Worst Episode?
POSTED BY: hellsangel
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 22:11
VIEWED: 15793
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I can watch bad episodes; most of the time, there is something worth while in them. But the absolute worst episodes for me usually involve some sort of aberration of character. For instance, HELLS BELLS bothered me because Xander's family situation was always played as sad and kind of tragic. There was this hint of abuse that was subtle but present. But they made his family a JOKE in this episode! It really offended me how they treated Xander and his dysfunctional family as nothing more than comic relief. It's one thing when Xander jokes about his family; it's his defense. But when the writers do it, it shows a lack of respect for everything that has come before.
But my most hated episode has to be GO FISH. Buffy would have been sexually assaulted by that guy in the car if she hadn't had super powers, then Snider comes down on her, and tells her she had it coming because of how she dresses. As she is relaying this story to her friends and mentor, they are with the rolling of eyes, and Giles says something to the effect of her being too self-involved to notice the research they are doing. WHA? So, so, so out of character! I cannot, will not watch GO FISH. I have never made it past that scene a second time.
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With all the focus on the merits(or lack thereof) for season 6 I think one episode from much earlier was ignored:
When She Was Bad: Season 2 Episode 1
Buffy is utterly out of character in this episode. I hold violations of core character values and traits to be great sins and this episode is a classic example. It's odd too, because it by itself is terrible but starts what I consider to be the greatest season of all, season 2. The episode plays off Buffy's bad attitude as a function of her death and resurection but I can't buy it. It just feels wrong and I hate watching it.
I've also noticed that most seasons have weak opening episodes. 2 has the aforementioned When She was Bad. 3 has Anne which a lot of ppl don't like(I'm OK with it) 4 has the Freshman, again not liked by some. 5 has the dracula episode which is like a side quest with no real merit to much of anything. 6 has the aforementioned lack of energy in the form of the first part of the Bargaining episodes. 7 has Lessions, the one about the vengeful spirits in Sunnydale High, I think this one is a better season opener than most of the others. Honestly, the best episode as a season opener is really Welcome to the Hellmouth since it was serving as a pilot and introducing the characters.
The other episode I cannot stand to watch is The Killer in Me, season 7 episode 13, when Willow kisses Kennedy and the wonderful character of Willow with all her development and new juxtaposition is utterly ruined. I consider this episode to be the moment when Buffy The Vampire Slayer offically jumps the shark.
Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.
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I have a few that I've always disliked:
Beer Bad - this one was good as a funny throwaway funny episode, and it did have pretty good humor, but the premise was just ridiculous, and the "beer makes you stupid" metaphor was, as someone else said, about as subtle as a kick in the groin.
Buffy vs. Dracula - Ugh. It just...ugh. This episode wouldn't have been so bad, but Dracula totally crapped in the face of the Buffy mythology. If you're going to use a legendary character like that, you might as well make him fit in with the mythology you have set up, dammit. I mean...honestly. No bumpy face? He can't be killed by a stake, EVEN THOUGH HE DUSTS? I don't think so. File this one under "crappy fanfiction" for me.
Doublemeat Palace - Ugh times four. This episode was just plain BAD, and it may be my least favorite episode ever. A couple of years later, when I picked up the DVD set, I was like "oh! Maybe this episode will be better, because now I work at a McDonald's, so I'll get all the in-jokes about working at a fast food restaraunt!" Nope. If anything, it was probably worse. Just a bad, bad, bad, BAD episode.
Simon: You...you came for us.
Mal: You're on my crew.
Simon: Right. I guess I just didn't...you don't even like me.
Mal: You're on my crew. Why we still talking about this?
-Safe
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Anything with the stupid, ruined the final season, Potentials in.....(sorry, not exactly constructive criticism but it's from the heart!)
And Beer Bad. Although that episode was redeemed by Willow having the last laugh on Parker.
http://disneypix.tripod.com/destiny
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Quote:
Originally posted by fray101:
Anything with the stupid, ruined the final season, Potentials in.....
You are utterly correct. "Stupid runied final season" is EXACTLY how I feel.
The Killer in Me: episiode where the character of Willow is ruined
Dirty Girls: When the character Caleb is introduced only to be later tossed away. Terrible writing.
End of Days: When the magic "slayer axe" is introduced. What total storytelling crap.
Chosen: The season finale when all the potentials are granted slayer powers and NO PRICE IS PAID by Willow for this titanic use of magic. And there's also the fact that doing this erased the romantic feel of "one girl in all the world"
Buffy is hardly the first show to be good for a long time but then devolve into meaningless crud. I watched the 1st two seasons of Andromeda on Sci-Fi which were good. After season 3 started the show just all-of-a-sudden became a mockery of itself. It was painful to watch it and finally I just gave up. Buffy 7 is in the very same place. Although I will admit there are nuggets of joy scattered throughout such as "storyteller", the episode told through Andrew's eyes. But on the whole, season 7 is chock full of howlers. I maintain that Buffy 7 and Angel 4 are crappy because Joss sapped those seasons of life energy so he could pour it all into Firefly. Watch the improvement in Angel 5 over the previous season and you'll see it plain as day.
Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.
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I didn't hate the final series as a whole (OK, there's not much about Buffy I do hate!) but those idiot girls just blighted the final season with their whining and crap accents! And would Willow really have fallen so quickly for Kennedy? I mean seriously - all she had to do was say "I'm a lesbian" and that was it!
And OK, so Buffy no longer had to carry the burden of being "alone" but that was what made her special. The Chosen storyline also goes against Joss's own Fray storyline in Tales of the Slayers (the animated one) which said that the final Slayer fought an apocalyptic battle and after that there were no more until Fray was called (and was given the axe). Clearly that couldn't be the case if there were hundreds or thousands of newly empowered Slayer fans running around.
I've always preferred Buffy to Angel (or at least assumed I have), but Angel's final season was far superior, in particular the final episode.
http://disneypix.tripod.com/destiny
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Hmmm, I agree, and disagree.
As far as the writing for seven 7 goes, agree. I felt like so much was introduced only to be dropped later and out of nowhere things were made easier...where the hell has the scythe been all this time? And the amulet? And if it was as easy as magic to make there be an army of slayers in an instant, why didn't anyone think of it before? Did the watcher's council just sit around and sip tea for hundreds of years? BUT, I think a lot of this can be attributed to deciding mid season to end Buffy. Joss and everyone had to scramble to wrap up the series the way he had always intended to. Too bad really. I still love season 7, it's one of my favorites. But you do really have to let yourself be wrapped up in the show, and not think too critically about storylines, etc. I really wish they had to decide on each season's fate at the beginning so we didn't end up with these thrown together plot lines.
But I do really like that Joss ended the series with Buffy not being the only slayer. I think he had planned that all along...I know he said he always planned to have Sunnydale destroyed at the end. Buffy had always struggled with being alone, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, etc. Always wanting to be more like a normal girl. I think it was wonderful that in the end we know that she'll have that.
Writing aside, the emotion was definitely there in season 7. Again, this was the season to let yourself be totally emotionally involved in the show and not have that critical distance. With doing so, Chosen was such a huge payoff. I cried for weeks.
My chief complaint about season 7 was with Willow and Xander. I didn't think Willow's redemption was ever fully earned or demonstrated. Again, I've been told that's a result of suddenly deciding to end the show. And Xander is my biggest disappointment of the entire series. I don't really think his character evolved much. Not how I would have liked to have seen it. To the very end he was combative with Spike, just the way he was with Angel in the very first season. He was always so judgemental. Even when Spike was fighting alongside them after Buffy died and putting his life on the line more than once, Xander still hated him and only thought of him as a monster and a murderer. Hello! How many people do you think Anya injured or killed in a thousand years! I love Xander and he has many good qualities, but as I was watching Seeing Red again yesterday I realized, he is a bigot. We know where he gets that from. I just really would have liked to have seen some of that fade away in the later years.
Feel free to argue.
"Vampires of the world, BEware." - Buffybot
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Quote:
Originally posted by kissthelibrarian:
Hmmm, I agree, and disagree.
As far as the writing for seven 7 goes, agree. I felt like so much was introduced only to be dropped later and out of nowhere things were made easier...where the hell has the scythe been all this time? And the amulet?
BUT, I think a lot of this can be attributed to deciding mid season to end Buffy. Joss and everyone had to scramble to wrap up the series the way he had always intended to.
My chief complaint about season 7 was with Willow and Xander.
And Xander is my biggest disappointment of the entire series. I don't really think his character evolved much. Not how I would have liked to have seen it. To the very end he was combative with Spike, just the way he was with Angel in the very first season. He was always so judgemental. Even when Spike was fighting alongside them after Buffy died and putting his life on the line more than once, Xander still hated him and only thought of him as a monster and a murderer. Hello! How many people do you think Anya injured or killed in a thousand years!
Feel free to argue.
"Vampires of the world, BEware." - Buffybot
At least the amulet was "explained" in the final series of Angel. Well, sort of...And I figure that the scythe was just an in-joke to tie in with the Fray graphic novel.
With regards "scrambling" to wrap up the series, it was almost certain going into Season 7 that it was going to be the final one. Compare that with Angel, which was abruptly axed half way through and which still (in my opinion anyway) managed to end satisfactorily - and how come Angel got to have a wonderful new character like Illyria whilst BTVS was stuck with Kennedy?
But I totally agree with you about Xander -a) the fact that he couldn't see how much it upset Buffy that she'd have to kill Anya, and how she'd put the greater good above her personal happiness on countless occasions and b) when he & the rest of the Scoobies (extra shame on you too Dawn) turned against you. Just a couple of episodes earlier he'd been telling the Potentials how much Buffy had earned their trust. OK Xander, you lost your eye. Well Buffy died...twice.
As for his feelings towards Spike, well he never learned to accept Angel either.But I reckon this comes down to sheer jealousy. Much easier to forgive a perky ex-vengeance demon than a couple of vamps who got to do the dirty with his beloved Buffy.
http://disneypix.tripod.com/destiny
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Quote:
Originally posted by kissthelibrarian:
But I do really like that Joss ended the series with Buffy not being the only slayer. I think he had planned that all along...I know he said he always planned to have Sunnydale destroyed at the end. Buffy had always struggled with being alone, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, etc. Always wanting to be more like a normal girl. I think it was wonderful that in the end we know that she'll have that.
We can agree to disagree I suppose.
I cannot agree that filling the world with slayers added any value to the Buffyverse. The powerful theme of "One Girl in All the World" who has a "Sacred Duty to Mankind" is simply awe inspiring when you consider its implications and complexity. If by the end of season 7 a writer wanted to establish that Buffy could lay aside her burden to live a normal life there are many better options available than simply filling a world with slayers via an illogical, no-price-paid uberspell. If you want an example I'll offer one:
Buffy is a slayer. Faith is as well. Establish that Faith has turned from her inner demons and will now fight for what's right. (This is easy to do after her breakdown in AtS and subsequent voluntary imprisonment to atone) Take the series to the final episode where Buffy is offered a choice. The trio of African Warlocks who created the first slayer (and were thus imprisioned forever in the mystical slayer's wasteland as the price for their mighty use of magic) are able to use their magics to reverse the slayer calling for Buffy. The price paid would be that the process would be forever irreversible. At the end of the final episode after Sunnydale is destroyed as the climax, provide an anti-climax in the form of a final spiritual journey by Buffy into the slayer's wasteland through the use of slayer Nikki's (1977 slayer) talismans. If you choose to end the series with Buffy accepting their interventions to allow her to become a normal mortal then you have achieved a nice closure. A BETTER ending would be that Buffy sees her desire of laying down her burden laid before her but in the end chooses to keep sacred her tragedy out of a supreme sense of duty. The BEST ending would be that buffy is offered the choice and returns from the Slayer Wasteland with the outcome unknown. THAT is good storytelling. I can even see that ending in my mind. Buffy returns looking no different from when she left....the scoobies ask what happened...Giles stands silent awaiting Buffy's reply as others clammer....Buffy's reply to the question "What did you choose?" is simply "What I had to". Giles nods gravely as though he understands exactly what she did. (demonstrating the intimate relationship twixt slayer and Watcher) The series ends then with an inappropriate comment from Xander about some trite matter unrelated to the current events. Conversations ensue that are equally trite. People walk away leaving Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Xander (core 4). Then Xander and Willow leave frame together (still best friends after all these years) leaving the slayer and her watcher. As Buffy and Giles turn from the camera we pause a moment to witness their departure before reading: "Executive Producer Joss Whedon" Music from the final scene carries over into Joss's credit and then ends. Roll credits.
I know Joss planned the destruction of Sunnydale. I applaud it. It's wonderful. What I do not believe is that he ever planned the story arc of thousands of slayers. I think that whole thing came from his inability to split his attention twixt Buffy S7, Angel S4, and Firefly. (not his fault, he was just overloaded) By handing over the reins of writing to a staff he effectively gave us Willow's runied character, the violation of the shows largest theme "One Girl in All the world", and crappy trash-fantasy forwarding devices such as the slayer axe and Caleb. As a work of art, S1 is better. Although S1 is considered campy, the core themes are solid. S7 forgot what it was supposed to be doing.
I
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Whatever episode it was that involved Buffy and Dawn fighting over the same teenage boy. The only good part is when you see Spike grab the rocket launcher from Buffy, who is about to blow up Principle Wood.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
MAL: This is my scrap of nowhere. You go on and find your own.
SAFFRON: You can't just leave me here, on this
lifeless piece of crap moon...
MAL: Sure I can.
SAFFRON: I'll die.
MAL: Well, as a courtesy, you might start
getting busy on that, cause all this chatter ain't doin' me any kindness.
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