The toughest call: best SINGLE Buffy episode in human history....
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, May 20, 2006 00:08
VIEWED: 40720
PAGE 4 of 16
If you all 'spoiler' it, I promise not to read it!
A long time ago I asked if I could just get S3 and end there. Some said I could, and some were in error.
"They lied! They lied to me!"
"I told you, they would never consciously betray the Buffster."
Lookin' so foward to The Body.
Buff S5 is a real nice way to keep busy for the next few days, then it's a Firefly marathon just before the BDM!!!!
YeeeHaaahhh!
Who's WITH me? Chrisisall
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Quote:I laughed, I cried, and I went "Oooh!" more than once...what more can you ask for?
Originally posted by batmarlowe:
Y
But Chris, if you're going to put a gun to my head I'll go with "Fool For Love". That one has just stayed with me more.
And that slo-mo walk away shot from the Rebellion was worthy of David Lean!!!!
William Chrisisall
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Ack! The pressure!
OK. The list I'm working from is:
Becoming
Graduation Day
Hush
Fool For Love
The Body
The Gift
Once More w/ Feeling
Conversations w/ Dead People
Oof. This REALLY isn't easy (I'm actually a little impressed that I was able to single out these 8). I think I'll have to go with Graduation Day, because it represented much of what the show was to me. But really, I could make an argument for just about any of these.
Fool For Love is the episode that made me a Spike fan. Well, The Yoko Factor helped too...
"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann
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Him or Dopplegangland..Still deciding.
My fav ep of firefly -Safe.
"It's okay to leave them to die."
"I'm a leaf on the wind."
---------------------------
Im required to do this: Serenity is coming. 9/30/05
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Here's a hard question Mikey, is the best ep of Buffy better than the best ep of Angel or Firefly?
(Ha! I AM evil!!!!)
Can't speak for Angel, having seen so few, but my fav (Fool For Love) isn't (IMHO) better than Objects In Space (or Out Of Gas, or Serenity, for that matter), but it's damn close.
Evil, tormenting Chrisisall
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I know you didn't ask me but my answer to your question is "yes" if FIREFLY isn't in the equation. I don't think I can be objective when comparing great BUFFY episode to great FIREFLY episodes. Because...well...because my heart belong to the Slayer! There, I said it!
Mikey has a great list of faves there it's really hard to choose one.
When you get to "The Body". Take a deep breath and be ready.
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Gah....that's almost impossible.
Of all of them, I would be able to get it down to a few..."Hush", "Restless", "Fool for Love", "Once More With Feeling", "Grave", "Conversations With Dead People" and "Chosen".
Oh yeah. I'm SO good at this. It's late, I can't even begin to explain my choices and narrow it down, but just my $.02
"Bwaa...it's kind of a warrior...strikes fear into the hearts of..."
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Chris,
The best Buffy for me was, unquestionably, the very first episode ever. I had been so jaded with the crapola on TV before then, and was talking about that with an out-of-state buddy on the phone. I told him I was going to try this new show (the very first time it aired). He said he had seen a movie by the same name, so he wasn't interested in a TV show "spinoff."
At the first commercial break, I called him and told him this was the finest thing I had ever seen on TV. My opinion has not changed a whit in all these years.
I recall my immense surprise -- and joy! -- when Darla revealed herself for the first time. I recall the incredible beauty of young Sarah/Buffy, waking in the morning after her odd dreams. There, too, was the overall brilliant concept, the superb acting, the sweet and wonderfully incorporated introductions of Willow, Xander, and Giles, and so much more, hints of what was to come. Yes, the overall concept was refined and distilled later, but it was all there in that very first complete episode (as I recall, the whole 2-hour thing was shown at the very first airing).
For me, Firefly was ground-breaking, and brilliant too, but Buffy was earth-shattering.
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I normally stray away from doing "top lists" or "the best of
Not so in this case, although it gets tricky after the top 5 or so. Here's my top 10 Buffy Episodes in Human History...
10. I Only Have Eyes for You
I just love the clever role reversal at the end of the episode and how the dialogue between the possessed Buffy and Angel fits perfectly with their relationship at that point in time. Very clever writing.
9. Becoming 1&2
There's essentially two things that get episodes on this list. Clever writing, or sad endings (or both). This one is the sad ending. Downright depressing, and a little surprising for that time in television. Buffy helped bring forth a minor revolution in television storytelling. Season 2 was a big part of that.
8. Restless
Along with Hush, one of the few redeeming qualities of Season 4... but amount of thought put into the writing of this episode, combined with the great directing and cinematography makes this one worthy of the top 10.
7. Conversations with Dead People
By season 7, Buffy appeared to have run out of creative ideas. Except for CWDP. Yet another break from traditional Buffy storylines (nearly every time they do that they do it with lots of style). The added bonus is that each story told is very differently (and Dawns gets bonus creepy points).
6. Tabula Rasa
"Randy Giles! I knew there was a reason I hated you! Why not just call me 'Horny' Giles or Desperate For A Shag' Giles?" + the entire gang screaming in fear at the vampires. Enough said.
5. Seeing Red
This is the one that rips our hearts out. There are several Buffy episodes that tug at our emotional strings, but none do so as well as this one. Seeing Red is the one that does it the best. If only the rest of the episode was as good as the very end. Much like the end of Season 2 of Angel in that regard.
4. The Zeppo
Zeppo is just good fun. I think it has gotten mixed reception among the fans... but this is another one of the episodes that, like many on my list, rewrite the rules of the show if not television alltogether. The Zeppo manages to focus on someone other than Buffy, providing significant character development and poke fun of the show at the same time.
3. Once More, With Feeling
Ah, the musical. This episode is just a lot of fun. There is no other show that could pull off a musical episode and still take itself seriously, much less do so with as much style as OMWF.
2. The Body
An incredibly touching episode, artfully done. Who knew that Buffy would be one of the best shows ever to handle the subject of death?
And the Number one Buffy episode in human history is....
1. Hush
Hush is just brilliant television. From the super-creepy bad guys, the creative commentary on communication, the brilliant writing that made the episode work, to the humor... this is as good as it gets.
---
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Here's a hard question Mikey, is the best ep of Buffy better than the best ep of Angel or Firefly?
(Ha! I AM evil!!!!)
This is a near-impossible question to answer. You bastard. It's really hard to compare the three shows, since Buffy was much more epic in tone (and was the only one of the three to make me cry). Angel had some fantastic episodes, like Redefinition, Waiting in the Wings, Spin the Bottle, and Smile Time (and many others)... and obviously Firefly had some near-perfect episodes as well - OiS and OoG come to mind.
Then there's the definition of the word Best. Is it the amount of emotional resonance the episode had for me? The quality of the humor/drama/both? Are we talking about capital-q Quality here?
This is like the old Superfans SNL sketch where they ask "Bears vs. Bulls". I feel like if I answer one way or the other, the world might just collapse upon itself. It's doubly hard because my favorite episode of each of these shows tends to change from day to day (in fact, today I may have claimed The Body as the best Buffy episode).
OK, I guess I'll say that yes, the best episode of Buffy is better than the best episodes of Angel and Firefly. Oof. It hurts just to type that. Damn you, Chris. You have just made an enemy for life.
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