If you could change 3 things about Buffy season 7
POSTED BY: OPPYH
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 02:26
VIEWED: 35909
PAGE 5 of 14
The overall arc of S4 is pretty dire, but there are so many standout eps to compensate. Even the lesser eps usually have classic moments - Doomed for example has the hilarious Spike attempted suicide scene.
"See you in Hell, Dru."
Genius.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I love season 4. In fact, I am of the (minority) opinion that Buffy shares the even-numbered rule with the Star Trek movies - the even numbered seasons are the best. My favorites are seasons 2, 4, and 6, though not necessarily in that order.
"I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care. Or indeed, why it should be necessary to prove it at all." -Kerr Avon
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Definitely with you on 2 and 6. As for 4, it could just be that I always hated Riley. Wait, that can't be it because I hated Angel, too. Hm.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I like season 4 too!. The arc is definitely the weakest (of seasons 1-5) but the stand-alones are great. I'm not an anti-Riley person, either. I enjoyed watching their relationship develop.
I've always been a strong supporter of season 5 too. But I'm re-watching S5 these days, and I must admit I'm having my doubts. And "The Body" is next. It's a great ep but it's one I have to psyche myself up for. Just take deep breath and get ready.
I'm also in the I Don't Hate Kennedy Club. I didn't want to see Tara go and I felt Joss was turning the knife by having her murdered. But Kennedy as a character was fine. A bit of pain in the neck at times but...
So I like Riley, pretty much like Kennedy, and I really like Season 4. I think I'm the only member of this club.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Everyone else has hit the pacing and character focus points, so I'll go in for some lesser changes:
1. Better follow-through. Giles and Anya spend half an episode learning that the First's emergence was made possible by a weakness in the Slayer line, but as far as we know, they never tell anyone and the hard-won knowledge never comes to anything. Similarly, we're never let in on the truth of Dawn's visitations. Was it the First, and if so, how did it wreak all that physical havoc? Was Buffy sending Dawn away supposed to be the betrayal Joyce warned of? In both these cases, and others, the pay-off fizzles.
2. The First's identities. At the beginning of the season, a friend of mine enthused that the First's shape-changing ability could allow anyone in history to be written in, for purposes of humour or metaphor. The Scoobies could be harangued by Shakespeare, or Richard Nixon, or Dorothy Parker, or... heck, you fill in the blank. Instead, the First stuck to impersonating past "Buffy" characters. 
3. Anya. She used to be the brightest, funniest thing going, and yet this season she becomes absolutely painful to watch. She mopes, she snaps, she exudes ennui like a Calvin Klein model on depressants. Aside from the excellent "Selfless" (in which Anya is, if anything, even more miserable), she's just a drag. Joss forsook the chance to stufy an ongoing marriage on the show for this?
Quote:
Perhaps The First could have spent the first part of the season as incorporeal, but then gathered enough energy to become solid (Perhaps by using a "vessel" like The Master did in Season 1, and using the energy sucked out of potential slayers to become solid, becoming an UberCaleb).
That's really where I thought they were going with the First. There was a scene where someone says that it can't be harmed, and Willow or Giles starts to speak up as though there might be a way around that. And then, of course, there's the bit where the First longs to be made flesh so that it could put its hands around the necks of its victims. But instead, the potentials implausibly defeat several dozen of the million Ubervamps, Spike conveniently deus ex amulets the rest, and the First slinks off stage left in the aftermath.
_________
Sliders: Gate Haven - http://slidersweb.net/blinker
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
1.) no potentials. zero. well, i guess they were plot-important. ok, make them like the reavers in "bushwacked": there, but you can't see 'em.
2.) real giles and more of him. he was almost character assassinated...saved only by the fact that ASH is amazing.
3.) focus on core slayerettes like they did in the old days..as much as i love spike, i didn't like the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Spike the Vampire Wonder" that was season 7.
runner-up: make the first/ubervamps less...lame. brilliant concept, mediocre execution. an actually evil buffy would've been really awesome to see. and if i'd wanted uruk-hai, i'd would've put in LotR.
hey, or we could prevent some of this by putting joss in charge of season 6 instead of marti..more story and less soft-core porn..ahem.
----
I swallowed a bug.
www.cafepress.com/airylli
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:
I'm not a huge fan of S5 either
Curious, Grounded...do you think S4 is a lot or just a little better than S5?
I'm on the third ep of S4, and so far I like it.
Xander is crackin' me up, poor vagabond.
So many shows, so little time Chrisisall
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:
I'm not a huge fan of S5 either
Curious, Grounded...do you think S4 is a lot or just a little better than S5?
I'm on the third ep of S4, and so far I like it.
Some background: I started watching Buffy on BBC2. I got digital TV not long before S6 was due to start on Sky One (way ahead of BBC2 which hadn't even started S5) so my brother and I split the cost of the Buffy S5 and Angel S2 VHS sets so we could blitz through them in time for the new season. There followed a week or so of intensive viewing, switching back and forth between the two so as to preserve perfect viewing continuity. This served to make Buffy S5 seem stronger because a) the poorer eps were easier to forget in the crush and b) each episode of Buffy watched meant we could watch another Angel (which we both thought was much better).
On reflection, Buffy S5 has about 2 truly good episodes and a few okay ones IMO (I won't go into which ones for fear of spoiling you). In other words, with 3 or 4 times as many classic episodes and far fewer weak ones, S4 blows it out of the water. There's not much more I can say really, without spoiling - I look forward to an in depth analysis thread when you've worked through all of S4 and S5 ;)
By the way, if you liked the first three eps you're probably going to like the rest even more - the 1st three are some of the year's weakest.
Edit: "Buffy, I've gone through some fairly dark times in my life. Faced some scary things, among them the kitchen at the fabulous Ladies Night club. Let me tell ya' something: When it's dark, and I'm all alone, and I'm scared, or freaked out or whatever, I always think, 'What would Buffy do?' You're my hero. Ok, sometimes when it's dark and I'm all alone, I think, 'What is Buffy wearing?'..."
"And nothing says thank you like dollars in the waistband."
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I hate to say this, but Beer Bad wasn't so bad. If you take it like, say The Apple in Star Trek...
Chrisisall
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME