Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel - First Time Viewer

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I personally find the season 4 villains the least interesting. A friend that me and his wife were trying to get into Buffy quit after hating season 4.

Spoiler: Season 4 villains

the trio never were the big bads. It was the scoobie gang themselves that they had to overcome. All of them had to fight their own inner demons. The trio were just catalysts to bring the bad out already inside them, with Warren straight out shooting Willows's lover in the most mundane and pityful way.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Spoiler: Season 4 villains

the trio never were the big bads. It was the scoobie gang themselves that they had to overcome. All of them had to fight their own inner demons. The trio were just catalysts to bring the bad out already inside them, with Warren straight out shooting Willows's lover in the most mundane and pityful way.

Spoiler

You are thinking of season 6. 4 is the Initiative and Adam.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Spoiler

You are thinking of season 6. 4 is the Initiative and Adam.

oh, damn, you are right.
Sorry, my bad.

 

[SAndrews10]

I'd highly recommend starting Angel concurrently with Buffy Season 4. There are guides out there as someone said. The first two years B4/A1, B5/A2 are perfect you watch episode one of Buffy, episode one of Angel and so on. It's only after Buffy moved to UPN in season 6 that the order is a little trickier where you might have to watch a couple in a row of one or the other. I feel that both series combined tell ONE narrative.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Buffy S7 and Angel S4 are heavily intertwined and some aspects of Buffy finale carry over into Angel‘s final season.
Not watching everything in the right order could be pretty confusing.

 

[tomalak301]

Based on this conversation, I have a feeling I will be asking for a Crossover guide when I get to season 4. I actually was searching one out last night (And yeah Angel isn't a prequel, even though I would watch it if it was based on his backstory) but it seemed like every episode if you alternate series was a crossover of some sort.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Don't worry about it. People are seriously overplaying the significance of the crossovers. They aren't any more effectual than Q's appearances on DS9 and VOY. Each show's narrative is completely independent of the other.

 

[tomalak301]

I'm watching "I Robot, You Jane" and it's interesting how Gile's prediction about how people can be manipulated over technology was pretty much spot on. It's also interesting revisiting a time where people had such a different attitude about the Internet than we do now. We were not really as casual about Social Media like we are now, yet the concerns really remain the same.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I'm watching "I Robot, You Jane" and it's interesting how Gile's prediction about how people can be manipulated over technology was pretty much spot on. It's also interesting revisiting a time where people had such a different attitude about the Internet than we do now. We were not really as casual about Social Media like we are now, yet the concerns really remain the same.

The funniest thing about IRYJ is that its entire concept of the internet and computer technology was seriously outdated even when it aired. It actually probably got better with time just because it gained the excuse of being old.

I do love the way it combines the internet with magic, though, and it brought Ms. Calendar to the forefront of the show which is great.

 

[tomalak301]

Quark was in Buffy? This is 97 so he was juggling the Farengi make up with being a principle. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Shimmerman in a role sans make up.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Quark was in Buffy? This is 97 so he was juggling the Farengi make up with being a principle. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Shimmerman in a role sans make up.

Oh, Snyder is fantastic! Just wait till you see 'Band Candy'... and 'Restless'...

And it took me way too long to realize Snyder was Quark the first time I saw Buffy... He does look strange without makeup.

 

[tomalak301]

The funniest thing about IRYJ is that its entire concept of the internet and computer technology was seriously outdated even when it aired. It actually probably got better with time just because it gained the excuse of being old.

I do love the way it combines the internet with magic, though, and it brought Ms. Calendar to the forefront of the show which is great.

Ms Calendar was an interesting character. She was almost like a modern day Giles using computers rather than books.

There’s a lot of people who die at this school. It’s weird they try to move on with Normal life when in this school year there has been like 5 deaths already?

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Me Calendar was an interesting character. She was almost like a modern day Giles using computers rather than books.

There’s a lot of people who die at this school. It’s weird they try to move on with Normal life when in this school year there has been like 5 deaths already?

They'll actually address that eventually. It's very sweet when you see it.

 

[tomalak301]

I’ve seen The Puppet Master being mentioned as a weak episode. It was a little corny but not really all that bad. It was actually a nice twist that the puppet wasn’t the bad guy.

It’s interesting I’m seeing a lot of similarities between this seasons alien of the week stories and something like Are You Afraid of the Dark. The demographic is the teenage audience but it’s still creepy enough to be enjoyable. So far my least favorite episode is still the teachers pet episode, which I found incredibly boring.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I’ve seen The Puppet Master being mentioned as a weak episode. It was a little corny but not really all that bad. It was actually a nice twist that the puppet wasn’t the bad guy.

It’s interesting I’m seeing a lot of similarities between this seasons alien of the week stories and something like Are You Afraid of the Dark. The demographic is the teenage audience but it’s still creepy enough to be enjoyable. So far my least favorite episode is still the teachers pet episode, which I found incredibly boring.

I think the last four episodes, including the Puppet Master, are really the beginning of the show getting on its feet. They're all quite good stories overall, imo. It's true, though, that TPM still has that slightly off visual/directorial/costuming feel that betrays the fact that the showrunners were basically learning how to make tv as they went. I think the visuals and direction really only start to improve with the last two episodes of the season (Out of Mind, Out of Sight and Prophecy Girl).

 

[Agony_Boothb]

There’s a lot of people who die at this school. It’s weird they try to move on with Normal life when in this school year there has been like 5 deaths already?

Spoiler

It eventually comes out at Buffy's graduation that everyone was fully aware of all the deaths and monsters and also that Buffy was always around to save everyone. It was something that people talked about all the time in private, but would never publicly acknowledge.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I didn't see if you said, but are you wanting the "HD" versions? I know there what's most likely to be hosted on most streaming sites and if that's the case, I urge you to try and track down the original cuts.

The HD versions are notoriously bad. In fact, much of the cinephile parts of the interwebz hail them as the worst remasters ever done. For the most part, they're watchable, but the reason why I ask now is because season 2 is the most affected by their badness. After season 5, season 2 is the most contextually and thematically complex. Throughout the entire season, there are certain frames that are very deliberately staged and lit in a way specific to the theme. And many of those shots are recreated later in the season to form a thematic continuity. Except that, since the way the HD versions were cropped and recolored was completely arbitrary and seemingly random, that continuity is lost. Plus, like season 1, the first half of season 2 was shot on 16mm, which only exacerbates the problems even more.

Also, the sunrises are all the wrong color. And 'sunrises' are really important in Buffy from season 2 on - beyond the obvious of them signaling the end of the vamps' daily jaunt.

Oh and then there's the part where, in one of the most skin-crawly scenes of the season, you can see the boom mic guy hanging out in Willow's bedroom.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

It eventually comes out at Buffy's graduation that everyone was fully aware of all the deaths and monsters and also that Buffy was always around to save everyone. It was something that people talked about all the time in private, but would never publicly acknowledge.

SPOILER

 

[Agony_Boothb]

SPOILER

Ah dang it. I didn't even think of that.

 

[Forbin]

The episode was title "The Puppet Show", not "The Puppet Master."