RE:
POSTED BY: batmarlowe
UPDATED: Wednesday, November 3, 2010 23:33
VIEWED: 4999
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It’s finally finished. Round Two of my Buffy Bracketology. I finished watching the eps a few months ago. So I guess I lied. I did not post the results as soon as I finished. It just took me a long time to get off my lazy butt and take the time to type this stuff up. But I never would have dreamed it would have taken me THIS long.
Anyway if there’s anyone actually reading this and doesn’t know what this is about, please see BUFFY BRACKETOLOGY - ROUND 1. And always, this is just my opinion even if it isn’t stated as such.
So here’s the results: 72 contests, 36 winners. And away we go…
001. Doppelgangland (3-16) Vs. 143. I Was Made to Love You (5-15)
Everybody loves the Aprilbot but she’s no match for Vampire Willow. That, and Doppelgangland is just a great ep. Winner: Doppelgangland
004. Prophecy Girl (1-12) Vs. 142. The Real Me (5-02)
I know PG is kind of the more important ep, but it just isn’t as well put together as TRM. I really find it to be very enjoyable. Winner: The Real Me
005. Lovers’ Walk (3-08) Vs. 139. Hush (4-10)
An upset given Hush’s reputation. I like it a lot but I honestly think Lover’s Walk comes together better and is more resonant when it comes to the characters. Winner: Lover’s Walk
008. The Puppet Show (1-09) Vs. 138. Tough Love (5-19)
This one is definitely an upset but dammit, TPS just works. TL is just fine but some of the character conflict feels a little forced in this one. Winner: The Puppet Show
010. The Body (5-16) Vs. 136. New Moon Rising (4-19)
I think it’s obvious. Winner: The Body
012. Crush (5-14) Vs. 134. Dead Things (6-13)
I really hate Dead Things. It’s a minor a miracle it made it to Round 2. And Crush is a good, solid ep. And I really hate Dead Things. Winner: Crush
014. Graduation Day, Part Two (3-22) Vs. 132. Inca Mummy Girl (2-04)
Maybe the best season finale of the entire show. Not a contest. Winner: Graduation Day, Part Two.
015. Passion (2-17) Vs. 129. Conversations with Dead People (7-07)
Tougher call. CwDP is the best ep from S7 and the scenes with Buffy and Webs can stand with virtually anything else in Buffydom. But the high quality of Passion is more consistent and it’s one of the most important eps in the development of the Buffy mythology. Winner: Passion.
017. The Yoko Factor (4-20) Vs. 126. Potential (7-12)
Potential has that great Dawn/Xander scene but YF is more entertaining and more interesting all the way around. Winner: The Yoko Factor
018. Fool for Love (5-07) Vs. 121. Faith, Hope, & Trick (3-03)
Two landmark eps but Fool for Love feels like it’s two or three great and significant eps in one whereas FHT is merely great (or pretty close anyway) and significant. Winner: Fool for Love.
020. A New Man (4-12) Vs. 118. Out of My Mind (5-04)
These are just about equal. Granted there’s a lot more happening in OoMM but the emotional impact of A New Man is stronger and it’s more entertaining too. Winner: A New Man
021. Bargaining, Part One (6-01) Vs. 115. Chosen (7-22)
B pt 1 has more going for it than I originally gave it credit for but Chosen has a little girl playing softball. Seriously, in spite of some flaws it does a great job summing up the series and has some great scenes and dialogue. And a little girl playing softball. Winner: Chosen
022. Becoming, Part Two (2-22) Vs. 114. School Hard (2-03)
School Hard is one of those highlight eps. Good story. Well written. Significant. Becoming, Part Two is all that and more. It really packs an emotional wallop. Winner: Becoming, Part Two
023. The Prom (3-20) Vs. 113. Same Time, Same Place (7-03)
Have you ever compared Citizen Kane to They Saved Hitler’s Brain? Of course not. Winner: The Prom
025. Becoming, Part One (2-21) Vs. 109. As You Were (6-15)
AYW has some really good stuff. Sam. Seeing Riley and Buffy together again. It’s frustrating that doesn’t bear more fruit but overall it definitely an uptick for S6. But Becoming, Part One is almost as good as Part 2. Winner: Becoming, Part One
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Wow -- your dedication is impressive. What are you going to do after this? Angel? Also, I wonder if whichever episode is #1 is truly #1 (that is, it is better than any Buffy episode out there and would have beaten any episode it came up against)or if it is #1 because it got some lucky match ups in the bracketology? I'm thinking some great episodes could have gone further if they hadn't had unfortunate matchups with the very best episodes... It will be interesting to see if your elite 8 episodes match with some of the viewer polls for best buffy eps. I'm wondering if you had to pick your 16 favorite episodes, how well it would correlate with the 16 episodes in the Sweet Sixteen of your bracketology, too.
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Thanks for the response, Malachite. I don't know what I'm going to do after this. Angel would be the most logical choice because it has so many eps. Firefly and Dollhouse have too few eps to warrant an entire bracketology. For instance I already know OOG gets my nod for best ep of FF.
As far as a true #1 goes, it's a fair question. I've felt for a very long time the NFL in particular should do away with Conferences. The best team in one conference isn't neccessarily better than the second best team in the other. Same with the NCAA basketball tournament. How do we we know any of the losers in region 1 couldn't have beaten the winner of region 2?
That's why I didn't subdivide the eps of Buffy. I could have had 8 groups of 16 and concocted a "play-in" tournament for the remaining 16 or something like that. But I felt it was best for the very reason you point out to make all 144 eps one big bracket.
Let's call the winning ep "Sturm with Extra Drang". Let's say it beat out "Angst and Ice Cream" to win. And let's say earlier in the tournament, Round 2, for example, "Angst and Ice Cream" defeated "Zits-a-Poppin'". So if "Sturm with Extra Drang" beat "Angst and Ice Cream" and "Angst and Ice Cream" beat "Zits-a-Poppin'", I don't see how "Zits-a-Poppin'" could have beaten "Sturm with Extra Drang". So I think #1 will be a true #1. But you have a point, #2 on down will not be reflective of my true remaining top episodes.
I suppose the fairest way to do it would probably be a Round Robin, in which every episode takes on every other episode. And then I guess you'd see which ep had the most victories. But that would be 10,296 viewings. Yowtch.
Anyway I appreciate your interest. I'll be starting Round 3 fairly soon. Got my Dollhouse DVD's to watch!
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batmarlowe wrote: "Sturm with Extra Drang". Let's say it beat out "Angst and Ice Cream" to win. "
Great titles! I want to see these episodes... Of course, you can't judge an episode by its title. I started watching a movie on netflix called, "Stupid Teenagers Must Die", which I thought was a hilarious title, but I stopped after a few minutes because the movie was just awful...
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I predict Chosen will come out on top. Little girl playing softball...
The laughing Chrisisall
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I watched this movie called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" because the title made me laugh. I thought it was fairly bad so for years it kept me from watching the show based on the movie.
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Don't be surprised if "Sturm with Extra Drang" takes the whole enchilada.
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