Does Buffy Get Better?

POSTED BY: Jayhawk35
UPDATED: Saturday, January 10, 2009 21:27
VIEWED: 12442
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CYBERSNARK

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:02 AM

Separate show, but same universe. Angel (the character) just has a very different style than Buffy. Where she's the cool, fun-loving superhero, Angel's the broody intense warrior. Where she's the latest in a long line of Slayers, he's one-of-a-kind and has been around for almost 200 years (meaning that he has both history and "history"). It makes the two shows very different in style, tone, and setting.

Angel deliberately goes into the places Buffy wouldn't (he does this so she won't have to).

You'll see when Angel appears on BtVS (he gets well-established in this show before being moved on to his own).

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

CANTTAKESKY

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Aiko:
I think I heard from somewhere you have to altrenate back and forth from Buffy eps and Angel eps in order to get the entire storyline...?

They did this in the first year of Angel, right after spinning off from Buffy. I was mostly, I understand, a gimmick to bring Buffy fans over to Angel as well. It doesn't happen so much after the first season of Angel/third season of Buffy.

Back to the thread, I am a HUGE Firefly fan, but not so much a Buffy fan. I rented the Buffy series, as opposed to buying it. I liked the second season best, and then sorta left with Angel. Angel was much more my cup of tea. I see Buffy as more of a character drama about personal emotional growth, whereas Angel had more of an macro-existential, philosophical feel to it. I also love the work of Angel's collaborators, Tim Minear (Wonderfalls) and David Greenwalt (Profit). No doubt their contributions has a lot to do with my feeling more at home with Angel.

So if you decide you can't take any more of Buffy, give Angel a try. If you don't like Angel either, it's ok. My husband doesn't care for either Buffy or Angel, but loves Firefly just the same.

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:24 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Aiko:
I just have a question to ask, and I figured this would be an appropriate thread, seeing as how it started as a question...

I'm confused about the whole Angel issue. If it IS a seperate show, then why does it have all those ties to Buffy, and I think I heard from somewhere you have to altrenate back and forth from Buffy eps and Angel eps in order to get the entire storyline...? Why did they do that, if I'm correct? Could someone explain to me why they did all this?

Um because Joss realized that one could not contain the hotness that is David Boreanaz on just one show.

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

MALACHITE

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:45 PM

The short answer is yes... eventually. Unlike Firefly, which is engaging and enjoyable from almost the start, Buffy didn't really capture me until towards the end of Season 2. Season 3 is where it takes off (the picture and sound quality get much better as well, I think), but in order to appreciate it, it helps to be familiar with the events of Season 2. There are definitely weak episodes scattered throughout Season 2.
I initially started with Season 2 as I was told to avoid Season 1. For many episodes, I thought, "This is so much weaker than Firefly. Why'd they cancel that show?" Some episodes seemed pretty good, though, so I stuck with it, and by the time Season 2 was over, I was pretty intrigued, and liked the characters well enough. I then went back and watched Season 1 (while also going on to Season 3), which, once you've decided you like the characters and stories, should be entertaining enough.
So, in short, you'll probably need to get to Season 3 before you are feeling pretty intrigued by it all, but, in order to appreciate Season 3, you need to have seen a lot of Season 2. Once there, the rest of the Seasons are well done, and despite their problems, should be quite enjoyable overall. Then, you can go back and watch them all, and find all the seasons to be good overall, and even find the worst episodes to have great moments.
Good luck!

THESOMNAMBULIST

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:26 PM

I think the strength with Buffy is that it was a very different animal to anything that was around at the time.

You have to remember back in -- what was it 96/97, there were no blondes going around doing martial arts and whooping vamp butt, whilst making you laugh!

It's easy to reflect now some ten years on and dismiss all that, but really it was such a twist for a TV show. By the time you're on your 3rd, 4th season you've forgotten about all that and you're much more into it's mythos (which is very strong) and pondering where the show will go in the future, and then getting narky when it doesn't go exactly the way you envisaged it.

That's the beauty of a show like Buffy, you do find yourself caring about what it is doing, so much so you could easily sit amongst friends and debate as to what 'you' would do were you in charge of the show.

Angel by contrast is a much more mature show. However it had a fan base established and really needed to do a lot less work to cement itself in the hearts of its viewers. Bare in mind alot of characters from Buffy hop over so characterisation wasn't slowing down story.

Also by it's nature it didn't need to justify it's darkness. It's a show about a Vampire, so you're in dark territory from the off! That allowed alot more mature themes and as was stated earlier wonderful philospohical avenues, which clearly the writers loved putting their audience through.

The rub however in my view, and it is only my view, is that many of the episodes in Angel are far too contrived, and characters do veer off dramatically from their established personalities, which in the long run tend to spoil the overall impact.

That said it is still a class show and really much of the cinematography is sublime. Ross Berryman knows his onions!

BLUEREDGREEN

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 12:35 AM

It gets MUCH better, stick with it! The acting definatly improves as well, Sarah gets MUCH better at her role and so does everyone else.

OPPYH

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 2:34 AM

Until I watched Buffy, I was perfectly content with "comfort food" shows. That is, shows that are fun to watch, but not a lot of substance. Buffy changed me forever on what tv could be. Even shows like Lost, or Heroes don't grab me one tenth of what Buffy did. But Angel was pretty close, especially season 5.

ASORTAFAIRYTALE

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 2:39 AM

I'm only on season three of Buffy, although I watched all of Angel first. So far I like Angel better, just because I like the characters on Angel a lot better than on Buffy. I do think that seasons two and three of Buffy are a lot better than season one, although neither Buffy nor Angel can be better than Firefly in my opinion.

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Those who don't hear the music think the dancers mad.

KWICKO

Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:24 AM

Well, in one sense Angel and Buffy ARE better than Firefly - in the sense that we got so gorram MUCH of those other two shows! And it's not a question of quality versus quantity, because Buffy and Angel, while providing five and seven seasons, respectively, still maintained a pretty high standard of quality.

Sure, there were some clunkers, but the worst episodes of those two shows are still quite a bit better than 99% of other television.

But that's just my opinion... I could be wrong. (But I'm not.)

Your mileage may vary.

:D

Mike

PHOENIXROSE

Saturday, August 23, 2008 5:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
I'm really liking Angel, actually. I think it's a better show, at least so far.

...drums fingers on table...

I'll wait.

Seriously, I love Angel, but there are some parts where it just gets really ridiculous. Pylaea, anyone?

I'm at that point now. I'm not finding it cringe-worthy. Cheesy, but no cheesier than Buffy, and in some ways pretty interesting. Sorry to be so against popular opinion

You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one.

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