posted
I've checked my tape, and for some reason FX didn't show the scheduled episodes today, but instead "Hush" and "Once More, With Feeling." It is like I won the lottery! Only, I'm not going to watch "Hush," because I haven't seen it yet, and I want to try and keep some element of surprise in things. Uh, I'm not going to talk about "Once More, With Feeling" yet, either. But it is good TV.
Registered: Mar 1999
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If you haven't watched OM,WF yet, cover your ears when Marsten sings. Giles and Tara are the ones who are really good, Anya and Xander do OK, the rest, well, I liked the episode, the idea of really making the musical part of the story. I liked most of the songs. Some people just aren't meant to sing.
-------------------- Sparky:: Think! Question Authority, Authoritatively. “Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” EMSparks
Shalamar: To save face, keep lower half shut.
Registered: Jun 1999
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I used to have this episode on tape, and watched more times than is decent to admit to. And Spike's song is one of the best parts of the episode. (Does that sentence deserve an exclamation point? I usually eschew those in other written mediums. And I am always embarrassed when I read my posts months or years later.)
Registered: Mar 1999
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You are right. But then, Spike's anything in any episode is the best thing ever. The man stands up, and it's cool.
If I were a woman, I would want Spike. Multiple times.
I think the Xander/Cordy is suppossed to be his first relationship. There was that conversation in the one with the Mantis Lady that went something like
"Preying Matiss (Mantii?) consume virgins for some reason."
"Well, that's okay, because Xander's..."
"...in deep trouble!"
Although, yeah, he's still a virgin whilst having the great soap-opera relationship with Cordy, but I think it's the first one that's close to serious (ie, the first one where the thoughts of getting undressed enter each others minds). As Xander says in about 3 episodes time "I'm 17. Look at linolium makes me want to have sex."
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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I like how there's not much doubt that this is a dream sequence.
"What if Drusilla is still alive? We never saw her body." But dead vampire = no body, unless it's the Master, for some reason. And then Angel uses a skill pioneered by Nelson Muntz.
Re: Oz: "He's a senior." Yeah, and? Cordelia looks to be about 25.
Did Xander just say "some kind of wack"? That is perhaps too much. And then "You could have just said 'shh'" to Giles. Like you're one to talk about overtalking. And the spanking thing, superweird, especially in front of the not-unattractive Ms. Calender. I'm having lots of trouble trying to figure out where Xander sits in the cool hierarchy, because he seems to have way too much self-confidence for the social role he apparently inhabits.
Hey, scarred wheelchair-bound Spike. A plot development I didn't know about in advance, for once. Neat.
"You ground his bones to make your bread." "That's true. Except for the bread part." Now see, this is funny. I'm not sure why.
I'm not sure that the Jenny Calendar has a secret Gypsy Angel-spiting past plot works for me. It sort of seems tacked on, I guess, at least so far.
So one can just rent the Bronze for a private party? They're not going to be able to get their security deposit back, though. See, because of the window smashing. Which, just before it happened, I was thinking would be cool.
I've got an idea. Why not just wrap the arm up in chains and drop it into the Pacific halfway to Asia? There are significantly fewer vampires at the bottom of the ocean, I would assume.
Sidenote: FX, like every other channel these days, bogs up a good quarter of the screen with hideous animated promos every now and then. Well, ok. I got used to those awful station ID watermarks. These are just fifty times more annoying. That's fine. But now, now, it's making noise! Slot machine noise. Over dialogue. This makes it thirteen thousand times more annoying. It's almost a deal-breaker. I have studying I could be doing.
And next week (Well, if one was watching this when it first aired.): Bad things all around. I wonder if Spike or Drusilla would survive the Judge's touch?
Registered: Mar 1999
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Wasn't Buffy grounded for life just a few weeks ago? And now she's just slipping in after the sun's come up? Security is lax in the Summers home.
Angel is evil because he smokes and is casual about sex. Well, and also kills people.
Ms. "Calendar": "You told me to watch Angel, you told me to keep him from the Slayer. I tried." Uh, did she? This Gypsy vengeance plan does not seem that well thought out. I would think there would be other, more effective punishments for him than losing his soul. Because, see, he only cares about having a soul when he does, and when he doesn't, he's glad that he doesn't. So all their plan does in ensure that crazy evil Angel will be around being crazy and evil. Jenny, or "Yanna" I guess, has technical skills and she's living in California at the time when the Internet Bubble is in full swing. She should just tell Uncle Creepy to take it back to the Old Country, move to Oakland and get in on the ground floor of some hip Valley startup.
All mockery aside, I think Xander and Willow are about the most compelling aspect of the show. Lots of other things are really stylized, but their friendship seems believable in a way that few boy/girl TV relationships do.
Angel: "To kill this girl, you have to love her." And thus the next five seasons are described.
For a moment, while Spike was sitting listening in the shadows, I thought that he might have been about to share some information with Buffy and friends. Because, later on he does not seem so keen on the idea of actually killing all the humans on Earth and opening up all the portals to hell. Oh well. Incidently, if the Judge were to have succeeded, and burned up all the people, thus making the world safe for demons again, what would have happened to the vampires? They have special needs that involve keeping lots of people around.
I wonder if the Sunnydale military base is connected with the Initiative somehow. It's a little disturbing how easy Xander is able to get inside of it, though the payoff dramatically is well worth it. Because, you know, with the explosion, and Xander demonstrating some competance (even if it is magically inspired competance), and so on. He takes on Angel! Neato.
Anyway, I hope someone (other than myself) is amused by these posts.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Sol System: "Innocence" This Gypsy vengeance plan does not seem that well thought out. I would think there would be other, more effective punishments for him than losing his soul. Because, see, he only cares about having a soul when he does, and when he doesn't, he's glad that he doesn't. So all their plan does in ensure that crazy evil Angel will be around being crazy and evil.
And thus the biggest flaw in the plan is revealed.
I think it would have made more sense if there was some sort of delayed soul reactivation, so that after a few months, say, he'd get his soul back. He got given a soul as punishment, because he would be unhappy with everything that he'd done. If he experienced happiness, then he could lose his soul, be evil, and then get it back, and then feel bad for all the new stuff he'd done, thereby ensuring that he'd never be happy again.
I mean, that is kinda what happens, but through an accident. Unless the gypsies really hated people who love vampires.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Sol System: For a moment, while Spike was sitting listening in the shadows, I thought that he might have been about to share some information with Buffy and friends. Because, later on he does not seem so keen on the idea of actually killing all the humans on Earth and opening up all the portals to hell.
I'd put this down to him lacking self confidence at this point. He's recently been crippled, which is bad. His sire (or sire's sire) has just returned, which is good. His sire's sire is putting moves on his girlfriend, which is bad. The poor lad is all over the place. And it's possibly he intended to keep some humans around for food.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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For some reason I find it more than a little creepy that Amy's mom is still trapped in that cheerleading trophy for all to see.
Spying on Xander and Cordelia from the bushes: ALF.
They should really be paying attention during self-defense class. Well, Buffy not so much, but Xander and Willow? It would come in handy.
"And yet ironically it led to the invention of the moon pie." Xander scores points with Giles for once.
"I had a chain around its neck." That's being a little generous. It looked more like Werewolf Oz was just holding the chain up to the side of his head.
Oz thinks he might be a werewolf, so he calls up his aunt and asks if there's a history of lycanthropy in his family and gets a quick yes. I like his family. And he has a box full of manacles? Odd. Though not so odd as the questions the mortician should have for Xander and Buffy. Was the body there when you came in? And the flower arrangement stands? Awkward.
I'm not sure it's a good idea for Buffy to alienate the monster-hunting community, even if they are jerks.
Supposedly "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" is next in the series, but it was skipped for some reason.
"Passion"
I watched this one around one o'clock this morning, and didn't write down many thoughts. So, a brief summary of my feelings: Angel's narration is not the most compelling ever. After being invaded by vampires and a werewolf, and who knows how many bodies turning up just outside, I don't see how the Bronze stays open. I like how the realization that Angel has access to Willow's room too comes to the audience just before Willow herself finds out. Or at least that's how it worked in my case, but perhaps I am unobservant. Is the magic shop in this episode supposed to be the Magic Shop? They don't show that much of it.
Anyway, sad. Though I'm starting to think that the show should lay off the character deaths for awhile, lest they become so common they start losing their impact. It was probably different for those watching it at the time, I guess.
Registered: Mar 1999
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I think it is suppossed to be the same Magic Shop. Although I'm not sure.
B, B & B was a funny episode, so it's a pity it was skipped. FUNNY TO THE MAX!
With regards to Giles laughing at Xander, I think that was suppossed to be because he was fairly stressed from recent events. I thought that Phases came AFTER Passion, not before.
And yes, sad. But Giles went hardcore! Which is always cool.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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"Phases" came before, if TV Guide is to be believed in regards to original airdates.
Anyway, I am crazy swamped by schoolwork, but some quick thoughts on two episodes:
"Killed By Death"
The villainous child-eating demon looks like Freddy. Similar M.O., too.
I've noticed that there seems to be some modality to the characters. Sort of. Bear with me. Cordelia is the ultimately helpful but tactless friend who says whatever she thinks. She leaves, and we get Anya. (Ok, so they overlapped a bit.) And Anya is the ultimately helpful but tactless friend who says whatever she thinks. Well, ok. It is a good gag, to be sure, and used to great effect more than a few times. But Anya works a lot better than Cordelia, for me, and I think the reason is because Cordelia is just too over the top for me to believe in. Sure, part of being the coolest is the ability to look down on those less cool, but just as important is the ability to ignore or overlook the flaws in the equally cool so as to increase ones social mobility. There's a hint of that in this episode, where Cordelia sweet-talks the security guard. ("You have a great nose.") But all in all, it's hard to see how she would ever gain any friends, much less become most popular. Anya, on the other hand, being a former demon, has an excuse for her behavior.
Everyone seems to spend all their time out fighting demons and the like, and little time in school or at home. I certainly didn't have as much free time when I was in high school, despite being more or less a recluse. But, you know, my parents kind of wanted to know where I was and what I was doing. So Buffy's mother is out of town a lot. Ok, I can accept that. And Xander's family isn't exactly the most together outfit around. But what about Willow? Her parents seem overprotective, and yet she spends all night at the school library?
I really like the scene where Cordelia brings Xander donuts, even if it is a blatent Krispy Kreme placement, though I was sure for a moment she'd be horrified that he ate her food.
Finally, later we learn that shortly after all this vampire slaying began, Buffy was checked into a mental hospital for a few weeks. In retrospect, I think that would have been a better motivation for her fear of hospitals than the death of her cousin, which, while suitably creepy, felt a bit arbitrary.
"I Only Have Eyes For You."
It turns out I'd seen the last half hour or fifteen minutes or so of this show a long time ago. It is really good. However:
I can't see Willow being a more or less official substitute teacher, especially under Principal Snyder, who seems like a stickler for rules. On the other hand, if I were a substitute teacher in the Sunnydale region I'd have "Will Not Work At Sunnydale High" in bold at the top of my resume.
While I'm on the subject, it feels a little unfair that Ms. Calendar gets multiple episodes worth of post-death sorrow, while the dead teacher in this episode is never refered to as anything other than "that teacher."
Cordelia is a junior now, right? And she doesn't know about the Sadie Hawkins Dance?
The Mayor gets his first ominous reference. And so do...the city council? I've seen a few episodes of season three, including the finale, and I don't remember any mention of the council being in on the big plan. Are all of Sunnydale's officials in on the Hellmouth secret, or just a few?
Registered: Mar 1999
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Somehow I've either missed "Go Fish" or FX skipped it. Either way, it is the season finale for me. The show goes by really fast at two episodes a day.
"Becoming, Part 1"
Is that Oz providing the introductory voiceover? Angel is Irish! No doubt about it! Because he is drunk, see. And did Darla just choose him at random?
Drusilla had prophetic visions before becoming a vampire. Interesting. Is that perhaps one of the reasons Angel, uh, cultivated her?
Tension! Xander is good at burning bridges.
There seem to be a lot of world-ending demons running around. There is supposed to be only one slayer at any one time. So how come the world hasn't ended already?
So I guess the guy in the hat who knows Angel was doing the intro. He sounds a little like Seth Green, though.
Angel has a mysterious demon benefactor. Who would seem to put the lie to the early B:TVS idea that demon = pure evil. (Assuming he is what he appears to be.) Then, Buffy learns she is the slayer. Neat! I like Angel's vampire-safe car, too.
Drusilla can do the Master's hypnotizing trick. Good for her. I mean, well, not good in the sense that it's good, but she needs some kind of special power, being otherwise so flighty. But if Kendra could be taken down so easily (relatively speaking), why not try the rush-the-library trick earlier on Buffy? I suppose the implication was supposed to be that, by having to protect Xander and Willow and Cordelia and Giles, Kendra's attention was spread too thin. But, she didn't really do much in the way of saving everyone else. They mostly took care of that themselves. Well, Xander and Giles did. Sort of.
Kendra's favorite stake appears to be made of driftwood.
Speaking of Kendra, I wasn't bowled over by her first appearence, but she kind of grew on me. At first I thought that her death wasn't really that big of a deal, because more important characters have died this season. But, I suppose Buffy might not take the death of an apparently better-trained slayer well. Because would she have been able to survive? (Well, yes, but that's because her name is in the title.) Anyway, I think Kendra should have put up more of a fight, is what I'm getting at.
Registered: Mar 1999
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With regards to Angel cultivating Dru because of her ability to have visions, I think the answer is largely yes. Although there was also an element of him just being a completely sick bastard as well. He wasn't nice to her.
"Becoming" is traumatic. The cliffhanger is all, wow, and stuff. And people shout a lot! And I saw both parts as one feature length thing originally, and they played "Close Your Eyes" over the end credits, and I was crying and stuff, and I am a big baby! Boo!
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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