Buffy S4: "Beer Bad" - help me!

You really just need to alternate back and forth. Watch an episode of Buffy, then watch an episode of Angel. They sync up pretty nicely that way (but it sounds like you need to get caught up on Buffy a little bit first to get to that point!).

 

In season 4/1, that works fairly well.

In season 7/4, Angel's season takes place over a considerably shorter timeframe than Buffy's, and you'll need to screw with the order a bit to make things work out crossover-wise.

 

I don't understand the hate for Beer Bad. I didn't have a problem with it. In fact, i cannot think of an episode of Buffy that wasn't at the very least, good. Most were incredibly GREAT.

The only thing i don't like about Buffy is ALL of Season 7. Just AWFUL! I wish they never went there! But 1-6 is some of the greatest television ever made!

Oh, IMHO, "Angel" was good. But not nearly as great as "Buffy".

 

I thought "Beer Bad" was pretty funny. And the less Xander the better as far as I'm concerned. Still and all, the fourth season has got some awkwardnesses about it. It's the sort of transitional-off-of-high-school year.

 

I think every season of Buffy and Angel is definitely worth watching. Some are more superb than others, but overall, it is worth it. Season 4 was an awkward transitional year, they tried making the college the new focus of the show, the 'hangout place' rather than the high school, but it didn't really work. That said, there are some truly superb episodes in season 4, like Hush and Restless.

Every episode of both series is always watchable. Even when you get a rare bad episode, its still got at least one enjoyable moment, a line of dialogue, something to redeem it, and make it better than most other TV shows.

 

And hey, whatever happend with that college thing anyway? It just sorta went away. Eventually we don't see anybody going to classes, or hear about the college any more. I understand Buffy had other things on her mind in S5, but, WTF?

 

They clearly show her dropping out of school, and they even mention in later seasons about her thinking about going back (in one episode in S5 or 6 I'm pretty sure they show Buffy attending class with Willow). It's not like it disappeared completely; it just wasn't important.

 

Careful on the spoils.

 

Hey, Sisko, I'm not much further along than you, also watching both together (though I've seen all of Angel once before). Here's a few comments:

Buffy/ Parker - when you've lost the love of your life, you're vulnerable and stupid with hurt. That's all it comes down to. One of the strengths of the early seasons is the juxtaposition of superhero Buffy with teenager Buffy. Any teenage girl is likely to fall hard for a rebound guy and get screwed over, even if she's brilliant and confident as a general rule.

The Commandos - work better than you may think. I was a little when they first showed up too, but roll with it and it's fine. And I sort of gathered that they were soldiers first and grad students second, and definitely pretty jaded and bitter.

I'd agree that Season 4 is uneven. The thing that really surprises me though is that the much vaunted Seasons 2-3 work so very well when there's not a thing that's original about them and the angsty relationship between Buffy and Angel is the sort of thing most people around here usually bitch about in a story. In the end I think Buffy works due to the charm of the characters/ actors. The plots are formula from the beginning and the fun of the whole thing is the wink at the camera, we know we're in a horror picture style.

I would agree with others that in general Angel is has a higher consistent quality, but it had a huge head start on Buffy - a mythology already in place and characters just begging to grow (I could make a good case for the strongest character in the whole BtVS verse being Cordelia Chase, because she chages the most and yet still remains fully the same character you meet in the very beginning.) And it has it's missteps too. But again, the charm of the characters carries things through.

As for those who are upset by the constant tragedy visited upon the characters - BtVS is based on superhero comics (I'm constantly struck by how Whedon created his own Superman/ Batman in Buffy and Angel). The bread and butter of superhero comics is tragedy. It kinda comes with the genre.

 

The show ended in 2003. Rosebud was a sled.

 

Basically, yeah.

 

Yes, and the OP is watching for the first time and asked not to be spoiled.

 

Crap, I was gonna watch Citizen Kane for the first time this weekend!

 

Well Xander & Anya never went first off, Oz dropped out when he left in early s4...

Spoiler: Spoileros for Season 5 onwards

Riley seemed to drop the college charade in Season 5, I guess it was mainly a cover for his military ops.
Buffy dropped out in late Season 5 after her mother died so she could look after Dawn, she tried to reapply in Season 6 but was late for the re-admittance deadline.
Willow & Tara still attended until late Season 6, when obviosuly Tara couldn't go anymore...
Willow gets back on the course in early Season 7 (Selfless), but its not really mentioned again after that

 

Well, right, I'm just saying that there were reasons for everybody to not be in school in certain seasons. It wasn't just dropped at random.

 

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone! This has all been very nearly spoiler-free, and I appreciate it!

 

Which is why certain developments in the Buffy season 8 comic have me worried...

Spoiler: Buffy season 8 comics

...I'm afraid that either Xander or Dawn will bite it now that they are a couple. Of course, Whedon only threw the two of them together to twist the knife in Buffy's gut, so who knows.