana of the Kalderash. She cheers Cordelia owning her sexuality at the lockers, offers a rare and honest critique of her own ambiguous "happy birthday" read, and full on cries over the Claddagh ring goodbye at the docks. Then there's the thing she already knows is coming. Angel loses his soul. Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
June 30 · 3 min
The Bitch is Back! : Buffyverse Deep Dives and discussions on YouTube
The Bitch is Back! is my first ever watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and this channel is now your one-stop shop for everything Buffyverse. I'm bringing the full interviews out from behind the paywall and onto YouTube, alongside new segments covering Buffy and Angel news, reboot and non-reboot talk, the new Angel comic, and the pop culture moments worth weighing in on. I'll be vlogging too, giving you a look at my process and how the podcast actually comes together. Subscribe, stick around, and tell a friend! And if you want the deeper experience, weekly content, monthly Zoom hangs, early drops, and merch discounts, that all lives on my Patreon at patreon.com/charismacarpenter. Tell everyone you've ever met right now, cause people, The Bitch is Back!
June 23 · 1 hr 59 min
Ira Madison III Reveals Why He's an Angel Season 4 Defender
The Bitch is Back, and the vault is still open. More of our favorite Patreon interviews are making their way to YouTube for the first time, and this one is a fan favorite. Charisma Carpenter sits down with culture critic and TV writer Ira Madison III for a deep dive into Season 2, Episode 2, Some Assembly Required, Buffy's Frankenstein episode, and one of the most unexpectedly rich hours of the series. They get into the circle of pining, Angel's 241 years of emotional stunting, grief as the real horror of the Hellmouth, and what a Buffy reboot actually needs to get right. Ira makes his case for being one of the few Angel Season 4 defenders on earth, Charisma pushes back, and somewhere in the middle Ira confesses to writing Buffy fan fiction. More from the vault. The B*tch is Back. Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
June 16 · 57 min
James Marsters Reveals Who Really Inspired Spike
The B*tch is Back, and we're still opening the vault. More of our favorite Patreon interviews are making their way to YouTube for the first time, and this one was the first to go viral. Charisma Carpenter sits down with James Marsters, Spike himself, to revisit Season 1, Episode 3, School Hard, the episode that introduced one of the most beloved characters in the Buffyverse. James reveals that Spike wasn't inspired by Johnny Rotten or Sid Vicious, it was Tim Curry. He gets into the reboot conversation with more candor than you'd expect, shares what he thinks the new show needs to get right, and reflects on what it meant to play a character that became a genuine touchstone for queer fans finding themselves. Plus Charisma and James discover they have more in common than they realized. Old friends, real talk, and more from the vault. The B*tch is Back. Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
June 9 · 38 min
Reunited after 20 years! Interview with Eric Balfour
The Bitch is Back, and we're opening the vault. A few of our favorite interviews are leaving Patreon for YouTube for the first time, and this is the one we wanted to lead with. Charisma Carpenter interviews Eric Balfour, who played Jesse McNally, Xander's best friend and the first Scooby to get turned, more than two decades after they last spoke. Eric gets into auditioning for Xander and landing Jesse instead, knowing from day one that his character was built to die, and the misery of those early vampire contacts and fangs that left him basically blind on set. He looks back on thirty years in the business, his recent run on Hacks, and why he tells young actors to stop waiting for permission and make their own thing. Plus an honest, funny turn on fatherhood and the parts of Hollywood that quietly break people. Old friends, real talk, and a new chapter for the channel. The B*tch is Back. Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
June 2 · 1 hr 46 min
One year anniversary on the Hellmouth Charisma’s best of Hot Takes
In this week's episode of The Bitch is Back, Charisma Carpenter closes out the podcast's first season, a run that carried her through 24 episodes across Seasons 1 and the first half of Season 2, culminating in a Vacation Edition best-of special where she revisits the Pod’s sharpest hot takes. It's a first watch, so every reaction lands fresh: the dream sequence sucker punch that genuinely shocked her, the Cordelia-and-Xander opposites-attract makeout that simply does not track, and the lox and bagel bad breath warfare she and her scene partner waged behind it. Then there's the swarm of worms that still gives her a full-body shudder, and a fond look back at Queen C's license plate, a prop fans were still recreating for her at a convention in Paris. One year in, and the bitch is still very much back. Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
May 20 · 23 min
S2 Episode 12 "Bad Eggs"
The Bitch is Back, and this week Charisma Carpenter takes on Buffy Season 2, Episode 12 "Bad Eggs" a Marty Noxon sex-ed cautionary tale featuring two vampire cowboys, parasitic alien hatchlings, and a prehistoric mama demon nesting under Sunnydale High. Charisma unpacks the episode's patriarchal reading of motherhood and connects it directly to being branded the "maternal monster" herself years later for daring to have agency over her own body. She delivers one of her sharpest hot takes yet, calling out the show's persistent fixation on weight and thin bodies across 24+ episodes and why that always sat wrong with her, on screen and off set. Plus: the gut-punch moment Xander knocks Cordelia out cold in a scene the show simply moves past, surprise chemistry between Joyce and Giles, and a personal aside about being grounded so often her friends called her house Alcatraz. Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
May 19 · 1 hr 1 min
Bad Eggs, Good Takes. Interview with Iliza Shlesinger & Emily Higgins
Charisma interviews comedian Iliza Shlesinger and her right hand Emily Higgins, host and producer of Ask Iliza, pull up for "Bad Eggs," the Season 2 episode where the Scoobies babysit sentient parasites and Buffy fights a subterranean Mama Bezoar with baby fever. Emily is the Buffy expert (she came armed with DVDs). Iliza is the first-watch newcomer who immediately clocks Sarah Michelle Gellar's ice-skater fighting style and reframes Mama Bezoar as a tool of the GOP. We get into pet-moms vs. real moms, why the 90s felt safer than they actually were, the canceled reboot, and what TV is actually for when the world outside is on fire. Nobody holds back. Listen now! Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter
May 14 · 22 min
S2 Episode 11 "Ted"
The Bitch is Back, and this week, Charisma is taking on Episode 11, "Ted," features the late John Ritter as Joyce's too-perfect new boyfriend, and Charisma's first-watch reaction is everything: equal parts horrified, pissed off, and weirdly relevant to 2026. Charisma breaks down Ted's slow slide from charming to menacing, the moment he threatens to slap Buffy at mini golf, and Joyce's gut-wrenching refusal to believe her own daughter. She gives John Ritter his flowers for one of the most dexterous heel turns in the show's history, and connects Ted's "right is right" energy directly to the Tate brothers and the modern manosphere. The message every parent needs to hear: listen to your kid Full future episodes on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CharismaCarpenter TT: / www.tiktok.com/@charisma_carpenter IG: / www.instagram.com/charismacarpenter

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