Buffy Bracketology - Round 3

POSTED BY: batmarlowe
UPDATED: Saturday, December 1, 2012 21:55
VIEWED: 7537
PAGE 1 of 1

BATMARLOWE

Friday, August 24, 2012 3:59 PM

Once again I have to remark at how long it’s taken me to get off my lazy behind and not only get around to doing Round 3 of my Buffy Bracketology but writing it up. For the two or three of you who have been waiting on the edge of your futons—here it is.

So in case any futon-dwellers happen to be reading this and want to know what it’s all about and why it’s being done this way, please see BUFFY BRACKETOLOGY – ROUND 1. As always, this is just my opinion even if doesn’t really come across as such by the way I’m saying it.

So these are the results: 36 contests, 18 winners. And heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere they are…

001. Doppelgangland (3-16) Vs. 142. The Real Me (5-02)
I probably like The Real Me more than the average Buffy fan, but certainly not more than Doppelgangland.
Winner: Doppelgangland.

005. Lovers’ Walk (3-08) Vs. 115. Chosen (7-22)
Even though Chosen is certainly the more important ep, I’m still going to go with Lover’s Walk. It has the one of those great Evil-Spike-has-the-insight moments and the humor works well, it reveals more of Spike’s character and overall I think it’s better written. While Chosen is a good series finale, it relies on a deus ex machina in order to achieve victory over the ubervamps and the First and it has the weak elements of season 7 like the ubervamps and the First. Say bye-bye to S7 ‘cause this was the lone survivor.
Winner: Lover’s Walk.

008. The Puppet Show (1-09) Vs. 103. Helpless (3-12)
The Puppet show is the last of the Season 1 eps to fall. It’s been a dark horse all along but now it’s time to say goodbye because Helpless is a fantastic episode.
Winner: Helpless.

010. The Body (5-16) Vs. 101. Earshot (3-18)
Round 3 is the round where some great eps start to fall. Earshot is one of Season 3’s great stand-alones. It’s just not as great as The Body.
Winner: The Body

012. Crush (5-14) Vs. 099. What’s My Line, Part Two (2-10)
These next two contests were hard. I mean, really hard. I ended up watching each episode twice and consulting the detailed entries in the Epsiode Guide three times. It was a tough, tough decision and I ended up reversing myself on it. But I ended up concluding Crush is the tighter episode. It introduces its premise, and Dru and all the other elements in a way that propels the story and balances those elements compellingly and entertainingly. WML 2 is very good and moves the mythos along quite well, but I had to give the nod to its opponent.
Winner: Crush.

014. Graduation Day, Part Two (3-22) Vs. 097. Intervention (5-18)
And this is the other one. Both of these eps work so well! So much so I had to watch them twice and consult the Episode Guide many times and I ended up reversing my decision on this one too. Intervention is soooooooooooo good and sooooooooooooo funny! And it has the all-important “Death is your gift” scene. But GD 2 is the climax of climaxes and it has great character moments and dramatic scenes (such as Angel feeding off Buffy). It ends with a genuine feeling that something terrible has been overcome, that one stage of life is over, and there is a resolve to move forward.
Winner: Graduation Day, Part Two.

015. Passion (2-17) Vs. 096. The Freshman (4-01)
Passion is a powerful and eventful ep which takes our breath away and ups the stakes in the main story. The Freshman, while a good season opener which ably re-states the message of the series just can’t compete.
Winner: Passion

017. The Yoko Factor (4-20) Vs. 95. Primeval (4-21)
I think this is the first (and probably only) contest with back-to-back episodes. It’s logical the two would be rather similar and they are. But in spite of the very effective creation and implementation of the Uber-Buffy, I think TYF is much more interesting to watch unfold. Primeval also reminds us of the vagueness Adam’s purpose as the Big Bad.
Winner: The Yoko Factor.

018. Fool for Love (5-07) Vs. 93. Restless (4-22)
This is another difficult choice. Both of these episodes are effective and demonstrate just how crea

THESOMNAMBULIST

Saturday, August 25, 2012 1:41 PM

Hey Bartmarlowe

I'm still here and very much interested in this. I do still intend to attempt this myself too. I'm glad you're still writing your review of the system and I'm dying to know just what will end up as your number one!!!

I will really look into this more later but I just made a quick scan and saw how you regard as Something Blue as the funniest so far. Interesting because for me The Zeppo was always the funniest :D But I'm a Xander fan I guess and not so much a Spike fan. But it's fascinating reading nonetheless, so yes please do continue.

Incidentally do you have your old posts somewhere?

°...Well here I am.°

BATMARLOWE

Saturday, December 1, 2012 9:23 PM

Hey, Somnambulist!

As you can see it's been many months since I've been here. Sorry I didn't see you had a response a few months ago. Thanks for being the only person who's hanging there with me. Still haven't started Round 4 but it should be fairly soon.

The posts of Rounds one and two are still in the Buffyverse posts. Just click on "View all posts". They're not far down at all.

Thanks for your interest. How'z things with you?

THESOMNAMBULIST

Saturday, December 1, 2012 9:55 PM

Hey BartMarlowe.

Good to see you make a return. Yes I think this new site doesn't always prompt a response email when someone posts on your thread. So it does make it a little tricky to follow.

Regardless we're keeping in touch so that's good.

I was only telling my girlfriend last night that I feel a Buffy Marathon coming on, I think now is the time for me to engage with your Bracketology and still get my Buffy fix.

Thanks for the link to your other posts I'll check that out now.

Stay in touch.

Oh and sorry, yes things are going OK thank you. Works picked up and suddenly I've gone international :D. What about you? What does BartMarlowe do between Buffy Episodes? :D

°...Well here I am.°