Buffy

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haha fuck yeah

hi!!

I got sidetracked in my Buffy watching and sort of stopped after like 2 eps. I'm still going to watch esp with the whole stick with it until season 2 thing in mind. Will keep you posted.

Despite my love for Firefly, I had never actually seen Buffy until this week, besides the last half of S5 or so when I was in eighth grade. Was looking for a summer pastime, and one of my good friends and my bf recommended it, and I've now watched the entire first season in a week. I am now three episodes into season two.

This is a problem insofar as I should be doing research for a professor to solidify/ensure a summer job, and instead I am watching Buffy.

Shocked that it's really this *good*. After all the hype as an important cultural moment, I was expecting to be underwhelmed but it holds up really well (notwithstanding 90s production values) as sort of a proto-Veronica Mars/Alias/True Blood sort of thing.

Also, the "alex in montreal" post at the top of the thread reminds me that when I first registered two or three years back there was a vague capital letters snafu that allowed me to have this name notwithstanding the pre-existence of my lower-cased counterpart, and I should really come up with a new login to avoid all kinds of confusion. Ah, well.

i am jealous of you because if you thought it was good so far, shit is about to get real

still have never seen this

i am jealous of you because if you thought it was good so far, shit is about to get real

― the buttonmasher, the party crasher, the forget-my-lotion skin rasher (k3vin k.), Thursday, 12 May 2011 04:09 (9 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

was about to say this.

Yeah, if you make it through season 1 that enthused, it only gets better. For about three more seasons, at least. Then consider stopping after season 5, or season 6 if you're generous.

Season 7 can be a plod, but ultimately it's worth it. I don't think there are any out-and-out bad episodes in 7, just far fewer that stand out as great compared to previous seasons.

Also, if you stop after season 5, you'll miss the musical!

Original cast sez: New Buffy movie without Joss? I would crap on that!

still feel like s6 is super esential

double meat is double sweet

yeah, season 6 is often really silly but still worth it IMO. i'd take it over season 4.

season 6 is kind of like a turbulent exgf--i don't miss it, but i'm glad i did it

Guys - I'm struggling through season one. :(

DO NOT GIVE UP!

Seriously, literally every single person I've turned on to Buffy has had the same reaction. And then suddenly, midway through season two, it's "I didn't think it would get THIS good!" As k3vin k pointed out, that's when the shit gets real.

srs when i watched the whole series with a friend once we basically skipped s1

"I, Robot...You, Jane" is easily the worst episode of the whole series; once you've made it through that, it's smooth sailing.

I don't think there are any out-and-out bad episodes in 7

What about the one with the magic jacket?

I don't remember that one. In all fairness, it could be because it was so bad that I blocked it out. I mostly remember season 7 as alternating speeches, Andrew tied up and his "story" episode, and the finale.

season 7 has Nathan Fillion in it who went on to be Malcolm in Firefly...

man that sound effect with that thing caleb does with his thumb stayed with me for DAYS

E: An easy path through S1 would be the first three episodes, the pack, Angel, out of mind out of sight, prophecy girl. and even then, you could drop Witch, The Pack and OOMOOS.

Fillion was Mal before he was Caleb.

/nerd

spoilers:
I also thought that Caleb was a terribly written character. He was strong because he listened to the first evil? But he was also a Christian? And he saw what the slayers were doing to be evil but had no problem killing people? But he wasn't written to be a mad man, of which Buffy has had many over the years?

(oh, you're right - i only saw Firefly on dvd well after the fact)

first series has a lot of good willow moments. ymmv.

only reason i got through season 1 was because i was watching it with my little bro and we had a week of long plane/train rides. E - STICK WITH IT!

I barely remember Willow in S1, of which I've watched too many times. She... does i Robot you Jane, which is a thing, I guess. And runs out of the talent show. Also is there. But its fine because she becomes Willow in S2.

compare:

Buffy

w/

Buffy

S6 is worthwhile, but it's also the first season I can justify skipping (musical ep aside). S7 is just limping to the finish line. It's like they had this great grand plan, then ran out of time/money, like some huge would-be fantasy epic set in a room. Both the S5 and S6 story arcs and season finales are 100X more satisfying than the series finale.

lol me telling kevin p much the same episodes to watch.

don't skip s6! its the most depressing year of television ever, the kids in the wire withstanding.

Caleb was a terribly written character. He was strong because he listened to the first evil? But he was also a Christian? And he saw what the slayers were doing to be evil but had no problem killing people? But he wasn't written to be a mad man, of which Buffy has had many over the years?

― popular gay automobile (a hoy hoy), Thursday, May 12, 2011 8:10 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark

srsly, all of this

haha from that list of reax to the no-joss movie, joss himself:

look for The Dark Knight Rises Way Earlier Than That Other One and Also More Cheaply and in Toronto, rebooting into a theater near you.

I feel like the show got way lazier and more obvious with its feminism - Buffy strikes a blow against misogyny by killing this completely ridiculous one-dimensional uber-sexist Southern preacher. The segments in previous seasons involving the Watcher's Council were effectively feminist, but Quentin whatisname didn't go around shouting about how he was the patriarchy, he was an actual character. Also, the thing where Caleb could have killed Buffy like 3 times and just sort of walked away lessened the impact a bit.

I feel like the show got way lazier and more obvious with its feminism

sam can prob correct me if i'm wrong on this, but this seemed to coincide with joss taking a less active role in the show as he ramped up firefly involvement

Yeah, I think that's what happened. He came back to be more actively involved in the last handful of episodes.

And even that didn't make the landing any less rough. So much of the final season is wheels spinning in place, and then when it finally starts to go somewhere they run out of time/money/words/enthusiasm/ideas.

Man you guys really love this show. OK. Imma give it another shot. I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

(but it may take me a while)

It's one of those shows, like "The Shield" or "Deadwood," that run the risk of turning you off early, but gain strength and weight as they go along and you get to know the characters better. Not that I'd put Buffy on tier with those two, but I would wager its characters are among the best drawn in the history of TV.

fwiw i put buffy ahead of the shield in open combat any day

Shield ends so perfectly, though. Advantage: Vic Mackey.

I remember some commentary at the time that Caleb=George W. Bush (or any other religious right strawman).

Caleb=worst major villain of the series.

I look at Buffy season 7 as the price paid for how awesome both Angel's fourth season and Firefly's only season was

good way of looking at it

god S7 really sucked the hairy one

I didn't realize till a few weeks ago that Connor from "Angel" and Pete Campbell are the same person.

that made the first season of mad men pretty weird, but it's worn off since pete got all growed up

yeah, it made the first couple of eps a little odd...but now he's pete & it is cool!

Connor from "Angel" and Pete Campbell are the same person.

― Handjobs for a sport (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, May 12, 2011 11:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

omfg

lol @ u