In which the title says it all, oh, and Buffy has a sister.
That was probably the best season premiere yet. It was fun how they gave their own depiction of Dracula based on all his lore. He made for an interesting an entertaining villain, while also setting up some stuff that will probably be important down the road.
Let's address the opening credits. The most notable part is the inclusion of Emma Caulfield as Anya, which pleases me. I enjoy the character, she isn't bad to look at, and it gives me hope that she'll have a more important role this upcoming season, which means Xander could have a more important role (the "no longer a butt monkey" speech gives me hope for him as well). Other than that, Amber Benson not being included was discussed, so whatever to that. And then I saw Michelle Trachtenberg, which confirmed my suspicions about her inclusion in the show. You see, Netflix, as well as the Season 5 box art I think, uses a picture in which an actress that looked familiar was on it. At first maybe it was just me not recognizing an older version of Alyson Hanigan, but no, that was more than likely Michelle Trachtenberg. I'm interesting to see what role Buffy's Sister (as she hasn't been given a name yet) plays.
The "Giles is going to move home" side plot was really nice, too. I knew it wasn't going to happen, but it was a great acknowledgement of Giles' largely reduced role in last season, while giving him a new, important role for Season 5. I also enjoyed watching him run around with Riley. Those two make a great Riley and Giles the Vampire Slayer Sidekicks. I smell another spinoff series! But really, I enjoyed seeing Riley acting as one of the gang.
Other than that, the humor was fun. Dark Prince...bator was probably my favorite line. Buffy's Mom talking about giving up on men in front of Willow and Tara was good stuff, too. And I'm sure there were other bits. Solid stuff all around.
Good start. Let's keep up the momentum.
Up next: Angel 1
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snowpork I wanna be a SuperNiceDog when I grow up!
In which Angel came and he gave without taking (but not really because he killed someone).
A decent premiere. The gang is going about their business, killing bad guys and such and Angel is getting all excited about becoming human. However, then he messes up and kills a good guy and needs to sing karaoke to fix the problem. It was both a serious and light-hearted episode, something the Buffyverse does so well.
I was a little surprised to see Gunn make it to the main cast so quickly. He was in the three final episodes last season, and I figured they just wanted to run with the guy a little bit. Instead, I guess they signed him up and now he's here for awhile, probably becoming a part of the team at some point. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I didn't like Gunn last season, and I don't really like him that much in his brief showing here. His character seems really forced and is really playing on stereotypes. Of course, I'll give him time to grow on me. A lot of characters usually do.
Also, there was the surprise of Faith still being around, and Angel still being active in her rehabilitation. That was a pleasant surprise, and I'm curious to see how closely we get to follow that little plot. I wouldn't be surprised if Faith made it into the main cast for Angel down the road.
Oh, and the plot. It wasn't bad. Fun hearing a little bit about ancient demon laws and such. Neat to see how it all goes down. Not really much else to say.
In which Dawn screws everything up and Giles buys a magic shop.
Alright, so something after this episode is bugging me. After four years of following our heroine, we find out in the fifth year that she has a sister. This was a big deal and she is going to be a major plot point. That led me to believe we would be getting some backstory as to why Dawn hasn't been in the picture...only we didn't get any. They just acted like she had always been around. Buffy's "What are you doing here?" from the previous episode wasn't acknowledged. What has Dawn been doing? I assume hanging with her father, but why is she back now? How has she managed to stay out of trouble of Buffy's slaying duties in a big way until then? They make such a huge deal about it all, and yet we don't get why it hasn't been a big deal prior to now. It's just befuddling and seems kind of lazy of the writers to decide in the fifth season that Buffy has a sister.
That aside, I like the things this episode did. The end gives us the expected "there is more to Dawn than we know," but my favorite part is how, finally, Giles has something to do. He has become a magic shop owner, and this is a natural transition and makes perfect sense, and it gives the Scoobies easy access to resources which is nice. I also loved how they acknowledged Giles' lack of doing anything last season. "I watched Passions with Spike" was an awesome line. Harmony was decent enough. She provides a good comic relief mid-boss type of villain. It'll be interesting to see if she gains any more competence and begins to pose an actual threat to Buffy through means that isn't catching people by surprise. Riley is hanging around. I like him. He serves as a good checks and balance for Buffy, and I appreciate that. He also has a quirky sense of humor that I enjoy and I appreciate what he's bringing to the cast, at least at this time. He doesn't have much to do, either, but that's okay because he had so much focus last season. Lastly, I'm still bugged by Tara. I don't know if it's intentional or simply how the actress plays the character, but everything she does and says just seems less than genuine. Also, I caught that look when Willow said she was one of the "good guys." Something is going to happen with her, and I'm hoping it happens sooner than later because I'm tired of wondering what her deal is. I haven't trusted her for a second.
There's still a little issue with other characters not having much to do, most notably Spike. He just kind of wanders around, not on anyone's side, and is just a punching bag for the Scoobies. Admittedly this can be really funny at times, but after a season it's starting to get a little old and I really yearn to see Spike get more play in the series. Considering he's on the Season box art (it's the picture they use for the series on Netflix, the one with Buffy in the middle and Spike and Dawn there too), I expent him to starting soon. Xander is starting to find a little bit more of a role, even if it's just through a more assertive, confident attitude. Anya is still just kind of there, but again, her being in the main cast gives me hope that there is much more planned, and hopefully for the good because I like her too much to see her get killed off or turn evil again or anything like that. But I expect Xander to scourn her and that to be exactly what happens.
But yeah, Dawn is going to be a huge deal, at least for the first half of the season and probably the whole season given how she's been inserted into the opening credits. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I already have my reservations about the character given how she was introduced. This episode did a good job, though, displaying her personality through the journal monologues. Hopefully she doesn't get forced down our throats.
I wrote more on that then I thought. Don't expect this too often.
They do explain why dawn just showed up out of nowhere at some point. The writers aren't as lazy as it seems.
and personally I never liked tara either. she just always seems to be "there" and serve as nothing but "willows girlfriend", she doesn't really have much personality of her own outside of "incredibly awkward".
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http://img.imgcake.com/cyclo/Cyclopngegpngre.png I'm "kind of a big deal"
Angel - Season 2, Episode 2: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been
In which people be paranoid.
Starting out, I didn't like this episode too much. Angel's past is okay, but normally not as interesting as anything that they could do with him in the present. That said, this was probably the most interesting play on Angel's past to date. At first it just seemed like "Angel helps this girl who needs it" but it kept evolving and became more interesting. That point where she turned on him kind of caught me by surprise, and the realization that the paranoia demon was still feeding off of the girl was pretty awesome. The final scene between the two, with the whole forgiveness part, was pretty sweet. Well done. Also, the swagger of the paranoia demon was entertaining. I enjoyed listening to him talk about feeding on humans.
Angel Investigations is going to be buying the Hyperion, huh? A nice transition. They did say the landowners were having trouble selling the place, so it's good that they acknowledged that point of information. I would've liked if they operated out of Cordelia's apartment for a little longer, if not just for the off-chance that we get more Dennis involvement. I like the guy, err ghost.
So apparently Dawn's reason for being around is a big deal, huh? Bummer that I know, but I expected things like this too happen so I'm not too mad, just slightly disappointed. Even though people did say that it gets explained, I hadn't realized it would be a big deal, though in hindsight I probably should have.
Cyclo did a good job of alluding me to that it does get explained, but not building it up at all. I figured it would just be a simple explanation that they made at some point and appreciate him quelling my frustration. Djungelurban probably reacted a little too strongly. The reactions to his reaction are what were a little too much. If somebody says something potentially and suggestively spoilerish, just wait to see how I respond. I may not have gotten onto the wavelength needed to be spoiled, as was the case here. Now I know that it's going to be a huge deal.
Yeah, I had the same thing happen when I watched it with someone because I knew what happens with Dawn a little and they didn't and I had to try hard to get them to watch more without spoilering anything.
I liked Riley better in this season too, at least at first. And I still like him better than I ever liked Angel.
To be fair you are supposed to know from the get go. The fact that something was wrong and Dawn shouldn't be there is a big deal immediately and was never meant as a surprise. The basic reaction to Dawn from fans at the time was "Who are you, why are you here, and why the heck is everyone acting like this is normal?"
You just have to remember to give Joss the benefit of the doubt in these cases.
Also just bringing up a seemingly random dream quotes from Restless and This Year's Girl: Faith while making the bed:"Little sis is coming" Tara while in the same room with the same bed: "Be back by Dawn".
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
yeah, i realized a little too late my reaction to Dj's reaction might have been hasty, unwarranted, and a little much. sorry. i get kind of testy when people can't let things like this happen more organically, and it sometimes leads to me being just as bad.
From: Maniac64 | #213 Tara while in the same room with the same bed: "Be back by Dawn".
wasn't it "Be back before Dawn"
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"Oh God, maplejet's trying to be cool again. I'll call the ambulance." - Wylvane [NO BARKLEY NO PEACE]
Guys... just stop posting, jesus. Quadrafecta, Djunglebarn, especially Maniac, those posts should just never have happened.
Let him come to his own conclusions about things. Don't explain things unless its already been explained by the show and he just missed it / misunderstood it. Don't explain things he's wondering about that get explained later.
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The batman villians all seem to be one big joke that batman refuses to laugh at - SantaRPG
Agree with CoolCly, everyone just shut up and let Zazi watch the show. There are times when comments and fun facts are appropriate, but this isn't one of them.
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http://www.smkgp150cc.com/images/toadspin.gif SuperNiceDog ate all my bananas.
Never said it was a BIG deal... Just that it wasn't just "oh, she lived with Buffy's dad for all these years"... Which, maybe it was just me, but I found it wicked obvious first time around... Basically, the entire episode "Real Me" was made to make the audience go "What the hell are you talking about guys? She wasn't here last episode! Why are you acting like she was?". I'd barely even call it a spoiler... It's like calling it a spoiler to tell someone details about a movie... After they've already seen it...
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Nominate B.B. Hood for CB IX http://miniurl.org/ntI
htaeD posted... to be fair the dream sequences dont really fall under 'things the show needs to explain later'
Yeah I'm just posting what the dreams were hinting at after the events happen. It's basically stuff he is almost certain to miss otherwise since noone remembers all the dream foreshadowing the first time through.
I really don't see any problem with that.
-- (Maniac64 at work) All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.
I've been watching the chaos unfold. I appreciate everyone's investment in my entertainment. :) But yeah I've said how I handle these things, so just be careful with what you say, but also how you respond if it may be subtle. When in doubt, just have a message detail conversation.
I've got a busy week this week, so watching may be staggered or non-existent. A lot of times when I say this, though, I end up finding time.
In which Xander is split in two, buys an apartment, and almost has a threesome with Anya.
Okay, I watched this episode a week ago and was too tired to do a writeup on it. As a result, this will be a bad writeup, but I need to get on with watching these again and won't let reluctance to do a bad writeup stop me.
Actually, screw it. I don't feel like trying, so here's bare bones: I enjoyed this episode. I thought the Toth demon was the other Xander the entire time and it was neat how they swerved me. I liked that Xander now has an actually apartment, and that his relationship with Anya still seems to be going strong (though I'm really worried that it ends this season, which makes me a sad panda). Anya wanting a threesome with both Xander's at the end is the highlight of the season so far. Really enjoyed it and it's what makes Anya so endearing as a character.
In which Angel has dream meetings with Darla and Gunn is reckless as hell.
I really don't like Gunn's character and hope that he gets some major growth over the course of the season. Still, it was nice to see a little insight into him. Also, it was nice to see David Nabat again, though I guess they are really running with Cordelia fawning over him a bit. Whatever, I guess. The demon stuff was whatever. I didn't see the point of the snitch being the bully demon guy. Seemed like a pointless twist that wasn't necessary other than to make Gunn look like a fool, which I guess was the entire point of the episode, so okay?
The real thing to focus on this episode is Angel's interactions with Darla. I'm sure the opening scene with the singing demon or whatever had a ton of foreshadowing. I'll be curious to see how much control Darla or Wolfram and Hart had over dream Darla and whatnot. Apparently she was actually in the room with him and they are gonna get down, so are we going to see Angelus again soon? I dunno, and I don't know what to really make of this Darla angle yet. Like, I still don't fully know what's going on, so I'll have to wait until next episode to hopefully get some clarity.
I really enjoy The Replacement. It's a great episode to really start transitioning Xander.
Plus the split things worked really well, and him having a twin just worked out perfectly (though I'm sure Joss and co were well aware when writing this episode).
-- (Maniac64 at work) All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.
In which Riley's heart was going to explode and Spike tries to get his chip removed.
I like Riley, I really do. However, I haven't really enjoyed any plots focused around him, and this one was no exception. I'm not sure why, though. I guess it's because I feel like everything is centered around the Initiative or is feelings of inadequacy from dating Buffy, and I found the Initiative boring and Buffy's love life annoying. He's great as a side character who chimes in once and awhile, and as a competent fighter in the Scoobies. I'm not sure what I want his fate to be.
This episode also started off Dawn heavy, but I think it was more setup. I noticed the Buffy's Mom saying "who are you?" when she fainted or whatever, so I'm sure that will come back up later. A very confusing storyline so far that I'm excited to see more about. At times, it seems like they didn't even notice Dawn was there.
I didn't want Spike to get his chip removed, and I'm glad the doctor didn't end up doing it. We don't want an excuse for him to get killed, do we? And oh my gosh that ending. It made my jaw drop because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Luckily, I didn't have to because they did they classic "it was all a dream" move. Still, that was incredibly shocking to see even as a dream, and I'm highly intrigued to see where they take this "Spike loves Buffy" notion.
These beginning episodes seem to be setting up a lot for the remainder of the season while still remaining entertaining enough. I like that, and I can't wait until we start diving into the real plot heavy points of the season.
Oh yeah, you didn't mention it, probably cause it'd been awhile since you'd seen the episode, but what did you think of the ending of the Replacement? When they were moving out of Xanders' parents basement, with Riley and Xander talking, and Riley just drops the bomb that Buffy doesn't love him. And Xander just stands there and watches Buffy and Riley doing their thing for a minute with the episode ending.
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The batman villians all seem to be one big joke that batman refuses to laugh at - SantaRPG
I like Riley, I really do. However, I haven't really enjoyed any plots focused around him, and this one was no exception. I'm not sure why, though. I guess it's because I feel like everything is centered around the Initiative or is feelings of inadequacy from dating Buffy, and I found the Initiative boring and Buffy's love life annoying. He's great as a side character who chimes in once and awhile, and as a competent fighter in the Scoobies.
This is pretty much my feelings on Riley.
(Just went through IMDB to look at the episode order. This is going to be fun)
-- (Maniac64 at work) All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.
Tonight is a good night to watch another episode. I'll do my best to do a half-assed writeup on the Angel episode I already watched.
Angel - Season 2, Episode 4: Untouchable
In which Angel helps a telekinetic woman and Gunn starts makin' some real ****in' money.
Umm so there is this really scared girl who hurts a bunch of people with her uncontrollable psychic powers and she is under the care of whatever that Wolfram and Hart lady's name was. The telekinetic girl is also a whore. Then Angel helps her get her stuff under control and the telekinetic woman leaves and the lawyer gets in trouble. That's the gist of it.
It was okay. I wouldn't be surprised if Bethany becomes a reoccurring character. I don't think I would mind too much, either. Gunn is now officially under the employ of Angel Investigations, and that was a move that probably needed to be made for "why is Gunn ALWAYS around" reasons. So yeah.
Then there's that stuff with Angel and Darla still, and she's keeping him asleep with this powder and I can't really remember why she is doing what she is doing. Probably just to mess with his head. Either way, it's getting a little old and I'd rather see Angel and Darla have a face to face encounter.
I don't know. Didn't seem like too important of an episode, but then again, it felt like it potentially could be the start of a lot of things? We'll see. I'm just writing this to get it done. I'll try and be better about doing these as soon as I'm done with the episode, i.e., not watching episodes later at night when I'm getting tired.