Buffy

The network fucked with ANGEL relentlessly early on. One ep it's dark and moody and For Grownups, the next it's all madcap hijinx. You need to get through Season 1. After that the suits basically stopped caring and turned their eyes to other things and things got much, much better.

I can make you an 'angel the way it should be watched' complete list if you want.

I'd read and probably use that list (seen every episode of Buffy and pretty much none of Angel).

I'll get on it after my caffeine boost.

First season of angel is v. poor but i think the episode abt Doyle is v. good. Really think it starts picking up in the 2nd though, the darla stuff is v. good and the flashbacks and whatnot. Also Wesley is immense.

ANGEL> THE WAY IT SHOULD BE WATCHED>

SEASON 1>

City Of- Pilot, pretty important.

Lonely Heart- Introduction of Kate.

In The Dark- Spike + Oz + Torture

RM W/A VU- A+ Cordy ep.

The Bachelor Party- Precursor to Pangs on Buffy, which in itself is a precursor to...

I Will Remember You- BUFFY! On Angel!

Hero- Doyle's important episode.

Parting Gifts- The return of Wesley.

Somnambulist- Angel v. Fake Angel, Kate starts to learn about vamps n shit.

The Prodigal- More Kate. Kinda dull but for story's sake.

The Ring- Angel turns Fight Club.

Eternity- ANGELUS!

Five by Five- omg faith omg faith omg faith

Sanctuary- omg faith omg buffy aswell!

War Zone- First Gunn episode.

(Blind Date's description sounds like it could be worth watching but I don't remember it. Will watch later to say whether it is worth it or not.)

To Shanshu In LA- Finale fun times.

Overall this turns a 5/10 season into a 7/10 season. Had to keep some kind of boring episodes so you meet new characters etc.

Episodes that skips: I Fall To Pieces (boring monster of the week), Sense & Sensitvity (Kate back story), The Bachelor Party (Doyle back story), Expecting (lol pregnant cordy), She (meh other dimension chick angel wants to bone), I've Got You Under My Skin (monster of the week), Blind Date (maybe).

Will do Season 2 in a bit.

oh god, pregnant cordy episode ws horrendous.

ANGEL> THE WAY IT SHOULD BE WATCHED>

SEASON 2>

I've looked it up and you can't really cut out any episodes. Maybe First Impressions but that is all lol cordy goes to the ghetto and why would you want to miss that?

Best season imo.

aw man, that Angel in the monster Fight Club thing was so cheesy, like so many Star Trek meets Spartacus episodes

ANGEL> THE WAY IT SHOULD BE WATCHED>

SEASON 3>

That Vision Thing- Important Cordy ep iirc.

That Old Gang of Mine- Gunn + Fred adjusting to new life.

Fredless- Fred's parents.

Offspring- Darla shiz. Important ep, the name itself a spoiler.

Quickening- Aftermath of Offspring.

Lullaby- Introduction of Connor and Holtz.

Dad- ummmmm...

Birthday- Cordy gets her own tv show!

Waiting In The Wings- WS Summer Glau

Couplet- Cordy's knight in shining armour returns.

Loyalty- Wesley! omg!

Sleep Tight- See last description.

Forgiving- See last two descriptions, but for different reasons. Also ;_; Angel.

Double Or Nothing- Kinda lame monster of the week ep, but good for Fred+Gunn.

A New World- Connor returns!

Benediction- Lots of important shit. Amazing episode iirc.

Tomorrow- Anti-climatic after Benediction but v. v. v. v. important.

Episodes I skipped> Heartthrob (kind of lame, only worth it for Darla's big news that you'll find out about later anyway.), Carpe Noctum (monster of the week type, angel swaps personalities w/ an old dude), Billy (wolfram & hart are evil), Provider (monster of the week x. 4 as the gang are spread out), The Price (monster of the week).

yeah it was cheesy as hell but I liked it. Plus iirc it's got some good early Wolfram & Hart stuff, especially w/ the chick Wesley will go on to bone.

oh yeah i totally forgot about her! she was also on that Kindred: The Embraced show

Whole Connor arc is fucked up beyond belief. It feels like they were constantly changing their mind abt what they wanted to do with him.

ANGEL> THE WAY IT SHOULD BE WATCHED>

SEASON 4>

Deep Down- Wow, so that's where Cordy is? lol never saw that coming when I first saw Welcome To The Hellmouth.

Ground State- This week on Angel, 'Alias!' But without Jennifer Garner and cute actress instead, so it's kind of fun.

The House Always Wins- Lorne has his own show in Vegas!

Slouching Towards Bethlehem- Cordy returns as amnesiac girl.

Apocalypse, Nowish- Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Habeas Corpses- Connor + Big Bad= Woah.

Long Day's Journey + Awakening = More Beast.

Soulless- Well you can guess.

Calvary + Salvage + Release + Orpheus- Angelus v. Faith = best tv ever, really.

Players- Pregnant Cordy, but not in a lame way like the episode in S1.

Inside Out- Angel has a lol conversation with a demon about the Matrix. Can't remember any other part, may have to pull out the vhs.

Shiny Happy People- Wussherface from Firefly! Oh shit.

Actually, all of the last 4 episodes worth watching.

Episodes I skipped> Supersymmetry (Boring Fred ep), Spin The Bottle (The exact same episode as Tabula Rasa on Buffy).

Yeah Connor is Dawn Pt. 2 in boring shrieking teenagers. Joss obv split too much between shows to give the writers a slap.

Inside Out and maybe Habeas Corpses can go on the Skipped pile.

ANGEL> THE WAY IT SHOULD BE WATCHED>

SEASON 5>

Conviction- Angel: Now part Angel, part Angelus, but 100% bad ass.

Just Rewards- Spike first ep so important, but kinda dull iirc.

Lineage- lol remember when Wesley was a watcher? Oh those were the days.

Destiny- important Spike/Angel flashbacky type episode.

Harm's Way- man oh man do I love Harmony. Daughter of an Arsenal player + Star of Buffy = Perfect Female imo.

Soul Purpose- More soul shit. Also I really did not care for new Spike.

Damage- Andrew! With news about post-ending Buffy! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

You're Welcome- ;_;

Smile Time- Funniest episode of Angel. Up there w/ Storyteller, Life Serial, Superstar and Earshot as funniest of all Buffyverse imo.

A Hole In The World- ;_; x a billion

Shells- aftermath of previous ep.

Underneath- Lindsay was always a strange name for a boy character.

Origin- wtf? Connor?

Time Bomb- Good episode about Illryia.

The Girl In Question- Going to Rome to find Buffy.

Powerplay- Penultimate ep, important.

Not Fade Away- Best fucking ending to a tv show ever?

Skipped episodes> Unleashed (motw is a werewolf), Hell Bound (Spike became kinda rubbish after the sexbot, ps kevin if you are reading this it is yr own fault), Life Of The Party (lorne throws a party, kinda lol, mostly snore), The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco (Angel celebrates the achievements of Rey Mysterio, booyacka booyacka 619), Why We Fight (awkward 'i wonder what spike and angel did during ww2' fanfic).

Now go forth and enjoy.

I most probably have been more brutal but fuck it, I do still <3 this show.

the girl in question is my favourite ep of buffy/angel ever

This reminds me, I have never seen the last two episodes of angel bcuz my dvd player broke and i then decided to save it so i wld always have something to antcipate in the buffy/angel verse.

gf has never seen buffy or angel so i could watch the whole thing from the start right through. This is a terrifyingly exciting project.

do it!

if you want an abridged buffy then i'll do it but it'll basically be 'umm, just skip most of season 7'.

oh and she doesn't need to see i robot, you jane.

that is not true i love that one, beer bad on the other hand...

i feel sorry for season seven.

oh boy, i think i had actually blocked out beer bad. however the one where willow gets drunk = a+

my sister bought a magazine once for a ranked list of buffy episodes, we both guessed right off the bat abt beer bad being the bottom

I think abt the first half of season 4 is pretty shaky (picks up around the initiative?) The one with the cher listening roomate is v. bad but not on a par with beer bad.

Wild At Heart + Fear Itself are fucking awesome.

Giles w/ a chainsaw!

my sister bought a magazine once for a ranked list of buffy episodes, we both guessed right off the bat abt beer bad being the bottom

― plaxico (I know, right?), Wednesday, 10 February 2010 11:37 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Seems about right. Although maybe that one episode of S7 where Buffy makes the same speech for 35 minutes could be worse.

hmm, you are right.

Should really check episode lists before hating on things.

i actually LOVE the one with the demon roommate, though it was a perfect introduction to college-hellmouth stuff, though the rest of the stories in that vein... not so great

s4 is just.. ok for the most part. I mean it's better than s7, probably better than s1. not sayin' a ton there

The fact that I am considering doing a Buffy guide/maybe a ranking makes me think someone needs to give me a job right fucking now.

S4 has some of the best episodes: Wild At Heart, Hush, the Faith ones, the whole last disc, Superstar but its lows are proper OMG JUST KILL RILEY ALREADY HE WAY BORING

i feel like the moment when tv shows become abt characters making "inspirational speeches" is the shark jumping of the 00s

Fuck it, I have an hour to kill before my volunteer work-

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO BUFFY COS I IS BORED AND HAVE ALREADY DONE MY MORNING JOB SEARCH AND IF KEVIN READS PAST WHEREEVER HE IS HE DESERVES TO GET SPOILEREDEREDED>

SEASON 1>

Welcome To The Hellmouth- Pilot. Also v. v. awesome. 9.

The Harvest- lol sunrise joek and Giles at the end. 9.

Witch- Amy! Killer cheerleaders! 9.

Teacher's Pet- Skip it. Xander nearly has sex w/ a giant bug thing/teacher and they may make joeks about this in future but you only need to know the reference. 3.

Never Kill A Boy On The First Date- Part of the story but not that good. 5.

The Pack- Another Xander MOTW type. Worth it only because of the scene w/ the principal. 6.

Angel- The moment you knew this show could turn out to be great. 8.

I Robot, You Jane- Skip it. Only thing you'll miss is INTERNET DEMON and also Giles has a crush on computer teacher/part time wiccan Jenny Calender. 1.

The Puppet Show- looool. 9.

Nightmares- Buffy as a vampire, Xander chased by clowns. Restless did it better. Can skip it if you want. 4.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight- I <3 this episode, Cordy kills it and starts to become a human character. Also first sign of the prophecy. 9.

Prophecy Girl- Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of the great underrated actresses. 10.

Skip- Teacher's Pet, I Robot, You Jane, Nightmares to make a 7/10 season.

if the pack is the zoo one then that is all time classic and ur criteria is fucked

imo

dude you love lists don't you

OMG, the hyaenas!

Acht restless did do it much better but the little kid in nightmares was v good.

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO BUFFY COS I IS BORED AND HAVE ALREADY DONE MY MORNING JOB SEARCH AND IF KEVIN READS PAST WHEREEVER HE IS HE DESERVES TO GET SPOILEREDEREDED>

SEASON 2>

When She Was Bad- SMG <3 u boo. 9.

Some Assembly Required- MOTW, kinda dull. Maybe if you want some insight into Cordy but skip it. 3.

School Hard- SPIKE! DRU! JOYCE W/ AN AXE! 10.

Inca Mummy Girl- I'm so glad they stopped having Xander nearly gets it on w/ lol creatures episodes. WS Mummy tho. 2.

Reptile Boy- MOTW Snore. 1.

Halloween- Introduction of Oz iirc? Also LOL, so fucking great. 8.

Lie To Me- Joss Whedon officially makes this more than just a vampire teen show. 10.

The Dark Age- Worth it for insight into Ripper. Plus <3 Jenny. 6.

What's My Line Pt. 1- Kendra! Willy the snitch! Angel! Ice skating! It has it all really. 9.

What's My Line Pt. 2- See above + Xander and Cordy. 9.

Ted- Best MOTW episode of the season. 7.

Bad Eggs- Continues Angel/Buffy and Xander/Cordy smooching, not really worth it for anything else other than boiled egg joke. Skip it. 2.

Surprise- Wait a second is this actually... 9.

Innocence- THE BEST TV SHOW EVER? 10.

Phases- Oz! As a werewolf! <3 Willow too. 8.

Bewitiched, Bothered and Bewildered- Kinda funny, SMG in skimpy clothing always a must, Cordy kills it. 7.

Passion- ;_; 10.

Killed By Death- MOTW kinda lame. Skip it. 3.

I Only Have Eyes For You- The Flamingos are awesome and this episode is pretty good too. 7.

Go Fish- Fuck me, did I just call this the best show ever? Skip it. 2.

Becoming Pt. 1- OH YEAH BEST FUCKING SHOW EVER. 10.

Becoming Pt. 2- I don't think I'm ever going to stop ;_; 10.

Skip- Some Assembly Required, Inca Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy, Bad Eggs, Killed By Death, Go Fish.

yeah lists and I are total bros.

The Pack gets marked down for being a bit easy motw type of thing. The end is kind of lame too. But Xander kills it and no other high school show has the balls to eat the principal.

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO BUFFY COS I IS BORED AND HAVE ALREADY DONE MY MORNING JOB SEARCH AND IF KEVIN READS PAST WHEREEVER HE IS HE DESERVES TO GET SPOILEREDEREDED>

SEASON 3> Watch all of it except Gingerbread. Earshot and Graduation Day Pt. 1 rival any television ever made. Would give a 9 or 10 to Faith Hope And Trick, Band Candy, Amends, Bad Girls, Consequences, Earshot, The Prom, GD Pt. 1 & 2.

i only have eyes is another of my faves fyi