Which episodes should I watch?
POSTED BY: VisitingMyIntentions
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 11:49
VIEWED: 7537
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Okay, so I'm not sure I should be posting this here or in the Buffy forum:
I don't like Angel. That said, I would love to see more of the Buffy characters I enjoyed so much and I know go on to have roles in Angel, which is to say, Faith and Spike (I believe Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley are the only other major carry-overs. Am I missing some?).
Given all that, which episodes should I watch?
"it has some sweet character deaths -- I mean moments!" - Joss Whedon
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Uhm... for Faith you want 1.18 "Five by Five" and 1.19 "Sanctuary" (Buffy cameo). Also, 4.13 "Salvage", 4.14 "Release", and 4.15 "Orpheus" (Willow cameo), though the season four episode might be hard to understand since they come as the conclusion to a long arc of episodes.
For Spike, try 1.3 "In the Dark" and any of season 5; he's in the full season.
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You don't like Xander or Angel? What is the world coming to...
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oh you need to give Wesley's character growth a chance...
he really does go through some amazing changes, and became my favorite character on 'Angel'
"I am a ROGUE demon hunter"
"what's a rogue demon?"
**********************************************
watch the R. Tam Session vids: http://www.hittarivertam.nu/
and buy the 'Serenity' comics published by Dark Horse,
and have you joined the Browncoats yet?
http://browncoats.serenitymovie.com/serenity/?fuseaction=tools.invlink
&u=embers&linkID=36
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Quote:
Originally posted by VisitingMyIntentions:
Okay, so I'm not sure I should be posting this here or in the Buffy forum:
I don't like Angel. That said, I would love to see more of the Buffy characters I enjoyed so much and I know go on to have roles in Angel, which is to say, Faith and Spike (I believe Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley are the only other major carry-overs. Am I missing some?).
Given all that, which episodes should I watch?
"it has some sweet character deaths -- I mean moments!" - Joss Whedon
Not trying to change your mind, but just wonderin'...what is it you like about Buffy that you don't like about Angel ? No, they're not the same show, and to be honest, I prefer Angel over Buffy, so I'm just curious as to why anyone would favor one over the other.
Maybe there's a simple answer, and there's no real point in discussing this, OR, maybe I have too much time to waste on such topics ?
" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "
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Quote:
Originally posted by Phoebe:
Uhm... for Faith you want 1.18 "Five by Five" and 1.19 "Sanctuary" (Buffy cameo). Also, 4.13 "Salvage", 4.14 "Release", and 4.15 "Orpheus" (Willow cameo), though the season four episode might be hard to understand since they come as the conclusion to a long arc of episodes.
For Spike, try 1.3 "In the Dark" and any of season 5; he's in the full season.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:
You don't like Xander or Angel? What is the world coming to...
I know, I know. Terrible, isn't it? I mean, what's the world coming to?! Silly girl doesn't even much care for Serenity...
Quote:
Originally posted by embers:
oh you need to give Wesley's character growth a chance...
he really does go through some amazing changes, and became my favorite character on 'Angel'
"I am a ROGUE demon hunter"
"what's a rogue demon?"
I dunno, I'm pretty unforgiving of what he did to Faith. Also, what a prig! And silly enough a character to be Cordelia's mate.
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Not trying to change your mind, but just wonderin'...what is it you like about Buffy that you don't like about Angel ? No, they're not the same show, and to be honest, I prefer Angel over Buffy, so I'm just curious as to why anyone would favor one over the other.
Maybe there's a simple answer, and there's no real point in discussing this, OR, maybe I have too much time to waste on such topics ?
Difficult question, but I'll try to answer it. In return, you have to explain to me why you like Angel better, and what you perceive as the difference between the two shows.
1.) Buffy has a purpose behind the show. She's the Chosen. Angel's just hanging around, and decides to be a superhero. It seems to me very artificial set-up. I watched some of the first Angel episodes, and one point struck me: when he has the ring, he suddenly has the power to fight evil better than ever. What does he do? He smashes it explicitly because he wants to continue being all mopey (and thus retain the premise of the show).
2.) While Buffy was never my favourite character, I was always appalled by Angel's very abrupt "I'm going to be your mysterious and tortured stranger guy" set-up and David Boreanaz's complete lack of acting skills. He's introduced completely artificially, dies and is brought back completely artificially, then has to go away again and Buffy and he have this whole melodrama about it. He, Cordelia, Wesley ...3 of the least impressive characters from Buffy as main cast of the show--just doesn't entrance me.
OK, now it's your turn.
"it has some sweet character deaths -- I mean moments!" - Joss Whedon
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Quote:Well, I don’t want to butt in on your conversation with AURaptor… except that’s what I’m doing. Sorry. Anyway, it sounds like you gave season one a try and then stopped (midway through?). Cuz, by the end of season one your point about Angel “not having a purpose” is very directly dealt with and shapes the entire rest of the series. I don’t know whether you’d want to be spoiled (or even if you care), but I can go into more detail if you’d like. But basically, going into the first season of Angel they had a plan for the show: It would be simpler, more monster-of-the-week and they’d get away from the big arcs over on Buffy. But by the end of season one, Joss had realized that, in his own words, “I suck at monster of the week!” The paradigm they’d gone in with didn’t work, so they ditched it and started building massive (and awesome) multiseason arcs that changed the characters in profound ways. In other words, season one is very shaky (IMO much shakier than Buffy season one) and does not represent the series as a whole. So, I really recommend checking out even just the Season one finale (if you can’t sit through the whole season) and move on to the magnificent season two.
Buffy has a purpose behind the show. She's the Chosen. Angel's just hanging around, and decides to be a superhero.
As for crossover eps, here’s a few more for you that haven’t been mentioned:
(I’m assuming you’re not interested in seeing Julie Benz, who played Darla in Season 1 of BtVS and appeared in some Angel-centric flashbacks in seasons 2 & 3. Because if you are interested, she appears in every season of Angel, one way or another).
Season 2, Episode 7, “Darla.” Spike and Dru appear in this one; it’s a twin episode to “Fool for Love” and originally aired immediately after it. Watch them back to back so you get the whole story.
Season 2, Episode 9, “The Trial.” Drusilla appears very briefly in this one.
Season 2, Episode 10, “Reunion.” Drusilla also appears in this one.
Season 2, Episode 11, “Redefinition.” Drusilla also appears in this one.
Season 2, Episode 17, “Disharmony.” Both Willow and Harmony appear in this hilarious ep.
Season 5. You really should just watch this entire season. Spike appears in every ep and has a lot of great stuff to do, Wesley reaches new heights of awesomeness (don’t believe “Wesley” and “awesome” should go together? Watch and find out why), the season is designed to be fairly accessible to new viewers, and it deals very directly with some problems raised in Buffy’s seventh season. But if you want specific eps out of the season to watch, I recommend these two: Episode 8, “Destiny.” Spike is awesome in this, really, really awesome. Deals w/the season one spoiler I mentioned above. Definitely see this ep. If you hate Angel, all the more reason to watch it, actually.
Another episode to check out is Episode 11, “Damage.” Spike has a lot to do in this episode, but we also get to see Andrew, hear about what the Scoobies are up to, and examine the full repercussions of the spell in “Chosen.” But really, watch the whole season so you can hear Spike's near-constant mockery of Angel--always hilarious.Anyway, that’s my interjection. But I really recommend giving Ats a second chance if you haven’t gotten to season two. Angel becomes more interesting, the series gets more focus, fascinating new characters are introduced, Wesley grows and changes in dramatic and tragic ways, and things overall just get *better*. Hopefully, some of the crossover eps will suck you in, if nothing else.
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Quote:
Originally posted by StakeTheLurk:
Anyway, it sounds like you gave season one a try and then stopped (midway through?). Cuz, by the end of season one your point about Angel “not having a purpose” is very directly dealt with and shapes the entire rest of the series. I don’t know whether you’d want to be spoiled (or even if you care), but I can go into more detail if you’d like. But basically, going into the first season of Angel they had a plan for the show: It would be simpler, more monster-of-the-week and they’d get away from the big arcs over on Buffy. But by the end of season one, Joss had realized that, in his own words, “I suck at monster of the week!” The paradigm they’d gone in with didn’t work, so they ditched it and started building massive (and awesome) multiseason arcs that changed the characters in profound ways. In other words, season one is very shaky (IMO much shakier than Buffy season one) and does not represent the series as a whole. So, I really recommend checking out even just the Season one finale (if you can’t sit through the whole season) and move on to the magnificent season two.
I admit, I only watched the first one or two discs, but given that this was written after Joss had reached with Buffy, and because I wasn't particularly inspired with the few random episodes from later seasons I caught here and there, I assumed that was how it would be. I'd agree that monster-of-the-week is a bad format, so changing that would be a step in the right direction. I'll watch the season 1 finale as you suggest, and see what I think.
Quote:
As for crossover eps, here’s a few more for you that haven’t been mentioned:
(I’m assuming you’re not interested in seeing Julie Benz, who played Darla in Season 1 of BtVS and appeared in some Angel-centric flashbacks in seasons 2 & 3. Because if you are interested, she appears in every season of Angel, one way or another).
Season 2, Episode 7, “Darla.” Spike and Dru appear in this one; it’s a twin episode to “Fool for Love” and originally aired immediately after it. Watch them back to back so you get the whole story.
Oh, I actually like what little we saw of Darla on Buffy, but not enough to watch episodes purely for her sake. ...The only villain besides Warren that ever *thinks* to use a gun on the slayer.
Quote:
Season 2, Episode 17, “Disharmony.” Both Willow and Harmony appear in this hilarious ep.
Harmony!
Quote:
...But if you want specific eps out of the season to watch, I recommend these two: Episode 8, “Destiny.” Spike is awesome in this, really, really awesome. Deals w/the season one spoiler I mentioned above. Definitely see this ep. If you hate Angel, all the more reason to watch it, actually.
Tease!
Now I have to go see it. grmbl"it has some sweet character deaths -- I mean moments!" - Joss Whedon
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Quote:
Originally posted by StakeTheLurk:
Season 5. You really should just watch this entire season. Spike appears in every ep and has a lot of great stuff to do,
Well, I finally sat down and did just that. I sat through seven episodes thinking, *when will someone write some decent Spike; that's the only thing keeping me hanging in here*...
Quote:
But if you want specific eps out of the season to watch, I recommend these two: Episode 8, “Destiny.” Spike is awesome in this, really, really awesome. Deals w/the season one spoiler I mentioned above. Definitely see this ep.
..and then I saw "Destiny." Suddenly a wonderfully written episode (not to mention lots of Spike), and I figured that Angel did have good writers after all! I've enjoyed a fair number of the episodes since. Thanks for the recommendations. I haven't finished season 5 yet, and I don't anticipate becoming a rabid AtS fan, but I am certainly enjoying them.
"it has some sweet character deaths -- I mean moments!" - Joss Whedon
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