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

Kevin Grey

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Also don't forget- we only have half a season of Firefly. All of the first seasons of Mutant Enemy shows are relatively light on continuity. I have no doubt Firefly would have become much more serialized had it stayed on the air longer.
 

Eddy-C

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If you're a gay guy wouldn't you prefer Angel since it was always a beefcake fest with 1 or 2 females only? lol.

Anyhow I prefer Angel because I feel it was more consistent. I just rewatched the final 6 episodes of Angel season 5 and I got so emotional. Thats one damn good season.

And as for people getting hurt and then being healed by the next episode of Firefly. I don't see how this is a complaint. They do the same thing on the first seasons of both Angel and Buffy. Also you forget the firefly episodes were aired out of order therefore Mutant Enemy had to be careful in writing continuity into episodes because Fox could pop a episode into any spot(the pilot being aired last?)

When I compare Firefly to the first season of Buffy, Firefly kicks its ass in spades. But then again Firefly was done by a more experienced creator.
 

David Williams

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Well, I can't speak for all the gay guys out there, but none of the guys on Angel ever did it for me... except maybe Lorne (Personality and the color green are always pluses in my book). :D
 

Jay_B!

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well, generally I'd rather have a chick show where I love the characters, like Housewives (even tho DH wins both sides because the men are mostly attractive), Sex And The City or Golden Girls as opposed to a show that has attractive men yet I'm not so into the plot (Las Vegas or One Tree Hill for two).

With Buffy, I loved every character with the exceptions of Riley and Dawn. Willow is by far my favorite character on any of Joss' shows, and I also adored Tara and Anya as well. Buffy, the character, I didn't like as much season 5-onward, but the other made up for her.

I enjoyed Angel in first-run, but coming back to it on reruns on TNT, I just can't really "get into" it a second time, it's like knowing everything that happens in the big picture has ruined the entire series for me. While I can turn to FX and find a Buffy episode on, and even if it's an episode I've seen 10 times, I can still once again get into the episode like the first time. Only a handful of shows I am like that with, and for the most part, they're "chick shows" (like the aforemented Housewives, Golden Girls, Sex And The City, Roseanne, etc..., even though Seinfeld is certainly not a chick show and I'm the same way).

However, I'll be the first to admit even the worst episode of Angel is superior to the best episode from the past three seasons of Charmed. The Prue episodes I loved, but even a Buffy episode like "Beer Bad" or "Bad Eggs" is Emmy-worthy stuff compared to post-season 4 Charmed. Even though I wasn't too crazy about Angel towards the end (I loved seasons 1-4 during first run, it's just revisiting it isn't as easy as Buffy IMO), I don't see why WB axed Angel in season 5 and continues to let Charmed go on and on. Angel certainly had a lot more story left to tell than Charmed does, they've been repeating storylines for 3 seasons now.
 

Max Leung

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I finished Angel season 5 a few weeks ago...wow, what a season!

I'm currently rewatching (slowly) Buffy season 1 - I like the contrast of the Angel characters from then and now. As was pointed out earlier, the action sequences in season one Buffy is less flashy than later ones. I think I even saw SMG do some of her own stunts? I really like the early action...very little gimmick and flash yet still very enjoyable.

I gotta agree that the Angel action sequences are much better overall.

I don't think preference for Angel is strictly a guy thing, however - the plotting, pacing, and story are much more unified, and the characters stay true to themselves. I also found Angel more disturbing - I mean that in a good way. :) Caleb from Buffy Season 7 isn't scary - but the Angel episode with the guy that can turn men into mysogynist bastards is pretty darn disturbing as heck. And I can never forget the hotel episode - great stuff. Angel is excellent - but may be too bleak for those weened on Buffy sweetness-and-light (relatively speaking). ;)

BTW, I love the idea of evil lawyers being the big bad...

Yep, Buffy and Angel are very different shows.
 

Kevin Grey

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These reasons are exactly why I prefer Angel to Buffy at this point which isn't to disparage Buffy at all.
 

Jay_B!

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well, one thing about "the characters stayed truer to themselves". The characters, save Connor, on Angel were all adults from the first episode. When Buffy started, her, Xander and Willow were all supposed to be 16, and were all 22 when the series ended. You can't expect characters to be exactly the same at 22 as when they were 16 years old. Wesley, Gunn, Fred, etc... were all adults when we first meet them.
 

Kevin Grey

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Actually, Jay, I would say that the characters on Angel have evolved just as much, if not more, than there Buffy counterparts. Certainly in the case of Wesley, Cordelia, and Angel. Wesley is all but unrecognizable from the character that showed up in Season 3 of Buffy.

Buffy has had excellent character development but of the core cast from Season One I would put any of three above from Angel a bit ahead of Buffy and Willow in terms of actual change with Xander way, way behind. Perhaps ironically I would say the two characters on Buffy to change the most are the oldest: Spike and Anya.

Saying "truer to themselves" doesn't mean the characters don't evolve. It is to do with clear cut motivations for *why* they act and logical character development based on the repercussions of those acts.
 

Chuck Mayer

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Even with all the comments on Buffy vs. Angel and the higher continuous quality of Angel, I'd take Buffy any day of the week. The show simply had a much stronger emotional current running through it. And it had more going on thematically, especially in the first 3 seasons. I'd agree the average Angel is better than the average Buffy, but the great Buffy's were always better than the great Angel's.

For me,
Chuck
 

Kevin Grey

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I'd take Angel over Buffy (luckily I don't have to choose) but I have to agree with Chuck's comment. Angel is consistently outstanding (particularly Season 4) but no single episode of Angel so far has matched OMWF, The Body, Hush, Passion, or Innocence.
 

Wendy_L

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again.

Kevin, how far are you into Season 4 of "Angel"? Last episode I watched was "Souless".
 

Scott_F_S

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If I had to choose to watch only Angel or only Buffy for the rest of my life, I'd choose Angel.

But I agree with Kevin here. And I'll also say that nothing in Angel ever pushed my emotional buttons the same way some of that stuff in Buffy S2 did.

But maybe what it comes down to for me is that I like the Angel character so much more than the Buffy character. Even when Angel was at his worst, I could empathize with him. But so often, I just wanted somebody to slap Buffy and tell her to grow up.

That's not a criticism. I think that was intentional with the character. I know a lot of people like that -- adults, kids, male and female -- and I tend to want to do just that.
 

Kevin Grey

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I'm up through Episode 14 "Release" and at this point I don't think I could say enough good things about Season 4. It has been quite epic and really raised the bar from the already outstanding Seasons 2 & 3. Its almost like Angel crossed with 24 in terms of intensity.
 

Jay_B!

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if I were to rank the Angel and Buffy seasons (I will be new to Firefly come Friday on Sci-Fi), I know that B6 is higher for me than most

B2, B6, B3, B5, A1, B4, B7, A4, A2, A3, B1, A5
 

Kevin Grey

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I have no idea where you would get that impression. Buffy is easily one of the most often recommended series here. Sure there are always going to be outliers but the general Home Theater "consensus" seems to be that Buffy is an exceptional show.
 

Max Leung

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I agree with Chuck that Buffy had the best singular episodes. I'm just glad that both series are so good compared to almost anything else (well, maybe except Babylon 5 - but then again the acting in Angel and Buffy is much much better).

I'm currently rewatching Buffy - it is such a fun show! It seems Buffy has more rewatchability than Angel. But I will have to rewatch Angel to be sure. :)
 

Ray H

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I think I prefer Angel to Buffy but both are exceptional shows. Even when I thought I loved Angel more than Buffy, I would rewatch episodes and seasons from Buffy and be just as impressed.

I guess what does it for me with Angel is the whole thing with the characters. When I think of it, I'm much more fond of the core characters from Buffy in that they're more embraceable, but I think Angel does a much better job with the growth and consistency of its characters. In that regard, I'd rather revisit the entire run of Angel than do the same with Buffy.

Probably adding to the reasoning behind that has to do with the subpar seasons of Buffy. They're great television compared with other shows, but when I think of the later seasons of Buffy, I think it should have ended after season 5. The last two seasons, despite some great episodes, did little for the characters and leave more of a sour taste to the show. When Buffy ended, I thought "Hmm. I guess it's over." With Angel, I felt like I was going through withdrawal for the last few weeks of the show and the last episode brought tears to my eyes.
 

Eddy-C

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I rank Buffy, Angel and Firefly in this order.

Buffy Season 5, Angel Season 5, Buffy Season 3, Buffy Season 2, Angel Season 2, Firefly, Angel Season 4, Angel Season 3, Buffy Season 4, Buffy Season 6, Angel Season 1, Buffy Season 1, Buffy Season 7.

I didn't get into Angel until the end of Season 3 and then was hooked on the show in Season 4 after Awakening and Souless. I then bought all the DVDs caught up and fell in love. At the same time I was growing intently bitter towards Buffy Season 7 and Chosen dissapointed me alot. Not Fade Away on the other hand I thought was a beautiful ending that didn't brush off characters(Anya anyone?). Plus it did not insult my intelligence or feel half-assed. I believe that Whedon was burnt out by the end of Buffy but was just gearing up when Angel was canceled. With Buffy I feel content that its over and don't really wish for anymore seasons but Angel? It was cut down way before its time. I really feel that they had enough creativity to do a 6th season.

As far as individual episode greatness. Thats the problem with Buffy. You can point to any season and say "these are A+ episodes". Thats because when Joss penned a episode the quality shot way up but the next ep (Smashed after once more with feeling..doomed after hush.) might be less than satisfactory. With Angel its not easy for me to point out "the best" because well honestly alot of the show blends together especially in the later sesaons.
 

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