The toughest call: best SINGLE Buffy episode in human history....
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, May 20, 2006 00:08
VIEWED: 40720
PAGE 11 of 16
I felt somewhat let down by S7 as well, until I saw it on DVD, back-to-back, no commercials. That definitely made it way better for me, slip-ups and all.
"That was nifty!" -- Willow. 
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Fair enough. But what other SF/F shows have you actually watched in recent years? There have been plenty of good ones, even if most of them haven't survived their first years. Beyond that, there are also tons of older shows worth investigating on DVD.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:
Fair enough. But what other SF/F shows have you actually watched in recent years? There have been plenty of good ones, even if most of them haven't survived their first years. Beyond that, there are also tons of older shows worth investigating on DVD.
I'm with you there!
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First off, note that I've ONLY seen Buffy in the DVD format, I never saw any episodes originally.
I got an influx of cash from selling some of my old junk on ebay. I don't usually have an abundance of money to buy DVDs either. Gotta wait a year until I graduate with my Comp. Sci. degree for the money (hopefully, heh).
As for other sci-fi/fantasy show, I've heard lots of good things about the new Battlestar Galactica, but alas I don't have the sci-fi channel and I don't want to be relegated to downloading every episode. Some people have said some good things about CBS's new "Threshold," but that was created by Brannon Braga, 1/2 of the reason why Star Trek went to hell after ST:DS9. I used to watch Charmed occasionally, but after recently discovering Buffy, I'm not sure if I can stomach Charmed anymore. Last year I caught Point Pleasant on TV, and while it wasn't great, it started to just begin to get interesting right when it got cancelled; the show *was* improving. I saw some of Tru Calling in S2, but I can see why that show was cancelled; it wasn't that good.
It feels like when a new show comes out that I find at least interesting enough to watch for its first season, it just ends up getting cancelled. :/ My favorite sci-fi shows are primarily Firefly and Star Trek (TOS, TNG, and DS9). I know Stargate SG-1 has been on forever, but that show never remotely interested me. Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict blow (though to be fair I haven't seen much of EFC).
I'm worried, because before I got hooked on all of Whedon's shows my tolerance for mediocre TV was a lot higher, lol. I'm not sure I can go back.
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Oh well, you'll just have to trust us there are good shows out there ;)
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Neat thread with impressive legs. Obviously, it proves that many fans have many different episodes that they liked.
I agree with those who think that BECOMING 2 was the best single episode. The episode itself crackled from start to finish, but what made it unique was the culmination of a season and a half buildup. Season 1 (half a season) set up the premise; the first half of season 2 built up the Buffy-Angel romance, paid off by the I-gave-it-up-to-my-boyfriend-and-he-turned-into-monster metaphor.
The rest of the season revolved around Buffy's determination that she had to kill Angel, and the wonderful chain of events that leads to the last act of BECOMING. The brilliant acting of the scene where Angel regains his soul, Buffy realizes it, but at the same time knows she has to kill him, is meaningless without the backstory. The few seconds of SMG's face after she kills Angel is absolutely riviting. (One critic called the episode one with "real emotional heft.")
This was the apotheosis of the "little blond girl slaughters vampires, but falls in live for an (older) vampire who happens to have a soul" premise of the original story. At the end of the show, Buffy had given up her calling and left town, and as far as anyone knew, Angel had suffered the real death.
I take nothing away from the many wonderful episodes and elements in all of the later seasons. I am on record as saying the worst thing about Season 7 of BTVS was that there was no Season 8.
However, after the ending of Season 2, BTVS tended to treat DEATH as a slap on the wrist. That ultimately undercut the sincerety of the mission.
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I don't completely agree with your comment about death on "Buffy." It seems to me the only reason why Angel was brought back in season 3 was to prepare his sendoff for his own show, which they new they wanted to do after the episode "I Only Have Eyes For You" in S2.
The only other death on Buffy they really "take back" is Buffy's. Hearing Joss' commentary on "The Gift" comforts me quite a bit because he states that this episode was a very likely series finale for the show where she would have stayed dead. Once the show got picked up by UPN he obviously had to bring her back as she's the title character. Also, the pain and depression of S6 was a consequence of her coming back, so it wasn't just "I'm back, everything's the same" (thankfully!).
The only time I feel like they didn't "earn" bringing someone back was in Angel's case. That was poorly explained and could have been done much better (though I can understand the reasoning behind bringing him back and accept it). Think about how many deaths on the show aren't "just a slap on the wrist" and compare it to those that maybe are. More often than not, it's the former, imo anyway.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with the way almost everything was handled on the show. Season 1 had growing pains (and is easily the worst season imo), season 4 had a poor primary arc, and season 7 had too many convenient plot devices and threads left hanging. But all of those seasons still have a ton of merrit and stuff to love about them.
My favorite seasons in each group go from left (best) to right (worst).
The Best: S2, S6, S3, S5
A Step Down: S4, S7
Another Step Down: S1
I love them all though! :)
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It is almost impossible to choose but i love a challenge... while I loved Once More with Feeling I mean you really cannot get better then that episode... but the one that made me feel the most and i am not sure why was choices I mean when they were all arueing and Oz just gets up calmly and destroys what they were fighting about that was the single sweetest thing i have ever seen in my life and that makes it the top episode to me not to mention the freaky bugs and Willow being all kickass. I just loved every minute of it.
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I hate to be all predictable, but OMWF and Hush definitely share the seat of "OMFG best episode EVAR!11". OMWF is just so truly brilliant, it made me really impressed with Joss, even though I'm generally wary of people who talk about the creator (director, writer, actor, what-have-you) rather than the work. OMWF parodied every stereotype known to man and television ...and got me my lover 
And Hush was a good "normal" episode with the awesome Gentlemen, and all this while silent!
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Early: Where'd she go?
Simon: I can't keep track of her when she's NOT incorporeally possessing a spaceship, don't look at me --
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