Episode reviews from a first time watcher

POSTED BY: fredgiblet
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 07:40
VIEWED: 16323
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FREDGIBLET

Thursday, August 10, 2006 5:22 AM

I didn't watch Buffy (or Angel) when they were on for a variety of reasons. Firefly opened my eyes to Joss which resulted in my trying Buffy.

I am currently going through the entire series (and probably Angel later) and I felt like sharing my experiences. As such I was thinking of posting my reviews of each episode here. I'll probably start by skimming seasons 1 and 2 tomorrow (I'm on 3 right now). There will be many spoilers (but if you're here you've probably seen most\all of the show), and if I start to annoy anybody then feel free to let me know and I'll stop.

I'll use this thread for all my reviews so as not to clutter the board. See you soon.

ECGORDON

Thursday, August 10, 2006 3:54 PM

I also never saw Buffy or Angel before becoming a Firefly fan, but I have seen all of them now, and I have all but the final seasons of each on dvd. Just yesterday I started over with season 1 of Buffy. It will be interesting to read your opinions.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

DEEPGIRL187

Thursday, August 10, 2006 6:46 PM

I'm seeing stuff for the first time myself, and so far I've had a blast. What disc of season 3 are you on?

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"See, this is a sign of your tragic space dementia. All paranoid and crotchety, it breaks the heart."

FREDGIBLET

Thursday, August 10, 2006 7:48 PM

Just watched Gingerbread (wierd ep) last night. Going at about the rate of 4 eps a night.

ZORPRIME01

Thursday, August 10, 2006 8:16 PM

I too became a Buffy/Angel fan through Serenity/Firefly. I just can't get enough Joss. A friend even bought me the Star Wars spoof shirt that says "Joss Whedon is my master now!"

Anyway, I went backwards, first seeing Angel on TNT & then buying all the dvds and watching that series. Now I'm watching Buffy, and I'm currently in the middle of season 5. I'm also re-watching eps with my wife, and we're precisely in the same spot as you in season 3.

So far three is my fave season, though I've really enjoyed two and five so far as well.

"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak."

DESKTOPHIPPIE

Thursday, August 10, 2006 8:27 PM

Yay! I love seeing Buffy fans here

Season 3 is a real treat and is pretty much my favourite one, although season 5 comes a very close second. I really enjoy reading poster's reactions to the episodes, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Looking forward to long discussions on the show!

More animations available at http://desktophippie.googlepages.com

FREDGIBLET

Friday, August 11, 2006 2:28 AM

First off, while my reviews will likely be full of spoilers I would appreciate if people kept from posting their own spoilers of later episodes please.

Now for the reviews.

Episode 101: Welcome To The Hellmouth

We meet Buffy and the gang (or what will soon be the gang). We meet Buffy and find out that she has shall we say...a history, she has apparently been in a lot of trouble and is looking to straighten out her life. Unfortunetly she picked the wrong place for that.

I liked Buffy's interactions with Giles (first meeting, meeting after she sees the dead guy and "you didn't hone"), but was less than impressed by Cordelia (preppy ditz) and Xander (clueless bumbling guy).

Willow on the other hand while a bit stiffly performed was quite funny, Luke was kind of cool (wish he didn't die, he would have been a better villan than the Anointed One (but I'm getting ahead of myself)).

Angel...it is very interesting looking at Angel in episode one and contrasting with the Angel of the season 2 finale flashbacks, what a difference a year can make (but once again, ahead of myself). I didn't know what to think of Angel at this point but I thought he had potential (and if I didn't already know he was a vamp then I probably wouldn't have guessed).

The Master definitely seemed interesting and looked like he had the potential to be a really good villan.

I'm sorta skimming over the eps right now because I don't want to spend 45 minutes re-watching each one (especially since season 1 is my leaast fave so far). When I get to seasons 2 and 3 I'll get a little more in depth (maybe).

FREDGIBLET

Friday, August 11, 2006 3:01 AM

Episode 102: The Harvest

Where Buffy saves the world for the first time (that we see (not counting the movie (which is only partially accurate in this continuity))). The opening scenes of the episode show the biggest issue that I have with Buffy, the whole "she punched me so I'm going to run away" and "the bad girl is scaring me" syndromes that so many of the redshirt vampires have. I liked the exposition after the theme, it was well scripted and funny, while being quite informative without seeming to be written specifically to be informative.

Angel appears again, in another contradicted-later scene ("I'm afraid"), Cordelia is still an annoying ditz, but Xander shows that he can be a cool character as well. Personally I still (as of 1/3 through of season 3) don't like Cordelia, she has had some very good moments but for the most part she has been annoying and IMHO the poorest acted of the Scooby Gang. Willow was kinda bad the first season, but she picked up a lot faster than Cordelia.
EDIT: Clarification: Liked Willow's character, but not the acting.

The Master is even cooler now than he was last ep, but the fight scenes are just as bad (decapitation by cymbal? that belongs in cartoons). Don't get me wrong about the fights though, I just have issues with the cheese factor and how stiffly everyone seems to move while fighting. Also I don't like the anti-climax style of death that some of the villans come up against (Jesse getting bumped onto the stake), I'll be revisiting this complaint soon enough.

The whole storyline was failry decent but nowhere near the later continuity episodes.

FREDGIBLET

Friday, August 11, 2006 3:03 AM

Just a note, to keep from confusion it would probably be best if you put the episode number with your posts.

FREDGIBLET

Friday, August 11, 2006 3:23 AM

Episode 103: The Witch

An interesting episode, gives a new take on the damaging aspects of parents trying to relive their glory days through their kids. We have a little more background on the world (witchcraft and the like), and the twist that was not entirely unexpected. I didn't care much for the stereotypical things (green boiling cauldron, black cat) though. I thought it was interesting that they showed Buffy as being quite vulnerable this early on, most hero-type shows aren't interet.

Cordelia again is the ditz ("hmmm, I can't see anything, maybe I should go driving!"), Xander may be kinda dumb but at least he's funny. Xander and Willow officially start the Scooby Gang in this ep ("we are a team right?").

The story is kind of good and shows how the team is already forming fairly well. A decent if unspectacular episode

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