Buffy Season 1: Any Spoilers in Special Features? (1 Viewer)

[DaveGTP]

Lot of activity on this thread.

I've yet to finish S5 of Angel (watched the first 6 eps) cause my wife is watching too many TV shows right now and doesn't seem interested in watching it. I may just forge ahead and watch the rest, like I did with Dawson's Creek S5 (tolerable).

Top ten TV shows:

1) Babylon 5
2) Angel
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somwhere in top 10: Buffy
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somewhere in top 10: Xfiles
...
...

Angel had less witty one-liners and a more dark & morbid sense of humor, I think. Storyline is cohesive, with less filler, and feels like it was all planned out - despite the fact it obviously wasn't, he could have fooled me (up until it hits S4 or so). Angel does a lot more foreshadowing and prophecying, helping it fake a B5-level of one-big-story kind of thing.

Whedon abuses the 'reset button' a bit too much IMO and is too nice to his characters - sometimes not following through with the arc to spare them or to be able to keep making seasons of the show. Buffy dies, Buffy dies, Angel sent to hell, Wesley's throat cut, etc etc


Buffy dies too many times, for god's sake, you can only get away with it maybe once

Buffy S2 & S3 were outstanding, S4 good, but IMO Angel is more consistently quality as far as story and characters, hitting with a much higher % and not depending on humor to carry it like Buffy seems to at times. Angel at its best is better than anything but Buffy S3 IMO.

 

[David Williams]

 

[Eddy-C]

He was nice to Tara. She was originally going to die in Season 5(see Sarah Michelle Gellar's entertainment weekly interview in February/March? 2003)

 

[TedT]

Thanks for the spoiler tags and thanks for the info re: Angel. I'm like the guy a few pages ago who was only a disk or two into season one of Angel. I guess I'll keep at it too!

 

[Wendy_L]

Well, I only have 3 episodes left of "Angel: Season 4" and it's been a great season. The last episode I watched "Magic Bullet" was very good. I probably loved it because it was a Fred-heavy episode...and I just adore her.


It will be about a month before I watch Season 5 because I have "Smallville: Season 3" and "Felicity: Season 2" in my next rotation. But after that I'm all about Season 5. Which I saw about 1/2 of when it was on the air.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Wendy, we're right at the same spot- I just finished "Magic Bullet" myself. Unfortunately, my rate of viewing has slowed down to external factors. At this rate we might be starting Season 5 around the same time since I still have all of Buffy Season 7 to get through first.

 

[Wendy_L]

Enjoy!

Are you loving Season 4 too?

 

[Kevin Grey]

Absolutely. Unless it tanks horribly in the final three episodes, I feel comfortable calling it the best Buffy/Angel season yet. Buffy S2 has the better standout episodes, but Angel S4 has been pretty much uniformly amazing all season.

 

[Ray H]

I guess I've jumped on the train. I came back from a month-long vacation without cable and barely any movies. Strangely, the first thing I decide to watch is Angel. So on Tuesday I picked up where I left off in mid/late Season 3 of Angel and just pushed on through Season 4. I just started the season premiere of Season 5 and I'm having fun!

Watching them all like this does give me a better appreciation of S4 though. While I always liked the season, some of it did feel like it wasn't well thought out by the writers. But watching them in close succession really helps the cliffhanger style of the season. It's got some great episodes and a heart tugging finale. Excellent stuff that I never fully appreciated.

 

[Scott_F_S]

Angel S4 is really a strange animal. I liked it a lot the first time I watched it through, second time not so much. But I just finished a third viewing, and I liked it more than I did the first time.

I guess it really depends on the perspective you bring to it at the time whether it's a great season or a not-so-great one.

Something just occurred to me. Have you noticed that any time someone starts a thread with either Buffy or Angel in the title, the thing really gets some legs? Here and at other forums. Never fails.

 

[Wendy_L]

That's because they are both such excellent shows. Bufff, Angel, ST:TNG and "Friends" are four shows I never get tired talking about.

Well, I finished Season 4 last night and all I can say is "WOW". I LOVED IT!!! I thought the finale was great too. The finale was so good that it almost felt like a Series Finale and not just a Season Finale. I also loved it so much because I finally got some questions answered. See, I watched about 1/2 of Season 5 when it was on the air but I always had tons of questions, well now they are all answered. I think I will go into watching Season 5 with a fresh pair of eyes and enjoy it even more.

I still have the disc at home and I think I'm gonna watch the Season Finale one last time with and without the commentary before I return it. I also think I'm gonna have to add "Angel" to my list of TV Series' that I want to own on DVD. I think about two years from now I will want to start rewatching the whole "Buffyverse" from the beginning to the end. Guess I'll need to be watching out for those sales you guys are always talking about on here.

*I bow to the genius of Joss Whedon*

 

[Kevin Grey]

Finally found the time last night to finish off Angel Season 4 and I agree with Wendy- great finale. One of the things I admire most about Angel is that it will change direction with little to no warning. The season four finale was great because it was so unexpected and went places I never would have imagined. It also made me *very* curious how this new direction will play out in Season Five.

In particular:

I'm really happy with the way they dealt with Connor. I had always assumed that at some point he would get over all of his problems and join up with the rest of the gang, love his dad, etc although that idea became harder and harder to swallow with all of his actions. Glad to see they didn't take the easy way out. The hostage taking was shocking and yet made sense since this kid is honestly pretty damn screwed up in the head.

If there was any aspect that could be seen as taking the easy way out here it would be Connor's "happily ever after" reward but I'm fine with that too. The only other alternative would be having Connor in jail or dead and I think either one of those might have put the series way too over the top on the angst meter.

Gina Torres was amazing in her guest stint. Just a flawless combination of incrdible charm and charisma with an undercurrent of menace the entire time.

Nice job wrapping up a lot of the mythology too. I suspect that it wasn't really planned out all that much in advance but they did a good job at connecting a lot of dots in a plausible and interesting manner. I'm pretty darn sure there are some gigantic plotholes along the way, but I'm happy enough with the house of cards not to pick at it.

Season 4 was very intense for me to watch. Almost to the point where it was hard to watch multiple episodes in one sitting.

 

[Scott_F_S]

It's really no secret and no major spoiler: The S4 finale basically was the first episode of S5.
S5 wasn't a certainty when the S4 finale aired, so consider a second that there was a real possibility that that could have been the series finale.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Just finished Buffy Season 7 and much to my surprise I have to go against the grain and say I thought it was an awesome season. Better than S5 IMO and just behind Seasons 2&3.

I thought it easily had the best storyarc of any season with much more emphasis on the season plot and less on standalone episodes. There was a palpable sense of menace throughout. The First (and Nathan Fillion as the embodiment) was the best Buffy villain since Angel and also the first time the group actually felt threatened since then too. As much fun as the Mayor and Glory were, they were never very menacing.

I complained that about Season 6 being lethargic but S7 seemed like everyone really got a shot of energy, particularly the directors. And the new composer, Robert Duncan, is *so* much better than Thomas Wanker.

James Marsters, in particular, gave a real standout performance and really stepped up to the plate and took on the role as leading man. Also very much liked D.B. Woodhouse as Principal Wood. So nice to see a principal who wasn't evil or ineffectual.

Pretty spectacular final episode too. The scale was way beyond what I expected to see in a Buffy episode and the visual effects were pretty great for TV.

Really my only significant complaint is that I pretty much hated all of the potentials. Way too whiny. And Kennedy in particular really aggravated me. Not only was she incredibly annoying but I hated her forced romance with Willow- it rang very false.

Great stuff and I really feel like Buffy went out on a high note.

 

[Scott_F_S]

I just finished watching Buffy S7 for the second time. I saw it when it was first released on DVD. I have to say, I liked it a lot more on second viewing than I did the first time around. I did like the whole messing-with-their-heads angle as opposed to the usual overwhelming physical threat.

And even though I didn't like the nerds at all in S6, I thought Andrew was a nice addition to the mix in S7.

 

[Wendy_L]

Sorry to resurrect this thread again but I'm curious if Kevin ever finished Season 5 of "Angel"? So, Kevin if you are out there someplace and you see this post let me know.

I see I finished Season 4 in July but I just finished Season 5 last month. I've been meaning to leave a post here but kept forgetting. What made me think of it now is that over the weekend I finished watching "Firefly" and "Serenity", both of which I loved.