I’m so ashamed! Back when Buffy first came on the air I thought “Oh. My. God. A show about a cute little highschooler who ‘slays’ vampires with witty one-liners. Ummm, no.” This was beneath me. I had more important things to watch. I thought I was superior because I was into The X-Files and ER. How was I to know that X-Files would soon become completely incomprehensible and ER just boring?
I kept hearing about this Buffy thing and then all of a sudden there was a spin off, Angel. Everyone was doing it. “Try it, you’ll like it”, they said.
So last year, I tried it. Just one episode at first. Hush. I did like it, in fact, I loved it. I wanted more. Soon I was watching it every week but it wasn’t enough. I needed those lost years that I wasted on boring medical/police/lawyer dramas.
The internet was a big help. I gave me the general idea of what had happened in the past but it just wasn’t the same as a real hit–I mean episode. Then I found out about spoilers and wildfeed and it all spirals down from there.
The next thing I knew, I found out that I would be going off of Buffy, cold-turkey. We don’t get UPN! I went into withdrawal. It wasn’t pretty, folks. But then, along came FX with Buffy 5 days a week. Knowing that FX is there for me is what lets me sleep at night.
Oh, and while I do have a supplier who tapes the new episodes for me, it can be anywhere from 6-14 days before I can get the tape so, I would muchly appreciate any and all comments about the new episodes.
Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry I ever doubted.
Maybe you should put some shorts on or something if you wanna keep fighting evil today.
Wow, what a great way to start, with ‘Hush’. You are a lucky little Bowler, my friend.
For me, Buffy began because of my ex, who watched the show a lot. Not religiously like me and the creetch to now, but enough to warrent some interest from me. I was the same way, thinking the show was just a crappy spin off from the movie version, but I wasn’t watching anything prestigious like ‘ER’ or anything.
I came in towards the end of the 3rd season, but I really didn’t start watching full time until end of 4th/5th season. Damn what an addicting show this is.
Thanks to the wonder of a region-free DVD player, I’ve now seen all of Season one and two, with three on the way next month.
Good for you Bowler, I’m glad you’ve joined the ranks. Long live Buffy.
I started watching it because of my ex…as in, I just moved to Houston after we broke up, it was on, I didn’t have cable, and was too tired to go out.
*blink* Wait, this isn’t a bad ripoff of a bad movie…
Never really sat down and watched this, watching the first three seasons online right now. One thing that has continued over from casual viewing is how the fights and the vampire henchmen, anytime they appear, might as well be stock footage. I dislike the vampire design, and I hope that I never have to see a stuntwoman kickbox again. The Sleepwalkers-style faces hide all expressiveness, and the show’s insistence that vampires have no souls and deserve nothing but death is creepy, and hopefully short-lived, because of course the interesting villains have to be more than cyphers in masks, a la Spike and Drusilla.
After the last decade, it was interesting to see a scene where the entire group stands around while Buffy tortures a vamp on a pool table to get information.
But it effectively communicates the stress of being a superhero. I don’t know what the metaphoric high school counterpoint to that is (just being a teen, I guess). The two times for dramatic effect Gellar has broken down and referred to being only 16 really worked. And the group dynamics do too. I’m at the point where they’re getting complicated. Everyone has a former or dead crush, and/or a current love. Jenny Calendar just died. I’m taking a break because the plot descriptions ahead all sound like Monster of the Week episodes, and I wish they weren’t. I feel I can’t skip them because I’ll miss character development with the central relationships.
I know it’s a long ways off, but stuff like the meta-ness of the Dawn character (I have watched a few episodes in a row around the time that happened) is what’s most awesome to me. Things that are at once playful, metaphorical, and dramatic.
Originally Posted by Felt PeltView Post I’m taking a break because the plot descriptions ahead all sound like Monster of the Week episodes, and I wish they weren’t. I feel I can’t skip them because I’ll miss character development with the central relationships.
Yeah, stick with it. The only episode you have left to go in season 2 that’s completely worthless is “Go Fish”.
Originally Posted by AlantharView Post A decent show that got better as it went a long. SMG was fine in the role, but the supporting cast really bumped this show up to something special. As for Angel, I’ve only seen the last season (which was awesome) but have never really felt any desire to watch any of the previous 4.
Do yourself a favor and watch the previous 4.
For one thing, you missed the incredible evolution of Wesly Wyndham Price. Probably the best character arc I’ve seen on a tv show ever.
Alanthar: Seasons 2 and 3 of Angel are really good. I prefer 3 over 5, actually, but I’m in the minority on that.
Felt Pelt: You have the right attitude. The end of season 2 wraps up every little thing so well that you can’t skip an episode because you have to pick up all those little things. The next season perfects the high school setting, and then the next few years get into the weirdness which I’m sure you’ll love. It’s hard for me to remember how it was to see Dawn’s appearance or “Restless” for the first time, but I can say that in hindsight everything was handled well, while continuing to be funny and good.
I bought the complete series. I stopped watching after the wannabe Lynch dream with cheese and the first reaper. I’ll get back to it someday. It really stalled for me.
I’m one of those crazy people who thinks 5, 6, and 7 are the best seasons of the show, and I don’t even like 6 all that much. You should really go back to it – the fourth season is weak, but the fifth’s probably the most consistent, six is quite ballsy, if thematically murky and problematic, and seven is probably my favorite overall.
I also own the complete series, but I haven’t watched it in at least a couple of years.
I fucking love Buffy. And Rath, you’re not crazy. I loved those seasons, too. I was initially skeptical of them turning Spike into a member of the Scooby Gang, but it ended up working beautifully.
I’m the crazy person who loves seasons 4 and 6 above all others. I’m not going to say they’re the best of the series, but they’re the ones that I relate to and enjoy re-watching the most.
Also, I can’t believe someone gave up on the show after “Restless,” which I would put in the top 10 Buffy episodes ever.
I would say that the 3rd and 5th seasons are the most consistently excellent. Glory was a big bad that never truly got the respect she deserved from the fanbase.
Aw, hell, if I had to rank’em, I’d go:
Season 3
Season 5
Season 6
Season 2
Season 7
Season 4
Season 1
Finished Season Two. Thought the sick kids in the hospital vs. generic demon episode was just as bad as the Go Fish one (sick kids in TV shows usually seem manipulative to me, and lazy). Liked the poltergeist reliving the murder of his teacher through Buffy and Angel (and John Hawkes as a janitor). Buffy’s movement from kneejerk hatred of him to empathy, done very simply and broadly in three scenes, was great.
I think so far the show’s like The Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. Lots of ideas, but sometimes the execution is lacking. The season three opener started strong, got ill-advised (the homeless problem, let’s address that non-allegorically), then just got odd: Buffy fighting off the owners of the means of production with a hammer and sickle, who drain the life out of young people in a demon world that travels at a different speed of time underneath a homeless shelter? (A Christian homeless shelter, they’re tying it to Marx, but it’s so clumsy.) Also, there’s a Gandhi line (“Do you want to see my impression of Gandhi?” Kills Carlos Jacott. “Gandhi?” "Well you know, he was really pissed off." that is like a strange warmup for the Whedon line in X2 about what happens to frogs.
But SMG’s devastation, running away, and stoniness after killing Angel was perfect.
Next two episodes are pretty well constructed. Dushku’s introduced.
Originally Posted by Felt PeltView Post that is like a strange warmup for the Whedon line in X2 about what happens to frogs.
Well, to be fair, Halle’s delivery was atrocious. It was supposed to be a throwaway quip and she delivered it as if she were the Second Coming. (Picking nits: the first X-Men)
Originally Posted by Felt PeltView Post Finished Season Two. Thought the sick kids in the hospital vs. generic demon episode was just as bad as the Go Fish one (sick kids in TV shows usually seem manipulative to me, and lazy). Liked the poltergeist reliving the murder of his teacher through Buffy and Angel (and John Hawkes as a janitor). Buffy’s movement from kneejerk hatred of him to empathy, done very simply and broadly in three scenes, was great. I think so far the show’s like The Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. Lots of ideas, but sometimes the execution is lacking. The season three opener started strong, got ill-advised (the homeless problem, let’s address that non-allegorically), then just got odd: Buffy fighting off the owners of the means of production with a hammer and sickle, who drain the life out of young people in a demon world that travels at a different speed of time underneath a homeless shelter? (A Christian homeless shelter, they’re tying it to Marx, but it’s so clumsy.) Also, there’s a Gandhi line (“Do you want to see my impression of Gandhi?” Kills Carlos Jacott. “Gandhi?” "Well you know, he was really pissed off."Wink that is like a strange warmup for the Whedon line in X2 about what happens to frogs. But SMG’s devastation, running away, and stoniness after killing Angel was perfect. Next two episodes are pretty well constructed. Dushku’s introduced.
If it makes you feel better, the Season Three opener is probably the worst episode of the entire season. It gets so much better from there.
I could never pick a favorite, but I will say that Season 4 is a strong contender. We have Angel’s absence, which made his cameos on the show particularly snappy, some of the best development of Spike the series saw, the introduction of Tara, and the Inititative.
Riley certainly wasn’t my favorite Buffy beau, but I never got the hate for the character. I thought it was an interesting–almost necessary-- choice in the wake of Angel. I also really liked the concept of the Initiative, and it wasn’t any more hokey than a single teenage girl taking on the forces of darkness. Yeah, the budget didn’t really fit their vision.
Oh, and Giles really came into his own this season. His relationship with Buffy was so deftly portrayed. It’s a case study in how to develop realistic rifts between heroes in genre series.
Also: Hush. One ep doesn’t make or break a series. That one comes very close.
The Initiative was great, as was Riley’s character arc. My only real problem with Season 4 was that it felt like they rushed the Big Bad arc. Cryptic hints and prophecies of “314” aside, Adam remained far too much of a peripheral figure for the entire season only to rear his ugly head in the last 3 or 4 episodes. And, as mentioned, the budget simply did not meet their vision, although I can forgive that on a TV show.
that is like a strange warmup for the Whedon line in X2 about what happens to frogs.