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Buffy ep by ep; rewatch and reviews

Ahhh but Giles didn't really go "Evil" as "devolve" back to his teenage self later in Season 3 -but I wouldn't call him "Evil" so yeah...

The Pack was a pretty interesting episode... never saw that one before I watched it on Netflix - so that's how Flutie died. LOL... geez. I would have loved to have heard some teacher go "boy Sunnydale high really chews you up and spits you out. Oh... right... eaten."
 
Actually pointed out to me that he does go evil in Bad Eggs but we'll cross that bridge then

Angel;

The Good;
Awesome fight scenes with both The Three and at the Bronze. Lovely stuff with Buffy intrducing Angel to Joyce, wonderful scene between Angel and Darla hinting at great things to come. I love Joyce's denial over the barbecue fork and Cordy's rage over the girl in the same dress. The big shock that Angel is a vampire which I must say I didn't see coming at all (he gives Buffy a cross in WTTH but it's in a box!). Love the diary misunderstanding too and the shock of Buffy coming home to see a bleeding Joyce in Angel's arms.

The Bad;
The Master's killing of The Three (lame name or what?) is stupid. Also they seem to give up awfully easily, that or Joyce just walks right past them? (maybe they know better than to mess with momma Summers?)

Best line;
Buffy "Stay the hell away from us!"

Observations and questions;
Anyone else disturbed by The Master's relationship with The Anointed? Joyce is the first cast member to be bitten by a vamp (although despite being a huge part of the series she's never actually a Scooby) whilst Angel is the first to be shot. Why don't vamps use guns more often? According to Joss it goes against their demonic nature. We have Xander dancing, always a treat. Angel kills his first vamp onscreen although we later learn he's killed at least 2 prior to this. The first of the many deaths of Darla

Here Buffy really kicks into high gear, the Buffy/Angel romance is set on it's course, we see the Darla/Angel relationship for the first time, it turns an OK show with an attractive cast into a brilliant show
5/5
 
I did sort of like that ending with Buffy's cross kinda burnt onto Angel's chest. Although one thing that did strike me, especially since I've watched the show pretty much from start to finish in the past - but didn't hit me until now - was that what does age matter to an ageless vampire? I mean yeah she's 16 - soooo... she's jailbait but its not as if he's going to get much older looking, she'll age of course, but when you're a nigh immortal vampire who the fuck cares what age the girl is... and he could claim to be any age he wants at least at that point. Joyce - who sometimes isn't always as bright as she seems at times - bought that he was a college kid and so did most of Sunnydale high's teen scene.

Of course with fairly recent events in the news with 18 year old boys being labled sexual offenders because they had sex with their 17 year old girlfriends...
 
Just a nitpick, I notice you keep flip-flopping between a 5 rating scale and 10 rating scale in your reviews, saturn5. Let's settle on one, shall we? :lol: But other than that, I enjoy reading these, having watched both Buffy and Angel for the first time last year. :)
 
Yeah its kinda fun tracking through a series from the start. Y'know what also struck me... Joyce really does act like an older Buffy. Their voices are really quite similar at times, as are their speech patterns. Its always nice when they cast mom/daughter roles in a show and they are believable. You would swear that Kristine Sutherland is SMG's real mom. That's a pretty good job on the part of the show runners and writers, to pick actors that mesh so well together you would swear there's a genetic bond.

Although... on the subject of parents, have we EVER seen Willow or Xander's parents in the show?
 
Nick Ryder said:
Although... on the subject of parents, have we EVER seen Willow or Xander's parents in the show?
Click to expand...
Don't think we ever saw Willow's dad, but her mom appears in season 3's "Gingerbread." And Xander's parents are of course present at his wedding in season 6's "Hell's Bells."
 
I'm looking forward to your reviews getting to season 2, as that's what I'm watching myself at the moment. It's the first time I've watched Buffy since it first aired. I'm really enjoying myself! Couldn't catch up with the first season as it's out on loan.
 
Oh yeah the wedding, haven't watched that one in a while. Still took how many years before we finally saw them LOL

I mean at least they show Buffy's dad for the first time in Nightmares. So you know he exists.
 
Nick Ryder said:
Yeah its kinda fun tracking through a series from the start. Y'know what also struck me... Joyce really does act like an older Buffy. Their voices are really quite similar at times, as are their speech patterns. Its always nice when they cast mom/daughter roles in a show and they are believable. You would swear that Kristine Sutherland is SMG's real mom. That's a pretty good job on the part of the show runners and writers, to pick actors that mesh so well together you would swear there's a genetic bond.

Although... on the subject of parents, have we EVER seen Willow or Xander's parents in the show?
Click to expand...

Forgive me on the ratings, I'll check them. Apparently they cast Kristine as she struck them as what SMG would be like in 20 years. I love the Joyce, Buffy and Dawn relationship, they come across like a real family
 
saturn5 said:
Nick Ryder said:
Yeah its kinda fun tracking through a series from the start. Y'know what also struck me... Joyce really does act like an older Buffy. Their voices are really quite similar at times, as are their speech patterns. Its always nice when they cast mom/daughter roles in a show and they are believable. You would swear that Kristine Sutherland is SMG's real mom. That's a pretty good job on the part of the show runners and writers, to pick actors that mesh so well together you would swear there's a genetic bond.

Although... on the subject of parents, have we EVER seen Willow or Xander's parents in the show?
Click to expand...

Forgive me on the ratings, I'll check them. Apparently they cast Kristine as she struck them as what SMG would be like in 20 years. I love the Joyce, Buffy and Dawn relationship, they come across like a real family
Click to expand...
:) Only ten years or so to go.
Who's Dawn?
 
I never cared one way or the other for Joyce, she was a bit of a meh character for me. I think the writers and the actress did very well with her, though. She was a presence, because Buffy needed to have a parent around because of her age, but she wasn't too there, allowing Buffy independence and to have the Slayer life. I thought it was very clever writing.
 
AJBryant said:
Am I the only guy who had warm fuzzies for Joyce?

Just curious....
Click to expand...

Joyce/Kristine is a milf-goddess, just check her out in Restless. I met Kristine and she's just as lovely in real life. Apparently she was originally intended to be just a background character but the cast/crew all fell in love with both character and actress and kept giving her more and more to do. My rule of thumbs is that the more Joyce in a ep the better it is

'I Robot, You Jane'

The Good;
Buffy's undercover look is hilarious. Here's Jenny, yay! The final scene with Buffy, Willow and Xander, sitting on the step bemoaning their lovelessness is WONDERFUL!

The Bad;
The robot Moloch simply looks stupid, not as bad as the mantis but close

Best Line;
Giles; I'll be back in the middle ages
Jenny; did you ever leave?

Observations and questions;
No Cordy or Angel. Some pretty strong stuff here, necks being broken, Fritz self-harming (a topic we'll see again in Blood Ties) and Dave hanging himself. Willow's first boyfriend although you might note that Will has a picture of herself and Giles in her locker. Of course it's twelve years ago so all the computer equipment seems just unbelievably clunky. Xander refers to his uncle working at the computer firm, is that the infamous Rory? Ironically given that the younger Scoobies end the episode bleakly contemplating the future alone here Giles his future girlfriend.
Are the monks who trap Moloch the same ones that create Dawn? ( they do nice work!)
Possible the weakest ep of season 1; I'll give it 2/5
 
We meet Willow's mom for the first time in Gingerbread. I think it was the only time!

My favorite exchange between them was when Mrs Rosenberg was lecturing Willow about the evils of witchcraft, but treating it as a passing teen fad. Then Willow says there's more to her than witchcraft: "I'm also dating a musician." To which mom says, in total disgust and disappointment, "Oh, Willow!" :lol:
 
HAHA What always cracked me up was that Willow was Jewish or at least of a Jewish family... and I always would have thought it could have been funny if she pulled out a big star of David instead of a cross by accident "Oh... I guess the messiah really did come. Huh."
 
It always struck me as funny that Willow was the Jewish one and yet Sarah had the jewish surname of Gellar

Would like to have seen more of the scoobs famillies, especially to see if any of them had siblings

Ok, The Puppet Show;

The Good;
The introduction of Snyder. Cordy's performance and the hair gag with Giles. The triple Keyser Soze, Buffy's relationship with Sid. The exciting finale, Snyders reaction to it and the Scoobies scene at the end. Don't you just love the fact that Buffy the superhero runs into her mum's arms when she get's scared in the night? Something only a female hero could do, what would we think of Clark Kent if he did that on Smallville?

The Bad;
Not much, a very strong episode, easily one of the best of the first season

Best line;
Buffy; Euuuugghhhh, dummy! They freak me out, ever since I was little.
Willow; What happened?
Buffy; I saw a dummy, it freaked me out, there really wasn't a backstory there
(anyone else reminded of Gremlins?)

Observations and questions;
Our first hint that there are other individuals figthing the forces of darkness like Whistler and Doyle. The scene the Scoobies perform at the end is from Oedipus which Angelus references in season 4 of Angel. It was painted by Grant Wood who Riley refers to in season 4. Cordy sings 'The Greatest Love of all' which she also sings for Lorne on Angel. She hasn't the best voice. Giles in bondage, the first of a long line of Scoobies to be tied/chained up. Snyder obviously going to be a lot harder on Buffy than Flutie was although as an authority figure that probably works better for the series. At this point though he doesn't really seem to know what's going on (does he ever?). Flutie was a nice guy but has the misfortune to be the 2nd recurring character killed in the course of the series. The police put the butcher knife in a plastic bag? Don't they have some better form of container? Willow suffers from stage fright. Willow is clever enough to know that 841 has a square root of 29 but how does Xander know that to ask her? A shame Joyce doesn't come to the talent show. Will plays the piano?

One of the best eps of season 1, I give it 4 and a half out of 5
 
Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a Christian, but has a Jewish family name.
Alyson Hannigan plays a Jew but has an Irish family name.
Yeah, I always found that interesting. I guess that's why it's called acting. :)

I thought The Puppet Show was wonderfully clever. Joss took the classic "possessed dummy" episode of twilight Zone and turned it in a satisfyingly unexpected twist.
 
Forbin said:
I thought The Puppet Show was wonderfully clever. Joss took the classic "possessed dummy" episode of twilight Zone and turned it in a satisfyingly unexpected twist.
Click to expand...

One of my fav eps of BtVS. Armin Shimmerman OWNS.

"What is this, avant garde? I don't get it."
 
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