Board 8 > SeabassDebeste finishes Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff [spoilers]

(+) Yeah! (+)

yeah. only two writeups to go, too. :/

i have all my writeups saved so i can repost them if need be
---

if you'd be willing to!

I'm still in the 30s. Idk if you read my post saying I'm way behind.
---

Damn I love Season Four.

MajinZidane posted...

if you'd be willing to!

I'm still in the 30s. Idk if you read my post saying I'm way behind.

I did! Always appreciate the kind words. I'll repost Sunday night orMonday.
---

PerfectChaosZ posted...

Damn I love Season Four.

same!
---

Season 4 has a lot of good stand alone episodes to make up for its weak over arcing plot.
---

5. Buffy Season 1

I really considered ranking Buffy first in this tier (spoilers: it's not). It's a nearly flawless season to me.

If you followed my specific season-wise character rankings, you'll also know that I find S1 to be the most fun season for almost every S1 character. From my Cordelia writeup, 'One of the most powerful things about Buffy Season 1 is that despite the low budget, corny visuals, and its characters enter the world fully formed.' Willow and Xander undergo massive, important character development, but almost no season can match their introduction - the one girl at a typical American high school wearing a uniform like she's at Catholic school (and who courageously tricks Cordelia into deleting her computer script); the skateboarding wannabe who ogles the hot new girl and smashes into a rail handle. Giles's excitement when he slams the VAMPYR book down, or when he descends the staircase (and Buffy interrupts him); Cordelia's extremely good intentions in explaining to Buffy exactly what makes people cool and uncool.

Alongside the charaters, the constraint on the budget of Season 1 puts writing and economy at giant premiums. I'm not sure that later seasons are any less quippy, but there's so much other peripheral stuff going on that you lose track of it, almost. Season 1 doesn't seem to have a lighting budget, and all the characters look like they're from a 1992 movie - which isn't inaccurate - and it's amazing for it. The camp of Season 1 is undeniable, especially with how silly the fights look, and in no other season does the show feel so self-aware, straightforward, and outright enjoyable at pretty much every turn. One of my favorite moments is the establishment of Sunnydale's rubber-band memory and double-think - after the Harvest, one of the characters dramatically states that things will never be the same - followed by a cut to the next day at Sunnydale High, where Cordelia's talking about a 'weird gang.' It's one of the best instances of the light humor that characterizes Season 1.

Having rewatched the Pilot recently, there are a few weird characterizations that are fun to revisit. Darla is portrayed as weak and easily scared, whereas even in her death in 1x07 'Angel,' she's a badass (and subsequently is a centuries-old favorite of the Master's and scourge of Europe). Xander and Angel speak in deeper registers of their vocal range; they're known for having rather high-pitched voices in my head. Angel is notably kind of a jerk and definitely stalker-y.

Just because the overall tone of the season is lighthearted and janky doesn't mean it doesn't tackle some real issues with the characters. The hyena rape episode is terrifyingly weird, but it shows us a side that really is part of Xander. The Internet Demon capitalizes on some of the silly fears of online anonymity, but it gets at the heart of Willow's personal loneliness and how badly she needs validation for her self-worth. Angel's backstory isn't entirely fleshed out yet, but the dude is sowing important seeds and showing just how fucked up Buffy's support system is. And of course, Buffy has to confront Slayer issues - 'I'm only sixteen - I don't want to die.'

Favorite episodes: 1x01-02 (Buffy arrives/Harvest), 1x03 (Amy's mom has got it going on), 1x04 (Xander tries to bone a giant praying mantis), 1x05 (Buffy goes dating), 1x06 (the hyenas), 1x07 (Angel is a vampire, and Darla is going down), 1x08 (INTERNET DEMON), 1x10 ('Nightmares'), 1x11 (Invisible Girl Marcie), 1x12 (Xander confesses his feelings to Buffy, who struggles with mortality).
---

4. Buffy Season 2

Buffy returns in Season 2 angstier, darker, edgier. We begin the season with a Slayer who most recently killed the ancient vampire that killed her. She'll never escape those feelings of helplessness, but she can start with some cold-blooded torture and smashing up some skeleton. It's a very clear shift away from Season 1's happy-go-lucky Slayerette.

The episodic fun of Season 1 gets slightly wackier and higher-budget in Season 2, with a lot of significantly worse one-offs: the weird brother-Frankenstein's monster resurrection, the random Southern-accented vampires, an Inca Mummy Girl, frat boys worshipping a weird snake demon, Bad Eggs, Fish People, Xander's love potion, etc. Of course, it's not all bad news - we also get such delights as the Halloween episode, Giles's past as the Ripper, Angel trying to put down the vampire cult, and the utterly weird 'Ted.'

Season 2 is most notable for its introduction of longer plot arcs, some of which brilliantly go multiple seasons. The first half of the season which sees a cornucopia of romantic relationships take over the main cast. Giles, Buffy, Willow, and Xander are all separately paired off, creating the show's first breakups of solidarity. The relationships are also surprisingly long-lived - two of them survive the season, while the other two only end with the deaths of the partner. Alongside the longer plot arcs are new characters and an expanded world - Kendra falls flat as a character, but the Slayer mythos expansion certainly fleshes things out for Buffy. Ethan Rayne is a lovely little extra guest.

But let's be real - the stars of Season 2 character-wise are the three vampires, Spike, Drusilla, and Angelus. In terms of effectiveness they actually rank hilariously low, but they're super-fun and charismatic and just make for great scenes whether with the heroes or with fellow villains. The Angelus-Spike relationship is a major highlight of the second half of the season, which contains surprisingly little direct interaction between the heroes and the plot-arc villains. Spike skipping town at the end of S2 is a hilariously capstone.

I wind up disliking many of the specific parts of my favorite episodes here. The over-the-top I'M A BADASS stuff from 2x01, Buffy using the rocket launcher and basically ending Angelus as threat before he ever takes off, the swordfight being entirely pointless when Buffy catches the sword after being beaten. But they're all important from a grander sense, and Season 2 ultimately deepens and strengthens the story. It's really good stuff, and it's only building from the expanded scope of Season 2 that the show can cover as mature territory as it ultimately does.

Favorite episodes: 2x01 (not love, but it's important),2x03 (weclome Spike), 2x06 (Halloween), 2x07 (vampire-worship cult), 2x10 (with Kendra, the resurrection of Drusilla), 2x11 (the robot Ted), 2x13 (Buffy/Angel hookup), 2x14 (Angelus unleashed), 2x17 (Angelus kills Joyce), 2x19 (Buffy/Angel go soap-opera in a poltergeist reenactment), 2x21-22.
---

muddersmilk posted...

Season 4 has a lot of good stand alone episodes to make up for its weak over arcing plot.

S4 has a weak apocalyptic plot - i.e. the Initiative/Adam - but a phenomenal character-based plot.
---

3. Buffy Season 3

The one great thing about Buffy Season 3 is its cast. This is the final full season for Oz and Cordelia, whom the show clearly regarded as 'love interests' subordinate to their main characters as of Season 2. Anya first appears in this season. Angel returns, and while he's not as strikingly brilliant as Angelus, he's stronger as a character than he ever was in S1 or early S2. Faith is fucking fantastic, as is her watcher, Wesley. Even Spike cameos here. So among everyone, you've got by far the strongest cast of characters in any given season.

The problem, as it were? It's not the best season for any of them. After what feels like a rote bout of angst, Buffy settles in to the season by retreading the same ground with Angel and mostly getting drastically outshined by Fatih. Xander and Willow have relatively mediocre seasons. Oz might be at his best, but he's clearly secondary, and Cordelia is basically a one-liner-spitting non-factor after the Lovers Walk. Giles and Joyce are fading off at this point, while characters like Anya and Wesley have yet to gain particular prominence.

Buffy is a mature show by S3, and it shows in the visuals - 3x01's massive fight scene set-piece shows that for the most part, the stronger choreography from 2x22 is going to become the norm. In terms of Buffy's personal arc, S3 occupies a weird space, as the stuff that happens to her - Faith's appearance, Angel breaking up with her - doesn't yield that much proactiveness from her. It feels very much a quiet last year of high school, with the occasional boyfriend issue or jealousy issue or Watcher-subjecting-you-to-be-killed-by-a-vampire-while-powerless issue, where the only weight is still to be a regular high school student and savior of the world, as opposed to an adult like Seasons 4-7 demand.

So striking an odd middle ground against Seasons 1 and 2, S3's weakness is probably its main plot. The Mayor is a decent enough villain, but he makes an awkward impetus for our characters (stating the exact date of his Ascension and gaining invulnerability up until that point - okay). He's more of a Spike type, where he's enjoyable, but there's very little dramatic weight to him as a villain. Is it unfair to compare him to Angelus? I don't think so. That dude was bad. The compensation we get is Faith, whose insanity and loose-cannon tendencies are alternately exciting and terrifying. I've mostly covered Faith in her writeup, but she provides the zest (and occasionally necessary idiocy) in a season that otherwise is surprisingly bland on the 'arc' front.

Meanwhile, however, S3 beats the crap out of S2 in terms of episodic consistency. Aside from a drag in episodes 1 and 2, the entire season churns along without getting bogged down in bad subplots or getting stuck with really bad one-offs. (The Nazi episode is probably the exception.) They wind up being silly from a mythology perspective - the two alternate universe episodes have zero stakes; the First Evil actually feels like a giant plothole; Giles having to choose between the Watcher's Council and Buffy doesn't feel difficult whatsoever - but hell if they aren't fun. We get Buffy and Cordy having a female bromance, Giles and Joyce being teenagers, Jonathan trying to commit suicide, Xander's adventures alone, Buffy going hysterical trying to make sure everyone has a MAGICAL PROM EXPERIENCE. It's the best of the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' tier and it's amazing.
---

Favorite episodes: 3x03 (Hello Faith!), 3x05 (SlayerFest '98), 3x06 (Band Candy), 3x07 (Gwendolyn Post kickstarts Faith's character development), 3x08 (Spike, in a pre-Yoko-Factor Yoko Factor showing perhaps perhaps superior to any future showing on Buffy), 3x09 (return of the Master!), 3x10 ('It's not the monster in me that needs killing, Buffy, it's the man'), 3x12 (stupid coughing vampire drinking Holy Water best solution), 3x13 (interrupted Angel/Buffy sobbing scene the best), 3x14 (Slayers Gone Wild), 3x15 (Angel tries to redeem Faith, but Wesley f's it up), 3x16 (Vamp Willow), 3x18 (Buffy infected by hearing thoughts), 3x19 (Willow kidnapped by Faith), 3x20 (Angel dumps Buffy before Prom), 3x21 (Buffy vs Faith)
---

Aww yeah Angel S5 ruling the roost.
---

having a difficult time here deciding!
---

b
---

LET'S GET TO WORK TIER

2. Angel Season 5

Angel Season 5 is special. Putting Angel Investigations in charge of Wolfram and Hart makes incredibly little sense and incredibly great television. Spike returns at a level we haven't seen in at least three seasons, and pairing him with Angel is nuts. Gunn finds entirely new material, Wesley completes his descent, Fred's soul is incinerated leaving a goddess of a shell, and Angel - with the weight of the world upon him in the mundanity of its evil - reaffirms what it's all about.

It's somehow the freshest-feeling season of the Buffyverse other than Buffy S1. After three seasons of increasing serialized plots and increasing angst, 4x22 hits a reset button and introduces us to a completely new setting and completely different roles. Angel S4 starts with a dinner scene that leads into a cut of Angel having suffered three horrific months on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Season 5 begins with a classic blonde damsel in distress rescue op, followed by Wolfram and Hart arriving with the press to praise Angel's achievements. It's a hysterical change in tone - and it lasts. From there, the season is literally lighter in palette,

In no other season is the episodic quality this strong. 'Previously on Angel' is almost completely eradicated from the season, for the most part, the season does just fine without it. We're introduced to cases via Wolfram and Hart's information chain with some absolutely hilarious POV switches. What's great is the echoes of Seasons 1 and 2 - remember, Cordelia was always concerned about the financial side of things, in addition to the righteous. W&H takes that to the logical extreme, and that tension plays out in often hilarious ways.

If there were any doubt about the strength of the season during the course of episode 1, the introduction of Spike seals things. Angel and Spike's twisted brotherhood/grandsireship is one of the great pairings in the show - no other single relationship can compare off the top of my head. (Faith/Angel? Faith/Buffy? Buffy/Cordelia?) The gaping chasm between the quality of A5 and any other Angel season is the greatest possible argument for Spike as a character. Every Monster of the Week is more fun when it's got a potential Angel/Spike interaction in it.

The season predictably trends toward darkness in its second half, and it's executed better than in any explicit 'dark is rising' season (B5/7, A3/4) - instead, it's this existential despair as the characters have to reconcile the increased scope of the small-picture good they do, against the overwhelming fact that no matter what they do, they're working in, and basically on behalf of, Home Office on Earth. Angel struggles with the weight of his situation throughout the season, but with Cordelia's reappearance and Fred's death, the plan finally crystallizes for him. Unveiling and assassinating the Black Thorn - an achievement gained by the compromises made at such a high level all season - ultimately make for a shocking, satisfying, and incredibly logical conclusion to the season and the series.

Favorite episodes: 5x01 (intro to slimy clients; Angel kills his own field ops guy), 5x02 (all about incorporeal Spike), 5x03 (Nina the hot werewolf), 5x05 (Lorne goes bananas), 5x06 (luchadors), 5x08 (Angel vs Spike), 5x09 (Harmony), 5x11 (PSYCHO SLAYER), 5x12 (Cordelia), 5x14 (Smile Time), 5x15-16 (Fred's death/Illyria's birth), 5x18 (Connor), 5x21-22 (taking on the Circle of the Black Thorn).
---

1. Buffy Season 6

Buffy S5 in many ways closes the book on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The scared girl from the finale of Season 1 has become a mother, defeated a god, and realized what's ultimately important. When she sails off that tremendous height - in a beautiful image - she knows what she's dying for this time. She saves the world. A lot. Her friends are left to pick up the pieces - ragtag couple of witches, an ex-demon and a maturing ex-goofball, a Watcher who has fulfilled the ultimate duty, and a vampire with (for all intents and purposes) a soul.

In contrast, Buffy S6 is a disgusting mess of a season that rudely strips the romance out of growing up. If the characters grew somewhat linearly from S1 through S5, then S6 is a reminder that real life sees backsliding, relapsing, and mundanity that you never imagined, much less wanted, as a kid. Buffy S6 puts its characters through the wringer in the most crushing ways, made all the more powerful because S5 seemed to lay those issues to rest.

The relationship insecurities you overcame with a promise of marriage? Let's remember that that relationship was built on the back of an ex-demon who felt weirdly horny, and that you have never seen a successful relationship play out, and that you're still plagued by that. Oh, and let's twist them to the breaking point by having you vocalize your feelings to your fiancee, try to suppress them, and then being subjected to visions that feel undeniably true.

Your identity issues that you grew out of with a girlfriend and skills you can be proud of? Let's remember that your girlfriend fears your sexuality, skill, and dependence issues - or that you're becoming dangerously arrogant. Turns out they have a word for wiping your girlfriend's memory (mind-rape) and then having sex with her while she's mentally compromised (rape). Turns out not everyone's thrilled by your growth when it involves messing with the forces of nature. And somehow, going deeper into your addiction to deal with conflict isn't making things better.

Your noble achievements in parenting that culminated in ultimate sacrifice to defeat your greatest enemy? Let's remember that with sacrifice comes abandonment, and that just because the greatest enemy has been taken down, it doesn't mean that you can't still be fucked with by lesser enemies. Less weekly hugging with Dawn this season, more dealing with social workers who seem to notice that you're being outparented by a robot. You're a hero, but you can't hold a high quality job or pay the mortgage without Daddy's help. Oh, and when you graduated from Slayer School, you sent off your father figure, so no one's left to stop you from awful decisions.

Like the bad boy who proclaimed that you made him 'feel like a man' in 5x22? Let's remember that he's a soulless demon. You can try to relate to him, but he will hurt you - badly. When your whole relationship is predicated on denial, the word 'no' loses meaning.

The season is just incredible in the scope of the issues the characters face. There are dramatic real life issues, as metaphor becomes literal - rape, death, broken weddings, drug addiction, single/young parenthood. There's the metaphysical disillusionment with everything - demons that make you retreat into psychotic wards, invisibility seeming like a reasonable alternative to owning your responsibilities, singing your secrets only to make chasms wider. And then there's my favorite, the mundanity of life, as you try to pay your bills but smell so gross that even vampires don't want you, or getting horribly shot down from the bank, or seeing your ex much better off than you are, or getting rejected from re-applying to college, or realizing that you'll never face a god again - just dorks.
---

It's the ultimate culmination of the separation of characters that started as early as the end of S1 (Xander's confession of feelings toward Buffy) and has either surged forward (S4) or creeped forward, sidelined (S5) ever since. When you get to S6, you need that support system more than ever before, but you've isolated yourselves to the point where your communication has weakened, your trust has frayed, and your ability to support your friends is shot due to your own issues.

Only repairing these bridges and finding support can save you. The battle crises of S6 aren't solved with swords, fists, and spells. They're solved by accepting your sister for a person and letting her grow up, by lying next to an injured man and discovering that you can't deny your humanity just because your heart was broken, by hugging and reminding your friend that she has always had value, by facing grief instead of burying it in anger.

Due to the sheer messiness of Buffy S6, it was never going to hit on everything. But with the ambitiousness of it all, even the sloppiness it all contributes to the power of Buffy's best season, a season about the ugly side of life. Drug addiction equaling magic is really stupid, but it eventually gives us Dark Willow and it justifies Tara's fears. The Trio make for some cringe-worthy scenes, but their machinations are really interesting. Buffy's torment of a social worker is cruel, but her invisibility is fascinating. Buffy and Spike's relationship can get repetitive (albeit intentionally), and Spike's actions don't always jive with mythology, but they are valuable in showing Buffy's depression.

The episodes are greater than their flaws would indicate, and the season is more comparable to the sum of its best parts than the bad parts may imply.

Favorite episodes: 6x01 (Buffybot, life without Buffy), 6x04 (Buffy's financial issues), 6x05 (Buffy tries to get a job as the Trio messes with her), 6x06 (Tara and Willow clash over magic), 6x07 (Once More With Feeling), 6x08 (Randy Giles), 6x09 ('Rat. You?' / 'Dead.' / 'Oh'), 6x11 (invisible Buffy), 6x12 (Doublemeat Palace), 6x13 (The Trio kills Warren's ex and pins it on Buffy), 6x14 (Dawn summons a vengeance demon), 6x16 (Xander and Anya's wedding), 6x18 (Anya/Spike hookup), 6x19 (Trio broken, Warren shoots Buffy/Tara), 6x20-22 (Dark Willow).
---

Mega Mana posted...

While I'm thinking about it, though I haven't seen any episodes in a while, I guarantee my ten most-rewatched episodes are:

Prophecy Girl (B1x12)
Passion (B2x17)
Restless (B4x22)
The Body (B5x16)
The Gift (B5x22)
Once More With Feeling (B6x06)
Hero (A1x09)
Five by Five (A1x18)
Dead End (A2x18)
You're Welcome (A5x12)

Are these your top 10 episodes, period? I have a hard time seeing myself rewatching complete standalone episodes, outside the context of a series-wide rewatch. But I love rewatching specific scenes/moments on Youtube and whatnot. Haven't done it for Buffy yet, but there would be a lot of Faith (because it's WRONG) and Cordelia (she and Wesley reenacting Buffy/Angel... good lord) in any clips I rewatched. Complete episodes would definitely include OMWF and Restless, though. Also Hush.
---

Every season of Buffy was amazing.

A final bump.

I think I'm tackling episode 1 of Firefly tomorrow.
---

Remember to keep watching for more than 5 minutes this time!
---

SeabassDebeste posted...

I have a hard time seeing myself rewatching complete standalone episodes, outside the context of a series-wide rewatch.

Those are the episodes I find the easiest to rewatch. Especially if I only want to watch one episode.

Like I watched the puppet episode again recently and that was good.

SeabassDebeste posted...

A final bump.

I think I'm tackling episode 1 of Firefly tomorrow.

YAY!
---

bump



finish GoT before Firefly!
---

I did start Firefly, but I restarted the GoT topic (with one post in it), and I'll try to finish #1 tomorrow!
---

awesome!
---

lazy - final bump so i have time to archive this
---

i... yeah, still being lazy
---

archived!
---