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Old 08-26-06, 04:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
My major gripe with
Spoiler:
"Dark Willow" was that she was atrociously written, and the direction was pretty rank as well. Most of the action pieces with Willow looked horribly cheesey ... like when she flew up to the jail cell and was riding on top of the truck. The budget... or lack thereof... really showed. It's too bad they couldn't write around the budget and left out all of the bad FX and action set pieces.

And I can't really fault Hannigan for any cheesiness, as I'm not sure how anyone could've pulled off some of the sillier stuff.

I know a lot of people hate season six because they felt it was too dark. I had no problem with it, and quite enjoyed the darker take, but where it fell flat for me was when it degenerated into camp. And it did that on far too many occasions (The Loan Shark, Doublemeat Palace, the addiction, (some) Dark Willow.
The camp in those two episodes was 100% intentional and some people will like it and some will not. Peronsally, I kind of like it when a great series like this can be dead serious and then occassionally a be a little goofy. It's nice mix, IMO. It doesn't work for everyone though.

Regarding
Spoiler:
Dark Willow. The truck part looked perfectly fine to me. The only really stand out shortly distracting part with the set was the part where she flew up to the jail. The bricks were torn out too cleanly and was the most obvious set piece I can recall seeing on the show.

When you say Dark Willow was badly written what exactly are you referring to? Her actions, her dialogue, specific scenes or what? I'm curious to know how one comes to that conclusion and for what reason(s) specifically. I'm trying to see it, but I just can't. I thought she was a great villain. One of the best. Sure their were some obvious flaws in season 6 as a season, but I thought she played a really compelling and badass villain, so I'm willing to overlook certain flaws.


IMO, the season 6 three part finale ranks up there with the very best of the series. I personally found it to be near perfection (though pretty much all of the Buffy finales are superb) and had only a few very minor nitpicking gripes.

Last edited by Slayer2005; 08-26-06 at 04:49 AM.
Old 08-26-06, 10:26 AM
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My major complaint
Spoiler:
apart from the addiction metaphor replacing the abuse of power was the HORRENDOUS emergency room scene in 'Villains'. That's not even a low-budget issue. It looks as if no one on the production side (or any of the actors?) had ever even seen an episode of 'ER.' Buffy's wheeled into a room (with a viewing window for spectators?) and is pronounced to have "bleeding from the left ventricle" by a doctor who hasn't even taken off her shirt. What? Does he have x-ray vision? Then they all hover over her, not actually doing anything, trying to look busy until Willow enters the room. VERY unconvincing.

Oh, also Willow's 'superbitch' line. That was dumb, too. Oh, yeah, and also the "Axe; not gonna cut it" line. And I wish they didn't cut to commercial in the middle of the rape scene in 'Seeing Red.' That was tastless. They shoud have gone to commercial AFTER Buffy's "Ask me again why I could never trust you" line.
Old 08-26-06, 10:34 AM
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This reminds me i need to rewatch season 6
Old 08-26-06, 04:54 PM
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I caught a couple of BTVS on late night tv a few years back. They were out of order season 1 and 2 episodes and I only watched a few . They were good enough for me to buy The Chosen collection when it first came out because I thought it would be a lot cheaper then buying each season alone. I started watching it with my high school age daughter this summer. It was a nice way to spend some time together and have something to talk about we both enjoyed. My wife was goofing on me until she viewed a few episodes and she joined in during season 2. Now when we have a spare 45 minutes or so together we pop in an episode. Its weird but we all seem to get something different from the show because of where we are in life or who we are. We just started S4 and I don't think we will be switching between Angel and Buffy. But I'll certainly buy or rent at least S1 Angel to check it out.
Spoiler:
I like the way the Buffy characters are growing and to be honest I was getting tired of Angel and Buffy interaction. IMHO "good" Angel was so friggin sensitive at times I wanted to get him some testosterone shots and lovesick Buffy was getting to be "drama queen" Buffy. I liked "bad" Angel as a character so much better than the fawning "nice guy" Angel.
. Its nice to find this thread and find that others are discovering and enjoying this show for the first time also.
Old 08-27-06, 04:12 PM
  #180  
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If you don't check out Angel at all you are REALLY missing something. To me Angel was a much more 'tighter' show then Buffy.
Old 08-27-06, 07:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
Actually,
Spoiler:
back in season two, "The Dark Age," it was shown that magick could be addictive and used like a drug.

My main bitch with the Willow addiction storyline was that they played it a drug addiction and "Smashed" and "Wrecked" became these stupid fucking afterschool specials. Hit all of the drug cliches... friend lures you to a crack house, the psychedelic trip, the hangover, the cold shower, the car accident that injures someone who was in her care.

Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break.

I didn't find the issue so much that Willow developed an addiciton, but the way it was presented was weak and forced.

I agree. Bad execution in storyline. I thinnk we owe Marti for tht.
Old 08-27-06, 11:13 PM
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Originally Posted by GizmoDVD
If you don't check out Angel at all you are REALLY missing something. To me Angel was a much more 'tighter' show then Buffy.
I plan on watching at least one season of Angel because I enjoy BTVS so much and all the great reviews in this thread. I checked out my Tivo and there are Angel episodes on at 4 am. I tivo'ed one from 2004 so I can get a bit of a taste. Does anyone think the show got better or worse as it progressed? My daughter is a big Boreantz fan for some reason, something about hottie or words to that effect. I hope they do all the seasons like The Chosen so I can save a few bucks.
Old 08-28-06, 01:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Pwman
I plan on watching at least one season of Angel because I enjoy BTVS so much and all the great reviews in this thread. I checked out my Tivo and there are Angel episodes on at 4 am. I tivo'ed one from 2004 so I can get a bit of a taste. Does anyone think the show got better or worse as it progressed? My daughter is a big Boreantz fan for some reason, something about hottie or words to that effect. I hope they do all the seasons like The Chosen so I can save a few bucks.
Definitely better as it went on. Season one is fun, but (with one exception) each episode is pretty much a stand-alone. By season four, the show contained one long 18-episode story arc. Plus, a lot of the first season was kinda formulaic (and not that much different from a lot of other detective shows). You need to see the first season to get a lot of the backstory, but seasons four and five are SO superior to where the show started off, it's not even funny.
Old 08-28-06, 04:24 AM
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As much as I loved Angel season 1 it gets much better and the later seasons blow it out of the water.
Old 08-28-06, 08:00 PM
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Angel > Buffy IMO

I'm a fan of arc-based storytelling. Ignoring S1 and S5 to an extent (S5's episodic nature was an order from higherups), Angel had the best arc-based storytelling of any show I have seen since Babylon 5 (my favorite show). Angel's arc also was HARSH at times. Characters take a beating at times, no copping out. Whereas on Buffy IMO they tended to wuss out too often and be too nice to his characters (i.e. let's raise character X from the grave again, hit the reset button back to status quo, etc).

Buffy was good, but its arc-based storytelling was much weaker. Buffy's strength was in its humor, characters. It had more of a standalone episode feel IMO. My wife disagrees with me, she tends to like Buffy a bit more than Angel.

Last edited by GreenMonkey; 08-28-06 at 08:04 PM.
Old 08-28-06, 11:48 PM
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Another one that thinks Angel gets better (and darker) as it goes on. Season 1 was decent but the others were far better.
Old 08-29-06, 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by riley_dude
Another one that thinks Angel gets better (and darker) as it goes on. Season 1 was decent but the others were far better.
And I so agree with this. I think part of the reason I liked Angel over Buffy just a bit more, was that the darker aspect of the show, seemed to bring a bit more realness to it, too - if you get what I'm saying.
Old 08-30-06, 05:50 PM
  #188  
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got a question about a season 4 episode
Spoiler:
Does anyone know what indeed was up with the whole Johnathan episode? I know it was a spell that he did and all, but the whole episode just felt weird.
Old 08-30-06, 06:49 PM
  #189  
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Originally Posted by Rypro 525
got a question about a season 4 episode
Spoiler:
Does anyone know what indeed was up with the whole Johnathan episode? I know it was a spell that he did and all, but the whole episode just felt weird.
Spoiler:
I think it was supposed to be a take-off on "Mary Sue" fan-fiction.

A Mary Sue is when a fanfic author writes themselves (generally via an analog) into their fanfic stories. The Mary Sue is generally the one who drives the story, solves all problems, has romantic encounters with the leads, etc.
Old 08-30-06, 09:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Rypro 525
got a question about a season 4 episode
Spoiler:
Does anyone know what indeed was up with the whole Johnathan episode? I know it was a spell that he did and all, but the whole episode just felt weird.

It was supposed to feel weird.
Spoiler:
He created an alternate reality with the spell. Bizarro World, if you will. Bizarro world isn't supposed to feel normal or right.


Even Buffy thought it was weird. . I loved the fact that they put
Spoiler:
Johnathan in the opening credits like he was the star of the show. What a great moment for long time Buffy fans watching the episode for the first time. Very funny.
Old 08-30-06, 10:24 PM
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Also in the episode before that
Spoiler:
with "Eliza Dushku as Buffy" in the credits had me do a wtf as well


I've kind of liked season 4 up to this point. Not so much the
Spoiler:
whole Reily as the new boyfriend, cause he's kind of a stiff, but putting some surprises in the mix has been good.
Old 08-30-06, 11:46 PM
  #192  
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Originally Posted by Rypro 525

I've kind of liked season 4 up to this point. Not so much the
Spoiler:
whole Reily as the new boyfriend, cause he's kind of a stiff, but putting some surprises in the mix has been good.
I guess I am one of the few that actually liked
Spoiler:
Riley. I went on to name my Dog after him.
Old 08-31-06, 08:39 AM
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Originally Posted by riley_dude
I guess I am one of the few that actually liked
Spoiler:
Riley. I went on to name my Dog after him.
Spoiler:
I named one of my cats after Tara! It's kinda weird, though, to have to yell "Tara! Stop peeing behind the TV!" so often. I bet Willow rarely ever had to yell that. Probably.

Last edited by wergo; 08-31-06 at 08:47 AM.
Old 09-02-06, 08:11 AM
  #194  
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Joining the thread very late, as I just now finished season 7 of Buffy.

I had watched seasons 1-5 about a year or so back, and I got far enough into season 6 to see the "evil" trio and gave up. The writing was just too contrived. Why were these clowns any sort of threat to Buffy? Only because Buffy and every god-damned member of the Scoobies were conveniently distracted with their heads up their asses. How conveeeeeenient. After seeing Buffy save the world from supernatural menace after supernatural menace, I just can not be expected to believe that these 3 morons that keep fighting between themselves could pose any real threat.

That being said, the season did get better towards the end as Warren's character improved, and the last 3 episodes were great.

On the whole, I enjoyed season 7 more than 6.

My biggest complaint about the series, though, is the way Whedon and the other writers ignore the whole "rule" of the slayer that they started out with.

In every generation a Slayer is born. That indicates that there should only be one slayer per generation, and if she dies, you have to wait for the next generation. That's just somantics, though. Christ, I'm going to have to black out this whole block for spoilers...
Spoiler:

The lineage of the Slayer is what confuses me. We have Buffy, who dies for all of 4 minutes at the end of season 1. This is long enough for Kendra to be called. Now we have 2 Slayers. So when Buffy died at the end of season 5, and was in the ground for several months, why wasn't a new Slayer called? Why wasn't Giles questioning where the new Slayer was?

The response I always get is that a new Slayer wasn't called because Faith was still alive, so there was still a Slayer. Well, Faith was called when Drusilla killed Kendra, but Buffy was still alive... so there was still a Slayer.

Some try to say that the true lineage of the Slayer is with Faith, as Buffy's successor was already called. So why did the writers in season 7 constantly have comments about how the only way a potential Slayer would get her powers would be if Buffy died?
Old 09-02-06, 11:38 AM
  #195  
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Originally Posted by MovieExchange
c
Spoiler:

The lineage of the Slayer is what confuses me. We have Buffy, who dies for all of 4 minutes at the end of season 1. This is long enough for Kendra to be called. Now we have 2 Slayers. So when Buffy died at the end of season 5, and was in the ground for several months, why wasn't a new Slayer called? Why wasn't Giles questioning where the new Slayer was?

The response I always get is that a new Slayer wasn't called because Faith was still alive, so there was still a Slayer. Well, Faith was called when Drusilla killed Kendra, but Buffy was still alive... so there was still a Slayer.

Some try to say that the true lineage of the Slayer is with Faith, as Buffy's successor was already called. So why did the writers in season 7 constantly have comments about how the only way a potential Slayer would get her powers would be if Buffy died?
Here's why...
Spoiler:
When Buffy died in "Prophecy Girl" and Kendra was activated, Buffy was removed from the Slayer line of succession.

The line of succession then moved on to Kendra. And when Kendra was killed, Faith became the Slayer.

When Buffy died at the end of "The Gift" another slayer wasn't activated because the line doesn't go through Buffy any more. A new slayer wouldn't be called unless Faith (the "real" slayer) died. After season one, Buffy existed outside of the slayer line even though she still had her powers.

(It should be noted however, that after Willow resurrected Buffy early in season six she might have damaged the slayer line somehow and either reset the slayer line back on Buffy, or merged it with Faith's line. This is sort of implied by events in season seven of Buffy and season four of Angel, but never really explained.)
Old 09-02-06, 05:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
Here's why...
Spoiler:
When Buffy died in "Prophecy Girl" and Kendra was activated, Buffy was removed from the Slayer line of succession.

The line of succession then moved on to Kendra. And when Kendra was killed, Faith became the Slayer.

When Buffy died at the end of "The Gift" another slayer wasn't activated because the line doesn't go through Buffy any more. A new slayer wouldn't be called unless Faith (the "real" slayer) died. After season one, Buffy existed outside of the slayer line even though she still had her powers.

(It should be noted however, that after Willow resurrected Buffy early in season six she might have damaged the slayer line somehow and either reset the slayer line back on Buffy, or merged it with Faith's line. This is sort of implied by events in season seven of Buffy and season four of Angel, but never really explained.)

Spoiler:

but, as I said, the writing in season 7 is stating that one of the potentials can become a Slayer if Buffy dies. Granted, it's all moot by the end of the season.
Old 09-02-06, 08:44 PM
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Originally Posted by MovieExchange
Spoiler:

but, as I said, the writing in season 7 is stating that one of the potentials can become a Slayer if Buffy dies. Granted, it's all moot by the end of the season.
Not quite.
Spoiler:
Buffy and the Scoobies ASSUME that Buffy's essential to the slayer line, and they all seem to just forget about Faith until she shows up (which Faith even comments to Willow) but no one who actually knows what's going on makes a statement. The closest we get (and it may well just be misdirection to the audience) is the First ordering the ubervamp and triggered!Spike not to kill Buffy because "it's not her time yet", but that's probably because it promised her to Caleb.

MY question is; if Caleb could blow up the watcher's council, why didn't he just blow up the Summers house, too? Even if it waited for Buffy to be out of the house at the time, why not kill off all the other potentials at once?
Old 09-06-06, 09:55 PM
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I own every single season of Buffy and Angel. I bought them all on the days they came out originally.

Not including watching them when they first aired on tv, I've watched every season about 4 times now... I'm currently on Angel season 1, on my fourth time through starting with Buffy season one. And once I finish the final season of Angel... I'll start over with Season 1 of Buffy for my 5th time through.

I guess basically I'm trying to say that Buffy and Angel are my absolute favorite shows EVER. And currently Veronica Mars is my favorite that's on tv.

And there is no way you can compare Buffy to Angel. It's two absolute different styles. And they both have the best writing, acting, and wit of any show I've ever seen. It's smart/witty comedy with superb action, intense drama, all mixed together with a little bit of horror.

In my opinion, the two best shows out of them both, came from the Buffy series. "Once More with Feeling" and "Hush".

Ok I think I'm done writing my novel... haha.

-Nick
Old 09-06-06, 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by wergo
Not quite.
Spoiler:
Buffy and the Scoobies ASSUME that Buffy's essential to the slayer line, and they all seem to just forget about Faith until she shows up (which Faith even comments to Willow) but no one who actually knows what's going on makes a statement. The closest we get (and it may well just be misdirection to the audience) is the First ordering the ubervamp and triggered!Spike not to kill Buffy because "it's not her time yet", but that's probably because it promised her to Caleb.

MY question is; if Caleb could blow up the watcher's council, why didn't he just blow up the Summers house, too? Even if it waited for Buffy to be out of the house at the time, why not kill off all the other potentials at once?
Lazy writing.


I had watched seasons 1-5 about a year or so back, and I got far enough into season 6 to see the "evil" trio and gave up. The writing was just too contrived. Why were these clowns any sort of threat to Buffy? Only because Buffy and every god-damned member of the Scoobies were conveniently distracted with their heads up their asses. How conveeeeeenient. After seeing Buffy save the world from supernatural menace after supernatural menace, I just can not be expected to believe that these 3 morons that keep fighting between themselves could pose any real threat.
Exactly why I think that season 5eason 6 was by far the worst season of Buffy. A real eye roller.

Last edited by riley_dude; 09-06-06 at 11:21 PM.
Old 09-07-06, 05:23 AM
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Some people will simply never "get" season 6. The trio wasn't supposed to be a real threat in the first place, at least not at first anyway. They had just done a season with a
Spoiler:
hell God
so instead of trying to top that they tried to do the exact opposite by having what seemed to be comical harlmess super villain geeks that started off as funny, but eventually
Spoiler:
showed them gradually get more serious and darker. Plus, in reality they were just to blind us from what would become the real big bad of the season, Dark Willow. They were their to help cause that tranformation.



How conveeeeeenient. After seeing Buffy save the world from supernatural menace after supernatural menace, I just can not be expected to believe that these 3 morons that keep fighting between themselves could pose any real threat.
In real life sometimes the easier things are harder. How else do you explain a great boxer like Winky Wright dominating an all time great power puncher Tito Trinidad for 12 rounds yet struggling with inferior competition? It's no different with Buffy. She struggled more than she should have against light weight competition. The same thing happens in real life. Mike Tyson KO'd freakin Larry Holmes and smashed Michael Spinks in 91 seconds yet got dominated and KO'd by Buster Douglas. Why? Well, similar reasons to why Buffy had trouble with the trio. He had his head up his ass, he wasn't focused, he didn't train right, etc; Baiscally, life problems and the fact that he didn't take his opponent seriously for one second. Much like you and Tyson when fighting Douglas Buffy didn't take her opponents seriously and she and others ended up paying for that mistake.

If the same thing can happen in the real world why is it so absurd on Buffy?


Season 6's real big bad
Spoiler:
aside from Willow was LIFE. That was the theme for the season and it was never abandoned. Some liked it some did not, apparently and many just didn't get it. The ending with Buffy crawling out of the grave as she did in the pilot was very symbolic.

Last edited by Slayer2005; 09-07-06 at 10:44 AM.


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